Hi all,
It’s been quite a long time.
The world is sad and dark, so I thought I’d make a visual list of joyful things.
I’d love to hear about what’s bringing you solace/happiness/inspiration.
Collage I. Mostly June
Collage II. Spring into Summer
Collage I. Items
* Mewon silhouetted and basking in the sun, which reminds me of this cozy song by Kylie Dailey. It’s gotten much hotter in the past few weeks, so now she’s seeking shade and can often be found napping on the cool bathroom shower tiles
* Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. by Michael Hoffman (1999). I cannot believe I’m just seeing this film. It has a ludicrously high density of hot, talented people — Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel, Christian Bale, Dominic West, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, and Sophie Marceau to name a few. (A Midsummer Bi’s Dream, indeed!) And Stanley Tucci is an offbeat yet perfect Puck. But my favorite part was probably Kevin Kline’s charmingly, painfully earnest turn as Bottom, the actor in all of us, which brought me to tears. It’s a glittery fever dream, and I’m deluding myself into believing that this AC-less summer will be similarly glamorous and psychedelic instead of just sweaty.
* I have a whole folder of David Lynch quotes and clips pulling heavy duty. I miss him so much and think about this one every day:
* The lavender in the garden and the bees and cabbage moths they attract
* One of my favorite things to do is log flora and fauna on the Seek app. Such a nice meditation
* Some of the gorgeous sheep we saw roadtripping in Ireland
* A few of the daisies and eucalyptus I have dotted around the house
* Berthe Morisot’s “Le jardin à Bougival” (1884), a favorite. It feels like falling asleep on a picnic blanket in deep summer
* University of Lausanne, near the English department. I love the sound of the wind moving through the tall grass
* Vivian Westwood, 1990. Dreamy corseted sapphic romance vibes. Photo by John Van Hasselt. 💘 Happy Pride!! 💘
Collage II. Items
* A picture of Lac Léman that I took after my final day of teaching this semester. It was my first time designing a seminar, a class on The Tempest and literary adaptations: Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed and W.H. Auden’s The Sea and the Mirror. That day, the students gave presentations on their final projects, and I walked to the lake and thought about how smart and creative and thoughtful they are, and how they give me hope for the future
* Tulips from the Fête de la Tulipe in Morges
* William Mason Brown, “Mound of Cherries.” For the longest time, I didn’t think I liked cherries, but turns out I love the Rainier ones
* Clippings from Monet’s “The Seine at Giverny” (1897). Growing up, we had a large print of Monet’s waterlilies over the mantle and coffee table books of his art, which I loved pouring over on the living room floor. Right now, the farmers are baling hay — it’s so comical the way the bales pop out the back of the trucks in perfect cylinders — and it always makes me think of Monet and his pastorals and haystacks
* A cool car parked at the mall. It was next to this insane Americana convertible. A bold and camp choice, especially in this political climate
* The garden is full of these adorable little lizards
* The Beach Boys are on constant rotation since Brian Wilson died, especially “Don’t Worry Baby.” Don’t we all long to hear those words, especially now? Brian’s songs were the music of our childhood, and his resilience was so inspirational. RIP Brian. Thank you for the music </3
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How about you? What would you put in your collage these days? ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆