Blog #12: Summer 2025 - Other Stuff Report
Summer is over!!! I’m procrastinating an assignment right now and I also have some stuff I want to share about so here goes. This Summer was all about:
Wanting to be behind a DJ booth - Why lie wanting to be a DJ with my friends even though we have no idea how to be djs or produce music so we made playlists and imagined being in the club - AND the fantasy includes being behind a DJ booth
One night earlier this year, we saw these three boys DJ’ing at the International. The set was mid but they looked like they were just having the best time ever. My homegirls and I left that night green with envy. I was supposed to being looking frat with my two gay best friends who I love on an elevated surface in the club.
Part of this yearning I think has to do with the world we live in today where young women are competing with men everywhere for elevated surfaces in the club. There is alwaaays a group of guys boxing the hotties out of the front of the DJ set. I would have normally thought oh, this is just another great example of antagonistic anti-chill SLC community behavior. But from what I’m hearing this is going on everywhere. It’s gripping the nation. These young men really need better role models.
The other part of this yearning is that I feel the city is lacking good, consistent spots to dance with a decent DJ. I am not even picky! I also don’t know all that’s going on here and I’m sure a lot of this is a skill issue. Even so, it’s dire here. At Sun Trapp they play a top 40 pop song (not a problem on its own even) all the way through, full song length, no transition, and then next one. It’s a vibe killer. And it’s upsetting to me and my homegirls! I think we all have good taste but I’m not saying it’s beyond the realm of even mainstream DJ talents. We just haven’t tapped into the kind of sound we’re looking for here yet.
The last part of this yearning is that I think we all wanted to do something together and curate high vibe playlists. We made a collaborative playlist for Pride and we each got so many freshies from each other. We still add to it and I highhllyyy recommend for any time you’re outside with some pretty bitches that don’t know how to act, which for a healthy lifestyle, should be 40 hrs/week or more. It was fun not just putting together playlist with a theme, but also focusing on the order and optimizing the crossfade tool lol. Spotify has a mix feature now and even that I’m personally pretty bad at using but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. We’re having fun!
Sabrina, Joanna, and I have Gen Z little brothers who we assume already have a propensity for producing edm music. 2/3 of them already have DJ equipment. If we could each fit in a few lessons, it really wouldn’t be that hard to learn the basics (we each know nothing). The way I see it, we start using Joanna’s garage through the long and cruel winter to drink beer and focus on our music. In the meantime, we each created a playlist. They’re all bringing something different but I’m not gonna try and break down the genre because I’m really bad at that. I think it’s sweet that each of one of us incorporates songs the others have sent to each other. Getting a song from a friend is so special <3. For the full experience you’re gonna need to play them in order, pretend each of these songs is like 2 min shorter and put the cross-fade up to 9-12 seconds — actually it looks like Jo proper mixed hers. Of course in my opinion they’re all perfect but I’ll give some highlights from my POV.
Joanna’s playlist: EJEMPO
Sabrina’s playlist: ¡OrderUp!
My playlist: Hmmmm
2. Watching movies about pools and water
This started on accident. I had a few weeks of really gorgeous funemployment at the beginning of May and I spent my days talking long hot sweaty walks to the SLFS theater on Broadway and watched like 3 movies a day. SLFS kicked May off with some summer programming and it paired well with the walks. This summer the Criterion Channel had a playlist of movies that feature pools that I got way into, and then after that I was basically only looking for summer movies. My living room lets a lot of sun in too and these summery bright movies are great for day time watching.
What I loved about the themes of summer and the focus on the pool is that they all get at that really scary part of summer, that late August terror. You’ve had too much fun, you’re too untethered and something HAS to come to roost. It can’t be the pool all the time. Being back in school is actually nice because it manufactures fall early. Going through August as a day-job having person feels really insane. Too bright! Anyway, see my list:
Bonjour Tristesse — I watched this with Sabrina in theaters on a whim. I hadn’t seen the old movie and hadn’t read the book. I think we were both pleasantly surprised. I loved this movie. File it under movies for girls! Miyako Bellizzi, swaggy costume designer who also did Uncut Gems, turned it out one this movie. Miyako is also doing History of Sound. Great lines, I particularly loved the lead’s sweet boyfriend. It definitely brought me to a place of Call Me By Your Name as far as aesthetics (this one was more sun bleached, more light yellow, seriously much fiercer and more sophisticated wardrobe) but for girls. Chloe Sevigny as a Virgo *swan emoji* I could not find a good picture of Cecile’s gorgeous caped, puffy dress so y’all are just going to have to use your imagination.
GIACOMO BERNASCONI/© 2024 BONJOUR MOVIE CANADA, INC.
The Surfer — Nic Cage as deranged Australian trying to surf in more deranged Australian territory. Loved the look as well, it was tres Australian. Very orange skin, very white teeth. It was honestly a hot mess but what can you expect? I love that they trusted him enough to understand that it is no consequence that he doesn’t have an Aussie accent. He’s Australian, don’t worry about it.
The Swimmer — This was the first movie I picked from the Criterion playlist. Sunday late afternoon watching. I saw that it was about a guy who swims his way across town via neighbor’s pools. I thought it was going to be like Shampoo, which it is kind of. The Swimmer takes it there in a way Shampoo doesn’t. Shampoo follows a male slut before its curtains for him but at this point he’s already ruined and cooked for actual intimacy. The Swimmer follows a washed up male slut/nightmare baby daddy combo whose goodwill has run out. I recommend pairing it with season 2 of The Valley if you want to see the desparation and denial of a serial cheater divorcee who has been finally ejected by the women in his life. I obviously loved it! It’s a book too if you care.
3 Women — I feel like I’ve talked about this movie a few times. Talk about a pool movie!!! How much do you love their little swim costumes and those sneaky sneaky twins? Two total 70s faces here. A detail that I noticed this watch is that Millie’s dress is always caught in her car door when she drives. Love it always <3
La Piscine
I loved this movie so much. Never seen natural blonde look sooooooo gorgeous. It’s the exact color of Romy’s skin. Enviable and gorge, and I found this post by the Substack Habitually Chic that has so many great stills and pulls from a lot of other interviews and sources surrounding the making of the film. Really, a great read! So glam.
A Bigger Splash — Not the La Piscine remake. The documentary about David Hockney and his gorgeos bae Peter. A lot of great party scenes, great style, and a great naked young men pool scene. “The one picture that two weeks really took six months and two weeks.”
Flow — I watched this on a plane to Nashville. Justine has been recommending it to me since she saw it last year. I missed in theaters. I adored it and I will be buying it for my nieces. It made my chest tight at many points and was so sweet. The cats physicalities were perfect and it was a really ambitious piece of work that is suited for kids, and to me, seems made for kids. It really reminds me of this Grimes interview Andrew put me on to when I came to visit him in Eugene and we watched My Neighbor Totoro. She said:
I’m working on a bunch of baby books…I want to make beautiful, profound children’s content. We really need more of that…Look how much everyone likes The Hobbit and Studio Ghibli. We’re at a weird point in society where we’ve sort of broken down. We don’t engage with our elders; we don’t engage with children. I want to convince more people to be invested in raising the next generation.
A Place in the Sun — Kind of obsessed with this being a love story or at least in my view ending in a way that made it feel like there was something good about this guy. Talk about a nightmare baby daddy!!! I’d probably do the same though, Elizabeth Taylor is looking soooooo bae in this.
Jaws — Watched this for the first time and had that awesome experience where you know the parody content without seeing the movie. I don’t care that much about spoilers because I believe, especially for bonafide classics, there’s something cool about that experience. It’s for sure cooler than never getting around to watching something you assume you’ve absorbed via reference and shorting yourself of the magic of the damn movies.I thought it was amazing of course. The pacing was incredible. I was so scared!!!! The shark was so scary. This year is the 50th anniversary!
Wild Things — Not going to write about it here because this post is so long already but I also watched a lot of lesbian and gay movies this summer, and this was an unexpected lezzy crossover. Matt Dillon has that Bruce Campbell, handsome, dark beady eye, evil look about him. Denise Richards does prety-and-mean better than anyone.
Sexy Beast — Definitely a dark horse pick, I really was working through that Criterion pool list! This was also movie about Ben Kingsley, British James Gandolfini, and true love. So funny!
92 in the Shade — I picked this for Harry Dean Stanton. This and The Surfer are the only ones on the list that don’t involve a pool. Florida is like the dog days’ official state, and lush Florida fits the spirit of pool movie summer. In the male slut cycle, the lead is in the early boyish phase (not Harry Dean Stanton’s character he’s been 50+ his entire life). I liked this line from lead’s dad to lead about lead’s grandpa: “You can enjoy his antics because you’re out of sequence with him.” I find this to be true not just for familial but for all relationships.
3. Renewing My Passport Photo
And it looks fierce too. I did it the day after I got my hair done and I am so thankful. My last photo was from 17, orange hair as I was going from hot topic red to bleach blonde, no bangs, matte lipstick because it was 2015. These are some of my sexiest years coming up too so I needed to make sure I rocked this one. I got to take it at home which makes all the difference people. iPhone 13 mini + flash <3 <3 <3
4. Pet Noise the album
I listened to this album over and over again starting when I found out Brian Wilson died. I feel like this album captured for me all of what I loved in my summer movies as well. It’s definitely a summer album and includes all the scary stuff about summer too.
Sometimes I feel very sad!!!!
Meme i can’t find - about being music you listent to when you’ve been into killing yourself for years
5. Being in the water
I’m such a water baby! If God gave me a small house on a semi-private lake I would swim in it every day. I would never take it for granted. I got out to Utah’s lakes a lot this summer. I also found an old pair waterproof headphones which has been nice for solo trips on the water.
I view sunburns as a moral failing and I usually victim-blame. What did you think this was? We’re 1 foot away from the sun. You’ve been out here for 8 hours.
I went almost all summer long with no sunburn. I got got end of July but only for an area my hands couldn’t reach, so I still feel like a good person about the situation.
Everyone I know has a paddleboard now and honestly, it’s a real to-do to get out on the water with those things. They take up a lot of space, it’s always a decent drive, and you work like a dog filling them up. All that and you could be out there for half the travel time if the wind is bad. Idk maybe I’m just describing outside hobbies in general.
We did take a raft on the Weber river this summer and it was so fun! I’ve only ever tubed before and it’s actually so much more treacherous that way. I’ve also seen people go down Weber in paddleboards and floaties, I’m sure to varying degrees of success. The raft was very sturdy, we rented it from the U and we mogged all of the tubers on the lake. Aaand I didn’t have to paddle because there was too many of us so I just handed people beers and picked the music and took pictures, aka all I’m good for at the function anyway.
6. Unsuccessfully trying to get access to a pool all summer long
I fumbled a lot of opportunities this summer. When I look back on it, I should have been politicking way more. I thought it would be easier and I felt entitled to it, and you know what? I paid for that bad attitude. So did all my beautiful girlfriends. I played it all wrong…Real shame too especially in my summer of pool obsession. You cannot hide from the sun in Salt Lake, the only relief really is inside or in water. There is a swanky apartment pool that has been making the ROUNDS on IG stories all summer-long, but you have to be a signed in guest of a resident. It makes me feel kind of sick and ashamed that I wasn’t considered enough of an asset to finesse an invite even once. If me and ten of my closest friends can’t get access to a pool after all this, who the hell can? I wish there were more pool clubs here for adults. Someone should really work on that.
7. Song of Summer Pluralism
I don’t feel that there was a break-out song of the summer that our nation could come together to agree on without lying. These are the ones I saw make waves and that I respect enough to acknowledge.
BunnaB “Bunna Summa” — My #1 pick and I feel like objectively this is closest to true song of the summer and embodies what summer is supposed to be about at least before August ;)
Frost Children “Falling” — Went platinum with me and my friends <3 The line My shawty, my shawty, take over my body all I have to say is wow. They are tapping into the source. Also, they just put out Sister and I read this great! interview with them. I really like they’re geniuses. STL forevaaaaaa, I loved that the acknowledged and explained the randomness of STL and also love that they talked about the significance of being bored in church in fueling creative work. Also good discussion of genres for dance and really internet dance music? Made me feel valid for being so bad about describing genre. They also look really fab in all the pictures.
Pink Pantheress “Illegal” — Just feel like she was everywhere this summer. She’s so cute, I loved this whole album. She also recently posted a Spotify mixed playlist, and I love it. Check it out here, it’s a fun dance mix.
Kesha “BOY CRAZY.” — uhmm Kesha let’s just go ahead and say shout out Kesha!!! She’s special to a lot of people and she is mother of a really fun cultural intersection which is for white girls who fight and anal retentive gay guys. Great vibe for her Tits Out tour!!!
Addison Rae “Fame is a Gun” — for gay ppl and hags/stunning young women. Her whole album really popped off, but this was my favorite music video. She is the moment! Thank you for being so in your body Addison!
I’m sure I’m missing some hits, this selection is based on my radar and what I saw getting play from more than just me!!!!
8. Not fake tanning
I am not saying it’s the end of the road for me and fake tan. It took me through Barbie Summer and I actually ended up pretty good at it. I used The Ordinary’s AHA thing in the red bottle + Loving Tan applied with disposable gloves and my boyfriend does my back so it was evenly applied.
My urge to be tan first came because as a pale girl, it’s like makeup. It really changes your look and I felt like my dayglow skin was legitimately unsightly in the direct sunlight. I fight this feeling still but I definitely care way less and know that’s not really true and pale people are turning fierce looks in the summer all the time, kind of a Salt Lake goth classic if you ask me. Btw, alt baddie on Love Island when??? I feel like that and a natural redhead would change the game. Once they figure out how to dim the sun they’re gonna make that happen.
Anyway, it was a lot of upkeep and I’m not that consistent. It always smells too and I don’t put it on my face because it messes up my skin/dyes the skin under my eyebrows orange, so then I was always having to wear makeup which just kept me from actually getting in the water. I feel like I turned it out as a pale girl this summer.
10. Wearing sunglasses at night and just getting into sunglasses more in general
Wearing sunglasses at the club is amazing and transformative. I know it can and has been done forever, but it clicked for me personally this summer.
First of all, they make me feel a little anonymous and less inhibited when I’m dancing. Sunglasses + ear plugs is an optimal sensory experience to dance to. I’m not a good dancer (whatever that even means) but everyone should be dancing way more. Tangential soapbox but it’s really crazy to me how there are so many people who don’t dance at concert, a club, a wedding, whatever…Free yourself!!! I get that it is easier said than done, but sometimes you just have to be so in your body! It’s the only dignified option you have in the club.
this is how i compliment customer service employees.
Second of all, you look gorgeous and don’t get caught slipping like crazy in pictures or just in general. You don’t even have to do eye makeup and it is the look. I am shoe girl but otherwise really don’t have a sense of who I am as an accessorizer. I feel that my taste and references are undeveloped in this area, to the point I don’t even trust my instincts. Only in the past few years have I purchased non-random sunglasses. I got Bonnie a cute pair for our birthday because she’s like me! But they look sooo good. When we were in Oregon for spring break and the weather was all crazy and windy, we had them on the whole time. I was content with my few cute pairs of sunglasses but then I’m starting to wear them more out, I’m scrolling The RealReal, I’m watching The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and I’m realizing I need to be way more intentional about this. Stupid dumb sunglasses are everything to me <3
