best britney spears song but you can’t say toxic, baby one more time, oops I did it again, slave 4 u, gimme more, womanizer, breathe on me, get naked or break the ice
The aesthetic of The Velvet Rope era was everything. Deep reds, black leather, chokers, piercings, tattoos, and those fiery “scarlet heat” curls gave the entire era this sensual, rebellious energy. This wasn’t just a look. It felt like a visual extension of the album itself.
Nothing will ever convince me that being 12 years old, sitting on the floor of your bedroom, listening to music on a tiny CD player while flipping through a magazine wasn’t one of the most peaceful eras of human civilization.
I appreciate that Dolly Parton played no part in "dress respectability" and, by her own account, modeled her aesthetic after a town "tramp," who she thought was beautiful. She separated aesthetics from character and understood "classiness" to be about how you treat people.
In 1988 Dolly Parton pulled every 7th and 8th grader in Sevier County into a room and told them to pick a buddy.
She made them sign a contract.. if BOTH graduate, she hands you both $500. One fails, nobody gets paid.
The county dropout rate went from 35% to 6%.
She handed out the checks herself.
In 1989 she offered $500 to every kid in the county who wanted to go to the local college.
When Gatlinburg burned in 2016, she sent 900 families $1,000 a month for six months.
You've probably heard that part.
Here's the part you haven't:
The fund raised more than expected, so she showed up in May and handed every one of those families another $5,000 on top.
Then she quietly put $3 million into the recovery group that handles the years after the news trucks leave.
She built her county an entire hospital.
She played a benefit concert in 2007, Dollywood and the Stampede matched it, and LeConte Medical Center opened in 2010 with a birthing unit and a women's center in it.
In 2022 she started covering 100% of tuition, books, and fees for Dollywood employees.
Full-time, part-time, AND seasonal.
In 1991 she paid for a bald eagle sanctuary because the birds couldn't be released back into the wild, no press release.
And when Hurricane Helene came through here in Western North Carolina, she wrote a personal check for $1 million and her companies matched it.
She didn't owe North Carolina anything, but she helped us anyway.
She started the Imagination Library because her daddy couldn't read or write. Before he passed, he told her it was the most important thing she ever did.
Rest in Peace, Dolly 🇺🇸
I saw a post on Reddit that said, “When you walk through a museum, you’re not just looking at art. You’re moving through centuries of people trying to explain love, grief, power, beauty, and belonging.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a museum described so beautifully.
I miss when MTV, VH1, and BET gave us music documentaries and making-of specials. We got to see the entire creative process, from the writing sessions and studio recordings to rehearsals, music videos, and tours.
I hate that passport stamps are slowly becoming a thing of the past. They were one of the coolest little souvenirs you could collect without even trying. Now half the time you just scan your face, walk through a gate, and that’s it. Kind of depressing if you ask me. That shit genuinely pisses me off.