#97 The Offcuts
But could a sloth do this?
Today I am in a low-energy slump. I am a slow, slovenly, sloth, heaving my brain and body around. I showered, and I left the house as soon as I was up because I knew my body would be calling for rest. Earlier in the day, I fought against it, against myself and what I need. My resistance against rest, and seeing rest as something that must be earned, is an ongoing battle. One that, today, I shall lose either way.
Currently reading Soft Core by Brittany Newell. ‘Baby’ is a stripper and a drifter. A young woman lost on her way. She lives with her drug-dealing ex, who has a secret penchant for wearing women’s clothing. He goes missing, and a strange girl starts working at the club. I’m not finding it as provocative as I think it’s intended to be, and I now understand (with crystal clarity) why people warn against the overuse of metaphors.
I am continuing to slowly make my way through the audiobook of The Tidal Year by Freya Bromley. I want to savour every word. I said last week how much her words resonated with my own experiences of grief, and it’s so important for these conversations to happen. Grief can be isolating and misunderstood, but it’s something we’ll all experience in our lives. Learning to care for ourselves and others, going through it, moves us further away from the outdated, strict social etiquette of the Victorian era, which no longer serves us.
Other reads from the week:
My favourite read of the week was an essay by Julian Baggini on how everything is sold to us as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself - a reductive worldview is stripping meaning from our most valued activities. As someone trying to move away from an overactive ‘productivity’ mindset, Baggini’s argument against the ‘instrumentalisation’ of things was, to me, a rallying cry. Debating everything I wrote last week about trinkets and objects. Yes, they offer dementia patients tangible links to the past, which can help improve memory and moments of lucidity. But most importantly, trinkets are fucking fun, and the jumble of objects dotted around my home bring me joy.
The Devil wears Amazon - how the biggest night in fashion got bought out
The Plaza Prizes scandal
How do I respond to my friends when they criticise their weight?
The story behind Mother Mary
The US has banned abortion pills via mail
Loretta - I wore a collar and a leash
Alex Elle - You are not needy
A lesson in assumptions, judgement and the seemingly face-value came in the form of an interview this week. A video of a man (who didn’t know he was being filmed) dressed in a suit, using crutches with his foot in a cast, went viral as a symbol of “boomer” beliefs about office culture. He was identified, found, and interviewed to clarify the falsehoods projected by the video and those who engaged with it. Now more than ever, don’t believe everything you see on the internet.
My current hyper-fixation “something-on-toast” dish has been going strong for a while now. I suspect we’re nearing the end of this particular season, as I no longer salivate as much when thinking about it as I used to. Here, we have sourdough toast with Philadelphia cream cheese, tomato chutney, and plum tomatoes. Sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. Previous on-toast obsessions have included soft goat’s cheese with fig jam.
The annual seagull contest in De Panne, Belgium, took place last week. Competitors “flocked” to perform their very best impression. Some even dressed for the occasion, too. I feel I should warn you before watching any videos from the contest that the squawking is both intense and eerily accurate.
If bird content is your thing, there’s more where that came from. Tomorrow, the National Trust is launching their ‘puffin live cam’. Streaming from the Farne Islands, you can watch the puffins chilling all day long. Why not treat your chronically online self to a visit?
There is a Swedish proverb, oro ger små saker en stor skugga, which translates as ‘worry often gives a small thing a big shadow’. The month of May will be an emotional rollercoaster that I am trying to prepare for. Over the course of a few days at the end of a month, my brother is getting married, and it’ll be the fourth anniversary of my Dad’s death. I get overwhelmed quite easily, my anxiety often fills my brain with useless thoughts and worries. So, I liked this proverb as it’s a reminder to slow down and take things as they come.
