Nº 36: Mairéad Kiernan
The writer recommends a pub for fans of geriatric musical arts, a method for enhanced self-motivation and the best resource on the internet.
We’re back with Mairéad Kiernan. Read on to find out what she’s into, and if you’re new here, hit subscribe for secret recommendations once a week.
Mairéad Kiernan is a writer. She lives in New York City.
☞ THE PALM TREE: Do you, like me, enjoy geriatric musical acts? The Palm Tree in Mile End Park (London) is the place for you! Senior citizens rock out there frequently enough that they feature in 50 +% of The Palm Tree’s Google photos.
☞ BEST SOUVENIR: Buy a postcard from the place you’re visiting and write yourself a note on the back about anything you want — the place, the trip, the day, your state of mind… Keep it, and after a few trips, you’ll have a whole collection of cool postcards and memorialisations of the you in that place.
☞ REDDIT: Maybe everyone’s already in on this but… Reddit is the best resource on the internet.
Recommendations, discussions, reviews, news, laughs, misc — literally anything you could hope to find is on there, all you need to do is type “QUESTION reddit” or “XYZ reddit” into your preferred search engine and click search.
Some examples:
“How to get rid of skin tag on eyelid reddit” (um, all it takes is a DAB OF APPLE CIDER……. Who knew some things could be so simple?!)
“What to do if you accidentally freeze eggs reddit” (You can defrost and eat them unless the eggs crack — the cooked post-frozen yolk is a v strange consistency though)
“Mulholland Dr. explanation reddit” (Find numerous ten-page essays directly on Reddit or links to whole effing websites devoted to detailing the many theories behind the highly interpretive film)
Or, if you prefer to scroll, here are some top subreddits (for those of you who are unfamiliar, you join a subreddit and then posts from that subreddit will show up on your reddit feed — reading the comments is also an important part of the experience)
r/redscarepod: Whatever your opinion of the show or the girls, this is a great place for hot takes, edgy debates, stupid complaints, future pessimism, current pessimism, and original sex proposals. Every week there’s at least three posts about how much “the subreddit sucks now”, which is how you know it’s really good.
r/deuxmoi: The only place to get celebrity dish. Through this sub I learned that Cristiano Ronaldo used to look this. These pics shattered everything I thought I knew. Tread with caution…
r/holdmycosmo: The videos on this sub make me cry
Four subreddits that are each incredibly strange in their own way:
☞ AUTHOR: Jenny Offill. Although few, her books are la crème de la crème. Minimalist, poignant, funny, profound. If you decide to pick up one of her books, have a pen ready for endless underlining of articulate and apt observations about ~life~
☞ ADVICE: Consider this method for enhanced self-motivation on a project that no one cares if you finish aside from yourself. Find someone in a similar situation to you. Meet with them weekly to set goals that can and must be achieved by the following week. Set both a base goal and an ambitious goal. If you meet the ambitious goal, reward yourself with whatever you choose (ice cream, day at the park, w/e). However, to ensure you at least meet the base goal, establish punishments in advance that you’re actually afraid of. For example, my work partner and I do one deprivation (no drinking, no TV, etc for a week) and one humiliation (wear an outfit of partner’s choosing to a bar and order a virgin cosmopolitan). Lastly, write it all down and sign it so that you can sue each other if one of you tries to back out.
It’s so much more fun and effective than setting goals alone. My partner keeps losing, but he’s getting more done than he would've otherwise, and I’m hysterically laughing at all the embarrassing things he has to do.
☞ THREE SHORT STORIES BY ME ;):
♪ DANCING TO: “Dance This Mess Around” by the B-52’s
☠︎ HATES: Camel toe shoes. WHY do these exist? Anyone wearing these automatically looks like a faun. If you own a pair… Sorry. If you have an explanation for why people wear and like these, please contact me bc I’m lost.
Milk. So disgusting. So wrong. I’ll never forget watching a documentary that asked, “Are you a baby cow? Then why are you drinking baby cow food?” So right. So true. Why!?
TY Mairead! Follow Mairead here and here.
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