may 1 vra
As a big fan of starting an article off with a zinger, try this one on for size:
If you spend enough time around the very rich these days, it’s clear. People didn’t look like this before because people naturally can’t look like this.
Later on in the same piece, there's another part I like:
After all, the unspoken appeal of cosmetic work is that it’s not just about looking “better” or “fixing” something or trying to remain competitive in ageist workplaces. It’s about indulging in a particular kind of experiential self-care that is infinitely customizable and accessible to only a select group. It signifies extreme wealth and belonging to an elite, all-powerful clique that gets to operate under a different set of societal norms and rules.
Those sinppets are from from this NYT piece titled Rich People Didn’t Look Like This Before and it discusses, among other things, how we are basically in Hunger Games territory. I'm burning a gift link to share it with you so do me proud and at least click through.
You may be surprised to know this, but I contemplated plastic surgery for a long, long time. Yeah some of that was just self-hatred or self-loathing that yearned for a quick fix, but most of it was impatience. I grew into a lot of my features late, by which I mean I thought I was going to look like I looked in high school forever, and for most of high school I hated how I looked. I was an underweight kid who had the soul (and dare I say the presence) of a big rough-and-tumble guy but I was skinny as a straw until my 20s. Eventually, most things filled out or fell into place, and I made friends with the parts that didn't. In the end, you look how you look. I've heard that expressed as "we get the face we deserve," but there's something about that I don't like.
That's the first time I've ever written about that kind of thing, I think. I suppose this fits, considering that yesterday and the day before yesterday I seemed very interested in talking about how we are all so many people inside of our one person.
🎵🎵 Also, if you somehow still haven't seen the Yung Lean video everyone is losing their shit over because in this age of AI slop, moments of actual human artistry hit like a fucking sledgehammer, here it is. Or, rather, that's the second part of the longer video, but people aren't watching the long one (and that's fine). Shout out to choreographer Damien Jalet.
🌲 gonna
🌼 go
🌱 touch pass
🌳 grass tf
🌷 now out
Be good to yourself.
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