#4: Back back
When my son learned to walk he did so with reckless gusto at ten months old, hurling himself in the direction of everything he wanted, including staircases, hills, piles of rusted metal, mountains, etc. So for months I coaxed him to stop, turn around, and crawl backwards slowly down the steps, saying “back, back..” instead of following his natural instinct to lurch forward at every exciting thing regardless of its potential to maim/ kill him.
Recently back back keeps wafting through my head, as I’m currently exhausted by the mountain of constant shiny new ideas and information and news available to (forced upon?) us daily. This happens to all of us, I imagine, and it’s happening to me now.
So I’m trying to slow down, reject the scrolling when I can, turn around and sift through the masses of ideas and images and information I’ve already collected. Keeping what actually resonates, using it to move forward.
Do you have a good way of going back through and archiving the things you come across each day/ week? If so please tell me! It’s a rhythm I’d really like to get in the habit of. Or is your process more like the one I’m currently trying to escape- save endless screenshots, links, tear sheets, ideas, and just throw them all into an unorganized cloud bog, to “remember” but in reality more likely doomed never to be seen again.
Here are some things I remembered this week, and some things I made.
Speaking of bogs! Most weeks I make a lovely soup which is referred to by some in our home as “mama’s gross hot bog water” ??? Anyhow what it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in flavor and the satisfaction of not letting vegetables wither and die in the fridge. You can use pretty much literally any combination of vegetables. Mine is usually something like kale, sweet potato, squash, peppers, carrots, tomato? Anything you need to use up. It somehow always works. I made you this beautiful handwritten recipe over a photo of when a bowl of mine became sentient. You’ll probably want to print it out and frame it orrr throw it in your cloud bog/ disregard it with a dirty look like my family does.
Possums! More little clay possums. I’ll make as many as I can, but for now there are only a handful and they’re available to you before anyone else via my site, here.
This little hand-embroidery for clothing class by Damaja made me remember how nice it is to just slowly stitch something onto cloth. I’m not ready to sell them yet but I’m getting there, and will have some more clothing soon, hopefully with paint AND embroidery! At one point Damaja says “Practice don’t miracles” re: not expecting things to be perfect immediately, and it feels like a good mantra for right now. Especially because, sometimes if you’re lucky, eventually practice does miracles.
Back in the spring Robert Beatty said “There’s this whole mindset where social media forces people to feel they have to be the absolute best at something to be able to do it. So much of what inspires me is people doing things the wrong way, people doing things poorly, things that don’t land the way their creator wanted them to. This whole aim for perfection in everything, that says you need the right piece of gear, the right plugins, is antithetical to the way I ended up where I am.” Me too, and if the aim for perfection ever does begin to sneak its way in, it paralyzes and ruins everything I try to do. Try to block it/ gently send it on its way at all costs.
Salad for President. I got this when it first came out in 2016 and loved it. But after racing through it and making several of the salads, it got tucked away as new cookbooks came in. I pulled it down again recently and can’t believe I ever put it away- it’s full of fantastic interviews with artists I love, their creations, philosophies, and the spirit of collaboration. Shinji Masuko and Maki Toba of Boredoms, Tauba Auerbach, Laurie Anderson, and Ron Finley to name a few! Just such a treasure.
Chris via Jordan Blackmon got me listening to this band Cheekface and I’m digging their new record.
Another via Chris, this song The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Gold Light/ Snakemusk is SO beautiful.
And for one I forgot about and happily rediscovered, Cherry Coloured Funk by Cocteau Twins