The Cats & Coffee Curated Content Series
Welcome to the October 2022 edition of my weekly Cats & Coffee’s Curated Content Series! This series features weekly short-form content round-ups of articles, videos, podcasts, and Instagram accounts that inspire and entertain me or make me think. In short, I find content that is worth your time so you don’t have to! This month’s Curated Content Series highlights include Lizzo playing a historic crystal flute, drama surrounding The Try Guys, and jaw dropping renaissance celebrity art!
Favorite Finds of the Month
Cats & Coffee’s Curated Content Series: October 26, 2022
Article: How “House of the Dragon” Won the Prequel War, Kyle Chayka for The New Yorker
Against the odds, HBO showrunners made more than reheated “Game of Thrones” leftovers.
I hadn’t planned on watching House of the Dragon, really. In fact, I only started the show once the season was half over (although, this wasn’t so bad, because I binged at least 4 episodes and avoided cliffhangers). However, I have to say, I’m totally hooked and I totally do NOT want to wait two years for the next season. If you haven’t seen the season finale yet, you’re definitely going to want to block off some uninterrupted time to watch.
Photo Credit: HBO via The New Yorker
In his article for The New Yorker, Kyle Chayka discusses HBO’s success in expanding their hit Game of Thrones after a disappointing ending. “To my own surprise,” he writes, “I was back to appointment viewing, next-day debriefs, and scattershot plotline predictions ahead of the finale on Sunday.” I have to say, I felt the same. House of the Dragon feels almost like a history drama, rather than pure fantasy, and the well-developed characters really keep the viewer’s attention. This is no small thing, and it is something that other prequel series and films have failed to do.
Read How “House of the Dragon” Won the Prequel War by Kyle Chayka for The New Yorker here.
P.S. if you’ve seen the full first season by now, I highly recommend this round up of Reddit House of the Dragon jokes. Similarly, this article about thoughts we all had during the finale is also a good read.
YouTube Video: Inside Jane Austen’s House With Lucy Worsley | History Hit
I love a good Lucy Worsley history production, so I was quick to watch this History Hit video when it came up on my home page. Lucy Worsley, a devotee of Austen, discusses the author’s worldview from a small cottage where Austen spent the latter portion of her life. It is an intimate look into how Austen navigated society and complex family relations while writing some of the most well-known and loved novels in the British canon.
P.S. if you found this video interesting, you’re going to love Worsley’s biography on the author, “Jane Austen at Home.” The Jane Austen biography is available on Amazon and from Bookshop.org here.
Instagram Account: @lifeinlit
Continuing with an unintended literary theme, I wanted to share a new bookstagram I came across recently, @lifeinlit. Another explore page find, @lifeinlit offers beautiful book flat lay images, cozy coffee photos, and plenty of great book recommendations to fill your TBR pile!
The content creator behind the account, Lisa, describes herself as “a bookend with a passion for reading, reviewing, and taking photos of beautiful books to share with the world.” In that, I’d say she certainly succeeds. Pretty much every photo she shares makes me want to abandon whatever work I have in front of me, make a nice cup of coffee or tea, and tackle a new favorite read!
Give Lisa a follow on Instagram here for plenty of gorgeous bookstagram content! Don’t forget to check out her link in bio for book promos and other goodies you may enjoy.
Cats & Coffee’s Curated Content Series: October 19, 2022
Article: What You Need to Know About Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan, Ron Lieber and Tara Siegel Bernard for The New York Times
The Biden administration has rolled out the application for student loan forgiveness (the student loan forgiveness website can be found here). This FAQ post from The New York Times covers a variety of useful topics relating to student loans, including when to expect the forgiveness to start and how to be sure the loan cancellation has really happened.
Basically, there are a lot of factors that are still up in the air around this program. With the sheer number of Americans who should qualify for some amount of forgiveness, it’s not surprising that a lot of the answers here are basically “we’re not sure yet.” However, I hope pursuing the article helps you plan!
YouTube: 53. Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack | The Always Sunny Podcast
I’m a big fan of The Always Sunny Podcast, and I’ve shared episodes from it before. This latest episode was too on-the-nose for frustrating car trouble situations, though, to pass up. Anyone who has dealt with frustrating technology troubleshooting or car issues that have left you stranded will understand Glenn Howerton’s dilemma with his car, even if it is all part of a rich guy moment of zen.
Instagram Account: @jag.ink
Jillian Goeler, the artist behind the @jag.ink Instagram account, creates some amazing colorful digital art. From still life scenes to quote images, Jillian’s work really comes to life on the screen. Jillian started JAG Ink Studio as a post-college, unemployment hobby in 2016. Since then, she has developed a portfolio of happy, relatable, and whimsical designs centered on her favorite things.
Jillian’s interests ranging from retro typography to musical theater, pop culture to dogs, and more. One of my favorite pop culture pieces by Jillian are the amazing Schitt’s Creek maps (pictured above) featured in the Best Wishes, Warmest Regards book about the series!
Give Jillian’s JAG Ink Studios a follow on Instagram here. You can learn more about her work by visiting her portfolio website here, as well as her dedicated JAG Ink Studios shop here!
Cats & Coffee’s Curated Content Series: October 12, 2022
Article: The 53 Most Beautiful Streets in the World, by Nick Mafi, Jessica Cherner, and Katherine McLaughlin for Architectural Digest
From San Francisco to Buenos Aires, these spectacular roads are worth traveling to see
For some reason, I’ve been feeling the travel bug a bit lately. It’s probably all because I can’t really plan a trip at the moment, since I accidentally let my passport expire and have to wait to get it renewed (also, buying a house costs lots of money so there’s that, too…). Anyway, my point is that this Architectural Digest article has only deepened that wanderlust.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Artur Synenko
Complete with beautiful photos, this round up guide features 53 gorgeous streets you’ll want to add to your travel bucket list. Montmartre was the first to really catch my eye, but I definitely have to add a bunch of the listed locations to my dream travel list, like Zrinyi Utca Street in Budapest pictured above!
Read The 53 Most Beautiful Streets in the World on Architectural Digest’s website here.
YouTube Video: House Of The Dragon’s Emma D’Arcy & Olivia Cooke On Learning High Valyrian And Meeting Matt Smith | Elle
After feeling let down by the end of Game of Thrones, I was hesitant to get into House of the Dragon. However, once I started the series, I was hooked. This video features the elder actors of the two protagonists, Rhaenyra and Alicent, answering questions designed to get to know them better. All in all, a fun insight into the series!
Instagram Account: @momentsbyjemma
Focusing on simple living stories, Jemma of @momentsbyjemma creates beautiful slow living imagery and videos that I have been loving lately. Instagram can be hectic and overwhelming, so I love to follow accounts like this to really create a calming, inspiring feed. Especially as we head into autumn, Jemma’s account is a great follow for slow living inspiration, as well as general feel-good content.
I’m a sucker for flowers, and Jemma shares floral photography and videography beautifully. From aesthetic reels to bouquet inspiration, I always love seeing the pops of color she captures in her posts.
Give Jemma a follow on Instagram here to add a bit of slow living beauty to your IG feed. You can learn more about Jemma, and see more of her photography profile as well as her current creator offerings on her website here.
Cats & Coffee’s Curated Content Series: October 5, 2022
Article: Lizzo Played a 200-Year-Old Glass Flute Given to James Madison, Molly Enking for the Smithsonian Magazine
The Library of Congress invited the musician, a classically trained flutist, to play the instrument at her concert this week
By now, you probably have seen an article or two about Lizzo playing a 200 year old crystal flute in Washington D.C. last week. In case you hadn’t, and since I saw her in concert the other week, I knew I wanted to share this article all about the musician’s visit to the Library of Congress.
Photo Credit: Shawn Miller / Library of Congress
After an informal invite on Twitter, Lizzo visited the Library of Congress to view and try out some of the historic flutes in the national library’s collection. One flute in particular, a crystal instrument gifted to James Madison in 1813, was even used in her DC concert!
There are a few videos available in the article describing the collaboration, along with more information about the flute itself.
YouTube Video: What happened. | The Try Guys
I wasn’t online much last week due to Hurricane Ian. When I was online, though, I was refreshing for more information about the scandal plaguing the Try Guys, some of my favorite YouTubers (and explaining, much like this, what was going on to friends who were seeing the drama unfold online). The group ousted their co-founder Ned Fulmer after it was revealed that he had been having an affair with an employee from the Try Guys company. Ned’s claim to fame in the group was as the self-proclaimed dad/wife guy. There are compilations online of him saying “my wife” and so on. So, unsurprisingly, the internet did not take him cheating on his wife, Ariel, well. It got a ton of coverage, too, including a write up from The New York Times.
Anyway, I digress. The Try Guys — now a trio — released a short video Monday night about what happened with Ned. It’s interesting from both a legal partnership/employment law/harassment standpoint, as well as from a more social standpoint. We’ll see what else, if anything, is said on the matter.
Instagram Account: @callmequeenofficial
To round out this pop-culture-heavy Curated Content Series, I recently came across @callmequeenofficial via the Explore page and am in continual awe of these portraits! Lena Sugralinova creates historical portraits of contemporary celebrities with incredible skill.
On her account, the artist shares details and progression videos of her work. Many are in a Renaissance style, but Lena embraces a variety of historical portraiture tropes to create amazing and uncanny art that is at once so recognizable and so striking. Her work is so nuanced that, simply scrolling through her feed, I’m sure you will recognize many — if not all — of the celebrities she paints just by the little icon images.
Give Lena a follow on her @callmequeenofficial IG for more amazing videos like the one above. She also has a personal account here that you might want to check out as well. Copies of Lena’s artwork are available on her website here.
Want more great finds like these?
Explore the September edition of my Curated Content Series for more great reads, listens, and Instagram accounts to follow.
