Hi charming cherubs,
As the film says above, I broke a world record this week. I walked two miles along the coastline with my dog, Mr. Darcy. Has anyone ever walked so far? I don’t think so. Let me tell you, it’s no easy feat for somebody who’s hips had been crushed in a motorcycle accident at one point. I’m feeling very inspired and wanted to share that feeling with you. Never give up! Keep going!
Yesterday, I heard a person say a random fact: the skeleton regenerates itself every 10 years, but I took that personally. The accident was almost 9 years ago and I’m only recently feeling better. Does this mean the healing journey will take a decade because my bone cells are remodeling themselves? All this time I was expecting an Amazon Prime same-day-delivery of new bones. We must have patience…
Now it’s time for your handpicked recommendations! Carefully chosen little morsels to entertain your day or marginally improve your life, interjected with literary mischief. Many say it’s worth the subscription, I’m sure.
1. This week I’ve been revisiting the books that inspire my creative freedom, authors who make me think “I’m allowed to write like that?!” And the top contender in my canon is Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu.
Within these pages is a treacherous childhood. Where the main character, named Shit, wobbles and shakes along the tightrope of innocence. The narrator and her best friend (and secret crush) Isora, live within an impoverished neighborhood in Tenerife, Spain—a colonized island off the northwestern coast of Africa. This is the summer of 2005 baby, these girls are chatting to strangers online and dreaming of a ride to the beach.
Sounds like a familiar coming-of-age story, right? Maybe, but you’ll never read a book like this. Every sentence blew me away. Abreu is a master of rhythm and similes, two of my favorite things! Her voice is unique and captures internet dialect—and dare I say girl dialect—in a way I’ve never seen done before. Abreu grapples with profanity, society, and compulsory heterosexuality but manages to make you laugh the whole time too.
“I was jealous because her boobs were soft and round like sugar-coated gummy bears, even though she hated them. Because she got her period and had pubes on her minky, a bajillion black pubes that were coarse and pointy like the fake grass around the holiday homes.”
“Isora hated her nan with a passion…Isora would say, all right, bitch, I'm going bitch, I got it bitch, whatever you want bitch, thank you bitch, will you be needing anything else bitch? And her nan would eye her distrustingly and Isora would explain that bitch meant grandmother in English.”
The translation by Julia Sanches is spectacular. Half the time I was thinking, how’d you do that?! I’m convinced Sanches preserved the essence of Abreu's writing. You can hear the influence of Tenerife’s local sound in each paragraph (where Abreu is also from).
The language, food, and culture in Dogs of Summer is brimming with socioeconomic history: a place at odds with itself and with Spain. Seeing how a world can so easily decide a girl’s fate, such as with the relationship to her body, or the demand of her sexuality, was all too familiar.
Read this if you are not squeamish.
2. As I was editing the weekend newsletter, Darcy crawled onto my chest and fell asleep, and I wasn’t allowed to finish working. He was too cute in this rare moment. I didn’t move for two hours, until my legs went dead and my arms fell off. So, it’s not my fault you’re getting this on a Monday!
3. A gorgeous micro-essay, “A Child’s Work” by Carol Moody (River Teeth Journal). “If a six-year-old girl polices the house on a day like this, then maybe her mommy will be released from sadness.”
4. Worms is publishing online again which is exciting. The whole Psychoanalysis Issue is a great read and a promising new beginning, but the interview with Maggie Nelson (author of Bluets, and The Argonauts) is extra enlightening: “Rays of Relation: Maggie Nelson in Conversation.”
5. The essay, “Chili Padi Girl in a Chili Padi World” by Max Pasakorn (Swamp Pink Magazine.) A longer story that immerses you into a whole life; the single thread is the chili pepper, a spicy guide through family relationships and questions of identity. 🌶
6. An author interview called, “Station Eleven, 10 Years Later: Emily St. John Mandel on her eerily prescient sci-fi classic—and what she’d change about it now.” (Slate Magazine.)
Have you read Station Eleven? I’d like to read it one day! (the book, the TV series).
7. Swimming with your siblings like you used to as kids. My sister and I swam together for the first time in years. It didn’t take long for us to pretend to be humpback whales singing, “EeeooOOouuUUuu,” yelling, “The whale is breaching!” and slamming our bodies into the water, spraying water from our mouths like a blowhole. I scream-laughed “I’m thirty!” and she said, “You’re thirty-one.”
8. Thai coffee!!! (some history).
9. The series adaptation Queenie (HULU). I always wanted to read the book! Looks like I’ve made a short cut straight to the TV show. Well, I couldn’t stop watching it and finished the whole thing at once. Queenie is set in Brixton, about a young woman having a “quarter-life crises.” While at times overdramatized, the effect is part of the charm. Each character is endearing. You just want the best for them!
Queenie is misunderstood by her boss, her boyfriend and even her friends. One night after dinner with her boyfriend’s family, he fights with her, accusing her of being “too much.” Queenie said harsh things to his grandmother (I hope you die before we have kids) because she had called their potential mixed baby “half-caste.” When this fight doesn’t end well, Queenie spends the rest of her spiraling with even worse men, along the way discovering how to respect herself enough to demand that other people respect her too.
What I loved most was the decision to voice-over the story with Queenie’s live thoughts. Viewers have no choice but to understand her now. Also, I have a soft spot for cinema set in London! The vibrant lighting and set-dressing suggest people behind the camera were thoughtful and caring with the story.
10. The series Drops of God (Apple TV). Okay! Do you remember this post when I said a story about high-stakes sommeliers would be a perfect anime?! Well, apparently it already existed!!! Drops of God is about a woman who is basically the Lara Croft of wine (raised on a luxurious estate, with special skills that her father trained her to embrace). As an adult, her mysterious father dies and leaves her with his wine collection worth millions of dollars, but only if she competes for it against his protégé! Drops of God is actually based on a manga by the same name, and yes, it 👏 is 👏 suspenseful 👏. Wine is so ridiculously serious, it’s a perfect match for the form!
11. The album Adultsville by Bellah—who was also a supporting actress on the show Queenie! (Spotify, Youtube, COLORS x STUDIOS). Bellah’s soothing voice and heartfelt lyrics are perfect for R&B, even better is her subtle mix of styles giving Adultsville an original take on a classic genre. I listened to the whole thing on a cold foggy Sunday, and the melodies made me feel creative and cozy. As the weather shifts seasons, R&B helps you get comfortable with the oncoming fall. This album would be perfect for crafting with a couple dance (or crying) breaks in between.
12. The podcast episode “We've Hit a Tipping Point' - Riz Ahmed on Protest, Joy, and the Power of Story” by Zeteo—which I found thanks to Letters from a Muslim Woman, another contemplative newsletter you should check out!
13. This week’s quote: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." — Alice Walker
What are you loving this week?!
13 Things I loved this week