The Trend Report™: Unfriended
Why is everyone talking about friendship being bad? Because it might just be right now.
"900,000 Dead, but Many Move On"
"More Americans died of COVID-19 in Jan 2022"
These will make you sick!!
Deer in New York Test Positive for Omicron
We talked about spillback a few weeks ago and it’s definitely something we’re gonna hear more and more about. If you’re unfamiliar with spillback, this article is a must read.
COVID Brain Changes Parallel Alzheimer's
Interesting, but not good.
In Britain, Five-Day Office Week an Aberration Now
Why are we talking about this again? Just make work from home forever, at least as an option. It’s not that fucking deep!! Or hard. Chill out.
Russia has surrounded Ukraine
Don’t like this!!
Russia, China bid to make the world safe for dictatorship
Related: don’t like this either!
Americans say either stay out or side with Ukraine
To that end! It’s interesting that the people are like “Yeah, let’s get involved!” are people who wouldn’t have to act on these actions. Americans are dumb!
Biggest Global Companies Failing Over Net-Zero Emissions
This is delicious tea. The way these companies had me fooled! Thank you to the TKTK for reminding that corporations talking about themselves are always in the language of lies!
The Jobs Americans Want
What’s interesting about most of these is that they’re independent work, where one can “work for themself” without being, say, under a boss or on a team. The real American dream is to stop being bothered.
Something is happening with friendships and heartbreak right now and I’m trying to understand what it means. While not all of these stories are about friendship-related heartbreak, there’s a synergy and symmetry to these stories. They’ve all been published or have been resurfaced in the past few weeks.
The Atlantic: It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart
The LA Times: Heartbreak hurts, in part because our cells 'listen for loneliness'
Huff Post: I Was Ghosted By A Best Female Friend And It's A Terrible Kind Of Heartbreak
The Atlantic: This Is Your Brain On Heartbreak
The Today Show: I thought we would be friends forever. How I finally accepted it was over
Are we really that lonely? Are we all suffering, from a lack of care from those we love most? Do those we love actually love us? There’s a creeping feeling that friendships, at least in this shape and in this (American, capitalist, etc.) world, aren’t quite what we think they are. Gone is the “Friends are family!” moment and here is the truth that so many relationships are one-sided, thankless, and without the sort of satisfaction or closeness that we crave. Perhaps I’m projecting (I’m projecting.) but these stories provide us with a state of the union for friendships.
Friendships, we know, are proven to be good for your health and to enrich your life. And yet, despite friendships being so big and beloved in culture (Today is Galentine’s Day, for example.), the truth seems to be that friendships are on the decline. Just like the planet, just like the economy, our relationships are declining too.
Why is this? I think it’s because we, older Gen Z and the solidly Millennial and young Gen X, are experiencing a shed in friendships. They start in your late twenties and early thirties, where the friends from your first forays adulthood start to disappear, replaced with people who are more “like you,” with shared interests. Then, things get even smaller, as another shed happens, in the face of careers and family and spouses and whatever else emerges stealing your time. And what happens? Your cup empties and no one is filling it.
I don’t mean to sound dour or negative but this just seems to be “this moment.” I definitely feel it in my own life (Again: I’m projecting.) but it doesn’t help when the media, social and not, seems to mirror the personal, as if the landscape of broken friendships and loneliness are an expressionist manifestation of one’s own experience. Where will our relationships go? We’ll see.
Mandarin Man marks Lunar New Year
My friend Rax did it again! In the LA Times writing about mandarins, which they even gave to me. Sweet!
A Teenager Tracked Elon Musk's Jet
This story has gotten some traction and, while cool, I wish it ended with the teen telling Musk to fuck himself, exposing billionaires instead of taking baits (and internships). Granted, as the story tells, it would end in getting sued which a teen (or most people) surely won’t win.
Dance! And Leave the Package on the Porch.
This phenomena has been shared here before, I believe, but this captures the sort of “everyone is your servant” feeling that delivery service seems to create in those who use delivery service (and use tech like Ring cameras as one’s personal television station).
A Word of Many Spellings
Let me tell you: I think the word in question is such a perfect word but, when spelled like “zhuzh,” I want to scoop my eyes out. It’s clearly a J word!!!!!
How to Know If Travel Insurance Is Worth Buying
I don’t know how often people are traveling these days (Or at least taking big trips.) but this article helps understand which insurances for travel are worth it and why.
Hate crime concerns after mace-like fumes at club
The fuck?? Happened in New York.
Asteroid Named After SOPHIE
Sophie <3 RIP to the greatest.
Wordle's 'Best' Starting Word Found
In case you’re a Wordle person!
security guard draws eyes on faceless figures
Absolute legend.
Creator TV Show Soars on Streaming
I keep hearing about NBC’s Abbot Elementary and this take on it as an internet creator success story is interesting.
Lucy Dacus Performs Concert on Couch
I don’t know much about this person, but I know the name and this is a really baller mover!
This was a busy week but I had a lot of stray thoughts. Here were a few of them!
What is it about CEOs? If I didn’t know any better, it would feel like we exist as people living in service of all these flawed and selfish and stupid and racist CEOs of the world.
What if we started ignoring all the rich people and celebrities? That would be great.
I cannot think of anything more individualist, selfish, egocentric, and narrow-minded than the car. These giant metal world killers that are the size of rooms, that are all in service of little you going from one place to another? Truly the most self-centered thing I can think of, especially when used to block roadways for stupid reasons in multiple countries.
The difference in generations can be summed up by older people not understanding the humor of younger people – and taking everything way too seriously, except the things that actually matter.
Brands are being bad again and, by that, I mean they are getting tmi and gross.
Then again……..when done right, brand posts can be perfect.
But here’s the thing: people are very much catching on that a brand “acting like a casual kid” is so intentional. We’re quickly approaching the end of brands-as-human on Twitter.
More and more, as my days become dominated with work, with a career, I find that the daily routine is a shitty hero’s journey.
There’s something really embarrassing about white people talking about how “bad white people are” when they themselves are white people.
I don’t know if streetwear is dead but I feel like most fashion is dead.
That said: the personal is in, which I realized while visiting the new LA Bode store, where every piece is seemingly custom and, while entry-level expensive, it highlights how the future of fashion is the one-of-a-kind. Hasn’t that always been the point?
This has always been the thesis of the internet but there’s so much talking about talking. It’s exhausting.
Brands that became generic
Apropos of nothing, this list of brands-that-became-generic-words is interesting. Like “seeing eye dog”? It is technically a brand name!
"the real villain of Drag Race"
This is dumb and you won’t get it unless you’ve been watching this season of Drag Race but this is a great Tweet.
"When does the underdog routine stop"
This is like a mini-essay and I agree. Shut the fuck up about comic book movies and nerd shit, everyone!!!
“can’t believe this shit”
LET’S GOOOOOOOOO
“beef milk”
If beef milk doesn’t kill you, “non-dairy presenting” will.
“her name is Charlotte”
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: I will never go to Australia. That’s a naur.
“funniest sound a human has ever made”
Only Olympic thing I care about (besides Donovan Carrillo).
"watch the sparks fly"
Obsessed with this joke from approximately thirty years ago.
“the power of the dog”
I don’t know either but I’d give it an Oscar, sure.
"kids and their little concepts of time"
Obsessed with kid logic.
And, finally, the only person who knows how to Tweet at brands.
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