Blake Lively Is Swept Up by Justin Baldoni as Trauma Bubbles in 'It ... (2024)

Why Taylor Swift fans have been left fuming over trailer for Colleen Hoover movie It Ends With Us - starring singer's best friend Blake Lively

Taylor Swift fans have been left furious after hearing the popstar's hit tune My Tears Ricochet in the trailer for Colleen Hoover's movie It Ends With Us, which stars the singer's pal, Blake Lively.

Daily Mail Celebrity

How To Style Capri Pants, The Most Divisive Trend Of The Summer

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Whether you like it or not, are back. The divisive — embraced by style-setters like Audrey Hepburn in the ’50s and Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna in the ’00s — has (once again) emerged as one of the biggest . If you’re mouthing hell no, hear me out: Like many who grew up in the ’00s, I, too, have retired early-aughts trends like low-rise jeans and capri pants in favor of more comfortable fashion, never expecting to wear them again. But while I will never embrace the comeback of the , after seeing pedal pushers on the of designers like 3.1 Phillip Lim, Sandy Liang, and Mirror Palais, I’ve come around to the sleek silhouettes that have little to do with the cargo and hip bone-grazing styles of decades past.

Instead, capri pants now come in streamlined (read: pocket-less, form-fitting) shapes that look just as good with workwear blazers and button-downs as equally and bomber jackets (see: sporting the trend in Ferragamo). To prove the versatility of the look, I styled the (which also come in a ) every day of the work week. Read on for tips on how to wear capri pants in 2024 — if you’re ready for the capri-ssance that is.

How To Style Capri Pants: Suit

To take capri pants into workwear territory (yes, capris are an ), pair them with a blazer in a matching color and wear them over tights (you can opt for a solid-hued pair if printed hosiery isn’t in line with your office dress code). Complete the look with a pair of stilettos or kitten heels to elevate the traditionally casual pant silhouette.

How To Wear Capri Pants: Shirt & Blazer

For a look that can take you from the office to happy hour drinks or dinner, opt for a button-down (cropped or oversized) and a light-colored jacket like a trench coat or blazer. For a retro-inspired, Audrey Hepburn-approved nod to the trend, pair with or slingbacks and a vintage-inspired purselike a top-handle or .

How To Wear Capri Pants: Polo Shirt

Embrace the casual nature of the capri pants with equally sporty counterparts — classic , a polo shirt, a (this one is from the new !), and a baseball hat or head scarf — a look that would work just as well for a farmers’ market run as a brunch or movie date.

How To Style Capri Pants: Longline Vest

Speaking of date night: For a more formal look, layer a longline vest or duster over the pants and complement the look with occasion-worthy accessories like a (bonus if it’s in an ), barely there sandals, and a hair bow. Alternatively, you can wear the capri pants underneath a peplum top or a bubble dress for a more 2010s take on the trend.

How To Wear Capri Pants: Going-out Top

For a going-out look, capris tend to go well with skin-baring tops in halter, one-shoulder, and tube top silhoettes. Throw on a denim or leather jacket if you expect the party to go into the night and add pops of color and fun details (, bows, etc.) in the form of accessories.

Shop Capri Pants

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Refinery29

OpenAI didn't intend to copy Scarlett Johansson's voice, 'The Washington Post' reports

OpenAI cast the actor of Sky's voice months before Sam Altman contacted Scarlett Johansson, and it had no intention of finding someone who sounded like her, according to . The publication said the flier OpenAI issued last year looked for actors that had "warm, engaging [and] charismatic" voices. They needed to be between 25 and 45 years old and had to be non-union, but OpenAI reportedly didn't specify that it was looking for a Scarlett Johansson voice-alike. If you'll recall, of copying her likeness without permission for its Sky voice assistant.

The agent of Sky's voice told The Post that the company never talked about Johansson or the movie Her with their talent. OpenAI apparently didn't tweak the actor's recordings to sound like Johansson either, because her natural voice sounded like Sky's, based on the clips of her initial voice test that The Post had listened to. OpenAI product manager Joanne Jang told the publication that the company selected actors who were eager to work on AI. She said that Mira Murati, the company's Chief Technology Officer, made all the decisions about the AI voices project and that Altman was not intimately involved in the process.

Jang also told the publication that to her, Sky sounded nothing like Johansson. Sky's actress told The Post through her agent that she just used her natural voice and that she has never been compared to Johansson by the people who know her closely. But in a statement Johansson's team shared with Engadget, she said that she was shocked OpenAI pursued a voice that "sounded so eerily similar" to hers that her "closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference" after she turned down Altman's offer to voice ChatGPT.

Johansson said that Altman first contacted her in September 2023 with the offer and then reached out again just two days before the company introduced to ask her to reconsider. Sky has been one of ChatGPT's voices since September, but GPT-4o gave it the power to have more human-like conversations with users. That made its similarities to Johansson's voice more apparent — Altman tweeting "her" after OpenAI demonstrated the new large language model didn't help with the situation and invited more comparisons to the AI virtual assistant Johansson voiced in the movie. OpenAI has paused using Sky's voice "out of respect" for Johansson's concerns, it . The actor said, however, that the company only stopped using Sky after she hired legal counsel who wrote Altman and the company to ask for an explanation.

If you're wondering if Sky truly does sound like Johansson, we embedded a video below so you can judge for yourself. It's a recording of Johansson's statement as read by the Sky voice assistant, posted by Victor Mochere on YouTube. Opinions in the comment section are divided, with some saying that it does sound like her if she were robotic, while others say that the voice sounds more like Rashida Jones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-didnt-intend-to-copy-scarlett-johanssons-voice-the-washington-post-reports-041247992.html?src=rss

Engadget

Blake Lively's 10 Best Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

Blake Lively has made a name for herself in film and television with acclaimed roles across action, comedy, drama, horror, and fantasy.

Screen Rant

‘Monsieur Aznavour’ Trailer: Tahar Rahim Transforms as French Music Legend Charles Aznavour (EXCLUSIVE)

Pathé has unveiled a trailer for “Monsieur Aznavour,” showing the Golden-Globe nominated actor Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian,” “Napoleon”) transformed as Charles Aznavour, the French-Armenian singer, songwriter and actor who sold more than 180 million records around the world. The movie charts Aznavour’s rise to stardom in the 1950s and his friendships with many artists, including […]

Variety

‘Late Bloomers’ Trailer: Karen Gillan Breaks Her Hip & Makes A Friend In Lisa Steen’s Comedy

Sometimes a broken hip is the best thing that could happen to you. Or at least that’s the situation seen in the upcoming comedy film, “Late Bloomers.”

READ MORE: Summer Movie Preview: 50 Must-See Films To Watch

As seen in the trailer, “Late Bloomers” tells the story of a young woman who finds herself suddenly single and with a broken hip. While recovering in the hospital, she meets an older lady and they form a bittersweet friendship.

The Playlist

Sonos Ace headphones hands-on: Joining your home theater setup with the push of a button

After of and Sonos has finally pulled the wraps off of it's much-anticipated entry into a new product category. Today, Sonos announced headphones: a meticulously designed, feature-packed set of premium cans from the company that made its name with multi-room audio and stellar sound. But, that reputation was built on speakers and soundbars, and now Sonos is lending its mix of aesthetics, acoustics and tech to headphones. The Ace is first and foremost a set of Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones that can be used on the go, but it's also got some unique home theater chops that work in tandem with its soundbars. You'll have to wait a bit longer to try to the $449 headphones, but you can them now if you're already convinced.

Design-wise, these Sonos headphones have a refined look that draws some inspiration from the company's speakers. Sonos opted for a mix of matte finishes, stainless steel and leather for its high-end look, keeping everything black on one version while using white with silver accents on the other. Even with the premium materials, the Ace weighs 11 ounces (312 grams). That's lighter than which is 13.6 ounces (385 grams) thanks so some use of plastic.

"It's all in the interest of doing something that's going to make this light and comfortable for the customer," Sonos CEO Patrick Spence told Engadget. "We knew it had to be premium, just like all the speakers that we've designed, but we felt like we could do this in a different way than anybody else."

A key aspect of the Ace's design is the hidden hinge, which Sonos has placed in the ear cup. The company says this puts less stress on cabling than a folding mechanism, but it also argues that it just looks better. Sonos chose physical controls rather than a touchpad, assigning those functions to a multi-purpose button it calls the Content Key. Here, you have volume and playback controls along with the ability to switch between ANC and transparency modes. A single button on the opposite side handles power and pairing. Like Apple, Sonos uses removable, magnetic ear pads on its headphones, and plans to sell replacements in the future.

Inside, 40mm custom dynamic drivers power the Ace's sound. Sonos promises "impeccable precision and clarity" across the EQ with spatial audio and dynamic head tracking for increased immersion. These headphones also support lossless audio over Bluetooth if you're streaming from a device with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound. They also offer lossless listening over USB-C if you prefer a wired connection for that purpose. And if the stock tuning doesn't suit you, the company allows you to adjust bass, treble and loudness from the Sonos app.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is onboard the Sonos headphones and there's an Aware mode when you need to let in ambient sounds. The company says the Ace is equipped with eight beamforming microphones that pull double duty with ANC and voice targeting, so you'll be able to use them during calls. The headphones also have wear detection sensors which will automatically pause movies or music when you take them off. Sonos says you'll be able to use the Ace for up to 30 hours on a charge with ANC on, 10 hours more than the AirPods Max and on par with . The latter of which is our current top pick for .

None of this is a surprise given how many of the details broke cover before the official reveal, but Sonos did manage to keep secret how the Ace would interact with its other products. While the company's app will carry key features for the headphones, the interaction with other Sonos speakers is unique here. The Ace has a feature called TV Audio Swap that sends the audio from a Sonos soundbar to the headphones as long as you're in range. To make this happen, the company says the Ace switches to Bluetooth LE to maintain a connection with the app for controls and settings while Wi-Fi allows it to sync with a soundbar. At launch, the swap functionality will only work with , but the company says it will come to both generations of and in the future.

"What we realized is for the majority of the population, and for the many use cases of headphones, the best way to do it is the Bluetooth first with connectivity to the system," Spence said. "Because what's more important to the customer is power management and battery life."

There's also a version of the company's TruePlay tuning on the Ace, but it's called TrueCinema. When it arrives later this year, the feature will map the room your soundbar is in to create a complete virtual surround system inside the headphones. The goal here is to mimic the acoustics of the room you're in so that maybe you'll forget you're even wearing headphones.

"It's more natural, because often times the headphones will be tuned to a perfect room," Spence explained. "We thought it was better to have it tuned to the room that you're actually in because it would create the effects that you would expect."

After some time listening to both music and movie clips on the Ace, I'm impressed with what the company has built in terms of sound quality. There's pristine detail and heightened immersion with Dolby Atmos content that make the headphones a complement to a home theater setup. However, the most surprising thing about the Ace to me was how well the TV Audio Swap feature works.

Once the headphones have been added to your collection of devices in the app, all you have to do is press the Content Key button to switch the sound to what's coming from your soundbar. It's quick and easy, and there's no jumping, popping or other distractions when you hop back and forth. I can see a lot of people using them so that they can still hear the finer details of Dune or every shot of John Wick 4 when their family has gone to bed.

Even if your content isn't 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos, Sonos' 3D virtualization tech will upscale it so it sounds comparable. The company has also developed its own head tracking processing that learns from your position and the direction you're looking so that it's not constantly recentering if you look down at your phone. Unfortunately, the head tracking, spatial audio and the TV audio swap with Sonos Arc will only be available in the iOS version of the Sonos app at launch. Android compatibility is coming "shortly after."

The Sonos Ace headphones are available for pre-order today from the company's website and will begin shipping on June 5th. While that's more expensive than flagship models from Bose, Sony and others, it's $100 less than the AirPods Max.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-ace-headphones-hands-on-joining-your-home-theater-setup-with-the-push-of-a-button-130045023.html?src=rss

Engadget

Sonos Ace hands-on: ANC headphones that join your home theater with the press of a button

After of and Sonos has finally pulled the wraps off of it's much-anticipated entry into the headphones market. The is a meticulously designed, feature-packed set of premium cans from the company that made its name with multi-room audio and stellar sound. But, that reputation was built on speakers and soundbars, and now Sonos is lending its mix of aesthetics, acoustics and tech to headphones. The Ace is first and foremost a set of Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones that can be used on the go, but it's also got some unique home theater chops that work in tandem with its soundbars.

Design-wise, the Ace has a refined look that draws some inspiration from the company's speakers. Sonos opted for a mix of matte finishes, stainless steel and leather for its high-end look, keeping everything black on one version while using white with silver accents on the other. Even with the premium materials, the Ace weighs 11 ounces (312 grams). That's lighter than which is 13.6 ounces (385 grams) thanks so some use of plastic.

"It's all in the interest of doing something that's going to make this light and comfortable for the customer," Sonos CEO Patrick Spence told Engadget. "We knew it had to be premium, just like all the speakers that we've designed, but we felt like we could do this in a different way than anybody else."

A key aspect of the Ace's design is the hidden hinge, which Sonos has placed in the ear cup. The company says this puts less stress on cabling than a folding mechanism, but it also argues that it just looks better. Sonos chose physical controls rather than a touchpad, assigning those functions to a multi-purpose button it calls the Content Key. Here, you have volume and playback controls along with the ability to switch between ANC and transparency modes. A single button on the opposite side handles power and pairing. Like Apple, Sonos uses removable, magnetic ear pads on its headphones, and plans to sell replacements in the future.

Inside, 40mm custom dynamic drivers power the Ace's sound. Sonos promises "impeccable precision and clarity" across the EQ with spatial audio and dynamic head tracking for increased immersion. These headphones also support lossless audio over Bluetooth if you're streaming from a device with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound. They also offer lossless listening over USB-C if you prefer a wired connection for that purpose. And if the stock tuning doesn't suit you, the company allows you to adjust bass, treble and loudness from the Sonos app.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is onboard and there's an Aware mode when you need to let in ambient sounds. Sonos says the Ace is equipped with eight beamforming microphones that pull double duty with ANC and voice targeting, so you'll be able to use them during calls. The headphones also have wear detection sensors which will automatically pause movies or music when you take them off. The company says you'll be able to use the Ace for up to 30 hours on a charge with ANC on, 10 hours more than the AirPods Max and on par with .

None of this is a surprise given how many of the details broke cover before the official reveal, but Sonos did manage to keep secret how the Ace would interact with its other products. While the company's app will carry key features for the headphones, the interaction with other Sonos speakers is unique here. The Ace has a feature called home theater swap that sends the audio from a Sonos soundbar to the headphones as long as you're in range. To make this happen, the company says the Ace switches to Bluetooth LE to maintain a connection with the app for controls and settings while Wi-Fi allows it to sync with a soundbar. At launch, the swap functionality will only work with , but the company says it will come to both generations of and in the future.

"What we realized is for the majority of the population, and for the many use cases of headphones, the best way to do it is the Bluetooth first with connectivity to the system," Spence said. "Because what's more important to the customer is power management and battery life."

There's also a version of the company's TruePlay tuning on the Ace, but it's called TrueCinema. When it arrives later this year, the feature will map the room your soundbar is in to create a complete virtual surround system inside the headphones. The goal here is to mimic the acoustics of the room you're in so that maybe you'll forget you're even wearing headphones.

"It's more natural, because often times the headphones will be tuned to a perfect room," Spence explained. "We thought it was better to have it tuned to the room that you're actually in because it would create the effects that you would expect."

After some time listening to both music and movie clips on the Ace, I'm impressed with what the company has built in terms of sound quality. There's pristine detail and heightened immersion with Dolby Atmos content that make the headphones a complement to a home theater setup. However, the most surprising thing about the Ace to me was how well the soundbar audio swap feature works.

Once the headphones have been added to your collection of devices in the app, all you have to do is press the Content Key button to switch the sound to what's coming from your soundbar. It's quick and easy, and there's no jumping, popping or other distractions when you hop back and forth. I can see a lot of people using them so that they can still hear the finer details of Dune or every shot of John Wick 4 when their family has gone to bed.

Even if your content isn't 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos, Sonos' 3D virtualization tech will upscale it so it sounds comparable. The company has also developed its own head tracking processing that learns from your position and the direction you're looking so that it's not constantly recentering if you look down at your phone. Unfortunately, the head tracking, spatial audio and the TV audio swap with Sonos Arc will only be available in the iOS version of the Sonos app at launch. Android compatibility is coming "shortly after."

The Sonos Ace headphones are available for pre-order today from the company's website and will begin shipping on June 5th. While that's more expensive than flagship models from Bose, Sony and others, it's $100 less than the AirPods Max.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-ace-hands-on-anc-headphones-that-join-your-home-theater-with-the-press-of-a-button-130045277.html?src=rss

Engadget

Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI used her likeness without permission for its 'Sky' voice assistant

Actor Scarlett Johansson has accused OpenAI of copying her voice for one of the voice assisstants in ChatGPT despite denying the company permission to do so. Johansson’s statement on Monday came hours after OpenAI said that the company use the voice in ChatGPT but did not provide a reason why.

“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” Johansson wrote in the statement that was with NPR. “He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.” Johansson added that she declined the offer after “much consideration and for personal reasons,” but when OpenAI demoed GPT-4o, the company’s latest large language model last week, “my friends, family, and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ’Sky’ sounded like me.”

When Johansson saw OpenAI’s , she said she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mind that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference.” She also revealed that Altman had contacted her agent just two days before the company revealed GPT-4o and asked her to reconsider, but released the system anyway before she had a chance to respond. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Engadget.

Even though “Sky” has been one of the voice assisstants in ChatGPT since September 2023, GPT-4o, which the company announced last week, takes things a step further. The company said that the new model is closer to “much more natural human-computer interaction” and demoed its executives having nearly human-like conversations with the voice assistant in ChatGPT. This invited comparisons to Samantha, the virtual voice assistant played by Johansson in the 2013 movie Her who has an intimate relationship with a human being. Shortly after the event, Altman a single word — “her” — in an apparent reference to the film.

On Monday, OpenAI that it was pausing the use of “Sky” in ChatGPT and released a revealing how the company hired professional voice actors to create its own virtual assistants, and denying any similarities with Johansson’s voice.

"We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice — Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," OpenAI wrote and added that each of its performers, who it declined to name for privacy reasons, was paid “above top-of-market rates, and this will continue for as long as their voices are used in our products.”

This move, Johansson said in her statement, only came after she hired legal counsel who wrote two letters to Altman and OpenAI asking for an explanation. “In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity,” Johansson wrote. “I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scarlett-johansson-says-openai-used-her-likeness-without-permission-for-its-sky-voice-assistant-233451958.html?src=rss

Engadget

The Simpsons Season 35 Ends With An Emotional Reference To... The Fast & Furious?!

The Simpsons closes out season 35 with a surprisingly emotional recreation of the ending to one of the best movies in The Fast & The Furious franchise

Screen Rant

A Week In New York On A $65,000 Salary

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, almost all of my family worked in education, so it was expected. There was no question about my going to college and I felt like I was pushed into going to a private college. It cost over $250,000 for four years. I have very generous godparents who, when I was a baby, told my parents that they would cover my college education. This covered most of it — I had maybe $15,000 in student debt by my last year of college. My grandfather kindly paid that off so I graduated debt free. While I’m extremely grateful, I don’t believe in United States’ overpriced higher education system and more often than not I don’t believe many higher educations are worth their current prices, at least here in the USA.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I had very few conversations about money with my parents. The only financial advice they gave me was to invest in real estate, which they did at just the right time. They bought a couple places for $40,000-$100,000 in the ’90s that are now worth almost $1million each. My father makes his living off rentals now. As inspiring as this was growing up and even now, it’s hard to imagine I will ever be able to buy here in NYC or even back home, given the soaring real estate prices since. It puts me in a sad headspace sometimes.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was doing admin work at my middle school over the summer and I got it for spending money.

Did you worry about money growing up?
I never really worried about money, but I did enjoy saving in my Pikachu piggy bank.

Do you worry about money now?
A little bit. The last year and a half has been really rough in my industry, with the union strikes, AI and other things affecting TV and media across all the boards, hence my stagnant income. But I know I’ll always be okay, due to my saving habits.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
My godparents still pay for my cell phone and internet plan so if that counts as financially dependent I guess I still am. However, I am capable of paying for it myself. I probably would say I was more or less financially independent in my eyes at about 24. My financial safety net is my savings and my investments. I also think my family would have my back financially if I were in dire straits.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
Yes. To be completely upfront, I feel very grateful and my family’s help is a big reason I’m not financially stressed. My godparents and grandfather were kind enough to pay for my bachelor’s degree so I have no debt. My grandfather helped me pay my rent for my first two years in New York (probably $20,000-$30,000 worth) and has also given me about $40,000 in the last five years. My godparents also told me they are going to start giving me money from a trust, which is incredibly kind of them. That amounts to $20,000 a year. They are so incredibly kind and I am extremely grateful for them — they are the only reason I don’t feel as if I am just scraping by. I admit that my family is the only reason I’m as comfortable as I am now. I know a lot of people don’t like this and I totally understand why.

Day One

6:15 a.m. — Alarm wakes me up early and it’s a rainy, gloomy day out. Today is a shoot day, so I will be on set most of the day. I shuffle out of bed, trying not to wake my boyfriend, G., who slept over last night, and start making coffee which I sip as I browse Reddit before getting dressed and ready.

7:30 a.m. — Out the door and into an Uber to Park Slope. I take a lot of rides expensed by production because I don’t have a car but I need bring a lot of gear to work for my job. On the ride over, my sister lets me know she’s paid me back the money I lent her for rent last month (my sister struggles a lot with financial management). It’s a relief because with my sister, I never know if I will get it back or not. $36.31 (Expensed)

8 a.m. — Arrive on set and greet the crew I’m working with today. I’m freelance so I do different shoots every day. It’s been a while since I worked with this team (work has been slow in the film and TV industry the last couple years) and I’m happy to see some familiar faces. This week, I’m shooting a few days on a dog food commercial. Each day we’re following around a different dog and their “paw-rent” (sorry, had to). Today’s subject is a pug puppy named after a particularly delicious fruit. I chew a sandwich that the producer has kindly made to make sure we have something for breakfast (I’m vegan and on-set food isn’t always an option for me so I’m grateful to have something to eat).

9 a.m. — We set up for the first few shots and start rolling. The puppy is chowing down on his food while her owner talks about why she likes it. Pup is thrilled to be getting so much food!

10 a.m. — I get a text that the shoot day I was meant to work in two days has been cancelled. It’s a bummer, but I know there will be another soon enough. It was a documentary that I have been working on for the past few months. It’s a really good concept and the other shows I’ve done for the production company went on to do well, so I’m hoping this documentary gets picked up and gains the same traction.

11 a.m. — We shoot a testimonial interview with the pug’s owner about why she loves the dog food so much. Pug has to be put in the bedroom and is intermittently rapping angrily on the bedroom door to remind us of her presence.

12 p.m. — We continue on to various shots of pug puppy happily eating treats and running around in a top hat and bow tie. As we do this, I make some notes for what sound effects to get before we wrap (we do this because sometimes the microphone can’t get close enough to the sound effects for it to sound good because of the framing/angle of the shot — it sounds a lot better). I continue to record for reference.

2 p.m. — Break for lunch. I get a cauliflower pita with hummus and I wolf it down because I am starving!

3 p.m. — Back in and we’re filming some magic tricks with the puppy.

3:30 p.m. — I separate from the rest of the crew and set up for some foley sound (sound effects) of the dog kibble pouring into the bowl.

4:30 p.m. — I am wrapped! I pack up and head out. It’s still pouring and I hop in an Uber with my gear back to Manhattan. I am WIPED. I call G. in the Uber home and we chat logistics for a shoot he’s on tomorrow (he is also a sound mixer) and he plans to swing by mine tonight pick up an extra headset. $52.69 (Expensed)

5:30 p.m. — Finally get home after a hectic and rainy rush hour. I greet my own pup and hop in the shower.

6 p.m. — Finally in pajamas and relaxed, ahh. I heat up some tomato soup and make a grilled cheese sandwich as my dog and I listen to the giant thunderstorm outside. So cozy. I eat some Lindt chocolates from my Lindt stash (hot tip — if you’re near a Lindt store, you can get 150 Lindts in a “sharing tote” and it costs only $55).

6:30 p.m. — I read my book, Wonderful Town, which is a collection of short stories about New York city life set over the past 100 years, curated by The New Yorker editor David Remnick. Good stuff.

7:30 p.m. — I step out to walk my dog in the rain — we just walk a few blocks for her to pee as it’s still pouring.

8:30 p.m. — I put my batteries on to charge for my shoot tomorrow and watch Enough Said with James Gandolfini (his last film ever and released posthumously — so sad) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (great crossover). I enjoy it but I seem to have this ADD problem the rest of my generation has where I want to watch a movie but end up scrolling Instagram the whole time.

11:30 p.m. — I finally go to bed! Sweet dreams.

Daily Total: $0

Day Two

6:30 a.m. — Wake up and lay in bed, pondering the meaning of life.

7 a.m. — I get out of bed, make some coffee (with the brown sugar oat creamer from Trader Joe’s — so good). G. drops by to grab a headset and then I climb back in bed and watch some Katy Bellotte on YouTube (she’s in London visiting her boyfriend’s family and I’m from London originally so this feels quite homey).

8 a.m. — I get dressed to walk my dog and we toodle around the block. I call my sister during our walk and we catch up on her newest adventures — meeting up with a potential sugar daddy she met online to pay the bills. Oh, the things our generation does to get by.

9:15 a.m. — I head out to today’s shoot with my gear. The shoot is in Manhattan and requires less gear, so I hop on the subway with my pre-paid balance.

10 a.m. — I arrive at work on the Upper West Side. Today’s shoot is for a high-end department store in New York City. We’re featuring a famous jewelry designer whose line they carry. We get to work loading in and setting up the first shot.

11 a.m. — Shoot an interview with the jewelry designer in their apartment overlooking Broadway and then walk over to Lincoln Center for some B-roll of them wearing the department store’s clothing with their jewelry.

1 p.m. — Wrapped and headed out. I hop on the subway downtown (using my pre-paid balance), excited to enjoy the rest of my free day!

1:30 p.m. — I get home and immediately make pasta with tofu and broccoli for lunch and then get to work uploading the audio from today’s shoot.

2:30 p.m. — Eat my lunch while browsing Reddit and then I send off my invoice for today.

3:30 p.m. — Finish up uploading today’s audio while looking up ways to relieve face tension. I’ve been holding so much tension in my face and I feel like my face is getting smile lines from it. It stresses me out. In reality, I think I just look sad. I end up in bed with my dog listening to lo-fi and reading some of my book.

5:30 p.m. — Getting kinda down so I decide to walk the two miles to my Classpass class in Midtown. I call G. on the way and we decide I’ll spend the night at his tonight (I’ve been having a bit of an anxious episode). I pass by the building his shoot is in, overlooking Union Square, and we wave at each other (me from the ground and him four flights up).

6:30 p.m. — I get to class feeling anxious and not ready to dance/meditate/yoga/whatever this class is going to be with a bunch of strangers. Usually I’m not anxious before these things (and in retrospect it’s because I didn’t eat enough).

7:30 p.m. — Class is amazing. It’s a mix of breathwork, intuitive dance and yoga. Thoroughly needed and helps with my anxiety so much.

8 p.m. — I hop on an uptown train to match up with G. on his way to from work. Pup is in a backpack on his back (he stopped at mine on the way out of work and picked her up). I don’t know what I did to deserve him.

9 p.m. — We arrive back at G.’s, rinse off and make tacos for dinner. I feel better just being at his apartment. He lives uptown, and his apartment feels a lot more spacious and more like a “home” than my downtown one. We listen to some Spanish music (he is Hispanic and has great taste in music) and we fall asleep soon after.

Daily Total: $0

Day Three

8 a.m. — Wake up at G.’s, we rise and make coffee while chit chatting. G. makes us some tempeh BLTs for breakfast which are delish.

10 a.m. — We are heading out to the park when the entire building starts shaking. G. thinks its a water pipe bursting (his apartment was flooded a month ago) and hurries us out. I know from experiencing an earthquake in Mexico a couple months ago (not serious, they’re very blasé about them there), that that is exactly what it is. While outside, we call some friends to confirm that they too felt the shaking and it turns out New York has experienced one of the strongest earthquakes it’s ever had.

10:30 a.m. — We head to the park (perk of being in upper Manhattan is actual space and grass!) and I play ball with the pup while G. makes a family friend phone call. She mutilates the ball and loves it.

11 a.m. — We hop on the train downtown. I stop at the bodega on my home and grab a can of Diet co*ke (I plan on doing some serious spring refreshing of my apartment today and need the stamina). $1.56

12 p.m. — We arrive at my apartment and heat up some of the tofu broccoli pasta I made for our lunch. I add some vegan Field Roast sausage and avocado to spice it up.

1 p.m. — G. heads out to go rock climbing. I scroll Reddit, read about the earthquake and eat the remains of a dark chocolate bunny I have from Easter. It’s the head. I hate eating the head. As a vegan it’s conflicting to eat animal-shaped food but he tastes very good.

2 p.m. — I finish my book, Wonderful Town, on the sofa. I must be ADD because I can’t always concentrate on every detail, yet I enjoyed it anyway.

3 p.m. — I start browsing film stocks. I’ve got into film photography recently (I bought a Contax G2 earlier in the year). I end up buying several rolls of film at B&H — three rolls of Fujifilm 200, two rolls of Kodak UltraMax 400, and a roll of Kodak T-Max 400 Black and white just for fun. $53.96

3:30 p.m. — I do a 10-minute abdominal workout to get me going before I brace myself and begin my closet clean out.

5:30 — Clean out mostly done! It was pretty intense and I still have a small pile of random things I’m not sure what to do with on my living room floor but I’ll figure that out in a wee bit. I head to my bed to sit down for a sec and watch some YouTube.

6 p.m. — I’m sitting in bed chilling with the heated mattress pad, eating some more pasta and watching some Chelsea Callahan on YouTube when an aftershock from the earthquake hits! Not as severe as the one this morning but still. What the heck is happening today?

7 p.m. — Eat a mint chocolate Nugo protein bar as a snack and watch some Tess Christine on YouTube.

8 p.m. — I walk my dog around Noho and G. meets up with us and because it’s a warm, nice night out, we walk around the village and Soho for a couple miles before heading home.

10 p.m. — Home. We chat, snuggle and go to bed!

Daily Total: $55.52

Day Four

6:30 a.m. — Early wake-up —I’ve got the dog food commercial again today. I drink some coffee and scroll Reddit before getting dressed.

7:30 a.m. — Hop in an Uber to the Upper East Side. $33.28 (Expensed)

8 a.m. — Arrive at the location, greet the crew and paw-rent/doggo duo we’re filming today — an elderly golden Labrador and his owner! Oh, to be a dog living with a single woman in a multi-million dollar apartment by Central Park.

10 a.m. — We shoot an interview with his owner about his eating habits, why she likes the food, and so on.

11:30 a.m. — Some of the lady’s grandkids come by to shoot some B-roll with doggo and owner.

1 p.m. — We break for lunch. I got a chickpea tuna sandwich on some delicious bread from Daily Provisions. 10/10. I really appreciate these producers always making sure there is a vegan option.

2 p.m. — Producer, the director of cinematography, assistant camera, doggo, owner and I head out to shoot B-roll in Central Park. It’s a beautiful day and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. We shoot some portraits and B-roll of them walking around.

3 p.m. — We head back and set up for product shots of the food and doggo eating.

5 p.m. — Wrapped and out! I jump in an Uber and head home; G. invites me out tonight, but I’m getting up early again tomorrow so I let him know I’ll see how I feel. $35.86 (Expensed)

5:30 p.m. — I get home, greet my pup and rinse off. Then make some avocado toast with a chocolate mint protein bar because I really don’t feel like cooking this second and pretty much jump straight into bed to relax.

6:30 p.m. — G. and I get into a relationship discussion. He is the sweetest person ever and offers to bring me dinner (he made Mexican) food but I told him I needed to do some things by myself — otherwise what am I good for? G. and I used to live together, then broke up and he moved out. We are trying again months later after realizing we were each other’s “one” but one of the things I need to work on is taking space for myself (I am the type of person that no matter who I’m with I need alone time sometimes) and I’ve noted we have been spending 90% of our nights together lately. I love him so much so setting that boundary has been hard, but we both want it to work in the long run so it’s important to make sure we have that boundary in place.

8 p.m. — I feel more clarity and relief than I’ve felt in a while after talking to G. and I walk my dog longer than normal tonight — we take a 30-minute walk to the East River where we play in the giant baseball field. She loves playing with a twig. We play for awhile and then loop back.

9:30 p.m. — We get home, I rinse off and hop into bed.

Daily Total: $0

Day Five

6 a.m. — Awake. I get up, make an iced coffee and crawl back into bed to drink it while waking up.

7:30 a.m. — I pack some fresh batteries and head out in an Uber to work. Last day of the week, woohoo! $35.99 (Expensed)

8 a.m. — Arrive at work and we are greeting by an excitable, elderly chihuahua and his owner.

10 a.m. — We shoot an interview with owner, then some B-roll of owner and chihuahua together.

12 p.m. — We step out to Riverside Park to shoot some B-roll of the chihuahua and owner frolicking among a backdrop of cherry blossoms.

1 p.m. — Lunch! I eat a delicious cauliflower shawarma with tahini.

2 p.m. — The rest of my day is pretty chill, as there isn’t much audio. The crew sets up for product shots as we pass around the chihuahua (he loves to be held but is, unfortunately, extremely gassy). We have one producer who is a saint and holds him for quite a while.

3 p.m. — The chihuahua strikes some poses in some flashy outfits (he has a whole wardrobe).

4:30 p.m. — Camera wrap! I give my SD card to the assistant camera to offload. It’s our last day shooting and there are a ton of dog foods and treats leftover. As we pack up, one of the producers gives me a bunch to bring home to my dog (so kind!). I know she’ll love them.

5 p.m. — I finish packing up, thank the producers and say bye to the team and head out. I call an Uber and relax and gaze out at the stunning weather on the entire ride home. $50.82 (Expensed)

6 p.m. — Finally get home, drop my gear, leash up my dog and head outside because it is absolutely stunning out. We walk to the local park and everyone is soaking up the sun, including my dog who finds her favorite bench and basks. I call G., who is waiting in line to pick up solar eclipse glasses (there’s a solar eclipse tomorrow!) in midtown. Unfortunately the line is crazy and he has to be at a friend’s recital soon, so our chances of finding glasses are getting smaller and smaller.

7:20 p.m. — I lay in bed contemplating if I should order dinner or not (when I get home from a long day of work the last thing I want to do is cook and clean). I cave and order Beatnic (RIP, By Chloe). $43.33

7:30 p.m. — While I’m at it, I top up my transit card balance. I try to do no-spend days and since I’m already spending today, I may as well #logic. $20

8 p.m. — Food arrives (quinoa taco burrito, peanut crunch salad and mac and “cheez”) and it’s time to throw down. I go to bed soon afterwards.

Daily Total: $63.33

Day Six

7 a.m. — I lay in bed, feeling at peace with the fact that the only thing I have to really do today is clean and watch the solar eclipse.

8:15 a.m. — I organize and clean all my microphones, mic packs and cables from the last few days and put them away.

8:45 a.m. — I take my pup for a walk through Noho. It is a beautiful sunny and warm day. I call my sister for a chat. Sugar daddy situation seems going well — he paid for a few new outfits and a sushi dinner with her friend.

9:30 a.m. — I get home and send off an invoice for the dog food commercial, brush my own doggo’s teeth and clean up around the apartment.

10:30 a.m. — I do a mobility and ab workout. Gotta stay “toned, tanned, fit, and ready” (quoting Katy Perry) — just kidding, I just like to feel good in my own body.

11:30 a.m. — Discuss the technicals with a colleague for a potential job coming up (BTS for a fashion show next week).

12 p.m. — I start a new book Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo.

12:30 p.m. — Get dressed to head down to meet G. for the eclipse. I head down with my film camera out and snap a bunch of film pics of lower Manhattan in its beautiful spring prime. I stop at REI to look at some Hokas on the way. I’ve been thinking about them for a while and I think it’s time to pull the trigger.

2 p.m. — Arrive at Battery Park City on the Hudson River overlooking the Statue of Liberty and secure a spot in the grass. I get a text that I’m booked for the fashion shoot next week. I lay out a blanket and read a little bit. G. is picking up vegan burgers and fries for a pre-eclipse picnic (I zelle him for my half). It could not be more stunning out. $23

3 p.m. — G. arrives and we chow down and catch up on the last few days of work, life, and events. He got glasses so we can watch the eclipse! It’s pretty cool, but as it turns out 90% coverage is still quite light outside. It just felt like there was a light blue tint over everything.

4 p.m. — We have to find a bathroom so we stop in a nearby mall to pee and then go explore a little bit. We find a new pier we haven’t been to before and sit on a swinging bench overlooking downtown to read our respective books in the sun for a bit. Then we stop at an abandoned soccer pitch on the same pier and kick around a soccer ball. I take some film pics of the lower Manhattan skyline from the pier and G. playing soccer (he has great legs for it, I must say).

5 p.m. — It’s getting a little cold and neither of us are dressed for it so we slowly start the couple mile trek through Tribeca, West Village and into the East Village to mine, which we don’t mind because it is absolutely stunning out.

6 p.m. — G. stops at Whole Foods on the way home to grab some ingredients for a lentil bolognese for dinner while I head home to check on pup and sit down for a sec.

7 p.m. — G. prepares dinner (he’s an incredible chef and enjoys cooking). I break my rule and zelle him for groceries (I told him I wasn’t zelle-ing him for anything under $10 anymore because I would get so particular over everything and zelle for even the tiniest thing). But he mentioned splitting the groceries and I didn’t want him to take the whole cost alone. $6

9 p.m. — Dinner is delicious. Unrelated, we watch the follow-up episode of Quiet on Set (the docu-series about Nickelodeon kids being exploited) and go into a Drake Bell conspiracy black hole before falling asleep.

Daily Total: $29

Day Seven

8 a.m. — G. and I wake up, lounge around a little.

9 a.m. — We get up, shower, start making breakfast. G. makes a lentil olive tapenade topped by a tofu filet soaked in black salt (gives the tofu an egg taste) on Dave’s Bread. I’m lucky to have a partner who is good at improvising in and out of the kitchen.

10 a.m. — We head out for a walk with the dog. I drop off the roll of film I shot yesterday to get developed at my local photo store and then we go to the park and sit on a bench for awhile and bask in the lovely weather. $19.59

12 p.m. — We drop off doggo at my apartment and head over to a café where I plan to work on a social documentary I’m working on. End up at Stuytown Café which has a stunning patio outside in what feels like a college like campus in the East Village (this is rare in Lower Manhattan). I get an oat milk cappuccino and begin work on my doc. $7.48

2 p.m. — I’m really into editing when my laptop dies prematurely and so I read a little bit of my book at the café. I then step out into the sun and call my sister for a bit. I head home shortly after.

3 p.m. — I get home, plug in my laptop, draw my blackout curtains, and continue to chug away at editing. I’m so close, just a few little tweaks and I’m done with the final cut!

5 p.m. — I wrap up the editing for the day and put on a a pumpkin butter face mask from Lush, followed by a long shower.

6 p.m. — I end up on looking at new camera straps (my current one is a little thin and uncomfortable. I end up buying one on Amazon that looks thick and comfy. $13.44

7 p.m. — I started the film How to Have Sex on Mubi ages ago when I was in Mexico and it only just recently became available in the US so I finish it. I have to admit, I wasn’t too keen on the first two thirds but the last third is quite good.

8 p.m. — I take my dog on her evening walk. Golly, it is hot today. This reminds me I want to not be in the city this summer. But boy, am I glad I’m here.

Daily Total: $40.51

The Breakdown

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Indie developers are trying to make horse games that don’t suck. It’s not easy

Video game horses tend to play a fairly uncomplicated role, at least in mainstream titles. Like semi-sentient meat bicycles, they often exist as little more than a way to make the player travel faster, jump farther or occasionally . With the exception of Red Dead Redemption 2, an outlier beloved for its equine verisimilitude and breadth of riding-related activities, horses in video games are generally emotionless props, notorious for janky animations and unnatural anatomy.

That’s fine for most players’ needs, but for those who are drawn to certain games in part because they have horses, there's a lot to be desired. Especially since the alternatives — dedicated horse games — haven’t proven to be much better. The genre is plagued with shoddy graphics, unoriginal storylines and drawn-out, repetitive caretaking tasks like hoof-picking. While horse games of the aughts, like the Barbie Horse Adventures series, sparked a lasting interest in the niche for a lot of young gamers, we’ve yet to really see what their maturation can look like for the now-adults still chasing that high.

The biggest actual horse game today, the decade-old MMORPG , is distinctly tween-girl-coded. Suffice it to say, there’s a hole in the market as big as a Clydesdale. But some extremely passionate developers are trying to change that.

Alice Ruppert, who runs — the go-to blog for all things relating to horse games — has cultivated a community of “horse-interested gamers and game-interested equestrians” over the last five years by churning out news, reviews, analyses and covering the latest developments in the genre. As a lifelong equestrian who also has a professional background in game design, she’s become an authoritative voice at the intersection of these two worlds.

The way Ruppert sees it, dedicated horse games have long been stuck in place. Budgets for new titles over the years were kept tiny based on the assumption that these games would only land with a very small niche of gamers, namely young girls. Limited resources resulted in the creation of subpar games, with “basic mistakes of game design and usability,” causing those games to be poorly received. Bad sales and negative reviews ensured future projects wouldn’t be given bigger budgets, and the cycle repeats.

There’s been a shift more recently, she says, “as the game development space is getting democratized and more people start trying to make games.” That has introduced a host of new issues, like “very amateur teams launching really big projects… and not being able to deliver,” Ruppert said, but she thinks that's “a better problem to have than just nobody making any games at all.”

After Ruppert panned Aesir Interactive’s Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship (Ostwind in its original German, based on a movie), the studio got in touch and later brought her on as a consultant and eventually creative producer for its 2022 title, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch. The game is far from perfect, Ruppert admits, but despite joining the project at a pretty late stage, she says she was able to make some contributions toward creating an experience that could be appreciated by people who actually know and love horses.

That included helping to correct funky details that might not have registered to a non-equestrian but would stick out like a sore thumb to anyone in that world — like a bizarre transition when changing a horse’s leading leg in a canter. “Whenever I spotted something that was wrong, I was like, okay no, we need to fix this because the horse game crowd is going to care,” she says.

Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is an open world adventure game where players can explore on horseback, tame wild horses, breed and train horses, and maintain their own ranch. It takes a realistic approach to breeding and genetics, and the horses each have unique personality traits. The team crowdsourced horse names, too, so the game’s automatic name generator spits out the names of community members’ real horses.

Still, the game drew some harsh criticism after its release, and the reviews overall have been mixed, with common complaints of game-crashing bugs and a world that feels empty. (The team for the game in April devoted entirely to bug fixes.) It has its fans, though, and if there’s one thing players seem to agree on, it’s that the horses and the riding mechanics look great.

Aesir also announced last month that it’s releasing a remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship. The revamped game includes improvements like “replacing those horse animations that I’ve been complaining about for the past five years,” wrote Ruppert — who has separated from the studio — in a . It’s slated for release in June.

As more and more efforts from the horse games community pop up, “The really promising developments are going to come when either those amateur projects learn and grow into something better, or when more experienced indie devs start picking [them] up,” Ruppert says.

One such example she points to is , a horse game developed and published by Canadian studio Cozy Bee Games that’s currently in Early Access. The studio, founded by developer Éloïse Laroche, focuses on cozy games (think Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing), as the name would suggest, and already had a handful of highly rated titles under its belt before putting out The Ranch of Rivershine. That includes Capybara Spa and the baking sim Lemon Cake.

While it may not be “the horse game to end all horse games,” Ruppert says, “I do think it does a lot of things really well.” The Ranch of Rivershine takes a format Cozy Bee Games has shown it excels in, and applied horses. It isn’t groundbreaking — players are tasked with building up their own ranch, where they can breed, take care of and train horses — but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. There are trail rides, cross country competitions, villagers to interact with, auctions and lots of pretty horses. Unlike many of its peers, The Ranch of Rivershine has mostly positive reviews.

To this day, Red Dead Redemption 2 stands widely accepted as the best horse game out there despite it not technically being a horse game. Red Dead Online has drawn over the last few years for organized in-game meetups, trail rides, horse shows and other horse-centered activities. The horses themselves, though they’re not without flaws, are far more lifelike than others heretofore have achieved. And the game places importance on actually bonding with them.

It’s so good, it’s become a pain point for projects that have emerged in its wake. AAA games like Red Dead Redemption 2 set a bar that is “almost impossible for an indie game studio to reach, which puts a lot of pressure on creators,” says Jonna Östergren, a 3D animator working with the Hungary-based developer Mindev Games on Unbridled: That Horse Game. Nevertheless, they’re aiming high.

Engadget caught up with the Mindev team recently over a Discord group chat. “I have loved horses for as long as I can remember,” Östergren says, they’ve “been a big part of my life.” So have video games, and in 2017, she started learning how to make them using tools like Unity and Blender. Östergren by chance connected with Jasmin Blazeuski, the founder of Mindev, years later while working on her own horse game that had hit a dead end. “I had big aspirations but I was alone and I was trying to learn all the things, from coding to animation. It was a lot,” Östergren said.

After talking with Blazeuski, “I offered to help them make some 3D models if they needed it. One thing led to another and I became a much bigger part of the team than I had first imagined.”

Unbridled’s creators envision the game as one that allows the player a lot of freedom. “You decide how you want to play and manage your stables,” Blazeuski said. “If you want to make money over competitions, breeding horses or farming — it is all up to you.” They’re striving for realism, in terms of the horses’ physical appearances but beyond that, too. “I have never had a horse game with a simple yet so cute detail such as horses looking outside the stable. Casual, real things horses do, we want them all in the game.”

The emotional elements are crucial. Even in games where horses are the main subject, they often “lack personality and liveliness,” Östergren said. “They are not really their own being with their own mind… That is something that I would love to change in our game. Not making the horse a nuisance that never does what you want it to do, but to make it so that your horse feels alive in the world that you are in as your character.”

The team, also including 3D artist and longtime equestrian, Sara Wermuth, points to childhood games like Horse Illustrated: Championship Season, Riding Champion: Legacy of Rosemond Hill, Pippa Funnell: Ranch Rescue, My Horse Friends, and Pony Girl (1 and 2) as sources of inspiration. Only Unbridled’s programmer, Amon Ahmad, comes from outside the world of horses and horse games, and had to watch “a lot of gameplays from different horse games” to get up to speed.

Between the old and new games, “I noticed that nothing has actually ever changed, apart from the graphics or the style,” Ahmad said. “New functions, new gameplays, new ideas in general are missing.” The team aims to avoid those trappings with Unbridled, which is being built meticulously using the Unreal Engine.

Horse games have a tendency toward tedious and repetitive tasks or mini-games, which can be detrimental “no matter how much detail and love was put into it,” Östergren said. They don’t want to go down that road. And Unbridled will have unique systems for dressage and jumping to give players a challenge, without predetermined points that will guarantee a well-executed jump, according to Ahmad. Instead, players will have to train their horses and develop a feel for the timing.

But making a game of this scope that is fun, engaging and realistic can be a slow process, not to mention an expensive one. The team’s recent Kickstarter campaign failed to reach its funding goal, and it’s relying on avenues like Patreon for financial support to see the project through. An posted in February noted that half of the team has picked up part-time jobs to bring in additional income.

The animation alone is a huge undertaking. The complexity of horses’ bone structure, all the bending points, plus “getting the gaits right and all those little details of movement is very difficult [to do] by hand,” Blazeuski said. But, “we will take our time to perfect everything.”

Unbridled: That Horse Game has been in a closed beta since November, allowing the developers to get direct feedback from the community, but the team estimates it’ll be a few years yet before the full release.

Astride, another horse game being developed by a small team with big ambitions, is setting itself apart with its focus on Nordic horse breeds, like the Norwegian Fjord Horse and the Norwegian Dole, as well as gaited breeds like the Icelandic Horse. The studio behind it, Raidho Games, was formed in 2021 after Maja Nygjelten (CEO and concept artist) and Mathilde Kvernland (Community Manager and 3D artist) decided to get serious about their idea to create the horse game they’d always been in search of.

They put word out on a Norwegian Facebook group for gamers and ultimately expanded the team to five people, including fellow equestrian Tirna Kristine Mellum, who joined as a 3D artist and Project Manager. Using their combined experience with horses in real life to guide the process, Mellum said, “We are hoping to have a horse game where the horses feel like horses.”

“We know what to look for in references” to provide their animator, Marius Mobæk Strømmevold, so the horses’ gaits and other movements look true to life, Nygjelten said. “I think that's very important, to [not] take a random animation from YouTube” but instead provide him with references that they’re confident show the proper result.

The main focus of the game at launch, which is somewhat scaled down from the original vision, will be on breeding horses in the fictional Scandinavian town of Eldheim and training them to compete. “Most [horse games] have show jumping as the first feature, including us… [but] I think we will stand out a lot with the breeding and everything,” Nygjelten says. “We have very realistic horse genetics,” according to Mellum, and that will initially be what the game leans into most.

The early gameplay is centered around the stable and interactions in the Eldheim community rather than grand adventures. It’s being designed to be an online multiplayer game, so players will also be able to meet up with friends. Down the line, the plan is to implement more complex storylines and quests to keep building out the experience.

The project has had some successful funding efforts, including a Kickstarter campaign in spring 2022, but it’s also suffered delays. An Early Access version of the game was released behind schedule last June to very mixed reviews. But, the team emphasizes, it’s still a work in progress.

“Astride still has some years left of development,” says Nygjelten, “The game will continue to grow every single day, and it will probably be very different in a year.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indie-developers-are-trying-to-make-horse-games-that-dont-suck-its-not-easy-140008337.html?src=rss

Engadget

IF review – imaginary friends reunited in a kid-pleasing live-action fantasy

Actor-director John Krasinski’s animated tale of an anxious tween and her make-believe buddies is not in Pixar’s league, but it boasts a heartfelt sweetness and an engaging young star

What if imaginary friends didn’t vanish into the murk of forgotten memories as soon as the child who conjured them grew up? What if the invisible bestie lingered on, trying hard not to be wounded by the rejection and waiting in vain to be of use once more? If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The central premise of American actor-director ’s IF – his first family film after the horror movie double of and its – is borrowed from several Pixar films.

There’s an obvious parallel with the subplot of Bing Bong in . A heartbreakingly cheerful pink cat/elephant/dolphin mashup in a too-small top hat, Bing Bong is the long-discarded imaginary friend who still lurks in the subconscious of Riley, and who’ll do anything, even sacrifice himself, for the girl who dreamed him into existence. But there’s also an almost too close for comfort overlap with Toy Story, and the idea of an intensity in a child’s imagination that is potent enough to breathe life into inanimate objects, and of the bruising transience of the period in infancy in which disbelief is fully suspended and magic is real.

The Guardian Film

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A Week In Toronto On A $78,200 Salary

Welcome to where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

This week: a senior implementation specialist who makes $78,200 per year and spends some of her money this week on chocolate pudding.

Editor’s Note: All amounts are in Canadian dollars.

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, but to my parents’ credit they did tell me they would be happy with either college or university. I remember my mom saying it’s very hard to get a good job just with a high school diploma. I did really well all through high school and got a scholarship for a full ride to university for first year, which I promptly lost after one semester by not reading the fine print about mandatory GPA and partying a lot. My parents and my grandmother generously supported me throughout all of university, including housing, but I had part-time jobs for spending money and I worked in the summer. This is a privilege I don’t take lightly as I watch my friends all struggle to pay off their loans now.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I remember my parents fighting a lot about money and it’s really impacted my relationship with money and my husband. We’ve been together for 13 years, but I’m still not going to combine our bank accounts. My mom earned more than my dad, but she also spent a lot more, always insisting that we go out to dinner or go on vacation. Both of my parents had good government jobs, but I remember them having to ask my grandmother for a loan to do a repair on the roof. I never want to be in that position. Eventually when they divorced they sold the house and both moved into rentals because the debt was too much to take on individually.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked at a summer camp every year starting at age 15 until I was 19, where I was paid an “honourarium” of $45 a week and $5 of free candy. I got this job because I was such a campkid and couldn’t imagine aging out of camp, and they were some of the best years of my life. My parents did “trial separations” multiple times while I was in high school and when they were separated my dad would give me an allowance for cleaning the house and cooking dinner a few times a week. My first real job was a student space supervisor during my first year of university.

Did you worry about money growing up?
Maybe not worry, but I was definitely annoyed by my mom’s spending habits. I remember listening to the fighting and the complaining about being broke and even then being like “Well… Feels like a pretty obvious solution to me.” Overall though we were happy, had clothes on our back, and never went without.

Do you worry about money now?
Yes and no. This last year I really started to care about my financial picture for the first time and finally got out of debt. I also got a new job with a fairly substantial pay bump and I’m really proud of how far I’ve come. I am proud of my cheap rent and my rainy day fund and I know I could make it quite a few months of being unemployed. I have given up on home ownership but am coming around to taking retirement seriously. I worry about having children and that wiping out our disposable income.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I became financially responsible for myself at 22 when I graduated from university and moved to Toronto. I have enough in my rainy day fund for a few months, and I know my partner (and theoretically his parents) would support me if needed. My dad has told me, “You can move home if you’re about to be homeless, but not for any other reason.”

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
As mentioned, my parents and my grandmother supported me all the way through university. I received around $2,000 from my granddad when he passed away in 2013. My in-laws also gave us $10,000 for our elopement earlier this year which was not asked for, but definitely appreciated.

Day One

7:45 a.m. — I start snoozing my alarms. I went to New York over the weekend and am still recovering and very snoozy. I eventually get up, brush my teeth and get dressed, then walk my dog P. and make breakfast. I have a bagel with baba and Chipotle Everything Bagel Seasoning and a coffee. I also feed P. and eventually sit down for work by 9:05 a.m.

10:45 a.m. — Two of my friends that I went to New York with sent me some money for the trip —$40 for an Uber back to the airport and $220 for one person’s share of the hotel. I put the $220 in my vacation fund and the $40 on my Amex. I’m mostly sending follow ups this morning so I’m just kind of chilling. I have a clementine and a cinnamon bun Joe-Joe.

11:40 a.m. — Still not being super productive. I finish one task, have some leftover pizza and caramel rice cakes for lunch as my next meeting gets canceled.

2:30 p.m. — I take P. out for her afternoon walk and then make a veggie wrap for lunch #2 (Team Always Hungry). I have my first one-to-one with my new manager and it goes okay. I’m one of those people who is terrified of getting fired and I think he reads this wrong. But he doesn’t bring anything up about the fact that I’m only going to the office once a week instead of the mandated twice.

4:10 p.m. — I promise I’m generally not an impulsive person but I just randomly ordered a new phone online. I’m going to Morocco at the end of the month and I was thinking about how my phone is now a twice-a-day charger and how I’ve been out of storage for a while. For only $15 more per month I can get 35 more gigabytes of data, and a 128G iPhone 15, and just went for it. I think this is my first example of lifestyle creep since getting my new job last July, but since my work pays for $50 of my bill I think it’s worth it.

5:15 p.m. — Unfortunately I do spend the last hour of my workday getting this new phone and looking at phone cases, lol. I clock out and do 45 minutes of power yoga, shower and clean my apartment for a bit.

6:50 p.m. — T.’s home! My husband travels a lot for work and has been in the States for the past two weeks. We did see each other very quickly and luckily while I was in New York, but it’s very nice to have him home. We eventually go for dinner and drinks at an Irish bar fairly close by. I get a grilled cheese and fries with two and a half Harp beers. T. pays and we have a really good time talking sh*t about the New York trip, his time on the road, and how obsessed I’ve become about going to Antarctica. T. and I don’t split finances, which I know people have a lot of opinions about, but I hate feeling like the money police and I like feeling like I get taken out to dinner. Right now it works for us.

10 p.m. — We walk home and feed P., then watch an episode of the show that T. shot (actually he was the director of photography, but who’s bragging) that came out while he was away. It looks super good. It’s hard for us to be apart but I’m really proud of him and how talented he is. Bed around 11 p.m.; so happy to not be the one taking the pup out.

Daily Total: $0

Day Two

7:15 a.m. — Office day means getting up a little bit earlier, but nothing criminal. I brush my teeth, put on sunscreen, make toast and a coffee to go and head out for the streetcar; there’s money loaded on my Presto and there are fare inspectors today.

9 a.m. — In the office, pretending to work already. My first order of business is ordering a cake for my upcoming Go Live client ($52 expensed). After that I work on some documentation and attend an API kick-off call. I also make coffee #2 and eventually eat a granola bar from the office kitchen.

11:50 a.m. — Not to complain about a free lunch but… This one is Greek, and I’m a vegetarian, and I literally just get iceberg lettuce, three olives, and a few roasted potatoes. Cool. I have a bag of Cheez-Its and half of a doughnut that were ordered for our coworker’s birthday, and a small bag of Brookside, and am feeling full enough.

3:30 p.m. — I am having trouble keeping my eyes open. I move my desk to be a standing desk and eat a bag of chips.

4.50 p.m. — Had a productive push to end my day but really ready to leave. I take a granola bar and some fruit gummies from the office snack drawer and head for the streetcar. I tap my Presto and read for about 75% of the way, and then I get off early to walk since it’s a nice-ish day and I feel a headache coming on. I have had a headache about 95% of the days I’ve worked from this office, something about the fluorescents.

6 p.m. — Home and feeling loopy. T. and I giggle on the couch for a while and listen to music and talk about our days. Eventually he goes on an LCBO drinks run and I watch an old episode of Summer House. When he gets back he makes us breakfast for dinner: hash browns, eggs and toast. We watch EuroTrip and we both have an ice cream sammie for dessert.

9:50 p.m. — When we switch the movie off I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open and end up going to bed at like 10:10 p.m., which is early even for me. I’m out by 10:40 p.m.

Daily Total: $0

Day Three

8:45 a.m. — Got distracted with T. this morning and am up later than I’d like to be, but I don’t have any morning meetings and honestly I don’t regret it. I take P. out, make an everything bagel with baba and a coffee, and sit down to work.

9:30 a.m. — I got paid a day early! Thank you Easter! I do my payday routine: pay off both credit cards (which really hurt after New York), put $700 into my rent and rainy day fund, and put $300 in my TFSA. The only bills I manually pay are on my first paycheck of the month and this is the second. Usually I’ll have about $300-$400 to put in my trailer park fund this paycheck, but New York put a stop to that. If I didn’t have another trip coming up in less than a month I would pay my credit card back with some money from my vacation fund, but at the moment I think skipping a month of my trailer fund is okay. I also buy my pay day treat: a phone case for my new phone from Walli. I can’t ever go back from having a loop at the back of my phone case, but the Loopy case I wanted is sold out. It is kind of pricey, but cheaper than Loopy and I get a really fun cow print. $73.33

10 a.m. — While paying off my credit card, I see that my Presto has auto-loaded. $20

10:40 a.m. — Really on a rip and a tear this morning. I’m watching a training video for one of my new clients and get a one-day sale email from Uniqlo. I need a larger, more secure purse for Morocco so I can bring my film camera around, and I’m still on the look out for a pair of green cotton pants, also for Morocco. Both of these are on sale at Uniqlo and I buy an extra pair of underwear to meet the $75 free shipping minimum. I also get $10 off from signing up for texts and that means the $75 is irrelevant. I do in-store pickup and tell myself I will try stuff on and potentially return things while I’m in store. Still another kind-of impulsive purchase. $74.24

12:20 p.m. — T. also got paid early today and e-transfers me for the flights to Morocco that I bought back in January. I had lent the money from my rainy day fund so I put the money right back in (+$630). I have a veggie wrap, a cookie and everything bagel cashews for lunch.

1:40 p.m. — The tote bag I bought online last week — because it was sold out at the concert I went to in New York — is marked as undeliverable and is being returned to sender… Thank you for the $75 back but also… I wanted that tote bag. I submit an online form but don’t hold my breath.

4:30 p.m. — Just got told I had the wrong info for something I’ve spent probably about five hours on this week 🙂

5:15 p.m. — Done for the week! I do a quick power yoga video and then spend 10-15 minutes in my reading nook to finish my book. It was a collection of short stories that a friend of a friend of mine wrote, I rate it higher on GoodReads than I normally would to support a pal. Afterwards T. and I stroll to the LCBO since it’s closed tomorrow ($17.40) and then pick up hot cross buns from Cobs to be extra festive ($9.25). $26.65

7 p.m. — Once we’re home, I make us a quick dinner of zucchini and gnocchi with red sauce. Gnocchi is a hugely underrated pasta. I also have a Harp and T. has a High Life. Eventually T. heads out to meet a pal and I finish season 6 of Summer House and go to bed around 11:20 p.m.

Daily Total: $194.22

Day Four

8:45 a.m. — It’s Good Friday which means a Good Sleep-In. I get up around 9:15 a.m., walk P., have two hot cross buns and coffee for breakfast and start on my new book, an oral history of emo called Where Are Your Boys Tonight?

11:40 a.m. — T. eventually gets up and my reading time is interrupted. I do my hour of power yoga, have a big shower, do my skincare for once and make coffee number two and have two pomegranate Pop-Tarts that T. brought back from the States, and a clementine. I start my professional management course which I’m determined to do two hours of every weekend.

3:20 p.m. — My head hurts and I’m not focusing well so I stop to have some cheese and crackers, cucumbers and spin dip for lunch and watch this week’s Summer House.

4:15 p.m. — T. comes home from his camera prep and takes P. out for a walk. I get ready for my best friend B.’s birthday party! The theme is indie sleaze and this is my Super Bowl. I still have an American Apparel deep V and an American Apparel hoodie which I pair with skinny jeans and I straighten my hair. When I head out I stop by A&W and get two potato peri-peri buddy burgers ($9.02). I eat one at A&W and bring one to eat when I get there. $9.02

6:30 p.m. — I get there early to help set up and add a slouchy beanie to my ensemble. Our friends start to show up, the playlist is great, and it’s an all-time good party. We take a lot of film photos and decide on our summer mantra: take it easy. For context — last year was freak summer. B. brought a pack of PBRs for the party and our chef friend brought a birthday cake. I take the beers I brought home.

11:30 p.m. — T. has to be on set for 9 a.m. tomorrow so we gotta scoot. We TTC home, he walks P. and I wash my face and hit the hay.

Daily Total: $9.02

Day Five

8:20 a.m. — T. gives me a kiss before he heads out for set, and I snooze for a bit more before getting up to walk P. I again have two hot cross buns and coffee and put on Vanderpump Rules while P. has breakfast as well.

11:20 a.m. — Get myself off the couch to walk to the grocery store. We need dog food and I want to make my friend, A., worms and dirt for his birthday tonight. Yes that’s two birthdays in a row in the same friend group — we also have one next Friday. Woof. The grocery store is a 25-minute walk each way but I like to walk and it’s a sunshiney day. I see some buds on the trees! I get chocolate pudding, Oreos, gummy worms, Mini Eggs, crackers and dog food. The lady in front of me gets all vegetables. $26.14

12:45 p.m. — I get home and make the pudding in order to give it a few hours to sit. I eat two Oreos dipped in pudding and let myself have five minutes of chill time on the couch and then force myself to get up and do a slow yoga flow. Balance.

2:15 p.m. — I take a quick body shower, get my clothes sorted and run to the cafe across the street to break my $20 bill for laundry. I get a pumpkin spice Americano and a ginger molasses cookie —a very autumnal order for a nice spring day. $8

3 p.m. — I put two loads in at the laundromat ($7). When I get home I work on my PMP course for a bit and eat my cookie. Switch my laundry over and keep working on my course while it dries ($1.75). $8.75

4:10 p.m. — Walk P. and start making dinner while I put my clothes away, just an easy veggie fish and chips. I also assemble the worms ‘n’ dirt, feed P. and get changed for the night. I put on an old episode of Below Deck while I bop around.

5.50 p.m. — Wanted to head for the bus about 15 minutes ago but just had too much to do. I take the streetcar to the bus (paid on Presto), the bus to the subway, ride the subway for one stop and find out that it’s not running this weekend… Take the shuttle bus, the subway and then another bus… Overall two hours on the TTC by the time I get there. Love that for me.

8 p.m. — I drink three beers, have some chips and a mochi doughnut. This pal always celebrates his birthday by toasting his enemies which is very fun, and his girlfriend gives me an edible which is also very fun. This year he adds in an element where we all have to do a presentation. Mine is on “How To Not sh*t Your Pants Internationally,” a concept I’m very passionate about. Other presentations include: “Horses and Gemstone Synesthesia,” “Sonja Morgan’s Toaster Oven,” and “Cereal.” Overall, a very fun night.

11:30 p.m. — T. drove to the party since he only finished set at 6 p.m. and there’s no way he would have made it with the shuttle bus, so he only has one drink and then drives us home. The weed has made me very sleepy and it’s extremely nice to just cruise home. I go to bed right away.

Daily Total: $42.89

Day Six

8:20 a.m — T. gives me a kiss goodbye and heads back to set, he walked and fed P. this morning so I keep snoozing.

11:30 a.m. — Finally up. I do my final yoga for my month-long challenge. I really liked this yoga streaming website and I will use it in the future, but I’m going to cancel for now. I tend to do one month spurts at working out so I can keep things fresh and not get bored. I eat some leftover pizza from B.’s birthday and watch Below Deck.

1 p.m. — Take P. out for a walk; the Easter parade is already starting on my street.

2 p.m. — Head up to the top of our block to get scooped by T. We’re heading to our hometown for Easter dinner and the traffic combined with the parade is intense. We stop at Tim Horton’s for a coffee and Timbits, and T. pays. I also pay my rent in the car.

3:45 p.m. — Made it home. The dinner is at T.’s parents house but my dad will come because they’re besties. There’s also his sister (who’s pregnant, lots to discuss), her husband, T.’s cousin and his son, my brother-in-law’s dad and T.’s aunt. I feel very fortunate to be adopted into a fun, nice and normal family, because that was not always my experience growing up. As a teen I couldn’t imagine an Easter dinner without someone screaming. I am slightly sad that I don’t get an Easter basket.

8:40 p.m. — Post-pie we leave our hometown and the traffic is still rough. We talk about how much we both got talked over in that dinner and how nobody understands what either of us do for work. We get home, feed P., and watch an episode of T.’s TV show. I shower and head to bed by 11 p.m.

Daily Total: $0

Day Seven

8:10 a.m. — Wish I had Easter Monday off. I get up, brush my teeth and put sunscreen on, and walk P. I give her breakfast and have leftover pizza, leftover Timbits and coffee for myself. My first Slack message I see when I log in is about how much internal time I used last week… Tracking my time is the worst part of my job.

11 a.m. — I start on this manual that should help with my billable hours, but it also feels very self-serving. I cancel my power yoga membership and sign up for the Action Jacquelyn Barre Definition app. It’s $29.99 but I won’t get charged for seven days and when I do I’ll expense it through my “wellness fund” and then I’ll cancel before the end of the month.

12:30 p.m. — I make a little snacky lunch of a hot cross bun, cucumbers, cheese, crackers and Everything Bagel almonds.

2:30 p.m. — Meetings are done for the day so I do my first workout of my new challenge. I do a Barre-Yoga-Leg-Sculpt with ankle weights and it is a killer. I haven’t used my ankle weights since I did this creator’s workouts last May. By the end of the 30 minutes I’m shaking.

3:10 p.m. — Back online and do a head-down task while listening to The Bald and the Beautiful.

4:55 p.m. — Done for the day and it looks like I missed the nice weather. I read my book in my nook for about an hour before T. and I head out on a walk. We stop by the grocery store and get canned dolma and spanakopita for dinner, and I eye that they have ice cream on sale. T. gets the groceries and then we stop at Shoppers for leftover Easter candy. I get some that doesn’t have a price tag and I’m not sure how discounted it really was ($6.20). Afterward we go to the same bar we went to earlier in the week and get two pints each. We have a really good talk about Morocco and our future trailer. I’m aware it’s not a good investment, but it’s the closest thing to a cottage I’m going to get. We agree that this will be an “information gathering” summer, and then, depending on the answers we get, try to purchase one during the summer after. T. pays for the beers. $6.20

8 p.m. — We get the ice cream on the way home. $4.99

8:15 p.m. — We make rice to go with our dolma and spanakopita and watch I Love You, Man. Our friend’s birthday on Friday is Paul Rudd themed and we’re still trying to get ideas.

11 p.m. — Lights out baby!

Daily Total: $11.19

The Breakdown

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A Week In The Life Of A 22-Year-Old Mary Kay Consultant

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Meet Rhianna Slinko, a 22-year-old Mary Kay Independent Sales Director based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, who eschewed a traditional path in favor of launching her own business with the direct-selling beauty brand that’s been around for over 60 years. As a consultant, she’s responsible for the growth of her personal business of selling Mary Kay products and teaching women how to care for their skin, while also helping others who are interested in starting their own Mary Kay business. “I love working for myself — I love the flexibility and the freedom,” she says. “I get to work toward my own dreams instead of working non-stop to help someone else achieve theirs.” Keep reading for a weeklong glimpse into her life.

Day 1

7 a.m. — My alarm goes off, and it’s pitch black outside, so obviously, I hit snooze until it’s 8 and finally decide to get out of bed. I wash my face with my and head to the gym. It’s always better to get there early before the morning rush. After a sufficient amount of exercise (roughly, an hour), I go home to shower to get ready. I’ve perfected and streamlined my makeup routine to exactly four products: an undereye concealer, , lip liner, and .

10:30 a.m. — One of my clients has a facial appointment (a session that allows Mary Kay Consultants to identify their customers’ skin-care needs — and it’s also a way to test different products together). I prep her skin with and the before applying a natural makeup look. She doesn’t know a whole lot about skin care, so I go over the benefits of several products, like Mary Kay’s new and how it protects from harmful UVA/UVB rays (most derms would agree that sunscreen is the most important skin-care product). I also teach her how she can achieve an easy natural, glowy makeup look (as a mom of three young boys, she doesn’t have a lot of time for herself). She ends up purchasing a , the Mineral Facial Sunscreen, , and .

1:15 p.m. — I make myself lunch — chicken, salad, and rice — and scroll on my phone for about 15 more minutes than I should have before I do a little bit of work, which involves setting up my week and scheduling facial appointments, and helping my team members do the same.

5 p.m. — I start Bible study homework and then heat up leftovers (beef, onions, and asparagus) and eat while I watch a rom-com — truly the best combo in my opinion: leftovers and mindless TV.

6:45 p.m. — I go to Bible study, and since my customer from earlier that morning is also in my group, I’m able to personally deliver all the products she purchased earlier today (white-glove service!).

8:40 p.m. — I chat with one of my new team members about what she hopes to get out of her Mary Kay business, and how I can support her in her goals. With a Mary Kay business, everyone’s goals look different, but the vast majority sign up to earn a little extra income on the side. Her goal is to make an extra $300 a month, while working her full-time job.For so many of my friends who got a corporate job right out of college, they usually clock out at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., but for me, I sometimes have to take calls at night. But I don’t mind it — I love being able to support women in this way, thanks to the flexibility my business creates.

10:30 p.m. — I wind down for the night, which means applying my Clear Proof Charcoal Mask while I finish watching my movie before heading to bed.

Day 2

7 a.m. — Another morning, another gym day. One of my customers ordered a “lip and lash” product bundle ( with the and ), so I quickly put that together before meeting her at the gym. I actually met her at the gym — I had noticed she was new, so I went up and introduced myself. She had just moved here and didn’t know very many people. I usually meet new customers through word-of-mouth, but sometimes if I see someone, I’ll just go up to them and strike up a conversation — it’s nerve-wracking, but completely genuine.

9:30 a.m. — After the gym, I stop by the grocery store to pick up a few snacks, a gift card, and a bunch of different flowers, because I’m planning to ask one of my best friends to be one of my bridesmaids tonight at my belated birthday dinner. I got engaged last year on November 11 (11/11!), and we’re getting married this November, so I have a feeling she knows this is coming.

10 a.m. — I get home and make myself an egg wrap for breakfast before heading out again to meet with a new team member of mine to go over her next steps and goals for her Mary Kay business. I help her set up a few skin-care parties (they’re like fun, social, spa-like gatherings we host to let friends and family test new products) and facial appointments for the first couple of months, so that she’s off to a strong start. I also show her how to use her Mary Kay personal website, which is a personalized link through where customers can purchase products through their Mary Kay Consultant.

12:15 p.m. — I pick up lunch from one of my favorite healthy restaurants. It’s a simple order — chicken, rice, and Brussels sprouts — but so good that I actually crave it every now and then. I go home to eat and (finally) shower from my morning workout — don’t judge!

2:30 p.m. — I have a few hours before dinner, so I take the time to look over my first quarter results to see where I’m at and where my team is at. We’ve had a strong start to our year; we’re on track to meet our sales goals — which means potentially being in the top 1% of sellers and earning the use of (aka the legendary pink Cadillac!).

6 p.m. — My best friend stops by before we head to our dinner reservation — and I use the moment to surprise her with the bouquet I made for her asking her to be a bridesmaid. We both start crying — tears of happiness. She was my first friend in elementary school, and now she’s going to be in my wedding.

8 p.m. — I try a new lip look — a shade called “” that I think is the perfect peach color for summer, and I get a ton of compliments. Dinner was in downtown Fort Lauderdale and I eat an amazing pasta dish — her birthday gift to me.

9:30 p.m. — I use and to take off my makeup and go to bed.

Day 3

9:45 a.m. — It’s so much later than my usual wakeup time, but I’m not feeling 100% and extra sleep was definitely necessary. It’s too late to go to the gym, because it’ll be packed (the thought of a super crowded gym gives me major anxiety), so I’m taking a rest day. I go out to get a medium coffee, but I only take three sips because I’m starting to get the shakes; it was too strong and tasted too much like coffee (I like my coffee to taste like dessert).

12 p.m. — I have a video meeting with a new team member — a college student who wants to work on her Mary Kay business on the side. We plan her business launch party (an event with food and drinks that serves as an opportunity to introduce the brand to potential customers) and discuss how much time she’s able to invest in her business. I offer suggestions on ways she can integrate Mary Kay into her life (without feeling overwhelmed) and share tips on how she can secure her first few sales. My number-one tip I give to my new team members is: Never judge a person. Starting your own business is scary, but I always encourage my team to ask about and share their goals with others, because when they’re excited, others will be, too. That inspires confidence and makes all of this a lot more fun.

Afterwards, I make a few calls to potential customers who were referred to me. To be completely honest, talking on the phone still really scares me (I’m part of the texting generation). Before every call, I have to hype myself up. One of them answers, and she’s really excited about Mary Kay, so we set up a date to meet. I leave a few voicemails — and one calls me back (she thought I was a scam — because, again, no one calls anymore!), and also set up a date.

3 p.m. — I make myself lunch (it’s rice and chicken again — I’m a creature of habit and I like what I like) before I leave for an appointment. I sell a , , and a makeup palette with her favorite cheek and eye colors (, Chromafusion Eye Shadow in , , and ). I fulfill her order right away because I have everything in stock.

5:30 p.m. — Dinner is at my fiancé’s sister’s house tonight! She and her husband have the most adorable five-month-old. On my way over, I grab cinnamon muffins for dessert (I can never show up empty-handed). We chat about how excited we are for the wedding over a truly exceptional dinner of chicken, sweet potatoes, and salad. My fiancé’s family has always made me feel so welcomed — it already feels like we’re family.

8:45 p.m. — Back home and I’m so tired that I’m in bed by 9 p.m.

Day 4

7 a.m. — It’s Friday(!), but also leg day…which is always a struggle.

9:30 a.m. — After leaving the gym, I shower and decide to do a natural, “clean face” makeup look that involves two products: and . I pack up an order — and a — and deliver it to a customer. On my way back, I stop at the post office to give a gift to one of my team members and to also mail something to one of my bridesmaids.

2 p.m. — I decide to work from a coffee shop today (another perk of this business’ flexibility). I also think a change in scenery could inspire productivity. I buy a $13 smoothie, which I know sounds obscenely expensive, but it’s so good. And it’s Friday — why not treat myself? I send follow-up texts to confirm appointments, book a facial for the upcoming week, and design flyers for my new team members. It’s wild to me how much I can accomplish without distractions.

3:15 p.m. — The weather today is 70 degrees and beautiful, so I bask in the sunshine for a bit before I meet up with my mom to watch the high school girls’ lacrosse game (my old team), because my dad coaches part-time, so I always love to go and show support. Plus, it’s nostalgic for me.

6 p.m. — I pick up pad thai for dinner for the three of us and we eat at my parents’ house while we watch a movie, which is low-key the best way to kick-start the weekend.

Day 5

8:30 a.m. — I make myself a bagel with cream cheese and get ready to spend the morning with my dad, who needs a ride to return a rental car. I drive his truck to the rental place and then somehow get tricked into not only getting mulch for the house, but also to accompany him while he gets a haircut. While I wait for him, I send texts to my team members and follow-up messages to my customers — the work never ends.

1 p.m. — I throw some chicken tenders into the air fryer for lunch and start to get ready for my friend’s birthday dinner in West Palm, which is about an hour drive from where I live. I’m in the mood to dress up, which obviously means: full glam — a full makeup routine, base and all. I combine the and , and the result is flawless — it truly looks like there’s a filter on my face.

4:30 p.m. — My friend comes over to “shop” my closet, aka borrow a dress for tonight, and we leave for dinner. I also bought her a bouquet, because I’m planning to ask her to be one of my bridesmaids. We go to a nice Italian restaurant, and I had the best time laughing and catching up (also a highlight: There was a celebrity at the table next to us). We spend the night in West Palm; let’s normalize (!)

Day 6

8:30 a.m. — I ask my friend to be my bridesmaid. She starts tearing up right away and says she had been hoping that I’d ask.

10:30 a.m. — I head home; it’s chore day and prep day, which I love and hate. I hate the process of it all, but the ritual of resetting my space and mentally preparing myself for the upcoming week helps me overcome anxiety and stress. A customer purchased a few different foundations, so I process those orders while I do my chores: laundry, vacuuming, and dishes.

2 p.m. — I take an hour-long nap. I normally never nap, but allowing myself to rest when I’m tired is really nice — I just have to remind myself to not feel guilty about it.

5 p.m. — I have dinner with my family (ham, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts), and we watch an awards show.

9:30 p.m. — My fiancé and I are long-distance, which is incredibly hard. Communication is important in every relationship, but it becomes even more essential in a long-distance one, since we can’t physically be with one another. We talk on the phone for an hour before I go to bed.

Day 7

5:45 a.m. — A client asked me to try a new workout class with her, so while waking up this early should be illegal, I love hanging out with her.

6:30 a.m. — It’s a cardio class, and I won’t lie, I’m 100% struggling.

10 a.m. — All the endorphins from my early morning workout are hitting me, and I feel like I can do anything. I make ham and eggs for breakfast and write my to-do list for the day, even though I already feel like I had a whole day and it’s not even noon.

11 a.m. — I have a video call with my team. We meet every Monday to talk about our weekly goals and aspirations (and sometimes, something as minor as what book we’re currently reading), and it never fails to inspire me. This call absolutely fills my cup up for the day and I’m excited to get to work.

12 p.m. — For lunch, I go to a cafe and order a vanilla latte and a salad. I send a few texts to my team members, confirm a couple appointments, and invite guests to a spring makeup event I’m hosting next week (to go over popular makeup trends for the year, how to apply them, and introduce a skin-care routine that’s best for them). I also chat with my bridesmaids about dress color and style options.

3 p.m. — I have a facial appointment with two girls; I give each of them a . Both are college students and interested in starting a Mary Kay business as a side hustle, so I take the time to answer any questions they have.

5:20 p.m. — I help one team member with a facial where we use the , , and . The client is expecting a baby boy in the summer and also interested in starting her own Mary Kay business!

7 p.m. — For dinner, I had chicken fried rice…and then had the sudden realization: Wow, I eat a lot of chicken and rice.

8 p.m. — Tonight is our Monday Night Live meeting, which is where we share selling tips as a team, share events or product promotions, and recognize people for their accomplishments. In traditional employment settings, someone is only recognized professionally when they receive a promotion, but this meeting gives us the opportunity to celebrate each other’s business accomplishments, however big or small. I also love the fact that by meeting virtually, we can be together even if we live all over the country.

10 p.m. — I take off my makeup with my and head to bed.

Reflection

My week included a lot of planning for myself as well as leading a few facial appointments for my own customers. This was also the first week of a new month, so I was busy meeting with my team members and helping them get set up for a strong month. My greatest joy is giving women a community they didn’t necessarily have before, and the hope is that the more I support my team, the more they sell, and the more business they get, the more confident they become. It’s amazing working with my team and being a part of their lives — and I’m so grateful for the community we’ve built together. We all have our own goals and dreams, but our businesses bring us closer together — it’s hard work, but the end result makes it all worth it.

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A Week In Vancouver Island On A $92,000 Salary

Editor’s Note: All amounts are in Canadian dollars.

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
There was always the expectation. My father was very clear, we were very smart. There was no way we’d be wasting our potential. He wanted me to be a lawyer, but unlike with other immigrant parents, I got to choose my major and went into social sciences and got my master’s in history. I deferred my PhD too much so I got dropped by the program.

I chose my university by where I got a full first-year scholarship and then after that took about $15,000 in student loans for my undergraduate degree. My parents paid my rent and I got a part time job for food. For my master’s, I had a student line of credit of $10,000 and $5,000 in student loans, otherwise it was all savings and scholarships. With the line of credit, I had a total of $30,000 in student loans.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
Save. We talked about how you get a dollar allowance and half of it goes into long term saving with 25% in short term and 25% in spend. My family came from poor rural China, and has some generational trauma from Japan and World War II. You need enough money to be able to buy your way out. Investing came after I was 18.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
At an ice cream parlour. I was 12 and my parents made me get it for responsibility. I only lasted three weeks because I hated it.

Did you worry about money growing up?
I grew up thinking we were not rich, because we didn’t get big plane vacations and I had only been to Disney twice. (I didn’t count flying from Toronto to Vancouver every summer as a vacation since we were just seeing family. But we stayed in a house my parents owned.) But we had a big new-build house in the rich end of town and my mom stayed home to raise all of us. We had to work for things (like going to see a movie on opening night or a new CD) but we always had money and got what we wanted. In retrospect, my family was/is fairly well off. Both my parents grew up poor, with parents working multiple jobs and different shifts to make ends meet; with the strive/drive to not have that childhood, and for my father to be able to retire, his parents really impacted mine and my siblings’ and cousins’ lives. My father showed me the apartment he grew up in Chinatown a few years back. It’s light years away from the house my grandparents owned when I was a kid and how I grew up.

Do you worry about money now?
Of course. Inflation is real and we are actively planning a wedding for the next year, as well as a baby in the next few years. We also need to buy a second car, so we’re saving for that.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
Fully financially responsible? 25. I lived in a family property in one of the most expensive cities in Canada, so even though I paid all my bills (food and phone), I didn’t have to pay rent. In fact, I made money, as I rented rooms out and used the income for house utilities, and paying my student loans down faster.

When I moved in with M., I just paid condo fees until two years ago when we bought our house, which gave me plenty of time to save. Our financial safety nets are family, and our savings. I know my family would bail us out. M.’s father would as well. Conversely, we are M.’s mother’s safety net and, when we are making all of our plans, we have to keep in mind that we will be subsidising her.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
Yes, I received $50,000 from my parents once they sold my childhood home, as did both of my siblings. I have also received $10,000 from one set of grandparents which paid off my car and part of my student loans when I was 21. I will be receiving another inheritance when probate is done, for around $100,000. M. also has received inheritance which allowed him to buy his first condo in their early 20s when the market was much better. That condo, and the subsequent upgrading, helped us afford our house.

Day One

10 a.m. — I drive to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. Not how I want to start my Sunday morning but y’know. Normally I’d walk since it’s about 20 minutes but I have a UTI. I’m “lucky” that, despite not having a doctor because of the healthcare shortage, my work pays for the Maple app so I could get a doctor to write the prescription and order the lab work at 1 a.m. I’ll do the lab work later this week when I can get an appointment, but will take the relief now. Insurance makes the antibiotics free, but I also buy hydrogen peroxide because we’re out and we have a dog that thinks everything is meant to be in her mouth. I also bought some oral wound mouthwash because we were out. I come home and M. has made us breakfast. I pay with debit. $15.90

1 p.m. — We do our taxes. I have a mini meltdown when I realize the part-time bakery job I had for a few months didn’t take off income tax last year, so I owe $800. Luckily, M. is getting a refund so we net out positive with $400. The bakery took off income tax in 2022, so unsure why they didn’t in 2023.I make us lunch.

3 p.m. — We walk the dog, then watch The Rookie. A wedding venue emails us back and is surprisingly affordable at $3,000.

6:30 p.m. — I explain what lazy girl dinner is to M. and then make a lazy girldinner. Aside from fresh vegetables, we haven’t really grocery shopped since February. We need to do a big pantry shop and neither of us want that. We debate about buying a food saver and if we should wait for a sale before we do so. M. is more frugal than me and is determined we should.

8 p.m. — We start season 3 of The Rookie. After two episodes, we go to bed

Daily Total: $15.90

Day Two

5:45 a.m. —Wake up and start work. I get up to date with what’s happened on the weekend and check that my automated reports. Sometime before 6:30 a.m., I get the kettle on for M.’s pour-over coffee before I go back to my meetings. There’s a 20-minute gap where I get changed and do my skincare and brush my teeth. I’d love to be a skincare person but honestly I’ve spent too much money on product that I don’t use and that just goes bad. Washing my face and using sunscreen is a win.I also make sure that M.’s lunch is in his bag and I get our travel mugs ready. We recently splurged on a stupidly expensive espresso machine that we call his Engagement Espresso, as it cost the same as my stupidly expensive ring.

8 a.m. —We drive to work. Prior to buying our house, we were both working from home and lived in a city with amazing transit. We only needed one car. Since buying the house and moving to a city where public transit is a joke (the one bus goes past our house every 90 minutes), M. changed jobs and is in the office every day and I have to go in three days a week. We need a second car or for the e-bike rebate to come through. I’m also done in the office by 1 p.m., but M. works normal hours, so I either have to take the bus home, or go to the gym for three hours. Today though, I drop M. off. I will pick him up later as he has a half-day because of a dental appointment.

8:30 a.m. —I ask my boss how the work-from-home tax forms work, and he is going to find out.I run more meetings and work on a request for a dashboard and a business case for a new feature that I have to convince leadership to spend money on.

12 p.m. — I drive back to M. While I wait for him I am incredibly hungry. I don’t usually eat a proper meal until around 1 p.m. I go to the bakery by M.’s work and buy a cheese bun for me ($3.65), and an apple pie scone ($2.55) for M as a snack. M points out he won’t be able to eat until after his appointment. I pay with debit. $6.20

1 p.m. — I drop M. off, and the car stops working. The engine won’t catch. I try multiple times and then run into the dentist to dramatically announce to M. and the receptionists that the car won’t start. M. asks me what he wants me to do about this, since he’s about to go into an appointment. I go back to the car to FaceTime my father. He also asks what I think he can do to help since he lives 3,000km away. M. texts me to remind me we have BCAA. I finally get the engine to catch and drive home.

1:30 p.m. —I walk the dog, mail a (late) birthday card and then start researching what an alternator is. The car is over a decade old and, until the house, the most expensive thing I ever bought at $12,000 back in 2015. We have the funds for the cost, but it’s my first car and the fact it might be the end of its life is scary. Alternators can cost between $400 and $800 repair with labour, so that’s fun.

2:30 p.m. — We get an email back from a wedding venue saying they cost $75,000 minimum. The timing is hysterical because M. now owes the dentist $618, as they haven’t flipped it under my insurance. They split the payment in half, as he has a follow up in two weeks. After the next appointment they will flip the whole amount under me and we’ll get reimbursed for the whole amount. Pay $309 on credit card. $309

3 p.m. to 10 p.m. — We walk the dog, make dinner (M. makes white sauce pasta, with chicken and peas) and watch The Rookie. There are 13 episodes in season 3, but we will be busy every night this week besides Friday and Sunday, and I would like to finish season 3 so we can start season 4 next Monday. I don’t want to pay for more than one month of Crave.

Daily Total: $315.20

Day Three

1 a.m. — $100 is automatically transferred from our account to the credit card debit. We have an auto transfer of $100 every Tuesday to a Visa where we balance transferred both our cards. We have an offer for 0% interest for 10 months, so we used it for some bigger expenses (snow tires, brake replacement and general Christmas stuff) and are on track to pay it back within the next six months. $100 (included in regular expenses)

5:45 a.m. — Work. Meetings, reports, trying to convince a colleague that the process does include them and that their refusal to follow it means that their requests won’t be done. M. has another half day, so I can go into the office at my leisure… If the car starts.

9 a.m. — The car starts. It takes longer to drive into work today because the tourists are starting to come and their van builds or campers are not exactly highway speed and, with a two-lane highway, if you don’t merge over fast enough you’re stuck.

10 a.m. — Meeting done, car starts again and I drive home for more meetings. The least amount of time in the office is preferable for me. At home, I meet with my manager where we discuss future my salary and promotion. I am due for a promotion in the start of Q2, which would push me to six figures. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I’m really excited at that possibility for my family.

11:15 a.m. — Work runs late. There’s some issues with the data and we can’t figure it out. We call it a night, and I’ll record the video presentations tomorrow, once we fix the data.

1:30 p.m. — Nap time! It’s bad for me, but honestly I don’t sleep well during the night so naps are what keep me alive.

6:30 p.m. — M. comes home, we eat dinner. Groceries come to $96.83 for two pork loins, two packs of bacon, chicken nuggets, coffee, pop, an eight-pack of peppers, milk, tomato, pickles, rice, avocado, mushrooms, sour cream and lettuce. Not too bad —we average about $300 a month in groceries because we can buy bulk and have a second freezer. For the month of March we are currently at $123.61 for groceries and there are 12 days left in the month. We went on a small weekend away, so we ate out a fair bit but even then our current food budget stands at $272.27 today. $96.83

7:30 p.m. —M. makes a coffee and plays video games with his friends. They do it every week. I have a shower, fold and put away laundry and then read in bed.

Daily Total: $96.83

Day Four

5:45 a.m. —Work. I find out the limits of how many people I can invite to a Teams meeting. I also make us coffee, make sure M. has lunch packed (leftovers). M. has walked the dog and has put the recycling and compost out for pick up. I drop M. off at work and go to the office.

10 a.m. — I leave the office for home and more meetings. I walk the dog and go record training videos. I get an email that Amazon is doing its big spring sale. I send a link to a robot mop and vacuum that’s on a big discount to M. We want one, but I’m not in charge of the research on it.

11:45 a.m. — I shove lunch in my mouth, last night’s leftovers. I’m running late for my UTI lab work, and decide to get myself later by collecting all the random dishes and mugs that just show up places and starting the dishwasher. I actually get to the lab 10 minutes early but need to buy gas on the way home. I tell my team I’ll be MIA for a bit and leave the work phone in the car. I buy 15.6 litres of gas for $30 at $1.879 per litre on a credit card. It sucks. I don’t fill up because we’re going to my in-laws’ this weekend and there’s a Costco Gas Bar there. $30

12:30 p.m. — Work goes long again.

1:30 a.m. —Nap!

2:30 p.m. —Walk the dog and drive to the gym. I usually go three times a week but with last week’s weekend away and this week’s weird half days from M., today’s the only day.I make up for it by doing both upper and lower body and a 30-minute circuit.

4:30 p.m. — I pick up M. and we go to Costco. We get nachos, ham, cheese buns and some other items. We debate buying our friend’s kid a toddler set of clothes and decide no. We end up buying work pants for M., and a garden hose. It comes out to $116.90. I order our Costco date-night dinner of hot dogs and fries for a grand total of $6.41 and pay by credit card. $123.31

8 p.m. — Dance class! We bought a series of six lessons of introduction to ballroom back in December for a new date-night idea. We paid $60 per person and this is the fifth lesson tonight.

9 p.m. — We’re home, we let the dog out. M. spends an undetermined amount of time watching ballroom videos while I sleep.

Daily Total: $153.31

Day Five

5:45 a.m. — Work. All the meetings. Thursday is the meeting day. I debate with a friend what’s the earliest call we’ve had and 4:30 a.m. still wins. I pack lunch for M and his coffee and he leaves. I end up cleaning up cat puke as the cat decides to drink milk from M.’s cereal and vomit it up on camera in a meeting.

9 a.m. — I make myself a matcha and walk the dog.

1 p.m. —Working; I treat myself to a lunch of a cheese bun and ham sandwich. We used to eat it every Sunday while growing up but the cost of ham has been outrageous. The deal at Costco yesterday was $1.50 for 100g, which is really good.

1:15 p.m. —I seal the wooden deer Christmas decoration we bought last year. It sits outside our front door and needs to be weather-proofed, and I’ve been putting it off for five months. But the weather is good and we have newspapers. The dog and the cat don’t like my wooden deer.

1:30 p.m. — Nap!

5 p.m. — M. comes home, we walk the dog and I make dinner (Kraft Dinner and nuggets — I swear we eat veggies, but today is not that day). We discuss the possibility of our dog at our wedding as a flower girl, and if she’ll be in a tutu or a cheongsam like me. I am now researching if they make dog cheongsams and if she can match us. The cat, despite all my heart wanting it, won’t physically be there because he will have an anxiety attack and probably die.

6:30 p.m. —Board game night! We go to a friend’s to repeat the same scenario. We’ve lost two weeks in a row.

10:30 p.m. — I pack M.’s breakfast (oatmeal and frozen berries), lunch (spicy tuna and mayo) since he’s trying to go to the gym before work, and feed the animals before we go to bed.

Daily Total: $0

Day Six

5:45 a.m. — Work. I have a deep focus block which means I can get the script for the training I have to run. Public speaking is not my strong suit and it’s a group of a thousand people so I’m not looking forward to it.

9 a.m. — I walk the dog, make a matcha and make a to-do list for what we have to get done before we leave to go to my in-laws tomorrow. I text my mother-in-law happy birthday, and hope that she got the card in time. She did.

9:30 a.m. —My last meeting for the week ends and I’m debating calling it a day so I can nap. Instead I make lunch (cheese bun and ham), text my mother-in-law our plan for Saturday, and unload and reload the dishwasher and go back to work for at least another hour.

12:30 p.m. — I shower and do skincare.

1 p.m. — Nap! Somewhere in this time FedEx comes and since I’m sleeping, we have to pick up on Monday. I’m not too sure what it is, I assume it’s our custom address stamp from Etsy because that’s the only thing I’ve bought recently.

3 p.m. — I prep dinner (nachos), unload the dishwasher, pack my overnight bag and confirm all our venue tours by email. I start a load of laundry and do a quick clean. I feel like this is not the best image of our diet. I swear we generally eat healthy but we both have been feeling really blah over the past two weeks. I do have three whole peppers and two whole avocados in the nachos though.

5 p.m. —M. comes home, we walk the dog, have dinner,and plan out next week. We have a big Wednesday next week (mechanic, nail appointment, dance class), and we are having our friends over for Easter so we need to prep for that. We pack the car so tomorrow is a very easy start. M. also gets paid today. We’re lucky that we’re on alternating pay periods, we used to be on the same and it always felt stressful. M. also lets me know his union has secured a 3% cost of living raise to start in Q3.

7:30 p.m. — We finish The Rookie and head to bed. Crave reminds me that I have 10 days until I’m charged again. Sadly, I think we’ll have to pay for two months.

Daily Total: $0

Day Seven

8:30 a.m. —Wake up. No one (except the dog) slept well so we’re not in a morning mood. M. makes coffee and walks the dog, while I finish packing the car and give the cat a lot of attention. Our first wedding venue tour is at 11 a.m. and the one that is the most expensive (between $8,000 and $10,000), but also the one we probably want the most.

10:40 a.m. —We visit our dream venue. We stay way longer than expected. Basically if the quote is under $10,000, we’ll get it.

1 p.m. —We get to our in-laws and have a lunch of egg salad sandwiches. We need to buy gas. My in-laws drive us to a pottery painting store.

2 p.m. — We paint pottery. My mother-in-law wanted to do this for her birthday. I paint a vase, M. paints an Easter egg, father-in-law paints a mug, and mother-in-law paints a plate. $143.36

Daily Total: $143.36

The Breakdown

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Abigail's Melissa Barrera Talks Scrapped Alternate Ending, Potential Sequel & Jenna Ortega Friendship

Abigail star Melissa Barrera breaks down the movie's scrapped alternate ending, thoughts on a potential sequel, and her friendship with Jenna Ortega.

Screen Rant

iPad Pro (2024) review: So very nice, and so very expensive

It hasn’t even been released yet, but is probably one of the most divisive devices the company has made in years. On the one hand, it’s an undeniable feat of engineering. Apple squeezed a new M4 chip and “tandem” OLED panel into a tablet that’s somehow thinner and lighter than the one it replaces. And the prior iPad Pro was no slouch either, garnering loads of praise for its combo of power and portability since it was first introduced in 2018.

On the other hand, this tech comes at a cost: the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, while the 13-inch model costs $1,299. That’s $200 more than before, and that’s without a $299 or $349 Magic Keyboard and a $129 Pencil Pro. (The unit I’m testing is a 13-inch system with 1TB of storage and 5G, which costs $2,099) The iPad Pro has always felt like Apple flexing its muscles, showing off an absurdly powerful and portable vision of tablet computing that’s overkill for almost everyone, and that’s . Furious debate has ensued over the value of an iPad Pro and why in the world anyone would buy one instead of a MacBook. This isn’t a new conversation, but it feels particularly heated this time.

Before getting into the details, it’s worth noting that I haven’t even had a week to use the iPad Pro M4. So I can’t assess things like long-term durability, which I can’t help but wonder about given just how thin it is. But in the short time I’ve had the iPad Pro, I can say that it’s somehow a major leap forward that doesn’t significantly change the iPad experience. As such, you’ll have to really ask yourself if it’s worth the price.

Hardware

If you stare at the iPad Pro M4 head-on, you won’t notice any difference between it and the previous model. The display still makes up the vast majority of the front, with thin, equally sized bezels surrounding it. The Face ID camera is now on the landscape edge (a great change that Apple first brought to the basic iPad in late 2022), but it’s basically invisible to the eye — no notch for the Pro.

However, picking up the iPad Pro tells another story altogether. While the new 13-inch model is fractionally taller and wider than the 12.9-inch version it replaces, the iPad Pro M4 is 20 percent thinner and about a quarter-pound lighter. I cannot stress enough how radically this changes the experience of holding the iPad Pro, especially the larger of the two.

Before, the big iPad Pro was just a bit too big and heavy to be comfortable as a hand-held tablet. I used to prefer using the 11-inch iPad Pro or Air when I’m relaxing on the couch browsing the web, playing some games, messaging friends and doing other light tasks. Now, however, it feels entirely reasonable to use the 13-inch model in that fashion. I still think smaller tablets are better for hand-held tasks, but the reduced thickness and weight make the new iPad Pro much easier to handle.

I want to talk a little more about how ridiculously thin this iPad is. Apple has rightly gotten its share of flack for relentlessly trying to make its products thinner, to the point where it affects durability and usability. Perhaps the best examples are the Touch Bar MacBook Pro models that Apple first introduced in 2016. Those laptops were indeed thinner and lighter than their predecessors, but at the expense of things like battery life, proper thermal cooling and a reliable keyboard. Apple reversed course by 2020 when it brought its own chips to the MacBook Pro; those laptops were heavier and chunkier than the disastrous Touch Bar models, but they had more ports and better keyboards and no issues staying cool under a heavy workload.

This is all to say that, for those computers, the pursuit of “thin and light” hampered their primary purpose, especially since they aren’t devices you hold in your hands all day. But with something like an iPad, where you’re meant to pick it up, hold it and touch it, shaving off a quarter of a pound and 20 percent of its thickness actually makes a huge difference in the experience of using the product. It’s more comfortable and easier to use — and, provided that there are no durability concerns here, this is a major improvement. I’ve only had the iPad Pro for less than a week, so I can’t say how it’ll hold up over time, but so far it seems sturdy and not prone to bending.

Beyond that significant change, the new iPad Pro retains the same basic elements: There’s a power button in one corner, volume up and down buttons on another, and a USB-C Thunderbolt port on the bottom. There’s a camera bump on the back, in the same position as always, and a connector for the Magic Keyboard. Finally, there are four speakers, one in each corner, just as before. They sound much better than speakers from such a thin device should sound, a feat Apple has consistently pulled off across all its devices lately. Aside from the size and weight reduction, Apple hasn’t radically changed things here, and that’s mostly OK — though I could imagine some people wanting a second Thunderbolt port just for power when a peripheral is plugged in.

The specs of both the front- and back-facing cameras are unchanged; both are 12-megapixel sensors. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple removed the ultra-wide camera from the back, leaving it with a single standard camera alongside the LiDAR sensor and redesigned True Tone flash. That’s fine by me, as the standard lens is just fine for most things you’ll want out of an iPad camera. Its video capabilities are still robust, with support for ProRes video recording and 4K at a variety of frame rates.

Meanwhile, the front-facing camera on the landscape edge of the tablet means you can actually do video calls when the iPad is in its keyboard dock and not look ridiculous. I generally avoided doing video calls with my iPad before, but I’ve done a handful on the iPad Pro and all the feedback I’ve received is that the video quality is solid if not spectacular. Regardless, I won’t think twice about jumping onto FaceTime or Google Meet with the iPad Pro now that the camera position is no longer an issue.

Tandem OLEDs

The next thing you’ll notice about the new iPad Pro is its OLED display. Specifically, Apple calls it a “tandem OLED” display, which means that you’re actually looking at two OLED panels layered on top of each other. The screen resolution is essentially the same as the old iPad Pro (2,752 x 2,064, 264 pixels per inch), but a number of other key specs have improved. It now features a 2,000,000-to-1 contrast ratio, one of the things OLED is best known for — blacks are literal darkness, as the pixels don’t emit any light.

The OLED enables more brightness and improved HDR performance compared to the old iPad Pro — standard screen brightness is up to 1,000 nits, compared to 600 nits for the last model. As before, though, HDR content maxes out at 1,600 nits. This is a nice upgrade over the Mini-LED screen on the old 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but it’s a massive improvement for the 11-inch iPad Pro. That model was stuck with a standard LCD with no HDR capabilities; the disparity between the screens Apple offered on the two iPad Pros was significant, but now both tablets have the same caliber display, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Everything is incredibly bright, sharp and vibrant, whether I’m browsing the web, editing photos, watching movies or playing games. I cannot stress enough how delightful this screen is — I have a flight this week, and I can’t wait to spend it watching movies. Watching a selection of scenes from Interstellar shows off the HDR capabilities as well as the contrast between the blackness of space and the brightness of surrounding stars and galaxies, while more vibrant scenes like the Shire in Fellowship of the Ring had deep and gorgeous colors without feeling overly saturated or unrealistic. Given how the screen is the most crucial experience of using a tablet, I can say Apple has taken a major leap forward here. If you’re upgrading from the Mini-LED display in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it won’t be quite as massive a difference, but anyone who prefers the 11-inch model will be thrilled with this improvement.

As usual, these screens have all the usual high-end features from prior models, including the ProMotion variable refresh rate (up to 120hz), fingerprint-resistant and antireflective coatings, True Tone color temperature adjustment, support for the P3 wide color gamut and full lamination. Other iPads have some, but not all of these features; specifically, ProMotion is saved for the Pro line. And this year, Apple added a $100 nano-texture glass option for the 1TB and 2TB models to further reduce glare, a good option if you often work in bright sunlight. (My review iPad did not have this feature.) Between that and the improved brightness, these tablets are well-suited to working in difficult lighting conditions.

M4 performance

Choosing to in the iPad Pro rather than a Mac is a major flex by Apple. Prior M-series silicon hit Macs first, iPads later. But as Apple tells it, the tandem OLED displays needed the new display engine on the M4 to hit the performance goals it wanted, so rather than engineer it into an existing processor, it just went forward with a whole new processor. The 1TB and 2TB iPad Pros have an M4 with four performance cores, six efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU and 16GB of RAM, while the less-expensive models have to make do with three performance cores and 8GB of RAM.

Either way, that’s more power than almost anyone buying an iPad will know what to do with. Interestingly, even Apple’s own apps don’t quite know what to do with it, either. When the company briefed the press last week, it showed off new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad, both of which had some impressive additions. Final Cut Pro is getting a live multicam feature that lets you wirelessly sync multiple iPhones or iPads to one master device and record and direct all of them simultaneously. Logic Pro, meanwhile, has some new AI-generated “session players” that can create realistic backing tracks for you to play or sing over.

Both features were very impressive in the demos I saw — but neither of them requires the M4 iPad Pro. Final Cut Pro will still work on any iPad with an M-series processor, and Logic Pro works on M-series iPads as well as the iPad Pro models with the A12Z chip (first released in 2020).

Of course, when you’re spending in excess of $1,000, it’s good to know you’ll get performance that’ll last you years into the future, and that’s definitely the case here. As apps get even more complex, the iPad Pro should be able to make short work of them. That includes AI, of course — the M4’s neural engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second, a massive upgrade over the 18 trillion number quoted for the M3.

Unsurprisingly, the iPad Pro M4’s Geekbench CPU scores of 3,709 (single-core), 14,680 (multi-core) and 53,510 (GPU) significantly eclipse those of the M2 iPad Air (2,621 / 10,058 / 41,950). In reality, though, both of these tablets will churn through basically anything you throw at them. If your time is money and having faster video rendering or editing matters, or you work with a lot of apps that rely heavily on machine learning, the M4 should shave precious seconds or minutes out of your workflow, which will add up significantly over time.

Fortunately, the new chip remains as power efficient as ever. I haven’t done deep battery testing yet given I’ve only had the iPad Pro for a few days at this point. But I did use it as my main computer for several days and got through almost 10 hours of work before needing the charger. My workload is comparatively modest though, as I’m not pushing the iPad through heavy video or AI workloads, so your mileage may vary. As it has for more than a decade now, Apple quotes 10 hours of web browsing or watching video. But given what the M4 is capable of, chances are people doing more process-intensive tasks will run through the battery a lot faster.

New Magic Keyboard

As rumored, Apple has two new accessories for the iPad Pro: a new keyboard and the Pencil Pro. Both are still just as pricey as before. $350 for a keyboard case still feels like highway robbery, no matter how nice it is. But at least they’re not more expensive.

The good news is that the is definitively better than the old one in a number of ways. First off, it’s thinner and lighter than before, which makes a huge difference in how the whole package feels. The last iPad Pro and its keyboard were actually rather thick and heavy, weighing in around three pounds — more than a MacBook Air. Now, both the iPad and keyboard case are thinner and lighter on their own, making the whole package feel much more compact.

The base of the Magic Keyboard is now made of aluminum, which makes the typing experience more like what you’ll find on a MacBook. The keys are all about the same size as before, and typing on it remains extremely comfortable. If you’re familiar with the keyboards on Apple’s laptops, you’ll feel right at home here. Apple also made the trackpad bigger and added a function row of keys, both of which make the overall experience of navigating and using iPadOS much better.

The trackpad also now has no moving parts and instead relies on haptic feedback, similar to the MacBook trackpads. Every click is accompanied by a haptic that truly tricks me into thinking the trackpad moves, and small vibrations accompany other actions as well. For example, when I swipe up and hold to enter multitasking, there’s a haptic that confirms the gesture is recognized. Third-party developers will be able to add haptic trackpad feedback to their apps, as well.

Between the improved layout and thinner design, the Magic Keyboard is essential gear if, like me, you make your living while typing. It’s wildly expensive, yes, but it’s also extremely well-made and thoughtfully designed in a way that I just haven’t seen anyone else match yet. Yes, there are plenty of cheaper third-party options, but the Magic Keyboard is the best option I’ve tried.

Apple Pencil Pro

, I can’t help but lament my complete lack of visual art skill. But even I can tell that the is a notable upgrade over the model it replaces, which was already excellent. As before, it magnetically attaches to the side of the iPad Pro for charging and storage, something that remains an elegant solution.

The Pencil Pro does everything the second-gen Apple Pencil does and has some new tricks to boot. One is Squeeze, which by default brings up the brush picker interface in apps like Notes and Freeform. It’s a quick and smart way to scrub through your different options, and it’s open to third-party developers to use as they wish in their own apps. The Pencil Pro isn’t too sensitive to the Squeeze gesture; I didn’t find myself accidentally popping open the menu while doodling away. The new Pencil also has a gyroscope, which lets it recognize rotation gestures — this means you can “turn” your virtual brush as you paint, giving it another layer of realism. Between tilt, pressure and now rotation sensitivity, the Pencil Pro is even better at capturing how you are using it.

Apple also added haptic feedback, so when you squeeze the Pencil you’ll get a vibration to confirm the action. It’s also used in a great new “undo” menu: if you squeeze the Pencil and then tap and hold on the back button, you can then quickly scrub through and undo everything you’ve written, step-by-step. This history makes it easy to take some risks while working on something and then quickly rewind if you’re not happy with the results. And each step of the log is accompanied by a haptic buzz as you scroll forwards and backwards.

Finally, the Apple Pencil Pro has Find My integration, which will make it easier to find when you inevitably lose it in the couch cushions (or leave it at a coffee shop). Given that Apple threw in a lot of new features and kept the price the same, I can’t complain too much about the Pencil Pro. The only bummer is that the new iPad Pro doesn’t work with the second-generation Pencil, presumably due to a different battery charging and pairing setup necessitated by moving the front camera to the same edge as the charging area. So if you’re upgrading, a Pencil Pro (or the less capable $79 USB-C Pencil) will be a requirement.

iPadOS

I think it’s worth a quick mention that Apple has not made any changes to iPadOS to go along with this release, and it’s one of the things that has made the internet very angry. There’s been a lot of chatter from some people who think the iPad Pro should run macOS or similar software; the vibe is that the iPad’s hardware is wasted on iPadOS.

I can only speak for myself and note that I was able to do everything my job asks of me on the iPad Pro while I was testing it, but that doesn’t mean it would be my choice over a Mac for certain situations. If I was at an event like CES, I’d want my MacBook Pro to facilitate things like transferring and editing photos as well as working in Google Docs. I can do those things on an iPad, but not as easily, mostly because the Google Docs app doesn’t handle going through comments and suggestions well. I did, however, find it easy and fast to import RAW photos from my SD card to the Lightroom app. For the first time, I felt comfortable doing my entire review photo workflow on an iPad. Even things like tearing through my email are better in the Gmail web app than the Gmail app for iPad. Overall, though, I was perfectly happy using the iPad Pro as my main computer; some things are a little tougher and some are easier. The whole experience doesn’t feel significantly better or worse, it’s just different. And at this point, I enjoy seeing what I can do on platforms that aren’t Windows and macOS.

Ultimately, Apple has shown no indication it’s going to make iPadOS more like a Mac. By the same coin, it still shows no indication of making a Mac with a touchscreen. For better or worse, those two worlds are distinct. And with no rumors pointing to a big iPadOS redesign at WWDC next month, you shouldn’t expect the software experience to radically change in the near future. As such, don’t buy an iPad Pro unless you’re content with the OS as it is right now.

Wrap-up

is a fascinating device. I can’t help but want to use it. All the time. For everything. It’s truly wild to me that Apple is putting its absolute best tech into not a Mac but an iPad. That’s been a trend for a while, as the iPad Pro lineup has always been about showing off just how good of a tablet Apple can make, but this one truly is without compromise. It doesn’t just have a nice screen, it has the best screen Apple has ever made. It doesn’t have the same processor as some Macs, it has a newer and better one.

To get all of that technology into a device this thin and light truly feels, well, magical. That’s how Steve Jobs described the first iPad; significantly, he also said it contained “our most advanced technology.” In 2010, it was debatable whether the first iPad really had Apple’s most advanced tech, but it’s absolutely true now. And that’s what makes the iPad Pro such a delight to use: it’s a bit of an otherworldly experience, something hard to come by at this point when so much of technology has been commoditized.

But when I think realistically about what I need and what I can reasonably justify spending, I realize that the iPad Pro is just too much for me. Too expensive, too powerful, maybe a little too large (I truly love the 11-inch model, however). If you’re in the same boat, then fortunately, there’s an iPad that offers nearly everything the iPad Pro does for significantly less cash. The iPad Air may not be nearly as exciting as the Pro, but it offers the same core experience for a lot less cash. But if you aren’t put off by the price, the new iPad Pro is sure to delight.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ipad-pro-2024-review-so-very-nice-and-so-very-expensive-210012937.html?src=rss

Engadget

iPad Air (2024) review: Of course this is the iPad to get

The expensive and gorgeous iPad Pro M4 is a complicated device that’s hard to outright recommend — does it make sense to spend well over $1,000 for a tablet with the inherent limitations of iPadOS compared to a Mac or Windows PC? , however, is much easier to evaluate. Since , the Air has had nearly the same form factor as the Pro, with some corners cut to differentiate the two. But the Air is also a clear upgrade over the base iPad, appealing to someone like me who appreciates its excellent screen, superior chip, improved multitasking capabilities and a better accessories experience.

It’s pretty easy to sum up this year. It has a faster M2 chip compared to the old M1, it works with a new Apple Pencil Pro, the front camera has moved to the landscape edge and it starts with 128GB of storage (double the prior model) at the same $599 price. These are all expected updates given that it’s been two years since the last iPad Air. But with the 2024 iPad Air, Apple is also : the first 13-inch iPad that doesn’t carry the “pro” designation and associated costs. The 13-inch Air starts at $799, which is $500 less than a comparably-sized iPad Pro. (The model I tested with 512GB of storage and 5G costs $1,249.)

Hardware updates

I’ve never considered buying a 13-inch iPad Pro. Besides the high price, I also find such a large and heavy iPad difficult to use handheld. It’s great when in a keyboard dock, as the bigger screen is much more suitable for multitasking, but I also want my iPad to be easy to hold for casual tasks, playing games, watching movies and all the other basic stuff tablets are good for.

My current personal iPad is an 11-inch Pro from 2020, so I’m an obvious mark for the new iPad Air. And after testing the 13-inch Air, I’m thinking about jumping on the big tablet bandwagon for the first time. Part of my reasoning is that the 13-inch iPad Air weighs less than the previous-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro it is based on. Those tablets typically weighed in around 1.5 pounds, but the Air comes in at 1.36 pounds.

That doesn’t sound like a major difference, but it’s been just enough for me to feel more comfortable using the Air as a tablet rather than just docked in a keyboard case. It’s still a little more unwieldy than I’d like, and it’s still heavier and thicker than the new 13-inch iPad Pro. But, the iPad Air is $500 cheaper; at that price, I’m willing to accept a little trade-off.

The new 11-inch model is indistinguishable from the 10.9-inch one it replaces in dimensions, weight and screen size. Don’t let Apple fool you into thinking the screen is a whopping .1 inches bigger this year, because it’s not — the company is just rounding up. (The same goes for the 13-inch Air; it has the same 12.9-inch screen size and resolution as the old iPad Pro.)

The M2 chip is a big selling point for the iPad Air, but note that if you have the 2022 model with an M1, you won’t experience massive performance gains here. Geekbench 6 tests show that the M2’s GPU is about 30 percent faster than the M1, with lesser gains in single- and multi-core performance. But, compared to my 2020 iPad Pro with an A12Z processor, the M2 is more than twice as fast. So if you don’t have an iPad with an M-series chip, the new Air will be a major step forward.

That camera is basically the same as the one in the last iPad Air, but now that it’s on the landscape edge it’s much better for video calling when you’re using it with a keyboard. I’d actually consider taking work calls with the iPad now, something that wasn’t the case before.

I’m also very happy that the base iPad Air comes with 128GB of storage rather than the stingy 64GB it was stuck on last time. It’s far easier now to recommend people pick up the cheapest configuration. And you can also get up to 1TB of storage in the Air for the first time, if you need it.

Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro

The Air is stuck with the old Magic Keyboard, which is heavier and thicker than the new model and lacks the helpful row of function keys. The Magic Keyboard remains crazy expensive — $299 for the 11-inch and $349 for the 13-inch — but it’s still my favorite keyboard for an iPad. Well, it’s my favorite after the updated version for the iPad Pro. It’s comfortable, quiet and responsive, particularly considering how thin it is, and I have no problem banging out stories on it for hours at a time.

If you’re a fan of the Apple Pencil, though, the good news is that the iPad Air supports . I cover it in more detail in my iPad Pro review, but it does everything the older second-generation Apple Pencil can while adding new features like haptic feedback, Find My support, a squeeze gesture for bringing up menus and the ability to roll the Pencil in your hand to change the width of a brush thanks to built-in gyroscopes. It costs $129, which is the same as the second-generation Pencil. The only bad news is that the old Pencil isn’t compatible with the iPad Air because of a redesigned charging and pairing system that accommodates the landscape front camera.

What hasn’t changed

That’s essentially everything new about the iPad Air this year. The display remains the same standard Apple LCD, which looks very good for everything I use an iPad for. It’s definitely not in the same league as the new tandem OLED screen in the iPad Pro, or even the mini-LED display that came before it. I definitely noticed the comparatively worse brightness and contrast in the Air’s screen when comparing it side-by-side with the Pro. But, the good news is that I don’t spend all of my life comparing screens, and the iPad Air’s is still a strong selling point for the tablet. It’s laminated to the front glass, unlike the screen on the basic iPad, and it’s more than bright enough for indoor use.

The only thing I wish it had was a higher frame rate. The iPad Pro’s “ProMotion” feature adjusts the frame rate from 10-120hz, while the Air maxes out at 60hz. Over time, I stop noticing that the UI feels comparatively jerky in animations and don’t think about it too much. But whenever I switch back to the iPad Pro, I quickly appreciate how much smoother and more fluid everything feels.

The back camera is identical to the one on the prior iPad Air, which is fine. It’ll take a decent snapshot in good lighting and you can shoot video in 4K at a variety of frame rates. But you can’t record in the ProRes format — Apple limits that to the iPad Pro. But that likely will not be an issue for anyone considering an iPad Air. Similarly, the iPad Air’s USB-C port doesn’t support faster Thunderbolt 4 speed, but in my testing it was fine for pulling in RAW photos from my camera. If your workflow is such that you’ll use that port a lot and benefit from faster speeds, I will shockingly recommend you check out the Pro.

I haven’t even had the iPad Air for a week, so I’ve yet to run our time-intensive battery test. But from the daily use I’ve put in, it typically meets Apple’s 10-hour rating for light tasks like internet browsing or watching videos. Doing more processor-intensive tasks will surely wear it out faster, and I’ve noticed battery life tends to dip a bit when I’m using the Magic Keyboard. But, as with most iPads, you won’t need to reach for the charger too often.

Wrap-up

Jumping back and forth between and Pro has emphasized how great of a value the Air is. I can’t deny there are a number of niceties that all add up to make the iPad Pro experience better. Face ID is clearly superior to Touch ID, for example — I quickly got tired of reaching for the power button to unlock the Air. The iPad Pro’s screen is the definition of luxury, and the improved keyboard case provides a slightly better experience. It’s also lighter and easier to hold, with better speakers, too. And, of course, it has that new M4 chip.

These things are all important and useful, but after getting used to the Air again, I don’t miss them too much. The M2 is plenty powerful for my needs, the Apple Pencil Pro experience is identical, the old Magic Keyboard is still great to type on, the screen is bright and colorful and — perhaps most importantly — it’s $500 cheaper than a comparable iPad Pro.

For some, that extra cash might be well worth it. There are some things the Pro can do that the Air cannot, like shooting ProRes video or go into Apple’s Reference Mode for improved color accuracy and consistency against a bunch of color standards. And the M4 will save time on processor-intensive jobs like rendering video. And some people will simply want to get the best iPad they can, money be damned.

But for the rest of us, the iPad Air is still here, offering 80-ish percent of the iPad Pro experience for a lot less money. And for the first time, there is a large-screen iPad at a much more approachable price. My heart may want an iPad Pro, but my head (and wallet) agree that the iPad Air is a far more reasonable option.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ipad-air-2024-review-of-course-this-is-the-ipad-to-get-210019225.html?src=rss

Engadget

NEWS OF THE WEEK: Rebel Wilson hasn't spoken to Isla Fisher since bombshell claims

The actress admitted she and her former friend have had no contact since her memoir's release. Wilson's book, Rebel Rising, spends one chapter detailing accusations that Fisher's estranged husband Baron Cohen had behaved inappropriately towards her on the set of their 2016 comedy movie, Grimsby. Baron Cohen strongly denied Wilson's claims and after his legal team issued an injunction on the publication, the book was eventually published in the U.K., New Zealand and Australia with much of the relevant chapter, titled Sacha Baron Cohen and Other A**holes, blacked out.

Yahoo Sports

Doctor Who Space Babies review: Bet you didn’t expect that

The following includes spoilers for “Space Babies.”

You can’t help but admire Russell T. Davies’ audacity. He plucks the rights to make Doctor Who from the BBC. He gets Disney+ to write an enormous check to bring the show to life in a way never before attempted. Then, with so much money at stake and a months-long promotional campaign, he opens season one and the door to new fans with this.

We kick off at the end of “The Church on Ruby Road,” with the Doctor's latest companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), entering the TARDIS for the first time. The Doctor introduces himself and offers a quick run-through of the premise for the folks at home. They’re an alien, adopted by the Time Lords of Gallifrey who were then wiped out. That leaves the Doctor (once again) as the last of their kind; a quasi-immortal time traveler who can go anywhere in the universe.

To set the scene, the pair hop back to prehistoric Wyoming to gaze at a detailed vista of some CGI dinosaurs. This is the show boasting about what it can do even for a throwaway scene with its new bigger budget. And it helps banish the memories of some of the from way back when.

Ruby is already savvy to the conventions of the time-travel genre and asks about the risks to causality if . The Doctor dismisses this idea out of hand before Ruby does and causes unutterable damage to the timeline. The butterfly is quickly revived and the Doctor nips back into the TARDIS to activate the Butterfly Compensator. Which is as close as this show gets to saying that it has never been a hard sci-fi show and it never will be.

For their next trip, they travel into the far future, landing on a space station that grows babies for colony projects. The bowels of the vessel are being stalked by an eyeless, teeth-heavy monster while the upper deck is crewed by talking babies. Mere seconds after proving the show can do decent-looking dinosaurs, it overreaches and adds an appallingly creepy CGI mouth to a baby. I’ve seen this done in movies, and commercials, and it never works, and please God stop trying.

The Doctor and Ruby encounter the crew, a bunch of babies with the minds of preschoolers and the mouths of adults, or something. They’ve been left to run the station, with pulleys and cables letting them control specific onboard functions, and smart strollers to carry them around. The only other presence on the ship is an AI, NAN-E, which acts as a comforting voice for the kids.

Ruby’s genre-savviness kicks in again here, and she notices there’s almost a storybook quality to the situation. A bunch of kids being menaced by an unwelcome, bogeyman-esque presence below, and the need for a hero to step in and rescue them. The pair give the babies some much-needed cuddles and are then invited to another part of the station by NAN-E.

On the way, the pair discuss origin stories and how Ruby, following on from the events of “The Church on Ruby Road,” wants to use the TARDIS to find out who her parents are. While they talk, snow — the same snow that fell when Ruby was left on the steps of the eponymous church — starts to fall inside the corridor. Ruby’s memories and history are somehow seeping through into the present, or she’s able to do something to alter the universe.

But they can’t focus on that too much, since they’re interrupted by NAN-E, who turns out not to be an AI, but a person. Jocelyn Sancerre (Golda Rosheuvel) is the last adult crew member, who stayed on the station to care for the children when everyone else was ordered to leave. The government of the planet below pulled funding for the stations and ordered the adults to leave, abandoning the children in place. But, because the planet is also anti-abortion, they wouldn’t terminate the as-yet unborn babies, preferring them to slowly die from external factors. Geez, do you think they might be talking about us?

Much as this will be framed as a post-Roe story by US audiences, it’s worth saying the UK’s Conservative Party has taken a similar approach. In 2010, the Labour government had worked to greatly reduce child poverty and homelessness with a number of targeted programs. These were quickly unwound by the incoming Conservatives, not only undoing all of those gains but making the issue a lot worse. So much so that .

The streak of saying the quiet part out loud continues when, while hatching a plan to save the babies, they opt to take them to another planet in the system. It’s a world that takes in refugees, but you have to turn up on the planet’s doorstep to get any help, because it won’t lift a finger to help rescue people in need from further afield. Again, this is a not-so oblique reference to the UK’s monstrous policy of attempting to block refugees from reaching the country via sea. It is a point of enormous pride for the Prime Minister that he has boasted about his work to prevent boat crossings.

This is made all the more painful as, for a brief moment, the country was reconsidering its approach following the , a two-year-old boy who drowned while attempting passage to Europe from Syria. The image of his body became a harrowing and defining image of the day, but the press quickly worked to stifle any pro-migrant sentiment, enabling the country to engage in an enormous boondoggle by spending millions of pounds building a detention center in Rwanda to forcibly-relocate people seeking asylum in the UK as a “deterrent.”

The grown ups can’t mull their problems for long as Eric, one of the babies (sorry, space babies) heads down to the lower level to tackle this bogeyman. There’s a telling moment where Ruby sprints out to rescue the child far ahead of the Doctor, continuing a thread from the Christmas special: Ruby Sunday is willing to throw herself head-first into the action rather than waiting for help, steel pipe in hand. Doctor Who has always thrived when the companions — a name we’ve been saddled with since 1963 — are active figures in the narrative. Every one of the show’s sidekicks, bar one, has their ardent fans, but commanding figures like Sarah Jane and Ace are always the most beloved.

Once the baby is rescued by the other babies wielding a gas pipe as a flamethrower, they’re sent back upstairs while the Doctor and Ruby take on the bogeyman. Ruby’s assumptions are proved further right when it turns out the alien is actually a bogey-man, as in made of snot. The station’s malfunctioning systems sought to build an appropriate environment for the kids, and used children’s literature as its template.

Jocelyn works out that she can force the bogeyman toward an airlock while keeping the Doctor and Ruby safe. She then exposes the monster to the void of space, but the Doctor can’t be so cruel to another lonely, misunderstood figure. He makes his way into the airlock room and closes the door to seal them both in to save the bogeyman’s life.

The episode ends with the Doctor realizing that the station can eject its six full years worth of soiled diapers to propel it towards the refugee planet. It’s entirely fair game to resolve a crisis precipitated by rogue bodily fluids with a poop joke.

Crisis averted, he and Ruby walk back to the TARDIS where he gives her a key and welcomes her to the team, before adding that, as much as she may want to, he can’t take her back to the moment she was abandoned. He covertly begins scanning Ruby to work out what exactly is her deal, and why she’s capable of bending the universe. (And yes, there are shades of the in how this is playing out.)

The TARDIS lands back at Ruby’s home, smashing up the kitchen and the Christmas dinner therein.

I imagine it won’t be long after the episode airs that the usual corners of the internet will scream culture war. Davies was always a political writer and feels a duty to be unapologetic about his viewpoint on current-day matters. His original tenure on the show was rooted at the tail-end of the Blair and Brown years, fueled by righteous fury around the invasion of Iraq. This is, again, all the more surprising given it’s being broadcast on Disney+, the model of conservative restraint.

During his first tenure, Davies would begin the production of every episode with a tone meeting which outlined how each episode would maintain a consistent feeling in the writing, acting and direction. By comparison, “Space Babies” lurches wildly: Poop and fart jokes in one scene, unsettling horror in the next, weighty examinations of human morality between. The scenes of Jocelyn’s adult dialog being run through the “nanny filter” is a good source of comedy, it’s just odd that they’re juxtaposed with high drama.

But that’s more or less what makes Doctor Who one of the best shows on TV — its ability to do anything it damn well pleases. If the weirdness of what you’ve just seen appeals then you’ve just become a Doctor Who fan. If it didn’t, then you might find the next episode will serve up what you were looking for.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doctor-who-space-babies-review-bet-you-didnt-expect-that-000030277.html?src=rss

Engadget

Samsung HW-Q990D soundbar review: A small but significant update

was the best overall soundbar I tested last year, mostly due to its stellar audio and the fact that a subwoofer and rear speakers came with it. The company didn’t change much for the 2024 version, , but one tweak delivers a feature last year’s model should’ve had: HDMI 2.1. There are some new audio modes too, but you can find those on other Samsung soundbars. The Q990D is as powerful as ever, but it’s still pricey at . If you already bought a Q990C, the company hasn’t given you a reason to upgrade just yet.

What’s new on the Samsung Q990D?

The biggest addition on the Q990D is HDMI 2.1. With this, Samsung addressed my main criticism of the Q990C, which debuted last year at a time when much of the competition had already adopted the standard. HDMI 2.1 delivers 4K passthrough at 120 frames per second, which will improve the visuals if you connect your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X directly to the soundbar.

The Q990D also arrives with new audio modes. Private Listening turns off all of the front-firing drivers and uses only the rear satellite speakers. It’s basically an expanded version of the night mode a lot of companies offer on soundbars, aimed at reducing boomy bass when family or roommates might be asleep. My house has an open floor plan and my TV faces towards the hallway to the bedrooms, which means any soundbar will beam noise in that direction. Private Listening sends the audio the opposite way, and while you have to sacrifice some overall quality, it’s good enough for all the times you need to be quieter.

There’s also a new Party Play mode that provides more balanced sound between the soundbar and rear speakers for a better experience when you’re hosting a rager. When this is active, you get the full audio range rather than just the channels specifically programmed for the speakers behind you. I actually turned the speakers around and faced them out of the living room to project the re-tuned audio into other communal spaces. This makes a bigger difference for movies and TV because music already plays from the rear speakers with more balanced levels.

These two modes aren’t unique to the Q990D; the rest of the 2024 Q-series lineup will be able to use them too. This is the first time I’ve tested them though, and it’s notable that they actually work well on Samsung’s most expensive soundbar.

What’s good

The combination of a driver-packed soundbar, large subwoofer and more-robust rear speakers produces immersive sound that envelops my living room. Whether you’re listening to music or the soundscape of Dune, the Q990D retains the sonic prowess of its predecessor. Dolby Atmos content from Disney+ is as immersive as ever. I could hear the finer details of Knowhere in the opening scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, including the life-like reverb of Radiohead’s “Creep” playing over a loudspeaker. The directional sounds of the town, including the hustle and bustle of people moving around, make it seem like you’re standing right there.

For music, there’s deep, boomy bass when a track calls for it, and that crisp detail that I heard in movies is here too. Justice’s Hyperdrama shows off the Q990D’s range, with driving low-end tone on songs like “Neverender” accompanied by textured synths. Quieter genres like jazz are a blanket of sound too, with albums like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue offering subtleties that make you feel like you’re in the studio.

The thing I like most about the Q990D is that everything you need for a complete surround sound setup is included in the box. The subwoofer and rear speakers come with the soundbar and don’t require an additional purchase. Those satellite speakers also house up-firing and side-firing drivers, which isn’t always the case on comparable accessories from the competition. And the setup is as easy as plugging everything in because pairing with the rest of the system happens automatically.

What’s bad

An all-in-one setup is great, but that also means the Q990D is expensive. At $2,000, this is a considerable investment even if you’re getting everything you need in the package. The Q990D is currently on sale for $1,750, but we don’t know how long that discount will last. For comparison, Sony’s upcoming is $1,400. The cheapest subwoofer and rear speakers you can get for it are $400 and $350 respectively, which puts your total cost at $2,150. Of course, with Sony you have two options for subs and rears, and you don’t have to buy all of them. LG offers some respite if you want to go that route, with its coming in at $1,500 and including the subwoofer and rear speakers with up-firing drivers.

The overall size of the soundbar is something else you’ll need to consider. The Q990D houses 11 front-facing speakers, two up-firing drivers and a subwoofer. All of those components need space, and accommodating them means this soundbar ends up being quite large at 48.5 inches wide. While that’s not a deal-breaker per se, it does require some planning, so just know you’ll need ample room.

Like soundbars from other companies, the Q990D has some handy features that are reserved for Samsung TVs. For example, Q-Symphony, which uses your TV speakers in addition to the soundbar to expand the audio capabilities, requires a compatible 2020-2024 Samsung TV. The Q990D sounds great without this, but just know you’re not getting the full bag of tricks unless you also have a supported TV.

Wrap-up

Unless you care for the latest HDMI standards, the doesn’t offer a huge upgrade over last year’s model. Their design and features lists are nearly identical, except for two new sound modes and 4K/120 passthrough. And some of those additions are available on more-affordable Samsung soundbars. So if you already sprang for last year’s Q990C, there’s probably not enough reason to make another sizable investment. If you don’t already own a Samsung flagship soundbar, the Q990D offers boomy, immersive sound in an all-in-one package that now has all the modern conveniences it should.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-hw-q990d-soundbar-review-a-small-but-significant-update-180022782.html?src=rss

Engadget

Jerry Seinfeld tried to get Chris Rock to reference his Oscar slap for the Pop-Tarts movie

Jerry Seinfeld’s directorial debut is already filled with many of Seinfeld’s various famous friends—all of whom apparently shrugged and said “Eh, it’s Seinfeld, how bad could it be?” when he tapped them to appear in a fictionalized story about the creation of the Pop-Tart. But one notable Seinfeld ally is…

The A.V. Club

Shallow Grave review – Danny Boyle’s Edinburgh noir debut is a triple-crossing treat

Obnoxious flatmates Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston and Kerry Fox get way more than they bargained for with the arrival of enigmatic Keith Allen and a suitcase full of cash

Rereleased for its 30th anniversary, the macabre black-comic crime caper is from screenwriter John Hodge with Danny Boyle making his feature-directing debut, giving us a hint of the turbocharged showmanship that always marked his style and which he was to crank up another notch a few years later with the zeitgeisty 90s hit Trainspotting. Shallow Grave is a bizarre Edinburgh noir, centring on cover-ups, disloyalty and incompetent corpse-management in the approximate spirit of Ealing, with touches of Hitchco*ck’s The Trouble With Harry and Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane. It’s also a kind of 90s young person flatshare entertainment, but closer to the BBC’s This Life than Friends.

We get an embarrassment of riches in the cast, with Peter Mullan, Ken Stott and Gary Lewis in small roles. But it’s the three stars who jump out of the screen at you: sexy hospital doctor Juliet, played by Kerry Fox, morose bespectacled accountant David, (Christopher Eccleston), and louche and grinning journalist Alex, played by Ewan McGregor. This grisly trio of entirely obnoxious individuals (who incidentally break the relatability rule that would nowadays be imposed on a movie like this) have a huge flat in Edinburgh and need a fourth person to share the bills. After auditioning a few people and variously pranking and humiliating them – behaviour which alone justifies everything they get, including the beating Alex receives in a hotel lavatory – they agree to a certain coolly mysterious applicant, played by Keith Allen, who claims to be writing a novel about the death of a priest. It is this enigmatic new flatmate who is to bring murder and chaos, double-cross and triple-cross, into these hapless people’s lives.

The Guardian Film

‘It was terrifying but screw it’: the director who had to disown her film to get an Oscar nomination

Tiger Stripes, about a girl who turns into a jungle cat when her periods start, was chosen by Malaysia as its Oscar entry. But they wanted cuts. Amanda Nell Eu relives a ‘painful and comedic’ experience

The director Amanda Nell Eu has always been a bit of a rebel, she says over video chat from her home in Kuala Lumpur. “When I was teenager, I was sometimes labelled a monster by my parents and teachers. I probably wasn’t the most obedient child.” Now Eu has turned the horrors of puberty into an actual horror movie. Tiger Stripes is her feature debut, a funny and political film with a whopping air punch of girl power. Set in a conservative Muslim school, it mixes body horror with Mean Girls energy and a sprinkle of Malaysian folklore.

Eu cast her trio of leading girls during lockdown, putting adverts on Instagram and searching through TikTok profiles: “Schools were shut, everything was shut.” Zafreen Zairizal plays 12-year-old Zaffan, a rebel who is constantly yanking off her headscarf and daringly wears a bra to school. Zaffan’s body is changing: hairs sprout and spots erupt. Then, when she becomes the first girl in class to get her period, she’s ostracised by her two best friends. “You’re dirty now,” adds her mother.

The Guardian Film

20 Essential Summer Buys, According To R29 Readers

It’s the beginning of May, which means several things are currently sitting at the top of our to-do lists: it’s time to send our friends that , set our alarms for the return of a , and take a trip down memory lane to unearth the our readers loved in the past month.

If the top-performing items from our April stories were any indication, our readers are very much ready to bid spring adieu and usher in hot girl summer, even with still a few weeks away. Among the bestsellers are breezy dresses, glowy makeup, and several thrown in for good measure. This can only mean one thing: you are making some epic plans this summer, and these buys are getting you in the mood.

Click ahead for the 20 products our Most Wanted readers loved in April, based on anonymous shopping data. Feel free to put on “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter — poised to become the summer bop of 2024 — while you’re at it.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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A Week In Des Moines, IA On A $71,000 Salary

Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up diary. You can read the original entry .

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I don’t remember specifically. I know my parents encouraged me to have a savings account and to save as much as possible.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got a job at a daycare when I was 14 and able to drive. (Yes, you can drive at 14 in the state where I grew up.) I wanted spending money. I worked there for about six months before getting fired for not having any availability. This remains the only time I’ve ever been fired.

Did you worry about money growing up?
I remember my parents telling me that we had to cut back in 2008. Other than that, no. We didn’t live extravagantly, but I never had to go without anything, and it never felt like we were struggling.

Do you worry about money now?
Worry? No. But I think about it constantly. I’m in my YNAB budget daily and check my Personal Capital net worth monthly. I’ve saved enough that I will be okay if an emergency happens, which really takes away a lot of stress.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
When I graduated college at 21 and got a real job, I took over the majority of my own expenses. However, my parents allowed me to stay on their health insurance until I was 26, and I’m still on their phone plan and Netflix. I try to operate under the assumption that I’m on my own, but the reality is that my parents would take me in if I were in a truly dire situation.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
My parents gave me $5,000 for Christmas in 2019, which allowed me to buy my house about six months earlier than I was planning to. This is the only large lump sum I’ve received since college. I don’t know if this counts, but I also took advantage of some neighborhood-based and income-based home buying programs that my city offers, which also helped me purchase my home. The total was about $12,500 in forgivable loans and $15,000 in 0% interest loans. The remaining amounts on those are reflected in my mortgage total above.

Day One

6 a.m. — Someone in my neighborhood is yelling, maybe for their cat. I check my phone. Not time to get up yet.

6:45 a.m. — My alarm hasn’t gone off yet, but I’m awake, so I get up and get dressed in the clothes I so nicely set out for myself last night. I brush my teeth, put on my sunscreen, and drink my daily protein shake. I have a few extra minutes, so I spend them plunking out a song on the piano. I used to play about 15 years ago, and have recently started taking it back up. I am very bad.

7:30 a.m. — Time to leave for work. It’s about a 15 minute drive.

8:30 a.m. — My boss messaged me a few times over the weekend, so I reply to him and get started on the various campaigns I need to get drafted this week.

10:30 a.m. — Time for a second cup of coffee. One of my favorite coworkers missed my news last week: I was getting super excited about a guy I was seeing (like, movie-level connection, I swear) when he suddenly needed to “work on his finances” (eye roll). We commiserate about that for a couple of minutes. Onward and upward. I’ve only recently gotten back into the dating world. About five years ago, I wrote a Money Diary in which my partner H. exhibited some major red flags, and the comments really let him have it. Regardless, we stayed together for five years, until we broke up six months ago. I was looking for more commitment than he was able to provide, so we decided to go our separate ways.

12 p.m. — I peel my lunch banana and start eating it, then I get a call from a recruiter I’m working with. She had a role that would be perfect for me, and she just submitted my info to the company. Maybe they want to schedule an interview! I beeline it to a private place and answer, and she tells me the company is pausing their search to “regroup internally.” Ah yes, the job search equivalent of “working on their finances.” “It’s not you, it’s me.” Right. I dejectedly finish my banana and get some trail mix from the work vending machine. I’m going out for dinner, so a light lunch it is. $0.25

2:30 p.m. — I bum a quarter from a coworker and get a La Croix from the vending machine. Pamplemousse! I blast some focus music to try to get something accomplished this afternoon. If I can hear my coworkers’ conversations, I feel the need to join in, and, wowza, I talk a lot. This has been a major issue since my company called us back into the office.

4:30 p.m. — Quittin’ time. I drive to the restaurant. I am meeting with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, and we have GOSSIP to share! We have a great evening, a couple of glasses of wine on happy hour, and a delicious pizza — goat cheese, honey, arugula. Perfection. Then a salted caramel mousse thing for dessert. She picks up the tab for dinner, I pay for dessert. She’s way too nice to me. $11.63

8 p.m. — I get home, crash on the couch, and chat with a new Hinge match. He likes swing dancing and musical theatre. Very promising. We set up a date for Saturday afternoon. I auditioned for a community theatre play yesterday, and today I get notified that I have a callback, tomorrow at 7 p.m. Nice! In my last Money Diary, I was working in theatre. I am much happier now that it’s my hobby instead of my job, and that’s not just because of the extreme difference in pay. When you’re working in the industry it is much harder to participate in it outside of work.

10 p.m. — Time for bed. I brush my teeth, wash my face, and go to sleep.

Daily Total: $11.88

Day Two

6:30 a.m. — I get up, pet my cats, and take a shower. Take my meds, drink my protein shake, plunk on my piano, out the door at 7:30 a.m. I even put on some makeup to look nice for callbacks tonight.

8 a.m. — One of our vendors is doing a training today, which eats up a big chunk of my morning. We are holding our own training as well, so I get the room set up, put out snacks and water, and make sure the presenter doesn’t need anything.

11:30 a.m. — I head over to the Hy-Vee. I buy a pack of gum to break my $20 ($1.66) and then get some things to keep in the work freezer for lunch ($11.68). Instead of making one of the things I just bought for lunch, I buy Jimmy Johns ($9.62, but on a gift card) and take a short walk around the park. I give 26 cents to the person who gave me a quarter yesterday. Gotta make his investment worthwhile. He laughs. $13.60

1 p.m. — Our training is a bit of a disaster. I start formulating a plan to make future ones better.

4:30 p.m. — Before my callback, I’m meeting my trivia team at a bar for charity trivia. I get a cider ($7) and make a donation ($31.50). $38.50

6:15 p.m. — I leave for my callback. It goes pretty well! They called back three women for one role, so I’d say I have a 33% chance of getting it. When I get home, I am exhausted. But hungry. I make some taco meat and use it for nachos — salsa, bell peppers, cheese, and sour cream. Then it’s time for bed.

Daily Total: $52.10

Day Three

7 a.m. — Get up. Morning routine. This morning my piano song is one I know pretty well, to make myself feel better about my skills.

8 a.m. — Get to work, check emails, drink coffee. I have a meeting with my CEO this morning, and it goes really well. I thought I had a hard ask, but he agreed to it right away. I do not understand this product I’m trying to promote. Usually I can learn things pretty quickly, but this one is stumping me. I ask Google about it, I ask our experts about it, I ask ChatGPT about it, and I’m still struggling hard.

12 p.m. — The director of the play calls me. I got the part! My coworkers overhear me on the phone and clap for me when the call is over. They’re so sweet.

1 p.m. — Haircut appointment. This place is objectively too expensive, but I tried multiple salons to find someone who a) would even attempt to do a pixie cut and b) did it well, and this is where I landed. My hair does look great. They also do a complimentary touch-up between appointments, so I can stretch them out to every three months. $110.95

2 p.m. — Therapy! We recently switched from every week to every other week (thanks, Wellbutrin) and I have a lot to say. I make myself laugh out loud by comparing my recent fling with the song Red (faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ended so suddenly). That’s too melodramatic even for me. Also, I need to find an artist other than Taylor Swift to use as my entire personality. This $20 comes out of my FSA.

3 p.m. — I have a date at a coffee shop after work, so instead of going back to the office, I head to the coffee shop to finish up my day. I get a cobb salad with all the extra vegetables and a turtle mocha. Salad is mid, coffee is great. $14.59

5 p.m. — This guy is insufferable. He buys me a tea, then talks at me about how reading YA novels doesn’t count as reading (I didn’t bring it up), complains about online dating, and then says, “But it’s not all bad. At least you get to talk to me,” with no indication that he’s being facetious. I turn down his request for another date.

7:30 p.m. — Usually Wednesday night would be trivia (yes, still on the same team as my ex), but tonight, it’s time for a video call with my friends. We’ve all got stressful things going on, and we’re all over the world, so I appreciate the time to reconnect. We talk for over two hours. After that, I say something cringy to my Hinge match from the other night and go to sleep.

Daily Total: $125.54

Day Four

7 a.m. — The usual morning lineup. I stop for gas on my way to work. It’s back under $3 per gallon. $32.76

8 a.m. — This week at work I’ve been putting off the major project that I have to do in favor of smaller, easier ones. It’s crunch time now. I put in my headphones and start blasting my Taylor Swift.

10:45 a.m. — Time for a snack. I get another vending machine trail mix packet. The vending machines here are so cheap that it’s a real crutch for me and my poor planning. $0.25

12:30 p.m. — I heat up one of the lunches I bought on Tuesday: a frozen wild rice, broccoli, and carrots packet. I add shrimp, which I buy frozen. It’s pretty tasty. My coworker finds an abandoned co*ke in the vending machine and gives it to me.

2:45 — To avoid falling asleep at my desk, I get up and take a lap around the building. It’s unseasonably warm outside. I stop at the vending machine for a La Croix: lime this time. $0.25

4:30 p.m. — My friend calls as I’m leaving work. She’s having some issues with one of her coworkers and wants my advice. When I get home, I take a quick nap, then heat up some taco meat for nachos again, shower well enough that I don’t smell, and then head back out the door. I have a ballroom dance class tonight. It’s the last week of an eight-week series. We learned the basics of waltz, tango, and foxtrot. It’s been a lot of fun! I will definitely sign up for another class when I’m done with the play.

8:30 p.m. — I have a FWB from another state that I see when he’s in town for work. I met him on Tinder shortly after my breakup. At first I really needed a hot stranger to tell me I’m pretty. Now that I’m doing better mentally, it’s just fun to chat with someone whose life is so different from mine, and with whom I would never actually be able to have a relationship. I wasn’t going to see him this week, but he tells me that this is his last trip here. I’m sentimental and dramatic, as we know, and the idea of a fond goodbye is enough to get me out of the house. I pack a bag in case I stay with him. We meet for a drink at the bar next to his hotel. I have two gin and tonics, he has a few whiskey co*kes. He pays. We talk about life.

10:30 p.m. — We walk over to his hotel, and when we get in the elevator he grabs me and kisses me, hard. I melt a little. The rest of the night is wonderful, although I don’t get much sleep.

Daily Total: $33.26

Day Five

6:30 a.m. — My alarm goes off, and I swear at it. FWB gives me a little snuggle and then I get up to shower. We grab breakfast at the hotel. I have some yogurt with berries and a hard boiled egg, which is cooked perfectly. I have to head to work, and he has an Uber coming to bring him to the airport, so we give each other a big hug and say goodbye. What a weird feeling.

7:15 a.m. — I get to work early to shoot a video. The person in front of the camera does a great job. My weekly check in with my boss goes well. Not much to report, and with him, no news is good news. I am already on my second cup of coffee.

10:30 a.m. — I eat an oatmeal cream pie from the vending machine. I wish I had gotten my morning protein shake. By 11:30 a.m.,I need a third coffee. There are mini bags of chips set out in the work kitchen. I take the Crunchy Cheetos. At 12:45 p.m., I take my lunch break and eat another rice/veggies/shrimp meal. $0.40

2:45 p.m. — With under two hours left of the week, my coworkers and I are pretty much fried. We start talking about Mel Brooks movies, expired stuff we still had in our cupboards (?), and the desert full of tires in Kuwait (??).

3:45 p.m. — I came in early, so I get to leave early. I get home and take a nap. My cats both snuggle on top of me.

5:30 p.m. — I heat up the rest of my taco meat. Someone at work mentioned Office Space, which I have never seen, so I put it on. It’s… Okay. While the movie plays I decide to do some picking up. I’m about three years overdue on cleaning my oven, so I get out my oven cleaner. Of course it’s nearly empty. I consider ordering some on Amazon, but for whatever reason, I really want to get this done right now. I go to the hardware store down the street and buy some. There’s a very cute dog there. $6.34

7 p.m. — The oven is sprayed, the dishwasher is running, and all the trash is in the outdoor trash can. HBO recommends Wedding Crashers, which I’ve also never seen, so I put it on. It’s not very good.I try out the “espresso martini wine co*cktail” I got at Aldi last week. It’s decent for $10. I put some coffee creamer in it, which helps. I have a couple glasses of it and wipe down the oven when it’s time. Holy cow, the oven was disgusting.

9 p.m. — Somewhat buzzed, I decide it’s time to learn a new song on the piano. In my alcohol-induced confidence I buy the sheet music for Olivia Rodrigo’s Vampire. I can totally sing that… Yeah. $6.36

Daily Total: $13.10

Day Six

8:30 a.m. — I get out of bed, pick out a decent outfit, and do some eye makeup. I grind and brew some coffee and have a protein shake. I pull up the Vampire sheet music to see if I can actually play it as well as I thought I could last night. To my surprise, I can!

9 a.m. — I leave the house to go to Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve been playing in my coworker’s campaign for a few months now. On my way, I get a slice of sausage breakfast pizza from Casey’s, which is my pre-DnD tradition. Oh man, it’s so good. $3.41

11 a.m. — DnD gets done early today. We all leveled up significantly, as next session is the grand finale. It was a really nice session, with some fun role play and a wedding between two NPCs. I’ll be sad when it’s over. Since I have some time before my date, I decide to try bra shopping. I can’t get down with the idea of buying one online. I go to Soma, which is the only place in town I haven’t tried. The workers are very nice but I get stressed out and have to leave. This is why all my bras are several years old.

12:25 p.m. — The stress made me sweaty, and I have to head to my date. I go to the Sephora next door, spray some dry shampoo in my hair, find some perfume that mostly smells like lemons, and hope the guy doesn’t get close enough to smell me.

12:50 p.m. — I get to the coffee shop a little early and stand in line. When the guy walks in, I recognize him right away from his photos. Phew. We split a Chemex. I am not usually one for black coffee, but this is darn good. He pays. We have a lot in common and never run out of things to talk about. He’s also good looking. We talk at the coffee shop until it closes at 3 p.m., then we decide to walk around outside, and end up hanging out until 5 p.m. At the end of the date, he asks for my number, walks me to my car, and gives me a small kiss after asking permission. He says that he had a great time and wants to see me again. I agree enthusiastically.

5:15 p.m. — I’m feeling pretty good when I get home, so I text him to reiterate that I had fun and would like to hang out again. He seems to have had a change of heart on his drive home, because he says something about not being sure there was a “romantic spark.” Maybe he noticed that I smell. I resist the urge to get back on Hinge immediately. I eat some carrots, bell peppers, and cottage cheese while I text my friends, “Had a good first date, but he’s not attracted to me.” They provide the proper amount of consolation.

6:30 p.m. — I make some rotini with butter, garlic, and parmesan — my comfort meal. I run a bath and eat my pasta while I watch Tick, Tick… Boom for maybe the fifth time. I just love Andrew Garfield, okay?

9 p.m. — A new season of Love Is Blind is out and nobody told me? I start to watch the first episode. I drift off before the episode is over.

Daily Total: $3.41

Day Seven

7 a.m. — Nope. Not getting up yet.

8:30 a.m. — I get out of bed and gather all my dirty clothes into my hamper. I take them downstairs and start the first load of laundry. The remainder of the morning is a combination of laundry, vacuuming, piano, watering plants, and singing and dancing to my cleaning music.

12:00 p.m. — I make myself some eggs over easy and toast with everything bagel seasoning. Delicious. When I put my plate in the dishwasher, I notice that the bread I used has mould on some slices. After a momentary panic, I decide there’s nothing I can do about having eaten mould. I return to my cleaning.

2:15 p.m. — I put on more Love Is Blind. This season is a nightmare. I can’t look away.

3:30 p.m. — It’s gorgeous outside. I pause the show to take a walk around my neighborhood. When I get back, I have a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with oat milk. A couple of cats are having a hardcore fight outside. My neighbor starts throwing rocks at one of them and I ask him to please stop. Then he gets out a ladder and starts climbing up my tree, looking for one that got chased up there. I watch with horror.

5:30 p.m. — I cook some salmon, broccoli, and couscous for dinner. It’s pretty delicious! There is enough left over for three more meals. I also prep some overnight oats for breakfast tomorrow. I pat myself on the back for actually cooking and planning lunch.

5:45 p.m. — The aerator on my sink breaks while I am washing dishes, and it sprays water everywhere. I order a pack of six replacements on Amazon. I return to Love Is Blind. My friends and I share some Instagram memes back and forth. This is my perfect Sunday evening after a busy week. $6.94

9 p.m. — I am still hungry. I put some chicken nuggets in the toaster oven.

10:00 p.m. — Time for bed. I dumped my clean laundry on the bed earlier and didn’t fold it. Rather than fold it now, I move it over to make room for myself. Goodnight!

Daily Total: $6.94

The Breakdown

Weekly Total $$ Spent: $266.23
Food & Drink: $51.38
Entertainment: $6.36
Home & Health: $13.28
Clothes & Beauty $110.95
Transportation $32.76
Other $31.50

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Your Horoscope This Week: May 5 To 11

Now that we’re well into , all zodiac signs are likely to be in the mood to deepen their connection to earth, to their values, and to their body. This is particularly the case because Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus are all in Taurus at the same time as the Sun and the Moon, making fixed earth energy a dominating force in the cosmos this week. All zodiac signs will feel an increased amount of passion coursing through them, but we’ll also be reacting in more stubborn and temperamental ways.

The highlight of this week is the occurring at 11:22 p.m. EST on Tuesday May 7. This lunation encourages us to tap into our physical senses in order to create a deeper sense of security and self-trust, which will then ripple over on a collective level and will encourage us to reflect on ways to make Earth feel like a safer place to live. Profound evolution can occur on personal and societal levels these next six months if we’re intentional about where we’re directing our time, resources, and energy and if we keep standing up against what’s inherently harmful. It’s up to us.

Read your horoscopes for your Sun and Rising signs for the most in-depth forecast.

Aries Sun & Rising:

Aries, this week’s Taurus new moon activates your sector of money and security, making it prime time for you to get your finances in order. These next six months provide you with the foundation necessary to start fresh if you’ve felt overwhelmed financially. The key is to break things down into step-by-step action items that you can do to create a greater sense of stability and structure in your personal and professional budget.

Since this is Pluto’s first full week retrograde in Aquarius, your social circle will also be on your mind this week. People from your past may hit you up and ask to reconcile your relationship or reconnect. Check in with yourself to see if you have capacity to hold space for people who may have once left you hanging. Yes, we’re all evolutionary beings, but with for the next five weeks, you’re feeling a bit more selfish with your energy, and that’s perfectly acceptable.

Taurus Sun & Rising:

Happy new moon, Taurus! On the 7th your annual new moon strikes, helping you get out of whatever funk you may have been experiencing during the first . You’ll have the feeling of seeing yourself from a completely refreshed perspective, allowing you to be kinder and more compassionate with yourself, your inner child, and people around you.

With in your career sector, you may be reflecting on moments when you were way too tough on yourself professionally speaking, which may have led to burnout or deeply rooted frustration. Use this retrograde to reimagine what your career path would look like if you chose to approach it from the spirit of play rather than pain. What would it feel like to choose the path of least resistance? Take time this week to set your new moon intentions, and use Mars’ presence in Aries in your spirituality sector to make sure your intentions are aligned with your intuitive awareness of what’s best for you.

Gemini Sun & Rising:

This Taurus new moon week activates your sector of spirituality and healing, Gemini. You’ll be in a more homebody mood during this lunation, but at the same time, Mars’ presence in Aries is activating your sector of friendship and could lead to people hitting you up left and right and seeking your attention. Since Venus, the Planet of Love and Connection, in your solitude sector, chances are that you’d benefit from saying no to too many requests. Your spirit needs time to rest and recharge.

Pluto, the Planet of Transformation, spends its first week retrograde in Aquarius. This activates your sector of travel and long journeys, which means a part of you may be taking a trip down memory lane this week and remembering some of your favorite experiences. What can you do to reignite that spark that you once felt back then? Instead of feeling like you’re missing out, start brainstorming ways to bring more adventurousness into your life through the events you go to, the books you read, and the movies you watch. You don’t have to book a flight, but you can travel in other ways.

Cancer Sun & Rising:

Cancer, as a moon-ruled being you’ll feel quite attuned to the energy of this week’s Taurus new moon which activates your sector of friendship and social networks. If you’ve had to share a special project digitally, this is the week to put yourself out there on social platforms, including ones you may not be utilizing as much, such as LinkedIn. You’d benefit from experimenting with various forms of self-expression, especially with Mars, the Planet of Action, and causing you to step out of your comfort zone, whether you feel completely ready to or not.

Pluto spends its first week retrograde in Aquarius in your sector of depth and merging. Past collaborators may resurface in your life, itching for another chance to work with you. It’s advised to take your time to see what the pros and cons of your last project(s) were, and to also check in with your body when it comes to how you feel about working with that person or those people again. Your gut instincts are likely to tell you everything you need to know. Trust yourself, don’t second-guess yourself.

Leo Sun & Rising:

Leo, this week’s Taurus new moon strikes in your career sector, encouraging you to slow your roll, professionally speaking. Mars’ presence in Aries has supercharged you with different ideas and ambitions, but having the Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus all in Taurus is also encouraging you to make sure that you’re not rushing to the finish line. You may need to set new intentions regarding what success looks and feels like for you, beyond material gain.

Meanwhile, in Aquarius may lead to you reflecting on the successes and challenges of your past and current relationships. You’re being invited to be more adaptable and clear when it comes to the way you show up for your loved ones and the way you want them to show up for you. Mars’ presence in Aries can help you vocalize your needs with confidence, but make sure you hold space for your loved ones to do the same, without you getting defensive if they have constructive feedback. It’s all a learning and growing experience…

Virgo Sun & Rising:

Virgo, this week Mercury ends its post-shadow period of its , so you may feel like the brain fog you’ve been dealing with is finally starting to clear. Perfect timing, because the Taurus new moon on the 7th strikes in your sector of expansion and travel, encouraging you to plan a dream trip between now and the next six months. You deserve to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life and do more of what your heart’s been craving, so make sure you set intentions this week that prioritize your bliss.

With Pluto spending its first full week retrograde in Aquarius, your mind will be on your health and wellness routines. This would be an ideal week to be proactive about your health and wellbeing, whether that’s booking a checkup you’ve been avoiding or (re)connecting with a therapist to ensure that your mental needs are being met. There’s so much that you’ve been dealing with behind the scenes, and since Pluto is the planet of the underworld, a lot of your subconscious fears, insecurities, and blockages may reemerge during this five-month retrograde. Be patient with yourself and have compassion for whatever feelings come up at this time.

Libra Sun & Rising:

Libra, this week’s Taurus new moon brings out your Venusian qualities, especially since your planetary ruler at the same time as the new moon (as well as the Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus). This Taurus stellium activates your sector of depth, merging, and collaborations. If you play your cards right, you may end up doubling or tripling your income and increasing your revenue streams within the next six months, based on the intentions you choose to set and act on this week and beyond.

This also means that you may need to find some new partners with whom to create or make money, Libra. This is especially due to the fact that the south node is in your sign, swiftly removing anyone that you’ve outgrown from your orbit or timeline, even if you tend to be a people-pleaser. Accept that this new moon means you’re entering a fresh chapter of your life, and things are going to look and feel different from now on.

Scorpio Sun & Rising:

This week’s Taurus new moon takes place in your partnership sector, Scorpio, encouraging you to be crystal clear about what your most ideal relationship with yourself and others feels and flows like. Imagine that you have a blank canvas on which you can paint your dream life — who would be living that life with you, and what qualities and energy would they be contributing to your experience? You’re encouraged to let go of your need to figure out how and when it’s all going to happen, and rather tap into why you want it to happen. The Universe will take care of the rest.

in Aquarius may have you in a distant state of mind this week, as you’re being called to evaluate ways that you’ve previously sabotaged your own success due to your fear of failure (or even your fear of success). Instead of beating yourself up about moments of past paralysis or self-destruction, Pluto’s asking you to be brave and rise from your ashes. This doesn’t have to happen overnight. This is a five-month retrograde so you can take your time during your rebirth, but the key is to not stay stuck in old ways. Bloom beyond your apprehensions.

Sagittarius Sun & Rising:

This brings forth the Taurus new moon, Sag, and since your planetary ruler Jupiter is currently in Taurus until the 25th, you’re feeling a strong emphasis on taking care of your mental and physical health. This is the week to weed out distractions and unhealthy habits, especially if you’ve been meaning to do so since the start of the year but you kept putting it off. We’re two weeks away from your annual full moon, so spend the days after May 7 setting specific intentions regarding the new and evolved being you’d like to become.

With Pluto spending its first week retrograde in Aquarius, your desire to create and express yourself imaginatively deepens significantly this week. Get out your journal or paintbrush, let yourself sing in the shower, or indulge in a creative hobby that you used to adore when you were younger. The more you let your inner child explore life’s wonders in innovative ways, the more in tune you’ll feel with the world within and around you.

Capricorn Sun & Rising:

Capricorn, this week’s Taurus new moon encourages you to play more. You’ll be in the mood to indulge in leisure, especially since the Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus are all in this sector of your chart all at once. This week is ideal for brainstorming ways to minimize what’s on your to-do list in order to give yourself more time to breathe and expand your current circ*mstances.

Pluto’s first full week retrograde in Aquarius is activating your money sector, so if you find yourself stuck in scarcity-based mindsets when looking at your bank account, know that this isn’t a permanent feeling… It’s normal to have insecurities during , but the new moon energy can help you remember that there are several ways to measure wealth in your life. You can measure wealth by how much presence you have with your loved ones, by how many deep breaths you take, by how much sleep you get. Dare to reimagine what it means to be wealthy, and soon financial wealth will simultaneously flow into your life.

Aquarius Sun & Rising:

Aquarius, with in your sign, you’ll be in a mellow and low-key mood. The Taurus new moon on the 7th intensifies your desire to stay close to home and not get caught up in drama or distractions. Your sector of roots, domesticity, and the past is activated by the Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus all in Taurus. “Less is more” should be your mantra for the week. Take a break from your usual routine. Allow yourself to spend all day resting in bed at least one day this week. Turn off your phone and spend more time meditating, looking at the trees swaying in the wind… Simplicity will feel healing for you.

The intentions you set this new moon week will most likely have to do with finding ways to feel more at ease with your family, or cultivating deeper ties to your chosen family. You’re known as the rebel of the zodiac, the unconventional hermit, but with Pluto retrograde in Aquarius you’re also realizing how solitary your journey can be. But it doesn’t always have to be. If you put out the right call, the right people will answer…

Pisces Sun & Rising:

Pisces, this week’s Taurus new moon stimulates your sector of communication and creativity, making the course of the next six months one of your most sensitive and artistic periods of the year. The intentions you set around May 7 will help kickstart a fertile and imaginative time for you artistically and personally. You’re in the mood to experiment with life and with the concept of creation, and with Saturn and Neptune both in your sign you have the green light to view life as your playground.

Pluto’s first full week retrograde in Aquarius is activating your sector of spirituality and closure, so you may benefit from spending time on your own this week rather than tending to other people’s needs. Keep a dream journal near your bed because your subconscious mind is likely to be super active around this time. Your mission this week is to pay attention to the signs and synchronicities in while also finding practical ways to remain grounded and in touch with reality.

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‘Megalopolis’ Teaser Trailer: Adam Driver Stops Time In First Look At Francis Ford Coppola’s Upcoming Dramatic Epic

One of cinema’s living legends, at 85 years old, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now”) has finally made “Megalopolis,” an ambitious sci-fi epic he’s been dreaming of making since the 1980s. With the film set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, in a matter of days, French distributor Le Pacte has released the first look teaser of the movie.

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Where’s Sean From Selling The OC Now? Here’s Who’s He’s Still Friends With From The Oppenheim Group

Accusing your co-worker of wanting a threesome with didn't leave him with many pals.

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