As the festive season approaches, journalist Lucy Mangan has revealed her unconventional strategy for completing Christmas shopping with minimal stress: embracing maximum estrangement from friends and family.
The Art of Festive Estrangement
Mangan claims to have finished her Christmas shopping already, attributing this achievement to having no extended family she cares about and no friends at all. She strongly recommends this approach for those seeking similar efficiency.
Her method involves systematically cutting off social connections throughout the year. "If you start cutting off the latter and arguing with the former," Mangan advises, "by this time next year you too will be in a position to do a quick dash to M&S." She suggests beginning by declining all Christmas party invitations and escalating family arguments during the crucial pre-Christmas period.
Collins Dictionary's Word of the Year Controversy
In other news, Collins Dictionary announced its word of the year as "vibe coding" - technically two words, which Mangan notes seems appropriate for what she describes as a "faithless, degenerate age."
The term refers to the practice of instructing AI to write computer code based on descriptive prompts rather than traditional programming. The announcement coincided with several AI-related developments, including the first AI-generated hit song "Walk My Walk" by avatar Breaking Rust, which achieved over 3 million Spotify streams and reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Digital Song Sales Chart.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk showcased his new AI video generator Grok Imagine with a prompt that created a simulated woman saying "I love you" to viewers. This technological progress contrasted sharply with climate scientists warning that the world remains on course for a catastrophic 2.5C temperature rise.
Celebrity and Royal Updates
Reality television star Kim Kardashian made headlines after failing California's notoriously difficult bar exam. The three-day examination requires mastery of state-specific legalities that differ significantly from federal laws. Most aspiring lawyers fail at least once, but Kardashian expressed particular outrage toward psychics who had predicted her success.
"All of the psychics that we have met with are all full of shit," she declared on TikTok. "They all collectively told me I was going to pass the bar so they're all full pathological liars."
In royal news, a constitutional crisis was resolved regarding Prince Andrew's title. Following his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the prince was stripped of his royal title last week. He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor rather than his preferred Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, with the hyphen becoming a point of contention. Royal officials apparently consulted historical documents before insisting on the hyphenated version.
Meanwhile, King Charles has reportedly redesigned the garden at Andrew's new home to include a maze and "healing plants," which Mangan describes as "top-level trolling by an older brother."
Return of the Gold Sovereign
The Royal Mint announced the return of proper gold sovereign coins after decades of rose-gold versions dominating the market. Thanks to surging gold prices and high investor confidence, the official coin striker is reinstating the traditional yellow gold coin first introduced in 1489 during Henry VII's reign.
The new coins will feature micro-text, latent security images, and sophisticated background patterning to prevent counterfeiting. However, with individual coins costing approximately £1,200, this nostalgic return to Britain's numismatic heritage remains accessible only to those with substantial disposable income.
