Just a thought… For everything you have missed, you have gained something else. [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Welcome in to a collection of thoughts on this Monday morning, as we cruise far too quickly through July, the sweet spot of summer. Today: FOMO (fear of missing out) and being grateful I did.

Hello Dolly or The Movie that Bombs

Feeling big time FOMO about not getting to either the Barbie movie or the Christopher Nolan epic Oppenheimer on their shared opening weekend. On Friday I posted a Twitter poll asking what people would see if they could. Two-thirds of the 188 who responded chose the latter. (And one open-mouthed breather said he hoped I was getting paid for asking. Um, what?)

Anyway, as you know by now, the two films are about as disparate as two films can be, but both are blockbusters (Barbie winning soundly at the box office but both outperforming already huge predictions, fuelling the fourth-largest weekend in history). One is pink sorbet served up with a nice feminist frosting; the other a biopic that makes us think, informs and features Oscar-worthy work. It’s been a long time since many of us were in a theatre having a communal experience, but a stomach bug kept me from grabbing an opportunity to see one of the two yesterday.

And I’m not at all ashamed to say I’m excited to see Barbie. I want a bit of clever, mindless fun along with my meaningful films. I’ll happily pay for entertainment where I’m in for a great escape but know what the outcome will be, unlike the money laid down at a sporting event.

Sweepless in Seattle (but barely…)

After feeling massive FOMO on Friday at the memory of having enjoyed a Jays’ visit to Seattle a few years back, today I’m overwhelmed with gratitude not to have spent hundreds/thousands of American dollars to go to Seattle, pay up-charged hotel or rental rates and buy extra-high-priced baseball tickets (plus ferry costs) to watch the Toronto Blue Jays lose 2 out of 3 to the Seattle Mariners (winning the third one by only one run). Call me a fair-weather fan if you like, but when I think of the number of Canadians from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who did just that, I feel truly sorry for them. Yes, as with any live sports event, you pay your money and take your chances, but that’s just awful. Thankfully, Seattle is a beautiful city to visit, win or lose, and like ours, the weather there was spectacular this weekend. But…ouch.

Oh and dear baseball gods: please help our pitchers. Thank you. In return, I promise to swear less. A lot less.

Thanks for Nothing, Rocket Boy

By the time you read this, obscenely rich and unhinged twit Elon Musk may have killed Twitter’s famous 17-year-old blue bird logo in favour of an X. Seems it’s his MO: Musk tried to turn PayPal to X.com when he became CEO in 2000, despite research that showed people much preferred its original name.

For a guy with plenty of them, Elon sure loves his exes.

I’m not giving him one cent. When I lost my certified-authentic blue check mark because he wanted his own “marks” to pay, it didn’t matter to me anymore. I mean, who wants to pretend to be me anyway?

What does matter is my connection with 31,000 almost entirely real people (I block bot accounts as soon as they start following). There’s a lot of thought that goes into the content I post to make that connection and now it appears it’s all going to dwindle to nothing; we shall see.

Meantime, feel free to join me at the new Threads app. I’m there @erindawndavis, if you’re so inclined.

Speaking of which, this week we have a sweet Dottie adventure that I’ll share with you next Monday, while tomorrow there’s a brand new Drift with Erin Davis sleep story: The Fairy by the creator of Cinderella, Charles Perrault. Lisa and I are cooking up Episode 30 (!) of Gracefully & Frankly for you on Thursday – and let’s stay connected wherever we can, shall we?