Billie Eilish reckons we should all be jerking it more
+ Succession star Brian Cox says 'the Bible is one of the worst books ever' and Bel Chimes In: On pulling the clutch out
Angels, I have a very important question for you today: Flo is about to leave to move to London (yes I’m gutted about it, don’t talk about it) so we went out to our favourite childhood playground and played on this thing:
And even though it made us want to vomit, there’s something more important at stake here: would you call this a hamster wheel or a rat wheel?
⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ IN THE NEWS⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖
A centuries-old sunken old town has reappeared in the Philippines!!
Kind of obsessed with this story - an almost 300-year-old town has resurfaced after a dam has dried up in the Philippines (not so obsessed with the searing temperatures that caused it to dry up…)
Anyway, Pantabangan town was submerged in the 1970s to build a reservoir and reappears sometimes, but this is the longest it’s been submerged forever.
“This is the longest the town has ever been above water since the dam was constructed, Marlon Paladin, an engineer with the state agency that operates the country's dams, told news agency AFP.
The extreme heat has disrupted the daily lives of millions as schools are shut for days and office workers are advised to work from home.”
☆⋆。𖦹°‧★ ON THE WEB ☆⋆。𖦹°‧★
Succession star Brian Cox says 'The Bible is one of the worst books ever’
An unhinged story from our favourite fake media mogul, Brian Cox. In context, Cox, 77, went on The Starting Line Podcast, where he spoke about a number of topics, from wealth distribution to religion to politics.
Asked by Leigh if religion holds humanity back, Cox replied, 'Oh considerably, yes - I think religion does hold us back because it's belief systems which are outside ourselves.
Cox goes on to say that “upending a patriarchal approach to society would be challenging” and that “the Bible is one of the worst books ever, for me, from my point of view.”
More on this… unique story here.
▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။|||| CULTURE VULTURE ▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||
Billie Eilish reckons we should all be jerking it more
Absolutely obsessed with Billie Eilish talking about how masturbation has helped her body image issues. Talking to Rolling Stone, she spoke about how masturbation is taboo for women,
“TMI, but self-pleasure is an enormous, enormous part of my life, and a huge, huge help for me,” she says. “People should be jerking it, man. I can’t stress it enough, as somebody with extreme body issues and dysmorphia that I’ve had my entire life.”
She goes on to say that she likes to do it in front of the mirror:
“Partly because it’s hot, but it also makes me have such a raw, deep connection to myself and my body, and have a love for my body that I have not really ever had,” she says. “I got to say, looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking ‘I look really good right now’ is so helpful. You can manufacture the situation you’re in to make sure you look good. You can make the light super dim, you can be in a specific outfit or in a specific position that’s more flattering. I have learned that looking at myself and watching myself feel pleasure has been an extreme help in loving myself and accepting myself, and feeling empowered and comfortable.”
✿⊰𖡼𖥧𖤣❀ BEL CHIMES IN: On pulling the clutch out❀𖤣𖥧𖡼⊱✿
This section is written by the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day (and co-author of our debut book Make It Make Sense) Bel Hawkins. Each week Bel comes here to chime in about the things she’s been loling at, yearning for, or totally mystified by. Luckily for us, she also writes our Sunday advice column ‘Wait, But What?’ for all our paying supporters who want to make sense of the world!! Upgrade your plan to get her newsy here!
Thinking about me, thinking about you, thinking about how not to... spiral out of the weekend (Some unsolicited advice)
Hello crushes! I'm bringing you an absolutely all-over-the-show Chime this week, which is a complete result of pulling the clutch out and going to four post-work social engagements in seven days, resulting in four light-grade hangovers, which, if you know me, is well over and above my usual quota. I'm also nearly finished with my semester of learning Portuguese at uni here and am having a major adult confidence crisis in my ability to understand regular verbs, plus can now fully install a washing machine all on my own. It's all go. What's new? Life's a movie!
This week, I obviously haven't been able to get Sabrina Carpenter's Espresso earworm out of my head, especially when I deep-dived into its launch at Coachella via Emma Chamberlain's upside-down sign as a marketing stunt, as unpacked by internet angel Coco Mcoe.
Anyway, this (randomly) led me to a conversation with my friends about what it's like living alone and the small things you do to make sure you're not going insane. We were laughing about how we all walked around our apartments on a regular basis, saying out loud, 'I'm thinking about [insert mundane domestic task or deeply philosophical thing here]' and 'Ok now, I'm thinking about [insert other mundane domestic task or deeply philosophical thing here]'. If you know the lyrics to Espresso, you get the connection.
It made us laugh about all our neuroses, the lengths we go to to keep them at bay and how strange solitude can feel now we live so extremely online. Like, how you can get lost scrolling for hours and get this fake kind of feeling that you've socialised, close your phone and be forced back into your own thoughts. And how those thoughts can be so unhinged, then someone else will say them out loud and you feel... less alone in the world.
These feelings get to their worst, in my humble opinion, on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. My advice is to plan accordingly, get off your phone during those times and go and do something that gets you out of your head and out of your house and well... pull the clutch out every once and a while, as per my aforementioned hijinx.
PS! This week, for Wait, But What? I'm answering the best, most existential angst question yet: How do I stop feeling like I'm waiting for everything to get better? See you there xox
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PS, if you wanna chat to me about anything I’ve written today, your latest crush, or if you just want a pen pal, reply to this email and we can be friends 𓆩♡𓆪
Ugh my bestie is from New Zealand and she left me alone in Australia and I'm still salty about it. Sympathy.
I liked that Rolling Stone article, though my takeaway from it (sorry if it’s simplistic) was that she was trying to embrace normality--the way the article delved into her making friends and going to chain pharmacies and grocery stores added a refreshingly (I don’t know if this is the word for it, but) ‘human’ touch. Same with how her upcoming album is about being more authentic again