Hello Hello! I am leaving for another trip today, squeezing one more in before I start school at the end of the month. I am currently writing this instead of packing, congrats to me. Here’s a recap of my week:
Things I Read
Books
Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane: Mhairi McFarlane is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. She writes British rom coms that are always really fun and lighthearted, and I’ve really enjoyed the ones that I’ve read. I thought this would be the same, so was not prepared for this to make me SOB. It is so emotional. Even though this is not what I was expecting, I really loved it. It’s about a woman named Eve who has had the same group of three best friends for years. Then something horrible happens, and Eve and her friends have to pick up the pieces. This was so good, really sad in the first half, but then really heartwarming in the second half. Very satisfying ending. I recommend!
Articles
What 9/11 Did to One Family: This article has been making its way around the internet, and it is excellent. It’s about a man named Bobby who died on 9/11, and what happened to his family afterwards. Well worth a read.
Don’t Piss off Trisha Paytas: Trisha Paytas is one of the most interesting people on the internet. They are somehow involved in every single instance of drama on the internet. They are *insanely* rich. If you asked me to describe the kind of content Trisha makes, I truly don’t think I would be able to. I thought this profile was fascinating, but I don’t think I’m any less confused about Trisha than I was before reading.
Jake Lacy’s Change of Pace: Have I convinced you to watch The White Lotus yet? I am so obsessed and very excited to see how it all will end tomorrow night. The entire cast is giving incredible performances, but Jake Lacy in particular is giving a standout performance as the Absolute Worst Man after he’s spent the rest of his career of playing nice guys. I thought this interview with him was really interesting.
Things I Watched
TV
Euphoria: I am two years late here, but it feels like season 2 is imminent so I finally watched this show this week. It is….so incredible. Oh my god. I *loved* this. I will say, it is dark and graphic and often very bleak. It needs a content warning for literally everything: drug addiction/overdose, sexual assault, abortion, violence, etc. But oh my god, this really sucked me in. Someone help these teens!!!!! They are going THROUGH IT. This entire cast is amazing. I am retroactively very happy Zendaya won that Emmy and also annoyed she was the only one to get nominated. The performances in this are just so good. The music in this show is also so good. GOOD TELEVISION. On HBO.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: I am once again writing about a show for children, I’m sorry. I watched the first season of this in one day last year, and it left my brain immediately. I remember thinking it was cute and there was a lot of High School Musical nostalgia involved. I tried to watch season 2, but I gave up halfway through. It’s not about High School Musical at all anymore, and also just very obviously a show for children. Free Olivia Rodrigo from this mess!
FBoy Island: This trashy dating show is so GOOD. If you like this type of television, you must watch this. This had me riveted. The general premise is that there are three women and 24 men. Half of the men are self-proclaimed “nice guys,” and the others are self-proclaimed “f boys.” The girls have to figure out who is who, and there is also money on the line. It’s a very dumb premise, but this is a very well-produced reality show. Nikki Glaser is the host, and she is so good at it. Highly recommend a binge. This is so much better than Too Hot to Handle. All episodes are out now on HBO.
Movies
The Year of Spectacular Men: This was so close to being good. It’s about a girl named Izzy who is fresh out of college, and it follows a year in her life as she dates around. This movie stars real life sisters Madelyn and Zoey Deutch, and also their mom, so this is a real nepotism movie. I think it’s a good premise, but I wanted this to be so much better than it was. It’s on Hulu if you want to watch it.
The Boy Downstairs: I liked this! This is an indie rom com that stars Zosia Mamet as Diana, a woman who moves back to Brooklyn after living abroad for a few years, and then she realizes that her ex-boyfriend lives in her new apartment building. I thought this was very cute, and I find that a small budget indie rom com like this usually feels very realistic. I’d recommend. On Hulu.
Pray Away: This is a new documentary about conversion therapy. I thought it was pretty good, but there wasn’t a whole lot of new information in here that I didn’t already know. It mainly told the story of Exodus International, which was one of the leading conversion therapy organizations until they renounced the practice and dissolved the organization in 2013. Obviously, this is organization was horrific and did so much damage to so many people. The documentary features interviews from people who were really high up in Exodus who have since renounced the work they did. On Netflix.
Things I Bought
American Eagle Linen Pants: I bought these because they were very on sale and they are super comfortable. I am prolonging my return to hard pants as long as possible/maybe forever
One Last Thing…
I have been really liking this podcast: Maintenance Phase. The two hosts, Michael Hobbs (also one of the hosts of You’re Wrong About) and Aubrey Gordon talk about different health and wellness topics and discuss how these fads spread, affect our culture, and are all just super harmful. I learn so much every episode. Recently, I’ve particularly enjoyed the episodes about BMI and the Keto Diet.
That’s it for me! I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily