Quote of the Week: “Birthing is hard and dying is mean- so get yourself a little loving in between”— Langston Hughes
Drinking: My second smoothie of the day (which is more like a juice) of carrot, cucumber, Cara Cara orange, the juice of a whole lemon, and water. Some days I really look to food to restore my vibrancy. I have some lingering sluggishness and fatigue as I work toward being able to run again, so plants are the answer.
Listening to: “Jungle” by H.E.R. The track is so classic from sampling to lyrics (who among us hasn’t brooded to “Are we still good? Are we still good?”). I’ve never bothered to check which came first, this version or Drake’s, but I’m in a noncommittal place with my Drizzy fandom. The “Toosie Slide” solidified some bitterness I had toward his evolution from creative banger wellspring (however ghostwritten) to TikTok joke (what he always had potential to become). Long live H.E.R.
Currently Reading: I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron. This wry collection of essays on aging is so funny and pointed; I’m thrilled to have stumbled upon it in the dusty upstairs of my neighborhood used bookstore. I look forward to reviewing it on IG. Speaking of reviewing books on IG, I tweeted something about how many people save my book reviews and tagged a few publishing houses as a joke, and now Penguin Random House is sending me a book to review. Obviously I know it’s just free PR for them and they don’t give a shit about me/my writing… but I’m doing it anyway so I can say “has reviewed book for a major publishing house,” even if it only sounds cool to me.
Wanting: Dresses for spring. Groundbreaking, I know. But I’m sincerely having a hard time finding anything comfortable, affordable, flattering, and simple. Why is everything floral + in restrictive fabric à la Reformation? Or cheap and unethical? I have exactly three casual, comfy dresses I rotate between all spring and summer and it’s simply not enough. I did, however, just purchase the red exercise dress from Outdoor Voices on Poshmark. Will report back.
Loving: Alex Wolfe’s newsletter Pedestrian about walking and our everyday surroundings. Plenty of writers explore the generative magic of walking (Rebecca Solnit has a whole ass book about it), but I was pleased to find this in newsletter form. I highly recommend it to anyone searching for ways to add meaning and movement to their everyday.
Working On: I’m announcing this prematurely, but I’m starting an interview series (name TBD) with women who aren’t influencers, bloggers, in digital media, etc. The idea struck me one night when I was examining my own life choices and how empty the social media/internet writing chase sometimes feels. I realized I know (and want to know) too many brilliant girls with interesting stories and lives and hobbies and careers that aren’t monetizing their selfhood, and just maybe they’d be down to share with my small readership. It’s so easy to deify people who look cool online. What about those who’ve foregone the personal brand and live wholly for themselves? I think about my old therapist who also sings in a local rock band and is also in nursing school and I’m like, you’re fucking cool IRL and I want to know more. So this is my answer to wanting to know more.
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