What's IN/OUT this week

Summer Fridays lasted exactly one Friday. Today I have calls and assignments that should take me right up to — if not beyond — 5 p.m. I tried!

IN: Picnics. My pals and I had our first picnic of the season last Saturday, and I am thrilled to announce that picnicking will be how I spend roughly 60% of my social time this summer. Rolling around on blankets or in the grass with some snacks and wine is an underrated (and cheap) way to spend an afternoon. OUT: My weak-ass picnic game. The only cooler I currently own is an old-school Igloo Playmate (this guy), which my dad handed to me one day and I never gave back. It’s great if you’re trying to show up to the picnic like a steelworker ready for his first Iron City beer of the afternoon. (Really, it is a perfectly fine cooler — but completely unwieldy to walk with.)

IN: Old stories. I’m reading Butterfield 8, my first time with John O'Hara. I’m having a blast reading something from 1935, with all the language quirks and Prohibition settings. It’s a fun departure from more modern novels, because I don’t always feel like stepping into a fictional world where the internet and cell phones are also characters. OUT: Worn stories. The few times I see commercials anymore are during games (Let’s go Knicks), and I guess Hollywood is only making sequels now? Every commercial was either for a new Minions movie or a new Toy Story flick (and whatever the hell that Scary Movie reboot is). I read a Puck article about how Gen Z is weary of Hollywood: its franchises, spinoffs, remakes, and even its over-saturated stars (Let’s go Knicks). The study cited in the article almost made me respect Gen Z, but then I read that “comedic” actors like Kevin Hart prompted the highest willingness to watch movies in theaters. I’m sorry, Kevin “I’ll do any commercial available” Hart???

IN: More time to spend working on this newsletter! Because… OUT: One of my main freelance gigs. I learned this past week that this particular job — which accounts for two-thirds of my annual income — is being dissolved in about a month. So you’ll have to excuse me if my INS/OUTS are a bit lame this Friday. It’s been a helluva week. 🫠

**Kudos if you realized the subject line of this newsletter was a reference to both the best children’s book and my little “I am about to be grossly underemployed” announcement.

Tell me what you hated this week!