It wasn’t my intention to take time away from Substack, but that’s what happened. Turning 30 got the better of me, and my mind was elsewhere on presents, cake and starving off the potential existential crisis at saying goodbye to my twenties. I then took myself to Cornwall for a solo trip with the intention of squirrelling myself away to write to my heart’s content. But I was flat out exhausted from the heightened emotions a birthday (especially a big one) brings and all the socialising I’d engaged in. This little introvert needed to rest, recharge and recuperate in solitude, which the salty Cornish air turned out to be the perfect remedy for.
A lot to fill you in on with reading. I finished A Dill Pickle by Katherine Mansfield before I went to Rye. A collection of only eight short stories, one or two really struck a chord with me, like The Doll’s House. I like reading collections of works, short stories or poetry, etc., in this way. Understanding the breadth of an author, but creating meaningful connections with selected pieces of their writing. Next up was Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin. I really enjoyed the wry, dry comedy of Austin’s Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, and my next read of hers was no different. I’m now halfway through Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson. It encompasses the mystical grittiness of Ireland and its lore. I am thoroughly enjoying the way Gleeson writes, so I think we’re on track for a five-star rating.
Other links:
Monica Lewinsky has released an anti-bullying candle
Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir is scheduled for release next week - in it, she calls Ghislaine Maxwell an ‘Apex Predator’
Chronic smartphone use has been linked to diminished cognitive capacity, social isolation, and poor mental health - should we all sack them off for a dumbphone?
The last days of social media
The “uncanceling” of Chris Brown
Nick Cave on grief and mourning people we do not know
Kate Lindsay - I’m not like other Swifties
Bel Hawkins - How to be single and now feel like shit about it
Emma Gannon - The death of “personal branding”?
Katherine May - Twenty ways to enjoy winter
I’m getting a lot of sponsored ads (bad) for new plays and musicals, which look right up my street (good). Sappho: The Poetess is on at The Other Place next week. Me, interested in the retelling of an influential Ancient Greek woman? Shock. Beautiful Little Fool is also coming to the Southwark Playhouse in January, a musical told from the perspective of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s daughter, Scottie. They’re on my list.
I’ve been watching more old (20~ years plus) movies of late. The grainy picture of life as it looked at the turn of the millennium has been a great source of comfort, particularly when the nights are becoming longer and I crave cosy candlelit evenings indoors, snuggled on the sofa. For a bizarre and baffling watch, I would recommend Best in Show, with a great cast including Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Jennifer Coolidge. Or Butter, which I have mentioned before and don’t think I will ever be able to forget. Nonsensical trash in its finest form.
The beaches in St Ives are a jaw-dropping wonder. Even on a cloudy day in October, their azure blue glistens brightly along honeycomb shores. I already cannot wait to plan a trip to go back in the summer months next year and be brave enough to take a dip.
I know we’re all a bit desensitised now, but an immersive experience about ‘the last days’ of Pompeii feels a bit far, no? I studied History at university, so I’m all for well-researched and curated exhibitions focusing on key events that have become enshrined in our collective memory of the world. But 360-degree video projections, VR headsets, and a metaverse to recreate a volcanic explosion that killed up to an estimated 3,000 people? Bit weird, innit.
In St Ives, I visited the studio-turned-museum of Barbara Hepworth. Born in Yorkshire, she settled in Cornwall with her family on the cusp of World War Two and remained there until she passed away in 1975. I wasn’t familiar with her or her work before, but I left the museum feeling a connection to her work and an admiration for her creative process.
She had a strong relationship with nature, particularly the landscape of the Cornish coast, which became a major influence for her work. But she was quoted that she “rarely draws what [she] sees. [she] draws what [she] feels in [her] body.” She described all her early memories as forms, shapes and textures rather than tangible things - a sentiment I found intriguing, given my inability to often break away from the logical reasoning of things.
