#86 The Offcuts
It's the new me
The small rebrand refresh of Drafting is complete! With a new and improved Offcuts format as well. I’ve condensed sections and reshuffled a little. We’ll start with books & links and finish with words of wisdom or a quote, as normal. The old four subheadings have been changed into two new ones, ‘Add to Basket’ and ‘Did You Know?’. Nothing will really change. I’ll bring you recommendations, things on my watch or to-do list, and things that are pissing me off. But moving two sections instead feels a bit less restrictive, and it’s nice to have a bit of freshness.
Slutty Cheff’s Tart is a marvellous memoir and ode to relationships with food and sex. She is funny, sarcastic, and authentic. It makes for great reading. We’re around the same age, and both live in London, so there is resonance in hearing about her trips to Mascara Bar and cycles past Superstore.
Antarctica’s former largest iceberg, A23a, is completely disintegrating - once covering 4,000 sq km, the iceberg has shrunk to under 1,200 sq km (down from over 3,500 sq km in early 2025).
Can women ever have interests that aren’t considered frivolous or with alterior motive?
Smartwatches, Oura rings, smart home devices and Fitbits are being weaponised by abusers
Gizzi Erskine on overcompensating
London’s Nightlife Taskforce shares its findings
Should we all leave TikTok?
Catherine O’Hara’s roles were a reminder that mothers are people, too
Eri - Growing up is becoming who you were at 12, except this time you like her
At the Jubilee Pool in Bristol, a new artwork by Luke Jerram titled ‘Helios’ sees a giant illuminated sun sculpture suspended in mid-air. It’s a fleeting installation, it’ll be gone by 8th February, but hopefully they’ll achieve their goal of raising money for roof repairs and new solar panels.
I went to The National Gallery to see the Radical Harmony exhibition, comprising mostly of paintings collected by Helene Kröller-Müller (one of the first great women art patrons of the 20th century). I jotted down notes in my phone that reminded me of how much I love gallery spaces. The large, sweeping openness calmed me instantly. The stress of marching through central London is dissolved. I am reminded that I am small and insignificant. Impressionism (and its subsidiaries) is my favourite movement. There is so much texture and movement. Within a static image, the grass paradoxically blows in the wind. I am invited in, I want to touch… But I don’t.
I’d heard whispers of Meta charging a subscription model for no ads, but now it’s been confirmed, and honestly, what the fuck? When will it end? Now TV is £9.99 a month just for the entertainment package, which only includes TV shows, and still, there are at least three adverts during a ~ 45-minute episode. We used to be a real country. We used to get free Coca-Cola glasses from McDonald’s and five-pound notes in Walkers crisps. Late-stage Capitalism is the bad place.
I got my hair done on Saturday, and I was extra tired, which always makes me feel a bit weird about usually closing my eyes when I’m getting my hair washed. Intrigued by what other people do, I created an Instagram poll. The results were a whopping 75% yes, I close my eyes, followed by 18% who said sometimes and only 7% who said they don’t. Preferring instead to maintain awkward eye contact, I assume.
The Offcuts is usually brought to you on a Monday, but best laid plans and all that. It got me thinking about where the term “better late than never” came from. The Latin phrase “potiusque sero quam nunquam” is a direct translation, found in Livy’s History of Rome. The first written record in English is in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, dating back to 1386. Still, hundreds of years later, there is more that connects us than divides. I am merely a product of my ancestors.
