Taylor Swift is officially a billionaire. When are we gonna eat her?
+ WIN A WHOLE BUNCH OF RECORDS!!!!!!
Yesterday I bought rollerskates (they were $8 ok) so you will now have to sit through my trials and tribulations as I learn to skate. Note: the last time I did this (with skateboarding) I broke my best friend Jake’s leg in three places. Don’t worry though, I have elbow and knee pads!
Also, Close Friends already know this, but my hair is PINK again, that’s how we know I’m phoenixing 𓆩♡𓆪
CALLING ALL MY MUSIC SUPERFANS (I have a WHOLE lot of records to give you)
Angels! I'm helping some cool people get some feedback on a potential new digital product for people like us (hugeeeee fans of music) and I've got a VERY QUICK survey that I'd adore if you could fill out for me!!
The best part of you filling this out is that as well as helping out your bestie (me🥺) you'll be in to win ALL OF THESE ALBUMS ON VINYL:
Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Taylor Swift – Self-Titled Debut
Taylor Swift - Speak Now
Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go
Florence and the Machine – Dance Fever
Halsey – Hopeless Fountain Kingdom
LOVE U THANK U LOVE U 𓆩♡𓆪
⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ IN THE NEWS⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖
A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Taiwan
It’s the strongest earthquake the country has had in 25 years, and originally set off tsunami alarms (some of which were retracted.)
At this stage officials have confirmed that at least four people have died, and rescuers are currently pulling people from buildings.
Taylor Swift is officially a billionaire. When are we gonna eat her?
It’s been a fucking good year for rich people - there are more billionaires than ever before. Cool! According to Forbes’ annual ranking, the world now has 2,781 people with fortunes exceeding $1bn, with Taylor Swift joining them.
Since the news, I’ve been seeing tweets like this go viral:
And even though we don’t stan billionaires, it’s amazing that she’s done this based solely on her music catalogue and touring. Yes, she’s released perfume before, but she hasn’t gone into the beauty/ health industry like others have - and YES she owns a bunch of real estate but that's on TOP of the billion she makes with her music (an insane sentence to write.)
As for the rest of them, together, the billionaires are worth more than ever, with combined assets estimated to at $14.2 trillion - that’s more than the GDP of every country except the US and China.
Read the full list here if you care xx
People are spending more time playing games than reading the news on The New York Times App
Dunc sent me this graph yesterday:
with the message “it's CRAZY that games has more minutes than news for the NYT - that should be breaking the internet” and like usual, he’s kinda right BECAUSE THIS IS ACTUALLY INSANE FOR A ‘NEWS’ COMPANY.
That’s all.
✿⊰𖡼𖥧𖤣❀ BEL CHIMES IN ❀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!
My fault? Sorry hun, I think you'll find it's the retrograde's
Hello crushes! Reporting to you live from Kenya, where I've just stepped off a dhow boat sailing with friends up through an archipelago in a total clutch pull of Evacuating Your Life. Africa's somewhere I never thought I'd be able to make it to, and I'm still kind of swimming in that gorge, strange feeling of actually being here! Which feels like a seamless transition into this week's topic...
Why are we all so obsessed with horoscopes and retrogrades?
As you've probably worked out by now, I love witch-adjacent shit, having cosmic run-ins with strangers, believing I'm slightly psychic and all those other things someone who makes memes would include in a Witch Girl starter kit. I think it's fun, I think it makes life feel mystical when everything feels like chaos, and having grown up without religion, it gives me something to think about on a Sunday other than my own existentialisms.
Regardless of whether or not you believe in astrology/magic/whatever you want to call it, this planetary language has made SUCH a resurgence in news/media/our lives over the last couple of years. Don't you think? It's almost like the pandemic took away so much of our lasting sense of practical control of the world that turning to the stars (how ancient civilisations used to navigate the world) to figure out why things are happening and what we could possibly do to regain some agency over our lives.
Personally, I'm into it. I think it will reach its entertaining and powerful heights when we're planning and avoiding things the next time mercurcy's in retrograde (mercury = planet of communication, retrograde = when it seems to move backwards in its orbit, meaning = a time when things get lost in translation). Business trips and pitches? Off until the planets are back in line. Going on a first date? Going to wait til the retrograde reverses itself. Am I being absurd? Hmm. It is Aries season, after all.
(◔_◔)✓✘ TODAY’S MUNDANE POLL (◔_◔)✓✘
☆Other good shit☆
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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
I love the topic the survey was on, like I need that to be a thing
I'm so conflicted on Taylor becoming a billionaire because yeah it is an amazing achievement and feels a little vindicating for anyone who was made fun of for being a fan before it was cool to be a fan of her, but also I don't think billionaires should exist and the idea that someone can have that much money while so many of us are struggling day to day because of money is a hard pill to swallow.