Taylor Swift's album is here and it's bomb! (and other stories)

I've been running, or at least, that's how it feels in my head. Just running. I don't know what that means, but I think it's more about the fact that I haven't caught my breath or relaxed in a long time.

This newsletter isn't exactly about what I'm feeling or what I'm not feeling, because I don't know. Right now, I'm honestly just glad that I'm not experiencing any form of anxiety that's leaving me nonfunctional.

I think I do myself a huge disservice these days when I try to explain how I'm feeling, people usually go, “it’s just that? just do XYZ”, “this shouldn't be bothering you, stop thinking about it”, “but it hasn’t happened yet na”, or say something that makes me wish I could take back the minutes I spent talking about how I was feeling. Yes, I told you about this and that and XYZ, but it's usually not just XYZ and this and that, it's a whole lot of things that I can't even put into words, but then again, it's not their fault, it's the information they get they will act on, and sometimes, I'm terrible at explaining myself.

Moving on, right now, I feel really bloated, my stomach feels like it's not mine, I think periods are highly unnecessary and stupid, and for the hundredth time since I started going to this school, I don't want to go anymore. Recently, I've been finding the lecturers more annoying than usual, which adds to my already huge dislike for this school. Also, I think I really suck at school.

Amazingly, I was awake when it dropped, that was like past 5am in the morning (Nigerian time) I started listening to it immediately, and I was hooked. Let me not even beat around the bush, the first song, Fortnight (ft. Post Malone) is my favourite song, I love it! I absolutely love it. I think I've listened to it 250 times now.

My favourite thing about this song is how Taylor's voice is so soft and soothing, it's so soothing you almost miss how unhinged the lyrics.

I went on Tiktok and someone was talking about how the songs on this album would really slap you if you're going through a breakup, and that… that absolutely made sense.

Also, the subtle female rage, there's this part where Taylor goes,

Like, where did that come from?!

Another thing I love about this song is the last verse where Post Malone sings and then Taylor sings after, and it's just so amazing. And it fits so well.

Especially the part where Taylor says but you won't be called, it makes me want to just go under running water and bawl my eyes out.

See?! That sort of thing also happened when they go,

The but I touched you always does it for me, the emphasis? Amazing. I love everything about this song, the lyrics, the feature, the way their voices just fit (I don't know how they say this in music language, harmony?).

I don't think there's any other song I can talk about as much as this one—I mean, I've listened to it like 250 times, 😂.

The only song I didn't exactly like immediately was The Tortured Poets Department, but I plan on listening to the entire album again, especially as she released the anthology after about two hours. I didn't even notice it until much much later, I was trying to save my academic life.

These are the songs I immediately liked, I really love Florence + The Machine, so I was really excited about the feature and it didn't disappoint.

I thought I Can Do It With A Broken Heart was funny, there's this line that goes something like,

The song has the same vibe Anti-hero has, really fun instrumental, but depressing lyrics.

Anyhoo, that's enough about the album, maybe when I listen to it again, I'll have more things to say about more songs and the songs she just added.

I read Abby Jimenez's new book, Just For The Summer, and oh boy, have you ever read a book that started out so great and just end up falling flat? That's how this book was for me.

I really enjoyed the beginning, infact, that's what kept me going. It had a great storyline and I was really interested in seeing how the whole thing was going to unfold, but it ended up unfolding in a really bad way.

I liked the MMC, he was really chill and for someone who had a lot of shit going on, he was able to hold everything down, but the FMC on the other hand—oh, boy—I don't even know what to say about her. I wouldn't say she wasn't okay because she made the book fun at some point, but at the same time, she was the one who made my rating go from 4.5 to 4.0 to 3.5 to 3.0 to 2.5.

Another thing that ruined this book for me was how the author was trying to create a false depth in the book, like two people might be having a normal conversation and the next minute, the other person is saying something wild like “life is not about what happens to you, but what you make out of it”—like, okay, but what does that have to do with what I'm talking about right now?

I was going to say nobody talks like that in real life, but some people probably do, even though I'm definitely sure it's not in the bizarre way authors do it. I can't explain it, but I need authors to realise that it's okay to just write a chill book, you don't have to force depth. If your characters are smart and wise and zen, they will say smart and wise and zen things and it wouldn't feel forced.

Another thing that didn't sit well with me was how the FMC and the MMC separated for about 6 months and then, all of a sudden, the FMC was like, “oh, I really like this guy, let me go back after completely ignoring him for 6 months”, and they got back together! Just like that!

I don't like time lapses in books, especially when they did nothing during the time lapse to be together and they were just living their life, then because of one randomass event they decide to get back together. They don't even talk about the problem anymore! The romance is gone, I'm so sorry, and what's to say it won't happen again? Especially as they don't even try to talk about it.

The FMC always has this moment where she feels a certain way and she has to isolate herself. The reason she left the last time was basically because she always goes through something where she feels “small” and she just wants to isolate herself from everybody, which is totally understandable, but at the same time, “okay?”, I can't put it into words. I'm done.

That's all for this week's newsletter. I honestly didn't plan on writing this, but Taylor's album made me do it, so listen to it and get back to me.

Let me know how your week was or tell me about your major takeaways from this week's newsletter by sending a reply to this mail and if you're reading on your browser, you can send a reply to my mail; [email protected].

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Bye!