quick question are we all voting for Mamala?

asking for a friend and by friend i mean the entirety of the United States of America

Aug 12, 2024

I need to start this week’s Circle Back with something humbling … something that happened to me today … something very immature and embarrassing that I have to admit.

There’s something you should all know about me before we continue on this path of enlightenment via Circle Back. It’s taken me years to come to this moment, but it’s time I do.

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO NOT GET WATER UP MY NOSE WHEN I JUMP IN A POOL. I’m 27-years-old, and I hold my nose when I cannonball. I don’t wanna talk about it. It happened to me today. I’m trying to figure it out. I’m putting in the hours. Let’s move on.

Well, there’s sure a whole lot to catch up on today: ~~The Lord’s Day~~ Circle Back Day. July is that girl for me. She is spontaneous, she is busy, she is a full-time job, she’s not just a pretty face, she is beauty she is grace she is Miss United States; she’s basically the week before Christmas for elves if the elves were 5’2 and had red hair and a bright red nose and a first and last name that couldn’t sound more Catholic … so, regular elves. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! There’s Pitchfork and Postock and hanging with Zulal and full-time BAGGU and making sure I am always 70% water. I spent a month in Chicago, which I haven’t done since I moved to New York. It was great. Humidity was occasional, and the lake was so warm (water up my nose). The festivals were fun, and Zulal still refuses to say my name. It was a perfect month.

During this pause in Circle Back, quite a few things in the world happened:

Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee
Joe Biden died (? might have to fact check that one I was only hearing info about that from the voices in my head)
Olympics came and went — watched the breakdancing segment and discovered that I could’ve made the Australian team
Tim Walz became Kamala’s running mate — dis I like
- Tim Walz reminds me a lot of my entire family whenever we have a dinner together: “OH RIGHT KERRY YOU’RE VEGAN … well we have dog treats … do you want that? Actually, we caught a cloud in the sky earlier today, and you can have that!” Like my family, he is supportive, but he is just learning how to get there. Love that confidence, honey!
Chappell Roan had the largest crowd in Lollapalooza herstory
- this is just about as important and groundbreaking — if not more important and groundbreaking — as Biden stepping down
- you can agree or disagree, but if I were to walk into a Whole Foods and ask everyone on the speaker which gave you goosebumps, I think I’d know the answer.
  - the answer would be different if I walked into a Jewel Osco and asked the same question
  - the question would not have been asked in a Barnes & Noble because I have been banned from all locations until 2038
I went to the Renaissance Faire in Bristol, Wisconsin and here are the highlights:
- a handful of Furries — I did not like this, and I would also call this a lowlight
- I bought a ring and a bracelet there, and they are now the two most complimented pieces of jewelry on my body … and they’re pieces from the Renaissance Faire, so don’t ever judge a book by its cover again
- there was one person dressed as Shrek, which is exactly what I was hoping to see; historical references are important, and I’ve always said that
- my mom impulsively purchased one of those swinging chairs (even though she said she’s been thinking about it for years); the Ren Faire really makes us girls wanna SHOP
- on the way into the faire, I saw two people who went all out and dressed in “peasant clothing” get gas in their Subaru at the gas station around the corner; a surreal experience
- ordered an iced latte at one of the stands in the faire, and it really took me out of the experience
this next one deserves its own paragraph get ready

I spent most of the summer in Chicago with cousins — the festivals and remote work and sign-language lessons with Z, which was just me teaching her how to say “please” so that I would give in whenever she’d ask to watch My Neighbor Totoro — but this summer our cousin Julian was around, as well. We got to hang out a lot together, which was really sweet and fun, and we also made a plan to fly back to New York together a week into August. Here is our American Airlines Hurricane Debby Hilton Hotel at O’Hare Airport story.

Julian and I had a very chill morning on August 8th; we walked to a nice coffee shop with our cousin Liam and Arpi Pesto (the dog not another cousin although sometimes I do think we are blood-related), we packed super well (this comes up again later), and Liam offered to drive us to the airport. Everything was totally fine.

We each had a bag to check; mine was gorgeous and it was brand new and it was under 50 pounds and very pretty and nothing was wrong — she got through right away. Julian’s was 12 pounds overweight, which he was really bummed about because he worked so hard to pack that bag, and I will agree with him that it was gorgeously packed. So we moved to the side, and he took out basically an entire side of the suitcase; it was still 5 pounds overweight. The woman said it’s fine, took the bag, and now Julian’s carry-on was a tote bag full of shoes.

We get to our gate, get on the plane, and sit in our seats for an hour until the plane took off. Throughout the day, we knew there was a tropical storm on the East Coast, and if we knew that, we innocently believed that American Airlines knew that, as well. They still seemed very confident in flying us to New York. We ended up flying to Detroit, circling Detroit for over an hour, and then flying back to Chicago. They told us that Laguardia wasn’t letting anyone land and that they needed to refuel the plane before “trying again.” Extremely sus 2 me. Obviously, they did not try again, and we were all told to get off the plane and then our flights were delayed until 6 am the next morning. It was 10 pm.

American Airlines told us all to walk to another gate to get answers about hotels and accommodations and changing flights if we wanted to, so we all walked over there, and then they told us that we had to figure it out ourselves and that we should get hotels if we’re not giving up but also that they’re not giving us our luggage back for now. Not kidding — if I didn’t buy insurance on this flight, we would’ve dropped $360 to stay at the Hilton across the street for literally 5 hours. Very nice hotel, but also very weird vibes. I won’t go further into that I think everyone should make their own opinions on it.

We woke up at 4 am the next morning, grabbed our carry-ons (a tote bag of shoes and a bag with a laptop and skincare, and went back to the airport. In that exact moment, I got an email from TSA saying that my Pre-Check had been approved, which felt like the start to a really great day. We went through the Pre-Check line, walked to our gate, and got back on our flight right on time for it to leave at 6 am.

BUT ALAS, after taxing all the way to the spot where the planes go fly-fly, we ended up back at our gate because QUOTE: One of our flight attendant is suddenly ill. She is incapacitated, and we need another flight attendant. So we wait another 40 or so minutes. A new flight attendant arrives, and we taxi once again. AND THEN WE END UP BACK AT OUR GATE BECAUSE THERE’S NOWHERE TO LAND AT LAGUARDIA BUT HOW DO WE EVEN KNOW THAT IF WE’RE NOT THERE LIKE WHAT IF I GO FLY AND THEN IN UNDER TWO HOURS WHICH IS LITERALLY HOW LONG THIS FLIGHT IS THERE IS SUDDENLY AN OPEN SPOT FOR US TO LAND-

We waited another 40 minutes before taking off. My BAGGU workday had begun, and the new flight attendant told me that they wouldn’t reimburse my wifi. Like why did she even join our flight if she was just here to bring bad vibes. Finally, the plan took off for real, Julian and I watched The Devil Wears Prada, and we had probably the worst landing at an airport that either of us have ever experienced in our lives. When we were almost off the plane, the pilot had the biggest smile on his face, and it made me hate Captain Sully for some reason. I don’t know I don’t make the rules.

You’d think this was the end, but of course, our baggage was delayed and ended up at the Memphis baggage claim (Did our bags end up going to Memphis? Find out next week on the CW!). We noticed it was our bags and grabbed them, so excited and relieved that the whole experience was over, UNTIL I PUT MY SUITCASE ON THE FLOOR. The suitcase was broken; the wheels no longer moved, and god was not good.

I don’t know what the fresh hell the point was with all of this, but I did hear that Mercury was in gatorade and that it was affecting the lives of two cousins who just wanted a New York bagel. And now we’re swimming in a pool, and I’m very sunburnt, and water keeps going up my nose, and Julian is losing respect for me by the minute.

So that was my month in Chicago. I will continue to put in the hours with keeping water our of my nose, and I will also be voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, and I will also continue to express my disappointment with the way people are handling, and honestly even just talking about, the genocide. I won’t stop talking about it!!! And I will put on some aloe very soon because I’m not even supposed to let my skin see the moonlight.

But thank you all for hearing my truth, and thanks for not unsubscribing when I didn’t update you that much this month. Hopefully, this week’s made up for it.

I will make sure to circle back to if I no longer get water up my nose when I cannonball or simply put my head under water.

movie rec: The Devil Wears Prada

audiobook rec: It’s Always Something by Gilda Radner — I’m so excited for this new movie about the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live introducing a lot of my generation to the beauty and grace and comedic talents of Gilda Radner. Listen to this audiobook and watch old eps of SNL and watch her one-woman show if you can find it!!!

airline to cyberbully until they pay for my suitcase: Miss American Airlines — I’m not being sexist I just know she’s a girl

Postock pics: