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taylor swift

Taylor Swift performing in concert in 2017

People are praising Karen Vladeck, 38, a mom from Austin, Texas, who wrote a clever email notifying her daughter's teacher that she would be missing school to attend a Taylor Swift concert. However, instead of a simple letter asking for the absence to be excused, she channeled her inner Swiftie and composed a note infused with nods to the singer's music catalog.

The absence was for April 24, which coincided with the final date of Swift’s 3-night stand at Houston’s NRG stadium. Vladek sent the letter on April 4, so the teacher would have plenty of notice.

Vladek, a legal recruiter, attorney and podcaster, shared the witty email she sent to her daughter's teacher on Twitter, which received nearly 3,800 likes. “Here’s hoping my daughter’s 1st grade teacher is a Swiftie," she captioned the tweet.

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Taylor Swift speaks at the New York University graduation.

Taylor Swift is only 32 years old, but as someone who’s been on the world’s stage for half her life, she’s a lot wiser than her years would suggest. The “Shake it Off” singer received an honorary doctorate from New York University as part of the school’s 2022 graduating class on May 18 at Yankee Stadium and followed it up with a speech for her fellow graduates.

In the speech, she discussed choosing what to let go of in life and the importance of eagerness. But the most important advice she shared was how to overcome mistakes. She explained how she deals with missteps to help her fellow graduates navigate the inevitable stumbles they'll take in their post-collegiate life.

She noted that being a pop star who was known as “America’s Sweetheart” gave her the extra burden of being a perfect role model. But living up to those expectations was impossible.

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John Mayer and Tayloe Swift

Taylor Swift gave a tour de force performance on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend of a 10-minute version of "All Too Well," which is believed to be about Jake Gyllenhaal.

The performance was to promote her new album "Red (Taylor's Version)" which is a re-recording of her classic 2012 CD. Swift is in the process of re-recording every album she made before 2019 to reclaim the rights to her music. Her older recordings are owned by Shamrock Holdings, which gets paid whenever someone streams or buys the songs.

Swift hopes that fans will opt to listen to the new versions that she owns over the older ones.

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If you're a woman, you're going to have to wade through some sexist bull, no matter where you are in your career. Even if you're at the top of your game, like Taylor Swift. Swift received Billboard's Woman of the Decade award on her 30th birthday, and did not hold back in her 15-minute acceptance speech. She used the opportunity to signal boost other female artists, call out institutionalized sexism in the music industry, and describe what toxic male privilege looks like.


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Women might face more obstacles and double standards. But ultimately challenges are what we make of them, and more obstacles mean more opportunity for growth. It's that old case of "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger," or in Swift's case, makes you the woman of the decade. "Female artists in music have dominated this decade in growth, streaming, record and ticket sales, and critical acclaim. So why are we doing so well? Because we have to grow fast, we have to work this hard, we have to prove that we deserve this, and we have to top our last achievements," she said in her speech.

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