Did you miss me?
Not sure how I managed to get so much wiser (and more beautiful) in between the transition of 30 to 31, but it definitely happened. I’ve been more clever and witty and I’m like sis, “you is smart, you is kind, you is important.”
My dad also told me that he is an evolutionist, and that he’s getting greater and better over time, so I think that’s the mood and vibe I’m carrying with me through the new year of my life.
I just wanted to say also - thank you for all the birthday love, I really, really, really loved it all and appreciate you all. Nonetheless, here are a few things I think you should check out this week:
Tank’s new album, ELEVATION, in particular this collaboration, “Somebody Else,” with my girl JoJo.
Have you listened to the new Kanye album? I’m no longer a Kanye fan, but skimmed through it after a few of my friend’s texted me about it. I did however, read this article that was released the same day and this line in particular stuck with me: “Kanye’s always said fucked up or off the wall things. But this is it. Now, he’s doing serious damage. And the thing is, his following is so large and so young… he can say the most false thing. The wrongest thing ever. Things that aren’t even based on fact. But, because Kanye said it, they’re going to defend it.”
Relationships are one of my favorite things to talk about. As we all know, like everything else in life, your romantic relationship evolves with age and time: “A big part of the work of loving and being loved is making peace with the inevitability of change.”
What advice would you give to your younger self, and what do you think you can learn from it?
Is it smart or selfish that more and more people are deciding to not have kids? There’s different reasons for everyone, and this article speaks to that. Also, apparently, I’m really invested in articles like this too.
Visual representation of why I keep referring to Summer Walker as the Marshawn Lynch of R&B. Typically, I love a singer who looks so mellow when they sing like they aren’t trying too hard but just have a great voice, but she has no emotion, but she does sound good. Her album still hasn’t grown on me too much yet, but still trying.
Keeping with the Tiny Desk theme, my girl Brittany Howard killed hers
Loved this episode of the Second Life podcast with Angelica Nwandu, the founder of the Shaderoom.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been revisiting some of my older favorites, Tiron & Ayomari’s A Sucker for Pumps. This album still is everything, and I keep playing “If I Had You,” on repeat with Thundercat and D.R.U.G.S. It makes me do this weird hybrid of dancing really fast and shimmying.
Lately, I keep talking to people about the show the Real L World. That was my show until they mixed New York and LA in the same season like a mash up. I thought the storylines were interesting, and I loved the soundtrack. All this to say, I've been listening to my favorite song from the show on repeat over the last few days, so thought I'd share: "Closer" by Stacy Clark.
Also, last thing - I know I told you all to binge A Million Little Things, like I did a few weeks ago. But can I just say, I binged the show and caught up and now I'm over it and not enjoying it much anymore. Do you have a recommendation that I should check out that isn't Amazon Prime's Modern Love (Erin has no Amazon Prime because budget).
One more last thing - if you're fiscally responsible like me, also always on a budget like me, I find a hack to get YNAB for a monthly subscription vs. paying the yearly $83.99 at one time. Bruh. You can just get it from the app store for a monthly $11. Still not cheap, but it was a helpful app for me because it's not like MINT and I don't have to make the extra effort to go into my account and export expenses and make an Excel spreadsheet. Here's a pretty nifty article about why YNAB is a great tool.
That's it for this week. Catch you next week .