#001 - Are you calling me dumb?! & other obsessions...
Thanks for being here for Edition 001 of Kinda Obsessed, you absolute beauts!
Welcome to the very first edition of Kinda Obsessed - my new newsletter as someone who is chronically online. I spend so much time strolling through the online world due to my job, and I’m not ashamed to say I am the ultimate consumer. Not simply in the way of purchasing (although my shopping habit does leave a lot to be desired), but in the shape of long form articles, interesting podcasts and my one true love, fiction novels.
This newsletter is my way of sharing some of the top things I have been obsessing over in any which week. The format will probably change as I find my feet (and as I get feedback about what you want to see more and less of), but for now… let’s dive in, shall we?
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Kinda obsessed with thinking about…
Last week, one of my girlfriends shared an article with me, with a headline suggesting that a ‘new study’ showcases those who are highly interested in celebrity pop culture are less intelligent. This wasn’t a stab - she wasn’t slyly hitting me up to call me stupid. She’s just as embedded into the lives of celebrities as I am, and sharing the correlating screenshot in a joke of solidarity. I haven’t looked into the supposed ‘study’ too deeply (and I do believe it’s more than a year old), but as a pop culture aficionado, it triggered a whole thought process on why people are so obsessed with thinking celebrity culture = dumb. Have we not moved past that trope? Do we, as a society, not have a deeper level of critical thinking yet? Talk about lacking imagination.
The emergence of this article timing felt so off to me, as I feel the analytical deconstruction of celebrity culture has never been more prevalent, with entire TikTok accounts dedicated to analysing paparazzi shots, to almost every single new high-profile couple being put through an initial cynical lens about whether or not the relationship is the result of strategic PR. Look no further than Timothee and Kylie, Taylor and Travis… Madelyn Cline and Pete Davidson (the reigning king of driving publicity in his relationships).
So, I wholeheartedly reject that being (kinda) obsessed with celebrity culture ‘rots your brain’ or one of those age old tropes, making you any less intelligent. On the contrary, I believe that having an innate understanding of the industry as a whole provides an interesting case study for human nature as a whole. To call celebrity culture frivolous only showcases that the person doing so lacks awareness about the underlying mechanisms at play in the industry. The ability to apply critical thinking leaves us more aware and protected from being commodified by the parameters that are being set by the celebrity machine.
I haven’t even taken the time to read the study or look into it more deeply (and if that makes me a hypocrite, so be it!), but I’m confident that the results have less to do with intelligence, and more to do with a person’s difficulty dedicating attention to anything outside their obsession of choice. Which, judging by the title of my newsletter, isn’t something I seem to struggle with.
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Kinda obsessed about purchasing…
These Zara studded clogs — sadly, there’s no chance my troll foot would slide into these babies so someone snap them up for me, please!
This boxy jacket from the Emma Chamberlain x Levi’s, which she launched through wearing front row at PFW. Big PR slay.
I have a sick obsession with scented candles and home scents, and the Sassafras Candle from Troye Sivan’s homewares label Tsu Lang Yor is the next one I hope to burn.
If I have to get out of bed every morning, I might as well take my bedding with me c/o these overtly EXXXTRA Bimba Y Lola Cushion Earrings.
This salty shaker vase from Gold Coast based sculptor… summer blooms + Saxa Salt = a match made in heaven, apparently.
Kinda obsessed with listening to…
The latest podcast I listened to and couldn’t stop raving about was a Sentimental Garbage episode on Barbie, with Jen Cownie. I honestly love (love looooove) every single episode of of Caroline O’Donoghue’s catalogue, but this one struck a cord. If you haven’t dove in to the Sentimental Garbage catalogue yet, get started with this one.
Kinda obsessed with reading…
I decided to wholeheartedly embrace the spooky season this year with a few horror and thriller fiction novels. Some were hits, and others were very much misses. Here are a few of the quasi-horror hits (from lately… and some from a little further back):
A final remark…
My unlikely celebrity crush at the moment is the host of Chicken Shop Date, Amelia Dimoldenberg. I watch every episode. I follow her on Instagram. I am probably one wine away from sliding into her DMs. Join me on the Amelia love train, it’s a smooth and hilarious ride.
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