FMG Newsletter: Recs for Reading + Watching

Plus my fave from TTPD

Happy happy Friday! I can’t believe I have made it this many days (two) without a Foxtrot in my life, but I prevail. I am obsessively fascinated by what happened and equally gutted for the employees who are suddenly without income. I’ve been looking for a GoFundMe or other way to help out, and so far all I’ve seen is that In Good Spirits (which is a non-alc bar/bottle shop on the west side) is giving 100% of their gratuities and 10% of all purchases to the former employees of the West Town Foxtrot. There’s no purchase necessary — they’re going to have a tip jar out all weekend! I’ll be hoppin over.

• Music: I’d be remiss not to mention the new album from my friend Taylor, but I personally don’t feel a need to add toooooo much to the oversaturated discourse around it (To be clear: I don’t think there’s too much Taylor, I think there’s too much unsolicited/unnecessarily existential opinion around Taylor). It has honestly taken me the entire past week to even process the sheer amount of words present on this album, but I do already think “The Manuscript” is one of the most beautiful songs she’s ever written. I really wish that I could buy Dave Grohl a beer and discuss the album with him (As a reminder, if you haven’t read (or listened to) his book, you are severelyyyy missing out).

  • P.S. That was so pick-me of me to say. To counteract it, I’ll tell you that for my Sephora birthday gift, I got a little tiny Summer Fridays lip balm and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen and it genuinely made my day to receive it. I love free things, I love tiny things, and I love lip products.

• Books: Speaking of books, I’m reading a really interesting one called The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman, which is about the dilemmas we’re beginning to face as AI takes over so many pieces of our lives. As a person in a creative field and who hopes to always work in a creative field, I’ve felt a lot of anxiety at the prospect of AI taking over all the tasks usually completed by someone with my skillset — so I picked this up (virtually, on my Kindle, lol). It’s not a light read, but we love a good stretching of the mind!

  • On a more fun note, I’m about to start Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez, which came recommended to me by two different friends.

  • My friend Danae is currently reading The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, which reminded me to tell you that it is one of the absolute best books I’ve ever read — one of those that you wish you could read again for the first time. It’s by far one of the most moving novels I’ve ever read, and I’m so glad she’s reading it. You should too!!

• TV: I finished my rewatch of Desperate Housewives, and if you’re keeping score based on past newsletters (don’t), you’d realize that this means I watched all eight seasons in less than three months. I’m not proud nor ashamed, but I do feel like getting this off my conscience and sharing that I actively cried real tears after finishing the last episode (despite having already seen it upwards of one million times). Up next: Finally finishing the last two seasons of Succession, a full start-to-finish watch of Sex and the City (which I’ve never actually done!), and maybe the Netflix show Ripley if I can fit it in before the new season of Bridgerton next month. Yay!! New Bridgerton!!

May your weekend be long and the sun be hot. Cheers!

XO, Gail

And as a reminder:

It’s an election year, and it is my duty to remind you that while newsletters like this are crucial for maintaining sanity and levity, I am not a news source and am in no way a replacement for staying informed. For every newsletter you read that makes you smile, I hope you also read an informed take on politics, world events, and social issues (then fact check it!) — and for every heavy piece of news you take in, I hope you also consume and/or create a piece of art that promotes light, laughter, and joy.

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