Monday Memos // 108

Listening:

“Summer Girl” by HAIM

“Golden Babyland” by Lina Tullgren

“True Blue” by Mark Ronson ft. Angel Olsen

Reading:

There There by Tommy Orange. “Tommy Orange’s groundbreaking, extraordinaryThere There is the brilliant, propulsive story of twelve unforgettable characters, Urban Indians living in Oakland, California, who converge and collide on one fateful day.” I have about a third left and it’s blowing me away.

I haven’t sobbed from a Modern Love story in a long time and who knew a dog named Dusty would do me in. Must read: She Wanted a Man With a Good Job Who Is Nice to Animals

Craving:

Essentially my summer diet has been a whole lot of pizza. Specifically the best homemade rooftop pizza. I’ve also been on a kick of melon, plums, smoothies, seedy crackers, almond butter, spicy noodles, and Guittard’s Super Cookie chocolate chips .

That jor-dough!

Recent memorable dining out experiences include: Superiority Burger (a wrap that lasted two meals, realllly good sorbet/gelato, and good laughs), The Turk’s Inn (the decor alone is worth a visit, but the food is great too), General Deb’s (so spicy and so good), Best Pizza (sharing a bowl of garlic rolls with your brother and blabbing about all your anxieties is highly recommended).

The Turk’s Inn interior doesn’t even look real. (image via turksnyc.com)

Wearing:

Digging into my shirt collection, I’ve been wearing a lot of old Gainesville establishment tees, old graphic gems, and breezy button ups. Unearthed some overalls recently and wore them despite the weather being way too hot for so much denim. Also, I’ve been wearing the same billowy chambray dress on repeat—often two or three days in a row because it’s just all I want to wear.

Watching:

Recently watched: Four Weddings and a Funeral. I’m surprised I never saw this. I also never considered myself much of a Hugh Grant fan, but this movie made me realize the appeal—particularly when he’s learning about his great love’s sexual history and wearing a pretty great shirt-short-sock-shoe combo. Really enjoyed!

Scarlett, on the left, has the best outfits, too. On the right, this is the best I could find, so go watch the movie.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Not as good as the book, but the book was just so good. Still, a great cast, great soundtrack, and nice for a big cry at the end. Plus, the wild architectural moments are fabulous.

Girls. It took me two months to finish the series. I forgot how weird the ending is, but hey, still a solid show.

Want to watch: Joker. I think Joaquin Phoenix is going to win something for this. Looks brilliant and terrifying.

Treasuring:

Love and support: From the sweetest text messages to answering frantic phone calls to back rubs to big hugs to silly pictures to dinners with laughter to long drives with sick pets, I feel so much care and affection from so many different people. Summer can be sweaty, exhasting, and emotionally draining for me, so extra thankful for all these wonderful peeps.

Lounging in the nearby park is one of my new pastimes and I thoroughly enjoy.

Monday Memos // 107

Listening:

“Coming Home” by Leon Bridges.

“There Is Something In My Heart” by Ghetto Brothers.

“The Dark Don't Hide It” by Kevin Morby & Waxahatchee.

Reading:

Terrible but important: Hideous Men | Donald Trump assaulted me in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 23 years ago. But he’s not alone on the list of awful men in my life.

A positive male celebrity spotlight: Keanu Reeves Is Too Good for This World

Thank you for reminding me that walking around the neighborhood with no prerogative is important: You Are Doing Something Important When You Aren’t Doing Anything

Shameless self-promotion (Cup of Jo and Sight Unseen posted it too!): Experiments and Shapes Fill Oscar Piccolo’s One-Room Studio

Craving:

I’m still eating so much pizza. In Sweden and Denmark I ate so much amazing sourdough bread. Currently I’m downing oatmilk and cashewmilk ice creams and containers of fruit and cold coffee. (I.e. summer)

Not just so much pizza, so much fabulous rooftop pizza!

Wearing:

All the shortest dresses. Summer is fully here and I cannot handle pants. Plus, a recent move means I’ve unearthed all my forgotten clothes and I’m finding a lot of (short) gems. Black, plaid, floral, more black, chambray, I’m going through it all.

Even in Sweden I went with my go-to short black dress.

Watching:

Recently watched: Yesterday (“A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate timeline where they never existed.) I hadn’t even heard of this but was invited to see it and said why not. Yes, it’s cheesy, but it’s a solid, feel-good rom com that I would recommend. The cast is very lovable, too.

Years and Years. (“Follows a busy family from Manchester with their lives converging on one crucial night in 2019.”) Either I’m not keeping up with pop culture or films and tv aren’t doing much promotion, because I hadn’t heard of this either. The first two episodes are up on HBO and IT IS GOOOOD. There’s a little bit of Emma Thompson and I only hope there is more.

If you watch a lot of niche HBO shows and/or brit sitcoms you’ll recognize some of the cast. (image via HBO)

Girls. I decided to rewatch the show, see what it’s like now that I am a woman of New York (I didn’t even remember Hannah lived in Greenpoint, probably because I didn’t really know what Greenpoint was). I forgot it started in 2012, too, so the fashion is terrible and memorable. It holds up. Plus, fun cameos like Christopher from the Sopranos as one of Hannah’s old professors.

Want to watch: Booksmart. I’m hoping it’s Ladybird level teen movie. (“On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to cram four years of fun into one night.”)

The Dead Don’t Die. Jim Jarmusch—amazing. Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi—amazing. Zombies—sure why not?

Dream team. (photo via Abbot Genser/Focus Features)

Treasuring:

A Joyously Spectacular Life: I saw this quote and thoroughly enjoyed it: “If all you did was just looked for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.” ― Esther Abraham Hicks

Adventure: Finally leaving the country—to Canada and across the Atlantic Ocean—has encouraged and motivated me. Here’s to the beginning of passport stamps. Saying yes to adventure is highly recommended. Aka omg I am having so much fun!

Monday Memos // 105

Listening:

“Pressure to Party” by Julia Jacklin. I fell fast and hard for Julia and she is now on heavy rotation. I feel like all her songs are just saying the things in my head.

“Pool Party” by Julia Jacklin.

“Maybe'“ by Buck Meek. Saw Buck and Mat Davidson (Twain) play at a house show and I am a BIG FAN of both.

“The Sorcerer” by Twain.

Reading:

Life Without Longing - “Romantic obsession is my first language. I live in a world of fantasies, infatuations and love poems. Sometimes I wonder if the yearning I’ve felt for others was more of a yearning for yearning itself. I’ve pined insatiably and repeatedly: for strangers, new lovers, unrequited flames. While the subjects changed, that feeling always remained. Perhaps, then, I have not been so infatuated with the people themselves, but with the act of longing.”

Naming Plants - I love naming anything.

Of David Hockney and Joni Mitchell Holding Hands - I am one of those people that reposted this on social media.

Joni Mitchell and David Hockney at L.A. Louver gallery in Los Angeles. (image by Jacob Sousa via nytimes)

Craving:

Last week I baked a loaf of banana bread, chocolate chip tahini blondies, and some kind of sunflower seed butter blondie/bread/bar that turned green inside. Saturday I had fried eggs on avocado toast for breakfast and poached eggs on avocado English muffin for lunch. I ate a lot of Chocolove dark chocolate and orange squares in work stress spirals. I drank a lot of fizzy drinks, shaved goat cheddar cheese on chickpea pasta and green pizza crust, and I put kale cashew pesto on everything. My insides probably look wild. This doesn’t even sound like I’m speaking a real language.

Wearing:

Saturday night I put on a gold sequined tube top to watch television while it snowed outside. I also painted my toenails a weird blue that I got from the Allure beauty sale at work—it’s Yves Saint Laurent and it’s called “Kinetic Blue.”

Watching:

I have gone deep on a Nurse Jackie binge. Fleabag season 2 comes out today!!! Olivia Colman’s Oscar speech is amazing and now I love her even more. I watched an episode of Miracle Workers, written by Simon Rich (go read his books now), where Steve Buscemi plays god (his brother Michael pretends to be god in Nurse Jackie)—definitely entertaining but opinion not fully formed yet.

Treasuring:

Friends: Sharing baked goods with them. Getting Honey Mamas from them. Wandering the city with them. Having lunch with them. Whining to them. Laughing with them.

Feelings: Last week I found myself one day flailing back in my chair at work uttering, “I hate everything” (I don’t really mean it) and then a few days later I teared up on the sidewalk and thought, “I love everything” (probably also not true, but better). The woman who interpreted my aura photograph told me I was full of feelings and easily influenced by my surroundings. “Suddenly you’re sad and suddenly you’re happy.” Yes.

Pink signifies softness, sentimentality, sweetness, yearning, sensitivity, and being emotional.

Monday Memos // 104

Listening:

“Miss Chew” (feat. Jesse & Forever) by Nick Hakim.

“Color Me Badd” by Land of Talk.

Reading:

Is It Ever Okay...To Eat the Food Off Your Date’s Plate?

One Scene, 42 Takes and 2 Hours in a Bathroom Stall

Updated Etiquette Posters from the M.T.A.

Craving:

I am an avid craver of bowls. Rice bowls, quinoa bowls, noodle bowls, sautéed greens bowls. Sometimes, when I make them at home, I call them piles. Those tend to be the exhausted moments after work when I just throw together whatever ingredients appeal to me or are readily available (eggs, sweet potatoes, kale, peas, crushed up chips, weird “free table” snacks, hummus, etc.).

This week I went wild on dairy-free ice cream. Super rich and creamy chocolate citrus cake from Van Leeuwen. Ben and Jerry’s vegan Chunky Monkey and PB Fudge, too. Oh, also Pressed Juicery’s chocolate soft serve freeze. I might need to go to Ice Cream Anonymous.

Even when it’s freezing, I love ice cream. (image via medium)

Wearing:

Last week my nails were painted bright blue. I wore lots of wide leg pants—black, mustard, denim—and lots of sweaters—grey, cream, and more grey. I’m really ready for spring now. I miss seeing my legs and ankles and arms.

Watching:

TV: A steady stream of the greats: True Detective, High Maintenance. Also, remembered SMILF, and the second season is better than the first—definitely worth a watch. Plus, I started Nurse Jackie while on a Showtime perusal. (I was feeling under the weather so the couch was my best friend this weekend.)

Movies: I rewatched Frances Ha, hence the story about the scene above. I also rewatched The Royal Tenenbaums, excited about living near the house but forgetting how sad makes me.

Treasuring:

Stories: One of my favorite things is hearing stories. From friends, from strangers, from lovers, from relatives, from children, from performers. I love eavesdropping, I love a really long text, I love a phone call filled with stories. Over the weekend, I stopped one night at an Italian place near my apartment to get a slice of cake to go—cake sounded great and I had a gift card. While I waited for the slice—the kitchen was slammed—I sat at the bar next to a man with great, wild, white hair. He was a writer working on a biography of a modern dancer. He had spent his day going from place to place, snack to snack, writing and writing. Now he was here with a cocktail and a finished chocolate mousse. He admired my wrinkle-free face and I learned a little bit about his days traveling with a dancing company (he had stopped in Gainesville at lease once) and he showed me photos of his stunning dancer leaps and turns. Good stories, good people. The cake wasn’t as good as the last time, but worth the trip.