#50: I can be a real Karen sometimes

I watched 7 movies in 4 days and I even made some food to go with one of them

Sep 02, 2024

hi hi hi sisters ♡ and happy labor day weekend! I hope that you guys were able to have a nice weekend knowing that it was a day longer than usual. I know that having this extra day is so nice! I feel like I was able to have my weekend and now I have a day to do chores and I don’t feel bad about being lazy the days prior.

Share Kaitlynn’s Substack

I started my 3rd and final year of law school this past week. its equally terrifying and exciting. terrifying because I need to figure out what type of law I want to go to, I need to take the MPRE again, I need to take the Bar Exam, and I need to apply to and find a job!! but exciting because I will have a graduate degree, I have learned so much, and I have accomplished something incredibly hard. I’m curious to see how this next year unfolds, and you’ll hear all about it along the way.

continuing on for the next little bit I want to keep the recommendations section to recommendations for different substacks that I read. I find it to be really important to support small “businesses” (that sounds odd to use here, but maybe influencers is another word I can use?) and one way I can do that is by sharing about them!

this week I want to highlight

milk fed

caitlyn

. caitlyn is single mother to a darling teenage girl. her substack is an almost daily one where she sends out goodies about internet culture, books, and life in new york. her posts are short and sweet and a great part of your day!

movies: lots was watched, but i started this week off by watching julie & julia. I have mentioned this before but my friends and I have a book to movie club where we read books with movie adaptations and my choice was julie and julia since its one of my all time favorite movies. the book was pretty good, but the movie is SO special. my roommates and I watched twisters again, that movie is so good. bjørn* and I went to see the coming of age movie didi, its about an asian boy in northern california who is in between 8th and 9th grade and it was really sweet and very well done, and relatable. harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban was back in theaters this week for some reason, i’m not complaining, and it was the first time I had seen it in theaters and WOWIE I love that movie. its the best of them all. we also watched harry potter and the chamber of secrets, I know that one gets a lot of hate, but I also love it. these movies are so special to me, truly feel like home, and thats the most millennial thing about me. bjørn and I also watched indiana jones and the temple of doom and baby ke huy quan made the movie the way that it is, I love him. and LASTLY we watched pirates of caribbean: the curse of the black pearl, I genuinely think that its been at least 15 years since i last watched that movie. I know that a lot of people also kind of give these movies a hard time, but truly they are timeless (at least the first three). and I learned that keira knightly was 17 when this was filmed, WHAT?!? she looks so mature. also talk about a period of like 5 years for her, these films, pride & prejudice, bend it like beckham, phantom menace, she was crushing it.

podcasts: LOVED this episode of the girls camp podcast all about names! hayley had emily (of emdoodles on tiktok) come on and chat about the phenomenon around baby names in utah and even dove into temple names, a very interesting episode!

music: short n’ sweet is still on repeat, its like a drug, i’m addicted. BUT kacey musgraves came out with a deluxe version of her album deeper well, and the song little sister is so tender

in my mind: bts of sabrina’s new music video taste, I told you i’m addicted

in my stomach: for our book to movie club night, I made beef bourguignon using this recipe, which is julia child’s recipe with a couple of modern modifications. it was pretty simple to make, took longer prep time than the recipe called for (classic) but it was delicious! like so so so yummy, I was shocked. granted I wont be making it that often since it cost $64 to get all the ingredients, BUT it was worth it to make for friends.

I don’t know about you guys, but deep inside me is a raging karen

according to urban dictionary a karen is a: middle aged woman, typically blonde, makes solutions to others' problems an inconvenience to her although she isn't even remotely affected

while I am not really referring to this definition of a karen, I am referring to the larger, more broad definition referring to a woman that expresses anger or “if a woman was expressing her anger online, some individuals may find it out of bounds of womanly behavior, and label her as a Karen. however, just being an angry woman does not meet all the original characteristics of a Karen.”

for the most part I really am good at containing my anger, especially in person. most of the time my anger and frustration is manifested by tears and then I end up getting embarrassed and angry at myself. sometimes though, my anger is manifested through a sharp tongue, or even through fight and flight. but over chats with customer service, I have a mean side to me, or I guess, more accurately, I have a very short fuse.

this has come to my attention more recently as alyssa and I have been working with jetblue to get reimbursed for a hotel they told us to get (its been denied). i’ve always known this about myself, I know that I have a short fuse, and I truly am not afraid to ask to speak to a manager about an issue or complain about my food or whatever. but seeing alyssa’s messages to the customer service representatives of jetblue, did I also realize that sometimes I dont give people the benefit of the doubt before I start calling their system bullshit. like I said, I dont do this in person, or even really over a phone call. but something about just texting/messaging a person that feels like a robot, do my manners go out the window.

“I avoid anger because the outbursts can feel reckless and too overwhelming to process.”

part of me is ashamed for being so quick to anger, and it is something I do want to work on, I dont think angry is pretty. but I am also starting to realize that anger is okay. anger isnt always as bad. while I should work on manners to customer service representatives, I also don’t need to completely get rid of my anger. anger can lead to passion and can create and cultivate change. whether that be anger at the indescribable atrocities happening to the people of palestine, or anger at our healthcare system, or anger at stupid jetblue. anger can lead to passion and advocacy and can motivate you to demand for change and work towards getting the system to change.

but anger about something that I have no control over, (the way people react to something online that I dont agree with), can be damaging, and that is what I want to work on to change.

“Anger delivers important information about where one of our boundaries has been crossed. When we answer the door and accept that delivery, we begin to know ourselves better.” -Glennon Doyle

"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems, not people—to focus your energies on answers, not excuses." –William Arthur Ward (THIS ONE IS SO GOOD)

“Anger is a catalyst. Holding on to it will make us exhausted and sick. Internalizing anger will take away our joy and spirit; externalizing anger will make us less effective in our attempts to create change and forge connection.” -Brene Brown

“My dear, don't let the sun go down upon your anger - forgive each other, help each other and begin again tomorrow.” -Little Women

“You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.” -Maya Angelou

its okay to be angry, I learned that from Jo March and Marmee.