S’up?
I think we all went apeshit about The Grammys this week, more than we usually do. Maybe it’s because it’s that point in early February where we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that it’s shitty out, that it might always be shitty out, and there’s nothing out in the real world that could make us feel better than the receptive womb of the couch and the tube.
We were rewarded for our sojourn from the kitchen to the couch when Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell made us weep with their poignant renditions of their beloved songs. Hell, Celine made us cry just for showing up. But—and hear me out—the artfully blunt IDGAF Sagittarians in the room HELD COURT. Bear with me: Miley Cyrus (November 23) Barbarella’d (Jane Fonda, (December 21), reminded us that none of what we saw “was real,” and volunteered her al fresco status; Jay-Z (December 4) used his platform to pop off about his wife Beyoncé’s criminal lack of Album of the Year noms while accepting a prestigious award of his own; Billie Ellish (December 1), expectedly, won Song of the Year, and Taylor Swift (December 13), resident prom queen, had a blast and made history when she won the fourth Album of the Year Grammy.
I felt compelled to post how I thought Miss Swift was Prom Queen of the Grammys on ye olde book of FACE and my benign observation got so serious! I take nothing too seriously (least of all myself) but I’ll give her this, the woman inspires loyalty. Devout Swifties of all ages and stages won’t think twice about defending the honor of a famous person they don’t know to someone they actually do. Fame is one hell of a honey, I’ll tell you!
As the glorious Tina Fey just told Bowen Yang on his Las Culturistas podcast when reading him for filth: “Authenticity is dangerous and expensive.”
Here’s my fantasy: Imagine, if you will, with all the power and money Taylor and Beyoncé have, what could happen if the two Billionaire baddies banded together and formed a coalition to actually change things. Don’t ask me what—that is beyond my pay grade— but for shits and grins let’s just say they helped fund Planned Parenthood, opened up safe spaces for trans youth, poured cash into super pacs to get female/LGBTQ leaders into office in red states, or even just got their devoted fans to vote in a way that would preserve their bodily autonomy. Is it their responsibility? No, absolutely not. But someone’s got to extend us a hand during these dim times and it sure as shit won’t be the folks in charge.
Imagine all the people, living life in peace, whoo hoooo-hoo-hoo-hoooo!
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
If you’ve yet to snap on the latest Ryan Murphy meisterwerk, I have two words: TOM. HOLLANDER. HOLY. SHIT. His transformation into Truman is uncanny, and his Swans, played by Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloe Sevigny, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Calista Flockhart, are each turning it OUT in these plum roles, the writing is on point…if you have a penchant for drama of any kind, just trust me and lean into it.
The Traitors
SPOILERS ARE HERE so don’t read unless you don’t care: Why-oh-why didn’t Phaedra and Parvati try to recruit Kate, who would make an excellent Traitor, or MJ, who is flying so far beneath the radar no one would ever suspect her, instead of Peter—the pious faithful of all faithfuls? In spite of Parvati’s “predatory headband” there was a twist in narrowing the pool of eligible banishments, so we’ll see how it shakes out next week. If you ask me, they’re nuts if they don’t go for Trishelle.
I’m so addicted to this fucking show I don’t know what to do with myself. I suppose when you live in Bumfuck, as I now do, your peripheral relationships are often trapped behind a screen.
The Power of Security Privilege
I was just listening to We Can Do Hard Things, that Glennon Doyle/Abby Wambach/Glennon’s Sister Amanda cult podcast no one would ever guess I sometimes listen to, and Glennon casually dropped a nugget worth considering. They were talking about riding rollercoasters and she mentioned that she thought thrill-seeking activities, like riding rollercoasters and watching horror movies, required some sense of security privilege. When you live under any kind of looming threat (racism), and/or suffered a formative trauma or PTSD of any kind, you might feel compelled to avoid any remote threat of simulated physical or emotional trauma because the real thing already made an impact on you and that was quite enough. What do you guys think? How do you feel about the idea? What is your experience with security privilege and how did it keep you from doing something that scared you? I feel like it holds me back a lot but also keeps me out of trouble a lot.
That’s it for now! Wishing you all good weekend! xo