1. Hello & I guess it's Autumn & surviving the days
Just a pinch!
Hello! I'm so honored you're here and reading this. Thanks for signing up. And opening this up. I have fewer demands on my time these days than I've had in a very long time, and that is blissful and liberating, but sometimes I still feel trapped in this purgatory of free time, unable to make myself complete the few items on my to-do list. So, no matter your circumstances, wherever you are, I am grateful you are choosing to spend some of your moments with me.
I won't hold you captive in this block of text too long. I recognize the self-importance of crafting a newsletter and believing that people want to read what I have to say, and having said that, I would love to hear what you have to say in return. Today. Tomorrow. Months from now. At any time really. I will continue to send you unrequited love letters (until you unsubscribe); I'll never be hurt if you never respond, but each one of these is an invitation to reply. Tell me what you're thinking, if you'd like. I'm listening.
The Buffet
Okay, here's what I'm proposing, for this newsletter, and future ones to come: I'll pick out some things I read, listened to, saw etc. and categorize them by tasting/feeling notes. Consume the content as you so choose.
Funky, Eclectic, Lifting
I recently discovered a new Spotify radio station inspired by The Durutti Column's Otis and it has inspired more fresh listening than I've done in a while.
I've found lots of weird artist from the 80s. Eclectic sounds. Funky vibes. Dreamy zoning. Being in love with the idea of a person.
Seasonal, a little full of doom but also maybe some hope (and the inevitable nostalgia of autumn)
I love Jill Lepore, especially because of this essay she wrote last year about the excavation of electronic grief (I'm a sucker for sad things! What can I say?).
But this short essay she recently wrote for the New Yorker smells of decomposing leaves and impending election. One of my favorite things I've read this week.
Devastating in a quiet, mortal sort of way
Steve Almond visited a writing class I took when I was *just* out of college and I found him so down to earth, thoughtful, approachable. He is very human and his twitter is funny and deeply political.
In this podcast, Almond says, "We are putting our inner lives on display as a performance." He tells us, "It isn't the quality of your life; it's the quality of attention you pay to your life." Almond, who gave Sheryl Strayed the Dear Sugar gig and now hosts a podcast with her is sharply insightful. This podcast is from a while ago, but I think the 19 minutes of his segment are worth your time. I found it humbling, and grounding. Makes you look both inward and outward. Makes you think about how we got to where we are.
Missed these blog posts? Catch up now.
My time-filling suggestions (for myself) and anyone else who is floundering in the limbo of betweenness.
"This is Why We Can't Have Clean Things"
A fetid apartment saga that began over 6 months ago (and ends, I hope, now).
I'll leave you with a question
I've been arguing with my boyfriend about this, and (while I'm positive I'm right) I would appreciate some unbiased perspectives. Are the pockets on the inside face of your winter/denim jackets "real" pockets (see accompanying image for reference)? I think they are the perfect size for a phone, especially when the outside sideways pockets don't zip (so exposed!), but he maintains they are "just liners." If it looks like a pocket and functions like a pocket, if it securely cradles my possessions like a pocket, I think it is one. After all, we allow the pocket classification for other enclosures that go by other names, so who are we to exclude the inner fabric of our favorite weathered denim?
That is all I have for you today. I am body tired and life tired. If you enjoyed this, hit the share button and tell your friends to sign up :P
It's a pocket