Hello,

Spring is here and so is another monthly reflection of things I’ve enjoyed.

I started this month off by reading CJ The X’s latest essay titled *What Is To Be Done.* I pretty much think that anything and everything CJ does is brilliant and that they are the mind of a generation and I will eat up every thought they choose to share with the world. I would highly recommend this essay to anyone with an interest in making the internet (and with it, hopefully, the world) better. Because I think that, generally, we can agree that the way the internet is right now just ain’t it. There has to be a better way, and I believe there is, it just might not be as easy or convenient as the current one.

Personal websites! Personal websites might really and truly be the answer. But they require work. And they require effort. Both from the authors and the readers. I’ve been trying to figure out how I could get the few newsletters I like to keep up with into a feed-like format. I think a good RSS reader might be the solution I’m looking for, but I haven’t quite found one that I really like. Might update on this later once I figure out a solution that works for me.

I’ve been thinking about this for a couple years now, and my past projects had these sentiments of “what is the internet doing to us” sprinkled throughout, but I might have to give it another proper go to really think about it again. Also, their Bo Burnham vs. Jeff Bezos video was kind of enlightening and, dare I even say, life changing for me – more or less a 2.5-hour long consolidation of lots of stuff I had already been thinking about. I think this was a first CJ The X video I ever watched and it was genuinely mind-blowing in a way I had never experienced before. A companion piece to Bo Burnham’s INSIDE in my opinion, and required viewing.

Music

Miya Folick – ROACH — Perhaps I should’ve put this into the February recap, but I only listened to it for the first time in the last few days of February so I just thought I’d transfer it over to March. I’ve been really enjoying this! A nice alt pop album with catchy tunes and very early-to-mid-20s lyrics, written for me to relate to directly. Not sure why I didn’t get around to this last year when it came out, but I’m glad I did now!

Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future — Adrianne Lenker does it again. She’s one of the greatest gifts to music in the last decade. How lucky we are to get to experience her genius.

Slow Hollows – Bullhead — I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again; Slow Hollows’ music is made in a lab to appeal to my music taste specifically. I said this about their last album, which came out in 2019 and which I loved, and then they decided to call it a day and I was devastated. But then they decided to return, or, if I understand this formation correctly, it’s more of an Austin solo project now, but in any case, I am very happy about it and greatly enjoying this new album.

twenty one pilots made a grand return this month and I’m afraid I’ll have to go through a second twenty one pilots phase at the age of 25.

Movies

All Of Us Strangers (2023) — I went to see this on a rainy Sunday evening having known vaguely what the film is about but not the full extent and it’s been a few days now and I still haven’t stopped thinking about it. Going into it, I know it starred Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal (who were both incredible and we love them!) as lovers, that it’s a drama, and that it’s about grief and loneliness. What I did not anticipate was that there would be a twist at the end (I won’t spoil it much more than this) which made my mind go “whatthfuck what the fuckwhat thefuckwhatthef” and almost made me let out a very visceral scream (which I didn’t do because I went to see it at the cinema, so I held it in). I’m writing this a few days after seeng All Of Us Strangers and I still don’t really know what or how to write about it. Maybe I’ll do it later, in some sort of end-of-year post or something. I think whatever it is that I’ll take from it, will come after me later. Haunting, devastating, and heartbreaking, if I had to describe it in three words.

Oppenheimer (2023) — I finally saw Oppenheimer (8 months late) but I’m so glad I took the time out of my afternoon and went to see it at the cinema. Sure, it’s three hours long, but I didn’t find it to be too long! I was seated for the whole thing, watching with intrigue. That being said, I think I’ll have to rewatch because it was quite dense. Visually beautiful. All the awards are well deserved.

Book(s)

Sally Rooney – Normal People — I finally finished reading Normal People and I really liked it! I watched the series first, and I feel like it was very true to the book, so this kind of just felt like revisiting that. But nevertheless, I really enjoyed it, left me with a lot of questions about these characters, but I think that’s how it was meant to be anyway.

Final thoughts

Now that I’m a quarter of the year into this, I’m starting to realise I’m writing only about what I’ve consumed, however I’d also like to create more (and not just so that I could then write about it). It’s still fun, but I’m finding myself thinking about how or what I would write about things instead of giving them my full attention and enjoyment sometimes. Lots to think about now!

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,
Mia