The Refinery29 editor details her quarantine routine
elcome to the Downtime Chilling Q&A, where talk to some of our favorite cultural writers about just about anything you can experience in your Jambys. Today we are talking with Morgan Baila, an editor and style writer at Refinery29.
What's your go-to Spotify playlist?
Lately it has been "Permanent Vacation" (on Apple Music, sry Spotify) since actual vacations aren't really a thing right now. But I also frequent a good amount of.. jam bands (a by-product of going to an SEC school and not liking football) so probably a some jam band playlist named like "Phish Deep Cuts" or something embarrassing.
What's the best new thing you've found streaming recently?
I like "White Lines" on Netflix for the very reason I listen to a playlist called Permanent Vacation: I wish I was at the beach. It's a murder mystery in Ibiza, but not too heavy, and my chiropractor recommended it. Music-wise, I can't stop listening to Chloe x Halle's "Ungodly Hour," specifically "ROYL" and "Forgive Me." They're the future of good music.
What's the best older show/movie you've picked up recently and loved?
I've been into legal thrillers recently after watching "Pelican Brief" when it was on Netflix (and probably from being frustrated and disgusted from watching the Epstein doc which saw no justice served). I watched Tom Cruise's "The Firm," Edward Norton's first role in "Primal Fear," and Ashley Judd in "Double Jeopardy." I feel comforted by the 90s'-ness of it all.
What's your favorite YouTube video that has less than 100,000 views?
it's not on youtube (YET!) but probably when my parents made landscape music videos to the Succession soundtrack during a roadtrip
What's your most watched movie of all time?
Pineapple Express....
What's a purchase you thought would change your life, but absolutely did not?
Any round of shots I've ever purchased while drunk.
Is there an organization or cause you're supporting right now that deserves more attention? If so, what is it and how does one get involved?
Atlanta Food Community Bank. They also work with schools to provide meals to students, which is more important than ever with the rise in unemployment and the ambiguous school schedules for fall 2020 due to covid.
You've got two hours to kill at home. What do you reach for?
My phone to go on Instagram knowing full well I'll get sucked into multiple rabbit holes.
What's been your most played song during quarantine, and why?
The Succession soundtrack. I like to work to it.
What's your favorite TikTok you've seen during quarantine?
I have a ton but I've probably showed this to the most people and then they like oh maybe TikTok is funny and for "old" people, too.
What's been your best quarantine purchase?
A standing desk and a Theragun. I have back problems and these two items help me stay comfortable while I'm working from an apartment in less-than-ideal sitting/standing situations.
What's the best thing you've read during quarantine?
What's the best thing I've read in the past 6 months?! An impossible question to answer my brain is literally mush, but this NYT story was very interesting and cool. I've also been thinking about this New Yorker story from last year a lot in the context of people trapped inside their homes with their demons, of whatever variety, and how it's really affecting mental health and drug dependency/addiction.
Have you developed a new hobby during quarantine? If so, what is it?
I think I've gotten to be a great at-home barista. Is bartista-ing a talent? I make a mean oat milk latte.
Are you working out at home? What's your go-to home quarantine workout strategy?
I am a member of The Class's digital studio. Their workouts require no weights, and are built off of repetition and fatiguing on muscle area at a time so I pick and choose what I want to work out. Mostly, I've been going on walks and stretching before and after work to break up the day.
What's the item of clothing (besides Jambys, of course), you've worn most during quarantine?
Probably my XXL Online Ceramics tie-dye t-shirt. I say probably but it's 100 percent what I've worn the most I'm just embarrassed how much I wear it.
What's your most-frequently made recipe?
Oat milk latte, but I add a bunch of spices and herbal supplements in the AM, and "Buddha" grain bowls with sautéed vegetables and homemade dressing in the PM.
What's the title of the Spotify playlist you're most ashamed of other people seeing you listen to?
My Sad Sculpture Playlist, which I made after I was learned that by Brad Pitt was sculpting to get over his divorce from Angelia Jolie. It is a bunch of sad songs that I think he would also like to listen to.
What's the book you recommend over and over?
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
You can re-watch one show for the first time again fresh. What is it and why?
Damages. it was the first show I ever binge-watched on Netflix and the story is told backwards, starting with a very tense moment that the whole season works up to reveal in a final twist. Glenn Close is terrifying and amazing
What do you drink when you're at home most often? (Can be alcoholic, non-alcoholic, or even vessel-specific, if you drink water out of the same massive cup or something)
Water out of my 64 oz. white Hydroflash or orange wine
What's your average screen time during quarantine? What app have you used the most, and why?
6 hours and 12 minutes, which is actually down 8% from last week. I use Music the most, because I've been going on long walks every AM and PM to start and end the at-home work day.
What's your favorite Reddit thread of all time?
Probably the time Robert Pattinson did a Reddit AMA for Good Time and someone asked "whats your life outside of acting?" and he said "sucks."
What's your recommendation for someone who always re-watches the Office and wants to try something new?
A. To get a life. B. Watch Succession.
What movie has aged the worst for you?
White Chicks, a movie which I know by heart for better or worse
What's your personality in your main groupchat?
Most sarcastic
What's your dream Jambys product?
I think very, very comfortable and thick socks are a good idea with winter on the horizon.
What's the high school English book you think is actually worth re-reading?
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
What's your dream Jambys color?
Is tie-dye basic?
Add / answer your own question. What's something else you're thinking about or engaging with?
I'm thinking about ways I can continue to give back to communities that need our money, our voices, and our passion throughout the year and not just times of extreme social unrest. I'm thinking about my new apartment buildings extremely lit Whats App group. I also am thinking about my 2021 wedding calendar and am very stressed - maybe I will just wear Jambys.
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