Hello! You’ve reached kelsey’s corner, the only newsletter on the internet written and lovingly curated by me, Kelsey. In the last introduction of this newsletter I typed nosiest when I meant noisiest and you probably didn’t notice but I’m still embarrassed about the whole thing.
No, I am no longer funny 'cause I miss the way you laugh
Taffy Brodesser-Akner profiled Taylor Swift without interviewing Taylor Swift. The best to ever do it!1
You could say that Eras is cynical; you of course would discourage disavowing your past if you needed to remarket it to your audience. But look around this stadium. You don’t enrapture an audience like this unless you’re saying something real — something these legions of girls and women have been waiting to hear: that we are more than the moment on the balcony, where romance awaits. We are also everything before and after that. What Taylor Swift knows is that it’s fun to sing about boys and men and romance, but that those moments when we stand on a balcony as the person we desire gallops toward us, or the moment that we win the affection of a person despite his allegiance to another, are only the smallest parts of a woman’s life, no matter what the movies tell you. The ways that our trust and loyalty are weaponized against us is also the dominion of femaledom — the pain we feel over it, the way we can’t ever quite forget. Those things are worth singing about, too.
food media corner | Loved this profile on Molly Baz and the struggle to brand yourself as well as this treatise on consumers hitting “peak beverage.”
For no real reason I’ve been obsessed with the opening of Ragtime for the past week — just an exceptional blend of choreography and music.
Of course I saw the Eras Tour movie with my special little Taylor Swift cup. I loved reliving the whole show but I desperately miss how much emotion Miss Swift put into her performances of Lover. This is the one thing I’ll blame Joe Alwyn for.2
I love Ashley Norton’s celebrity deep dives; she manages to be wholly empathetic to the weirdness of being famous while not letting the nutty stuff pass us by. I had no real understanding of Halsey before watching this video but boy howdy, it gave me a few good laughs and some insight into she of blue hair and maybe accidentally calling for a second 9/11.
It’s been a loooooong time since I’ve sat down and watched a stand-up special3 but Joe Pera’s is delightful in its gentle weirdness.
favorites corner | I haven’t bought anything particularly interesting lately but I did love my little outfit I wore to the Apple Holler two weekends ago. Two separate ladies complimented my bandana and I felt like the coolest girl in the entire world.
wishlist corner | I think this bandana is going to end up in Bucky’s stocking this Christmas. Well deserved on this end!
Happy (early) Halloween to those who observe! This is my exact, perfect level of spookiness.
zoo corner | Someone please adopt Grape and free him from his miserable life of socializing with boxers. Also please enjoy this little red panda trotting around to a song that sounds like the Ducktales theme and Crumpet taking a little dip in the pool.
rec corner | My friends and I took a little day trip from the city to visit the Apple Holler in Sturtevant, WI and had a lovely time. I picked a ton of Honeycrisps (and two Ludacrisps, for the bit) and pet some goats and ate the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve had all year. On the way home we stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle for curds and the requisite cheese koozie. A perfect fall day!
Truthfully I couldn’t figure out how to format this in a good way but I’ve been eating good lately, so I want to shout out the following menu items: the Classic Burger from Lucy’s in Uptown, the Baked French Onion Soup at Wilde in Lakeview, and the Rigatoni Bolognese at Farm Bar (also) in Lakeview.
past corner | Occasional reader of this newsletter and frequent friend Jess and I saw Renee Rapp on a school night and sang and yelled and attempted to get Sonic after the fact. Renee Rapp can sing, baby! Truly insane stamina and vocal control out of that lady.
future corner | Coming up I have a wedding and nothing else exciting to speak of. My dress isn’t back from the tailor yet so who knows if I’ll be dressed appropriately! Might show up in a Snuggie!
I’ll be back on November 3 with one of my last five newsletters before I close this shop up for good. In the meantime, why don’t you check out the most-clicked link from our last newsletter — this exceptional Grub Street Diet. And, if you want to follow me around the internet you can find a link to my other socials here.
If you liked this newsletter, please share it with a friend or an enemy using the button below. If you double-liked this newsletter and want to buy me a Slurpee for my troubles here’s my virtual tip jar. Until then, please be nice to people. I’ll be thinking of you.
Your friend,
Kelsey
I realize this could be about Taffy or Taylor, and to that I say both of them have created iconic media about Tom Hiddleston.
Otherwise I am largely a Joe Alwyn truther. Just leave him alone, ok?
I consumed too much niche comedy content from ages 18-22 and had to go cold turkey for a while. However, I still got that dog in me, and that dog went to three 72-hour improv marathons in three years. If you see another stand up special in the next newsletter mind your dang business!!!