A Welcome Reminder of Happiness

I even turned it into a GIF. (Sort of.)

When I first received news about my grandmother’s passing, I listened to a lot of music to help me cope. The YouTube algorithm did me a solid by offering up a series of elegiac and comforting songs for hours on end.

I turned them into a playlist, but only one of those songs is a happy one. And when I say happy, it is the most purely exuberant performance that I have ever seen.

I’ve mentioned here before that I’m a big fan of R.E.M., and Michael Stipe is in this video too, and of course he’s great. But this is an ode to Natalie Merchant, and to all of us who one day hope to feel as she does on that stage.

I am *in love* with her joy.

If you’d like some context for the pair’s giddy performance of “To Sir with Love” and the 10,000 Maniac’s “Candy (Everybody Wants),” I share it in this footnote.¹ To know why they are so euphoric can feel like a gut punch when we are experiencing the opposite.

Even so, this gives me hope for a light at the end of the darkness — because that is what this performance literally is. It is just a brief moment in time before more not-good things happened, as they are wont to do. But it doesn’t negate the power of their joy; it only magnifies it.

Most of you won’t click the above video, which is fine (we’re all busy!). But I had to at least show you Natalie’s dancing because it makes me happy to see her so happy. I tried making a GIF, but instead it came out as a short clip:

Isn’t she radiant? I aspire to this level of total abandon when dancing. The word “luminous” gets frequently overused², but it definitively applies to Natalie.

Hopefully we will return to a time where are twirling exuberantly with our friends, beaming with wonder that something we had longed for has at last come true. Until then, it is nice to have this reminder of what can be.

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(Mostly) pop culture reading recs…

• Erin Carlson
  is the undisputed expert on all things romcom, so it was a blast to do this Q&A with her about romcoms and my new novel The Other Lata. Plus, if you’ve seen the new Bridget Jones³ movie, Erin has a wonderful write-up on why Bridget is an all-time movie heroine. (You’ve Got Mail)

• One more thing about Natalie Merchant: I am enamored with the velvet red dress with bell sleeves she wears above. It is very Gen X! I’ve actually been thinking a lot about 80s and 90s fashion lately, after reading

  Whatever Nevermind
  ’s insights on why these retro looks have become very trendy during awards season. (Whatever Nevermind)

• Over at

  Ministry of Pop Culture
  , we had a lot of fun discussing our first fictional crushes. Mine was Wesley from The Princess Bride. (Ministry of Pop Culture)

• I love

  Mark Blankenship
  ’s newsletter for reminding me of songs I had forgotten about, like the one-of-a-kind “Lucas With the Lid Off.” (The Long Songs Project)

• I’ll be honest: I tend to overuse the phrase “must read.” But not in this case. Your time will be well spent reading

  Sarah Thankam Mathews
  on the realities of our current moment, and how we can respond to and live through it. (thot pudding)

Thanks for reading! I hope you’ll have reason to dance with abandon this week.

My novels | My Instagram | My other newsletter, Ministry of Pop Culture

1. Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe were among the stars who performed at the 1993 MTV Inaugural Ball. After four years of this guy, and before that, eight years of this guy, those who voted for this guy were overjoyed to have a new president.

2. Especially in this context (IYKYK)

3. It’s so warm and lovely! As Erin says in her piece, even though gets wiser and mellower with age, she still retains her Bridget-ness. Controversial take: Even though I love Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy, I think the fourth movie is the best one of the series.