The life of a Bwogger is actually romantic.

Happening off-campus: Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of A Showgirl features a track called “Actually Romantic” that fans believe is about Charli XCX, reigniting ongoing speculation about a potential feud between the two pop stars. The song references another singer who calls Swift a “boring Barbie” and writes songs about hating her, which fans think is a response to Charli XCX’s “Sympathy is a Knife” from her Brat album. In a cinema screening accompanying the album, Swift described the track as “a love letter to someone who hates you” and sarcastically thanked the unnamed person for their attention. While neither artist has confirmed the songs are about each other, fans remain certain that the lyrics reference the rocky relationship between the two, and many are disappointed and put off by the seemingly anti-feminist message in “Actually Romantic.”  (BBC)

Happening near campus: Community Kitchen, a nonprofit restaurant in New York’s Alphabet City, offers seven-course fine-dining meals at three price points—$15, $45, or $125—with everyone receiving identical food and service regardless of what they pay. Founded by food writer Mark Bittman and food justice advocate Rae Gomes, the restaurant aims to make high-quality, ethically sourced meals accessible to all income levels in an expensive city. The restaurant opened on September 19 and will run through Thanksgiving, with early results showing enough people paying higher prices to keep operations balanced, though organizers are working to attract more local neighborhood diners. (Gothamist)

Happening on-campus: This Tuesday, October 7, the Harriman Institute will be hosting a presentation and discussion with artist Victoria Lomasko about her book, The Last Soviet Artist, focusing on her travels through former Soviet states (Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, and Russia’s North Caucasus regions) and exploring generational conflicts between those who grew up in the USSR and younger generations. The book won the 2022 PEN Catalan Free Voice award and Le Courage Artistique. The event will be held in Columbia’s International Affairs Building (420 W. 118th St., New York, NY 10027) in the Marshall D. Shulman Seminar Room 1219. It is open to the public, and registration is required by 4 pm on October 6.

Rewatching: Almost at the final season of Gilmore Girls, and filled with overwhelming dread of what’s to come. Rory is back at Yale (thank god), Jess is stable and rocking his Philly, indie writer goatee, Lane is married, Lorelai and Luke are engaged, and Logan is sadly stuck in London (I miss him). I am emotionally preparing myself for the April Nardini, Marty resurgence, Lorelai-Luke split, proposal denial madness that is about to ensue. Is this a safe space to say that while Dave Rygalski is obviously the superior boyfriend, I am not necessarily and Lane and Zach hater…?

Taylor Swift album cover via Flickr