Niecy Nash is Married and I'm SOBBING
Hump Day Motivation - Sept 2nd, 2020
Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts on their wedding day. Photo by Robert Ector
Welcome to the first-ever “Hump Day” Motivation edition of gangletown!
Hump Day editions are released every other Wednesday for paid subscribers *only* but this month they will be available to subscribers at all levels. If you love it and want more Hump Day Motivations in the future, smash that subscribe button.
Why do we need hump day motivation? Because it’s 2020 dammit. It’s no secret that our world is divisive and weird and hard and sad and scary. Sometimes we need a little light. In fact, I think we need more than just a little light…we could move onto the forking sun and still increase the wattage!
Even if only for a moment at a time, bits of positivity are croosh. I’m not a doctor, but positive things help the heart, the head, and naughty bits function optimally. So that’s what we do on Hump Day in gangletown. We focus on the positive.
Here are some of the things that are lighting me up this week. I hope you love them.
1. The intersection of wholesome and thirsty content.
Let’s be real - it wouldn’t be hump day without a little thirst. If there is one guarantee I can offer about gangletown’s Hump Day editions, it is that there will be thirst. And today’s thirst is…confusing.
Channing Tatum has somehow reinvented the thirst trap by making it like…cute? And wholesome? But still hot? But still hot.
Check out this photo he posted:
So, dear museum attendees, in this exhibit we have what is often considered a ‘heartthrob’ of a white man giving us a serious jawline flex, Arms with a capital A, and a casual half-nip slip from his Pollock-inspire apron! Notice the use of color and composition. The shadows. The soft round shapes of the muscles. And also additionally as well please notice that he is doing all this while he enjoys reading a children’s book jacket (…where is the book?) amidst a bevy of stuffed unicorns, Hello Kittys, fairy wings, and other such delightful paraphernalia of the youth spirit.
The brain breaks. What. is. happening!? This are supposed be hot man for swooning purpose. But cute animal pink flowers happy joyfulness are happening at same?
So. After the initial shock of this photo in and of itself, it becomes clear that Channing Tatum has written a children’s book. For his daughter. Which is adorable and wholesome and sweet. With the photo, he explains: “I don’t know about you but things got a little weird for me in quarantine. I locked myself in my daughter’s room & found my inner child. So this is what I created for my little girl. From what is, I guess, the little girl in me. Thx for reading. #Sparkella”
Ugh, Cute.
Obviously Channing Tatum is a marketing mastermind because I have been caught in the trap. I’m over here ready to buy this book and I don’t even have a child. I don’t even like children all that much. How did he do this to me? Ooh and plus! It seems that he might also be a great parent. Which is rude and refreshing.
Congratulations, Channing Tatum! you are being awarded gangletown’s first-ever #DILFoftheWeek award! Thank you for the confusion and inspiration.
This is not an #ad but you can check out the book here.
2. Seeing friends succeed.
And be smart. And use their smarts for good.
Back in the day (read: 2009) I was immature and subconsciously believed that in order to great, I needed to “make it” on my own. I also thought that I needed to be the only one at the top in order for the success to matter. Gross right? Well, lots of journaling, coaching, Eckhart Tolle books, and slaps in the face from my best friend Courtney have helped me get out of that mindset. Now one of my favorite things in the whole world is seeing people I love thrive in their vybe. It doesn’t matter what they’re succeeding in, I just want them to kick ass.
Right now I’m thinking of my friend Ryan Haddad. Ryan is one of those rare artists that will change the game. No question. Honestly, he already has changed the game. He is a power-house of talent as an actor (you’ve probably seen him stealing scenes on The Politician) and writer and just this week American Theatre Magazine picked up his wonderful piece “The Disability Scorecard: Are You Doing a Panel, or Actually Doing Something?” which offers ways to center disabled artists and audiences in the theatre.
From the piece: “Why is this happening at a major theatrical institution? Why didn’t anybody with power stop this from happening? Why did the (invariably non-disabled) writer think this was okay?”
I’ve known Ryan for about five years as a co-worker and then as a friend. Though I am never surprised by his many successes and achievements, it fills me with all of the good-good delightful sparkly happy feelings to see his voice raised up in this way.
Whether you’re a theatre person or not, read the article and join me in celebrating a friend doing awesome work.
3. Niecy Nash got married.
And her new wife is an outrageously hot masc-presenting queer female musician named Jessica Betts. And oh my god they are so beautiful together!
When I saw this post going viral I…cried? Yeah, I cried. There were at least two heavy drops of saltwater that leaped from the lower lid of my eyes, careened down my cartoonish cheekbones, and nested in the calico bristles of a 4-day beard. And I’m not ashamed. I always cry at weddings. It was a case of the cries and I own it.
I’ll be honest, I did not know that I would cry at the mere sight of a picture of a wedding that I didn’t even attend or personally know the betrothed but what ya gonna do? Look. at. them!
Image description — User Niecy Nash @NiecyNash: “Mrs. Carol Denise Betts @jessicabettsmusic #LoveWins [photo by] @robertector” with photo of the newlywed couple in celebration.
And here is the best part. This is sort of a coming-out story! According to the Huffington Post, we didn’t really know that Niecy was queer before this. I assume this is in part because she had two cis-male husbands prior to marrying Betts. But listen. I argue otherwise. Have you seen Niecy Nash’s work? Her IMDB page is at least 1 billion credits long and those credits include but are not limited to Reno 911, Claws, Scream Queens, and Mrs. America. It’s a veritable litany of queer media. I guess we’re all at least a little surprised but you have to admit that the new Mrs. Betts has been rainbow-wrapped and glittering in plain sight for years.
The second best part of this announcement is the response from Twitter. Folx were rattled. The excitement from Niecy fans is palpable. Here are just a couple of the many many examples:
Image description — User Tim Murray @TMurray06: “The ONLY thing I love in this world more than Niecy Nash is gayness!!!! To combine them… !?!?!?!? Heaven to me!”
Image description — User Shantira Jackson @tira_tira_tira: Quote tweet of Niecy Nash’s announcement post with added text, “Niecy Nash being hot and having a hot wife is the only good thing that has happened to ME in 2020!”
Ugh. Is there anything better than people being inspired and joyful because of love? ANYTHING? I guess maybe love itself… Whatever stop arguing with me it’s all gorgeous.
Congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you for sharing your moment with the world. We’re all sobbing with joy for you.
4. Other creators.
Many of y’all in gangletown are new to the “newsletter” culture. Or maybe you’re already super into it? I don’t know there are already a lot of you. Either way, there are some amazing folx out there publishing every day/week/month and you should check them out!
Here are a few of the many (many) other publications I personally subscribe to on Substack.
“Future of Belonging” by Vanessa Mason - “this newsletter will explore the margins, fringes, and emergent to see how belonging is being redefined and renegotiated over the next decade as the traditional understanding, places and institutions fall apart.”
“Beauty IRL” by Darian Symoné Harvin - “a newsletter that covers beauty at the intersection of politics and pop culture through breaking news, trends, and personal experiences.”
“Nothing for the Group” by Lauren Halvorsen - “…the newsletter where one dramaturg rounds up one week in theatre news, reviews, and takes.”
And that’s it. Your Hump Day Motivation. A few delicious pearls of awesomeness to keep you moving through this week. Doesn’t it feel good? Do you feel over-the-hump? Do you need to look at Channing Tatum again? I think so. Go back and look and then come back here.
Okay back? Good. I’m proud of you. Happy Hump Day.
And if any of this has brought a smile to your heart, make sure you’re subscribed. The next Hump Day Motivation comes out in two weeks.
If you love gangletown, please share it with a friend. Follow & Tag me @DKimps on Twitter & Instagram.
