COWW vol. 16
Somehow just realizing that Charcuterie of Written Words can be acronym-ed to COWW??? So, little cows as bullet points! This one is kind of unhinged & long, but we're having fun. Xx
Some Reads:
𓃔 Patricia Lockwood reviewed A.S. Byatt’s last published collection of stories for the London Review of Books, but mostly she just wrote about her lifelong love for Byatt. And that made it a joy to read. I love when writers write about their favorite authors—the ones they’ve read 100 times. There’s something about it that just feels good. Coincidentally, I also stumbled upon a similar piece from The Point (I think via LitHub). Alisha Dietzman loves Milan Kundera. Me too!
𓃔 My friend Maddie sent me this piece and it’s so, good and so sweet. Just read it.
𓃔 A few weeks ago I opened one of my near daily emails from the New York Review. I have mixed feelings about these emails because like 85% of the time I’m not really that interested in what they’re offering me. But then…every once in a while I am interested. So I keep my ass subscribed. The other week they sent out a little email interview with Johathan Lethem, centered on his love for Charles Portis (of True Grit fame). Look at that! Another author talking about one of his favorite authors. It was an interesting read that I don’t think I can link because it was an email. BUT what I can link, is a piece Lethem wrote in 2000 about hitchhiking. The literal only thing that makes me wish I were a man is the fact that men can hitchhike. Men & Sissy Hankshaw.
𓃔 I remain totally fascinated by Nick Cave, and while googling something or other, I stumbled upon this article from 11 years ago. It was a good read, and tragic knowing that one of the sons he talks about so fondly died the next year. I remain fervent in my recommendation of The Red Hand Files, and I also quite like The Bad Seeds new song.
A Poem:
𓃔 “Sleeping with You” by Ellen Bass (via @poetryisnotaluxury)
All the Books I Bought This Month (illegal behavior):
I one time promised that I’d never talk to you about books that I haven’t read yet here because I wouldn’t be able to say if you should read them or not & it’s like a principle thing I can’t really fully articulate. BUT. I bought so many books this month, it would frankly be absurd not to mention it here. I’m not usually this bad.
𓃔 These are the books that I bought at a thrift shop in East Hampton while my family & lover stared on in mixed admiration and horror at my capabilities to locate so many books worth buying and unwillingness to leave even one or two behind. If you can believe it, I bought the two collections by Byatt before I read the London Review piece. The universe is such a mysterious place.
𓃔 These are the books that I ordered online from the NYRB sale, which means they were 40% off. They tempted me with a good time, and riding the high from Speedboat, I let the temptation win.
𓃔 These are the books that I bought at The Strand because I had to go in there actually—it wasn’t a choice, because I had to buy I am Homeless for Something We Read (coming not next week but the following). But I had also just read
’s review of A Month in the Country, but I had already placed my NYRB order, so I decided to check out the NYRB section at the Strand because I was already there, but they didn’t have it, but The Day of the Owl sounded good, sooo….
𓃔 These are the books that I bought in Maine while driving around with my lover. A couple came from the Sherman’s in Bar Harbor, and a couple (the Edna ones) came from a really charming store called Arctic Tern Books in Rockland. The Barrett Browning is from Big Chicken Barn Books, which was a spiritual experience. The Tales from the Inn came from the inn we stayed at in Bar Harbor. It was written by the proprietor of said inn & my lover and I giggled ourselves to sleep reading it on our last night there. I had to ask her for a copy before we departed & will hold it dear. The two that you can’t tell what they are, are collections by Maine poets. I’ll write about them sometime soon. Along with all the other details of our trip to Maine.
𓃔 These are the books that I bought at Housing Works on Monday because I hadn’t been in there in a while so I wanted to see what was new. The Maylis de Kerangal is what caught my eye because I loved The Cook so much. But I couldn’t buy it if I didn’t find another good book to buy, per my Housing Works Two Books Minimum Rule. I only buy a book at Housing Works if I can find at least one other book that I genuinely want to buy. I realize how insane that sounds as a method for buying less books but it actually works usually. Luckily on Monday I found a second book to bring home.
Sights (quintessential):
𓃔 Clouds everywhere! The most beautiful clouds. I stay on my soapbox about this. I continue to sneak up to my roof every chance I get. I’m addicted. It feels like a whole other planet up there. The clouds in New Hampshire & Maine were good clouds. All clouds are good clouds; all clouds go to heaven. Something like that.
𓃔 Birds, but in particular, the two seagulls that I saw soaring over 7th Avenue at 6am one morning. Considering the fact that Manhattan is an island/generally proximate to the ocean, it’s weird how infrequently you see seagulls here?
𓃔 Light on the floor in New Hampshire. Delicious.
Tastes:
𓃔 Old Bay Goldfish. If you like Old Bay…you gotta try these. Don’t be freaked out when at first you’re like wait…am I eating crab. You’re not! They’re Goldfish. They just have Old Bay on them.
𓃔 Lobster, obviously. I always thought lobster was a take it or leave it food for me. Didn’t understand the hype, frankly, at all. But as I’ve already mentioned multiple times, I went to Maine this month, and you can bet your ass that I wasn’t going to NOT eat lobster while I was there. And no regrets because all the lobster I ate was amazing pretty much across the board. But I also made an important discovery, which is that lobster CLAWS are where it’s at. Why is everyone always talking about lobster tail?????? I mean I get there’s more meat in the tail, but the claws are superior in every way? I also learned that you can only get real lobster in the Atlantic off the coast of the northeastern United States (& corresponding parts of Canada up there) and in the water around the UK/in the North Sea, which explains the whole delicacy thing.
𓃔 A poached egg over soup for breakfast. And before you start, I was sick this week, so I get a pass for eating soup in this weather. The morning after I made said soup, I knew in my heart that it would be the perfect breakfast if only it had a poached egg on top. I had never poached an egg myself (I know, shocking for an egg fanatic like myself), so I decided it was time to try. It went really well, you guys.
Tips & Tricks:
𓃔 How’s this for a peek behind the curtain? When I find articles and essays that I want to read throughout the month (to POTENTIALLY share with you), I open them in a tab on my phone or laptop and save them for later when I have time to kill and time to focus. What ends up happening, is that I forget about them, and then I have anywhere from 4-70000 tabs open with different articles and essays that I want to read. And then I’m supposed to carve out like an hour of time to read articles and essays on my phone or laptop? No thanks! This month, I decided to print them all out like an old lady, so I’m walking around with rolled up little packets of webpage printouts (ads and all), and it feels so right.
𓃔 When you travel, type out your full itinerary & print it out on paper to bring with you. Give it a fun title too and change the fonts and colors and whatnot. This way you can have everything you need to know in a place that’s not your phone. I think I might be a luddite (non-derogatory obviously). But we can talk about that another time. When you print out your itinerary, even if all the details aren’t confirmed, then you can physically cross things out that you don’t do and add the things that you do instead. You can whip out your itinerary every night before bed and make any changes and talk through what’s going to be happening the next day. It’s fun! It’s a delight! You’ll need a folder to hold it too, and then you have a folder with you, which is excellent for collecting the little scraps of paper, business cards, postcards, etc. that you find and gather along the way.
𓃔 Get a printer I guess?
A Thrilling Announcement:
𓃔 It’s finally time for EAGENOTS. Otherwise known as, Eve’s Annual George Eliot Novel Of The Summer. Last year was The Mill on the Floss. This year, we’re reading Romola. Read along if you so choose! I started it earlier this week with the old and fabulous edition that I found at the strand several moons ago (separated into three different books for each volume!). Explanatory notes are limited, but the look of it makes me feel like that girl, which seems like a fair trade off. In the piece linked above re: A.S. Byatt, Patricia Lockwood posits that every novelist must eventually ask themselves: can I do a Middlemarch? Romola gives George Eliot asking if she can do a Shakespeare. So far at least (only 4 chapters in).
A Parting Vibe:
𓃔 Seen @ The Locavore Variety Store
I’m ngl Eve I was GASPING with every scroll to see another book stack pic hahaha - love it. It was so gutting not being able to access the NYBR sale in the UK but I’m pleased to see you shopped on my behalf x
AMAZING as always!!!!!! A delight in every way to read! You make the world a better place and every Friday a bright day!!!!!!