Monday Memos // 91

Listening:

This musical portion is brought to you by going to a Saintseneca show and having a really great time.

"Pillar of Na" by Saintseneca.

This verse cracks me up: Call in "I Will Always Love You" to the radio / Either version's cool / But I like the original

"Soft Stud" by Black Belt Eagle Scout

"Afraid of Me" by gobbinjr

"Emilia" by Horsebeach. This was just recommended to me on the topic of shoegaze and I dig it.

Reading:

Deleting Instagram, Installing Instagram: The Vicious Circle

Elevate Your Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Mokonuts’ rye-cranberry chocolate-chunk cookies. (photo by Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Frances Boswell. Prop stylist: Pamela Duncan Silver.)

Craving:

This week there were some Thanksgiving desserts being made and photographed at work and I couldn't say no. One was a Pumpkin and Cookie-Butter Sheet Cake With Toasted Meringue and the other was a Chocolate-Pecan Sheet Pie With Molasses. I carried them in my purse to a gallery in Brooklyn, to a show in Manhattan, and then home—where they were eventually consumed for breakfast. 

I also devoured a new flavor (coconut cashew) of Purely Elizabeth granola in record speed. 

So good. (image by Chelsea Kyle via epicurious)

Wearing:

IT WAS COLD THIS WEEKEND. I was thrilled, even when it was grey and rainy. On Sunday I wore PANTS AND A SWEATER AND A JACKET AND WOOL SOCKS AND BOOTS. Maybe aggressive but I was never sweaty and uncomfortable. I am looking forward to more layers and scarves and socks. 

Last week I got my aura photographed, so here is what I'm wearing energy-wise. 

Watching:

I finally saw Crazy Rich Asians — most enjoyable rom com.

I'm curious to watch the new Showtime series with Jim Carrey, Catherine Keener and Judy Greer. It's directed by Michel Gondry (where has he been??) and one of the producers is Jason Bateman, so promising. Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, is an icon of children's television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America's impressionable young minds; when his family begins to implode, Jeff finds that no fairy tale, fable or puppet can guide him through the crisis.

(image via showtime)

I was reading an article about celebrity doppelgängers and remembered how someone once told me I looked like Léa Seydoux (flattering). This brought me to find out that she is in a movie called ZOE as a character named Zoe. Wow. Weird. I'm going to have to watch it. "ZOE tells a tale of forbidden love between an engineer and a robot. ZOE (Léa Seydoux) and COLE (Ewan McGregor) are colleagues and veiled lovers at a lab working to perfect romantic relationships. But their relationship is threatened when Zoe discovers the truth about their relationship, sending them into a spiral of confusion, betrayal and the most intense of human emotions, love."

She even has the bangs in the movie. 

Treasuring:

Cheesing: This refers to busting out big grins while wandering aimlessly. This refers to daydreaming while eating a muffin. This refers to laughing out loud in the living room with the windows open. This refers to reading horoscopes and enjoying phrases such as: "you can follow your body as it carries you... you can follow your glittering dreams... slowly, the world might start to change color around you — a quiet shift in the sky’s golden light."

DAVID BENJAMIN SHERRY Monuments

Monday Memos // 90

Listening:

"I Really Like It" by Our Girl.

"A Pearl" by Mitski. 

"Drunken Angel" cover by Alynda Segarra. (I saw a trailer for the movie Blaze and when this song came on I tried to keep it in my memory. I thought it sounded like Hurray for the Riff Raff, which turns out Segarra is the singer of.)

Reading:

Gather Journal. I stopped in a bookstore the other day to kill some time and was instantly sucked into the latest issue of this food and art magazine (what a perfect pairing for me). The images are amazing. The stories are too. 

Sticky Balsamic Figs. PHOTOGRAPH BY Gentl and Hyers FOOD STYLING BY Maggie Ruggiero PROP STYLING BY Ayesha Patel. (image via gatherjournal)

Craving:

Over the weekend I went to my first movie at a theater with dining and servers. It was fun and challenging. Eating dinner in the dark while trying to pay attention to a movie is kind of hard (Diner in the Dark). I did have a delicious pesto-y farro bowl and hummus platter regardless. Plus, I won a gift card to the place so it was all gloriously free. 

Nitehawk Cinema (image via bkmag)

Wearing:

Billowing dresses, red nail polish, and a sweaty glisten. I'm ready for seventy degree weather and sweaters and slacks.  

Image by Polina Washington. 

Watching:

I saw BlacKkKlansman this weekend. It was entertaining and disturbing and gut-wrenching. As A.O. Scott puts it, "Spike Lee’s new joint, BlacKkKlansman, is his best nondocumentary feature in more than a decade and one of his greatest."

Adam Driver and John David Washington. (image via pacificstandard)

I finally saw Baby Driver and loved it, despite feeling constant anxiety. The scene with the song "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" really grabbed my heart.  

Ansel Elgort. (image via medium)

I'm looking forward to the show Forever, which stars Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph. It had me at the song in the trailer: "Forever" by Pete Drake. "Plot details have been mostly kept under wraps, but here’s what we know so far: Rudolph and Armisen play a married couple named June and Oscar, who live a 'comfortable but very predictable wedded life' until they 'suddenly they find themselves in a completely unexpected situation' after a ski trip."

Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen. (image via indiewire)

Treasuring:

Talking and dreaming: Talking to family and friends and artists and strangers, I enjoy it all. Dreaming in my sleep and waking hours, I enjoy it all. 

hand drawn type by maddy nye for designlovefest

Monday Memos // 89

Listening:

"Down in the Willow Garden" by The Everly Brothers.

"New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" by R.E.M.

"Charcoal Baby" by Blood Orange.

Reading:

Books I want to read:

No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicol. "a fearless reckoning with modern womanhood and an exhilarating adventure that will resonate with anyone determined to live by their own rules."

Fresh Complaint by Jeffrey Eugenides. "Narratively compelling, beautifully written, and packed with a density of ideas despite their fluid grace, these stories chart the development and maturation of a major American writer."

The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon. "a fractured love story that explores what can befall those who lose what they love most."

image from an illustrated book review by Kristen Radtke (via nylon)

Craving:

Hanging in Maryland, which thus far means feasting on Joe Squared pizza and trying a newer spot in DC: A Rake's Progress. The latter is set in The Line hotel, which is beautiful itself — a cobbling together of restaurants, a radio station, and hotel housed inside a 110-year old massive-columned church. 

We had fresh Chesapeake oysters and salty, buttered bread. My mom and I shared a crab cake with shaved cucumber, red onion, tomato and smoked onion tartar; an heirloom tomato tart with puff pastry, vinaigrette and various basils; plus a farro salad with summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, nectarines and yogurt dressing.

We also had an incredible fudge brownie sundae: spelt brownie, mint chip ice cream, tiny homemade Oreos, whipped cream and hot fudge. A winner!

Pre- and post-saucing. 

Wearing:

Since I haven't been wearing anything particularly outlandish (denim, black, black, black), here are some beautiful images of things I love and would wear. 

Leandra Medine shoes (leandra medine via vogue)

Mara Hoffman delights.

Watching:

Last Friday I watched The End of the Tour on the bus ride to MD. It was slow but great, sad but soothing. Maybe one day I'll read Infinite Jest. 

Today I read that True Detective season 3 is back in January. Fingers crossed it's like the first season and renews our love of the show. 

I haven't been going to the movies or falling deep into shows much recently, so enthusiasm is currently in the ebb phase. 

Treasuring:

Giddiness and excitement: I experienced a few days last week where I couldn't contain my wild smiles. I took a ferry ride from the beach to the city — through the sunset hours. I was handed an It's-It out of the blue. I met a stranger in such a spectacular way. I shared stories with lots of details. I daydreamed on car rides. I'm letting the waves of emotions wash over me and I'm constantly pumped for the future and the now. 

Hello It's-It, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again

Monday Memos // 88

Listening:

"Lonesome Love" by Mitski. Finally the whole album is out and it is superb.

"I See A Darkness" by Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

"Middle School Dance" by fthrsn.

Reading:

Beyoncé in Her Own Words: Her Life, Her Body, Her Heritage

The "It's Complicated" series from The Cut is one of my favorites

Graham Walzer's "Tools For Science," which entails images of his dad conducting "experiments"

These Vogue images are supreme. (Photographed by Tyler Mitchell, Vogue, September 2018

Craving:

Last week I got to eat some of my favorite things surrounded by some of my favorite people — comfort and grief wrapped up into a complex ball.

Carrot cranberry cake, vegan chocolate cake, Pop A Top brownies and blondies, plantain chips, blackened salmon salad... I didn't realize how much I missed it all and needed it all. 

Baby vegan chocolate cakes too. It looks like a flower. 

Wearing:

With all the heat and rain, it's dresses and sandals galore. I'm really dreaming about sweaters and socks.

Watching:

TV: Insecure is back: as good as ever. Binged several episodes of Claws: excellent Florida trash entertainment. Embarrassingly, but with the need of lighthearted junk television, I can't stop watching Insatiable on Netflix. 

Movies: I want to see We The Animals: looks emotional and beautiful). I saw To All the Boys I've Loved Before on Netflix: it was just the right amount of cheesy teen rom com that I needed. Read the IMDb page for The Goldfinch: I'm nervous to have my favorite book ruined by a movie, but the list of actors is so good (Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Ansel Elgort) fingers crossed it'll be amazing. 

Issa and Molly. (image via HBO)

Treasuring:

Gainesville: I was reminded of how comforting and beautiful and nurturing and supportive this little city is. I wish I could've visited under happier circumstances, but it still managed to bring so much brightness to a dark spot. Thankful for my home and my swampy Florida family. So many wonderful hugs.

I mean come on!