If you’re new here after any of our March guests, welcome to Perfectly Imperfect. We’re a newsletter that shares a taste of someone’s taste twice a week, and once a month we (the editors) like to share some recommendations of our own.

If you’re been subscribed for a while you've probably noticed that there are no recommendations from Serey this month. Don’t worry, we’re all still best buds, there are no hard feelings! Serey is just pulling back from Perfectly Imperfect since it’s difficult to balance with his full-time job. I’m sure there will still be some surprise appearances from him here and there, but it’ll mostly be Alex and I moving forward.

Love u Serey, thanks for all the recs 💙

Without further ado

Tyler Bainbridge (instagram, twitter, website)

💊 The “Anytime You Drink” Vitamin

Madeline assured me that these actually work and I think I can actually cosign that. I do think that part of paying $60 for Vitamins is that you’re kinda incentivized to believe it’s doing something…but at $2.95 a serving it’s really not that much more to add to your hangover expenses (coffee, a greasy breakfast sandwich, etc). So take two of these right before bed and wake up feeling slightly better. Why not.

👕 Vintage LL Bean V-Neck Sweaters

I love this sweater so much. It’s classic, warm, well made, comfy, and fits me perfectly. One of those special pieces that I wonder how I ever lived without.

🎵 Teenage Fanclub

It’s not like Teenage Fanclub are some tiny underground band, but you also never really hear people talking about them…so what’s up with that! I know I’m probably late to the party, but wow, they rule. I heard Everything Flows on WFMU and from there I listened through all of Bandwagonesque and Grand Prix. Now I’m totally hooked.

👍👍👍 Taking Care of Yourself (and going Hermit Mode)

If you live in a major metropolitan area it’s pretty easy to fall into a hedonistic cycle of drinking every night, eating out or ordering takeout all of the time, and letting FOFOMO (fear of FOMO) take over. So it’s important to pull back and take care of yourself. I’m not talking about some corny #SelfCare wine o’clock shit, I’m talking about drinking less, exercising, getting more sleep, eating healthier, “touching grass” as they say, and working on mental health, things like that. It really does make a difference. I feel a lot better just from a few weeks of going hermit-mode and taking care of my body.

📱 Honor Levy’s TikTok

If you think TikTok is just lame dances and cringe content for smooth brains… you’re probably just a bitter millennial making the transition to old head hater. There’s a ton of interesting stuff to find on TikTok, but Honor’s videos are truly in a league of their own. She makes these collages/compilations that are vaguely associated with pop culture, the internet, and Honor herself, but it’s the editing style, reference material, pitched up music, and eerie narration that make them so enthralling. It feels like a new art style in itself, much like Petra Cortright’s “VVEBCAM” from 2007.

🔪 Laguiole Steak Knives

I feel like a Popina shill because I’ve already brought them up on PI a few times, but what can I say, it’s one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants! Anyways, every time I’m there I think “Wow I like their knives. They’re mad colorful and super sharp. I should buy some.” and then instantly forget. But not this time. I took a picture of the logo and found a beautiful set on Etsy later that night.

🎵 Bladee & Ecco2k - Crest

I’m a Crest addict. I really can’t stop listening. Every time I reach for something else, even Teenage Fanclub, I just find myself craving those airy sugary synths, spirituality bars, and androgynous vocals. My favorite of 2022 so far.

📚 Sean Thor Conroe - Fuccboi

I don’t really follow the alt lit scene very closely. And I don’t really read in general. But the Fuccboi discourse piqued my curiously enough for me to check this out and…I loved it. Sean’s unique narrative style and humor, which I think people will either love or hate, sucked me in right away and I finished the whole thing in a few days. Very rare for me. Give it a shot and hear a fresh voice in lit.

👕 Los Angeles Apparel Casual Button Up Shirt

A regular ol’ shirt, that’s all this is. Just an extremely unassuming but high quality twill button up. I bought two, one in brown and one in white, and they’ve been getting some good mileage. I just wish LA Apparel would make more mens clothing because they really nail basics like this.

Alex Cushing (instagram, twitter, goodreads, moodboard)

🛠️ Metal Pegboard

As industrial as it is beautiful, who doesn’t want a big old metal pegboard on their wall. Hang your tools, your keys, sunglasses, hats, coats, anything. It’s like the black helmut mini, but not mini. This looks as cool in your office as it does in your dad’s garage.

🔖 🎀 Cute Magazine Racks

Magazines are key in the daily pursuit of being a well-read individual, up to date with the times, so make sure you have something cute to drop ‘em in. Whether you’re into the wavy look of the curva, the potato sack look of ferm’s herman, the simple rounded bed of the perch, or something else entirely, you shouldn’t be skimping on this. …Now to figure out what to do with my pile of newspapers.

☕🛸 An Assortment of Espresso Cups and Saucers from Places I’ve Never Been

So this is a weird thing I’ve started to do.
I feel like I’m never fully satisfied with my mugs and espresso / cappuccino cup situation. It’s either too design forward, or too quirky. My most recent solution has been finding random cool cafes in nooks of the world that I want to someday visit, and scouring their online stores for cups and saucers to buy.

🖋️ Midori MD Paper Notebook

A while ago, I recommended “Handwritten notes & diagrams“, which I fully stand by, but in that rec I linked a cheap little field notes book, which I’ve since graduated from. This MD notebook is the perfect solution to all handwriting endeavors. The spine is flat and stitched across (“~ Codex binding ~“) so every page lies flat while you write in it, and in the corner there’s a little tear-off edge so you can always easily go back to where you left off. The pages are a nice thick material and a beautiful cream color. I use it to sketch out ideas, plan my PI recs, keep a schedule, and jot down whatever’s on my mind.

📕 Winter’s Bone

What a beautiful prose, wow! I don’t usually gravitate towards this type of writing to be honest, it sometimes feels like it’s trying too hard - but Daniel Woodrell really perfects it, painting a relentlessly cold and gritty atmosphere. The general story is of a family struggling to survive in their Ozark home, with an infamous crank-cookin dad who’s skipped bail — putting their home and land at risk of being seized. The characters are dispicible, the season is frigid, and the story is brief but immensely impactful.

🎵🏄‍♂️ Surf Gang - SGV1

I really don’t even know who is in Surf Gang - I’m not sure anyone knows the entire roster. There’s frequent appearences from BabyxSosa, Bobainee, Moh Baretta, Polo Perks, and production from EvilGiane and TommyToHotty to name a couple. Surfgang is the first real posse rap group to make me care in years. The production is perfectly cloudy (think sli’merre) at some times and drain-gang-blingy at others. You’ll be farmiliar if you know any of their solo work. BabyxSosa shines on my 2 favorite songs - Cinderella and 24 hrs P2 (which gives me big Tierra Whack’s Whack World vibes).

🌂 Rains

Spring weather is finally arriving, which means a long awaited escape from hunkering down indoors, even if that means weathering the rain. I've recently found myself revisiting the brand Rains, which offers a diverse collection of weather resistent items at solid price points. They got you with bags for work or travel, jackets, and even big ol sneaks. A go-to of mine is their bucket hat, a classic look that comes in handy when the rain starts comin’.

🗺️ GeoDetective with GeoWizard

This guy gets pictures (often from subscribers) and locates them on google earth, using a bunch of misc context clues and google. I like to play along to see if I can beat him.

Follow Tyler and Alex on Instagram

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