Young, Wild and Free
'90s playlists, Ryan Gosling for Gucci, Magic Eye and more!
Last night, while sweating my butt off on a stationary bike and trying hard to keep the cheeseburger I ate for lunch in my digestive tract, a deep euphoria washed over me. I felt uninhibited. FREE. Not of nausea, unfortunately, or concern for the person riding in front of me. But free from time. Immortal, almost. And I credit this to the ’90s playlist blaring overhead.
What is it about music from our past that makes us feel so damn good? We spend our youth wanting to fast forward. To be older. To be wiser. To be cooler. We plan our futures when we’re young, courtesy of the origami fortune teller and M.A.S.H. And then when we get there—to the age we all wanted to be ASAP—we’re all, “remember when...?!” We want to stop time. Reminisce. Go back—if only for 45 minutes in a dark room with a bunch of strangers singing Janet Jackson’s “Together Again” and Whitney Houston’s “My Love is Your Love.”
The thing is, back when these songs [or insert your JJ or WH here] originally came out; when we first heard them in the car on the way to, say, cheer practice or at Limelight on a Saturday night after taking the LIRR into “the city” with a smudged fake ID, we didn’t know the impact they’d one day have. We liked them, sure. But they were just pop songs. Our day’s Harry Styles or HER or Dua Lipa. And yet here I was, some decades later, a 44-year-old in the front row waving her towel in the air to La Bouche’s “Be My Lover.” I have officially become the target audience for one of the decade's channels on Sirius Radio. I am both shocked and shameless.
What does it mean when you begin to long for…oh God here it comes… “the good ’ole days”? That one-time-only, no refunds or exchanges time in your life that you maybe didn’t really know was so great ’til it was gone. (Insert another great Janet Jackson song here.) Not that I actually want to rewind the clock. And, frankly, I don’t have to. We’ve got sounds and scents for that. (Don’t even get me started on being in Hossegor, France last week, where the smell of pine needles mixed with ocean air brought me back to the days of painting shells on Fire Island, my forever Happy Place.) But what does this small yearning for “then” while also being fully invested in the “now” say about who we are or are becoming? Is it just maturity in a Halloween costume?
I’m not sure how to wrap this up other than to say if you need a dose of joy or a reminder that age really is a state of mind, turn on some “Pump Up the Jam” or “Gypsy Woman,” or whatever song makes you feel young, wild, and free.
Bon week-end, friends. xx — Sara
Clickable
What is a “Hot Girl Book” — and have you read any? | Bustle
Giving up the daily grind for some soil and wine. | Travel & Leisure
“There is no limit on the number of times we can course-correct.” | The Cut
The Positano problem and how traveling sucker punches you. | Vox
Don’t let “negativity bias” hold you back from being kind. | The NY Times
Coolio fan writes a winning tribute to the late rapper. | PEOPLE
One writer’s complicated relationship with tacos. | Texas Monthly
The Butter Board fuss reaches new heights. | The Cut
“You can’t be precious about writing if you have kids.” | Lit Hub
What happens when an omnivore tries to hunt for her dinner. | Bon Appetit
Watchable-ish
I am all for supporting advertisements when they’re artistic and imbue some sort of meaning and emotion—and especially when they feature Ryan Gosling—but I’m not entirely sure I get the overall concept of this one for Gucci. We see Ryan Gosling loading and unloading monogrammed suitcases from a motel, into a truck, and onto the beach to the tune of Heart’s “Magic Man.” It’s all very…obscure and esoteric. While it’s worth your two minutes, if only to watch Gosling snack on chips from the dashboard, I’m not adding a vintage valise to my birthday wishlist anytime soon.
Currently overthinking…
…the difference between a traditional therapist/psychologist and a life coach…
Souvenir: Magic Eye
I recently finished an incredible book—Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin—much of which takes place in the ’90s (more flashbacks!) and references video games and tricks-of-the-eye like the popular “Magic Eye” book. Remember how you had to relax your eyes in front of these seemingly innocuous designs and stare and stare and stare until an image appeared? Did YOU see them?!
Don’t forget: Sponsoring a souvenir is a perk of being a paid subscriber.
And this may be a strange thing to say but I feel prettier, hotter, more everything when i listen to music. 🤪🤪