Seventy-Two Hours in Paris 🥖
An interlude from the City of Lights
blog.fifty-one // It's a three-hour train ride from Geneva to Paris, so Vicky and I made the trip out this weekend—and have been exploring everything the City of Lights has to offer.
It's my first time in France, and my French could use some work since bidding au revoir to high school language classes. Nevertheless, we're getting by, enjoying all the baguettes, beauty, and more baguettes this city has to offer.
This blog will be on the shorter end—chalk it up as quick musings from Paris. Here's Five Things I Think (I Think).*
— NGL
P.S. Last blog, we talked with Janice Lee about finding direction in lieu of letting outside influences define you. You can read it here.
One :: I think creative endeavors require you to sprint, sprint, rest. I often do the stereotypical thing of making myself feel guilty when I take a break—even if I really need one.
The truth is, the first three-and-a-half months of 2025 have been hard. It's what I signed up for, so it's no surprise. But it's also been a series of sprints, including moving back to Chicago on January 7; opening the studio two weeks later; jumping into magazine and video production over the next two months; organizing the Block Party; and self-fulfilling a couple hundred orders.
On top of this, Vicky started her new job (and moved to Geneva) in November, meaning it's somehow already been six months since I last visited her out here.
I'll be working next week, but we took this weekend train trip to Paris to split things up and spend real time together. And I gotta be honest—even just three days offline is leaving me feeling incredibly recharged.
Two :: I think it's an interesting time to be from the U. S. of A. While walking these cobblestone streets, I've heard a couple downwind conversations featuring unmistakable American accents. Some universal themes have emerged—mainly embarrassment stemming from the actions our government is currently taking.
This is a deep cut, but I watched The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) on my flight across the pond. The film is about two lifelong drinking buddies—played wonderfully by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson—whose friendship devolves when the latter decides his contemporary is too dull, leading to a series of revenge plots and irreversible actions.
Part of Farrell’s spiral is due to others around the Irish island of Inisherin effectively referring to him as a simpleton—plenty kind, but lacking depth. This is categorized as a bad thing; all the while, the Irish Civil War rages on in the film’s background, serving as an indirect metaphor for our two main characters’ ultimately irrational quarrels.
To come full circle: As questionable tariffs abound and differences deepen across the world, it feels like it will become even easier for our countries to dig in their heels. Call me naive, but I sincerely believe kindness—in our interactions with ourselves, others, and the world around us—is one of the most important traits we can embody today.
Three :: I think culture has flattened. I'll never forget walking into a cafe in Vienna when Vicky and I visited in 2023, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.
Yes, Tyler, the Creator was blasting on repeat. Sure, he's one of the biggest rappers in the world, but I was expecting at least one song in German—not the same albums I can hear anywhere in the U.S.
My whole life, people have told me that the French are rude to you if you don't speak their native tongue. I half-expected that to be the case upon arriving here, even after my experience in Vienna two years ago. Yet every single person I've talked to has spoken English—many with perfect accents at that.
We are in a city, and we are frequenting tourist-y spots. But I do believe that the interconnectivity of the Internet has flattened so much of our respective cultures into one universal language:
Brainrot.
Nah, just kidding. A discussion around what's gained and what's lost when culture is flattened can be saved for another day, though.
Four :: I think TommyInnit is the young British antidote to Andrew Tate. Okay, okay—I won't take credit for coining this turn of phrase. It's the title of a Sunday Times article that Moy dropped in our Slack the other day.
If you haven't been following along with TommyInnit’s evolution from teen Minecraft streamer to touring stand-up comic (and based cultural commentator), though, I highly recommend watching some of his recent YouTube uploads.
Who knows: could make for a great Creator Mag profile one day 👀
Five :: I think that quote from Hacks has stuck with me over the last year. Maybe it's because I'm coming off a quick break—and looking at a big week ahead. Or maybe it's because I started rewatching the HBO comedy recently and have almost caught up.
Nonetheless, in my first blog, I referenced this quote from Hacks, which stars Jean Smart as a veteran comic on her last legs in Las Vegas:
“‘Good’ is the minimum. ‘Good’ is the baseline. You have to be so much more than good. And even if you’re great and lucky, you still have to work really fucking hard. And even that’s not enough.
“You have to scratch and claw and it never fucking ends. And it doesn’t get better. It just gets harder.”
A tad dramatic? Sure. It is an HBO show, after all.
No one is waiting around for you to make things happen, and the path forward has presented itself rather clearly this year. But I have noticed that busyness begets more busyness. I'm weary of pacing myself insufficiently—while endlessly proud of what we've done so far, as well as excited for what's to come.
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
* If any formatting looks slightly off, apologies on that front. Wrote this one from my phone in our Paris Airbnb. It is Sunday, and the blog must go on.