A public intellectual, a pleasure to have in class, a baby mystic who some would say is fun at parties. This is the start to a beautiful relationship.
The White Lotus
Take this with a grain of salt because I have no idea what is going on in this show. I go over to my friends’ suites and if they’re watching an episode then I just follow it in medias res. The only reason I’m inclined to say that I like The White Lotus is because I haven’t seen it all the way through, so I recommend watching it in a very sporadic, lobotomized pattern. It’s hard for me to read the tone of the show, and I feel like the actors are mocking me, but I admire that everyone in it (especially Jennifer Coolidge) is committed to the bit.
“Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?” by Lana Del Rey
Lana has arrived to the culture once again, but not just with a question: she’s got answers. “Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?” combines the sonic sensibilities of Lana’s three most recent albums in a way that is vulnerable and intelligent. Even if the nature of the song is interpersonal, to me it connected more broadly to how women aren’t allowed to age in the entertainment industry without the threat of obsolescence. She demands to be remembered as she reminds us of the tunnel that is being forgotten. Fuck the Grammys, but I feel like Lana is due for one with this upcoming album—especially reflecting on the lyric “When’s it gonna be my turn?”
On Spontaneous Viewership
While this isn’t a recommendation of any specific media, a crucial experience to have in college is spontaneous viewership: when you stumble upon a movie, a play, a radio set at 216, and stop your life to bear witness. I have found beautiful and unexpected consolation in Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment, downtown Oslo, and even in an animated Japanese tragedy from the ’70s. These interludes to life never prove to be a waste of time.
