But first, some beautiful words from a poet whose dying words were, “I fucking loved my life.”
“Grief Astronomer” Never have I ever felt so seen by two seemly unconnected words. It’s basically all I do here at the Bittersweet Weekly.
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Theo Von interviewed Juaquin Phoenix, and it was shockingly interesting1. At one point, Theo Von says something like, “It’s like I get to watch art and then talk to the paint.” The conversation was so earnest and sincere that it went deeper than the standard answers very famous people are used to giving. (This Past Weekend)
All the things AI cannot do. Some things include: “Wonder what its middle school bully is doing now,” “Sashay,” and “Lean against an office window sill that overlooks the Manhattan skyline and wonder what it’s all for.” Ha! (McSweeney’s)
Last time I shared Carrie Bradshaw, here is SJP herself… I love it when a celebrity gushes about a pet obsession.
Side note, I STILL own this Juicy Couture terrycloth dress.
This is not good at all, but I can’t stop thinking about it. The kids were in their late teens and early twenties during the pandemic. The rabbit hole they fell down is terrifying, but all I kept thinking was how this is what happens when lonely people come into contact with an algorithm that profits on rage.
"Maybe they had not asked for too much. Maybe they would get everything they wanted."
The beginning was gripping, the middle sagged a bit, and the end blew my socks off! There was so much in here about love and family and God and space. The characters all had a childlike quality to them (maybe it's that they all wanted to be astronauts), so it felt like a coming-of-age story. Heavy-handed at times with the feminist/LGBTQ themes, but maybe that's the challenge of historical fiction.
Fast-paced, high stakes, big heart. The perfect buddy-read with my son, who loves sci-fi, but I'm kind of so-so on the genre.
I struggled to believe the characters were as young as they were... I think it was the dialogue. My audio version had an interview with he author that explained that they needed to be 6-7 years old so they could adapt to fighting in space.
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