Five Things: July 6

Welcome to the latest Five Things! I hope you've been staying cool in the heat and enjoying (or at least surviving) all the fireworks. Let's get to it.

Tomodachi Life videos by jillyeon

I had not heard of the Twitch streamer jillyeon before watching “making a normal and chill island in Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream” with my cousin and his partner, but this video turned me into a fan. I cackled as she created a Tomodachi Life island with residents like Pope Leo (who can float instead of walk) and a personification of the Twitch chat. It also made me want to play Tomodachi Life myself… anyone want to be a patron of the arts and buy me a Switch?

Apples to apples from Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe

If you ever find yourself in Springfield, MO, make sure to check out Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe. In addition to offerings like burgers and sandwiches, they serve – wait for it – breakfast all day, all in an extremely cute building downtown.

Today I want to highlight a drink I had during my June visit that I’m still thinking about. I was ready to order a plain ol’ mimosa with my dinner but changed my mind at the last minute and opted for this apple juice/pear vodka combination. I’m so glad I made the switch; the apple and the pear blended really nicely. I’m ready to travel hundreds of miles to get another.

Chloe the sloth

Meanwhile up north, if you ever find yourself in Saint Paul, MN, you should visit Como Zoo and Conservatory. It’s a beautiful place to check out ferns, orchids, and other plants. Two of their sloths recently had a baby and Kimberlite and I went to observe the cuteness for ourselves. We got a little confused and ended up not seeing the baby (it turns out there are two sloth exhibits), but we had a great time with Chloe at the conservatory.

She was sleeping when we approached (as sloths do for 15-20 hours a day), but once we found a place to observe she woke up, climbed a branch to another tree at a surprisingly quick speed (for a sloth), and settled in to go back to sleep. I've visited Chloe before, but I'd never seen her while she was awake. It was really special to watch her in action and get a good look at her face; I love how smiley she looks.

Bracket City

Playing every New York Times word game is a crucial part of my daily routine. I'm always looking for a novel game though, and I found this with The Atlantic's Bracket City.

The game presents a historical event of the day obscured by clues in brackets. You must correctly guess what the bracket is trying to say (for example, “spheroid hairdo” is a "bun"). Once one bracket is guessed, the word/syllable/letter becomes part of a new bracket ("bun" could become part of "Bunny Foo Foo’s conscience," and you would then guess "fairy"). As each bracket collapses into a larger bracket, you eventually reveal the event. It works a different part of my brain than the NYT games, and now I look forward to seeing what Bracket City has to offer each day.

Girls Like Girls (the movie)

In 2016, Hayley Kiyoko released the song “Girls Like Girls” and an accompanying music video (a bombshell event for me and my friend group). In the decade since, Hayley has been writing and directing a feature film based on the music video, and it came out a few weeks ago. The movie is set in rural Oregon in 2006 and depicts the blossoming romance between high school seniors Coley and Sonya. Coley is new in town and the pretty and popular Sonya catches her eye. Will Coley and Sonya be able to accept their sexualities and admit their love for each other? Watch Girls Like Girls to find out.

I give the movie itself 3ish stars. My biggest critique is that it could use more editing; the scenes depicting the “will they won’t they” tension get repetitive. But it’s a sweet story, a respectable directorial debut, and I'm happy that today's young sapphic audiences can have this representation. Check it out when it hits streaming, and be sure to watch through the credits! Apparently there’s a key end-credits scene that I missed, and I don’t want you to make my mistake.