PicoBlog

Prior to my recent trip to Athens, I received several recommendations regarding what cocktail bars I should go to. Most I’d heard of before: The Clumsies, Line, The Bar in Front of the Bar, Baba au Rum. The most valuable recommendation I got, however, was for a bar I had never heard anyone in the international bar industry mention. And it came from an unlikely source. “Rec #2” read the text message from Sean Kenyon.

Welcome to Workwear Month at 5 Things! Every Sunday this August we are tackling a work wardrobe category or conundrum. While I recognize jobs and dress codes are all different these days, many of you still follow certain “rules” when getting dressed for the office. And by office I mean…whenever you leave your house for a work related engagement. I think differently about my outfits when visiting a client, even if all I’m going to be doing is rummaging around in the back of their closets.

Valentine’s Day is historically not a great one for me (greatest hits include: apartment building fire, dad’s death, scary infection) but I insist on liking it because I love pink, hearts, sweets, and general silliness. And doesn't it feel a bit deliciously rebellious to love Valentine's Day, especially if you're usually single? It's never struck me as a particularly romantic affair, but I'm well aware that a barrage of targeted emails from florists and ads for prix fixe dinners-for-two could make anyone spiral into a puddle of fear over a flower-less fate.

As I’ve said many times before, I’m not a baker. I had friends contribute dessert recipes for my last book. But, oddly when I was sick last week all I wanted to do was bake something. I couldn’t stop thinking about thick chocolate brownies, sponge cakes heavy-handedly swiped with buttercream icing and fruit laden galettes. I’m also not a sweets person!? The whole thing was strange indeed. When I realized we had run out of eggs in the house, I knew whatever I decided to put in the oven would have to be without and while searching to scratch that itch, I stumbled upon my dear friend Ali Stafford’s recipe for Overnight, Refrigerator Focaccia.

Well, here we are folks! It’s National Coming Out Day and we’re at the height of one of the spookiest spooky seasons of all time (pandemics and crises of democracy are pretty terrifying). I can’t imagine a more appropriate moment to talk queer horror. Horror, at its best, has always been queer. According to Jay Jenkins, who is behind Valancourt Books, a small press that focuses on rediscovered out-of-print fiction including horror, this dates back to Gothic novels of the late 18th century.

I promised a change of pace from the Spooky Season blogs, so here we are. I will be posting a Spooky Season blog because I have to follow up on the V/H/S piece because a fifth installment was released yesterday, October 20th, that I didn't even know was coming out. Forgive me for not doing my research. Also quick announcement: 1 AM Media has joined Instagram. You can find me at @oneayemm .

Is there a children’s book series that you love – but which no-one else ever seems to have heard of? Something that you think should get way MORE attention than it does? For Megan Daley and Allison Tait, it’s the Miss Penny Dreadful series by the third member of #TeamYKNR, Allison Rushby. And, to celebrate the publication of MISS PENNY DREADFUL AND THE MERMAID’S LOCKS, the final book in this delightful series for readers 8+, we asked YKNR members to nominate their FAVOURITE UNDERRATED CHILDREN’S BOOK SERIES – and we made a list.

Good morning! I woke up today with determination and excitement. George Takei and his content team (which I head up) are launching our new big project today, which we’ve been working on for the last two months. I was going to skip my normal weekday post, but then I thought, “Why not write it and launch the new project! You got this, Jay!” Alas, the universe often laughs at such ambitions and finds a way to derail them.

The post you didn’t know you needed: a review of all the best matcha lattes in San Francisco. I was inspired after I googled “best matcha latte in SF,” and found that the most comprehensive post was from December 2018. SO much has changed since then! 2018 was the year Meghan married Harry, CBD became mainstream, women were allowed to start driving in Saudi Arabia, Black Panther was released, Queer Eye was rebooted on Netflix, and Banksy’s piece self destructed after it sold for $1.