Bullet Points, September 2023
I'm not an expert on #influencing, but that won't stop me from trying. A roundup of my reading, listening, purchasing & vibing for the month of September.
Things to read:1
Listening to Taylor Swift in Prison (The New Yorker) made me feel very verklempt.
From Friends to Lovers: The Fanfic-to-Romance Pipeline Goes Mainstream (Vulture) covers the astronomical uptick in Reylo (the ship name for Rey & Kylo Ren, of the newest Star Wars trilogy) fanfics being barely restructured for mainstream romance– I’ve picked up many a popular contemporary romance just to say to myself halfway through “Is this fucking Reylo again?!”
American Girl’s AG Minis Stay Living in My Head Rent-Free (Architectural Digest)– I’m in my annual AG nostalgia phase and this unlocked a deep-seated memory I’d forgotten about. As a bonus, a number of AG catalogs have been digitized here so you can relive flipping through the pages and circling everything you wanted that your parents would never get.
I Wrote The Care and Keeping of You for Girls. This Wasn’t the Future I Imagined for Them. (Elle) The Care and Keeping of You was released 25 years ago and getting home from school one day to find the book waiting on your bed without a word from your mom is apparently a universal girlhood experience.
Analysis of a feud (Notebook) sums up some of my general thoughts about Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album, guts, while also delving into the Taylor of it all.
I Know What You Think of Me. (NY Times) This essay is my Roman Empire2. I think about it every day.
The Innovation Fetish and Slow Librarianship: What Librarians Can Learn from the Juicero.3 (In the Library with the Lead Pipe) I’ve often thought that libraries have been hellbent on innovating & being the first to do something new instead of focusing on what services patrons really need.
Capitalism still has me in a chokehold:
I’m restocking this moisturizer from Good Molecules, because my skin requires a “less is more,” extremely cautious approach…kind of like a feral cat.
These Dolce Vita boots, from TJ Maxx, got me a depressing zero compliments at work but I’ll validate myself. They’re so cute and very comfortable– the heels don’t hurt at all after a full day, and they don’t give me “cement feet.”
I’m in the wrong tax bracket to be purchasing THE Graza olive oil, but it looks so cute in my kitchen, I’ll make the sacrifice. Recession, who?4
What are we vibing with?
Actually doing the minor tasks I routinely put off: Blah blah blah, executive dysfunction. Blah blah blah, wait…do I need an Adderall prescription? I waited soooo long to tackle my impending student loan payment stuff, because I heard other people’s horror stories about high payments. I owe $38 a month. Phew.5 That being said, I am still actively putting off making every doctor’s appointment under the sun, so…I am not winning any medals in the not-procrastinating Olympics.
The Daily Victorian (on TikTok) speaks to me in general, but especially this poem. “That’s the thing about dark: the sun always has it by the scruff of its neck.” UGH! So good!
Olivia Muenter posted this Soft 90s women playlist on her IG, so naturally…it’s the vibe of the season.
Early fall vibes: I went apple picking & paid way too much for a seasonal candle. A perfect way to ring in the season!
Am I a football girly now? Obviously I have fallen victim to the T-Swift/Travis Kelce effect. I watched Jason Kelce’s documentary on Amazon Prime with my husband and it was actually sooooo good.
Normally this section would include books, but wow, I did not have a good reading month.
For context, in case you’re out of the internet zeitgeist.
This is very industry specific & obviously not everyone’s cup of tea. I work in libraries, so a lot of my reading is dedicated to them.
Please do not be fooled, I am indeed impacted by the recession. Like I recently told my husband, “Every food item costs $5 and every fun item costs $15, but every food item should cost $1 and every fun item should cost a maximum of $8.”
Sorrows, sorrows, prayers to all of you who owe a bunch of money, but I guess I’m just built different. (Poorer. I’m built poorer.)