Waiting to Exhale

It's all a reason, a season, or a lifetime

You know how Kim got absolutely dragged for saying nobody wants to work these days? This week, I’m taping that quote on my fridge. Get up!!!! Time to move.

(This has nothing to do with my content for the week but this is where I am.)

---

Things I’m listening to

Country Music's Race Problem, Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders
If Tressie McMillan Cottom is on a podcast or on a page or on an interview slate, I’m tuning in, full stop. This episode gave me the proof points I needed to articulate exactly why country music has always given me the ick. In true Tressie fashion, she brings receipts and she gives us the history, explaining how and why the industry was designed to be deeply racist. I also heard some of the most popular songs in the country right now - who knew? T

Billie Eilish: On growing up, Dua Lipa: At Your Service
This is my first time listening to the Dua Lipa podcast and I appreciate the sincerity of her interview style and questions. “Getting Older” is one of my favorite Billie songs of all time, and this interview did a deep dive on the tune’s specifically excruciating, bittersweet feeling. She reminisces on her younger self, who was unaware enough of the world to courageously always do what she wanted and reject what she didn’t, and laments how much harder it becomes with age. Great short plane ride listen.

A Fiery First Republican Debate — Without Trump, The Daily by The New York Times
Naturally we needed some GOP debate content in here this week. This isn’t the only podcast episode I listened to reviewing the spectacle, but it’s the best overview I heard. Let the record show that I am officially paying attention to Ramaswamy now, and you should be, too. My predictions about DeSantis have all aged poorly (sometime I love being wrong), and that Trump-supporting, brown start-up bro really stole the show (despite most play time going to Pence). 2024 is going to be MESSY.

Jaguar II, an album by Victoria Monét
Victoria Monét is one of those artists I’ve been meaning to get into and fall in love with for years. She has written some of the best songs of the last decade, but for some reason her best personal track is an interlude that has really been overplayed in my curated Spotify playlists (“We Might Be Falling In Love”). This new album is smooth though. It’s filling a Jazmine Sullivan-shaped hole in my heart and I’m grateful to have a new record that I can play on repeat for the next 3 months. My current favorite tracks are: “Stop (Askin’ Me 4Shyt)”, “Alright”, and “I’m The One.”

Snow Angel, an album by Reneé Rapp
It’s hard for me to admit how much I like this album when I’m mad at Reneé Rapp for leaving Sex Lives of College Girls. It’s also hard to blame her because her voice is beautiful, and she’s succeeding right up there with Olivia Rodrigo in the Gen Z pop charts (do I need to give Olivia Rodrigo a try? Maybe). She has that Billie Eilish sultry energy, and her songs do much better than Ariana Grande’s toxic, queer-baiting “Break Up With Your Girlfriend” (which is a bop nonetheless). This record solidifies Renée’s spot on the repository of white women who can sing.

---

Things I’m reading

Ripe, a novel by Sarah Rose Etter
This book is either extremely realistic or extremely dystopian but cannot be in between and it entirely depends on who you ask. Our protagonist has a manic depression that has turned her job in Silicon Valley into the stuff of nightmares. I’m not loving the book because it’s cynical (my man continues to emphasize to me that I must find happier books to read), but it also features beautifully written prose and, if you can get past the darkness, an accurate portrayal of corporate America.

Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ Dream Job, Willa Paskin for The New York Times
If you’re still discussing the Barbie movie, this piece is a great deep dive into Greta Gerwig’s vast vision, and the many miles it went beyond what was expected of her. I’d been seeking an understanding of how she convinced Mattel to mock itself and her approach to seemingly feeling responsible for apologizing on Barbie’s behalf to every woman and girl who has ever felt personally victimized and/or empowered by her.

---

Things I’m watching

Succession
Spoiler warning: we finished Succession.

Here are my thoughts on the finale so please scroll past if you haven’t seen it.

For the entire show, I was fixated on the literal succession question, which, really was both the entire point and not the point at all. If you focus too much on that, you can quickly get irritated with the repetitive nature of the story (which, I was). So you can imagine I felt BAMBOOZLED and impressed to see none of them win in the end. Even Wambsgans, who was my favorite character throughout, in the end, lost! A show about billionaires, unequivocal power, and stupid wealth, was ultimately about losers. And *that* is simply rich. I have become entirely used to shows with an anti-hero that I forgot it was possible for a show to be successful when you hate every single character and none of them have redeeming qualities (then again, I speak highly of Girls). Now that it’s over, though, it feels good as a viewer to know that they all lost (despite their $192 billion deal). Oh, and this?

This shot took my breath away!!! Their relationship and dynamic was the most interesting part of the show for me (if you even think to compare this to Roman and Gerri I am willing to publicly debate in a local town square). This moment was so magnanimous and leaves you remembering exactly why this show swept award seasons every year.

And Just Like That
I binged the last 3 episodes of the season at once so here’s a quick run of my thoughts:

• SHOE??? The kitty is named SHOE????? *screams from cuteness overload*

• Lily and Brady????? Why? For what? And also for why? But also I need to see what their child would look like. It’s too much.

• I guess it was implied that Steve and Aidan stayed friends over the years with Aidan’s investment in Scout but I somehow forgot about their adorable friendship. I’m very happy for Steve and his new beach digs. That all felt so cozy and familiar and warm.

• Charlotte’s rant about not just being Harry’s wife or Rock and Lily’s mom can be added to the top of the list of iconic Charlotte rants.

• The scene with Samantha was v v v cute, and subtle about the fact that they clearly filmed their shit separately so as to not interact with one another. Good for Kim Cattrall for getting her big BIG coin.

• I wish Carrie had kept her apartment. She could have bought the new place and had that cutie jewelry designer pay rent. I’m supportive of the new space, I think it’s wonderful and needed. But keep the old digs. She should have learned by now to always keep the old place.

• Five YEARS? One two three four FIVE years??? Bye. That’s a breakup. I don’t care. We are not young anymore! But also, even if you are young. FIVE YEARS? BYE. Bye. Just say John Corbett didn’t want to renew the contract and go.

• Nya deserves the whole world. The whole world!!!! The whole Michelin star world. She did NOT need to buy that $1000 stroller though. That was dumb. Is it too late for a refund? She didn’t prove shit. She just lost a grand.

• HBO not even letting LTW utter the word abortion really bothered me. We are grown. Plus they talked about abortion in the original. Why not let her get an abortion? Fine, the miscarriage makes more sense, but you can’t even let her utter the word with her husband? Give me a break.

• Miranda is going to date that BBC journalist and I’m happy for her. Che’s standup WAS mean but I’m glad they broke up and glad they are cool now.

• They have an obligation to do Seema better in season 3. Put it in the contract!!!

Archer
If you’re curious about my ~mystery man~, I can’t tell you much about him because I am Arab. But if you want to understand his personality and sense of humor, watch Archer. (Narrator: none of them want to know this or care. Maybe they just want to know his name and an understanding of his ethnic make-up, if anything.) It’s a weird, dark animated sitcom. He admires the cartoon suits. I admire Aisha Tyler’s Lana, who is hot and cool. It works for us.

Veep
There’s nothing to say about Veep except to say, once again, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, that Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a national treasure!!! It’s really incredible to watch her succeed at her age and, dare I say, eclipse her success from Seinfeld. She deserves everything. I want them to give her Trevor Noah’s seat. Also, everything they say is true: Veep is the most accurate portrayal of Washington I have ever seen.

---

Things I’m thinking about

---

Sending you all the energy you need to be whoever you want to be this week xxx