entering my cat mom era
It’s been a month since my last newsletter. That’s not a long time, but let me be clear: I am not who I was back then. I am now a different person. A changed person. A new person. I have a cat.
Allie is not actually my cat. My boyfriend and I are babysitting her (and you know what, she IS a baby to ME) for two entire months. I have known her for two weeks and she is my favorite person and she’s not even a person. She’s about three years old. She is curious. She loves blankets. She loves watching TV on my lap. She loves pretending she’s super hungry when I know for a fact that she ate dinner an hour ago. She’s a little weirdo. I’ve never been more obsessed with an animal.
This is my first time living with a pet as an adult, and no one really told me that when you have an animal in your home, your whole approach to life changes. I feel more like a person now. During my first few days of living with Allie, I shot out of bed every morning because I wanted to see her as soon as possible. My after-work commute is a more joyful experience because I’m excited to scratch her head and talk to her in a funny voice. I swear to God, my screen time has actually decreased. I am on my phone less because why would I doomscroll when I have an entire CREATURE to hang out with?
Anyway, this is a big change that I was really nervous for, but it’s already transformed the way I live. I’m a generally happy and grounded person, but in the past couple of weeks, I’ve become even happier and more in-tune with myself and my feelings, needs, etc. Adopting a cat is undoubtedly in my future, and I’d like to thank Allie for helping me realize this, even though 1) she is not subscribed to my blog and 2) she cannot read. I love you, my newest, most beloved bestie!
I’m all caught up on the popular podcast Normal Gossip, in which the host tells a listener-submitted gossip story and a guest experiences it for the first time. While I patiently wait for a new season of gossip, I’m now blasting through episodes of the podcast Petty Crimes, recommended by my friend Mollie! Hosted by Ceara O’Sullivan (whose TikToks I already loved) and Griff Stark-Ennis, the pod feels Normal Gossip-adjacent because Ceara and Griff take turns reading listener-submitted stories to each other and deciding whether the “crimes” in these stories are petty or criminal. Though these stories are objectively pretty low-stakes (the most dramatic episode I’ve listened to centers on a couple that accidentally stole a package from another couple that lives in their apartment complex), they lead to extremely funny discussions that go down various rabbit holes, and the episodes are also shorter and require less attention span than your average Normal Gossip. Petty Crimes is simply the perfect chill pod to listen to while commuting or getting ready for bed!
Past Lives, the newest film in A24’s canon, is about two childhood friends who reconnect after years of no contact. I didn’t watch the trailer before seeing the movie, and that’s definitely the first-watch approach I’d recommend, because I gasped dramatically so many times. Please imagine me stress-slurping a Diet Coke for over 90 minutes. Yep, that’s what was happening. I love stories about friendship, and you all know how much I treasure romantic tension as well. You also know how much I love a tight 90, but I actually find myself wishing the film was longer. I’m just craving some additional dialogue, some additional scenes, please! Watching this film in a theater specifically was a peak experience; at one point, I heard people sniffling around me while I myself was crying, and that’s the type of communal experience I live for.
Happy belated birthday to my seven favorite people: BTS celebrated their ten-year anniversary on June 13! I feel like locals always assume that BTS has only been together for a handful of years, but no, it’s literally been ten entire years. It’s a bittersweet milestone to celebrate right now, as two members have already begun their mandatory military service and the rest of them are getting ready to enter the military soon. But I’m more grateful than ever to have had their music with me for the past two and a half years, and I love being inspired by them and their art. In honor of their anniversary, they released the song “Take Two” and it’s a very sweet ballad… ugh, I just love a BTS ballad. I love it! I especially love seeing all seven of them together, even with the knowledge that this was filmed months ago. Have a good weekend!