A Misanthrope’s Guide to the Clean Girl Aesthetic

I keep seeing this Clean Girl aesthetic everywhere online, accompanied by a litany of Clean Girl “rules” to follow. I dunno. It sounds pretty insulting to everyone else. Like you’re just a Dirty Skank if you’re not a Clean Girl. Why not just call it, “Basic Bitch, Fresh Out of the Shower”? Essentially, the Clean Girl aesthetic takes the "no-makeup makeup look" to obnoxious levels, ...

Requiem for Pee Wee Herman

I didn't know the late, great Paul Reubens personally, but like a lot of '80s and '90s kids, I'm count myself lucky that Pee Wee Herman was part of my childhood. When Paul Reubens passed away at the age of 70 on July 31st, 2023, the news came as a shock to countless fans and even some of his friends. He'd kept his six-year battle with ...

Is Rolling Stone Turning Tabloid Trash?

Once heralded as the pinnacle of music journalism, Rolling Stone appears to have become little more than a tabloid rag. Within the past year, Rolling Stone has published two high-profile stories where interviewees have claimed that their words were taken out of context in order to support a sensationalist narrative pedaled by the publication. In turn, it's potentially cast a shadow on the magazine's credibility. Rolling Stone's ...

I Listened to “Loyal (West Coast Version)” by Chris Brown On Repeat For An Hour

A crisp autumn wind has blown across the East Coast, reminding me that my blog has lain dormant since the summer -- specifically, when I decided to compare and contrast breakfast sandwich offerings. I've been swinging between feeling uninspired and mentally berating myself for not even attempting to write. So, after scratching my ass for a topic to write about, I fell back on one of ...

The Road Behind: Thoughts on Supernatural’s Final Episode

The last episode of Supernatural, television's longest-running genre series, has finally aired and I don't know how I feel about it. Having watched from the beginning, it's tough to say goodbye to a show that was a fixture of my Thursday nights for nearly 15 years. Supernatural is one of those shows that, when you meet someone else who watches it and has just as ...

Review: Marilyn Manson – WE ARE CHAOS

Listening to a new album by a favorite artist is like getting coffee with an old friend you haven't seen in a few years and hoping they haven't turned into a total cunt in the time that's elapsed. Sometimes, you pray for it to be over and find yourself content with the memories of a time gone past. And in some instances, you pick up ...

Leia: The Tragedy of Never Being Allowed to Grieve

In this latest (like, a year late) installment of the Skywalker Tragedy Trilogy, we'll focus on the lifelong burden of the princess-turned-general, Leia Organa-Solo, the daughter of Anakin Skywalker and twin sister to Luke Skywalker. In this instance, it's not due to slacking off. Rather, I wanted to wait until the release of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker to see the completion of Leia's ...

Review: Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ – The Hamlet of Villains

Normally, when I write a review, I try to objectively evaluate what was good, bad, plausible, or implausible about a film. I'm hard pressed to find anything to negatively critique about Joker. To say it's a great comic book film doesn't give it enough credit. It's a great film. Period. Joker touched on a variety of societal ills, specifically wealth inequality, lack of quality treatment for ...