Odds and Ends: June 2023
I don't have a better title, sorry.
Writing the first installment of anything feels like undue pressure. I have a 2,500-word piece about how to have a hot hammock summer sitting in the drafts folder, but publishing that first feels like too high of a bar (and summer feels halfway over at this point even though it isn’t even July yet). In its place, I’m setting my bar comfortably low and creating a digest of things that have been occupying space in my brain lately.
for your convenience:
EATING-DRINKING-LISTENING-WATCHING-READING-WEARING-MAKING-PLANNING-LOVING-SHARING
EATING
Are anyone else’s strawberries this year absolute shit? Apparently, the weather conditions the past year have led to historically-low strawberry volume—and folks, what is there so far has been Not Great!
Since our strawberry purchases haven’t been overly delightful, I’m using them primarily for baking. Alison Roman’s Strawberry Shortcake Cobbler is one of my favorite recipes for this. The recipe is genius because the strawberries roast in sugar beneath the “cobbler” topping, which contains some cornmeal in addition to flour for a more interesting biscuity bite that isn’t too sweet.
Fellow pickle people get it. Burgers, salads, mac and cheese, macaroni salad, potato salad, tuna salad sandwiches, there is nothing savory I will not at least try these on.
Better than it has any right being.
DRINKING
“Cold Water Infusion” sounds like a medical procedure, but it’s actually a delicious line of teas from Bigelow. Blueberry Citrus Basil is my favorite, and there are tons of other different flavors. Leave the tea bag in when drinking or double up for more flavor, as it’s fairly subtle.
LISTENING
My summer playlist has been particularly fantastic this year (I say to myself every year). I’ve been rediscovering Heart. The musical genetics of the Wilson family have to be similar to the Watts to spawn two incredible talents. The “Crazy on You” intro has been sticking with me, both for the novelty of an acoustic intro for a face-melting song and the (unfortunately) timeless lyrics.
Nancy took some of her inspiration for the rhythm of the intro from the 1970 Moody Blues song “Question”, which has the same relentless rhythmic pulsing and acoustic-in-an-otherwise-electric-band novelty.
The lyrics of “Crazy on You” are fittingly apocalyptic, and I think the desperate sweetness of them often gets lost in the unrelenting holding-your-face-in-front-of-an-industrial-fan-on-high-ness of the rest of the song.
We may still have time, we might still get by
Every time I think about it, I wanna cry
With bombs and the Devil and the kids keep coming
No way to breathe easy, no time to be young
But I tell myself that I'm doing all right
There's nothing left to do tonight
But go crazy on you
Crazy on you
While the original version of the song is flawless, this live performance from 1978 is a gem, despite Nancy being faced with a fate worse than hell (an audience briefly trying to clap to the beat as she plays a solo).
Nancy will forever be one of the best (if not the best) women guitarists of all time, and Ann will forever be one of the best women rock vocalists. And yes, they still have it.
Other picks:
All the groove and instrumentation of an Amy Winehouse song with lyrics that are hard to not love (I mixed a lot of love with a lot of drugs, then I found you/
She liked petty crimes, she had green eyes like Mountain Dew).
Many Everclear songs from this period have the specific strain of yearning and discontent found in plenty of 90s alternative suburban bands, and “Santa Monica” is no different. Come for the power chords, stay for the dreams of living by the ocean with no responsibilities (I don't wanna do your sleepwalk dance anymore/I just wanna see some palm trees/I will try and shake away this disease/We can live beside the ocean/Leave the fire behind/Swim out past the breakers/Watch the world die).
My husband and I had a meandering discussion the other week about songs with samples that are leagues better than the song being sampled, and “Fantasy” has to be the purest example. “Genius of Love” has been sampled over 200 times, and Fantasy takes a great hook and transforms it. Also, who doesn’t love an amusement park music video?
WATCHING
Coherence
Made on just a $50,000 budget, Coherence is proof that a great story and good acting are enough. It’s best to go in blind to avoid spoiling anything, it isn’t a gory slasher so it’s pretty safe for most non-horror-lovers, and at a tight 89 minutes, it’s a great use of your night. Currently streaming on Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, and PlutoTV (or you can rent it elsewhere).
Defunctland has rarely produced anything less than stellar, and the newest video from Kevin Perjurer is no different. Since initially viewing it, I have watched the clip of the dog sliding down the slide no less than 100 times.
The music video will be entered into evidence for my Supreme Court case that Beyoncé truly shines when playing with a 60s aesthetic.
In “Countdown”, she flirts with Twiggy eye makeup, an Audrey Hepburn-esque combo of tailored black pants and a black turtleneck, and the classic slightly-buttoned men’s button-down over a pair of panties from “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” (among others).
It feels a tad silly to have a music video on a list of what I’m watching, but I’ve probably spent at least the runtime of Texas Chainsaw Massacre rewatching this.
READING
Chuck Klosterman was a creator of some foundational texts for me in high school and college. I used a BORDERS gift card to buy Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and pored over SPIN Magazine articles where he went on a Carnival cruise with Styx, Journey, and REO Speedwagon (an article currently only available in Chuck Klosterman IV). Much like watching The Simpsons when you’re eight years old, I liked what I read but didn’t get as much from it as I could’ve. While I haven’t felt as strongly about some of his more recent releases, I’ve been revisiting everything as I wait for The Nineties to arrive from my library hold list.
Other article highlights: how TikTok is shaping restaurant menus, the mysterious person stealing books before their release, how true crime podcasts and Reddit and TikTok have made solving real-life murders a nightmare, the impulse to pin the butterfly, McMansions, mashed potatoes in a martini glass at weddings, the enshittification of everything, the internet and our minds.
WEARING
Oversized, once available in multiple striped prints but now down to solids, great alone or thrown over a square neck tank with the coordinating high-waisted linen blend shorts. 20-something Ina Garten does Old Navy.
I have been on the Invisibobble/TELETIES train for a while, and they have changed my hair for the better. Thanks to the phone cord-like design, they minimize breakage and easily stretch/contract. I also have not had nearly as many headaches since switching from traditional hair ties.
MAKING
I’ve been finishing up my popsicle quilt and sunflower quilt, both of which are summery and fun.
PLANNING
To visit the zoo and eat breakfast with the babies.
LOVING
