new year new me, part 2

on the newsletter's new name, the past year, and the next

you may have noticed the newsletter has a new name! i never really liked the name excruciatingly online, it was funny to me at first but as i’ve spent a lot of this year trying to be less online, it feels like a sad reflection of the person i’ve been for a long time. now it’s just a self-titled newsletter, because that’s immutable, it’ll always be mine!

i launched this newsletter earlier this year on new years day, and while growth has been modest and steady, it’s way more than i ever expected. so i want to thank you for reading and taking an interest in what’s on my mind! i know newsletters have been sparse, and i have ideas and let them die frequently, but hey, i promise i have a second advice column coming soon. i wrote up the draft a few months ago and just never got around to editing it. if you want some advice from me, submit your query in this google form and i’ll get around to it.

2023 predictions

i posted this a while ago on my twitter, but i have some thoughts about what i think may happen in 2023. here’s what i think is going to happen:

• instagram filters “nashville” and “valencia” make a comeback

• celebrity throuple confirmed

• meta declares bankruptcy

• worst covid wave yet occurs in Q1

• jared leto gets charged with a crime

• canadian starbucks unionization wave

• another elon child confirmed

• havana syndrome makes a comeback but it ends up being long covid

• king charles III dies

• jon kay eats temptations for twitter engagement, claims he didn’t see the cat on the bag

last year i also made some predictions, so i want to look over a few of those and see how well i predicted the year.

revival of late 2000s hipster/twee aesthetics

this prediction was inspired by the mumblings of trend forecasters that indie sleaze is coming back, and i think this one was a little premature. there was definitely renewed interest in hipster/twee/indie sleaze this year, but it definitely hasn’t hit the mainstream as of yet. y2k is very much still in, and i think indie sleaze is still in its niche interest phase to be of mainstream interest. i’m expecting this to have a slow rise throughout the next few years before we reach full saturation.

american apparel nostalgia

this one kind of goes with the above. i definitely see more people wearing old american apparel and new los angeles apparel more than previous years, but it has yet to be widespread.

heavy instagram filter use

this didn’t really happen in the way i thought it would, but beauty filters were everywhere this year on instagram and tiktok. in like a fucked up sort of way. let’s just go back to normal colour filters please.

wired over-ear headphones à la tom from 500 days of summer

in my own daily life i haven’t seen a resurgence in wired headphones, but god i have seen so many people wearing over-ear headphones. this prediction would’ve been more accurate if i had predicted people would make wearing a pair of airpods max, sony wh-1000xm4/5, and any bose quietcomfort headphones a part of a complete outfit. i’m definitely guilty of this!

flats, occasionally studded

still holding on for this to take off. ballet flats had a bit of a moment, but not in a big way.

i’ll check back next year to see how my 2023 predictions held up. here’s hoping i’m psychic.

track of the week

i watched the documentary meet me in the bathroom 2 weeks or so ago, and james murphy spoke about the process behind the making of this song. i’ve always liked this song a lot, but it was really interesting to think about all the meaning behind it. this whole album is a classic, definitely give it a listen if you haven’t delved into LCD soundsystem!

crush of the week

i’m sorry i didn’t like your music in 2018 matty. i get it now.

my tiktok fyp has been BOMBARDING me with videos of the 1975’s shows and is forcing me to have a crush on matty healy. i listened to the new 1975 album when it came out, having not really enjoyed any of their music before, and it really struck me as a fantastic album. then i listened to their whole back catalogue and really loved it all. i’m coming around on the 1975, years after my friend told me i would like them. if you’re reading this, you know who you are, i’m sorry i didn’t understand at the time.

the signs as new years resolutions

aries - stop leaving garbage on the counter

taurus - stop spending so much money

gemini - read 1000 wikipedia articles

cancer - focus on caring for yourself

leo - document your outfits daily

virgo - read 100 books

libra - grow your hair out

scorpio - record a whole concept album

sagittarius - become an expert on an ancient civilization

capricorn - get really good at using notion

aquarius - invent a new conspiracy theory

pisces - publish a chapbook