Wear, Watch, Want #185: The Discounted Dead Braid Edition

Wear: Injinji Socks

I wrote about Injinji socks already, first here, then here and here. I LOVE them. I got them initially for wearing while I rode my stationary bike, but then I realized they’re great to wear on walks, so now I wear them any time I’m exercising. Once you separate your toes and can actually use them, you can’t go back to regular socks. It’s mittens vs gloves, really. Both have their place, but only one allows for full dexterity.

The thing about Injinji socks, though, is that they’re not cheap. If you take care of them (wash cold, lay flat to dry) they will last, but it’s a big initial investment, particularly if you buy all your socks from like, Nordstrom Rack (like I do). I try to find them on sale, but that has led to me having a weird collection of highlighter colored socks, and I ended up rationing my two pairs of grey/black socks for when I’d be out and about and didn’t want neon socks peeking over my shoes. I was ready to just BUY the ones I LIKE so I wouldn’t have to do elaborate sock math to figure out which ones to wear, but then I remembered my mom lives in a city with a Sierra Trading Post (TJ Maxx for outdoorsy stuff), and I have seen Injinji brand there before. I was visiting my mom this week, and I stopped in, just to check, and they had SO MANY PAIRS. They said full price was $10 and they were marked down to $5.99, but I found the exact socks I bought at Sierra on the Injinji site and they sell for $15. Even on Backcountry, where they’re on sale, these socks are $12 a pair. Naturally, I bought four pairs. And then I went back and got more.

Watch: Buried by the Bernards

Do you remember early aughts MTV reality shows? I’m talking Rich Girls (my personal fave), Meet the Barkers, Run’s House, Newlyweds, and the superior The Ashlee Simpson Show. I LOVED this era of TV. It was extremely contrived and conflicts never seemed like actual problems, and you could just let a half hour of tv wash over you like a wave on Laguna Beach. It’s a bygone era, or so I thought, until I watched Netflix’s Buried by the Bernards.

Buried by the Bernards IS early-aughts MTV reality, but without all the commercials for ringtones and Proactiv. The show follows the Bernards, who own a funeral home in Memphis, complete with a drive-thru for viewings. It’s a multi-generational family business, that yes, deals with dead bodies, but somehow the whole death aspect is tertiary AT BEST. Nothing is dwelled on, really. It’s just carefree reality TV, like we had in the old days (2003).

R Bernard Funeral Home rose to fame because of their commercials, and an angel has put a compilation of them on YouTube:

Want: Braid Skills

It’s been over a year since I got a haircut, and my hair is LONG. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get it out of my WAY, and I decided to try braiding it. Turns out, braiding with any kind of skill takes practice. So I’ve been practicing, watching TikTok and YouTube tutorials, and practicing some more. It’s a work in progress!