Listening:
"Hire" by Girlpool. New girlpoooool. Woohoo!
“Sugar Bum Bum” by Lord Kitchener.
“Cavern” by Liquid Liquid.
Reading:
I wrote about wanting to read Her Body and Other Parties months ago and I’m finally reading it and LOVING IT. So weird and wonderful.
“A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naïvely assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.”
Craving:
Dinner from Zyara. “… the Vegan Arabic Sandwich, a kitchen-sink sensation of deep-fried veggies (cauliflower, eggplant, and paper-thin zucchini) plus falafel, tomato, cabbage, and assorted pickled things that all gets stuffed into a housemade pita like circus clowns into a Volkswagen.” (via Grubstreet)
Cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine. As someone who often proclaims they don’t care for cupcakes, even though I greatly adore cake, these really were outstanding. Very unassuming but absolutely delicious.
Sometimes less is more. (image via sugarsweetsunshine)
Wearing:
When I woke up Wednesday and the temperature said “4,” I just piled on all the things. Long Johns, undershirts, sweaters, boots, scarves, hats, gloves. I am ready for spring. I am ready for summer. I have finally maxed out on the cold. I forgot what it’s like to have my legs exposed to the fresh air.
Watching:
TV: I’ve already rewatched the first three episodes of High Maintenance season 3 (so many amazing comedians I admire keep popping up!). I’m deep into True Detective—it’s good! I tried a couple episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, but I’m finding it too slow. I’m a few episodes in Russian Doll, the latest Netflix original with Natasha Lyonne—I wouldn’t say it’s brilliant, but it’s entertaining. It’s cold! so the tv is on!
Movies: I watched The Lives of Others. A German drama/thriller from 2007. It was very good. As one apt review says, “fierce and gloomy.” I just learned while looking up the cast that the main actor, Ulrich Mühe, died months after the film won an Oscar. So sad.
Ulrich Mühe enjoying his stolen literature.
Treasuring:
Warmth: As cold as it is and all the complaining, sometimes the blast of freezing air, especially when you have a warm home and a warm beverage nearby, can be a bit magical. One evening I walked out of the subway station, music playing in my earbuds, and I let the hot tears mix with the frigid air. Emotional release paired with the refreshing winter wind, hey, it’s not so bad.
My winter look. (image by marc pilaro)