PLATESLAM 2024 cometh
A blessed Thanksgiving to all! I decided to cook some dishes ahead of time this year, and what an immediate mistake. Not just because the temptation to eat it all is overwhelming, but because the things you cook ahead are like, the pie and the mashed potatoes, and why bother with anything else?
This is a brief newsletter just to give you a few links to read in case you are bored through the weekend.
I’m also here to let you know that we have dates for the fourth annual PLATESLAM!: December 13, 14, and 15 (Friday-Sunday).
If you don’t know PLATESLAM, it is a virtual event for the members of the She’s A Beast community to do what I call “freeform PRs,” wherever you are: the most overhead press reps you’ve ever done; a one-armed Steinborn squat (CAREFULLY!); a zero-gravity deadlift, should you find yourself with access to the relevant aircraft. You can prepare as little or as much as you want, and then you do your PR, and you post video of it for all your friends to see. If you think it’s a PR, I do too. It’s like a powerlifting meet with way fewer rules. You can read more about the ins and outs here.
Casey Johnston
Here is my PLATESLAM PR from last year:
Because I’m in a period of life known as “the birth-giving rundown,” PLATESLAM will be a little lower-key this year: I won’t be available to monitor social media hashtags and repost your PRs and create recaps. However, I still invite you to post your PLATESLAM PRs on December 13/14/15 with the hashtag #PLATESLAM2024 (a PR is an incredibly cool thing regardless of its purtported reason). If you are a paid subscriber and disinclined to post to social media, we also have a #plateslam2024 room in the Liftcord where we have many members posting their videos and cheering each other on for all three days! You can join the Liftcord with the links provided here to soak up the good vibes.
Don’t forget: PLATESLAM, DECEMBER 13, 14, AND 15! #plateslam2024
And now onto the links:
Are you a “cycle breaker,” or just a grown-up?
Are online sportsbooks a bubble? (I extremely doubt it; something that costs almost nothing to run and where the advantage is all to the house is going to be juuust fine, and it was bonkers to ever legalize it.)
How Mondragon became the world’s largest worker-owned co-op.
Earlier this year we passed the 20 year anniversary of Salad Fingers, long may he and Hubert Cumberdale reign. Children today know nothing of weird Internet.
Why Japanese fiction is booming.
If you’re ever afraid of giving up social media because you won’t find out about stuff, I promise that won’t happen; in fact, you get to know about only the wheat and don’t have to sort the chaff yourself. Perfect example: Here is “scary hour,” from TikTok, where you set aside time to blast through the tasks you’ve been putting off. Nice idea! No need to scroll to understand it and then do it.
An interview between two absolute faves of this publication, Jenny Odell of How to Do Nothing and Saving Time, and Robin Wall Kimmerer of Braiding Sweetgrass, about Kimmerer’s new book, The Serviceberry, which draws on nature to examine “a different kind of economy than what we’re used to–one where, instead of hoarding, it makes more sense to store your surplus ‘in the belly of your brother.’”
A very cute and enlightening “cub street diet” from Jia Tolentino in The Green Spoon.
That’s all! Once again wishing a holiday to all my US friends, enjoy the bounty of foods as only we can. If you are thankful for She's A Beast this year, consider following her at any of the places below, or especially, telling a friend! See you next week—
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