Tulips

A book, a podcast and two songs with very different vibes.

The first time I bought flowers for myself I was thirty and it was raining. The day was dark, grey, wet, and they were a bunch of tangerine tulips that cost me twenty-eight dollars. I was recently reminded of this moment when, after a coffee with my sister, I asked to take a detour via the florist on our way home. I purchased a single white rose and was told it would last for five days. The florist asked whether I would like it wrapped and I nodded. As we left the store, my sister asked who the flower was for. ‘Me’, I replied. To which she declared, ‘We are in such different places.’

I have long thought the act of buying flowers was designated to people who didn’t worry about their bank accounts or futures, investing in something that would disappear five days later. I see where the investment lies now. It isn’t in time, but in a moment that decorates it. In the same way one bakes for no particular reason or takes themselves to the cinema during the day. Acts carried out, not in the name of progress, but pleasure for pleasure’s sake.

Buying flowers reminds of something Joan Didion once wrote about her husband in The Year of Magical Thinking: “He meant doing things not because we were expected to do them or had always done them or should do them but because we wanted to do them. He meant wanting. He meant living.” As for that single white rose, three weeks have passed and it’s still standing.

So there is your reminder to do something nice for yourself this week. And here are my recommendations.

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Olivia Rodrigo’s Vogue cover story

Olivia Rodrigo is gracing the cover of US Vogue this month and while I am not the biggest Olivia Rodrigo fan I am a Jia Tolentino fan and Jia Tolentino has written the cover story. I would quite frankly read her shopping list so I highly recommend this profile. She spends an afternoon with the pop star crate-digging in the East Village discussing how Rodrigo is entering her New York Era. They talk about the wild success of her debut album, Sour (“true to its title, a lollipop that planted an ache in your gut”), making music after becoming a global pop phenomenon and entering her twenties which, to Rodrigo, seems to be the most exciting, intoxicating part of her life right now.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

The author who brought us Rodham — a work of fiction about Hillary Clinton’s life if she never married Bill Clinton — has recently published Romantic Comedy which I just finished reading and loved. The novel is about a young female writer on an SNL-style show who watches many of her average-looking male colleagues form romantic relationships with accomplished, famous women. However, her world changes when she meets Noah. It’s a social commentary on the Pete Davidson’s and Colin Jost’s of the world dating famous women like Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian and Scarlett Johansson. During book press, Sittenfeld said she wanted to have fun with a novel and the reading experience is exactly that. If you’re after a sweet, easy read, this is a novel you can easily disappear into, with lines like: “Aren’t we all just looking for someone to talk about everything with? Someone worth the effort of telling our stories and opinions to, whose stories and opinions we actually want to hear?”

‘We’re All Just Freaks, Yeah’ on The Cut

After the aesthetically-pleasing car crash that was The Idol, we at least have the music. And this article from The Cut surmises how the lead song ( ‘World Class Sinner / I’m a Freak,’) from the HBO show’s soundtrack has become a certified banger in the real world. As the writer notes, “‘World Class Sinner’ is supposed to represent when profit swallows up any attempt at artistry… But despite all the arrows pointing toward a flop era on the show, people went wild for the song.” The article notes other moments throughout history where music from a fictional pop star has become a hit in reality. See: ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born and ‘Look At Us Now’ from Daisy Jones and The Six. As for The Idol soundtrack, ‘Popular’ has been getting the most plays in my household.

This podcast episode with Jerrod Carmichael

Jerrod Carmichael has been one of my favourite comedians for a while. After he came out in his latest comedy special, Rothaniel, he has been everywhere; hosting everything from SNL to the Golden Globes. I loved his recent podcast interview with Jay Shetty where he discusses shame, privacy and how honest storytelling is what drives him now. If you haven’t seen Rothaniel it’s an incredible watch. Of his earlier specials, I’d recommend 8 where he discusses social change, monogamy, and the pursuit of dope Instagram moments.

These two songs that have very different vibes

‘Blame Brett’ by The Beaches and ‘Recorddeals’ by 1 9 0 5 and Former City Records are two very different songs that were discovered on a recent weekend away. The former has gone viral on TikTok but was recommended as one to rage-dance around the house to. The second is for a different kind of party.