Linky Links: May 2019
Illustration by Audrey Helen Weber, via Aesop
There’s been a lot of gross stuff on the internet concerning Alabama this week, so naturally my thoughts have tried to shift towards something (anything) that could distract me from the growing pit of dread in my stomach. What better remedy than a glass of refreshing internet lemonade to quench our thirst for good news?
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First up, an oldie but goodie from the Paris Review on the Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik. I like this one because it dwells on her first days in Paris, which everyone thinks are glamorous, except hers go much the same way as mine would: staying with uncles in the suburbs, being bored, and finding. There’s a happy ending, she meets Max Ernst and makes friends with Julio Cortazar! So the bohemian dream was worth it after all.
Aesop’s May “newsletter,” the Ledger, is particularly charming this month. The Ledger is worth following every time but I especially enjoyed this month’s whimsical illustrations and the article on the Van Gogh Path (“a sinuous, sparkly marvel that echoes Starry Night’s sense of wonder”) that you can cycle through in Nuenen, the Netherlands.
Michelle Zauner’s (of Japanese Breakfast) New Yorker article on finding her Korean identity after the death of her mother, “Crying in H-Mart” doesn’t need any more accolades from me (it was short listed for some kind of internet journalism award), but I finally read it last night before bed on my phone and it nearly made me cry too. Apparently she’s also turning it into a book, so I can’t wait to cry even more!
Speaking of books! I’ve been making my way through “The Good Immigrant”, a collection of essays from American first-generation immigrants who reflect on what it means to navigate race and identity in the United States as an immigrant. While I do wish they had more essays written by “real” immigrants and not so many by their kids (and the Argentine section was a smidge less political), it’s a comforting read for anyone who’s ever made the U.S. their temporary home. The book is also beautifully designed so I recommend investing in the hardcover.
Finally, some music! Keeping in mind that the Met Gala theme was camp and it’s been a weirdly sunny week here in Scotland, I’ve been blasting Raffaela Carra until the clouds decide we’ve had enough. You can find most of her hits on Spotify but I highly recommend watching YouTube videos of her iconic TV performances. You never saw so many spandex-clad men in your life.
Til next week,