Because you don’t stop liking things you loved; you just forget about ’em!

It’s Tuesday, but I thought I’d come out of my shell and report on what I’ve been consuming between righteously eating my meals and unhealthily burrowing through Twitter rabbit holes during this Reign-of-Terror, free-speech-impeding political climate!

I. On YouTube, cuz we know that’s most important (sometimes I’ll feature a Netflix pick as well):

Grackle: A young lady and former model named Grace takes you through days both ordinary and zany, whether’s its challenging herself to execute an episode’s worth of bakes a la Great British Bakeoff, following a “glow-up” tutorial from Wikihow, of all places, or just vlogging about her brother moving out of their home. I first started watching her in the beginning of 2020 but lost track of her up until now!

Forget tiring signature opening one-liners and lengthy intro montages set to inspiring stock music and pastel title cards. It’s not to say that she’s straight to the point– far from it; her conversational digressions hold up the very fabric of her videos. You’ll rarely find her seriously sitting down and facing the camera, confessional-style, to read off some astute reflection, except in bursts of rapid commentary inserted in from her editing self–not something many Youtubers do. It feels as though you start off casually tagging along with a friend, never knowing where you’ll end up.

Many fans commend Grace for embodying the original appeal of grassroots Youtube entertainers. I just hope that she never feels compelled to serve as some semblance of a role model or comedienne for viewers, because people like her as is–not to say that she’s not trying to put out good content with a signature style. Personally, I relish watching her food adventures, not just because she’s a skinny person with a healthy relationship with food, but because she doesn’t make a big deal out of it, food and eating being only one aspect of her channel. It’s rare to encounter a young adult, online or offline, who has the first clue how to cook properly yet avoid using that power to make it Instagram-perfect.

Here’s a videothat showcases the jumpy style typical of Grack in her second, even more laidback channel, Extra Grack. Everyone has a Youtube channel that soothes them, but I’ve always found it hard to find one. Nothing that smells scripted or otherwise well planned out can truly “soothe” me. But to watch someone go about a normal day without vying for Instagram perfection or alpha-female-influencer vibes–that’s the ticket.

II. In Music:

Here’s what my Discover Weekly looks like this week.

Since coming back from Japan I’ve been digging Carly Rae Jepsen’s Dedicated B-Sides, thanks to the recent episode of Switched On Pop in which the hosts finally meet her, their hero and initial reason for starting the podcast! Released one year after the main record, this collection is not quite as memorable, but it never hurts to get more CRJ, especially once you learn that she’s a songwriting machine and these are merely small glimpses of her vast repertoire.

Because I’ve listened to more Taylor Swift in the past year than I have my whole life, I couldn’t help but detect a little bit of Taylor in Carly’s voice. It’s a yearning, childlike soprano, but Carly Rae adds more style and sweetness that made me finally decide, after half a decade of bopping with her, that she was born to be a pop icon. Her voice and lyrics are what dreams are made of.