Morning, kids! First Monday of Summer is hitting like a freight train—all I want is to shirk my responsibilities and be outside in the sun all day! Which reminds me: the reason this morning might feel particularly grueling…
Sleeper Hit of the Week?
This is more like Sleeper Hit of the Quarter, but nonetheless, I simply must shout out the power of a four-day weekend. I’ve had at least 3 four-day weekends in the last month or so, and it’s like micro-dosing vacation. Who cares that all you’re doing is getting a little extra sleep and taking care of things you didn’t have time to do during the week? It’s perfect!
The key is taking off Monday—even if you can only swing a three-day. I’ve found, you don’t feel like you’re rushing or like you’ve missed a day as much as you do when you take Friday off, but the week still feels deliciously short and easy. If you have the means, I highly recommend. It is so choice.
What have you been listening to?
W2Sv5 ofc! As well as the new HAIM album (this single, mostly), and In the Court of the Crimson King (first song is sampled in a song that could probably wake me from a coma, and hearing it unprompted nearly sent me into one). Lucky you! You get a song, an album, or a playlist to choose from!
Are you watching anything good on TV or at the Movies?
We saw The Phoenician Scheme, which Ellie mentioned in one of her previous logs as well, and I was shocked to find I loved! It gave me hope that Wes Anderson could make it back to a grittier, realer version of himself soon. It wasn’t quite a Royal Tenenbaums or even a Darjeeling Limited, but it felt closer to that than any of his stuff has in awhile!
The plan for tonight is to go see the 20th anniversary rerelease of Brokeback Mountain so……wish us luck.
What’s been inspiring you?
So much! I’ve been thinking about the idea of restraint/constraint as tools for creativity, and as always, it has proven itself. The less reliant you are on something outside of yourself for inspiration, the more inspiring everything else becomes. The less you take in, the more room you have. When you have fewer options, you are forced to become creative with what you have, and while that can sometimes feel challenging (particularly when you have a specific idea or objective), it almost always leads to better work, or a better outcome. For me at least. As I write this, I’m realizing that it’s true in almost all categories. Choices can be a wonderful thing, but more often than not, the more options I have, the more limited I feel.
This became far more about inspiration and less about the actual things inspiring me, but in an attempt to fertilize your own creative ground, I’ll stick with it (instead of placating you with a images I personally find beautiful that, yes, will very likely give you a dopamine hit, but ultimately set back your ability to find beauty in your own surroundings).
However, we need an image in here somewhere for the cover, so you do get a collage (just one though, it’s for your own good!):
Any exciting purchases, lately?
I bought a small Lego Land Rover knock-off (to try and quell my seemingly endless desire for the real thing) with the money I got from returning cans. It felt a little like when my mom would reward me with a little Barbie accessory pack after I got my shots as a kid.
Also went to Trader Joe’s for the first time in probably a year and bought sooooo much good frozen food and lots of snacks! I forgot how thrilling it can be!
What are you looking forward to this week?
Peony season is over (RIP) and all but one of my bouquets have shed their petals, so I’m really looking forward to spending time with the rest of the garden. As of yesterday there are two tomatoes growing and 3 cucumbers!!!
I’m also looking forward to spending time in the sun, hanging out with a cutie lil pup, reading some books, and being a responsible (and totally not nervous or weird) adult who goes to appointments and does their job and isn’t filled with looming dread over problems big or small (big: WWIII, small: having more meetings on my calendar than I care to).
What’s your current hyperfixation?
“It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business!” and the Tweets and TikToks that have followed in it’s wake (this one in particular has made “One Time” a current hyperfixation as well).
Anyway, that’s all from me this week! Only a couple more weeks until Ellie is home and we can all be besties like this again:
Until then, bye now!