#105 The Offcuts
Highs and lows from the last two weeks
So, today, my main thoughts are food-related (as you will read more of), like, will I have another BBQ before summer ends? Where shall I go for a solo end of summer lunch? What is the best bakery in Paris?
The Years by Annie Ernaux is an unusual read for a memoir. Earnaux writes about her life experiences as though from a distance, watching it happen from afar. The Years spans her life and the major, defining political and pop culture references of the time. Every few years, we are anchored by Ernaux referencing a photo of the woman (herself) that she is writing about. The passing of time is pondered by Earnaux, as well as the hopes and dreams the people around her had about the future. It’s quite dense, but I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Earnaux. She is able to articulate feeling and emotion so eloquently through her words.
Last month in the Sunday Times bestseller list, 9 out of the top 10 novels included a plotline where a woman is murdered - what can we glean from it?
Not sure I agree that Elephant and Castle is “patient zero” for gentrification in London. But it sure has been one of the most aggressive and blatant eradications of tradition, culture, and trade. It’s the symbol of a bleak outlook for the city’s future as perceived by developers.
We’re losing the ability to discover the things we didn’t even know to ask. Another piece on how we’re basically all getting stupider thanks to AI. It’s a repetitive line of inquiry but one I champion and will continue to advocate for.
The men getting off on giving their money to strangers - the psychology of financial submissives
The “Boring Job” brings more financial security (and happiness) to Gen-Z (from November last year, but in the wake of so many redundancies across the tech sector in response to AI implementation, a thought-provoking read).
Zohran Mamdani on the aux
shit you should care about - The ‘cockroach’ protests in India explained
Haley Nahman - The mindset shift of motherhood
Haley Nahman - Writing everything down is not a life
The internet used to be fun. It was a gift, given to us for free. Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and gifted it into the public domain with no patents or royalties. This was 1993, but the idea of a man doing something not for profit feels like it belongs to another lifetime. Other people sought to follow in the footsteps of proving things for free online and I saw an interesting round up on Instagram. You’ll find the likes of radio.garden that allows you to click on any city on a map and hear its live radio station. Or thetruesize.com that allows you to see the actual size of a country on a relative map (the history of cartography and the deliberate distortion of scale on maps as a propaganda tool is pretty crazy).
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well”. The spirit of Virginia Woolf has really found me this week it seems. As you’ll see more of below in my quest for a room of one’s own. My table has been full of incredibly delicious meals. Again, you’ll see more of that below.
My writer’s desk is always a blend of lap, sofa, dining table, coffee shop. I am not committed to a dedicated or static space. But my work is always fueled by observations. Particularly, the conversations I have with friends and family around the dinner table.
My last purchase was a biggy and it’s a solo trip to Bath in September. I’ve been playing chicken with myself over an Airbnb I’ve been eyeing up for the last week. Every day, the price has been decreasing ever so slightly. I’ve been telling myself “I’ll book it tomorrow” for days, hoping for just that little bit more off. Today, I bit the bullet. I saved over £20 from the original price when I first found it. It’s the kind of ‘girl math’ a girl needs to justify another writing retreat.
I went to Vesper in Exmouth Market, and it’s probably one of the best places I’ve eaten in London. One standout dish was the grilled prawns in fenugreek & black lime butter - I could have drunk the sauce, it was so good. Another was a snack of tuna and anchovy on a spring onion pancake. This one was incredibly surprising for me. It’s not something I would ever normally order but I saw a video and the colours (of the bright pink tuna and a dot of green condiment) and had to try. Sometimes, trying new things works out.
In 155 years of records at Kew Gardens, July 2026 was the first ever completely rainless month. Drought has been officially declared in over half of England. Those future fears of climate change are becoming our reality. Last week, I shared my fragmented thoughts about this in an essay that you can read here.
As I hope and pray for August rain, I think about Sylvia Plath. Her ‘August rain’ is metaphorical, yet it evokes the same feeling. This ‘odd uneven time’ of precariousness for the shape of summer and the unrelenting heat we might be dealing with for the rest of our lives.
August rain: the best of summer gone, and the new fall not yet born, the odd uneven time.
