A Tiny Trick To Turn Haters Into Cheerleaders

Howdy friends! I hope you’re well :)

I hope the eclipse was cool for you, I hope tax season isn’t wretched for you, and I hope the start of spring has brought you beautiful weather without aggravating your allergies too much.

Over here, I’ve been plugging away at a new little hobby of mine that I’d love to tell you about a little further down in this newsletter. 👩‍🎨

But first, I’d like to share some media I’ve consumed recently.

Maybe you’ll find some great stuff to add to your watch list or listen list!!

MOVIES & TV:

POOR THINGS (movie) - Just watched this past weekend and I enjoyed the shit out of it!! It’s def rated R, so probs don’t watch it with the kids, but it was SOOOO satisfying. Not “satisfying” in the way the main character is “satisfied” repeatedly throughout the flick 😉, but in the way that every detail was so playful and well thought out. Not only was the story refreshing in its kookiness, but it was VISUALLY STUNNING…The camera angles, the sets, the coloring, the creatures. Can’t recommend it enough.

ARGYLLE (movie) - Fun and dumb in a good way. After spending a few weeks watching Barry (which I’ll discuss below), this was a nice lighthearted flick to cleanse the palate. It’s star-studded with Bryce Dallas Howard, Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Dua Lipa, John Cena, Bryan Cranston and others. It involves cheesy spy stories and expensive action scenes. It’s nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary or thought provoking, but sometimes you need to watch stuff like that. At least it’s well-done with big names and Apple TV money, which is never a bad thing.

BARRY (tv show) - Holy shit this took up a good chunk of time and took me on a lengthy rollercoaster of emotions. If you would have asked me how it was after Season 1, I would be like “this is one of the best TV shows ever!!” and “it’s so creative and funny and interesting and I love the characters!!”… And as we progressed into Season 2, it got a bit heavier, which was still interesting. By Season 3, it was almost too intense. Kind of like how the last couple Harry Potters were not at all like the first couple in terms of mood and emotional depth. And to be honest if it wasn’t for the fact that Brandon was pretty determined we finished the story, I wish I didn’t see Season 4. — So I’m not sure if this is a good pitch lol, but if you like continually deepening and complicated characters, it’s for you! If you want a smart and intelligent dark comedy, I highly recommend the first 3 seasons.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (movie) - Y’all this was a rough tale and veryyyyy long but it was so important. Like all important based-on-a-true-story movies, it enlightened me to a whole ass horrific series events I knew nothing about, subsequently leading me down a rabbit whole of articles and YouTube videos to further educate myself. It was also especially interesting to hear some of the Native American accents that sounded so similar to the elder folks I would hear around town when I lived in Oklahoma during grad school. They’re so distinct and they were nailed perfectly in the film along with so many other details that we’ve come to expect from Scorsese so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised lol

THE TUNES!!:

FOUND HEAVEN BY CONAN GRAY (album) - this whole thing is absolute fire!!!!!!! If you’re the kind of person that won’t get salty about the fact that this entire album is late 70’s to 80’s music that sounds exactly like the biggest artists of those decades, you’ll love it! I hear Elton John, Chicago, Devo, Richard Marx, Michael Jackson and loads of other icons at play here. But with a fresh young artist and modern production it all comes together to be a damn good time. I listened to the entire thing twice the day it came out (April 5th) and my immediate favorite track was Alley Rose. Then, while eating lunch at a taco joint a few days later, I heard it on the restaurant’s radio station lol so I guess it’s the new single. I’m taking that as a sign that I have great taste 💅 The 3 best songs imo are Alley Rose, The Final Fight, and Forever With Me … 3 certified bops sounding like they were straight outta my millennial early childhood

ST VINCENT (new songs!) - her new album doesn’t drop until next friday the 26th and I AM HYPED. She’s released two banger singles thus far and I love them both. First one is “Broken Man” and the most recent is “Flea”. Apparently Dave Grohl played drums on the latter so that’s cool 😎

WILLOW (new song) - Okay something about Willow that has only been further proven by the release of this new song is that I love her whole career for being all over the place in the best kind of way. She has pop, punk, rock, r&b, emo, and now JAZZ songs and I can’t get enough. The track she dropped last week is called “b i g f e e l i n g s” and it did, indeed, give me big feelings bc of what a free and fun mess it is. Odd structure, odd beats, honest lyrics, just a good time all around. She never disappoints.

okay this is getting drawn out. I honestly I could give you 10 to 20 more tracks bc of how long it’s been since i wrote about music in the newsletter, but i’ll stop here for today 🐖

AND NOW, HOW I’M USING OLD BODYBUILDING LESSONS TO CREATE A NEW CHAPTER OF LIFE

Around 2008-ish I became obsessed with changing my body.

I began doing whatever I could to look like the girls in the fitness magazines, no matter how many hours it took.

As I started to slowly see results in the right direction, my efforts snowballed and I continued to push myself even more until I was unbearable to be around.

By 2010, I stopped hanging out with my friends, I worked out 3 times a day, and I heated awful-smelling food like tilapia and broccoli in the microwave at work which stunk up the whole place. (So rude.)

Now at the time, I had no idea how insane this behavior was, and how much of it was wasted effort.

But that’s not the point of this story.

All I knew was that I was making progress, having fun, and learning so much.

But everyone else in my life was NOT on board.

I was emotionally unavailable, I didn’t make time for people, I was always focused on my next meal, and I ignored most of my responsibilities besides training and eating.

When people would mention how unhealthy or detached I was, it only fueled my fire to work harder. Which of course, was even more irritating to them.

But in the summer of 2011, one day it all changed.

HOW LABELS WORK ON OTHERS AND YOURSELF

I heard about a local bodybuilding show, and I decided to take the leap and sign up.

It was official. I was a bodybuilder. An actual competitor that was going to get on stage.

Of course I told everyone I knew.

And of course now all my inconveniences were suddenly less inconvenient to everyone.