On weekends in springtime, when the warmer weather has yet to click into place, relaxing can be hard. It’s sunny, but for how long? Don’t ask questions, just get out there and get into it. The day is a wave and you need to catch it. The wools and downs, winter’s armor, are useless today. Today, when you’ll learn to get dressed again. The same thing every year, but every year it’s still a jolt.
Don’t overthink it. Here’s some music to help.
The playlist, a collaborative effort by readers of The Morning, is a big sprawling thing. It has more than 1,000 songs that have been bringing readers joy lately, more than 1,000 tracks that are “that song” for someone — the one they put on when they want to feel up, to feel better, to set the stage for a good day or to turn their mood around.
The mix is multifarious, unpredictable, full of old favorites and new stuff you might love or might skip. Jimi Hendrix. Harry Styles. Bob Seger. De La Soul. The National. The Little River Band. Wet Leg. More than one Chumbawamba song. We weren’t able to include every song submitted, but at over 24 hours, the playlist is more than long enough to provide a soundtrack for your entire spring. Put it on while you’re making breakfast, while you’re running errands, while you’re on a long drive.
The other evening, I got a meeting time wrong and arrived an hour early. I sat down in the sun. How long had it been since I found myself with a totally unscheduled hour in a strange place? I challenged myself to just sit and look, to resist the impulse to catch up on emails or distract myself with texting. The sun started to set, it got chilly, I didn’t have a jacket. I stayed outside anyway, appreciating that evening chill that is winter saying it’s not done with us yet.
CULTURE CALENDAR
🎬 “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” (Friday): A key text for many an adolescent girl is finally making it to the big screen after more than a half-century. But as Judy Blume herself admits, sometimes things are worth the wait. (A new documentary, “Judy Blume Forever,” is also streaming on Amazon Video.)
📺 “Perry Mason” (Monday): It has brought me joy to see Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys — one of my favorite on- and off-screen married couples — back on television after the finale of their great show “The Americans” five years ago. Russell plays the U.S. ambassador to Britain in the new Netflix series “The Diplomat.” And Rhys will end his second season in this reboot of the strong, but still under the radar, reboot of the classic TV legal drama.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
It’s my birthday this week, so why not bake me a cake? Just kidding! But if you are on the lookout for the perfect yellow sheet cake with chocolate frosting, you can’t go wrong with Erin Jeanne McDowell’s recipe. I especially love the frosting, which somehow manages to be both deeply chocolaty and light. If you’d prefer a more classic layer cake, you can bake the batter in two 8-inch pans, and start checking them after 25 minutes. You can even bake and frost this cake a day ahead. Just store it in the fridge until ready to serve. It’s excellent both cold and at room temperature.
ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER
Deep-cleaning dust
If the spring bloom gives you watery eyes, itchy skin or other seasonal allergy symptoms, a canister vacuum may bring some relief at home. Of all the options Wirecutter experts have tested, Miele’s — with tightly sealing bags and high-quality filters — were the strongest, deepest-cleaning and most reliable. If you suffer from particularly bad allergies or asthma, you can add a HEPA filter. Mine even helped capture dust mites that gave my daughter eczema. A relief for all. — Christine Cyr Clisset
For step-by-step advice on how to keep your home squeaky clean, sign up for Wirecutter’s Clean Everything newsletter.
GAME OF THE WEEKEND
Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors, N.B.A. Playoffs: The Kings are in the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, while the Warriors’ stars — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green — have won four titles together. But the youthful Kings dominated the aging Warriors for the first two games. The Warriors won Game 3, thanks to Curry’s 36 points. Game 4 is crucial: If the Warriors lose, they face an elimination game on the road, where they have been dreadful all season. 3:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow on ABC.
