Since I’m working on creating a hive-mind situation here, I’m sure you probably feel the same as I do: that every summer comes with a crushing pressure to make the most of it.

So much so, that sometimes I spend so much time stressing that I’m not having a perfect summer, I forget to have one at all.

Dear readers, I am proud to admit that this summer I pretty much nailed it.

I went to Wimbledon, two weddings, got a sunburn at the London Fields Lido, went out with a whole range of people from a Labour Party strategist to the guy who re-designed the Freddo (can anyone tell it’s been re-designed? a question for a later date), got press passes to All Points East, ate several lobster rolls on the beach, cried laughing at Edinburgh Fringe, watched England get beaten at a crucial moment in the World Cup, ate an enormous Russ and Daughters bagel, saw a partial eclipse, danced until I cramped at Carnival, even got splashed with lukewarm water on a carnival ride in Brighton.

The one thing I’m missing is a trip to Ibiza. I’ve never been, and I do feel like I need to get one under the wire next summer before I turn 30 and am legally barred from entering the island. My DMs are open for a 2027 trip.

Trying to do the maths on how many times I need to be bootycalled by The Tottenham Pilot (tm) to get a free flight…will let you know as soon as that critical data is in.

I’m proud of myself for actually getting up and doing things this year. I’m a chronic “next year-er” and I finally stepped up and said “no. I’m doing it today!”

I would say I have the tan to prove it, but I’m not gifted in that department.

Alright, usually I would include some critical INs and OUTs for the months ahead, but this is a special episode to review the fact that same say their life is a movie, some say their life is a sitcom, but to quote the one and only Lydia Patrick “When will my life stop being an episode of Girls and turn into Sex and the City???”

This is going to be one of those blog posts that really should have been a journal entry, so strap in.

Sometimes I think my wilder days are behind me and then I spend four days out from Soho to...uh…twenty minutes in Tottenham…and I realised that while I do have to commit to stretching after a weekend like this, I’m very much still in the game.

Ok, the real plot point this weekend is that the X Stage at All Points East brings together all kinds of people including, apparently, me and a guy I dated for a month when I was 17.

Back then he was a total dick to me. And I, being the strong confident girl that I was, let him be a total dick to me.

Truly I have not thought about this man for a decade, and yet when I heard a “Sophie?” mid-Bb Trickz, I was surprisingly delighted!

Why?

Because for once in my life I ran into someone I went to school with while looking hot!!

All the other times I’ve run into people from school I’ve looked like I just got out of a medically-induced coma, and yet, when it really counted, I looked amazing.

It’s enough to make a girl turn to God.

Let’s all be honest with ourselves for a second. When someone asks “what is your greatest fantasy?” You can say all the Feeld-appropriate things you like, but at the end of the day the truth is it’s having someone who was mean to you when you were 17 apologising for their behaviour and also still wanting to kiss you.

And, not to brag, but I’m living proof that for some chosen people our dreams really are in reach.

But really, it’s funny. Seeing someone from so long ago both showed me how much I’ve changed and also how completely the same I am.

I realised that despite ten years of creating an adulthood in which I am more confident, friendly, fun-loving, and inquisitive…give me one to ten vodka sodas and I’m exactly as likely to hurl myself in the direction of the nearest dance floor makeout as I was at 17.

The only difference being that I’m on the vodka sodas instead of the vodka crans.

I’m curious, if we could all hold onto just one thing from being 17, what would it be? For me, I’m glad it’s my passion for a smooch. I’ll take that over pretty much everything else.

But other than realising that I’m still a fiend for lipsing, I’m still thinking about how surreal it felt to see my actions then and the person I am at 28 projected to me through both someone else’s eyes and my own at the same time.

I know it’s corny (it’s my blog, ok!) but seeing my friends and my life — despite it being one of my more chaotic weekends — from a different perspective make me well up a little.

I have beautiful friends, a loving relationship with Hackney’s most unhinged bartender (Nicky The Strict I love you!), a press pass, and now a story in Cosmo!! A very Hannah Horvath thing to do. What more could a Girl wish for in this world?

And, as someone who reports on wild and illegal “youthly” beauty trends, this whole episode reminded me that there is no amount of money I would pay to look or be 17 ever again.

I’m good.

Okidoke, with all that reminiscing out of the way. Here’s What I’m…

Reading

Book — The Secret History, Donna Tartt. Ok confession time. I went to a liberal arts school in Vermont and I’ve never read this book. Partially because it just didn’t sound like it was really for me, and partially because I’d get pissed off every time someone asked if I’d read it just because I was at school in Vermont. Anyway, turns out I was right. It’s not really for me. At least now I know for sure.

Article — “Sex and relationships seem a waste of time”: Inside the popular ‘Godzilla’ jab and its worrying side effects, Sophie Clark!! Cosmo babyyyyy. I’m really really proud of this story, and can’t believe I’m in a dream publication! Please everyone read it so they commission another one thank you <3

Watching

TV Show — Abbott Elementary. I had a transcendent experience at the Zack Fox All Points East DJ set this week, so I’m back into his show. What can’t he do??

Movie — Tony. Loved this!! Would really recommend. Fantastic cast, not overly dramatised, love letter to Provincetown one of my favourite places on earth. Simply fantastic.

Listening to

Album — Everything Tyler the Creator. His All Points East set was incredible. One of the very best to do it right now. The only thing he’s better at than performing is being Theresa May’s #1 hater.

Podcast — The Tennis Podcast. Confession, I started listening to this show to fall asleep, but now I’m a bit hooked. It’s US Open season and I need to know all the drama.

Community Corner:

This segment is back with a call-out to support the Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s project to investigate the economics of hate.

All donations go to independent journalism!! Donate here

Ok love you all! Get some rest! Eat your potassium!

xoxo Sophie

I’m bravely battling jetlag to type this up a few days late (the sacrifices I make…).

Sorry for being a little behind here, the thing is I was at an incredible wedding and then I was at the beach, so I was trying to live in the moment if that’s cool with you all.

Sometimes in life you meet a girl on your first day of uni and 9 years later you’re sobbing watching her walk down the aisle looking like an actual princess whose realm is the Manhattan skyline.

I’m a big believer that if you can throw a massive, massive, party then you simply must, especially when that massive party is at Rockefeller Center — the center of my universe (30 Rock standom). And, fortunately, my beautiful friend feels the same.

We are truly aligned where it matters.

Now, because I have to make my friend’s wedding ultimately about myself and my blog, I will tell you that it felt a little weird in a nostalgic way being back in New York. And especially weird being in a glittery, golden, Art Deco, side of New York, when the city that I had inhabited from ages 23-25 was almost exclusively comedy club basements, and, occasionally, comedy clubs at the ground level.

I also had never been to a big fancy wedding in Manhattan before and I hope I don’t piss off too many people with this…but here goes.

There were so many people at this wedding on GLP-1s (or just very skinny).

To tell the truth, I have pretty mixed feelings on these drugs (when prescribed by a legit doctor). They can completely change lives for people who are trapped in weight cycling, especially in the US where so much food is literally created in a lab to make it more addictive. I don’t love how people like to shame people for gaining weight and then shame them for using medical tools to lose it.

They’re also proving to have an incredible impact on slowing down drug and alcohol addiction. And, at the end of the day, we have free will. The side effects are known, and if shitting yourself in Gwyneth Paltrow’s beach house is a something you’re willing to risk then…sure.

What I do feel very strongly about, however, is how incredibly grateful I am to be 28 amid all of this.

As I’ve said before on this blog, it has taken me a long, long, time to feel comfortable in my own skin. I know for a fact that at any previous age, I would have been standing in that room amid women with matchstick-thin arms and stilts for legs wanting to launch myself onto the spire of the Empire State Building.

I know I’m a small woman, but I also know that my arms will never be as thin as a cigarette, and that my legs will always look a little peg-leg-chic. And I know that the more I’m around very skinny people the more dysmorphic I feel. That’s just who I am and how I’m built. There’s nothing (and trust me I’ve tried) I can do about it. Except for, I guess, inject myself with God knows what.

I stood in that room thanking my lucky stars that I’m at peace with the way I look. Because I know that ten years ago I would have starved myself for a week afterwards feeling like I wanted to crawl right out of my own body. Or, worse, gone online to find a pharmacy that wouldn’t ask any questions.

I don’t think there’s anything you can do or teach to help other people to not feel close to the brink in a room full of people with fully “optimised” bodies.

But, what I will say, is that life is meant for feeling things. I want to eat the wedding cake, I want to drink a sugary cocktail, I want to have the energy to dance until 3 in the morning.

Otherwise, truly, what is the point of any of it?

Anyway, other than wedding cake, here’s what’s IN and OUT this month:

IN

Maintaining friendships

• One of the things I was positively giddy about on my trip was how many people I could call when I was in New York! I felt so, so, lucky that there were friends of mine who wanted to see me and friendships I felt like I could just melt back into like I haven’t spent the last three years living in England.

• Sending that extra text, giving that person a ring, even responding to an Instagram story is always worth it. Friendships are never guaranteed. They take work just like any other relationship, and I will never take them for granted.

  

SkyJo

• Word on the street is this is the card game of the summer. Can confirm it is the ideal combination of wholesome fun and incredibly easy to learn for all of us who zone out as soon as someone starts explaining card game rules.

Peptide lip balms

• Ok, ok, I know I just went on a rant about GLP(eptide)-1s, but if a girl can’t be a hypocrite on her own Substack then where can she be? I just bought the Daise peptide lip balm and it’s divine. I have chronically dry and cracking lips, and now they’re, to quote Love Island, so smooth they taste like butter. Apparently the Rhode one is the best, but the Daise one is cheaper so…I’ll stick to that for now.

OUT

Newark Airport

• Newark Airport operates with the essence of someone who wakes up every morning and goes “oh my God I totally forgot I have to run an airport today. I hope nobody notices!!”

• It feels like it was designed by someone who truly believes airports are used by about 10 people a day. It feels like the New York area made two serious airports and then said “and now do a silly one!!”

• Please, somebody, tell me why the security line takes up two whole floors and snakes around the check-in area, so people don’t know if they’re in the line to check their bag or go through TSA? Tell me why there are Clear/TSA-Pre-Check agents on both floors trying to upsell you their product to “let” you cut the line like this is some sort of giant experiment into how far capitalism can push us all today? I felt insane the entire time. I’m still not totally sure if I’m even in London or if I’m trapped in a Newark simulation that will never, ever, end.

The MCU

• No surprise, I know, but besides the egregious CGI, playing to the lowest common denominator, awful scripts, and convoluted “plots,” the worst thing the MCU has done is take good actors away from actual good work.

• What I mean to say is: I watched Crime 101 this weekend. It was really fun, but I felt so struck the whole time by what a good actor Chris Hemsworth actually is. While I don’t weep for him and his Marvel millions, I do feel sad for the number of great projects he could be pursuing as a real artist, and great films that audiences could be enjoying if the MCU didn’t set a Sleeping-Beauty-esque curse on people trapping them behind a green screen for 100 years before receiving the kiss of an indie director.

Anyway…this is What I’m…

Reading

Book — The Bee Sting, Paul Murray. This book!!! Wow. Just…wow. I put it off for a long time because it is very long, but the writing is so captivating, striking and immersive, I never wanted it to end. My housemates were definitely sick of my sound effects, including me threatening several times to throw the book across the room as I encountered one emotional twist after another, but if you’re not afraid of feeling deeply for people who don’t exist, then definitely take a crack at it. I’d also say, this is best in written form, not audio book, as he does some really clever things with grammar for each character.

Article — The Porn Addicts Who Tried to Rescue the Cam Girls, The Cut. An unsurprisingly depressing story about sex trafficking and police neglect, but with an interesting almost wholesome twist of men realising that the content they’re consuming online actually involves real humans and may not be all it seems.

Watching

TV Show — 30 Rock. When in doubt, I’m watching 30 Rock.

Movie — The Odyssey, duh. Need I say more? Other movies I’ve seen recently are How to Make a Killing which I actually enjoyed! And Toy Story 5 which I wept through.

Listening to

Album — you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, Olivia Rodrigo. Depressing that I need a 22 year old to tell me to raise my expectations but here we are. I love her very much. She is a brilliant delight.

Podcast — Casefiles. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that if you’re in a car with my friend Rachel you’ll be listening to Casefiles.

Community Corner:

This segment is back with a call-out to support the Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s project to investigate the economics of hate.

All donations go to independent journalism!! Donate here

Ok love you all!

xoxo Sophie

Sorry I flopped on getting a blog out in May.

I wrote a really depressing one, but I kept it in drafts because I didn’t want to bum anyone out with my honest thoughts on journalism. Might release soon if I’m feeling up for it…tbd…ominous…

Anyway!! rumour has it I’m another year older (cannot be confirmed or denied).

It’s been an absolutely wild year, and in many ways not that great. I’ve been rejected more this year than in my entiiire life — pitches, dates, jobs, you name it. BUT I do believe (I have to or I’ll die) that rejection comes from putting yourself out there, and that’s what propels me through it all (for now). I’m learning that turning 28 means spending a lot of time discussing various moles, and getting a very bad cramp in my side while dancing on a night out. But, I shan’t let that deter me just yet (I will get my moles checked).

I’ve also had some delightful wins. I ran a marathon (lest we forget!), I published my first opinion piece in a national paper, got paid to go skiing in the Dolomites, and just got gifted a lifetime membership to Trisha’s from the love of my life and door man of my dreams, Nabil. Extremely Chic!!

With that all said, here are some INs and OUTs from my mature palate:

IN

Love Island 2026

• Love Island is BACK babyyyyy. This season is old school great. Incredible cast, wild gender dynamics, space for deep analysis of the manosphere but also fun outfits. Would recommend it more with friends - the bigger the watch party the better

Tiella/having an in at a hot restaurant

• Shoutout to the entire Patrick family, as without my Substack queen Lydia I would not know Pheobe, and without Pheobe I wouldn’t be able to masquerade as a cool Hackney girl who knows all the goss at one of London’s hottest restaurants, Tiella.

• For real though, can’t recommend it enough. It’s sooo tasty. Get the Chicken Milanese.

Having a short crash-out

• Ok, I’ve been a little loopy recently over someone who couldn’t care if I lived or died, and although I’d usually advise everyone to steer clear of a crash-out, in a way, it’s kind of nice to be reminded I’m alive.

• There’s nothing more life affirming, for good or ill, than having a tiny menty-b, and having good friends to rally around you and tell you that you’re being nuts <3

The phrase “because I don’t want to”

• As I get older (allegedly) I feel a lot more confident saying that I don’t want to do something because I simply don’t want to do it

• I used to make up a lot of excuses like “oh I’m busy” or “I’m in a rush,” but now I’m just being honest. For example, I got stopped by a TikToker the other day who asked to film me. I said “no,” he whined “why not?” and I simply said, “because I don’t want to.” Reader, it was exhilarating.

Being told “you have great friends”

• There is no better feeling in the world than this!! I love my friends and I love that my friends from one part of my life love my friends from my other parts of life…does that make sense?

  

OUT

The men of Love Island

• I’m enjoying this season, don’t get me wrong, but these men…it’s giving manosphere. They are freaks, who won’t stop talking over women and acting as if they’ve been personally wounded every time a woman turns them down. Not cute!

Complaining about the heat

• Look I get the climate change of it all, but I have prayed for days like these. Leave the house, no jacket, no jumper, no sleeves of any kind. I love it. I never want to leave it.

Being an England fan

• I’m sick of it. I can’t take the stress of it. Call me when it’s over*

  • *I’ll be at every match

    

Anywayyyy here’s what I’m:

Reading

Article — Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse, The New Yorker. A fun summer read!!! But seriously…these he and his brother are even more repulsive that I thought (a low low low low bar).

Book — Capital, John Lanchester. I really enjoyed this book! Having read two of his books now, I’m not suuure he’s great at writing women…but I found the general plot to be a really moving ode to London and it’s complex, diverse, rich (literally and otherwise) population.

Watching

TV Show — Love Island. Already explained.

Movie — Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. I was on a plane. Ok? It was…fine.

Listening to

Album — You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So In Love, Olivia Rodrigo. Proud Olivia stan. She freaks me out with how wise she is, but I’d be lost without her. Impeccable, gut wrenching, album.

Podcast/Book — Famesick, Lena Dunham. I’m not a big audiobook gal, but I loved listening to Lena narrate her life. Really beautiful, painful, insightful, book.

Love you lots!!!!!

xoxoxox

Sophie

So, as it turns out, everyone who runs a marathon is really annoying about it because it’s a really big deal!

It seems brutally unfair that one of the most time consuming and painful sports is also the most boring to hear about, so I won’t bore you too much with my tales of the run itself — a lot of it is: so I moved my right foot, and then I moved my left foot, and then, you’ll never guess what, I moved my right foot again — but I do want to talk a little bit about why I signed myself up for the race, and what I got out of it other than incredibly sore quads.

I signed up for the London Marathon about a year ago. I was having a terrible time at work, going through a really sad breakup, and generally feeling pretty directionless, so, like all late-20-year-olds going through the exact same thing, I figured that at least running would give me one form of direction (forward, and sometimes round and round).

I am an infamous quitter (actually worse, an infamous has-a-big-idea-and-never-follows-through-er), and I felt desperate to 1. prove to myself that I could actually see something through to the end that was incredibly hard, and 2. not bow to the idea that I’m definitionally “not sporty” or “not the kind of person who runs a marathon.”

I hate sounding like some motivational speaker (though I was faster than Joe Wicks, looserrr) but at school I faked appendicitis more times than there are letters in the word appendicitis, to get out of PE, and a year ago I could barely make it 5k around Victoria Park.

Ever so slowly, week on week, I’d add a few km to my run jog, and by the end of October I managed to hit my goal of running a half marathon.

It was miserable.

I had a blister the size of San Marino on my left foot and wanted to quit a mile in. As proud as I was of hitting such a substantial goal, I was panicking with literally no clue how I was going to double that by April.

The skies were getting darker and not even my playlist of…

Top 5 Training Albums:

1. Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, Bad Bunny

2. Challengers Remix Album, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

3. Worst Girl in America, Slayyyter

4. Rennaisance, Beyoncé

5. Popstar, Never Stop Never Stopping, The Lonely Island

   1. (I’m not kidding. This album slaps)

…could make me feel happy about getting out in the pitch black winter to run laps around Vicky Park.

Everything and everyone was pissing me off. Especially the run clubs who all looked sooo chipper whilst I was suffering through runs all alone in the rain (I don’t believe in run clubs because I still don’t actually respect running as a past-time or as something that anyone should talk about outside of this one Substack this one time).

I didn’t run more than a half marathon until after Christmas when a blesséd gift of a running vest (I know, sooo chic) made it possible to bring copious snacks. Turns out, by far the best part of long distance running is the snack potential.

As soon as I found out I could eat Haribos by the handful and call it “fueling” I was locked back into the game.

I decided that a change of scenery was much needed, as I literally could not bring myself to run through people having a nice Sunday at the Vicky Park farmers market one more time. So, I started to explore my area and discovered some incredible footpaths that I never would have seen if I hadn’t signed up for this stupid race. I saw horses, and a museum I’d never heard of, and loads of cute house boats, and a bunch of gorgeous cafes! It felt like a real gift getting to see more of my city by foot.

I can’t say that running was getting much easier becuase if I being honest, every run felt pretty grim for at least the first hour, but eventually I hit the coveted 22 mile mark three weeks before the marathon (actually, I’d accidentally hit it about two months prior, but that’s only because I’d gotten lost in Islington and was too stubborn to take the tube home even though I was in agony, so that time doesn’t count).

Anyway, after a stunning long weekend reviewing a hotel in Florence and calling every free dish of pasta “carb loading” I came back to London feeling as prepared as I possibly could be for a race that I really couldn’t get out of now. Though, I’d be lying if I didn’t hover over the email from TCS saying the deadline to drop out was midnight on the 25th…

By race day I was…terrified. I felt awful. My stomach was in knots, and I felt certain that I’d pass out by the first mile.

But, and I truly hate to confirm this, it turns out that if you train earnestly for something, you will actually see results…Who knew?!!

I said I wouldn’t bore you with details of the race, so I won’t. All I’ll say is that running across Tower Bridge was sensational. I only hit a major wall once, at mile 21 when I really questioned whether I’d be able to pull through, but by mile 23 I was back on track (unfortunately so back on track that I didn’t see Jamie Laing giving out Lucozades, sad) and managed to run my fastest mile yet between 25 and 26!! crazy days!!

To be honest, the best part was being just about to check my watch to see if I’d make it under 5 hours and then looking up to see the time on Big Ben right above me. How chic!!

London truly is the best city in the world, and the cheers, high fives, snacks, and singing, from the crowd were really all I needed to make it through.

Top 5 signs

1. Tap For A Power-Up

   1. Really cute when a kid is holding it, less cute from an adult, sorry

2. Run If You Think I’m Hot

   1. Always funny, but funniest when the holder leans into it

   2. Loved the women at ~mile 19 holding this sign saying thank you to all the runners

3. If Keir Starmer Can Hold On, So Can You

4. Run If You Hate Spurs

5. Leo [DiCaprio] Would Stop At 25

   1. Chef’s kiss

To be honest, I barely remember crossing the finish line. I was just so overwhelmed with pride and joy and a decent amount of relief that it was over.

I went in with one singular goal: not to shit myself.

And I’m proud to say that I not only kept my bowels in check, but I also managed to run it in less than 5 hours!! Slay.

Becuase I was running for a charity (and thank you so so so so much to everyone who donated - I was immensely proud to be wearing a GOSH shirt throughout the race) I made a beeline for the reception and was overjoyed to see my parents and wonderful friends waiting for me with a beer in hand. God Bless. I’ve never been more grateful for a Guiness in my life.

And, before you ask, yes, I did make it to Biddle Bros karaoke. It was a Sunday, after all.

Love you all!!

xxxx

Sporty Soph

How are you?

Have you been fooled by false-spring? I know I have! I’m f*cking freezing!!

The only thing keeping me warm right now is my recent obsession: Lindy West’s memoir Adult Braces. I cannot get enough analysis of this book. I could talk about it for days.

Essentially, West, who was once the de-facto leader of ‘internet feminism’ aka Jezebel blogger turned Hulu TV show writer, has now written a book in defense of her husband’s decision to open their marriage to a third person.

Her seeming belief that anything conformist (wanting to be in a relationship with just one person, and a man at that) is actually conservative and therefore evil and bad, makes me feel genuinely bad for her. It reads like we all exited perfectionist lefty Twitter comment sections in 2010, but she’s still typing.

Ironically, in her attempt to placate all parties involved, she actually comes across as someone who is desperate to please her husband above all else.

ICYMI and Good Noticings both have a great episode on it, so would recommend checking those episodes out to get the full picture.

Anyway, beyond the perils and pitfalls of polyamory, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how we live in a “fixable” culture, and how “fixing” everything personal might actually be a form of denialism.

We have created a society in which if you don’t like your nose, your boobs, your fine lines & wrinkles, you can call up a barely certified injector and leave looking like a new person.

These “fixes” have been chalked up to vapidness, influencer culture, and conformity, but I actually think it’s a lot more depressing than that.

If we are constantly distracted and encouraged by our own reflections, and seek comfort and control in the personal, then that makes it easier to blank out the chaos and discomfort of everything that’s happening around us.

I remember speaking with an Israeli left-wing activist several years ago who had a brutal, but I think fair, take on why Israel has one of the largest vegan populations in the world. He said it’s because if people can focus on how moral their personal choices are, they don’t have to look at the brutality of what’s being done in their name just an hour or two away.

I believe we’re encroaching on something similar with surgery culture. If I look perfect, and I can control every muscle in my face, then there’s no need to focus on improving society’s morals, or politics, or fulfillment; things that are a little harder to inject.

Anyway, that was long winded. Here’s what’s IN and OUT for April:

IN

Putting a label on it

• What I mean is, I was chatting with someone last week and I told her I was running the Marathon, so she naturally said ‘Oh I didn’t realise you were a runner.’ Reflexively, I said “Oh, I’m not a runner, I’m just running this one race.” But that’s not true! I’ve been jogging almost every day for over two years, and now I’m running frankly absurd distances to train for this really significant feat. To me, anyone who runs 17 miles on a random Wednesday is by definition a “runner.”

• But, I realised that I do this with all of my hobbies and passions. I’m too scared to put a label on it, because I’m scared that as soon as I define myself as something, I can fail at it. I don’t want to say “I’m a runner” even though I’m running a marathon, or “a singer” even though I’m in a choir, or “a comedian” even though I run a comedy show. I just say “oh, I run” or “I like to sing” or “I do standup,” like if I labelled it someone from a committee would come up and force me to prove it and I’d flop. Anyway, this is a dumb way to live my life, and I’m working on gaining confidence in my side-quests. That said, given my latest performance at karaoke, I really don’t think anyone would call me a “singer.”

Biscoff Creme Eggs

• I’m the wrong religion to celebrate Easter, but these are truly heaven sent. Tbh if I was Jesus I’d be pretty pissed that people were celebrating what must have been a rather painful ordeal with something soo delicious, but I for one am very grateful he went through all that so I can now get a Biscoff Creme Egg.

• I’m actually quite scared that these are limited edition cause I’m worried I’m going to spend the rest of my life seeking them out on the black market, spending my weekends in the back of a blacked out Audi begging for a good deal on these sweet, sweet, chocolaty-biscuity eggs.

OUT

Every self-checkout counter having a different bagging area!!

• I can’t keep living like this. We need to unify self checkouts. Every single time I go to pay, I look like a fool!! Please, I know we can’t agree on much these days, but can we all just agree on one place for the bagging area? Is it too much to ask?!

Being predictable

• I’ve been making a lot of dumb but ultimately predictable decisions recently which are the worst of all decisions because I can’t even complain about them to my friends since they’re not chaotic enough to be interesting or fun. There’re only so many times I can whine about doing the same thing over and over again before I’m faced with an eyeroll you could spot from a mile away. I don’t foresee myself becoming any smarter, but trying to at least be more interesting.

Alrighty, this is what I’ve been…

Reading

Article — The Horseshoe Theory of Polyamory, The Atlantic. As I said, I’m devouring all things Lindy West, and this was a really interesting piece on how both sides of the political spectrum expect sexual perfection and ultimately submission from women in order to “prove” they’re really part of the movement.

Book — Look What You Made Me Do, John Lanchester. I absolutely loved the first third of this book. The rest of it lost me a bit, but it was still a very fun and silly read. Would recommend as a beach read, for sure.

Watching

TV Show — F1 Academy, Netflix. If you’re a fan of Drive to Survive, then you’ll love this sister companion programme showcasing the young women trying to claw up the male-dominated world of racing. Very fun! Very good racing!

Movie — One Battle After Another in 70mm. One of my favourite London activities is to get myself to the Prince Charles Cinema basement and cosplay as a film bro, nodding sagely at how 70mm really makes a world of difference (honestly, it really does). Long live the Prince Charles Cinema. Long live film preservation.

Listening to

Podcast — The Big Picture, The Ringer. I’d like to thank this podcast which I use exclusively as white noise for why I absolutely smashed my Oscars predictions this year. It’s honestly a very fun listen about the film industry and new releases, and also is ideal background noise for plodding about doing chores or dozing off. I’m sure I’ve listened to more of this asleep than I have awake, but whatever info seeped into my REM brain resulted in my own personal victory at the Oscars (falling asleep and waking up to see that most of my predictions were correct).

Music — This Music May Contain Hope, Raye. More like ‘this music may contain Raye’s audition to sing the next Bond song,’ and that’s a compliment. It’s delightful, soulful, and great for a long walk.

If you haven’t already, pleeease donate to my marathon fundraiser!!

Your money goes to incredible causes such as research for beating childhood diseases, housing in London so parents can afford to stay close to their hospitalised child, and treatment for children who’ve survived war zones.

https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sophie-clark

Arighty, that’s all from me.

Love you lots!

xxx

Sophie

Yes. The rumours are true. I’m down two wisdom teeth. Half as smart, double the cheek size (and not in a hot way).

It’s always important to learn new things about yourself, but I do think that should be along the lines of ‘I’m a good cook,’ or ‘I enjoy running.’

Not, ‘I’m intolerant to anaesthesia.’ Which, as it turns out, is something you can only find out when you’re projectile vomiting in a backless hospital gown. Chic, as always.

Thank God for the Olympics for getting me through the worst of it. I think there should be a massively televised sporting event every time I have minor surgery so I have an excuse to shlump on my sofa and pretend I’m engaging in culture as opposed to just being too vain to be seen outside.

Other than not shutting up about surviving a surgery that up to 85% of Brits have gotten done, it’s been a low-key month of judging world-class athletes that I just found out about a week ago, and trying to go to live events to remember in the depths of winter blues that culture exists and life is worth living.

If you’re able to see John Tothill’s This Must Be Heaven I’d highly recommend!

As we look towards March, here’s what’s IN and OUT

IN

Driving through London a little bit tipsy

• Absolute number one best activity I can think of is being in the back of a car going through London after a few drinks. Top marks if you’re just casually going past a 1000 years of history. It’s a wonderful world we live in that we can drive past the Tower of London after one to five espresso martinis. Sorry to Anne B. She would have loved having one to five espresso martinis.

Isabella Linton

• I don’t have anything more to add about “Wuthering Heights” that hasn’t already been written about, podcasted, diatribed, except for: Justice for Isabella Linton. She is the only smart character in the entire book because she manages to get the hell out of there. She becomes an independent woman who raises her son alone far away from the moors, and then Emerald Soho-House Fennell took that all away from her. I knew the movie wouldn’t be like the book, but her treatment of Isabella was unjustifiable. Anyway, read the book, or don’t, but please know she did my close friend Isabella dirty.

Supporting my marathon run

• I will be running the London Marathon in April because I’m an idiot.

• I initially signed up for attention, and then I realised that once I told everyone I was running it that meant I actually, well, had to run it. Now it’s too late, and I’ve created a fundraising page and everything.

• In all seriousness, I’ll be running it for Great Ormond Street Hospital which provides life-changing medical care and research for children. It’s a truly groundbreaking place, and I feel honoured to get to run for them (not sure if they’ll feel the same about me once they see me run).

• You can donate here, any and all donations are hugely appreciated: https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sophie-clark

OUT

Endless grey

• This sky is one of those things that you don’t even realise is bad until you get two seconds of sunshine and go “oh, wait, am I…depressed?” And I both hate to be living under this umbrella of gloom and hate to acknowledge a single emotion I’ve ever had especially when it’s as embarrassing as “weather induced.” Ew.

“Meme-ing” the Epstein List

• It’s actually not funny. There’s nothing humorous or ‘ironic’ about Jeffrey Epstein. He was a monster. Anyone affiliated with his repugnant world should have everything taken away from them, and anyone who was harmed by him and his legal impunity should be given their chance to find peace and justice.

Having nothing to wear

• On a lighter note, I have nothing to wear!!! Everything I own is terrible!!! I will never throw anything else in case I might need it!!!

Anywayyy, here’s What I’m…

Reading

Article — Every single article about the Wirecard fraud scandal. To everyone watching Industry thinking “this whole Tender x FSB plotline seems a bit far fetched,” oh babyyy let me tell you about Wirecard. Maybe slightly less psychosexual, but Wirecard had even more absurd fraud, spy connections, and general shenanigans than even the sick and twisted (high praise) minds of Mickey and Konrad are thinking up.

Book — Again, Rachel, Marian Keyes. I needed a little sunshine in my life this month, and this book brought it! Delightful. Classic Keyes.

Watching

TV Show — Does the Olympics count? It’s on iPlayer, so I’ll say yes.

Movie — The Moment. It’s not perfect, but I had fun! Love to see people earnestly having a goof. Alexander Skarsgard on a generational run right now. And Kylie, well, you’re doing amazing, sweetie.

Listening to

Podcast — Usha Vance, Rama Duwaji, & the Tragedy of Heterosexuality, Diabolical Lies. I loved this episode even though it made me unbelievably depressed over Usha Vance. I think it’s a really interesting analysis of the trappings of heterosexuality and what the hell happened to the once academic superstar now vice wallpaper, Usha.

Music — Debut, Bjork. Hear me out. I was helping out with an episode on Bjork for Talk 90s To Me at Podmasters and I realised that my Bjork knowledge is lacking, so I’m studying up. Absolutely love this album which is far from a hot take, but it’s very fun.

Okidoke, that’s it from me for this month.

Love you lots!

xx Sophie

I hear a lot of talk around this time of year about ‘New Year, New Me’ but I don’t subscribe to that.

No. I believe you must start the new year at rock bottom and slowly crawl yourself out of that over the next 12 months to prove yourself worthy.

That’s why I found myself Thameslink-of-shaming back to my parents house on New Year’s Day still in my body-con dress, knee high boots, and last night’s makeup at 2:00pm, as God intended.

And I know what you’re thinking: “But if you’re striving to end the year on a high, why do you have to start from the bottom again?” And to that I remind you that life is one Sisyphean task, but in 2026 he not only has a boulder but also the ability to contact everyone he’s ever smooched.

I’ve also been struggling at the start of this year with an elongated case of The Uglies. This is the situation where no matter what you do, you just feel a little ugly.

This all started when I was brutally reminded of the modern-day truth universally acknowledged that you only run into people you went to high school with when you look like you’ve been hit by a train.

I was spending the holidays at my parents house (a full 30 minute trek from mine) which meant I reverted to trying every skincare product that I bought when I was 16 at once. To everyone’s shock this resulted in my skin peeling off as if Hannibal Lecter was trying to eat me like an orange.

However, unlike when I was 16 with terrible skin, I didn’t let this deter me from going outside. Well, sort of…I decided to go to the Tate Britain — mostly because there was an exhibit on there that came highly recommended, but also a little bit because nobody goes to the Tate Britain.

But no! I was eating my post-exhibit overpriced soup in peace (and yes, I did get a little soup on my coat. And yes, the coat I was wearing was way too small for me) when I looked up and out of the corner of my eye spotted the one genre of person I did not want to see…a former classmate.

I looked into my phone camera to see that my chin looked like a medical textbook example of “bad,” so I ran to the bathroom to hide out, when I saw another person I went to school with! Disaster!

Being the calm and collected gal that I am, I legged it...Only for her to see me in the corridor moments later and kindly impart some small talk on me given that she had 100% just seen me sprint out of the bathroom with half my face following behind. Very cool, very normal, feeling great.

I know it’s ridiculous to be self conscious about how I look to people I haven’t seen in (checks notes...) a decade. But!

I think we can all agree that if we were granted one wish we wouldn’t use it for “world peace,” we’d use it to only run into people from our past when we look unbelievably hot.

Anyway, I’ve just ordered more expensive goo for my face, and will be looking into creating a Big Tech radar to track the movements of everyone I’ve ever met so I only see them when I’m exuding an incredible, natural, glow.

Anyway, enough about my general hideous exterior, here’s what is scientifically IN and OUT this month:

IN

Shooting Your Shot (professionally)

• I discovered a skiing trip being offered to journalists in the Dolomites and shot my shot via a professional pitch email to a travel editor and I got to go on the trip!! We’re talking skiing, champagne, saunas, helicopters in the Italian Alps, babyyyyy. The dream amore. All because I had the Marty Supreme-level confidence to shoot my shot.

Ignoring Your Body Completely

• If I’ve learned anything in this life it’s that the nights when you plan on partying hard go to shit, and the nights when you plan to have a quiet one end up as the real ragers. It was late Saturday night (Sunday morning? Who’s to say?) and my body was literally begging me to go home. Despite my plans to get an earlyish night following a day-time birthday party, the party was still going and everyone was going to the club. I faced a choice: listen to my body, which was so tired I was finding it hard to text because my thumb was shaking, and go home, or suck it the fuck up and go to the club. Three hours later I stumbled out of the club after a phenomenal time boogieing on the floor and spinning around polls much to the chagrin of several bouncers. God bless the club. I’ll sleep some other time.

Speaking of…running a marathon

• So…I will be running the London Marathon in April because I’m an idiot.

• I initially signed up for attention, and then I realised that once I told everyone I was running it that meant I actually, well, had to run it. Now it’s too late, and I’ve created a fundraising page and everything.

• In all seriousness, I’ll be running it for Great Ormond Street Hospital which provides life-changing medical care and research for children. It’s a truly groundbreaking place, and I feel honoured to get to run for them (not sure if they’ll feel the same about me once they see me run).

• You can donate here, any and all donations are hugely appreciated: https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sophie-clark

OUT

Shooting Your Shot (unprofessionally)

• The only downside of the skiing trip of my dreams was that there was one person who was not getting the hint that I was not interested, and kept trying to talk to me about my love life and how many alleged hot women are in his DMs...weeiiirdddd vibe. General rule of thumb, if you’re on a work trip keep it professional even if one of the people (me) is wearing a very glamorous and gorgeous leopard print ski top.

Having to Stretch After the Club

• Ok, ok, the one thing about listening to my body is that, as it turns out, I can no longer slut-drop with abandon. I woke up on Sunday morning afternoon in the kind of muscular pain you only get after ‘leg day.’ I wracked my brain for what I could have done to cause such pain, only to remember that after a few shots I have a habit of pulling out the time-old drop-it-to-the-floor. As it turns out, that basically means I was doing squats for an hour, and maybe I should have stretched it out a bit when I got home. Ah, age, it comes for all of us.

Anywayyy, here’s What I’m…

Reading

Article — The Superhuman President, Ben Tetris. There are a lot of articles from this Presidency that will make their way into history books, but this article, I believe, tops them all. Years from now, our children will ask us how the man described in this piece was allowed to stay in power and we won’t know what to say.

Book — Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë. Yes, everybody is reading Wuthering Heights before the Fennell-take, but I am really enjoying it. It’s a deeply bizarre, often cruel and unforgiving, book. Just up my street! I’d highly recommend.

Watching

TV Show — Industry is back babyyyy!!!! Worst people on TV. Best acting on TV. If you’re just getting into Industry, call me, I need to chat with more Pierpoint grads.

Movie — Sinners. Can I be honest here? When I first saw Sinners I did not get the Oscar’s hype. I really liked it, but I thought it wasn’t anything astounding. However, I recently re-watched it and I really, really, get it. It’s perfectly constructed, the acting is phenomenal, and it’s a propulsive, exciting, movie with two Michael B. Jordans. Do I think there are better Oscar contenders this year? Yes. But is Sinners a really, really, good time? Also a big yes.

Listening to

Podcast — All Podmasters podcasts. I just got a new freelance gig here, so am playing catch up. I particularly like their show ‘Oh God, What Now?’

Music — Don’t Be Dumb, A$AP Rocky. Rihanna’s baby-daddy has come out with another great album. It’s a bit long and meandering, but a fun listen and a good remedy for the January blues.

Okidoke, that’s it from me for this month.

Love you lots!

xx Sophie

It’s been a wild year personally, professionally, news-ly (?), and just about in every way imaginable.

So, how better to properly unpack that than by condensing the whole year into one big IN and OUT list?

I am aware that end-of-year ins and outs are already all over social media but this is different because it’s a Substack.

Personal picture, this year I went through a break-up, started my own comedy show, got…uh…let go from a job that I hated but still would rather have left on my own terms, had a new crush show up to my comedy show with a girlfriend (rude), had a terrible kiss with a civil servant, hosted a former flame from my early 20s around Hackney for a suprisingly lovely summer week which made me feel weird in terms of being old enough to have former flames but young enough to be gallivanting in Europe, cemented my affinity for ‘Basement People’ (trademark: people who spend too much time in basements — comedians, musicians, etc), became a bona fide ‘regular’ at my favourite stall in Hackney, figured out freelancing, and became London’s foremost karaoke expert. All to say. Weird year.

Big picture, I saw the country I was born in fall deeper into a pit of violence, fear, and distrust - something that terrifies me both in the US and here in the UK. But, I also got to vote for an NYC mayor whom I really want to believe in, and whose ideas and attitude I’m really excited to see enacted. I’d be lying if I said I won’t miss Eric Adams’ unique perspective (“All my haters will be my waiters at my table of success”), but will be nice to see a mayor with some actual drive beyond becoming a member of Zero Bond. I know myself too well to ever run for mayor because I know I’d only do it to become a member at Koko. That said, Zohran did get invited to the Marty Supreme premiere and I’m pretty jealous of that.

In other news, I finally achieved one of my most significant dreams this year. And this is very serious. Ever since watching Season 3 Episode 11 of 90210 (the reboot not the original) I have wanted to sing Santa Baby in front of a room of relative strangers — think festive Marnie from Girls — and this year I managed just that thanks to a neighbourhood karaoke party and a few too many Campari Spritzes. I feel so grateful that my childhood (yes, childhood) dream has been fulfilled.

Anyway, here are all of my feelings about an immensely complex year one big IN and OUT list!*

IN

• Becoming a regular.

  • My resolution for this year was to become a ‘regular’ at one shop (other than my news agents) in my area. So, every Sunday, I put down my phone, and schlepped down to Chatsworth Market to gab with my favourite vendor. Not only did I make a new friend, but I ended up having one of my favourite nights of the year when all the regulars for Tokyo Kebab (go support!!) had a party on Chatsworth Road. Sorry if this is corny, but it really reaffirmed my belief in community and the power of human relationships.

• Doing it yourself.

  • I wanted to go to more alternative comedy shows, so with the very significant help of my co-host Bonya, I made one myself. Come to Chatty Cabaret!

• The advice of: If you’re getting mixed signals, they don’t like you.

  • I think it’s from Sex and the City, but the best dating advice I’ve ever heard is: If you’re certain they like you, then they like you. If you’re confused, then they don’t. I’m aiming next year to stop finding this out the hard way…but tbd on that.

• Always asking questions.

• If you’ve talked the same shit about a person three times behind their back, you have to say it to their face.

  • I set this rule for myself a few years ago, and by and large it’s worked out pretty well. The general gist is, if you’ve been talking about something someone can fix (like the way they treat you, or something they did that upset you) behind their back enough times that it’s become multiple other people’s problem, then you have to talk to them about it too. What usually ends up happening is they actually don’t think it’s as dramatic as you do, and it’s all totally fine once you have it out. Not always the case (as I found out this year, too), but even if their reaction is bad you’ve learned something about them that way too.

• Letting people in.

  • I have a tendency to bottle things up, but I’ve really worked on being more open this year, and I think (I hope) it’s resulted in closer friendships.

• Seeing something that makes you think of someone and letting them know.

  • There’s no nicer gesture than a random text saying ‘thinking of you.’

• Reading difficult books.

  • Sometimes I get caught up in ‘easy’ fiction because I figure at least I’m reading. While that’s true, I challenged myself this year with some denser books (Wolf Hall x 3) and I am better for it!!

• Going to more singing-based activities!!

  • I have proven that it’s literally impossible to feel bad after a singing-based night - be in karaoke or a local community choir. And seriously, there are tons of studies to show that singing improves your mental health.

• Juicy Tracksuits

OUT

• Signing up to run the marathon for attention.

  • Turns out it’s actually a lot of work. Who knew??

• Taking photos at museums and/or blocking the art with your phone.

  • I swear to god, if I get one more phone shoved in my face at a museum I will teach those people a thing or two about phone thefts in London.

• Having to tell your life story to buy anything online.

  • Just let me buy things without having to give away my firstborn!!

• Substack not having spellcheck.

• My personal Vinted addiction.

• Fad diets and ‘superfoods.’

• Not being active in your area — it’s so easy to volunteer somewhere once a month.

• The word ‘aesthetic.’

*let me know if these work for you and/or if I should start a cult. I’m looking for a new income stream.

Last of the What I’m…

Reading:

Article — The Era of Emaciation, NYMag. Thank goodness someone is talking about it. Everyone has been too scared to comment on women’s bodies to discuss the very serious, dangerous, possibly deadly trend of celebrities disappearing before our eyes. I thought the 2000s were bad, but this is shocking. I could barely sit through Wicked Part 2 because of Arianna Grande’s bones protruding through her skin. It’s not good.

Book — Heart the Lover, Lily King. Honestly contender for my favourite book of the year. It is not what you’d expect from the ti. I read it in one sitting.

Listening to:

Podcast — Good Noticings. I loved Celebrity Memoir Book Club, and was hesitant to start their new show because I didn’t really need yet another pop culture breakdown, but I actually really like their thoughts, angles, and breakdowns of interesting culture pieces.

Music — Mistletoe Jam, Luther Vandross. It’s a bit late now, but for Christmas next year you simply have to include Luther Vandross’ Christmas album into your rotation. It’s so, so, good.

Watching:

TV Show — Emily in … Rome? Of course I’m choosing to spend the last days of this year melting my brain out of my skull with this sheer excellence.

Movie — Marty Supreme!!!! Marty supremacy. I LOVED this movie. Absolute movie of the year without question for me. I will unequivocally support whatever crazy shit Timmy does when he inevitably doesn’t get the Oscar that he rightfully deserves.

Okidoke, that’s it from me for 2025! Love you all soooo much.

xoxoxox

Sophie

The scent of pine is in the air, and the advent calendars are one day away from popping open. How delightful!

How were your Novembers? Mine was very busy. Between finally fulfilling my own East London final-boss plotline by working in freelance podcasting and writing about karaoke, I’ve had hardly any time to myself. But that’s ok! It’s honestly been a lovely month, filled with making new friends, going too many times to Freud bar, and going even more times to Trisha’s. Can’t complain!

Anyway, I’m cutting it awfully close to December 1st, so here’s what’s IN and OUT this month,

IN

Sticking with things

• I’ve gotten into a really bad habit of not sticking with things. Thanks to short-form content, two screen viewing, and a billion other options, I’ve become so used to making a snap judgement, scrolling past something I don’t like, that I don’t even recognise when I’m doing it any more.

• All to say, I went to see The Running Man in theatres last week. And, to be totally honest, I didn’t love the first third. Most of the time I was thinking ‘I’m on an aisle…I could sneak out’ but then I thought ‘when was the last time I actually sat through something I didn’t like?’ With the exception of plays I have to see for work, I realised I’ll even scroll past something I do enjoy if I get the slightest bit bored. So, I stuck it out and even though it’s not the world’s best movie, I ended up enjoying it a lot more that I thought I would! And I’m proud of myself for staying.

Having Streaming Services

• Look, I know this might seem like the opposite of what I just said buuut, thank God we live in an era with streaming services. What a beautiful thing that in 2025 one (hypothetically) could have a booty call and then watch old episodes of Modern Family in the same night. What a wonderful way to live.

Doing What You Want

• I just got back from the pub which I went to by myself on a Sunday because I really wanted to watch the Arsenal match. Usually I’d talk myself out of doing something like that — thinking I’d look weird alone, or I wouldn’t have fun by myself so what’s the point — but I had such a lovely time! I even made a new friend! What a delightful turnout. If you want to do something, just give it a go. If it sucks you can always leave.

OUT

Hormones

• Good God! It’s been 16 years since my first period and I’m still completely and utterly unprepared for the wave of frankly ridiculous emotions that take over my body approximately once a month. That, combined with SAD, and I’m not well. Why was I tearing up at the worst song in Wicked For Good??? Why was I absolutely livid about not getting the right meal deal?? I need to get a grip on this whole situation. It’s not good.

Columbia Road Christmas Market

• It breaks my heart to say this, but it’s no good this year. To deal with crowd control they’re not closing the road, and they’re not even playing Christmas music down the street! That, in my opinion, can’t even be legally called a Christmas market. Tragic that one viral TikTok in 2023 could wreak this much devastation onto the formerly best Christmas street in London.

Here’s What I’m…

Reading

Article — How Not To Get Away With Murder, Toronto Life. Let me just say, if I’m on trial and my lawyer calls me “distinctly flawed, naïve, superficial, entitled, sometimes vacuous, irresponsible and quite juvenile human being” then it’s so over for me. I don’t even care if I get off, it’s simply so brutal.

Book — Riders, Jilly Cooper. What an absolute legend. Love Jilly Cooper forever.

Watching

TV Show — Bridgerton S2. What can I say, it’s Jonathan Bailey’s world and the rest of us are merely viewers.

Movie — Wicked, For Good. I meaaannn…it’s fine. It’s not as bad as everyone is saying, and I’m glad I saw it in theatres, but also it did feel like a cash grab which is unfortunate. Oh well.

Listening To

Music — Lux, Rosalia. Finally something for my very specific taste of pop x classical music. Thank you Rosalia!!

Podcast — The Incel Crisis: Is There A Way To Solve It, The Bunker. I found this podcast more optimistic than I expected! An interesting listen about the root causes of incel-dow, and how to think about fixing it.

Anyway, come to Chatty Cabaret please!

Oki, that’s it from me this month. Short and sweet just like meee.

Xoxoxo

Sophie

Are you all finding something to light up your days when it’s sooo dark outside? If you’re struggling to find something, I’d highly recommend going to karaoke on a week day. It’s a real bright spot in the darkness that is an English winter.

I am now the pre-eminent scholar of karaoke on week days in London, as I’ve been singing in dive bars for a week straight in the name of journalism. Now, I’m also the preeminent scholar in having a terribleee sore throat. That’s my fault.

Since I’m struggling with a sinus infection, here’s what’s IN and OUT today:

IN

The smell of winter

• I love the smell of winter in London! I love the crisp air and the chill in my nose. There is something about the smell of winter that makes me feel deeply nostalgic but also cosy and at home. I was wondering why I love the smell of London winter so much, and I think it’s because I love London in the summer, but I always feel like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then winter rolls along and I feel like I’m in the real London.

Body Glitter

• Here’s the thing…for Halloween I wore a bodycon dress and covered myself in body glitter (in the name of a costume!) and then everyone was realllyyy nice to me all night. Who knew there was a direct correlation between having shiny boobs and people being absolutely lovely?! I really can’t recommend it enough.

Dance Floor Make Outs

• If I could monetize the sensation of snogging someone on a dance floor I’d make El*n look like a basket case. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve dreamed of kissing lots of people on dance floors, and it really means the world to me that I can live out my life in a way that is true to myself.

OUT

Fake nails

• Speaking of Halloween, I got fake nails for my costume and UGH! How do people live like this?? I never got into nails when I was younger because I played instruments and always had to have them short, and I’m not about to start now. These are awful!! My hands feel so heavy and uncomfortable and weeiiird. I want them off my hands but they’re Stuck To Me!! Hate it.

The dark!

• Look, I know in theory that it gets dark here in the winter, but oh God I forgot just how dark it is! It’s literally pitch black outside at 5pm. I can’t see shit! It’s horribleeeeee. I miss the sun.

Here’s What I’m…

Reading

Article — A Little-Noted Element Propelled Mamdani’s Rise: Gen Z Loneliness, NY Times. Sliiightly condescending to Gen Zs, essentially saying we’re so friendless we elected a socialist, but I did see a lot of group organizing across the campaign, and this is an interesting take on it.

Book — Hera, Jennifer Saint. It’s no surprise that I’ve gone from being a kid who would read that one big blue book of Greek myths before bed (do you know what I mean?), to now loving the female re-imaginings of the Greek myths. This isn’t my favourite one in the genre, but it’s still a fun read.

Listening To

Podcast — Eric Adams, If Books Could Kill. Truly the funniest episode of all time. The man should never be mayor but he should have a book of iconic sayings.

Music — West End Girl, Lily Allen. My girl is back!! What an album. It’s a good thing I never liked Stranger Things because I’m proud to say I never gave that man a second of my time. I love Lily and I love icons of the early 2000s.

Watching

TV Show — Modern Family. Ok, ok, here me out. I never watched Modern Family as a kid. It just wasn’t in my rotation. I’ve finally started watching it as a background show, and who was gonna tell me that it’s so good?! I feel like all my small talk is straight from the 2012 Emmys, but I’m loving it.

Movie — Tomorrow Never Dies. I’ve been a little hungover for the past two days and am treating my body with a diet of the silliest stunts known to man, courtesy of Brosnan Bond. Love him. Love exploding Rolexes. Simply phenomenal stuff.

Okidoke, that’s it for me this week.

Love you all,

xxx Sophie

I hope you’re having a lovely autumnal week. If you’re in the UK, I can’t recommend enough going to the Victoria Park pond. The trees around it are shockingly orange. It’s so stunning.

Thank you sooo much to everyone who came to the first ever Chatty Cabaret! Even thank you to the crush I invited who showed up with a girlfriend (rude). It taught me that great art can be made under difficult circumstances. Can’t wait to do it again on November 6!

Following the rapturous success of Chatty Cabaret, I decided to take off my big ole boots and lean into domestic bliss by cooking a far too ambitious and incredibly last minute Rosh Hashanah lunch for some lovely friends who were clearly hungry enough to trust me in a kitchen (a dangerous game).

We had a truly great time noshing and kvetching. And, once we’d made enough mojitos from my extremely overgrown mint plant, it suddenly became a great idea to grab a curséd BuzzBall and go to karaoke on a Sunday night.

I should really know by now that drinking half a BuzzBall would result in me making out with a stranger on a pub sofa and then saying “ok, I’m bored now” before walking away, but I just love supporting women-founded businesses, ok?!

Anywayyy, that’s been my recent silliness, but here is the definitive list of what’s IN and OUT at this current moment in time:

IN

Conkers!!

• Went to the Peckham Conker Championship last week. No exaggeration, best day of my life. It was electric! It was violent! It was wild! Who knew conkers could inspire such high drama under a bridge in south east London? I will be starting my Rocky training montage ASAP in preparation for next year’s show-down. I’m ready.

  

  @sophie.grace.clarkLive coverage from the Peckham Conker Championship #london #autumn #fall #competitive #trees

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Not Knocking Achievements

• One thing that never rubbed off of me in America was taking in achievements. I’ve always been one to play down my successes, or say something’s not a big deal even when I actually think it is. But, as much as I’m already stressed about our next show, I’m really proud of myself and Bonya for making a profit on our first Chatty Cabaret! That’s a big deal, and we should be happy about it!

Live Experiences in General

• People are clamouring for live experiences. From the Traitors Live Experience, to stand-up comedy shows, to going all the way to Peckham to whack conkers about, it’s obvious that we’re all craving a life outside of our devices. Lean into it! Go outside! Book a ticket to a show!

OUT

Influencers

• I’ll say it. Influencers are so fucking weird!!

• I have been getting invited to a lot of press events recently. I’m very grateful for the free food and theatre tickets, and am glad I get to consume and review culture without it breaking the bank. I’ve also noticed at these events that there is a very clear distinction between journalists and influencers. Journalists are actually engaging in the evening, be it a drinks launch or a new production. We’re actually writing down notes and trying to learn about the work, and at the end of the night we all end up finding each other to chat about our thoughts and experiences. Influencers, on the other hand, spend the entire time either taking photos of what’s going on or just photos of themselves. Not to say they’re not pretty enough to have photos taken, but it’s so crazy to me that they live this outward life of a crazy social calendar and wild parties when none of that is real at all. In reality they don’t talk to anyone, or seem to actually engage in any way with where they are or who they’re with.

• For example, on Monday I went to this restaurant launch and had a grand time necking negronis with the one and only Lydia Patrick. When I got home, I had a follow request from a guy next to me who I noticed had been on his phone all night, hadn’t said a word to anyone, and left pretty early. I looked at his story and it was a total fabrication of how much fun he’d had and what a wild evening it had been. That’s literally not true!! He wasn’t any fun!! Anyway, all to say, in order to post that much you have to spend all your time looking down at your phone. Look up and have a negroni or two.

Dubai

• Am currently listening to Death in Dubai, the latest BBC World of Secrets podcast, and good lord its horrific. There are really no excuses for vacationing there. It’s a city that thrives on an underground industry of slavery and human trafficking, and nobody who goes there can legitimately say they didn’t know.

What I’m…

Reading

Article — Secrets of Naked Mole-Rat Cancer Resistance Unearthed. Did you know that naked mole-rats hardly ever get cancer?? I didn’t, but now I do! That’s all.

Book — Bring Up The Bodies, Hilary Mantel. I am more into the Tudors than a Year 6 History teacher. I am obsessed. These books are truly magnificent. Reading them, I truly feel like I can touch every fabric and smell every fragrance (not all of them good), right out of the pages. They’re also bizarre, like, how does Mantel have me actively rooting for Anne Boleyn to have a boy?? If anyone knows anything about the Tudors it’s that she quite famously does not, but I keep thinking maybe this time it will be different! Wildly successful writing. Look, these books are long and can be dense, but trust me, give them a try and they’ll captivate you. A lot of people have said this one is the best in the trilogy and so far I agree.

Watching

TV Show — Celebrity Traitors!! Duh!! If you’re not watching this in the UK then you get hauled into the Tower of London to repent. It’s a perfect show. Alan Carr is a perfect man.

Movie — One Battle After Another. I watched it so I’d be part of ‘the conversation,’ but ended up legitimately loving it. I liked that it showed a very complex and realistic view of ‘revolution.’ That leftists can be correct but sooo annoying, and that the Right are very powerful and scary but also fundamentally idiots. I found it equal parts thought provoking and funny, and would recommend you go watch it on a really big screen.

Listening To

Podcast — Death in Dubai, BBC. (see above) This podcast is truly horrific, and yet another reminder of what is lurking very, very, close to the surface in on of the UK’s favourite holiday and work destinations.

Music — Vie, Doja Cat. Such a fun album!! I love funk, I love disco, and I love whatever Doja’s got going on here. Sure, I feel complex about her as a person, but no denying this is a great compilation of tunes.

Okidoke, that’s it for this week. Please buy a ticket for the Next Chatty Cabaret on November 6!!

Love you lots,

xxxx Sophie

Hope you’re enjoying this spell of September sun.

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on how the biggest choice I’ve made in as an adult was moving back to London.

There are so many reasons why I know it was the right choice for me. I feel most at home here, my parents are here, I love the parks and the museums and the culture, not to mention free healthcare, and lack of guns. When people ask if I’d move back to New York I am happy to answer with a pretty sure ‘no.’

That said, there was one intense and somewhat tragic reality that I failed to properly take into account when I got on that plane, and that’s missing out on the major milestones of the lives of people I love.

Over the past few months, two of my dear friends got engaged. While I can congratulate them from afar, the truth is I wasn’t there to see their relationships blossom. I wasn’t there to get ready with before dates, or to comfort them after arguments, or to go to their housewarmings when they moved in with their partner. I’m so happy for them, and I’m melancholy that I don’t really know the people they’re marrying because I simply wasn’t there.

Earlier this year, my incredible friend Gemma Laurence (stream her music) wrote a stunning album about the end of a relationship. Another thing I was not there for. Her melodies are heartbreaking enough, so couple that with the knowledge that I wasn’t there to hold her hand through the actual breakup and I’m crying on the tube!

Also, the best part about knowing a musician is seeing them perform their songs for the first time. With her past two albums, I got to see her work them out in real time in Middlebury basements and Brooklyn bars. Now, I get the finished project which is a gift in and of itself, but I didn’t know how much I’d miss witnessing the process until it was gone.

We tend to think that just because we have WhatsApp and Instagram (not sponsored by Meta) that’s basically the same as being in each other’s lives, but that’s not true at all.

A text can show you the engagement ring, but it doesn’t take you to the nail salon on that afternoon with your friend wondering out loud if it’s happening today.

A post about an album can show you that music is getting made, but it doesn’t take you to the green room after an electric show.

There is no digital substitute for being there. I know that now.

Okidoke, with that melancholy out the way, here’s what’s IN and OUT today:

IN

Being a Stereotype

• I’m 27. Half of my friends are getting engaged and I’m training for a marathon, and you know what? I’m ok with that. Even a year ago I would have laughed heartily at myself for being such a stereotype, but I’m really proud of myself for setting such a difficult challenge to face, and I’m glad I didn’t get the fear of being cringey get in my way. Don’t be afraid to look a little silly to do something you want.

Pumpkin Spice

• ^see above. It’s delicious, and I refuse to be bullied for enjoying it. I’m so brave, I know.

Coming to Chatty Cabaret!!

• There are still tickets left for what people are calling “The Best New Show in London.”

• https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chatty-cabaret-tickets-1615549745779

OUT

When people queue diagonally to you rather than behind you

• Why are people queuing these days like they’re a footballer trying to be juuuust not offside?? A queue is when you stand behind the person in front of you. NOT when you inch forward to be basically next to them?? If you’re in a queue behind me, I should not be able to see you in my periphery. End of. I actually don’t care if you’re “licherally daahhsperate” for a coffee. Get your athleisured ass back into the queue. You’ll get your coffee when you get it. Which is after the people in front of you.

Shoving

• I forgot how much of clubbing is actually just getting shoved. I went to an old-school club for the first time in a minute on Friday and was reminded that if you combine free alcohol with a lot of women in heels it results in a lot of bashing about in there. Less sexy and more concussion-y. I was also socially shoved via bodyguard thanks to Central Cee’s people telling me I had to leave my table because he wanted to sit there. I tried to tell him about Chatty Cabaret, but the moment passed.

Community Corner

It’s been a minute since I included this segment, but if you are as horrified as I am by the scourge of anti-immigrant sentiment in the UK and want to do something tangible to help, please consider giving to the LJS Drop-In Center which provides meals, space, and cooking opportunities to asylum seekers in London.

Here are excerpts from a plea written by Rabbi Alexandra Wright:

Asylum seekers live on £49.18 per person per week and are provided with accommodation by the Home Office. Often that accommodation is very unsuitable, especially for children – mould on the walls, windows that open dangerously wide, inadequate privacy or calm for children to do homework. Parents are exhausted; men particularly, find it difficult not to be working and providing for their families. We have seen fathers who are permanently depressed. They arrive in the UK full of hope and expectation, fleeing from dangerous regimes, from torture, from gender based or LGBT+ persecution or global conflicts.

Asylum is an ancient principle of protection for those fleeing from persecution, who cannot return to their homes safely and who fear for their lives. In [last] week’s parashah, the Torah mandates the setting aside of three cities of refuge – sanctuaries in the broadest sense – where an individual who has unwittingly killed another – can seek safety from the ‘blood avenger.’..The cities of refuge are not for those who intentionally kill, but for those whose lives may be endangered because of accidental killing.

There are huge challenges in our own times, but the principle remains that we must not return people to face persecution; protection should be granted regardless of race, religion or nationality; each case must be judged on its merit and individuals should find safety until return is possible or permanent safety is granted.

If you are in a position to donate, your support will go a long way in tangiably easing other peoples’ pain.

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/theljsdrop-in?utm_medium=CA&utm_source=CL

Alrighty, as usual I’ll end this blog with a What I’m…

Reading

Book — Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel. After a month of romance novels, I won’t lie to you, this is slow going for me, but so far I’m really enjoying it. The writing is unlike anything I’ve read before, so I’m having a really good time wrapping my brain around the world she is constructing. According to literally everyone on Earth, it’s worth reading, so here I am.

Article — The Baby Died, Whose Fault Is It? Wired. A fair warning, this article gave me literal nightmares. I mean, I went to sleep and had multiple nightmares. The debate around surrogacy can be complicated and nuanced, but this story is simply horrific, and paints a gruesome picture of private surrogracy for multi-millionaires in the United States. Give it a read, if you dare.

Watching

TV Show — The Vampire Diaries. I can’t help it!! Autumn rolls around and I want spooks, scares, and hotties. Thank you, TVD for coming in clutch there.

Movie — Bend it Like Beckham. Big week for nostalgia. I loved this movie so much growing up, and I still love it today. An inspiring story about sneaking out of the house <3

Listening to

Music — Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter. I mean, do I have a choice? Do I think the album lives up to the artwork ‘controversy?’ No. Do I feel personally attacked by lines “Got a soft spot for a bev and a boy that's fruity,” and “I'm just drinkin' to call someone. Ain't nobody's safe when I'm a little bit drunk?” Yes. She gets me.

Podcast — The Outfit. This is a new podcast from Headgum, where journalists Dan O’Sullivan and Alana Hope Levinson explain a mafia story. Their first episode on Ken Eto is fascinating. I do think O’Sullivan and Levinson do need to work on their flow of conversation. I listen to a lot of other historical podcasts that currently are doing a better job of getting to, and sticking with, the point. That said, it’s early days and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Okiii that’s in from me for this week.

Love you lots

xxxx Soph

How are you? Recovering from the bank hols? Feeling ok?

I won’t lie, I let wonderful substacker and terrible influence Lydia Patrick convince me (did not take any work whatsoever) to drink in London Fields yesterday when all I’d had to eat that day was two tacos at noon, and let me tell you…not a good idea! Who knew?? It’s been a minute since I experienced crippling hangxiety, and for real this time I’m never drinking again.

I am also replacing my mobile with a rotary phone which charges by the minute. If I’m going to drunkenly contact someone I shouldn’t, I need to physically dial up their number and speak to an operator before I can be patched through. That’s multi-step authentication.

Are any historians working on finding out who the first person to send a drunk text was? Did they know they were making history when they sent that fateful “u up?” I want a multi-part Netflix series on this.

In my shoddy defense, with the exception of Carnival on Sunday which was pretty fun, I’ve had a terrible weekend.

It really kicked off, literally and figuratively, on Saturday when, riddled with a cold, I spent yet another fleeting summer afternoon inside watching football. While Arsenal won 5-0 (good), in the blissful few months without the Premier League when men’s football was replaced with the far superior women’s sport I forgot that football hooligans are the literal worst. Second only to people who don’t stand up to them.

Later that evening, I got on the overground with a male friend and another guy, and ran into a group of Arsenal fans singing an anti-Tottenham song which ends in a bunch of antisemitic slurs (Tottenham is a traditionally Jewish club, for my American readers).

Now look, I am more than happy to sling every insult in the book at Tottenham, they are shit, but it is repulsive and pathetic to be bringing ethnicity and religion into the mix.

I was getting more and more worked up about these men, and so I decided to approach them and ask them to stop. Obviously, I didn’t expect them to actually stop, they’re drunk football lads. They started simply slinging the slur at me instead, while also complimenting my shoes? Interesting time. However, like an idiot, I did expect my friends to back me up.

I was wrong.

I was left confronting these men on the tube feeling tiny and alone.

Someone recently told me it was “cute” that I’m so “feisty.” I don’t find it cute, and I don’t find standing up for basic principles to be “feisty.” I think it’s a baseline of human decency.

Contrast these men with my tiny female friends at Carnival. At one point, one group of men looked at us funny and my friend absolutely kicked off in our defense. She would have physically fought them if they hadn’t run away first. These big lads just sitting there, heads down, not getting involved…literally sooo embarrassing for them. I don’t know a single girl who would not have leapt up to have their friend’s back in the same scenario.

My last thing on this is that a lot of left leaning people have felt incredibly comfortable telling Jewish people what is and is not antisemitic for the past few years. But, when confronted with clear as day antisemitism they do nothing at all.

It is no wonder at all that so many Jews feel completely alone when it comes to confronting hate. We know we can’t trust certain leftists to care when it matters, because they’ve been given so many opportunities to take antisemitism seriously, and they do not.

This has nothing to do with Israel or foreign policy. This is hateful people saying hateful things on our own streets, and the radio silence from the very people who have sooo much to say when it comes to telling Jews they’re overreacting. It’s pretty isolating and very sad.

Anywayyyy, that was awful. Let’s lighten up the mood with some INs and OUTs:

IN

Edinburgh Fringe

• I went on a 24 hour trip to Fringe and I am so, so, glad that I did! It is truly such a liberating experience to see so many people with so many new ideas. And, most importantly, to see so many people trying. It is a real feat of human endeavor and expression. You all know by now how much I hate our bot-ridden existence, and so to see so many human beings with brand new, non algorhythmic, whacky, weird, and wild ideas, truly moved me and left me feeling elated about art and craft.

Platform Hot-Pink Crocs

• It’s been a minute since I’ve bought a truly polarizing pair of shoes, and these are the Marmite of footwear. The lovers love, and the haters can go elsewhere. I know I’ve written about crocs on here before, but these are a different pair of hot-pink crocs, because these ones have a two inch platform. They are hideous. I love them. Some common criticisms are “you’re going to break your leg” and “are you taking a clown class?” To which I say…I’d look good in a cast, and I love physical comedy. I am becoming the Carrie Bradshaw of heinous footwear, and I’m ok with that.

  

Coming to Chatty Cabaret

• The hugely talented Bonya Kleyman and also myself are putting on a comedy show!! It’s going to be glamorous and fabulous, but only if you show up

• TICKETS ARE HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chatty-cabaret-tickets-1615549745779?aff=erelexpmlt

OUT

Having to Make an Account For Everything

• What’s up with this? At Fringe, every time I had to buy a ticket to a show I’d have to make an account for the ticketing platform. Just let me buy a ticket! Even when I got tickets at the door, I’d have to scan a code and give them all my info. Why?? I just want to hand over cash in exchange for a show. Why do you need to know my great grandfather’s middle name in order for me to do that? Every platform these days is either an app or an account or some roundabout way to collect my data, and I’m soo sick of it.

EasyJet

• I booked a plane instead of a train to go to Scotland because planes tend to be faster and a bit more reliable than UK trains. To do this affordably, I woke up at 3am to rush to Gatwick for my 6am flight only to board the plane and be told that our pilot forgot to show up…?? Just forgot! Oops! Should have gotten to Scotland at 7:15 am, but rolled up at mid-day. EasyJet reminding me yet again that it is anything but!

Okidoke, here is What I’m…

Reading

Book — Rachel’s Holiday, Marian Keyes. There was a two-for-one offer on Marian Keyes books at Foyles and now I’m completely hooked. I love this Irish woman! I have read three of her books in the past two weeks, and don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I love the familiarity, coziness, and communal feeling of the worlds that she builds.

Article — How Much Would You Pay For Friendship — The Cut. If I’m guilty for rubbernecking one thing, it’s RushTok. As someone who did not go to a school with Greek Life, I am morbidly fascinated by the lengths people go to, socially and financially, to get into a sorority. Now, according to The Cut, parents are shelling out thousands of dollars to “Rush Coaches” before their kids have even gotten into college. I would encourage these girls to try just making friends with people they like, but I fear that’s not the kind of advice these coaches are giving out.

Listening to

Podcast — Noel Clarke Loses To The Guardian — The Rest is Entertainment. This episode contains a great explainer of why Noel Clarke lost his libel suit against The Guardian’s investigations team which published an exposé acusing him of sexual harassment on set, and also does a good job explaining the UK’s unique libel law situation, and why it is so hard to publish investigations in this country.

Music — Popstar: Never Stop, Never Stopping, the Album — The Lonely Island. I fear this will top my Spotify Wrapped given how much I’ve been listening to it recently. Just getting ahead of the press on that one. I’ve been on a real Lonely Island kick since seeing the new Naked Gun (review below), and am now hooked on their 2016 cult masterpiece. I love it so much.

Watching

TV Show — Rivals, Disney+. I’ve already watched and recommended this show, but I’m rewatching it because why not? It’s very shoulder-pad heavy. A good time.

Movie — The Naked Gun. Loved!!! As a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker devotee, I was nervous that this movie would not live up to its predecessors, but I was howling with my mum in the theatre from the very beginning. I loved that it was true to the original format of really stupid puns and visual gags, but was not trying to be a remake or a frame-for-frame copy of the Nielsen films. Would really recommend seeing in theatres if you can so you’re able to laugh with other people. It feels good!

That’s it from me this month! Been a wild August, and am interested to see what’s in store for me in September. See you at Chatty Cabaret.

xoxoxox

Sophie

I hope you’re having sunny skies and sunny lives this summer.

I just went to Cape Cod and evaded shark activity for yet another year (score).

While I was there I wore my hot pink crocs (not to brag, they’re very stylish) and was reminded that the straps on the backs are two different colours: one blue, one orange.

I switched the backs with two different friends when I was 13 years old at summer camp, and now, I can’t remember who.

Did the straps belong to my friend who still reads this blog and and has been unbelievably supportive in my comedy and writing pursuits?

Did they belong to a girl who had been my best friend for four summers, who worked so hard on environmental projects at camp only to go on to dedicate her adulthood to working for the Republican party?

Did they belong to the countless girls who I spent so many hours with swimming in the lake and watching shooting stars and now have no connection to at all?

Who is walking around in their own blue and orange childhood crocs with mismatched pink backs? Do they even have their crocs any more? Or are they in some charity shop ready to picked up by a new generation of summer campers?

It’s equal parts melancholy and endearing that I was once so close to people we swapped the back of our shoes to always remember each other by. Now, I still have the shoes, but not the memories of how they came to be this way. Funny how that happened.

Anyway, with that weird anecdote out of the way, here’s a quick IN and OUT for the end of the month:

IN

London theatre scene

• There are so many incredible things on stage right now its unbelievable! Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Bridge Theatre is a gay extravaganza, and Til The Stars Come Down at the Haymarket is truly breathtaking. Obviously Evita is on too, but good luck getting tickets to that.

Bringing childhood and university friends together

• My best friend from secondary school and two of my closest friends from uni came to visit me on Cape Cod. At first I was sooo nervous that they wouldn’t get along, but they did! It was marvelous. Mostly because I realised that all of my friends are completely insane women/non binary people. Always have been, and always will be, it seems. Taste!

Women’s Football!!

• Come on England!!!! Come on a team that can actually win tournaments and whose wins don’t lead to increased violence across the country!! I also love women’s football because when I go to men’s games, I still feel like I need to act a certain way, and that I’ll really always be judged by the men there no matter how I act. At women’s games I can just be myself. What a joy. What a beautiful game.

OUT

Being hit on by Tories

• I went to an all girls school til I was 14, one of those schools was called Queen’s College Preparatory School for Girls, and I grew up in West London, but what is it about me that keeps attracting Tories??? Two nights in a row this weekend I’ve been chirpsed by a Tory. And I’m sure you’re asking ‘how do you know that they were Tories?’ I know because I’m insufferable and I asked.

• One man, I swear to God, when I asked if he was gonna watch the women’s Euros said he doesn’t love football but he does love England. I…..?? Incredible stuff. Rule Brittania etc.

Women’s Football at pubs w bad loos

• Now that we’ve agreed that women’s football is superior, we are going to need to add more loos to pubs. The only singular drawback to women’s matches is that there are significantly more women watching it which means there are significantly more people needing to pee throughout the match. More loos please!

Here’s What I’m…

Reading

Book — The Wedding People, Alison Espach. Loved this book!!! So witty and charming and sweet. I read it in one day, which did result in me getting the worst sunburn of the year because I read it face down on the beach, but that’s neither here nor there.

Article — The Media’s Pivot to AI is Not Real and Not Going to Work, 404 Media. Well this article was everything in my brain and then some. If you want insight into how media companies like a certain one that rhymes with bruise meek are destroying their workforce, morale, and reputation, one chatbot at a time.

Watching

TV — Old episodes of the Kardashians. For some reason, the TV in our house in Wellfleet is stuck on a channel that only plays old episodes of the Kardashians, and honestly they are TV gold. These women are famous for a reason: their butts and their sense of humour, in that order.

Movie — Pride & Prejudice, 2005 film. Here’s the thing. It’s actually not hard to meet women in London. All you need to do is go to any outdoor screening of Pride & Prejudice happening this summer. We are all there.

Listening to

Music — Moisturizer, Wet Leg. Love this album! Love these gals.

Podcast — Mushroom Case Daily. Like every other person on earth I’ve been captivated by the Erin Patterson Mushroom Trial. As much as the trial was definitely a media frenzy, I do think this trial handled the case really well, and served as a great source of information for its audience.

Okie, that’s it for me.

Love you lots.

xxxxxx Soph

Thank you so, so, much for your kind reach outs after my last post. I struggle a lot with earnestness and honesty when it comes to needing support, and it really meant the world to me that people were so kind when I was feeling so blue.

It also confirmed to me that people actually read this blog, so that was huge.

As it turns out, one singular Friday of feeling a bit sad launched me into a true Rube Goldberg pace of overcompensating.

I have not had a single night at home alone since June 1. Oooops.

But what’s a girl to do??? When Kesha (Ke-dollar-sign-Ha) is in town for Mighty Hoopla and Beyoncé is here on my birthday, one simply must embody the spirit of “don’t stop, make it pop, DJ turn those speakers up.”

Now, if someone were to ask: “Sophie, do you think maybe you’re making all of these plans so that you don’t have to be alone with your own thoughts and really recollect about the tumultuous year that has just past?” I would say: “I’m sorry I can’t hear you, Beyoncé just welcomed me back to the Renaissance.”

I wish I could write a birthday post with some wise life lessons I’ve gained, but honestly this year is starting off with me being in a job I will choose not to discuss on this public platform, going through a breakup, and being very on-edge about the state of the world (even more so than usual). So I’m not the gal (grown woman) to go to with any big life questions.

Hopefully this will be the kind of post I can look back on next year and feel pleasantly distant from.

With that said, here’s what is IN and OUT for the moment:

IN

The Gay Jobs Fair, aka Mighty Hoopla

• The only way to ring in Pride Month is by forcing all B/C-list pop stars from 20 years ago to gyrate on stage to their greatest hits while the crowd, poppers to the gills, goes “ohh, yeah I think I remember this one.”

• Pixie Lott, remember her?? Pulled out all of the tunes I used to listen to before school. Heidi Montag, fresh from re-found fame after the LA fires, was on the Main Stage for exactly 15 minutes lip synching in a tourniquet tight leotard. Kesha…genuinely incredible. I’m not just saying that. I’m really excited about this new chapter in her career.

• I think there is an essay in there about how the gays love a “has been,” and how it is actually quite beautiful for aging female pop stars to know they always have a spot on the schedule at Mighty Hoopla.

London Fields Lido

• Not a new take by any means, but God I love this place. I love that its filled with people holding copies of War and Peace and The White Album (me), while peering over the pages to scope out the other people “reading.” I love that I have a very one-sided relationship with the woman who works in the cafe. She is so mean. I will get her to like me. And, I love that it is a legitimately great public pool. I love public amenities!!!

OUT

Post-Beyoncé Comedown

• I saw the world’s greatest living performer yesterday and now I feel utterly depleted. I cannot accurately capture the feeling of a Beyoncé concert, because she is a person, a star, unlike any other. Now she’s shot back into the sky and I am counting down the seconds until she drops back down to Earth with another album and starts to tour again. I miss her. I feel sick without her.

• A lot of her show last night was focused on reclaiming what it means to be American, complete with her singing the national anthem during American Requiem. She is an American icon, and don’t let anybody forget it. I loved how her dancers were all POC holding the American flag. They are American too.

• That said, I’ll be curious to see where her acts of protest lie beyond the stage. Is it fair to profess that you’re for the people when tickets initially started at £300 and merch at £50? (ticket prices dropped bc she wasn’t selling out at those costs). As much as I am somewhat religiously Beyhive, I will be watching with interest and a little skepticism over whether her stance moves much beyond imagery.

Prices going up at Brick Lane Beigels

• I’m not happy about it!!! My beloved bagel place, so far untouched by Brick Lane prices now slowly creeping up. Stop it!!!

I don’t have a full What I’m… this week because I’ve been going to a lot of theatre and getting back into comedy recently, so haven’t been consuming much other culture.

In lieu of that my quick theatre cultural roundup is:

Stereophonic — I didn’t love it as much as I expected to. 3/5 stars from me. If you’re under 30 you can get a ticket for £25 which is honestly the limit I’d pay for this show.

Onegin at the Royal Ballet — Maybe the most beautiful work of dance I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been very lucky in my life to see a lot of dance. Truly breathtaking. Felt unbelievably blessed to see Marianella Nunez dance in her last production of this work.

My own standup — Obviously perfect and amazing, and you should come see me perform.

Alrighty, that’s it from me today.

Love you all!!

xoxoxoxo Sophie

How are you doing on this beautiful weekend? I hope you’re enjoying the sun and packing lots of Benadryl.

I have a confession to make…I’ve been telling people my eyes are all swollen and red and puffy because of the Pollen Bomb sweeping across London in our most recent Blitz, but it’s really because I’ve been crying…cause I’m going through a breakup :(

To get any sordid details out of the way: There are none.

I hate sounding like a “conscious uncoupling” girl, but it’s true. Nothing bad happened. It was just a relationship that was not working out.

Sorry not to have more juicy gossip for you!! If anyone does me dirty you’ll be the first to know, but simply is not the case here.

What has been tough, is this split has got me thinking a lot about loneliness.

I managed to almost completely avoid the post-university lonelies, because I moved straight from uni into an apartment with friends and then immediately joined the NYC comedy scene which filled all of my afternoons and weekends with open-mics, gigs, and shows.

While my friends were lamenting that they felt so alone in the city and were unmoored without the structure of university life, I felt almost (ok, actually) smug that I had worked that all out. If anything, I was too busy fully immersing myself in the cult of standup comedy.

Then I moved back to London, and things changed. The comedy scene here is, in my experience, not nearly as inviting or inclusive. In New York, a gig would turn into a ‘hang’ or a party invite for next weekend. Here, people do their shows and go home.

I felt like my genius hack for having constant friends had suddenly vanished before me.

And then I got into a relationship, and so many of those problems went away.

I was dating someone who had started as my friend, and we had so much natural fun together (fun, natural fun) that I became less and less concerned about my platonic relationships, until all of a sudden it’s a beautiful friday night in late May and I have no plans to go anywhere and I feel horribly, brutally, alone.

It’s not that I don’t have friends. I have formed really tight bonds with a few comedians, I’m genuinely friends with some people from my work, and I live with, if anything, too many people.

And, it’s not like I’m incapable of spending time alone. I booked a last minute trip to Amsterdam last week for no reason other than I wanted to mope around somewhere else for a change. It was very nice. I did a lot of journaling.

But, I’m realising there is a difference between spending time alone and being lonely.

A difference between choosing to have alone time, and having alone time thrust upon you.

Especially, when that alone time comes with endless over-thinking about your relationship and what you miss about that person.

There’s also the reality that being in a relationship does not rescue you from being lonely. Being in a relationship that isn’t working can be the loneliest feeling of all.

I know the adage ‘best way to get over someone is by getting under someone’ etc, etc. But I really think the best way to move through something is by surrounding yourself with friends.

All to say, if you’re reading this and you want to hang out and/or be a little chaotic this summer, please text me! I’m around.

Anyway….here’s a very short INS and OUTS for you

IN

Eurostar Snap

• This is going to ruin my life. My friend Kate told me about this site which sells last-minute cheap Eurostar tickets, hence how I found myself on a train to Amsterdam less than 24 hrs after buying a ticket. I fear my inability to save money or make plans more than a day in advance have combined to create my greatest friend and foe, the Eurostar snap. If you find me unable to buy groceries but popping up in Paris every other weekend, this is why.

Pimms

• I am a Pimms defender til I die. All of a sudden Pimms has become a old-persons drink and is significantly less cool than its glamorous cousin the Aperol Spritz, but come on! Pimms comes with a little fruit salad! I love a drink that comes with a little fruit salad! It’s delicious and I’m not (ok, I’m a little) embarrassed to drink it.

OUT

Posing for ‘cute’ photos in front of the Anne Frank House

• Some tourists better be thanking GOD I was feeling too sad on my Amsterdam trip for me to physically fight them, but if you are the kind of person who stands in front of the Anne Frank house and asks your partner to “make sure you get my whole outfit” I’m going to need you to take a long look at yourself in the mirror and then punch yourself in the face.

• A family lived in abject terror in that house for two years before being brutally kidnapped, separated from each other, and sent to death camps, and you want to get your whole outfit in???? Please, I beg of you, read a book. Maybe, oh I don’t know, a diary about the horrors of that time period.

Alrighty. Here is what I’ve been….

Reading

Article — The NYMag exposé into Liv Schmidt’s “Skinni Society.” There are few people I hate in this world, but people monetizing eating disorders…they’re pretty high up on my list. I’m so, so, glad this article resulted in Meta taking away her ability to monetize her platform, but they need to work a lot harder to make sure content telling girls to starve themselves is banned for good.

Book — Consider Yourself Kissed, Jessica Stanley. One of my favourite genres, and I obviously have no idea why, is ‘woman who loves love but feels stifled by relationships.’ I’m almost done with this book and I have mixed feelings. I think it does a really great job of detailing how small sacrifices can turn into big resentments, and how the things you once found so sweet about someone can turn sour. However, I do fear it relies a lot on what I call the ‘Taylor Swift descriptive crutch’ which is just naming a lot of places and things in order to build a world - the whole first chapter is really just naming shops on Broadway Market. This is nice as a Hackney resident, but I imagine is quite annoying for anyone else. Anyway, it is more interesting than the title suggests, so would still recommend.

Watching

TV Show — Obviously, Sex and the City. With the exception of the bisexual episode and the singular time a character dates a Black person….yikes, it’s almost a flawless program about adult relationships, and I really need my parasocial fictional friends right now.

Movie — Sinners and Mission Impossible, Final Reckoning. Sinners!! So fun!! A vampire movie with a dream ballet sequence??? Loved it. Thought it was brilliantly fun. Mission Impossible — you can be an hour late to this movie because there is a full 60 minutes of exposition that could also be explained by…watching the other feature length Mission Impossible movie that came out right before this one…but it’s still worth it to see Tom Cruise jump from one biplane to another. So good.

Listening to

Podcast — Switched on Pop. Their early May episode on the music in Sinners was so interesting. It delves into the history of the Blues, and also how Ryan Coogler picked the different songs that feature in the film.

Music — I think it’s going to be a Haim summer for me. Laid back fun girlhood and friendship vibes. I’m really looking forward to hearing their full new album.

Okayyy that’s it for this month.

Love you all very much, even when I’m really going through it.

xoxoxo Sophie

I hope your days are as sunny as London is right now.

To be perfectly honest, I’m having a rough time at the moment and I don’t really want to blog about it here just yet, but I’m realising it's the end of the month (30 days hath September etc…) so I better write something before the day is through!

So, here are some thoughts on a random subject I’ve been thinking about a lot: Why I love classical music.

I really genuinely love classical music. It’s true!

I worry that classical music is becoming some sort of alt-right “western values” freak thing, but I have a lot of feelings about why I think it’s so brilliant, and why I love to go listen to it live.

It’s easy to say I love the music. That’s true, of course, but then I could be saying I love Beyoncé in this essay, which is true too.

When I say I love classical music, what I really mean is I love that it is something so beautiful that we as people have worked tirelessly to preserve it.

Now with the internet we don’t think so much about the work it goes into keeping something whole, but I love that when I go to a concert to listen to Mozart or Beethoven or Vivaldi, that means that throughout two world wars, countless epidemics, political economic and social fallouts, some people cared enough to keep practicing this music simply because it is beautiful.

I love knowing there is a community out there of people who see that by preserving art we are preserving humanity.

It seems to me like one of life’s purely selfless acts. Performing can be selfish, buying great tickets can be selfish, but keeping something whole is entirely for others. It means a lot.

Finding beauty in classical music also makes me feel more connected to other generations than anything else. It sounds beyond cheesy, I know, but isn’t it amazing how a piece that moved some random person in a concert hall to tears 100 years ago can do the same for me, another total rando, 100 years later?

Every other aspect of our experience going to and coming from our concerts is different 100 years apart.

In 2025, I have to be reminded to turn my phone off. In 2025 I, a woman, can buy my own tickets with my own money. In 2025, I’m stressed about the rise of fascism and markets crashing…ok well maybe we have that in common too. But despite a century of (relative) difference and experience, the music itself has the capacity to make us feel, for a blink in time, the exact same sensation.

I think that’s kind of magical.

Anyway, that’s all for this month.

Will write again soon.

much love

xoxoxo

Sophie

Sorry for the delay in Substacks recently. To be honest I’ve just not been very inspired as of late, and have been, what’s the word…depressed? Very stressed? Overwhelmed with terror about the modern world? Something like that. Lol. Cute!

Something that’s not depressing, that I haven’t had a chance to write about yet is my brother got married!! Huge news! He got a wife, and much more importantly, I got a sister! A truly joyous occasion, and much needed right now.

Not that I want to situation in the US to get worse (really, I don’t), but also if it does then they’ll have to move to London and have kids here which is much better for me. All I want in life is to be a fun aunt, and I’m going to need that to happen stat.

Anyway, here are some catch-up INs and OUTs:

IN

All the well dressed toddlers in the park

• Absolutely obsessed with these icons. Big knitted cardians, massive sunglasses, tiny wellington boots??? I can’t get enough. Not in a weird way! They’re just so freaking cute.

The end of this last series of Love is Blind, USA

• Speaking of marriage, this was absolute snooze fest until the end when two of the women dropped their conservative fiancés at the altar and made it very clear why. Both women stood up for gay rights and Black lives and said they couldn’t marry someone who did not feel the same way. Good on them. Say it louder for people in the back pews.

Saying yes to plans

• Feel like I’ve said this before, but the only “good” thing about my increasing nihilism is that I’ve been saying yes to a lot more plans. Is that because I’m scared the world is ending? Yes. But, am I having a god time regardless? Of course! Better to enjoy the world we have for now than just stress about it. Might as well do both.

OUT

Baby Guinnesses

• I’ve been betrayed. I never thought shots of Kahlua and Baileys could ever make me unwell, but it turns out when you have five of them…they can?? Some haters might say that this is more “my fault” than the drink’s, but to those haters I say, have you ever been tempted by the sweet nectar of a baby guinness? No. Clearly not. Otherise you’d know they are the siren’s call of a bartender. Especially on St Patrick’s Day. What was I supposed to do?? Turn then down?? I don’t think so. That would be Irish-o’-phobic.

Mickey 17

• Not only was this movie straight up so bad, but frustratingly Robert Pattinson was so good in it, which sucks because I wish he would get more awards recognition for how good an actor he is (obvi he’s very rich and famoust etc but you know what I mean) but this movie was actually so painfully bad I just ended up feeling sorry for him having to show off his talent in it. Do not waste your time at the movies for this one. It was no good.

Vinted

• I’m actually furious right now. I have tried desperately, for years, to never go on Vinted, because I knew once I was on it I’d never get off. Now…I’ve been suckered into it!!! At first, for a great reason, I had lost my favourite jumper while visiting my brother and feared I’d never find it again because I bought it 12 years ago, but then I found the exact same one on Vinted. Great, or so you’d think. But then…it began…I got suckered into that infernal site and fear I’ll lose everything to it.

What I’m…

Reading

Book — The Last Juror, John Grisham. A very fun read so far. Obviously about a murder trial in a small Southern town. Exactly what I want out of a Grisham book. The only draw back is I keep thinking it’s called The Rural Juror, and then I just want to watch 30 Rock instead.

Article — Idk. I’m consuming too much news that it all terrible.

Watching

TV Show — Gavin and Stacey. Have been re-watching since the beginning with my boyfriend, and honestly, it still slaps. Ruth Jones is a perfect genius.

Movie — The Brutalist. To be honest, another movie that I really did not like. The only person who helped me change my mind a little bit was my friend who said she liked it because she felt like it was nice to have a movie about a Holocaust survivor who was also a huge piece of shit. In her words, which are fair enough, not everyone who survived the Holocaust was also a good person, and it’s actually Jewish representation to have a movie about someone who comes out the other side and isn’t necessarily changed for the better.

Listening to

Music — The Giver, Chappell Roan. In apparently an annual tradition with my straight boyfriend, he is the first to know about new Chappell singles dropping and will text me very excited about it at about 4am. Ally!

Podcast — Lewis Goodall’s interview with Ash Sarkar on The News Agents. I’m far from the first or last person to have complicated feelings about Ash Sarkar, but I felt like this was a really good conversation, and an interesting and necessary one to have. He’s a great interviewer, and I felt like he pushed back enough but also let her speak enough for me to learn about her argument and also learn where to still be skeptical.

Okiiii that’s it from me this week/month/last two months, oops.

Love you lots,

xxxx

Sophie

It’s been a year and it’s only really been a week. So. I hope you’re all staying hydrated and connected to one another.

On that note, like everybody alive I’ve been trying to spend less time on my phone, and I’ve finally hacked it. All it took was my overwhelming fear that something terrible is looming on the horizon due to the selfish, cruel, malign, and frankly inept shortsightedness of our world leaders, for me to put my phone away and really experience my life.

Before anyone says ‘but you can’t shut yourself off from the world. You need to stay informed,’ I’m a political journalist. All I do is stay informed. That’s why I’m so depressed. But honestly, and this sounds incredibly cliche, I suddenly have no interest in spending my time watching what other people are doing, or what I should be eating or wearing or how I should be living my life while I’m actually not living it at all.

I recognise that a lot of people need social media to help their real-life careers, so I’m not trying to bash that in that way. But for the rest of us, we need to remember that it’s just not real. It’s not a real place and it’s stealing all of our time from us in a truly insidious and depressing way.

Use it to organize, but then actually go to the meet-up.

Use it to inform, but then actually call your representatives instead of just posting their phone numbers for other people to call.

Use it to post comedy clips, but then actually pay to see a comedian in person. Embrace the life we have, especially when it currently feels so tenuous right now.

Anywayyyyyyy, here is what is IN and OUT at the end of this long, long, month.

IN

Richard Osman books

• Sometimes things are popular because they’re good. And sometimes things are only popular among middle aged women and myself because they’re really good. And Richard Osman murder mysteries are one of those things. If you’re looking for some wholesome, off screen, escapism, I can’t recommend them enough, especially his latest one We Solve Murders.

Taking The Traitors way too personally

• The thing is when you watch The Traitors it’s easy to sit on your sofa at home and think “these people are taking this way too personally.” But then you play Traitors for a friend’s birthday and all it takes is one person saying they don’t trust you not because you’re a traitor but because you’re “socially incompetent” with secrets to really get to you. I’ll never be the same. It’s the best game ever.

Hackney Gelato limited edition gingerbread ice cream

• Omg it’s so good. If you’re in London sprint your ass to a shop with this (or Ocado tbh but that’s less exciting). It’s ginger ice cream with lost of little crystals of ginger in it. So sweet, so crisp, so refreshing. Delicious!!!! Can’t get enough of it.

OUT

Hopelessness

• I get it. Me too. But snap out of it. Hopelessness leads to depression leads to complacency leads to defeat. That’s not an option. So cut it out. Try to do just one thing a week that brings joy, or is subversive, or that betters your community. That can be anything from going to a drag show to donating to your local library to getting involved in the 2026 midterms. Just find something that’s not doom scrolling, I beg.

Sriracha mayonnaise

• Weird one cause I used to love it, but now…I’ve turned against it. The thing is with sriracha mayo is that it looks like it wouldn’t be too spicy but it actually is. So I always end up putting too much on my food and then going ‘ow!’ Not happy! Won’t learn a lesson ever.

Okidoke, now that I’m a little less online, this is what I’ve been…

Reading

Article — Who Was Bulling Kendra Licari’s Teen Daughter, The Cut. This article is really dark but it’s brilliantly written. A truly gruesome true crime story.

Book — We Solve Murders, Richard Osman. See above. Perfect book.

Listening to

Podcast — The Rest is Classified. Such a fun listen. Two ex spies discussing modern espionage, and a variety of spy stories from the recent past.

Music — Doechii. But isn’t everyone.

Watching

TV Show — New Girl. Again. Can’t help it.

Movie — A Real Pain. I could write a whole ‘stack just on this movie, but I’m still flabbergasted by how Jesse Eisenberg somehow crawled into my brain and wrote this movie. It’s perfect. It’s hysterical and tragic and true.

love you all sooo much.

xxxx sophie <3

Really getting this ‘stack in under the wire.

I know the end of the year post should be full of reflection, but I think I’m going to save that for January. Not because I’m '‘not like other girls,’ just because I’m writing this at speeeeed and so much happened last year I don’t have time to really recollect.

Also, to be perfectly honest with all of you, I’m really struggling with an intense anxiety going into 2025.

I know this substack is supposed to be fun and silly, but to be frank and less fun I have a really really bad feeling about next year. I have a lot to look forward to, but idk, something (facism) feels off. So, I’m trying to reflect on 2024 in a way that feels honest, and not just powered by my fears about the future. Also, I’ve never really dealt with this level of anxiety and uncertainty before (other than in Covid, but this feels more isolated tbh) so if you have any advice please reach out!!

EOY

Because it’s the end of the year I’m going to write some quick highlights, and more somber thoughts (will be better thought out next month, probably)

highlights

• got a proper journalism job at Newsweek

• fell in love (eep)

• saw Charli XCX (twice), Chappell Roan, The Dare, Troye Sivan, Lana Del Rey, Remi Wolf, and more! great year for music

• joined a choir

somber thoughts

• my darling baby cousin, Bailey, lost her life this year. It was a huge shock and surprise to my family, and I just want to make sure that the end of this year does not go by without commemorating her light, and her drive, and her commitment to self. I love her dearly, and miss her deeply.

• my friend Will also lost his life this year. He was one of the most brilliant and funny people that I got the great fortune of working with on The Local Noodle in college. He’s massively missed.

IN

Making the effort

• I know I’ve said this before, but if you want to do something or go somewhere but it’s a little bit annoying, suck it up and do it. It’s always, always worth it. Texting that person, making that plan, getting on that extra bus, do it. In 2025, if you do nothing else, make the effort.

Bringing chocolates for flight attendants

• I’m letting you all in on my biggest secret, so use it wisely. Every time I fly I bring a chocolate box for the flight attendants. I wish it was because of the kindness of my heart, but really it’s because they end up bringing me a goodie-bag from Business Class. One time I got an upgrade, and one time I got a full bottle of champagne?? It’s the only way to travel.

OUT

When people say someone is actually homophobic because they’re gay.

• Sry to get deep but I’m sick of this! Honestly, I’ve been guilty of this in the past, but I’m actually so sick of how every time a politician or a celebrity is homophobic a lot of people say “oh we’ll they’re probably secretly closeted.” That may be the case some of the time, but some people are truly just hateful. You wouldn’t say someone in the KKK is racist because they’re ‘secretly Black,’ or that some hack comedian is ableist because they’re ‘secretly deaf of blind,’ No, some people just suck, and it’s not possible to actually solve the root causes of homophobia without addressing that.

People being ‘too cool.’

• I have the immense fortune in life to have family members who live in Aspen, Colorado. I know. My life is ridiculous. But, I’ve been here all week and while the town is packed, the mountains are empty! That’s insane!! Why, on earth, would people pay a truly sickening amount of money to fly to, and stay in, Aspen and then not ski??? That’s literally the only thing to do here (other than pay even more to just hang out, I guess?) I’m very grateful that I live my life without worrying about being too cool, because I’ve been having the time of my life on these empty mountains.

Alrighty, a quick what I’m…

Reading

Article — Not an article, but another substack — you really must check out The Siren Newsletter. They’re doing incredible work documenting women’s stories globally. Big recommend.

Book — Rivals! Does all of it age well? No, not at all. But is it still pretty fun and I respect an observant and witty woman, so I love Jilly Cooper.

Listening to

Podcast — Been getting back into Celebrity Memoir Bookclub. Their Al Pacino episode is really fun.

Music — A lot of disco. My cousin Greg has immaculate music taste, and a love for disco clearly uns for the family because we’ve been blasting it in the car and I’m loving it.

Watching

TV Show — Project Runway. One of the top three reality TV shows of all time (the other two being Vanderpump Rules, and Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents).

Movie — Mission Impossible: Fallout. Is this the best movie ever made, or did I watch it on a plane with 4 hours of sleep? Don’t answer that, actually. I loved every single second of this masterpiece. Thank God there are a million more of these movies so I can binge them all again.

alrighty, that’s it for the last post of 2024.

love you all sooo much.

xxxx sophie <3