The Gist 002.

March 2025

March was sooo fun and exciting for me! For starters, I realized I successfully accomplished all of my first quarter goals. I’m excited to move into the second quarter of the year — there are so many more new and exciting things that are happening in the coming months that I now get to prepare for and I can’t wait. My boyfriend and I also moved into our new apartment, which has been so fun. I love being able to spend time with him, cook together, and just vibe in a space that’s our own. Our cats have also been pretty chill with each other! Luna and Sol kind of took over the space initially because Cloud didn’t really want to come out of her room. We eventually decided to just let Cloud out and my girls have just been keeping their distance and observing her from afar. I can tell they want to play with her but just aren’t 100% sure about how they feel about her yet. I’m hoping that Sol and Cloud will be besties. Sol is such a sweet girl, she just be doing the most and that’s why she annoys the fuck out of Luna.

MOVIES:

I watched 4 movies in the month of March. Two of these (Marriage Story; Longlegs) were a first-time watch and the other two (Friday; Zombieland) were rewatches. I technically also watched Next Friday (first watch) and The Day After Tomorrow (rewatch) but I don’t count them because I either fell asleep halfway through or got distracted by a very important side quest.

MARRIAGE STORY

Did Noah Baumbach write this movie about his own divorce? Is that a thing I’ve read before? I feel unsure, but I also don’t want to google it because I like the idea that he did. Adam Driver looks so much like him to me here.

Anyway, I loved this film so much. It was so beautifully shot and I just love how much love we are capable of holding as humans. Usually, I shy away from negative depictions of love and marriage. I just don’t like how so many films perpetuate the narrative that your life is over after marriage, that women stop taking care of themselves after getting married, and that you lose yourself in marriage. These blanket statements being made in popular media irritates me; I’m not really sure why. But, I loved how raw the performances from Scarlett Johanssen and Adam Driver were. The huge fight scene that takes place in the living room is one of my favorite scenes, maybe from any movie. Top Ten for sure. Maybe I should make a list…Anyway, I loved that scene so much. The line “You shouldn’t be mad that I fucked her, you should be mad I had a laugh with her!” is so important and really just ties the whole movie together to me about where exactly within the relationship they were just incompatible. I also think like…maybe don’t start businesses with your partners sometimes. I would hate for my entire relationship to feel business related. I think this movie just also shows that you cannot be selfish when you are in a partnership with another person. You can’t expect someone to give up all of their dreams and place your’s on a pedestal, but you also have to be willing to compromise. There has to be equal amounts of sacrifice and compromise from both parties in order for things to work out in the long run. Everything needs to be talked about and agreed upon so there isn’t loads of resentment being held.

LONGLEGS

I’m literally obsessed with this movie. The way it’s shot is spectacular. So cool and beautiful to look at. The performances were also outstanding. Nicholas cage was so creepy it made me uncomfortable but that means he did his job! I think the “twist” was interesting, like finding out what or who exactly the villain is. However, I do wish it seemed a little more high stakes upon Lee figuring it out toward the end. I don’t know, I think it just fell through a little at the end in terms of tension for me. However, I still gave it five stars. I think it does its job, its beautiful, and I can overlook the one issue I had with it.

TV SHOWS

I LOVE LUCY

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of I Love Lucy. I used to watch this with my grandma a lot growing up and it’s just always so fun to revisit. Obviously, its a show that was filmed in the 1950s, so there are some things I just have to make the active decision to look over because That’s Just How Things Were Back Then. But I think Lucy is so fun and I wish Ricky would just be a little fucking nicer to her sometimes!!

TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND

There was a day where I smoked too much weed after work and really needed to put something on that was familiar but that I hadn’t seen in a while so parts of it would still be new to me. Total Drama Island was what I settled on and it did not disappoint. My boyfriend had also never heard of this show before and I enjoyed seeing him watch it for the first time. Also, maybe I was just young as hell when I first watched this but I never realized how racist they are to Leshawna!! Being called “big” and “loud” in the first episode was soo wild to me but I will admit that I did chuckle just a little bit. Sue me.

SUPERNATURAL

Rafael and I started watching this together, but at some point I got distracted and would just do other things while he was watching it. However, I’ve recently gotten really into it again! I’m a little lost on what happened in between the last episode I was really into and where I’m picking back up with him, but I’m lowkey obsessed. Sam is currently soulless. It’s a whole thing. Also Dean is gay as hell.

MUSIC

Chappell Roan never disappoints. Her new single The Giver has honestly already given her the White Girl of the Year title for me personally. We’re only three months into the year and she’s taking it! I am loving all the country moments from different artists lately, and I think we all need to take a moment to thank Beyonce personally for her contributions.

I’ve been so obsessed with Nosebleeds by Doechii lately. It's such a Leo song and as a Leo stellium it’s been the song I’ve been walking to lately. Hot girl walks have never made me feel badder.

Abracadabra by Lady Gaga has such a fun, contagious beat! I’ve been cleaning to this song a lot lately; it makes me feel so motivated and energized! I also listened to this one the stairmaster the other day and let's just say it did what it needed to do.

Get Behind Me (interlude) by SZA is the song I listen to first thing in the morning. If I’m being honest I queue it about five times in a row and listen to it as my affirmations on the bus journey to work in the mornings. If I’m home alone while I'm getting ready, I start playing it from the moment I get in the shower. Sometimes you really just have to remind yourself to not let these bitches bring you down! Especially when you work in customer service.

Ari finally released Eternal Sunshine Deluxe and and I am so obsessed with the new additions. Current favorites are twilight zone and warm.

YOUTUBE

Hitomi Mochizuki

I have always been such a big fan of Hitomi! I feel like a lot of our spiritual beliefs align and its always just such a cozy vibe to put on one her videos while I’m in the bath or something. Her voice is so soothing and I get such good ideas for habits to incorporate into my daily routine for a more wellrounded holistic state of being.

The Basement Yard

This is just one of those podcasts you have to watch the video for in order to get the full experience. These boys are literally so insanely funny I feel like I can’t be eating or drinking anything when I’m watching them because I might choke. My boyfriend also thinks they’re funny which is a plus.

FLUID

I love Karla’s videos! Again, just really vibey and something to put on when I’m having a little self care moment and just want to watch something while I chill in the bath tub or while I’m drinking a cup of tea.

Lucas Washburn

There are a lot of really cool people on youtube who do different kind of mixes. Because I listen to a lot of those while I’m cleaning or journaling in the mornings, I was recommended this video by Youtube. Guys….this is insane. Such a fun vibe to watch them all interact and just such a fun vibe to listen to the mix itself.

SUBSTACK

You are what you leave behind.

I recently read this piece by

Ehime Ora

that stuck with me. I also have very distinct memories of gathering arounf photo albums with my family and of my parents and grandparents making sure to capture moments on their disposable cameras. Last year, I got really into the idea of archiving my life for my descendants the way that my family used to, as I feel like scrapbooking and haivng physical memories and attachments to your ancestors has become a lost art. I liked Ehime’s idea of Junk Journaling as well. This was something I had tried to get into before but I think having this intention behind it is something that will get me to be consistent with it.

The Ideation to Execution Gap

I am obsessed with this piece by

Julia Gandara

. And I am such a slut for step by step how to guides. The Ideation to Execution Gap is something I also struggle with. I always have so many ideas with no time in between to create a clear vision for getting them done. I think this is a good starting point for anyone looking for ideas to get out of that rut.

How to Thrive as a Slow Creative

Similarly, I really enjoyed this piece by

Kennadi

and I think that there needs to be a balance between Getting Shit Done and allowing yourself proper time to let your ideas cook. I want to exist in that in between spot. I think its important to have long term projects alongside your short term ones or ones that are continuous but take shorter amounts of time to complete — like my Midweek Musings, for example.

BOOKS

This month, I finally finished reading De Profundis by Oscar Wilde. I wrote a review of it here on substack if you would like to see all of my thoughts on it.

Currently, I am reading Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman. I’m not that far into it, but I anticipate finishing it by the end of April. I am enjoying it so far though. I love books that take place in New York City when they are writen by writers of color who actually grew up there. New York is just such a diverse city with such a rich history and I love being transported there through literature.

PHOTOS I TOOK

My boyfriend and I took a day trip to California this month! I had a lot of fun. i also didn’t realize how much I’ve missed the beach until we got there.

Some new apartment vibes. Raf and I had a white people taco night and honestly???? Shit was fire.

Luna, Sol, and Cloud are all settling into the apartment nicely as well! They have so much more space now and they’ve been enjoying running around like absolute maniacs!