Wear, Watch, Want #74: The Soft, Icy Mockumentary Edition

Wear: TheraPearl Sports Pack with Strap

If you follow my Instagram stories, you’ll already know that I fell down the smallest steps you’ve ever seen and sprained my foot pretty badly. I just got Hero back to health, and I was so looking forward to walking him again, so I’m really dedicated to not letting this stupid swollen, bruised, painful foot get in my way. Luckily (not luckily) I broke my other foot years ago and the recovery process took years, so I know how to handle this injury: The ol’ trusty RICE method. I also know from previous scrapes and living with chronic pain that I hate icing any part of my body. It’s too cold, it doesn’t help enough for how much effort it takes (very little, as it happens), and it’s TOO COLD. Despite my hatred for icing injuries, I knew that I really ate shit coming down those steps and I needed to give myself a little TLC. The TheraPearl Sports Pack with Strap is the perfect solution for me. It, shockingly, isn’'t too cold for my delicate disposition. It is the perfect size to lay against the side/top of my foot AND it is held in place with the handy strap. My method is to lay the ice pack across the outer side/top of my foot, then put the strap around my heel and attach it on the top of my foot. It stays put even though every time I’m icing Hero comes up and bounces all over me, bringing me toys and knocking into every, even non-injured, limb. Also, it retains the cold well, doesn’t sweat or leak, and costs $10.

Watch: American Vandal

I don’t feel the slightest twinge of doubt when I say that American Vandal is one of the best things Netflix has ever produced. I wasn’t sure what I was in for when I watched the first season last year, and I was absolutely blown away by the wit and (surprisingly for a show with the tagline, “Who drew the dicks?” charm of this show. A mockumentary in the style of myriad crime docs like Netflix’s own Making a Murderer, American Vandal follows a duo of amateur teen documentarians as they try to unravel their school’s mysterious spray-painted penis scandal. If you’re thinking American Vandal sounds one-note and sophomoric, you’re kind of right and kind of wrong. Every episode of the first season is a penis pun, and watching numerous people talk in a deadpan tone about penis graffiti IS stupid-funny. But where American Vandal subverts expectations is with the elaborate plot twists and devious, delightful attention to detail. I could wax poetic for an hour about the character names alone. The fictional world of American Vandal is so realistic, while also being farcical, that it serves as a masterclass in storytelling.

Where, me and my fellow Vandal-fanatics wondered, was this show headed for season 2? In an act both surprising and completely expected from such a superb group of storytellers, American Vandal season 2 surpassed expectation and even its own first season.

The second season’s first task was to establish context. The kids making the documentary talk about how their crime series got lots of attention, and was even picked up by Netflix. The comparison between the quality of their “original” doc and the version produced by Netflix is genius. The boys are then contacted by a girl who attends a chichi Catholic private school in Bellevue, Washington. She needs their help. The TurdBurglar has struck.

Just a little aside that when American Vandal’s first season, set in Oceanside, CA aired, I was living in southern California, and when the second Bellevue-set season aired I was living in Seattle. Such is my commitment to this show, I guess.

Want: Zara Soft Scarf

Before I left LA to move to the Pacific Northwest, I was in Zara and tried on this great scarf. I wore it around the store, marveled at how soft it was, and then didn’t buy it. I have regretted it so many times since then. It’s only September and I’ve already had multiple scarf wearing opportunities (I absolutely love living in a place with seasons again), and the amount of times I’ve thought: “That Zara scarf would be just the thing” is shocking. Why didn’t I buy it when I had the chance?? Well, I’m going to remedy that. This scarf is super long and therefore incredibly versatile. Wrap it four times around your neck! Use it as a blanket in a cold movie theater! Ball it up and use it as a pillow on airplanes! The possibilities are endless. I may need two colors.