FGF
RIP jane / on making an impact
Happy Friday friends. We made it yet again. Happy Q4 to all who are lucky enough to be stably employed at a corporate job!
If you regularly read FGF you’ll notice that one part that usually appears before my preamble is missing. Thanks to so many of you, I finally hit my fundraising goal for the New York Marathon with a month to go. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Now I can really focus on this big final push. November 2nd is basically tomorrow and 2026 may as well be in a week. Wish me luck.
How are you all doing this Friday? I have to say, it’s a melancholy one for me because we lost a great. RIP to renowned chimpanzee researcher and legendary animal advocate Jane Goodall who passed on Wednesday.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” - Jane Goodall
After the entertainment industry seemingly collapsed in 2023 with nothing but bad and worse news since (don’t even get me started on this), I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my career and next moves during these past two years. While the industry can be fun, glamorous, lucrative and creatively fulfilling, I’m sure none will find it at all surprising to hear that the day to day work and machine can oftentimes feel soulless. As I saw the tides turning with endless layoffs thanks to endless mergers, acquisitions and AI / tech impositions, I often found myself wondering what are we (the industry) actually contributing that’s of any meaning or impact to society? Another lazy IP reboot or terrible nepo babies script? How inspiring. Shocking. Vomit.
The Studio’s episode six “The Pediatric Oncologist” demonstrated this dichotomy beautifully. Essentially the episode showcases Matt’s (Seth Rogen’s) insecurities as he tries to equate his professional success with the life-or-death stakes faced by doctors (those with real, meaningful jobs), leading to both humorous and excruciating moments. Want to know why that show won all the Emmy’s? Seth was saying what the 98% of us in this industry were, are and have been thinking. The truth hurts. I grit my teeth the entire season and was embarrassed at how accurate it all was.
But I digress. Back to my above Jane quote—among my seemingly dozen other new side hustles, I’ve recently added working part time at a dog rescue to the list. While, the non-profit space of animal rescue has been quite the transition, and the pay certainly isn’t entertainment money, the reward for me is so much greater. The fulfillment I’m getting out of quite literally saving doggos lives is immeasurable and puts a smile on my face each day. I couldn’t necessarily say that when I was gainfully employed in entertainment.
Like this adorable three year old bulldog, Mo. Thanks to some amazing run club friends who so graciously agreed to transport him from Palmdale to LA and foster him, we saved his cutie’s life with hours to spare. He’ll be on his way to his forever home in Colorado next week. It may just be one dog, and so many aren’t as fortunate, but just getting to be a small part in his forever after (which wasn’t supposed to be the case) warms my heart.
I guess I say all this because as tumultuous and miserable as seeing the industry that I love(d) collapse and as horrible as 2025 has been, in the words of Jane Goodall, I’m reminded in this rebuilding phase of life that if I can wake up everyday and make an impact on the world around me, however small it is, maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel for me, afterall.
So thank you, Jane. Thank you for that reminder and helping me better see a north start in my rebuilding phase. I think I’m on the right track. You will be sorely missed but your legacy shall forever live on.
Have a great weekend all.
THE SHALLOW STUFF
Ready to laugh?
Ready to smile?
How can you not smile at Selena’s wedding pics. She looks gorgeous and so happy. Congrats Selena!
Ready for your most follow account of the week?
Sleepy dog + beautiful piano playing = instant blood pressure lowering. You’re welcome.
THE DEEP STUFF
Ready to cry?
Ready to be inspired?
Zoologist, primatologist, and anthropologist Jane Goodall has passed away at 91.
Her groundbreaking 1960 discovery that chimpanzees use tools redefined primatology, while her research into their personalities and social lives forever changed how we see our connection to the animal kingdom.
Her impact reached far beyond science. Through the @janegoodallinst, Roots & Shoots, and TACARE, she championed conservation, youth empowerment, and sustainable development, leaving an indelible mark on our planet and its people.
Jane’s brilliance and tireless activism remind us that one person’s curiosity and courage can spark transformation on a global scale.
In Ohio, across multiple state correctional facilities, inmates are rehabilitating themselves by rehabilitating others: specifically the most fragile and vulnerable of others: injured or orphaned animals.
Tiny birds—victims of a fall from the nest, baby rabbits orphaned by the wheels of a Ford, or little opossums lost when their mother took off at the first sign of danger—they all need a helping hand and careful attention if they’re going to make it back to the woods or the fields.
At Marion and Richland Correctional Institutions, and the Ohio Reformatory for Women, the Ohio Wildlife Center trains interested inmates on how to feed and care for wounded or abandoned wild animals.
Housed in special aviaries or even inside cages within prisoners’ cells, it gives them someone to care for, and in doing so, perhaps it helps them care for themselves.
Between January and June at Marion, 284 animals were brought in for care, and Scott Fuqua a correctional officer and the program coordinator, says wants that to be 1,000 by years end; such is the impact it has had for the facility.
“The effect that this program has on the offenders here is quite remarkable,” Fuqua told Smithsonian‘s Olivia Young. “The men who participate in this program get a chance to care for something other than themselves, and you can see the changes in their behavior. They tend to stay out of trouble, away from substance abuse, and have an increased interest to learn more about the animals they care for.”
That might include even someone like Tierre M., who is well into his third decade of a potential life-sentence for murder. Tierre knows how to care for dozens of different species and situations.
“Some of these birds coming in, it crushes you to see them,” he told Young, who visited the Marion Correctional Institute’s makeshift wildlife rehabilitation center. “Then, to see [one] getting stronger and the strength coming back in it, the life coming back in it, it’s awesome.”
He was one of the first men who began the program after it started over 25 years ago, when the Ohio Wildlife Center, based in Columbus under the direction of its late founder, began expanding the wildlife treatment and rehab volunteer centers into the state’s criminal justice facilities.
Its first stop was more believable, perhaps, than a medium or maximum security prison. In 1994, some of those incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women began receiving training for how to care for wildlife, and have since helped rehabilitate thousands of orphaned animals under the guidance of the Ohio Wildlife Center.
“It is important to our women that their time spent with us is transformative, and that it truly does help rehabilitate them,” said Clara Golden-Kent, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. “That is the beauty of this program– the animals and the inmates are both being rehabilitated.”
Ready for your do-good action item of the week?
Volunteer opps
This is the site my dog rescue uses to post a lot of volunteer ops. Lets not wait until the one week in April when it’s trendy to volunteer or after a local or national disaster to get civically involved. Use this site to look up local ops near you! Some are remote!
THREE THINGS I’M LOVING THIS WEEK
BOOK: Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Logline: A novel about terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.
MOVIE: One Battle After Another
Run, don’t walk. I want to see it again in IMAX. Fantastic. All the awards. Just go. (Yes I feel like this person.)
ALBUM: The Life Of A Showgirl
Our Capitalist Queen’s highly anticipated album is finally here and while it’s not my favorite, it’s way better than TTPD in my opinion. Refreshingly bright and sunny, lots of classic Taylor pettiness and interesting lyric choices abounded, that’s for sure. What’d you think?
