#100 The Offcuts
Philip Larkin soft boy etc.
Woah! 100 editions of weekly debriefs crammed full of highs, lows, links, recommendations, books, reading, pop culture, and so much random crap. Your insight into the inner workings of my creative brain 100 times over. What stuck with me this week? What did I feel compelled to share? What was worth mentioning? Oh, how fun it’s been to continue to iterate this content piece for Drafting.
A note to say there won’t be an Offcuts next week - I’ll be busy celebrating my brother’s wedding and marking the fourth anniversary of my Dad passing away. Girl gotta force herself to schedule in breaks and rest time.
I am still making my way through Don’t Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier. My reading pace has slowed and will continue to at the moment, which is okay. It ebbs and flows. I have a trip planned soon on which I hope to read copious amounts. How delightful. Du Maurier’s short stories are cosy and nostalgic in a ‘watching black-and-white movies’ kind of way. There is a little pomp to give theatre and flair to her tales of suspense and mystery. Her craft is neat and enticing.
Other reads from the week:
On going viral and having your life fall apart
AI and the revolt against the Girl Boss
In the wake of their record-breaking profits from the likes of Tesco, the UK government urges supermarkets to introduce limits on certain food prices
The exploitation of children from TikTok “skincare influencer” strategies
Shein acquires ‘sustainability-first’ brand Everlane for $100 million
Meet the woman dating an AI version of Luigi Mangioni
Yrsa Daley-Ward - No one wants to be a beginner anymore
Mallory McDuff - Interesting ways to practice talking about death and dying
‘Tis be the season for an ice lolly bought on a whim from your local offy. Since I was a child, a Twister has always done it for me. I don’t mind dabbling with a Solero, or a Calippo if I’m particularly parched. Though, fuck I wish they had Golden Gaytimes in the UK.
Remember to stay safe out there in this heat. Not all suncreams offer the same protection. Even if two different brands are both factor 30, one might be a better option than another. All suncream you buy should have a star rating from 1 to 5, which indicates effective UVA protection. The NHS recommends using sunscreen with at least four stars. The Boots Soltan range introduced the ranking system and carries a perfect five stars. It would be my top pick.
Yesterday was Whitsun, also known as Whit Sunday, the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It happens 50 days after Easter, falling on the seventh Sunday, marking the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ disciples. The Whitsun Weddings is a poem (and the title of an anthology) by Philip Larkin that I studied at school.
The Monday after the Whitsun weekend is a public bank holiday (today), and Larkin reflects in his poem that the people on the train travelling to get married are doing so for economic and practical reasons, thus undermining the love and romance of marriage. The holiday meant an extra day to celebrate without losing valuable work wages. Larkin is often labelled a cynic by critics, but I think he reveals himself. Clearly, he believes in the importance of love in a marriage, else he wouldn’t comment - ergo not cynical. The og soft boy <3
Here’s the sixth stanza, leading into the seventh:
Success so huge and wholly farcical;
The women shared
The secret like a happy funeral;
While girls, gripping their handbags tighter, stared
At a religious wounding. Free at last,
And loaded with the sum of all they saw,
We hurried towards London, shuffling gouts of steam.
Now fields were building-plots, and poplars cast
Long shadows over major roads, and for
Some fifty minutes, that in time would seem
Just long enough to settle hats and say
I nearly died,
A dozen marriages got under way.
