"Opossum makes it sound like he's Irish or something"

I spent this afternoon catching up on articles I'd marked "to read" since the start of the year -- and thought it might be nice to share some of my favorites!

Here's the Best Of what I read today:

• February 2 marked four years since the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of my all-time favorite actors. Today, I read this Jason Bailey piece from February 3, 2014 about "remembering (and reconciling)" his brilliance. It does a great job of reflecting on why his death hurt so much then -- and still does now.
• GQ, as usual, is killing it with the profiles and features. I really enjoyed this one by Michael Paterniti about Jimmy Kimmel and his constant mission to make people laugh and recent mission to cry less on TV; this one by Anna Peele that proves that in addition to wanting to marry Tim Riggins, I also want to marry Taylor Kitsch; and the latest by Caity Weaver about a Super Bowl scavenger hunt that involved improvised black magic. 
• This piece by Hazel Cills about the mid-to-late-'00s trend of pop stars + purity rings -- and the conservative politics behind it -- is FASCINATING. Especially if you, like me, are a casualty of the psychological warfare of abstinence-only education.
• If you love Breaking Bad as much as I do, you'll also dig this discussion between Maureen Ryan and the BrBa writers in honor of the show's tenth anniversary. Caution: contains tons of spoilers!
• And finally, this New York Times piece by Sarah Maslin Nir about a Brooklyn man who lets homeless men stay below his bodega will remind you that while the world may seem bad, people are usually pretty good. Fair warning though: there's a picture of a Christmas tree that will break your heart.

Happy reading!