Hello friends! I hope 2025 has been treating you kindly. Or, as kindly as possible given…everything. If nothing else I hope you’re treating you kindly. I was feeling a little end of year exhaustion when it came to roundups and best of lists so I skipped December’s installment. This means I snuck some December items on to this month’s list, which makes it a little bigger than usual (it will definitely get cut off in email). Skim freely. There’s also a new section at the very end.
Before we get to the goods, a quick snapshot of my own writing from the past 2 months ICYMI: radical acceptance, EOY reflections, reading goals for 2025, a review of sorts for There’s Always This Year, a letter of gratitude to David Lynch.
Reading
Books
Melissa Febos, Body Work. If you’re feeling kind of “who cares, what do I know anyway” about writing, read this!
David Lehman, ed., The Best American Poetry 2024. I like to end and start the year with poetry anthologies. There are always some gems to be found here.
Hanif Abdurraqib, There’s Always This Year (my review) and Go Ahead in the Rain. Really enjoyed both. Also enjoyed this juxtaposition and how his voice is so consistent but his style has gotten so much more experimental.
Max Porter, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. I found this so moving and was delighted to read there’s an adaptation with Benedict Cumberbatch in the works.
Olivia Laing, Funny Weather. I was just very aware that they were all pieces originally intended for the internet and it felt like a missed opportunity to take those pieces as a jumping off point and tie them together into longer, deeper essays. Read The Lonely City instead.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass. Have you heard of this? It’s really good! I ordered the 1855 edition after reading this article last year (though I wish I’d paid attention to his recommendation to skip Whitman’s intro, yeesh).
Currently reading: A Book of Luminous Things (poetry anthology); revisiting BKS Iyengar’s Light on the Yoga Sutras.
Articles, essays, blogs
The Dark Lord of Fine Details on Eggers and Nosferatu; Is Mikhail Baryshnikov the Last of the Highbrow Superstars?; and Is Robert Pattinson the Last True Movie Star? we love a weird artsy snob
The New Age Bible anyone wanna do a book club on The Course (jk jk, unless…)
The Essay as Realm I’ve thought about this daily since reading it
Losing My Questions in Neo Noir mystery is the beating heart!
You Have a New Memory my screen time report appeared as I was linking this…
- () an essay on fever dream cinema that made me feel like maybe I was in a hypnagogic trance
- () this has quickly become one of my favorite newsletters and there’s such a great backlog to explore!
The enclosure of the human psyche by
() as usual, super thought provoking with lots to mull over- () a great case for staying true to your interests and niches and not forcing yourself to be a generalist. People sending me weird and interesting things in response to this newsletter is such a major perk I didn’t anticipate!
- (). If you missed this incredible piece, remedy that asap!!!
What you feel in the void is kenopsia by
() I love coming across a new word I didn’t know I needed but immediately understand- () why do we need to know where we’ are going? LOVED this piece.
- () even if I don’t always follow it I like hearing people’s advice for reading more intentionally
Watching
The Vanishing, chilling! But also, if I go missing and my husband is driven to find out what happened to me more out of curiosity than, like, idk love, I’d haunt him; The Feast, I need to do some more Welsh/Celtic mythology reading and rewatch; Nosferatu, the haters are wrong.
Mur Murs great vibes, particularly at a time when news from LA is/was so heavy; we also watched A Hard Day’s Night and Buena Vista Social Club when we were in need of some good vibes these past couple months.
John Adams (miniseries) we watched this the week of the inauguration and I caught myself on several occasions literally scowling at the tv. I wasn’t in the mood for it. Or all the dutch angles. But I didn’t know John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, which just so happened to be the 4th of July 50 years after independence. I begrudgingly liked this spooky fact.
La Chimera, more on this soon! Loved!
The Brutalist, I have thoughts but don’t know if I want to commit to any of them.
I had a little Lynch rewatch marathon (read my tribute): Fire Walk With Me (I would like to go back in time and be the lone person giving this a standing ovation at Cannes); Twin Peaks: The Return (still astounding); Lost Highway (Patricia Arquette, the woman that you are); Blue Velvet (Dennis Hopper, stone cold freak).
Rewatches: Magnolia (Tom Cruise being SO disgusting never gets old); There Will Be Blood; Perfect Days (my review of sorts); Rebecca (our local indie is doing a Hitchcock series, very exciting); Phantom Thread (annual NYE watch that we also quote constantly); Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (unforgivable that there aren’t 5 more of these); It’s a Wonderful Life and The Green Knight (our annual Christmas movies).
Listening
Music
One of my 2025 intentions was to cultivate a weekly deep listening practice where I put on an album, put away my phone, and do nothing but listen (unless it happens to be a CD or record that came with a lyrics sheet, then I’m allowed to follow along). I have notes on these, still unsure if/when/how I’ll share them. But so far I’ve listened to:
Joni Mitchell, Blue (1971)
A Tribe Called Quest, Low End Theory (1991)
Beirut, Hadsel (2023)
Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
Others in the recent rotation: Mary Lattimore, Silver Ladders and Collected Pieces; Ethel Cain, Perverts (wtf); The Stooges, The Stooges; Bully, Lucky For You
Podcasts
I’m gonna need all my regular podcasters to get back to work! The holidays are over and my cupboards are bare!
60 Songs That Explain the 90s: Hurt — Johnny Cash, Work It — Missy Elliot, Yeah! — Usher…honestly every episode in this new 2000s series
The Detective and the Log Lady, I know I’ve recommended this like 3 times already but it’s such a consistent bright spot of the week if you’re a Twin Peaks fan
Awen Calling, I hope this cute little man comes back with more episodes, this was such a pleasant 3 episodes
A24 podcast with Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman my loves, my fondness for Jason Schwartzman only grows with time
Surfing
Would love to visit the library of trees
Bits and bobs
Introducing a new section: an assortment of photos from the month along with memes, things I want to buy but am currently not allowing myself to buy, poems/art I liked, weird stuff I saved for one reason or another. I suspect I’m the only person who will care about it (like most of what’s in these roundups) but it’s my blog so that’s fine.
K, that’s it! If you made it all the way to the end your reward is seeing the shockingly cute puppy we’re getting in a few weeks. Take care of yourselves <3
Blue and Buena Vista Social Club are ELITE albums!!!
Love bits & bobs! I also came across that Eyvind Earle barn/snow painting on social media in jan (pinterest for me) and became subsequently obsessed with it. And your puppy!! Shockingly cute (I'm shockingly jealous)– do you have a name picked out?