I've been dying to gossip with my mom
Plus thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty, Weapons and more. This is an update from the GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT!
The weather is finally sunny—not foggy—in my neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I am better for it. Dreary weather isn’t thaaat bad except sometimes it makes me want to die. I was going ~through it~ a lot of July, but luckily for me, I have the sort of personality that as soon as I get through a hard time, I completely forget how hard it was. Some may call this optimism, and maybe those some are right, but I think it’s just forgetfulness. Anyway, I see this glorious time as the start of SUMMER™, though I know I only have a month of it by official standards, and only a week of it by school-year standards. Regardless, I am feeling young, wild and free, which means I want to call up my mom and gossip with her.
Those who know me know how much I talked to my mom. We lived together 23 years out of the 25 years we had together, and I never went more than, like, 12 hours without talking to her (except for that time I went on a three-day cruise and refused to buy the WiFi package). She’s my favorite person to talk to when I’m upset, but, more importantly, she’s my favorite person to talk to when I’m in a good mood. Every time I wake up to sunny weather, all I want to do is go on a walk and talk to her. My mom is the best listener—we would often go on walks during which I would yap the entire 30 minutes. I am my best self around my mom. I think people might see it as a bit juvenile to constantly need one’s mom’s advice to make a decision, but my mom knows me better than anyone, so why wouldn’t I seek it? Even now, I’m constantly thinking of what my mom would say in any given scenario. I recently found out I’m teaching a class this semester (which, holy shit, I’m so excited for!!!!), a decision I was waiting on for a few weeks, and I imagined the second I called my mom to tell her I got it, her reply: “All right, Alex!!!!” If I told her I want to move to Los Angeles again, even though I didn’t love it last time I lived there: “You’re older and more established now. You’re making the right decision.” If I told her now how deeply I miss her: “Keep talking to me. And go hug Dory.”
Gossiping is in my nature—I don’t know if this is the Italian-American experience, or the young woman experience, or the obsessed-with-reality-TV experience. Nothing cruel, more in a isn’t the point of life to story tell? kind of way. My mom knew all the people in my life, and I shared every bit of gossip that I had with her. She would always ask how people were doing, or have a really cutting roast towards someone that I loved to hear (and not in a mean way, she would roast me just as frequently!) Now three-and-a-half years after her death, I’ve met so many new people. God, I so badly want to gossip about them with her.
Media I’ve been into lately:
Obviously The Summer I Turned Pretty. I am team Conrad; I have always been team Conrad; I will always be team Conrad; if there’s one person on Earth that’s team Conrad, it’s me; etc. The peach scene is one I have rewatched maybe seven or eight times. I’m ready for Conrad and Laurel and Steven to find out about Jeremiah’s crimes. I plan to write more in depth about the way the show tackles grief. It’s a show I feel I can both critically analyze and also obsess over in a very pure way.
Aubrey Plaza’s appearance on Amy Poehler’s podcast. I haven’t yet listened to the whole interview, but a clip of her discussing her grief following the death of her husband has been making its rounds on my social media algorithm. She describes the omnipresent nature of grief—this “giant ocean of awfulness”—in her life, something many of us grievers can certainly relate to. Here’s the clip.
Weapons. Yes. I love horror. I LOVE HORROR!!!! I saw it in theaters on a Saturday night at 9:50 p.m., which fully reaffirmed my love for the movie theater. I am getting a Regal Unlimited membership. Solely because of Weapons. I’m seeing that shit another two times, at the very least!
My song of the fucking summer, Angel Of My Dreams by JADE!!!! I’m on the reality TV and TSITP side of Twitter, which makes sense, but I’m also on the Little Mix side of Twitter that edits out Jesy Nelson from all live performances. I’m not sure how I’ve found myself there. However, it’s a wonderful place to be—as a result, I’ve found out how amazing all of JADE’s singles have been, and I am adequately gearing up for her first album dropping next month. I highly recommend!
As always, please submit any media you’d like to see in the database here! See you soon :,)
Thank you for reading. Please consider sharing the GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT with a friend. It would mean the world! <3
