no. 22 | atoning for my crimes
like a little bit.
howdyyyy friends, misers, wisers, etc.
i come to you in a state of equilibrium almost. i am so exhausted from work, but i am also buoyed by the plans i make outside of work. i have a lot to look forward to and it’s lifting me up from the dredges of my work at togethxr. the past week or so has been full of back-to-back olympic coverage, making some cool graphics and some really asinine ones. it’s gotten to the point that i’ve blocked togethxr socials on everything so i don’t hear or think about the olympics outside of work. terrible tragedy, because i do love the olympics. i’ll likely tune into the breaking events this weekend though!
i am also obsessed with the paris phyrge mascot
other work-ish update: girls, i’m a freelance machine. i was asked by an agency that does social work for mls to hop on some social templates for leagues cup. this is a matchday gig until the end of the tournament, which ends on august 25, conveniently several days before i leave for europe. so i can pad my wallet before heading off, hoping to treat angel and i to some yummy meals w the extra cash :) i will be sacrificing like 7 evenings but honestly not mad about it. also the agency is one whose careers page i’ve visited once or twice……. so…. if they want to poach me………..
AND LADS. we have a subleaser! working w management to get everything approved through official channels. but unofficially we have a verbal/text agreement w a nice girl from california who is test driving a move back to new york.
our last sublease lead did not pan out, but i did collect a new friend in the process (she’s moving to bk), we kiki’d on the side after she rejected our sublet lmao
this current lady seems really chill and normal and also works at a trailer house/movie promo studio that i admire. i’m networking lowk
(((kneecap by belfast by kenneth branagh)))
Kneecap tells the story of the rise of the titular Irish hip-hop group. When fate brings a Belfast teacher into the orbit of self-confessed 'low life scum', the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish, they lead a movement to save their mother tongue.
so angel and i watched kneecap (2024) this weekend. i went in kind of blind, i’d heard of kneecap the group before, but never listened to their music (see: this photo of cillian murphy w the band). angel went in completely blind. he literally had a, “wow i wish this was real” moment during the movie. only to find out in the end credits that kneecap is very real and are very much recording artists. we were both shocked to find out that the kneecap members literally played themselves.
where kenneth branagh’s belfast and belfast was sentimental, bleary eyed through the history that they were emerging from, kneecap’s belfast and father-son relationship were violent, grimy, and grappling with a “post”-troubles existence and identity. it’s a very special movie that took a big bite and did it both blusteringly and with total ease. it did so well with being loud and unapologetic while taking it’s time with subtler, softer moments that hit you like a truck. the music was perfect, the cinematography and art direction was inventive. all of it done with a stylish humor that had the audience (of 7 ppl) in stitches.
and the whole thing was made perfect by the band’s freaking incredible ability to perform. huge, huge credit to the band members’ talent and heart, they delivered truly hilarious and moving performances. they’ve got an insane energy that came through in the movie’s live performances and 1000% showed in the archival footage at the end. i’m just floored, astoundingly charismatic dudes. love kneecap the movie, love kneecap the band. pls watch, pls listen!!!!
(((me and potatoes)))
ok me liking a movie about irish ppl doesn’t rly help the irishaboo allegations. i’ve come to clear the air and explain myself. those who knew me in high school knew that i a) loved potatoes and b) loved ireland, think anglophile but irish
a) i was talking to angel recently and we were talking about the food we’d eat when we went to our white friends’ houses. i came to the realization that i never had roasted potatoes until freshman year of high school. i’d had fries obviously but never a roasted potato, neither were ever eaten for dinner at home. but i did have them for the first time at amanda’s house (this is a girl i have a matching tattoo with and now no longer talk to). i remember being totally enamored, i remember asking her mom how to make them, and i think that christmas karen gave me the seasoning packets she used lmao. so pls i’m begging u to understand that roasted potatoes were a fairly new concept to me in high school. this all kind of spiraled into me making it a personality trait as a teenager. and fuck u i still love potatoes, who doesn’t. i still have the potato cookbook kaden and madi bought me <3
b) ok the irish thing was an effort to curb like the huge, huge british love that was going down in pop culture at the time. you guys have to remember that the uk were having a Moment in 2012 between the london olympics and one direction and kate middleton. u remember everyone wearing union jacks on muscle tees and on mugs. so me, a young high schooler, was like how do i have a special interest that isn’t everyone else’s special interest. so i looked to something right next door to england that wasn’t england. and also i picked niall horan as my favorite one direction member so that all resulted in my making my universal password leprechaun-related, rly liking the irish restaurant at universal studios, idk other behavior likely. this also suited the potato agenda.
subconsciously i think i did find ireland and vietnam’s relationship with oppression…… idk romantic? pls u can’t hold a teenage girl’s brain against her. teenage girls are SICK
NONE of this was helped by the fact that i spent probably 6 hours on tumblr a day.
so i’m here to say, i’m sorry for fetishizing the irish people when i was 15 and using it for idk tumblr clout. i now have a soft spot for ireland. i promise i engage with irish media and people in a nice and healthy, normal way now (and i am phasing out my password, for security reasons).
(((other media)))
bc of work i’ve been re-watching things in the bg. the summer i turned pretty, pretty little liars, and emily in paris have been on rotation. will be rewatching industry for a little prep before s3 premiere this weekend.
dìdi (弟弟) (2024): fuck u sean wang. uh this was a really great movie. the little clip of the director, sean wang, played before the movie and he said, ‘i wanted to make this as hyperspecific has possible’. and i was like yeah i bet. and then he fucking did it. did not expect bart kwan’s fuckass uncle sam character to show up. i loved this a lot, it was ridiculously funny and sweet and visceral. i think i could love this more if it didn’t remind me of my little brother so much
i think on one hand i love asian american movies for, yk, relating to them, seeing my experiences on screen, seeing a face like mine etc. etc. but on the other hand it often reminds me of unresolved feelings in my own life. it doesn’t feel like catharsis yet. so. i hold it at arm’s length
guess who’s coming to dinner (1967): hello!!!!! this was a partial inspiration for get out. it’s about a white lady bringing a black man home and her dad is allegedly a vocal progressive and the whole movie is her parents trying to be ok w the situation. it was funny, it was an interesting look at race at the time! and honey, it was emotional!! it all builds to this wonderful monologue by spencer tracy and i could not stop the tears! sidney poitier is fantastic, the whole cast is marvelous, they work so well together. idk if the word synergy existed back then but it is what they had! a movie for the libs, but also if ur a big softie ;)
bernie mac did a reverse movie in like 2004 called guess who and it’s zoe saldana bringing ashton kutcher home to meet her parents, bernie mac and judith scott. will have to watch
i put the last book i was reading down (i will not finish, it was boring, i read the last chapter + epilogue, they were also boring) and i picked up laurus! by eugene vodolazkin! i’m only at the start but so far i’m loving it!!! this is an angel rec and i’m excited to read something that he really likes
need to hop to andromeda strain after this, i’ve neglected my book club duties
oh i’ve been watching veep!!!! i’m on season 3, i love it, i’m so glad i’m finally watching it
oh. and i’ve been watching hotd. now that the finale’s out, i don’t like this season i think. everything feels unearned. there are lots of things i do like about it but it kind of slogs along. sad bc i liked the first season, despite gripes. i will be watching season 3 obviously.
my music listening for the past few years has been me turning over familiar artists and relying on spotify’s discover weekly/mix/radio algorithms which has resulted in me being a really passive music listener. in an effort to become better at music, i am now combing through rolling stone’s top 500 albums of all time. picking a random album and listening to it a couple of times through
8/7 was #19 kendrick lamar’s to pimp a butterfly. i haven’t listened to this album all the way through before but now that i have…….. 10/10
today, 8/8 is #123 led zeppelin’s led zeppelin II. short, classic!! rolling 8.5/10
pls don’t take these ratings seriously i am not an expert but i would like to hear ur thoughts if u have them!
(((things to look forward to)))
after a weekend of staying in and staring at my laptop, i have a full weekend of activities! i have movies, i have friends in town, i have omakase, i have brunch, i have sunshine!
kaden’s birthday is coming up!!!! marks the beginning of the school year, the close of summer, and the beginning of fun fall doings~
we bought tickets to fc barcelona vs. getafe while we’re in barcelona!!! beyond a dream come true and we got decent seats for pretty affordable prices
angel and i also just booked a trip to meet up with his mom in sarasota next year. it’ll be my first time seeing where he lived in florida (we always stayed with my parents in fl since his mom lives in austin). this is many months away but still a lovely thing to look forward to <3
i do have a craft update but this email is already kind of long so i will save it for next time. have a good weekend xoxoxoxox
many virtual yet very real and meaningful kisses,
sarah