April roundup

Monthly -ings

Man oh man, what a whirlwind month. We’re still getting settled into the new place and wrapping our heads around the fact that this is real. I think I missed a weekly dispatch somewhere in the mix and this one is a little late but there’s been a lot going on! Without further ado…the monthly roundup.

Sardine Can Relief Print by Patterned on Etsy.

Reading

Books / audiobooks

I listened to a few audiobooks this month but nothing I was crazy about or that’s even worth mentioning, tbh. I’m eager to explore some of Bellingham’s bookshops and, in fact, right after I send this newsletter I’m headed out to get myself a library card.

Articles

• A couple interesting typography things from It’s Nice That: Proto-typography and title card design

• I read like every other paragraph of this article about the precarious deep-sea infrastructure that keeps the internet alive out loud to Ben and he was like “yeah, everyone knows that”, but *I* did not know any of this and I’m still awestruck.

• More evidence that I should ditch my smartphone already (and a tempting option)

• Had a visceral reaction to this headline every time I saw it (It’s ok if we don’t consume all of the world’s information before we die) which probably means I need to work on this a bit

• More tech anxiety: freaks creating AI clones of their exes, weirdos who like being tracked by advertisers online

• How does Paris stay Paris?

• The sound of gentrification is silence

• An abrupt break in thought — the power of the em dash, LOVED this piece

Elsewhere on Substack

• woman’d (

  becca rothfeld
  )— on the month’s lit crit spat

• The Neighborhoods (

  Rob Stephenson
  ) — I worked on pulling archival photos (and some writing) for the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee when I was in grad school and so I’m a sucker for any kind of local history/art project like this

• A Reminiscence on Youth and our Former Selves (

  nebulous thoughts
  /
  Solitary Daughter
  ) — art, nostalgia, photography, The Virgin Suicides, MORE PLEASE

• The problem with recipes (

  Kate Ray
  ) — the best meals are never photogenic

Watching / Rewatching

Looking at my Letterboxd for the month we only watched 1 new-to-us movie this month, I guess we were craving the comfort of the known as we packed up our lives in SLC and moved.

It was a Fincher-heavy month with The Killer, Zodiac, and Fight Club. I was surprised by how much I actively disliked Fight Club this time around — and not in a ~you don’t get it, it’s satire~ way, but like…as a movie. Zodiac is still top tier, though, and The Killer was fine.

I lobby to watch The Matrix pretty much every night and Ben finally acquiesced. It’s still so good. The lobby scene gets harder to stomach on every rewatch but on the whole it’s the platonic ideal of action movies, imo.

We threw a few Tarantinos in the mix — Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — along with The Godfather (one and two), The Irishman, and Touch of Evil. What else is there to say? Perfection all around.

Surfing

• A wind map, of course I love this

• A data sonification studio, of course I love this too

• Mount Etna blowing smoke rings

• The 88x31 archive, rip Geocities, gone but not forgotten

• Alien aesthetics, design of various alien-related zine and pamphlet

Listening

I have become physically incapable of listening to anything aside from The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. It’s raunchy but somehow wholesome, it’s dramatic and theatrical, it’s FUN for gods sake…it feels like there’s finally someone in the mix who remembers that pop is supposed to be fun.

Before Chappell Roan took over my life though, there was Cowboy Carter and Endless Summer Vacation. And of course Harvest.

There was more —14 hours of cross-country driving worth — but I forgot to keep track and I’m already sending this 5 days late so oh well, it’s lost to the sands of time.

Coveting

RIP my bank account. Coveting everything right now as we try to get enough furniture into the house that it feels like people actually live there. I posted about this adorable hedgehog boot brush on IG and someone sent it to us, but there’s no note! I still don’t know who to thank for it. If it was you, identify yourself!

Non-furniture screenshots on my phone from the month include: the Teva Colorways, The Lighthouse screenplay book, RASKOL Retro shorts, Benico del Toro’s sick beanie and aviator jacket combo, this “Milwaukee: It’s Tits!” poster, and a replacement set for my beloved pig platter which didn’t survive the move.

Covetous collage

Writing

ICYMI: This month’s blog posts.

• God I miss smoking

• Goodbye SLC

• A nest of our own

Otis of the month

What a trooper this little guy is. He doesn’t know what’s going on but he’s just happy to be along for the ride.