Five Things, Three Movies and Other Stuff
A quick update; welcome new subscribers and followers. Hope you enjoy!
Five Things I Have Too Much Of
Pencils. I have more pencils than I’ll ever use. I use them for all of my creative writing (I use fountain pens for my daily diary pages) and as you can see from the photo it’s turned from an interest to an obsession. I have Studio Ghibli pencils, YIVO pencils, Japanese pencils, unicorn pencils, new-old-stock Berol pencils. I have pencils made from recycled newspapers and sheet music. I have pencils with quilt designs and Blackwing pencils and assorted slightly-used pencils I bought second-hand. I have a favorite pencil (Tombow Mono H). I have opinions about pencils. I have a separate Five Things just about pencils.
Books. I also have more books than I will ever read but who doesn’t? I mean, if you don’t, we’re probably not friends anyway, amirite? If you can get through your book collection, you’re not doing it right.
I have more clothes than I need but don’t we all. Clothes are fun! Having grown up without a lot of nice things, I’m a sucker for them now, and being able to get them cheaply secondhand doesn’t help (or it does, depending on how you look at it). Secondhand has helped a lot with my Lilly Pulitzer collection and even my baby yoda Eugenie is a fashionista.
I don’t feel like I have “too much” fabric, but objectively, I probably do. I feel like I have what I need to support my hobby and be creative the way I want. Compared to some people I know, I don’t really have that much. My stash of fabric, tools and unfinished projects fills up a side of my quilt room, sure, but my quilt room is small, and I don’t have closets to hide it in. LOL. I know people who destash more in a month than I buy in a year, who have enough to open their own quilt store with their personal supplies. Anyway, you need material to create art. Maybe that’s why it’s also okay to have “too many” pencils or notebooks.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about having a lot. There is a great deal of noise in our culture about excess, clearing out and downsizing. Fast fashion encourages us to overconsume and while I don’t buy fast fashion I do love me a cute outfit. That said, I donate clothes and books; I bring fabric and tools to the free table at my guild meetings. And I use my pencils down to the nubs and use all those notebooks I buy too. Does that “justify” having plenty? Honestly I resent this kind of calculus, and I think it’s fine to take up as much space as you want.
Two Movies To Watch Now and One Streaming Soon
The Florida Project (2017) may be the world’s most perfect movie, about a mother and daughter on the edge in the happiest place on earth. Six-year-old Moonee and her single mother Halley are trying to make a life in poverty at a residential motel in Orlando. This is a tough, sweet movie about the bonds between women and girls and the world that wants to destroy them. It reminds me of the sweet French movie Petite Maman, also about the secrets lives of little girls, but this one is harder-edged and has significant adult content.
Synonymes (2019) is a French movie set in modern day Paris about an Israeli man who tries to shuck off his identity and become French. It’s surreal and weird and very long, but worth a watch.
Empire Waist is a new movie by my friend Claire Ayoub, showing in limited release and available soon for streaming. You can see the official site here with information on screenings. I encourage you to check it out! Claire is amazing and has done so much for others’ creative journeys, including mine. Streaming information is available here.
Other Updates
I finished New Spring, the 300-page “novella” in Robert Jordan’s 14-volume Wheel of Time fantasy epic. I’m ready to crack volume 9 and settle in for the back half of the series. This has been quite the project. When it’s over, no literary chunkster will ever intimidate me again. I have plans to tackle them the same way I have WoT; one chapter at a time.
I’m taking Grub Street’s Mosaic Memoir class later this fall. I think it will be good for my book project and writing life in general. I can’t wait to get started.
This year marks 10 years living in the New York area for me. We arrived on erev Rosh Hashanah 5775. The neighborhood we lived in then, Forest Hills, has a large Jewish population and while I’m not Jewish I could certainly feel the hum and buzz in the air as we unpacked and started our new life. I can’t believe it’s been that long.
This Friday is also my 21st wedding anniversary. Yay!
Trash Haiku
There’s a poem in
there somewhere, a new year, a
new life, the same life.
That’s it for me for now. Have a great week!
How do I love this update? Let me count the ways. (But I'll spare everyone.) Mainly, I want to thank you for the film recs. I agree about the perfection of THE FLORIDA PROJECT, and the two others are now on my tbv (to be viewed) list.
Thank you for this varied update! Thanks for the movie recs. And I support you in keeping your stuff!