We are so back, etc.
Just like we never said goodbye!
We never really had a goodbye, did we?
Maybe that was subconsciously intentional on my part. Before Top Shelf, Low Brow’s relaunch post a few days back—a stunning review of Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi,” which you can read right here—the last edition of this newsletter dropped more than two years prior, on April 28, 2022. A couple of days after that letter was sent, I was offered a contributor contract to freelance at The Daily Beast, which came at the tail end of the interview process for an entertainment critic position. I had been talking with editors at the Beast since mid-March, and plugging away as an independent and freelance culture critic for the last three years before that, so, needless to say, I was quick to jump at the opportunity, hoping that writing two pieces per week would prove my worth and get me the staff job.
In short: That’s exactly what happened. I started writing for them immediately and was offered the job a few weeks later. (For anyone reading this who might be curious about what it’s like to hunt for staff jobs in the media industry, an interview process lasting from mid-March to the end of May is not uncommon, as inconvenient as that can often be.) During that month of contractor work, I was also finishing out my day job as the office administrator of a dog training company, where, coincidentally, I would often finish up the weekly editions of Top Shelf, Low Brow, which I’d publish from behind the front desk. Never said I was perfect, only driven!
The feeling of being offered your dream job while at your day job and calling your parents to tell them the good news after mopping a floor that dogs have been pissing and shitting on all day is second to none. (Granted: This was a top-notch training company, sanitized thoroughly several times a day and after every accident! I’ve had far worse service jobs.) It’s a feeling so incredible that its enormity is only matched by the disappointment of leaving that job far sooner than you ever would’ve hoped. I departed my critic job at The Daily Beast at the end of June this year, with 26 incredible months of work under my belt. Every day of the two+ years of working as a critic there were special. There was not a single day I didn’t stop to think about how grateful I was and admire all of the hard work and tenacity that it took to get me there in the first place. I always believed that if I kept plugging away and making a space for myself and my writing—even in untraditional modes—I’d see the result I was hoping for. During my time at the Beast, I reviewed hundreds of television shows and movies, wrote long-form critical analyses and essays I’m exceedingly proud of, interviewed and profiled a bevy of industry figures (Mia Goth! Luca Guadagnino! Sasha Colby! Chloë Sevigny! So many other names I can’t believe!!!), scrawled blogs and news hits that still make me laugh, and met the best colleagues I could have ever asked to work with.
And then, things shifted. Amid management changes, I took a voluntary buyout from the company to avoid potentially being laid off further down the line as the business restructured. Our guild unit’s bargaining committee fought hard to get our guild members an incredible deal, and I am exceedingly proud of being part of the group that spent weeks negotiating it. The time leading up to my last day was tough, and it has been tough ever since—not only because I never wanted to walk away from the job, but because I went from writing every single day for more than two years to a complete halt.
Media is an unpredictable and fickle bedfellow, but I love her anyway, and that’s why I’m in your inbox again. As of right now, I’m freelancing again (check out my Vulture debut!), and I’ve missed the freedom and excitement of independently publishing some of my strangest, silliest, and most pressing thoughts on culture. So that brings you and I back to good old TSLB, which is getting a little facelift, a couple of doses of filler, and an eyebrow threading. (A Fergie fan on Twitter—which I will not be calling “X” in this newsletter, because I’m not being paid here!—once told me I needed to get my eyebrows threaded in response to The Fabulous Farce of Fergie Ferg, one of my favorite series I did here, and I’ve never forgotten it.) You’ll find some new designs, a changing color palette aligning with the most recently published piece, and some new series I know you’ll enjoy!
First up, you’ll find “The Review,” a closer look at movies, music, and television. I’m extremely passionate about media reviews, which are of grave importance in the realm of culture, and are being hindered by critics whose bite has been dulled in fear of angering stans and/or studios, as well as influencers who are paid to promote whatever they’re hocking. You won’t find anything but honest, reasoned, and sharp opinions in “The Review,” and I hope you’ll enjoy diving deeper into things you love, hate, or think you may not have a taste for either way. Reading criticism you don’t agree with is one of the best ways to tune your perspective when approaching culture, so I hope you’ll read even when our views might not align.
There’s also “The Blog,” and “The Journal.” The former will be a casual smattering of humor and takes on something in pop culture, while the latter will be an update from me about what’s going on in my life, the media and journalism industries, eBay obsessions, recipes I’ve become fixated on, musings off a 10mg edible, etc. It’ll be a little scrapbook (and a good excuse for us to stay acquainted even in months like August, when the zeitgeist slows down to a low hum).
You might notice that doesn’t include the newsletter’s original weekly digest of pop culture moments, broken down and rated either Top Shelf or Low Brow. While I’m not saying “never,” those entries took a lot of work. Looking for a job is already a full-time job, add devising, pitching, and writing freelance pieces on top of that and my hours for such massive pieces of unpaid writing are scant. There will, however, undoubtedly be some weeks where things are so packed that we’ll have to gossip about them further. So while I can’t say when, I am sure we’ll be dipping our toe back into that nostalgic format sometime in the future. I just need to make sure I have enough time to actually make my money (and work on writing my nove—*gunshots.*)
That’s it from me for now! I’ve got another one for you tomorrow, but in the meantime, hope you have a great day whenever you’re reading this! Follow me on Instagram and Twitter in the meantime. Touch base soon—kisses! Sorry.