{"id":122089448,"date":"2023-05-19T12:31:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T12:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=122089448"},"modified":"2023-05-19T12:31:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T12:31:15","slug":"friday-links-tribute-to-departed-chicago-sky-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/?p=122089448","title":{"rendered":"Friday Links: Tribute To Departed Chicago Sky Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Just because his parents were born in Minnesaota didn’t mean Hawai’i wasn’t his.” – Kristiana Kahakauwila, “The Road To H\u0101na”<\/h2>

It\u2019s WNBA Opening Day! I love the WNBA\u2014the basketball aesthetics are off the charts, tickets are incredibly affordable for incredible seats, the league once swung the Senate math\u2014but I kinda follow it the same way I do baseball. That is, I go to at least 1-2 games a year, but don\u2019t pay attention until the playoffs. Summer is hard for paying attention to stuff. This year, though, I\u2019m going to watch more regular season WNBA. <\/p>

What I\u2019ve Been Reading This Week:<\/strong><\/p>

Man, what a banger of a short story collection this week. I\u2019ve wanted to get to this for a long time\u2014it was another I found in the sorting boxes of the used bookstore I used to work at\u2014and how worth the wait was it! I am talking, and this column is be-cover imaged by, This Is Paradise<\/em>, the 2013 collection from Kristiana Kahakauwila.<\/p>

\"This<\/figure>

There\u2019s a hard noir edge to these stories\u2014murder and cockfighting and raucously over-the-top lovers driving dangerously are just the first three stories\u2014with an added in-your-face colonialism and contrasting lushness of landscape. Those lovers, by the way, are discussing the intricacies of their relationship as Hawaii-born white man who is more Minnesotan than local and a Las Vegas-born Hawaiian woman who speaks of history in the present tense. Look, I love island literature of any kind, I love these stories rife with the tensions of how horribly people can behave in what is inarguably one of the true beautiful places of the world\u2014I love all that stuff, and this was my first time reading a full collection from a Hawaiian writer. <\/p>

(shoutout Melissa Llanes Brownlee<\/a>\u2014your book is supposed to have already arrived at my house and I\u2019m going to shout at a post office when I finish this column)<\/p>

Go read This Is Paradise<\/em> by Kristiana Kahakauwila. Maybe don\u2019t go to Hawaii\u2014apparently is really bad for the local ecosystem, the amount of tourism we do? But enjoy a Dole Whip. Read This Is Paradise<\/em>. It\u2019s really good. <\/p>

LINKS!<\/strong><\/p>

  • first a couple off-topic things\u2014a new The Line Break Podcast featuring the wonderful Maya Williams<\/a>\u2014fundraising for a new film by Michael Swaim and Abe Epperson<\/a> (formerly of Cracked<\/em>) about the time Michael\u2019s dad came out as a gay furry\u2014this incredible Amy Barnes flash fiction in <\/a>Five South<\/a><\/em>\u2014please go to local Chicago outlets for all of your Chonk turtle<\/a> needs\u2014please also go to my Twitter for Alligator snapping turtle<\/a> needs\u2014please also go to the Guy Who First Filmed The Chonk turtle\u2019s Twitter to remind you to plant native plants<\/a> in your community\u2014oh and his YouTube<\/a> is pretty good too\u2014okay it\u2019s Chicago Sky In Memorial time\u2014<\/p><\/li>

  • We begin our send-off the only way we can: with the Point Goddess, the stalwart, the steady hand of the Chicago Sky for the last decade-plus. My first WNBA game was when the Sky still had Elena Delle Donne, but what I remember most? Sloot\u2019s complete command of the game. Here\u2019s some kickass passing: <\/p>