I Know Now Why I “Don’t Like” Taylor Swift… Among Other Things

Some life updates

listening to: Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift

With all that has been happening in the world: the Palestinians, the drought, the constant calamities in my hometown and country, the endless chatter of everyone and everything online, my severing of my law school tether, corruption, depression, sadness, everything… I decided that, after my post My First Shrink, the best thing to do was nothing.

And nothing I did for the rest of March this year, and April, and the starting weeks of May. Just small readings of books, hurried scrollings of TikTok, waking up staring to nothing and quickly shutting my eyes again. Kind of like Sarah Jessica Parker at the SATC Mexico scene where all she wanted to do was sleep after the wedding breakup. Or that Practical Magic scene of Sandra Bullock rotting in bed after her husband’s death. I was those two women, depressed, the bed the only reliable partner, mourning the death of a man (in my case, no man).

Until mother invited me to this year’s Hajj. I realized that any activity would be a big change but that truly was the highest levels of major major. I had barely a week to prepare. But all that in good time. I shall write about this, a Muslim’s most wished-for journey while on this Earth. Of course, I shall write it through the eyes of a queer man who’s been quietly struggling all his life with regard to God and religion. The journey itself took a month. And a week or two of rest. I have been writing and reading since. 

I hope, from here on out, that I may adopt my writer friend’s practice of writing two essays per month for an entire year. I have no school and people to distract me now. And all planned activities and hobbies henceforth, I chose for the improvement of my blog writing skills. I wanted to send this before I begin my posts next month.

And by the way…

After a very heavy class one night in law school, I unabashedly invited myself to dinner with a group of girlies (who were my classmates). I knew they would say yes— they were a jolly group and I am always welcome amongst them. I was not prepared for the full-blast karaoke concert in the car that night. Connected to the car via bluetooth was one of the girls’ Spotify. It was the entire Lover album of Taylor Swift. They knew every single word, Ahh’s and Ooh’s to every song on the list.

I naturally have a biased disdain toward mainstream music. If I disliked Taylor Swift the years before, that night during the Karaoke session only made me dislike her more. This clip from The Family Guy (“I Did Not Care for The Godfather) perfectly encapsulates my feelings toward Taylor Swift.

Cut to last night, when it was just me and Miss Swift and the song Cruel Summer and, while in the quiet of doing my laundry, I finally understood why I disliked Taylor Swift so much. It wasn’t so much her songs; it was her massive fanbase. So truly, I discovered that it wasn’t that I disliked her or her songs. It was because whenever her song plays, everybody sings. And everyone’s voice is usually bad. So I kinda like her now.

Thank you for your patience. Thank you for reading. See you next month.

(the second video is better ⬇️)