Hey Rats!!
I went to a creative conference last week and saw the creative director of Liquid Death speak (the edgy skull-branded canned-water company). I think I blacked out from inspiration?? Their whole thing is “move fast and make weird shit,” and honestly, I’m choosing to live by that now. It was a good slap-across-the-face reminder that overthinking is the enemy (thinking about the time I spent 2 hours deciding what the background color of this newsletter should be). Just try stuff. Break stuff!! Fix it later.
If you’re feeling stuck (creatively or existentially), I found a version of his presentation on YouTube- highly recommend.
who better to draw inspiration from than the creators of the pit diaper?!
📺 To watch: The Studio (Apple TV)- Seth Rogen plays a studio exec trying to wrangle chaos. Basically if “Veep” and “Entourage” had a baby and fed it espresso.
🍑 Kettlebell swings: they hurt, they humble, but they work. One of the best bang-for-your-buck movements out there- glutes, core, grip, cardio. Try to work them in once a week if you can. [Here’s how to do them right.] I have my personal training certification humble brag, so plz trust me on this.
☔️ General PSA: Your spare umbrella belongs in the backseat, not the trunk. I used to get soaked trying to access the thing designed to keep me dry. Currently using a sad Walgreens one, but one day I’ll own this ridiculous (adorable) duck guy.
I’m a sucker for anything cute
Jam of the week- Anything by Khruangbin, but specifically this Pitchfork set. I saw them at a music festival last weekend and went from "do they have no lyrics? i don’t get it" at the very beginning to "i'm going to listen to them every day" by the end. (i have actually listened to them every day since)
🦊 I saw George Clooney dyed his hair, which gave me a mild heart attack- why would the universe take a silver fox away from me like that? Turns out it’s just for his… BROADWAY SHOW? Since when is he on Broadway?!
🧼 The vertical soap opera thats eating TikTok alive- Remember those daytime soaps your mom would rush home to watch? They've evolved into something new – vertical soap operas taking over TikTok. And I've fallen victim to their strange charm. "How To Tame a Silver Fox" (yes, that's the actual title) sucked me in through 3-minute teasers on my FYP. While these vertical soaps aren't exactly Emmy contenders, the main actress, Tess Dinerstein, genuinely makes this one worth watching. Her performance keeps you hooked despite the format's... unique qualities. You can find the full episodes on the ReelShort app and some parts on YouTube. And before you raise an eyebrow, the numbers don't lie. Some clips have nearly 300 MILLION VIEWS. So clearly I'm not the only one secretly binging vertical drama between scrolls.
just admit you’re at least a little intrigued ok
🩸 Bad blood? Elizabeth Holmes’ partner (yes, that Elizabeth Holmes- convicted fraud queen, founder of Theranos, known for claiming she could run hundreds of tests on a single drop of blood) is launching... another blood-testing startup. Confidence? Delusion? A medically diagnosable addiction to fraud? What do we call this?
🌭 Last week, history was made: a new Pope was named and, for the first time ever, he’s from the U S of A baby (Chicago!). I’m not Catholic, but when I heard the news, I did run to my boss’ office to declare how “we are so back”. I feel like we needed a win. Highly recommend watching this short interview with his brother who is reflecting on how he bullied the (now) Pope growing up. But really, what’s the most American way to celebrate our first Pope? Memes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Signing off with a 4 piece McDonald’s chicken nugget,
Kate
P.S. If you liked this, forward it to someone who’d be equally distressed about George Clooney’s hair. If you didn’t, print it out and mail it to Elizabeth Holmes in prison.
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