‘on the land, the sea, the sky’

Taylor Swifts sings

Keep it one hundrеd on the land, the sea, thе sky

Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes

about one minute into her newest album, The Life of a Showgirl, which means I first heard it about 12:03. (I tried to start the album right at midnight, but Spotify, predictably, crashed at the moment the album released.)

“The land, the sea, the sky” is a good descriptor of my long weekend — I traveled to Clearwater Beach, Florida, with my long-time friend Arden. We’d already planned our trip when Taylor Swift announced TS12, so I knew I’d be taking a break from being a beach babe to be a showgirl.

I listened to the album 2.5 times before falling asleep, and I’ve hardly listened to it since, focusing instead on rereading The Lord of the Rings on the beach and putting my toes in the ocean. But I’ve pretty much constantly been bopping to “Opalite” in my head.

I’m excited to keep listening, and I won’t say any more about it now — either about my favorite parts of the album or about the explosive internet discourse. Instead I’ll share a quote I love from The Hobbit: “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

Arden and I are currently sitting in the St. Petersburg airport (charmingly called PIE), waiting for our delayed plane to arrive so we can head back to the Bluegrass. While waiting, I’ve worked on my journalism class for the week and, now, have written my newsletter.

And, baby, that’s show business for you.