We just returned from a joyous week in New England, where bookstores seem to abound and you feel a little smarter just walking through the study room of the Boston Public Library. I’ve been reading a lot this summer. Work has been stressful for me lately, and unsurprisingly, reading for pleasure is a good tonic.
Like a lot of readers, I go in and out of stylistic and genre phases. What’s consistent for me is that reading cravings tend to reflect my current headspace and environment. So in response to what can feel like sound and fury (and a lot of airplane travel), I’m gravitating toward the quiet, slice-of-life, contemplative books above all..
On my little summer reading table:
Spring Rain: A Life Lived in Gardens, Marc Hamel; I picked this up on a whim at Riff Raff in Providence. The effect of this book is so soothing and soft, it is like sitting outside during a summer sun-shower while listening to Chopin. What a find.
The Secret Language of Flowers: Notes on the Hidden Meanings of Flowers in Art, Jean-Michel Othoniel; an incredibly interesting and poetic encyclopedia found at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston;
My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout; I have been zipping through Elizabeth Strout’s work lately (Lucy by the Sea and Oh William! among them). I love her writing style. It’s spare without sparing sentiment. There are so many rich human and relationship insights in her work, I can’t get enough.
Stay True, Hua Hsu; my brother-in-law Zach gave this to me and I’m happy to finally get fully into it, so far a lot of the observations in this memoir are hitting close to home and it feels good.
A SCATTERING OF GOOD TASTES
Otherwise offline:
Embracing a floral love affair with zinnias. Zinnias, not daisies, are the friendliest flower.
The chowder, clams, northeastern oysters, and crudo of Providence, Newport, and Boston - all perfect, no notes!!!
Did not get a single sunburn on a trip largely spent outdoors (unprecedented achievement). Did find Taylor Swift’s house in Watch Hill, Rhode Island (🤡 lol 🤡), as well as a very cool old merry-go-round!
Admiring:
Colors and layers in small gardens, a useful tutorial with pretty garden pics
A deep dive into William Stanley Haseltine’s The Sea from Capri from The High Museum of Art:
“As Instagrammable as it is grand — it is one of the larger paintings in the High’s American collection — capturing through a kind of hazy filter (one critic thought his work was ‘over-varnished’) the feeling of being on vacation in a place where the light tints the sky at just the right time, an instant memory forever impressed in the mind.”
This elegant redesign of a 1894 cottage on Prince Edward Island
The molecule of the month: white phosphorus (July 2023)
Other items of note:
How to be a lazy summer slug - the guide we all need
Lots of people already know this, but the mathlete guy from Mean Girls is a modern marvel. He really is good at so many things (including calligraphy). His video on maximizing your time is a lazy summer slug’s delight.
Side note: anyone else experiencing a lot more mid-roll ads on YouTube? You know, the kind that abruptly interrupt content and are of both the unskippable and the 5-second skip variety. Absolutely insufferable.
A list of very useful calculators!!
Listening to:
Summer cooking music, like this jazz-soul-funk compilation
Working to this lofi summer haze playlist
Flowering Jungle by Monster Rally
This Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers record of course! Oh, oh, I love New England!
COLD VEGETABLE SALAD
Back on my farm-share veg beat (hi to new friends from our Love is Love CSA!!)! Here’s a vegetable salad that comes together with the help of a food processor. You could top this with tuna fish or a couple of sliced hard-boiled eggs for lunch, ideally wearing a wide-brimmed hat to pretend like you’re eating lunch in Cannes or Capri (and not at your desk).
INGREDIENTS
4 small carrots, tops removed
4 radishes, halved
Small package of arugula, about 4-5 oz.
1 tsp. each, salt and pepper
½ tsp., sugar
¼ cup fresh dill fronds, chopped
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 tbsp., olive oil
¼ cup crumbled feta
WHAT TO DO
Grate carrots and radishes in a food processor by pulsing in 2-3 second intervals, being mindful not to over-pulse so as to make the vegetables wet and soggy. Add to a large salad bowl along with the arugula and dill fronds, and mix with your hands to combine. Squeeze lemon over it all, drizzle olive oil, add salt, pepper, sugar, and feta, and gently mix with your hands once more.
ublock origin gets rid of all the youtube ads and sponsorblock for youtube skips over the ad reads for sponsored posts. i refuse to waste my completely notprecious time hearing about meal replacement drinks and cell phone cases.