hello from miss goog :)

I was a writer before I was most things. I think I started my first blog when I was around 11, maybe 12? I remember one of my very first posts being an activist-adjacent anti-airbrush campaign. It was a compilation of photoshopped images of women next to the raw, original photos, tucked nicely in-between paragraphs that demanded more self-love and an end to photoshopping. As if being a woman wasn’t already hard enough, a 12 year old had some shit to say about self-love.
That blog, I hope, is lost somewhere deep on the internet, never to be found.

A couple years after that, I tried to write a novel (also in real time… also on a blog…). Just a young girl slowly unfolding the story as I wrote each chapter, sometimes struggling to remember what I had written in chapters prior. There was absolutely zero storyboarding, no plan, and NO IDEA HOW THE BOOK WOULD END. (Seems quite similar to my musical process now, actually?) Needless to say that novel did not get finished.
After that, when I was around 20, I wrote and *almost* published a book of poetry. And now, I write lyrics for a living.

Long story long: words have always been one of my favorite ways to exist in the world.

The nice thing about this Substack is I can share more than words. I can also share snippets of works in progress, throw pictures in (NOTHING PHOTOSHOPPED I SWEAR), expound on the smaller bite size pieces I share on my other socials, maybe even loop in some poetry. For example: here’s a snippet of something I’ve been working on. I quantized some birdsong, aahaha. (meaning I timed it to the beat grid)

It’s all very self indulgent, which I can’t help but notice, so I’ll try to not drag on and on for too long. Very slippery is the slope from “interesting newsletter update” to “diary entry” and I can only imagine which you’d rather read… ;)

I started googly eyes as a last ditch effort to save my relationship to music.

It was almost like couples therapy for “us.” I was so defeated. Starting googly eyes was a hail-mary to repair my own love for making and a desperate attempt to reorient my sails. And here I am, a little bit later, with the pieces starting to soften into place in a really beautiful way… and here YOU are, reading this, supporting me, and curious about the journey. Which I think is very nice of you. :’)

Lately, I feel like I’ve been hitting this peak of energy, riding on little waves of hope and a newfound sense of self-control. There’s a horizon full of juicy delicious things that I can’t share just yet, but hopefully soon. Lots of music, for sure. I can’t wait to tell you about aaaaalll of it.

That said, it’s really nice to see you again. Thanks for reading. 🤍

Chat soon,
goog

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