FMG: Wait, am I a pet person now?
plus Black Swan, Sabrina Carpenter, and the Stud Budz
Happy Friday!
They say that to be known is to be loved — and with this in mind, I’ve deduced that I’m either incredibly loved or just incredibly predictable. Last Saturday night, I visited the home of two of my dearest friends, Clare and Andrew. Clare and Andrew (along with their daughter) are Pet People™️ — something that I, regrettably, am not. I did not grow up with pets, and I’m allergic to both dogs and cats in ways that genuinely shock people (as soon as the hives start creeping around the contours of my face, people tend to go, “Oh! You weren’t kidding!”).
I have a routine that I follow when entering the homes of Pet People™️. Kindhearted visitor that I am, I’m aware that to enter a pet’s home is to enter their own space (and I am but a guest), so I take allergy medicine beforehand, bring my own water receptacle, and I look but do not touch. (People often like to say, “But this is a hypoallergenic dog,” and I’m forced to share that I’m even allergic to hypoallergenic dogs. I’m allergic to both hair and saliva, and even hypoallergenic dogs have saliva.) So I smile, I say, “Are you the best boy in the world!??,” and then I keep my distance.
Clare and Andrew have a delightful dog named Buddy (truly, he’s a particularly good one), and they also spent last week dog-sitting another dog named Eleanor. As it turned out, Eleanor LOVED me (and how could she not?). She did not opt into respecting my boundaries, and she perched her cute self on my lap all night long.
Of course, Clare, Andrew, and I got a good kick out of this. Such a kick, naturally, that Clare predicted the title of this week’s newsletter. “I bet Eleanor’s going to make it into your newsletter,” she said, “and I bet you’re going to title it something like ‘Wait, am I a dog person now?’”
As fate would have it, I spent time in a second Pet People™️ home this week. While sitting on my beloved Kelly’s couch watching the new episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty (more on the new episode below), Kelly’s cat KitKat simply couldn’t keep her paws off me.
With all this in mind, today’s newsletter is dedicated to the pets in my life and their Pet People™️ — those who know me well enough to know that I am allergic to their animals, that I do like the attention, and that I will be parroting these experiences as newsletter fodder.
Further fodder:
Movies: As a film minor (as of literally a decade ago), it is my duty to tell everyone I come across that I have sophisticated taste in film. I loooove subtly reminding people that my film opinion matters more than theirs (though as it turns out, it’s rarely subtle), and I have seen a lot of iMpoRtAnT fIlMs. Until last weekend, however, I had never seen Black Swan. My beautiful friend Maddie came over to watch something (anything), and we were vacillating between her nomination of Midsommar (!??!) and my request to watch Stranger Things from the very beginning. Black Swan felt like a solid middle ground, and I can’t believe it was my first time seeing it. It’s the exact type of symbolism I like in a movie (in that it positively smacks you in the face) — plus the acting is incredible, the story is dark but relatable to so many people in so many ways, and I was genuinely entertained the whole way through (and only had to cover my eyes during like three bloody scenes). It was recently the film’s 15th anniversary, and Vogue did a cool interview with the director and the movie’s two biggest stars — read it here.
On a completely different note but speaking of Vogue, the magazine just published a digital feature on the Stud Budz (aka Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams), and it’s such a fun read for WNBA superfans and casual viewers alike. Important callout: The feature was written by a writer I love, Leah Faye Cooper, who also interviewed my qeeen Paige Bueckers for that viral GQ spread.
TV Shows, Part One: We’ve made it to episode nine of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and this season has been a bit of a slog. I love Jenny Han, and I genuinely trust her vision, but I feel like the past nine episodes could’ve fit into more like five. I do take issue, however, with people who say that this week’s episode was boring. I think it showcased some quality character development (albeit some confusing plot holes? Where did Belly sleep after drinking two Aperol Spritzes and then calling Jere on that bus???), and I’m glad that Belly didn’t run straight to you-know-who after doing you-know-what. I’m not going to name names and start a witch hunt, but I did learn this week that someone in my life is Team Jeremiah — and though I don’t agree with that person and their (wrong) opinion, they made some compelling arguments that allowed me to view this episode through a slightly different lens. (Though there’s only one lens to view Steven through this episode — Steven!! Why weren’t you madder?!!?)
TV Shows, Part Two: I loved the finale of Bachelor in Paradise! I’m working on a full recap of the season (which I will publish here on Susbstack), as I appear to be the only person who felt so positively about it. I found the season so refreshing and entertaining, and I really like all the successful couples who came from the show. Official recap to come — but just know that I miss it already. (The Golden Bachelor starts on Wednesday, September 24, and I will absolutely be tuning in.)
Music: Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, Man’s Best Friend, has been out in the world for a whole week now, and I can confidently say it’s my favorite of her albums. My take is that it’s not particularly different from Short n’ Sweet (it feels like the same musical era), but I find these new beats catchier and more relatable. The New York Times review of the album criticized it as “syllables [that] feel crammed into awkward spaces,” but that’s actually my favorite thing about Sabrina’s style (for example, the way she fits the word “literally” into the chorus of “My Man on Willpower” really scratches an itch in my brain). To my dad and my brothers: You can skip listening to this one — but I’d recommend it to about 95% of the rest of you.
Speaking of pop icons, I was recently reminded of Demi Lovato’s 2017 album Tell Me You Love Me by way of Matt Rogers’s Instagram story (he said “such an underrated album, so many hits,” and he’s right!!). It’s actually wild to me that I forgot about it, because I listened to it nonstop when it first came out almost 10 (!?!?) years ago. Earlier this week, I pressed play on the album and listened start to finish, and the start of each new song genuinely felt like running into a friend I hadn’t seen in years. I will never fall out of love with pop music!
If you’re feeling the weight of the world this week, feel free to check out my list of the things I’m looking forward to for the rest of 2025. Let’s find the joy together!!
XO,
Gail
P.S. Have you read or listened to news from a trusted source today? I’m begging you to! It’s a crazy, overwhelming, and stressful time in the world, and unbiased journalism is one of our best weapons in the fight against misinformation and oppression. It’s cool to care!!