FWI: June 2026
Everything I was fuckin’ with, already over, and apparently buying while writing
Let’s make this a recurring thing: everything I was fuckin’ with in June. Some of it I bought. Some of it I consumed with my mouth, ears, or eyes. Some of it I’m already over. And because I can’t help myself, there’s one thing I’m already coveting for July.
This isn’t my diary. That would require a paywall. These aren’t even necessarily my favorites. It’s just the stuff that, when I look back at the month, comes to the front of my mind: clothes, food, books, screens, sounds, small mirages, and whatever survived the initial impulse long enough to become noteworthy.
Had on Deck
The heat caught up with me this month. June kicked my ass a little, and I found myself reaching for the same few reliable things to avoid fully liquefying.
Our Legacy Borrowed Shirt in Big Daddy Stripe
This was my first OL shirt, and it’s been in rotation for years. It’s a big bastard. It also seems to get stained every time I wear it, earning it the title of the item in my closet that spends the most time at the cleaners. Still, I gravitate toward it on hotter days when I need to look slightly more put together without dreading anything with buttons. It hangs off the body just enough to give fashion-guy drape instead of “I paused my game for this” sloppy, which is all I’m asking from a shirt in 90+ degree heat.
Patagonia Baggies
I’m not going to wax poetic about these. You know the drill. Five-inch Baggies are a staple. Seven-inch if you’re a prude, I guess. Most likely, you wore yours all month too. At this point, not wearing them feels more contrarian than wearing them. Baggies in the heat are basically menswear’s “Florals? For spring?”
Swiped For
In life, it’s important to enjoy yourself. Though the act of swiping is mostly obsolete, it still feels like the most satisfying way to buy something. Tap to pay may be efficient, but those little vibrations have been known to send chills down the spine. Here are a few of my more goosebump-inducing spends.
Todd Snyder Summerweight Camp Collar Shirt
I have a good-boy event coming up, and while my clothes are by no means avant-garde, they may still catch a few looks from in-laws, family friends, and out-of-state cousins. That is where this shirt comes in. It’s light blue, boxy, and just patterned enough to suggest I made a choice without announcing that choice to the room. It separates me from the “honey, I’m home” uniform, but isn’t so offensive that my wife rolls her eyes during my new-package fashion show.
Put It on the Room — Grove Park Inn
I never really bought into the whole Airbnb thing. I don’t want to live in someone else’s life. I want to live in my own delusion. I’m a hotel man through and through. In my humble opinion, there is nothing better than a luxury stay, a spa day, walking around in a comically plush robe with Hemingway tucked under your arm, and the beautiful words “put it on the room.” Sure, it’s still my Amex attached to the whole thing, but for a few days you get to cosplay as a Kennedy until checkout.
Reusable Dog Diapers
It ain’t always pretty. I am by no means an animal person, but bless her soul, my wife is. So when it was time to move in her 14-year-old pit bull because he needed a little alone time from the other dog at her parents’ house, I became the dad who stepped up. Let’s just say these have been helpful. You do not always swipe for luxury.
Put Away
Ice Cream Summer
The same heat that had me spending way too much time in shorts and a T-shirt pushed me and a few friends into deeming this an ice cream summer. Before this goes any further, it’s important to understand that I’m an Ice Cream 365 kind of guy. I do not save frozen treats only for the dog days. I’ve been indulging in the occasional root beer float, strictly with vanilla soft serve, but the standout had to be a tiramisu ice cream sandwich I had at Capitoline. Creamy, espresso-dusted, and the size of a brick. A guinea’s delight.
Cook Out
When traveling, it is always important to taste the local cuisine. In Asheville, after eating at Bib Gourmand spots and influencer havens for the first few days, exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains, and feeling outright giddy with the beauty of this country, it became important to stay grounded. That is how you end up at Cook Out.
Staying on theme with ice cream summer, I upgraded my bounty of a Big Double with bacon and BBQ sauce, a cheese quesadilla, and a corn dog to include a chocolate milkshake. Biting into that corn dog as Old Glory hung beside me, I was a true patriot.
Screens & Scribbles
World Cup
What are we all if not prisoners of the moment? Coming off a magical Arsenal season and a devastating Mets season, I am all in on the World Cup. Of course I’m pulling for the Stars and Stripes, but I’m also enjoying playing expert around friends who still don’t know why the clock never stops. It gives you a great excuse to cut out, even if it’s just the noon game on your second screen.
Off Campus
This is high stakes. If you are not watching what the girlies are watching, you’re just wrong. The people are beautiful, the music is catchy, and I found myself deeply invested, heart fluttering at every Wellsy/Garrett interaction. I have definitely hit the over on the amount of hockey smut I’ve watched this year.
Giovanni’s Room
Putting aside my feelings after losing a rigged Pride kickball game, I picked this up to continue my allyship, and what a banger. Short, devastating, stylish, and memorable.
The God of the Woods
Of everything I read in June, this was the one I kept within arm’s reach. Originally meant to be a vacation read, I got lost in the Adirondacks the week prior and had it done and dusted before the plane touched down. Creepy, opulent, and fast, which is all I want from a summer read. It will be the book I spend the next few months bugging people to read.
Ear Stuff
Camp — Childish Gambino
I’m not a cool music guy. If there’s a hole in my game, that’s it. I don’t listen to much music and tend to get into a groove where I listen to the same thing over and over. This month, Camp struck a nerve. Maybe it was the early-summer feeling or reading The God of the Woods, but it got a few front-to-back listens. “Letter Home” was the clubhouse leader. This is more of a confession than an endorsement. Send me new music that I’ll probably neglect.
Red Rising Series — Audible
Audiobooks are one of the best ways to cut out. I try to read standalone books the hard way, but when it comes to a series, you can get cozy and tune everything else out. After a long day of hearing myself speak, there’s nothing I enjoy more than letting someone else do the heavy lifting.
Since Red Rising is on every “books for boys” list out there, and I’m a boy, I gave it a shot. It hits. Action, space travel, a little romance — the perfect thing to distract you from beach traffic and the next 20 minutes on the rower.
Already Over
Little Gem
I am on record saying lettuce is a complete bullshit food, but I am a slut for a rebrand. Just as I will never touch mayo but will devour an aioli, I gave Little Gem, aka really small lettuce, a shot. I’d given it no-thank-you bites every time it graced my table, but this weekend, when the Little Gem that somehow always gets comped hit the table, I did not take a bite. Apparently, it was delicious.
Coveting
Second/Layer Sherman LS Shirt
Shirting is the most fun and low-stakes item to shop for. A great shirt can make you, but if it doesn’t fit, the whiff doesn’t sting like pants. So I once again find myself making eyes at a new one.
When I first saw this on IG, I immediately sent it to the boys and said, “I want the sherbet-looking one.”
This feels like an anti-good-boy shirt: bold but still chill. Made for doing dirt with the boys, not splitting stuffed French toast with the Mrs.
I bought it while writing this.
What were you fuckin’ with in June that you’re already defending, regretting, or pretending is something it’s not?