New is now
Hygge, MOVIES, Perverts, and the hellscape we're in
What’s up 2025. How are we. I feel……….. good. My head feels like it’s on more or less straight.
After two weeks in the Midwest experiencing nothing but drizzly gray weather, 24/7 family and BFF time, and eating 17 cookies a day, I came back to the city a little hollow. One nice thing I did for myself was swing by Russo’s and get a bunch of fresh pastas for my freezer and made this amazing tortellini soup.
I love to cook, but I have not figured out how to glamorize leftovers and bringing in lunch to work. It’s my hell and I hate a lot of reheated food. This soup held up though and was great after repeated days of eating it.
It has been so cold…. I’ve been basically sedentary and wearing two sweaters everyday.
It’s so dark and the wind is so loud. I do struggle to get out in times like these, but at least I can be hygge as hell. Putting a little cinnamon in my moka pot, wearing my thickest socks, ripping through my kindle. It is what it is, I can’t fight the elements that are keeping me at home.
I made a cake on Sunday and the butter literally would not come up to room temp so I had to snuggle with it for a bit.
Movie Time
I understand that movie theaters are shuttering across the nation, but I don’t care about that, we’re in the Age of Cinema. We’re in it now people, take advantage. Going to the movies is incredible. No one needs me for 1.5-3 hours. I’m entrenched. I’m moved. Going to the movies is refined. Someone always wants to go with you. Going alone is awesome and mature. There’s always deals around on certain days of the week, and if you’re lucky, you have a theater near you that plays old movies.
When I was in Chicago I finally saw a movie at Music Box. What an exceptionally wonderful place. Popcorn was delicious, and the room itself is opulent. It was a very dreary day when we went to see Nosferatu there and the whole experience was very moody and sultry. The movie was solid. Not bad, but the atmosphere really elevated everything.
I got back in New York and got tickets to see the Brutalist at 10 am on Saturday. I chose the 70 mm offering and all. I of course went to Angelika in the East Village. My friend recently watched Nosferatu there in the same theater as Anna Delvy. Very cool….
The Brutalist is annoyingly 3.5 hours long, but it ended up being fine because they gave us an intermission. Seeing a feature like that at that hour in a packed house of people committed to Film was very cool. We were all locked in. My superbowl. I was blown away by the movie. I won’t elaborate further.
I also got to rewatch the Substance last night at a screening with the director, Coralie Fargeat. I have never met a movie maker and these people do seem a bit enigmatic. It was a bit surreal to be in a small room with her. She talked in a very theoretical and whimsical way about her movie. Despite being so abstract and French in her Q&A, she did a great job making such an American and graphic movie. Brava.
I have no intention of getting into movie reviews. I don’t enjoy reading them, so I really have no interest in writing them. I’ve abandoned my Letterboxd long ago. If I’ve seen a movie in the theaters, I probably loved it because I typically have good taste and usually know what I’m looking for. I don’t really ever want to talk about a movie. I don’t understand how they’re made, I just want to sit with how they make me feel. Film reflection is a solitary activity.
Opposite of Hygge
So this week I took the bus each day home from work because it was simply too cold for the occasional stroll instead. I’m reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 100 years late and I’m loving. Very sinister and thrilling. I was reading it on a cold scary bus (bus is always scary) and listening to Ethel Cain’s new album, Perverts. Really weird and put me in a crazy headspace. Loved it and recommend trying it.
Fashion Screenshot Roundup
I saved some pics I saw while scrolling this week and I thought they were noteworthy. Very inspiring to consider for Spring. Romantic pastels… A little flirty and a little grown up. Luscious fabrics. We love it.
Hellscape
Watching everything unfold in LA is really a nightmare. I hope you are able to contribute in any way to volunteers and orgs out there keeping people and animals alive.
It’s unconscionable how unprepared the city and state were. The amount of loss is really impossible to comprehend.
Like any great tragedy, my eyes are glued to all feeds and my screen time soars. The deluge of coverage is dizzying. It is completely surreal to be sifting through stories on how to provide relief and then you’re confronted with an ad by an LA influencer whose paid posts are still running as scheduled. I saw an ad from a Pasadena resident trying to get me to once and for all try Fatty 15. Just minutes prior, I saw her stories letting us know she was evacuating with her family and dogs.
What a time to be experiencing the world...
New Year New Outlook
I hope to god the LA fires cease immediately and there is not another one for centuries. It is a rough way to enter the year. It will pass and people will rebuild. Humans are famously resilient.
I love a new year and I welcome an opportunity for refresh. I’m choosing positivity this year. I’m choosing glass half full. I’m shaking things up and going to take everything in stride. I’m going to keep writing this thing every week. I’m having fun with it.
I am wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and please be safe and healthy and happy as much as humanly possible.
I leave you with my fav new year’s song.
Logging off!