Your Offcuts are coming hot, short, and sweet. I was on holiday last week and pointedly spent my time not writing. It’s been so lovely to return. The feeling of a pen in my hand this morning borderline euphoric. Allowing yourself to miss something truly does make the heart grow fonder. Thinking about everything I want to write this week makes me excited.
My week has been very light on reading. I’ve picked up that old copy of A Room With A View by E. M. Forster and I’m hoping that as a more avid reader now than however many years ago it was when I purchased it I’ll find the text more intriguing and perhaps easier to read. For a book first published over 100 years ago, the differences in language and style make for a contrasting reading experience to modern texts.
Other reads:
- The Proliferation of Edvard Munch’s Scream
- Best Markets in The World (I’m lucky enough to live walking distance from the floral delights of Columbia Road Market)
- Micro Moments of Joy
- The Club Sandwich
- Coming Out of Blowjob Retirement and the reclamation of female sexual pleasure
Thursday’s newsletter was a veritable feast of upcoming London exhibitions I want to visit. If you have any other recommendations for inspiring and interesting things going on I’d love to hear about it and expand my list.
Last night I watched Stuart Little and holy fuck what a film. I can’t believe it’s spent so many years dormant in my roster. It’s a wholly comforting and nostalgic watch. Hugh Laurie as an archetypal high-earning American husband and father. Nathan Lane as a talking cat. A family motto, little hi little low, little hey little ho. It’s a masterpiece. Lining up Stuart Little 2 for imminent viewing at some point this week.
Do you have or long for a book boyfriend? You’re not alone. Recent data published by Tinder found that bios mentioning the term “book boyfriend” rose by 58 per cent in 2024, spiking to 77 per cent in January 2025. Women can find reading a strong indicator of emotional intelligence and it challenges outdated notions from the Victorian era that reading was a frivolous female activity. Of course, when it comes to dating you want to bond over shared and common interests with a partner. It’s a joy to see women assert their own interests without pandering to hobbies perceived as more acceptable beneath a male gaze.
Becky Hill’s anguish at Jack Whitehall’s “Wetherspoons Whitney” comment at the Brit Awards is completely justified. Mocking a person’s class status is a rather dull attempt at humour. Made even worse by how many have noted, including Hill herself, that many of this year’s Brit Award winners received a private school education.
After reading about Edvard Munch’s scream, I wanted to familiarise myself with him as an artist. I remember studying some of his work in Art History and remembered that he suffered greatly with his mental health. For all its perceived limitations (especially given attitudes towards mental health problems at the turn of the 20th century) he cherished that he could express his identity and emotion through art.
“My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. Without anxiety and illness, I am a ship without a rudder. My art is grounded in reflections over being different from others. My sufferings are part of my self and my art. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art. I want to keep those sufferings.”
Mary, thank you so much for including club sandwiches! 🥪 🥓🥬🍅