Sounds of the times
I’ll never hear Evermore or Folklore without thinking of Pandemic Times, and now I have a soundtrack for life right now:
Chappell Roan. I think I heard “Good Luck Babe” on an NPR All Songs Considered episode and then I noticed that Apple music kept . . . feeding me Chappell Roan at the end of various playlists, and I wasn’t mad about it. Then my kids started singing “Hot to Go” and yep, here we are.
(My initial reaction to her was to note that she has SUCH A GREAT NAME for a rock star! Turns out that is because . . . it is not her actual name. Kayleigh Rose Amstutz does not have quite the same ring to it, though her music probably would have gotten attention eventually anyway!).
Anyway, if you haven’t listened, I definitely recommend. She’s 80s-meets-2000s, Mitski-meets-Olivia-with-a-dash-of-early-Aimee-Mann, and angsty and emotional in the best way.
3 Good Things
1- I am reading. Um, yay, because I haven’t done much of that for a while! This book came in my Parnassus Books subscription (bday gift!) and it fits my mood well. It’s about hope and sadness and family dynamics, plus it’s set in the small islands west of Seattle, close to where we just were.
2- I had a highly productive day yesterday, including 2 interviews (always a lot of mental energy expended there). Both went well (I think!) and both will air soon. Right now I feel like I have a lot going on and therefore am highly motivated to not get behind the deadlines I have set for myself.
3- I completed a challenging (treadmill) hill run. It was so hard but that made me feel confident that it was doing something, from a training perspective! It looked so bland on paper (or strava) but running at 4% incline absolutely trashes my legs and sends my heart rate through the roof (180s!). My marathon is flat, but I still think this has to be good for overall fitness. I made it through the planned workout but just barely and felt like that’s how I knew I chose the paces well.
10 Comments
I just read Bear! It was slow to start but I ended up really liking it. If you haven’t read Julia Phillips’ first book, I highly recommend it.
ooh good to know!!!
I absolutely LOVED Bear. Not quite as much as Disappearing Earth, her first novel, but I’m pretty sure it’s my second favorite book of 2024 (after Wellness which I know you also adored). I had a very quick work trip last week and I devoured the whole thing on the plane there and back. It made me want to go to that area of the Pacific NW too–must be fun that you were just there!
Yay for the Chappell Roan shout out! I saw her at Outside Lands last month and she was amazing. She drew the biggest crowd in Outside Lands history (over 80K people!) and everyone was so pumped to see her. It was just the best show. So glad you are liking her too! Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess is a great album.
I bet she was amazing live!! You are lucky you got to see that, so cool!!
Hills are speedwork in disguise! So yes, you definitely got a lot of benefit from that workout.
I haven’t heard of Bear so I looked at it on Amazon. It sounds good! It’s described as having a shocking twist at the end, but then one of the reviewers said they hated the ending. You’ll have to let us know what you think!
I’m kind of nervous now for the end!!! I’ll let you know!
PINK PONY CLUB!!!!
Dylan also recently got me into Olivia Rodrigo, for which I will be eternally grateful and hopefully not also a source of embarrassment for her.
Both are so good!! And now that song is in my head lol… too catchy
I almost got a chance to see Chappell Roan! My daughter and I are going to ACL music fest next month, and she was scheduled for the day we’re going until she got so big over the summer that they moved her to a headline spot the following day. Happy for her, sad for us! But will still be a great day of music–Dua Lipa, Benson Boone and Renee Rapp are the top ones for my 14 year old. We love music around here, too!