My brain has been hijacked this week by a Big Dumb Cold™ so I’ve been laying low. I’m not a great sick person - I always take a day or two longer than necessary to realize I’m not well. Instead I chalk it up to bad sleep, depression, allergies, literally anything else as I power through until eventually I can’t ignore it any longer and then proceed to power down. My Neti pot has been my constant companion, and every saline solution reminds me of the great pasta recipe line that is the title of this post.
It takes everything in me (and near constant reminders from Mike) to remember that the harder I rest, the faster I’ll bounce back. Typing this all out is extremely embarrassing but I’m giving myself the tiniest pat on the back this time for really turning off and resting hard. As in cancel the plans, FOMO be damned, lie in bed, eyes closed, no devices. And it’s working! So if you too are feeling under the weather, this is your signal to batten down the hatches, if you are able to. If you are feeling full of health, this is your sign to appreciate your nasal passages while they’re clear - you really don’t know what you have till it’s gone.
I just discovered the term “hagsploitation cinema” or horror's obsession with older women. Other names include "psycho-biddy horror", "hag horror", and "Grande Dame Guignol" (possibly my favorite). It’s the intersection of ageism and sexism, the monstrosity of no longer being an object of consumption with reproductive capabilities… but also a way for formerly glamorous actresses to have acting opportunities to play genuinely complex, deeply villainous characters. The 1960s and 1970s were when the genre really peaked but it feels beyond ripe for a revival/modern times update.
In Italy birth control will now be free instead of reimbursable (and costing between 9 and 24 euros). It will draw the ire of anti-abortion groups but reproductive care is health care. Meanwhile in the U.S., Walgreens is refusing to distribute abortion pills in 21 states where abortion remains legal “acting out of an abundance of caution” aka giving in to Republican bullying. Now the state of California is refusing to do business with the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain. Meanwhile the rest of the country continues to piece together DIY resources such as INeedAnA.com (where you type in your zipcode, age and weeks since your last period to get appropriate help) and free ebooks on How to Give Yourself a Medication Abortion.
There are some big nights ahead for birds as over 300 million of them will cross the U.S. over the next three nights. And there’s a new bird in town - for the last two weeks in Prospect Park the first anhinga or devil bird has been spotted. Southern birds are looking for new nesting territories as temperatures rise. A flock of 22 was spotted upstate, which is completely unheard of. Climate change will only keep altering the wildlife everywhere.
’s latest essay on trans athletes is illuminating. As hundreds of anti-trans bills are being presented across the country, anti-trans sports bans are getting passed as some kind of innocuous compromise. But it’s a trap - denying people the right to play does not “level the playing field” for everyone. Rather it denies trans folks the right to feel embodied and safe in movement.I’m excited to be cheering on Sarah, Dana and Toast (on my bike!) riding in the Five Boro Bike Tour this Sunday. If you are looking for a free bike helmet, they are being distributed throughout the city every Saturday this month.
Via
I came across Lan Samantha Chang’s phenomenal essay, Writers, Protect Your Inner Life (adapted from remarks she gave at the 2017 One Story Debutante Ball) and I can’t get it out of my head. She talks about how seductive it can be to focus on the business of writing over the pleasure of creation. It can really be applied to any creative endeavor and it’s a solid reminder to nurture one’s inner source while disassociating it from the publicity circus. Crucially, “we must wall off our inner selves from the colonizing part that assesses, quantifies, judges.”It’s not insomnia that you’re dealing with, it’s an ancestral echo. Before electricity, we had a split sleep pattern. After the sun went down, we used to have our first sleep, lasting usually around four hours. Then we would wake up for an hour or two to do chores, have sex, visit the neighbors and meditate on our dreams, before going back to sleep till dawn. Late 15th century prayer manuals even offered special prayers for the intermission in between sleeps. The invention of the light bulb made us all stay up later in the name of productivity and we dropped the first sleep in exchange for a later bedtime and one extended, uninterrupted night.
On Sasha’s recommendation, I’m halfway through The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams and the span of it is pretty brilliant. Inspired by true events, the book follows Esme as she grows up alongside her father and the team of lexicographers that prepared the first Oxford English Dictionary. Given that it took 70 years to complete, it’s a genius move to have a character grow up alongside it. The book will be adapted into a TV series but I wish it would be turned into a movie instead. The scope is large in a way that makes a TV series the obvious choice, but a portion of the book in Esme’s early 20s feels like the perfect movie end to end.
A ten minute feast for the eyes - the short film Glass won the Oscar for Best Short Documentary in 1959. Director Bert Haanstra takes us through the glassblowing techniques of the Royal Leerdam Glass Factory in the Netherlands, all set to great jazz music. Come for the delightful score shift at the halfway mark, stay for the shot of the man lighting his cigarette off a scalding hot jar.
Till next time,
ASK