Don't be silly!
Kyle Chayka on taste. "Style or taste is knowing who you are"
Hellooo! I’m sorry I wasn’t able to send off an email last week! (lol to that but we are in our newsletter era so it had to be said.) I have been consuming so much good STUFF, which I’ll share at the end but as I inhale a lot of beautiful work, my thoughts are so scattered across everywhere that I start writing down in my notebook a phrase Megan Thee Stallion said in one of her workout videos; 'Results are Resultin’! My point is, my mind is scattered but rest assured, it’s forming meaningful prompts that end up on Subby.
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This popped up in my feed recently and I had to look very closely. What did I look closely at the most? The driver’s seat of course!
I have followed her for years now because I think she was/is Kylie Jenner’s friend group and at her peak, I started following everyone around her and kept it as is. Once this photo popped up, I soon looked into the comment section and saw what other people’s reaction to this was, hoping to see something like, “Oh I don’t think this is a good thing to do.” or “this is so disrespectful to the driver!” - something that doesn’t condone her behavior. Sadly (??) I didn’t get the catnip I wanted. In fact, the comments were scattered with words like bb, queen, cute, etc etc. Did I personally think that this was culturally inappropriate or an awful thing to do? I don’t think I believed in that 100%, but I found myself rolling into the comment section so quickly to seek validation from someone else in order to legitimize my claims I didn’t yet have.
The thing about this particular photo that stopped me was this. I get that a Japanese cab is an aesthetic choice of prop but how silly does she look?
Japan is exhausted with tourism right now due to the Sakura season approaching us. I’m sure there’s going to be a time in history where another influencer is going to decide that Japan is not IT anymore. We should enjoy it while our fame lasts. Because we have tourists who are willing to spend money and enjoy a meal in Japan, an expensive one too, our economy is (barely) being held down by the tourists. I get it. Japan is the top travel destination in 2024 announced by many, like the forbes, T+L and CT and more. People are itching to visit Japan and see what the hype is about. And they should be! But as long as the hype culture (=someone deciding what’s IT now for you) lingers around, I think what happens is, people are swayed into liking the same shit. You can be easily conformed into the hype of things and have similar interests, hobbies and taste and I see that as a result, Japan is a culmination of people who seem to have the same linkings of things.
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Last year, the New York times published an article written by Motoko Rich, 36 hours in Tokyo .
In it, there’s a bar called No. located in Yoyogi-uehara. I was just at their newly renovated spot and was chatting with the bartender and I asked him if he knew about this article from last year. I told him a story when last time I went to No. was exactly right around the time the article came out. But I didn’t know about the published article at the time but I was coincidently sitting at the bar the same week the article came out. There was an American woman sitting alone drinking a glass of wine and a book in her hand. In the article it suggests, “Judging from others at the bar, No. is a good place to pitch up at the counter alone and sit with a drink and a book” The woman is doing exactly that. The woman at the bar then asked the bartender if he knew that this place was featured on the NYT as if being featured on the NYT is a bartender’s career milestone. That was when I naturally had to look up what she was talking about. While I was at the bar recently, we were talking about this and he told me, “We weren’t told that we are going to be featured in the article so we first of all had no idea. Then the following week or so was packed with foreigners and only a handful of us could speak English so it was a bit hectic. Nonetheless, it was great and we appreciate it.”
On the one hand, as a writer it’s exciting and it gives me hope. I love to know that writing an article can bring so much attention and reach so many people. It can actually move people and that’s exciting. On the other hand, I find that we rely so much on credible people telling us what’s best for us(whatever credible means nowadays), we all collectively end up doing the same shit and I find that for a lack of a better word…basic.
I love recommendations and that’s the reason why I LOVE Substack too really. Substack is perhaps not a radical platform idea but it returned back to basics. It is a place of comfort for people who are curating thoughtful recommendations and for those who want to receive them. My favorite Substackers are not motivated by the algorithm or use affiliate links. (at least to what I’m aware of)
by or are great examples. It’s carefully curated and thought out with intention.Of course, I’m not going to lie, I subscribe to many of the fashion and culture substacks that give me strictly mindless links to click on for fun and those are what can I say, equally fun too! In terms of curating content, I think
by or is also great because it’s true to them. They are not pleasing the algo or pleasing the trendy stuff. To me, , , is also obviously good for reasons being thoughtful while challenging our ability to do better. There might be some elements that are trend specific but still it’s curated in a way that is their own niche. That being said, as this brilliant piece “no. 13 — Reclaiming discovery from the algorithms” mentioned, we should keep in mind that Substack does also work for the case of the algo as well. As Michelle Rose Joseph puts it,But on the other hand, as more writers strive to make a living here, Substack remains susceptible to the same affiliate link and “working for the algorithm” corruption as the other social platforms before it.
Then my solution or at least what I’m working towards to not fall into the algorithm trap, or to look exactly like the same person next to me on the train or going to the same restaurants like everyone else or posing for pictures in certain places (omg like remember the wall angel wing photos and the Paul Smith pink wall?), I chose to seek information on my own and do the research! Seek the people who are the tastemakers as
mentions and curve out my own niche from that. (Trust, I would be seeking the makers on Subby.) For those who are traveling Japan, as taxi cabs are equally aesthetically pleasing I guess? look at what Léa Maupetit did on her trip to Japan. (saw from , a great tasty Subby!) Although, do I have some thoughts on this type of “Japan glorification” videos, sure lol but still it feels much more authentic than a cab picture. It’s insightful and present.
For example, here’s a little hack I do for food. When I’m traveling somewhere new or a city I have never been to, I would go to a restaurant's Instagram account that seems relatively popular and that’s aligned with my taste and see who they follow. It seems voyeuristic but you’ll get over it soon. You find that the chef’s are following their local bar or izakayas and you hop on to their page and see information and so forth. Then by the time I know it, I have a whole list of places to go to based on what the local’s support.
I would just rather want to have my own taste and most importantly, I don’t want to look silly.
*Some interesting reads and listen that relates to the topic this week!
-Why the Internet Isn’t Fun Anymore by Kyle Chayka
-How to discover your own taste by The Ezra Klein Show
Other Stuff
Each week, I give you some extra things you can read/listen/watch that I consumed and thought was interesting. Here is this week’s edition! If you like this portion of the newsletter, I do a whole section dedicated for it once every month called #juststuff where you can read all the archive here. Enjoy.
3 Reads
- March Special and discovering the Pasta community was riveting.
As I am doing my phase 1 Spring cleaning and a huge closet clean out, this
post on The Row’s 2024 Spring collection outfit idea is very INSPIRING! Do this instead of Spring Cleaning is also very much a good idea. Bring out the old but goodies!As I write for more clients and brands, I immediately saved this piece on
by How to Write Better Captions. DrinkBody account is a pretty great follow.
1 Watch
Killers of the Flower moon! Finally! Wow, my attention span was being tested but my god I have fell in love with movies all over again I feel. I loved this conversation on Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso and how telling stories responsibly with accountability is so important. History has been told by people (white people mostly) who has not experienced it themselves, and the ending of this movie perfectly examines that. For further reading on this, this Slate article and TIME was a great read.
3 Recipes
This Cup Of Jo recipe, Smashed Pea Toasts with Ricotta. Trust, I didn’t do ricotta but I did some niiiiceee eggy on top for breakfast!
This lentil stew by Julius Roberts inspired by
Another Jenny Rosenstarch recipe, this sheet pan yakisoba thing. It took a bit too long for me to make, and I got tired so I modified as I went.
Thank you for reading this week’s love or not to love :) I appreciate you as always, and you can follow me on Instagram megsgumis for some more fun and yum content. As always Bisous x Megumi
Thanks for the Link in Bio shout out!
So glad you're enjoying Gumshoe!