sooooooo i got laid off

plus, announcing a paid tier to this newsletter, and my thoughts on "Girls"

i got laid off from my job this morning. pretty shocking news, didn’t see it coming, but i was expecting something bad to happen given the economy right now.

layoffs are happening all around us, my friends are getting laid off, it’s harder than ever to get a job because everyone is doing hiring freezes. i need to work remotely because covid is still a major concern for me (i’m also planning on writing something soon about what isolation looks like for me in the age of non-isolation).

so with that, i’ll be looking for work. i’m open to any remote writing gigs in any industry, and also down for freelance work. and as well…

i’m announcing a paid tier to this newsletter!

the paid tier will include personal essays or opinion pieces once every two weeks, and potentially some audio content down the road, like a podcast. i’ve been considering this for a while, and what better time than now?

it’ll be $5 per month, or $50 a year. if you have a lot of cash, you can be a founding member for $150. anything helps support me, you’ll be helping me continue writing things i love, as well as helping me pay rent and take care of my lovely cat lucy.

watching Girls 11 years after its premiere

i don’t know whether it would be surprising or unsurprising to say i never watched the HBO show Girls until last week. i guess i’ve always been lena dunham-averse, but i decided to put that aside and give the show a try. and it turns out i love it.

Girls has a lot of problems, like a lack of diversity, that people have addressed over the years, that i don’t think i need to add more to the conversation about. i want to talk about what i’m enjoying about the show as someone just slightly outside of its intended audience when it premiered in 2012.

i’m on the cusp of being considered millennial or gen Z, born in 1997 but with baby boomer parents and an older millennial brother. so in 2012 when Girls premiered, i was in grade 9. i was a few years into being very mentally ill, still discovering who i was, and was just entering my third relationship, the third in a string of relationships that would alter my life and mental state for years to come.

so needless to say, i was slightly younger than the demographic Girls was for. i couldn’t relate to the struggles of trying to make rent, dealing with job instability, sexual experiences beyond the awkward teenage variety, and most of the topics the show dealt with. but at the same time, i was very aware of popular culture of the time (i joined twitter and tumblr in 2009), i knew i wanted to write professionally, and had struggled a ton with an anxiety disorder and depression already.

so now, almost 11 years after the premiere, i get it. i understand what the characters are going through. i can relate to hannah in so many ways it’s kind of scary, as well as marnie and shoshanna to large extents, and god damn to i know a lot of jessas. i was acutely aware of the way things felt right after the recession, how volatile the job market was (i genuinely thought the recession was still going on into 2014 because nobody would hire me even for part time work).

i haven’t finished the series, i’m only on season 3 at this point, but as i keep watching it, i relate to it so heavily. if i had watched it 11 years ago, i would’ve gotten some parts of it, but others probably wouldn’t have hit very hard for me. i’m glad i’m watching it now of all times, when i’m feeling lonely, isolated, financially precarious, and beginning to understand just how traumatized i am by the events of my life. plus, i love unsympathetic and flawed characters, seinfeld is my favourite show!

crushes of the week

boygenius. i don’t need to say any more than this honestly.

tracks of the week

on the same note as above, boygenius. the new boygenius releases have kept me going this week. i love them all equally.

the signs as things i’m grateful for

aries - people who don’t mind the impulsive things i say

taurus - my bed and the way it brings me comfort

gemini - wikipedia

cancer - my depth of emotion

leo - people who remain in contact with me even when i’m inconsistent

virgo - my books

libra - the beautiful world around me

scorpio - the knowledge i’ve gained from my obsessive tendencies

sagittarius - my sense of curiousity

capricorn - my drive

aquarius - the progressive people who inspire me and create tangible change

pisces - the creativity and new ideas people put out into the world