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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids edited by Megan Daum. I previously posted a Read This about Megan Daum’s thoughts on this subject, which you can find here. A weird thing happened while I was reading this book. I found myself agreeing most whole-heartedly with the men who contributed essays. I think it is in part because I have never felt conflicted about the issue, never felt like I should want it, or like I wanted to want it. And I’ve never felt the need to justify this to myself (to others, yes, all the time, but to myself, no). It’s a fantastic…
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Read This
Required Reading. Double-header today, y’all. Because I fly relatively frequently, I have a lot of thoughts on airports, airplanes, and the people who occupy them. One day I will sit down and write a piece (pieces?) about these thoughts, but for now, in the midst of a long trip out West, I will share with you thoughts on these subjects from Roxane Gay and Molly O’Brien. Roxane Gay’s spot on recounting of the men one meets while travelling, “Men You Meet While Travelling By Airplane” is hilarious. My favourites: The guy who opens his laptop the moment he sits on the plane because he has very important work to do…
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Quoted
Most cynics are really crushed romantics: they’ve been hurt, they’re sensitive, and their cynicism is a shell that’s protecting this tiny, dear part of them that’s still alive. — Jeff Bridges
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Read This
Required Reading. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I favour a relatively monochromatic wardrobe. While I’m not an all-black-all-the-time kind of gal, my version of colour tends to be more like grey and denim than anything else. So, I loved reading this piece on why New Yorkers have long favoured black. Guys, it’s a good look. Seriously. And frankly, if this style of dressing has the fringe benefit of making me look like I might belong in New York, I am 100% okay with that. Because, as Amy Larocca writes in this article, “we are, in a sense, with the band. The band is New York, and the…
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Quoted
You must not quote to me what I once said. I am wiser now. — Romy Schneider
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Read This
Required Reading. As an avid fan of live theatre and dance and music, and as someone who used to perform in front of people relatively regularly, I have a more than a few thoughts on the various end of show rituals. Clapping is weird when you really start to think about it. Standing ovations should be reserved for really spectacular performances. And bows should be kept to a minimum. They are important for both audiences and performers. Like a mutual exchange of thanks. The audience thanks the performers for their work and the performers thank the audiences for the chance to share their performance. However, curtain calls that last forever and ever…
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Quoted
And then the dreams break into a million tiny pieces. The dream dies. Which leaves you with a choice: you can settle for reality, or you can go off, like a fool, and dream another dream. — Nora Ephron
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… We Are What We Mourn by Pricilla Uppal. It’s easily the most interesting research-related book I’ve read for a while. Her writing is compelling, and her ability to synthesize historical arcs is enviable. Watching… What I Like About You. This show is so peak-2000s that Jesse McCartney guest starred in an episode I just watched and performed “Beautiful Soul”. Also, were we all engaged in some weird game of chicken trying to determine how short a rise we could have in pants before they just fell down? The show though, is pretty delightful. Listening… “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE. This song, and the whole EP, is really…
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Read This
Required Reading. I am an avid reader of the blog A Beautiful Mess. It’s fun. It’s colourful. It inspires me to try new things. It inspires me to pick up habits I have let lapse. In general I love it. But this post, this post has a special place in my heart. Emma’s story really resonates with me. Not because I am where she is at, but because I often feel like I am in the middle of it. I particularly love this bit: “Out of money and ideas, I finally gave in to her requests and moved home. Elsie was moving her business into a much larger building and…
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Safe Harbour
I think a lot about the concept of safety. Not “look both ways before you cross the street” safety. Not “learn your WHIMIS symbols” safety. Not “double check you turned off your straightener” safety. But some sort of existential, opposite of precarity, sense of safety. Okay, I think about the straightener one all of the time too. For some reason fog has always made me feel safe. All that to say, this image is now up in the print shop. Maybe you feel the same way about fog and want some of it in your home at all times. Maybe you have a friend who desperately misses the East Coast. Maybe…