Coffee Letter #006: Scorpio Season
It’s my birthday month. I like my birthday. It’s weird. I also always cry on my birthday.
Two years ago I was depressed in November, which usually doesn’t happen — we have a pact, my depression and I; she gets a few months per year, but never autumn months and she usually respects the schedule. Not that year.
In her defense, there was a lot going on around me: dad was in hospital in Austria, it marked the start of my chronic migraines, I was in the middle of changing my job (change is never easy), and somehow I believed my brain when it said that I had no friends. Fast forward a year after and I was celebrating my birthday three times because there were so many friends I wanted to celebrate with. This year though, I want to chill a bit. I know I have good friends and I love them, but I don’t need three dinners to celebrate my birthday. I don’t actually need to celebrate it. Plus I am already doing something on the actual day and it’s not even about my birthday.
This week I went to Swan Lake with a friend and it’s not a hyperbole when I say that we were both entranced. I think Giselle still holds the title of my favourite ballet due to the emotional effect it had on me, going in without any expectations or knowledge about it. It was my first ballet too and a girl always remembers her first. Nonetheless, Swan Lake was magnificent. Danse des petits cygnes was probably my favourite part of it, and not only because of the music, but the coordination the dancers must have! Rothbart’s makeup was my second favourite thing — out of this world, I’m telling you! Ah, I really wish I could turn back time to witness Swan Lake as a child for the first time. I saw the Barbie film about Swan Lake so we can pretend I already did. Everything I know about ballet I learnt from the Barbie films and I’ll proudly list that on my CV.
This weekend I went to a Secret Discussion literary event, where most authors read things they have yet to publish. My energy only allowed for one night (I am listening to my body, see?) but I hope next time I will be able to go every night. There was a mix of poetry and short prose and, naturally, I came home with some books. Raluca Nagy read some fragments from a piece inspired by Japan — I told you last time I’ll see more of her this month, I just need to also read her books until the book club.
~ read
This week I focused a lot on catching up on books for review. There were some misses I’ll not mention (although I do have to complain about a cocktail book for home mixologists who was anything but friendly for beginners or to mix at home — unless you want to spend an extra day to make all the syrups and buy so much alcohol to fill an extra room), but there were more hits and I will tell you about my favourite three:
To balance things, one of the hits was a cocktail book about Nashville called Nashville Cocktails: An Elegant Collection of Over 100 Recipes Inspired by Music City by Delia Jo Ramsey. The book says Nashville is a drinking city with a music problem and I loved that! It’s part cocktail cookbook, part history, part culture and it introduces us to some fun humans from the drinking industry in Nashville.
World of Rot: Learn All about the Wriggly, Slimy, Super-Cool Decomposers We Couldn’t Live Without by Britt Crow-Miller. This is a non-fiction book for kids and adults that get excited about things that others might find disgusting. But decay is part of life and it’s fascinating! World of Rot is about the science behind decomposition, it’s fun and full of facts. My favourite part: the art is bloody fantastic! It’s unexpected but so on theme! This is a book that will spark curiosity and enthusiasm.
Sleeping Beauties adapted by Rio Youers, after a novel by Stephen King and Owen King. This is the graphic novel adaptation of the horror novel — now I want to read the novel too. There is a strange pandemic going on that only affects sleeping women. As in they don’t wake up anymore, and if you do disturb them, chaos ensues. Things become even stranger when a woman called Eve is the only one who can go to sleep and wake up normally. I really enjoyed the idea behind the story, but I am more curious how it feels as a novel.
I finally finished my reread of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I’m a bit sad that I listened to the audiobook this time around (even though Donna Tartt is narrating it) because I really wanted to go through my notes and maybe add on top of them, but realistically this autumn I signed up for too many book clubs to have the time for properly reading and annotating The Secret History.
A mild synopsis for this book: a group of students who are too good to conform to the usual college life must come to terms with the sudden death of one of their peers. It’s a play on a whodunnit that starts with the who and how but we must figure out the why. It’s dark academia, it’s satire, it's pure aesthetics and manipulation. It’s also quite long, I forgot how long this book was, but I loved every second of it.
The romance of the week was The Fall of Bradley Reed by Morgan Elizabeth, the third book in Seasons of Revenge. I started this book a while ago (remember?) but I took a break from it as I was not enjoying Olivia — I did not like her too much in the previous book and I couldn’t make the switch to her as our main character now. I’m glad I finished it during autumn as it’s quite autumnal — full of American clichés but fun nonetheless. The story follows Olivia, as she is trying to get her revenge on the ex who left her almost at the altar, and Andre, an FBI agent who is trying to catch Olivia’s ex and keep Olivia out of jail. It’s cute, it’s fun, it fits all the boxes I am looking for in a romance: she is an over-thinker and people pleaser and way too much in her head, and he is the hero who not only keeps her out of jail, but helps calm her mind.
As I was saying earlier, I probably signed up for too many book clubs this month and that makes my reading plan slightly chaotic as I am trying to read the books for the book clubs AND the books I want to read right now. Ah, the drama of a mood reader. Currently the focus is on Lying on the Couch by Irvin D. Yalom, which I will start today (just as soon as I get to work, I got the audiobook).
~ watch
I watched another vampire film this week at Mubi’s recommendation. It’s not really about vampires, more like vampire-adjacent as it toys with the idea of sexual desire and cannibalism. There were no fangs, ok?
Trouble Every Day (2001), directed by Claire Denis. I am not sure what I think about it yet, it was a bit too slow for me, a bit too messy. Maybe this was my film to prepare for The Substance? Have you seen it? Is it too scary? Everyone and their mother is talking about it and I might experience some FOMO. Should I continue my deep-dive into horror but not-too-scary-kind-of-horror?
The other thing I watched this week was the new Netflix documentary Martha (2024), d. R.J. Cutler. The only thing I knew about Martha (apart from a vague idea of what she’s doing) was that she is friends with Snoop Dogg, but I did not get to experience Martha as the culturally phenomenon that she is. Then Alicia wrote a substack about Martha and my interest was piqued. So I watched it. It might not rock your world, but personally I like people who are not trying to be nice, who are blunt and honest. This documentary is not trying to make Martha more likeable than she is or isn’t, it just tells her story. I learnt a lot. And I support women’s rights and wrongs.
~ and other things I did last week
Music: The Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) album. We were talking about the American election at work and someone mentioned when the original Hamilton cast was invited to the White House by the Obamas. Naturally I spent the rest of the day listening to the Hamilton album. A recording with the original cast is also available on Disney+ and it’s amazing — maybe I will rewatch it this week.
Videogame: My birthday present got here early and it’s a desktop PC, so I spent every waking minute playing the Sims 4. The new expansion Life & Death is amazing! My sim shagged the Grim Reaper and now she has his baby. Apart from being able to woohoo Grim, this new expansion really brings a lot of fun things to the gameplay itself like the soul journey where the sims can make bucket lists, either intentionally or by getting ideas out of thin air (mine wants to shag in a bush, she is a menace).
Scent/Candle: A while ago I got the Cherry Blossom Soju candle from Bath & Body Works but only started burning it yesterday and it’s probably my new favourite candle scent — hubby loves it too and he usually hates my candles so I guess I will just burn this one forever.
Other things consumed last week:
Why Walking Helps Us Think (The New Yorker). About writers and walking.
Dangling a carrot: how Netflix is luring Hallmark viewers with a hot snowman (The Guardian). Here’s the thing about me: I love those silly Hallmark Christmas films! Call it my guilty pleasure. Come December 1st, I’ll watch the hot snowman on Netflix too!
I reorganised my bookshelves recently and Jack Edwards did the same. I loved watching his process, especially the final video in the series. One day I hope to have all my books in the same room too.
“Here I am, a bundle of past recollections and future dreams, knotted up in a reasonably attractive bundle of flesh. I remember what this flesh has gone through; I dream of what it may go through.” (Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath)
I am in the middle of the annual medical checks and I already spent a morning getting pricked multiple times in the search for a good vein. I am not sure what other plans I have for the week (I feel like I’m always saying this). This weekend I am going to the book swap! This time I am more prepared as I just organised my shelves.