PicoBlog

“You’re just gassing me up,” Steve Stoute says, throwing his head to the side. Sitting across a small table in a meeting room I hired for an hour in his hotel, a member of his staff checks in to ensure “Is everything ok?”  Of course, everything is okay on this hot December afternoon in Lagos. It’s just the sort of place to find Stoute. The year-end festivities turn Lagos Island into a wonderland filled with buzzing concerts, endless raves, and drunk, overstimulated revellers exploring the city’s carousel of fun.

By now you’ve seen the clip of Donald Trump talking about the Battle of Gettysburg at a recent campaign event in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, which is about 130 miles from the famous battlefield. Once again, it’s an embarrassing display of ignorance about American history for this former president. Social media had some fun with Trump’s incoherent interpretation and even Jon Stewart got in on the action. Reading the text is even more embarrassing, if that is even possible.

I love Anny Choi! Has an jncredible, thoughtful, and very chic eye. Absolutely one of a kind. Post-Vogue, she has been building a bridal styling empire that perpetually blows my mind. Also, obsessed that her LL Bean tote is no longer soldered to her arm 😂 Great interview 🎈 ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kja2xwKebq5mdmrGqusScpqGdnmS7sMDEaJpmbWZlgXaDk3A%3D

“We won’t need to file Schedule C anymore after this year,” I told my accountant this winter, “I’m no longer getting any sponsor money.” “Oh, Amelia - I’m sorry!” she replied, with that mildly pitying look we all know. “Don’t be,” I laughed, “it’s honestly glorious.” “In your peak, damn - you were unstoppable,” a well-meaning person said to me the other day. It’s a wonderful compliment, and, in moments where I feel like I can own my accomplishments, yes - I can admit that I was.

Amazon Prime fuckin’ sucks at marketing its shows. Netflix also sucks, but at least once one of their shows becomes a hit, then they’ll put marketing dollars behind it (hi, Stranger Things). But Amazon Prime only really markets their shows when you’re already watching Amazon Prime, and even then it’ll be the seven millionth time you’ve seen the same promo for The Man In The High Castle. I’m not gonna watch that, Amazon!

For the last five months, and on and off for years, Summer Villa Assisted Living in Coventry, Rhode Island has had a bedbug problem. The Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) is aware of the problem, but regulations are such that there seems little that they can do. Some residents there are suffering, and some have been hospitalized. I spoke with a resident who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

Judge Engoron's Email There is so much going on today that it’s hard to stay on top of it all. So, I’ve got a rare afternoon newsletter for you. I’ll be back later tonight with an analysis of the Court of Appeals decision denying, as we expected, that former President Trump is entitled to immunity from all criminal prosecution. But I want to make sure we don’t miss the email Judge Engoron sent to counsel in the New York civil fraud case.

Someone once said to me, “Who gets to tell these stories?” during a discussion about personal narratives. It’s a question I ask myself often when I sit down to write and a story has found its way out of me, a story that makes me uncomfortable, one where I worry about its impact and who may feel wronged in me writing it. So who gets to tell these stories and how does language change the way we move through a story teeming to find its way out of us?

I see a dream that's lost Flo Ballard had the biggest voice in The Supremes. This was true literally and figuratively: She had a regal, passionate presence that could reach the back pew of a church, and had been the group’s leader since they started playing small shows around Detroit as The Primettes. Mary Wilson, meanwhile, had the complimentary skills to be jazzy or bluesy or whatever the music called for, and the then Diane Ross had yet to turn her thin, reedy voice into an ideal pop commodity.