nonsense: nov 5, 2024
October arts n culture thoughts, recent comforts, visual worlds
Today feels like a good day for distractions, so please enjoy some recent things in my orbit.
In October I had my longest stretch of not flying since April (aside from a 24 hour work trip to Minneapolis…s/o to Emily for squeezing in a Sanjusan dinner and Liberty v. Lynx game). Instead of flying, I’ve been…gathering! In more ways than one. I kept a corkboard from my birthday to start pinning up monthly artifacts. Seeing it every day makes me want to start collecting more visual inspiration.
The last few weeks have flown by with other momentous gatherings. Hearth had its biannual offsite, and I spent this last weekend upstate celebrating my friends Joy + Clem. We took over Grateful Woods to gather with their loved ones, eat delicious food, and celebrate love. (Many fun little details I hope
shares later.) My besties also got engaged last week. All in all, it’s been a week full of happy tears!
So it’s been a really off-screen month. The only two movies I watched were Toute Une Nuit and The Substance. A lot more Broadway shows and the like:
My friend won lottery tickets for Water For Elephants (I was like…is this that circus movie with Robert Pattinson?). Thoroughly impressed by the stunts, disappointed that Rob apparently do acrobatics in the movie version.
Safety Not Guaranteed (closed Oct 20th) was unexpectedly charming. Quirky!
Yellow Face lost us a few times (the guy next to me was snoring for most of the show) but it was overall well paced for a no-intermission, 90 minute show. Daniel Dae Kim’s cheek definition goes crazy.
Coppélia was beautiful, if very Nutcracker-esque (derogatory) in plot. I’ll take any excuse to go to Lincoln Center though, and it’s fun to go to the ballet with friends who are more well-versed in the art than I. We popped into this wine bar afterwards for a nightcap amidst a crowd of NYFF goers.
I had floor tickets for Maggie Rogers, Gracie Abrams, and Billie Eilish all within the same week. I’ve seen all three on previous tours and I kind of wish Maggie/Billie would try something different with their tour visuals. (I’m also convinced concert sound is getting louder and we’re not just getting older. I keep my Loops on my keys so that I never forget to bring them.)
R.I.P. to these last minute Sabrina tickets that glitched out in my cart:
…that price feels like a bigger loss once you see the full pricing map.
Beyond the stage, I’ve been slowly venturing into new artist spaces. Index Space, a design-forward coworking hub in Chinatown, is hosting a series of talks this fall on mending. I discovered Index through Rachel Meade Smith, whose Words of Mouth is always an interesting read—she sends hand-picked job listings to over 55k subscribers weekly. I left her and Megumi’s talk with good food for thought: on reclaiming ‘innovation’ as something not specifically tied to technology, and how we can find equilibrium in a multidiscipline practice. Need to muse more on all of that.
I also tried out a Drink and Draft night at the Center for Fiction. $25 for an evening of generative writing exercises with 0 pressure to share. So fun to hear from new POVs and share a table with strangers! I might try the same event at Book Club Bar next time for a different atmosphere.
What else? I’m enjoying my quiet comforts. We’ve hosted a few hot pot nights, which is such a comforting communal meal when the temps start dropping. My favorite purchase of the month are definitely these Doc mules though. I was at the Fort Greene market (side note—Lisbonata egg tarts lived up to the hype) and was inspired by a passerby. The associate sold me on the denim SKU. I can confirm they’ve been perfect for putzing about the neighborhood on a mental health walk.
I’ll end today with some fun visual worlds we can pretend to live in. I’m digging the home (castle?) world Millaux is building. It’s a little too specific for mass-market consumer taste, but it’s very Saltburn Gothic opulence:
Also enjoyed the Ritz-Carlton promotion with Josh Hutcherson. I want to become more of a film bro so I can describe this as something other than “Wes Anderson-inspired”. Is there a reason we love hotel storylines so much? Grand Budapest, Eloise at the Plaza, Suite Life of Zack & Cody…
There’s one corner of my brain floating around in this Water for Elephants x Chappell x vintage clown Halloween costume trend world. I think the resulting execution would be something akin to Madomorpho’s universe:
Finally, I leave you with this Children in Their Party Dress book I picked up in Sleepy Hollow. SO darling.
Last read: Finally finished Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love and Good Material. I’m currently struggling through I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, so debating between Intermezzo (Sally Rooney) or Gods and Kings (Dana Thomas) next. And taking suggestions!
Because I can’t keep up with Beli: I was underwhelmed by Eel Bar and Moono, finally had drinks at Le Dive (solid fries), and am still thinking about the duck at Francie. Din Tai Fung was mostly up to par and made me want to go back to Taipei ASAP.
Thank you as always for reading! You can also find me on IG. Today I was walking behind a mom and her kids were asking why they couldn’t vote. To which she responded, I wish you two could also vote for our first female black president. Deep breaths, much love, and try not to doom scroll too much. x