recommended
Today, I want to check in. It has been a week around here! The news around the world and locally is devastating. I am working on finishing my novel which alternatively flows like honey and then pummels me to the ground. For the first time, I cried while writing a scene. I fully felt my character’s emotions as she experienced something very difficult. And I grieved with her (although I was the one doing the harm!). The last scenes are draining but fulfilling.
On a positive note - I saw my first fire flies last night!
I wanted to share what I have been reading, watching, eating, and listening to - ONLY because I love emails like this. I am always scanning other feeds to find my next hit. I hope you find one thing in this round-up that speaks to you. And feel free to respond with your own recommendations.
my neighbor’s dog staring at me across a few yards while I tried to read on the porch
Reading:
Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen by Rebecca May Johnson (is amazing and looks at cooking as a structure of thought, and although she is not a parent, the applications of what she articulates are big).
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor (easy reading to fall into, I love her voice and her insistence that we move away from acceptance to radical love).
The Life by Carrie Fountain (a poem collection exploring the depths of motherhood and all the suburban trappings - stopped-up toilets, O magazine, the oranges that have been on the table “for weeks and have/hardened, been/rendered inedible.” She works to make the mundane holy and important.
A few poems that have come across my feed recently that I really loved:
What the Living Do by Marie Howe
Dolores, Maybe by John Murillo
Movies:
Ponyo - pure escape into Hayao Miyazaki’s watery and domesticated world.
Whiplash - toxic mentorship in high-level creative artistry, very good!
Asteroid City - a visual and narrative feast. I want to watch it 5 more times.
Chevalier - a sumptuous recovery of a historical figure you probably never heard of. Such a good movie!
Tunes:
Spotify mixes all day!
Brown noise to sleep.
Royalcore classical to write.
French Cafe Lounge when reading the paper.
Soundtracks like: The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Royal Tennebaums when washing dishes.
My Summer Jams mix from last year for sitting on the porch or playing yard games.
Food:
Well, I am having trouble with cooking. Food was a big deal in my former married life, and I find many aspects of the whole thing triggering. But I have been on a pimento cheese kick. I cut up a jalapeno in it to make the perfect savory sandwich spread with a kick! My son and I are also addicted to Pop-Ice. They taste exactly the same as they did in my childhood (fake chemical fruit flavors (grape!) and are super sweet). Love them. Joshua Weissman offers fun inspiration. His burrito bowl is on constant rotation here. We just make his rice, beans, and sauce. The meat and other topping depend on what we have knocking around the fridge.
Journal Jam is at risk of not running. IF you are interested, please take the time to sign up now. I will make a final decision in the day or so. If it does not run, I have a few other ideas to create together this summer.
let me know how you are,
xo,
Amy
