5/3/2023 - Half Baked
I wrote half of this newsletter a few days ago on Sunday and forgot to finish and send! So now here it is, both finished and sent:
Hello! I write to you today as a changed woman. The last time you heard from me, I was a 30-year-old who had never seen an episode of Taskmaster. And now…I’m 31! And I love Taskmaster!!!!!
Taskmaster
My love of Taskmaster came on extremely suddenly, but not at all surprisingly. I’ve always been loosely aware of the show’s existence, and regarded it with a level of distant bemusement. I kind of assumed I’d probably like it, but I felt no urgency or motivation to confirm that hunch. But then in the span of just a few weeks, both my best friend David and my boyfriend Phillip recommended it to me, and if those two don’t know my taste like the backs of their hands, then whomst does?
So I listened to what the universe was telling me. It was April 27 (you never forget an evening that changes your life) and I was coming down off a Birthday Week high. I needed something with a certain level of novelty, but nothing too challenging. So I pulled up the first episode of Taskmaster Series 1 on YouTube. I was almost instantly smitten! And smitten really is the exact right word for how I feel about this beautiful, charming, endearing, silly British show.
I’ll give you a v loose outline of how it works: the Taskmaster and his Assistant invent tasks, and five comedians try to complete them. Each episode is basically a clip show where we (along with the contestants and judges) watch footage of their attempts. Oh, you guys!! It’s so funny. I’m eating the episodes UP, flying through seasons, hooting, hollering, etc. Most of the tasks are simple: build a bridge that supports a potato, high five a 55-year-old. Some of them are more complex, like cooking a meal that contains one ingredient for every letter of the alphabet. The instructions are intentionally very brief, leaving a ton of room for (mis)interpretation and creativity.
It should not surprise you that I watched the first season (six 45-minute episodes) in one sitting on Thursday night, pausing only to make and eat a large bowl of spaghetti. I’ve now had to impose a rule to pace myself and consume it slower - I can watch more than one episode in a day, but there must be a break in between. No more finishing one ep and hitting play on the next. It should still not surprise you that I have also completed the second season (five episodes, very reasonably spread over Saturday through Monday).
Look, I’ve said enough. I think you should watch it! All of the full episodes are free on the Taskmaster YouTube channel. Click play to watch five grown adults eat as much watermelon as they can in one minute.
Cruise Ship Journalism
I will read any article written by any journalist about their time on any cruise ship. New to the genre this month is '“I Really Didn’t Want to Go,” by Lauren Oyler about the Goop cruise. Some other classics, which I’ve almost certainly linked in this newsletter before:
Max Silvestri on the Top Chef cruise
Caity Weaver on the Paula Deen cruise
Shannon Keating on a lesbian cruise
Treats
Here are some things I bought myself for my birthday:
Van Leeuwen’s Marionberry Cheesecake ice cream
Essie quick dry nail polish, in shade IRL
I’ve gotten three compliments on this in public already, the best present one can buy themselves
Sharpie S-note Dual Tip Highlighters
And here are some things that other people bought me for my birthday:
Jasmine fragrance from Demeter, book of American Girl minute mysteries
Two-tier vegetable steamer (in which I have made broccoli and rice so far)
Taurus candle (green fig and rosemary!) and Hawaiian Sophie pineapple beer
Oh also David made me a personalized crossword puzzle, which like…no one is ever going to beat that.
I’ll see you again on Sunday for another issue of Reply Ali! In the meantime, I send you all of my love. <3