Welcome to Notes from Erin, a newsletter about all things from music, reading to productivity. I’m glad you’re here - subscribe below if you got this email from social media or a friend.
This week, we are talking productivity, Bow Wow going to the WWE, and the most beautiful thing at the Super Bowl.
Have you ever read something and instantly felt dragged? That’s how I felt reading this blurb in Anne Helen Petersen’s newsletter:
Problem at work? Yours to fix. And when it comes to the office, the easiest, most accessible solution will always be to work more. But that’s the attitude that led us here. Knowledge workers have embraced our own deskilling, and the subsequent devaluing of our labor, and rebranded it as personal productivity. We have downloaded so many fucking apps, bought so many planners, read so many life hacks, all in service of our continued debasement.
I read that and had an okay sis, don’t come for me moment because I’m the person who has downloaded ALL the apps in hopes of being more productive. I have also purchased ALL the planners, even overly expensive ones, to create a routine for me. However, I end up throwing them away because I'm not too fond of clutter.
I also read another blurb on the topic in Phoebe Lovatt’s newsletter:
We might be desperately crying out for the end of hustle culture, but there are so many questions - economic, cultural, and existential - that still need to be attended to before we can renounce it for good. Who are we (who am I?) when time isn’t measured by our capacity for getting things done?
All of this leads me to admit that I know I may annoy my friends with all my productive libra woes. However, my quest to be productive leads me into doing lots of busywork.
To work towards being more productive in my life, I am first acknowledging that I am not Zenon girl of the 21st Century.
I don’t have to be overly techie and in the future but only need to adopt tools that support me and how I work. That means I’m part Todoist, Notion, and part notebook on all fronts. This also means I’m productive when I want to be and a carefree butterfly during the other time. Honestly, with the way people are cupid shuffling through the world acting like we aren’t living in a pandemic, I’m sure we have more time in the house thus more time for me to adapt to a system that I feel confident with.
Please wear your mask and continue to socially distance.
Is it wrong that I finished writing that line and thought of that weird “bloopity bloop” Kanye West song?
Here are a few other things worth checking out:
First, I know I always talk about Bow Wow because he’s technically a cultural icon — keep your shade to yourself, but please don’t come to me to talk about him wanting to be a WWE Wrestler. I’m all for people working towards goals that they want to achieve, but his body is small. I see him getting thrown all over the place like a rag doll.
Loved this podcast episode with my guys, Desus and Mero (the brand is strong) on Kevin Hart’s new podcast, Inside Jokes with Kevin Hart.
This year I won Fantasy Football but that doesn’t mean that I watched the Super Bowl for any other reason than to see the beautiful Travis Kelce play. My dad basically told me if he paid attention to my Travis Kelce thirst years ago (I was an avid watcher of his reality dating show), he would’ve realized how great a player he was (I know how to pick them). That being said, I definitely didn’t watch the Super Bowl this year for the bizarre festival that was The Weeknd — literally, WTF? Although Travis and the Chiefs lost, I was happy for Tom Brady. Last week in one of my favorite newsletters, The Profile, she covered Tom Brady and shared two videos that I enjoyed: First on what it means to be a competitor, "I'm also playing to get the most out of myself because I love my career," and secondly about how fatherhood has changed him.
Just leaving this here because it’s all my guys in one thing - Travis Kelce returned to Desus & Mero (watch his first interview) before the Super Bowl, and he looks fine - finished with thirst.
I still miss Nipsey Hussle and love the visual album of The Marathon to celebrate the mixtape’s tenth anniversary. Speaking of Nipsey, I loved Megan Rapinoe’s Nipsey mention on her and Sue Bird’s GQ Couple Quiz. They are one of my favorite couples and Sue is my first sneaker head. #thatsall
Bravo’s new Real Housewife franchise Salt Lake City just ended. I have mixed feelings about the new series because I haven’t made it through a whole episode because Jen is always screaming. But these two reads were both interesting and summed up my feelings, first this New Yorker piece:
Viewers are torn on Shah, who clings to the camera. Her hunger eclipses her hauteur. I appreciate the vulgarity of her performance. The show delights in the playing of Cosby’s conservatism against Shah’s confrontational, in-vogue politics, of Black against brown, which is to say that it captures a real, intra-racial social tension. Shah’s politics are righteous, but she is also aware of how they might garner her clout. Call this culturally sensitive trash.
And this read about how Mormons became American, which was very long but interesting.
That’s all for this week:
SIDENOTE: Today is Brandy and Kelly Rowland’s birthday. This I know from spending much of my childhood as a Brandy stan. In honor of Brandy, I would like to acknowledge that I just finished watching Moesha for the 82204709472974 time on Sunday, and she grew on me during her college years. I would also like to leave you with five of my favorite Brandy songs:
Bow wow needs to sit down!!!! Also I’ve only heard 2 Nipsey songs *shrug* but I’ll take a listen based on your admiration.
Travis yummm I concur!!!!