This Week in Grief and Media: 6/17/24
loving life for now, joining the BAGGU cult, I have a job (not really, just watching Love Island USA), sobbing on Father's Day
I’m back! I missed you all!!!! And by that I mean I miss writing nonsense and having you read it. It’s a great joy of my life!
ICYMI, I took a little break from the newsletter for my best friend’s bachelorette in Las Vegas. It was so incredibly fun and joyous. I’ve been friends with her for something like 14 years, which means we’re about to tip into the point where we have been friends longer than we haven’t. It’s post-bachelorette and post-period clarity talking, but life is so beautiful. It’s really all about the friends who are family, singing Ultralight Beam in the car at the top of my lungs with husband of GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT while comparing the chills on our arms, getting fresh strawberries at the local farmer’s market, watching episode two of Perfect Match at 9 a.m. in the hotel suite’s living room and everyone else waking up and trickling in to watch, too. It’s the connections and laughter and tears and slow mornings and sunsets and an iced latte at noon.
I love life. I really do. (This opinion is subject to change next time I’m about to start my period or ovulating or in a week or-)
I’ve fallen victim to the BAGGU cult.
I didn’t mean for it to happen! I was just scrolling the BAGGU Enthusiasts Facebook group every single day, and it just happened. I decided I NEEDED the Nylon Shoulder Bag in Candy Apple Red as a grad school bag. And also a Standard Baggu bag to keep in said Nylon Shoulder Bag to carry aforementioned farmer’s market strawberries in. And it looks like they’re dropping a collab on June 25 at 10 a.m. PST that I might be interested in. But I will never go further than that! I actually enjoy cults and fandoms from an anthropological distance. This is how I am able to sometimes listen to Viall Files while simultaneously having little respect for Nick Viall.
As I obsess over my cute Nylon Shoulder Bag in Candy Apple Red, I can’t help but think about how much my mom would like the smaller version of this same bag. One thing about my mom is she loves bright pops of color, whether it was in a tank top or a purse or her signature red lipstick. And when I was obsessed with something new, she would like it, too. Once I started working full-time, I made it my mission to provide for my mom in any way I could at the time. I couldn’t buy her a house with my $50,000 salary, but I could buy her UGG slippers that matched my own. I’ll never be able to buy a house that has a section with a little kitchenette and room so she can live with me forever—and now I can’t even buy her a BAGGU Mini Nylon Shoulder Bag in Candy Apple Red. I guess the shock of that still hasn’t gone away.
I’ve started a new full-time job, and it’s called watching Love Island as it airs. The newest US season started this week, and I’m locked in. The thing is that if you even so much as blink, you miss an episode and fall completely behind. I can’t deal with any distractions or missteps along the way. I told husband and mascot of GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT that they’re either watching with me or they’re not. (They’re not.) It’s a fun season so far, and I’m enjoying Ariana Madix as host. Sarah Hyland simply fell behind, much like mascot of GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT who fell asleep when I started Friday’s episode.
People (two of you) are also counting on me to catch up on Perfect Match season two, and I promise I’ll get there. I feel like it’s an unfortunate circumstance when Harry Jowsey is the main character of a television show. However, and I say this in a safe space, I did see his appeal for the first time ever while watching the first two episodes of the show. He has the confidence of a man who is 6’5”. It’s enthralling. My only opinions so far are that and also—what is Izzy’s issue? But I’ll have more to report back next week, I swear.
Also, House of the Dragons has taken over my Twitter feed at the time I’m writing this. I hate feeling left out. I really do. But I will not be watching. The only thing I hate more than feeling left out is the thought of watching a show about dragons. Though I hope you all are having fun. :)
Okay, so I’m a bit behind on the podcast. I was supposed to release a Father’s Day episode this past Thursday, but husband of GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT and I started recording it, and I uncontrollably sobbed about seven minutes in. He kindly said, “Could we edit that out and just keep going?” but I had already deleted the recording and closed my laptop. This is the artistic process, I think.
The podcast will be back this Thursday with an episode I’m excited about, so stay tuned for that. If you’ve missed any episodes so far, you can catch up and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, directly on Substack or by searching “GRIEF AND MEDIA” on your favorite podcast app.
I’ll also have an essay coming out in the next week on Father’s Day… because I gotta unpack that. ^^^
I was talking about the magic of Mike Flanagan and his portrayal of grief recently (on a podcast wink wink) so I need to resurface The Haunting of Bly Manor. It’s incredible television. If you haven’t seen any of his shows, I think this is one of the best. But there are a lot of jump scares, so maybe watch with a nightlight on.
That’s it for This Week in Grief and Media. Please consider sharing the GRIEF AND MEDIA PROJECT with a friend. It would mean the world! <3
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