WHAT I SAW LAST WEEK: 25th December
ZM
happy new year! it’s 2024! and the closest i’ve got to actually making a new year’s resolution (beyond quitting elf bars, RIP) is: i wana be soooooo consistent and good with publishing these stupid lil culture diaries. i think they’re nice lil proxies for an actual diary, public diary, critic out in the world with my big notebook having little thoughts, hurrying back to tell you about all the stuff i’ve encountered so we can debrief and gossip.
since i was OFF ON ME XMAS HOLIDAYS(!!!) for one of these weeks, this is a weird grab bag of bits, leisure time, culture 4 enjoyment, passing engagement and loose grip. love that bc that casual grasp is i think how everyone else engages w culture, no? it’s only bc i am a big serious critic that i have the privilege and pleasure of taking this all sooooo seriously. sometimes the work-y ness of it all can make it seem bigger or heavier, more important or serious that it probably is. makes me miss the cultural temperature out in the real world bc i’m getting hot n heavy in the greenhouse of longform criticism. it’s silly! nice to puncture that and enjoy the rumbling flat tyre of xmas culture.
seeing gdlp published author out in the wild
literally popped into rough trade east to pick up a xmas prezzy, full holiday mode. i was surprised to see rough trade pamphlets in rough trade lmao. always a nice treat tho bc i get that beautiful moment where i’m like MY BEST FRIEND WROTE THAT!!!! so proud! so pleased!
heather phillipson won university challenge
the way i whooped at the telly like a horrible little owl!!! goooooOOO heather!
also ,,,, proper xmas telly vibes: young cilla black !! so weird bc in my mind she is eternally an OAP. cant believe she was ever under 50 actually.
watched aftersun, finally
cried like a great big adult baby, very devastating. idk if this is j me and my particular psychological landscape but any story about dads just gets me in the bit of exposed underbelly. less of that, nosy bastard. can’t talk about it honestly, but was v good! love paul mescal! wasn’t expecting it to be soooo like,,, ~artsy~? felt like some parts of it were artist moving image, the kinda film i’d be nonplussed to see at berwick film fest – i’d have had an out of body confusion seeing this in a cinema.
speaking of lads i fancy
have you seen this, bc I HAVE. i have waxed a bit too lyrical about a man in a nice white tshirt, but imagine: he takes it off. imagine? imagine. no, seriously, imagine. i very much understand the tiktok girlies going on a pilgrimmage to stadn in front of the IRL billboards in new york. like, im wiv ya babes.
(i’m so predictable, my bf actually sent this to me bc he is the only consistent lads i fancy reader lmao) i want to lick him. hahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha
read some fun bookz
have started reading the ruskin one about giotto (i LOVE giotto!!!) (yet 2 be convinced about ruskin) but i have a good feeling about the big green peasants. i read middlemarch like 3 years ago and it was so big and juicy and good – been chasing that high by reading massive doorstops ever since. if u think u know of a middlemarch adjacent book, pls do lmk! and the deborah levy is self explanatory, i know i’ll love this, i j need to save it for a time when i will enjoy it most, like a little pie.
did some paintings!
instead of BUYING christmas presents, what if i MADE THEM?? famous last words of someone about to disappoint their loved ones, but NOT for ME! bc i am a talented jack of all trades. not only can i write about paintings, i can PAINT THEM. (badly, let’s not get carried away)
this is obviously not the actual painting, can u imagine, this was j a lil practice but j so you get the vibe – we are not talking about Serious Painting here. but who cares! i had fun! i love painting, it’s soooo enjoyable. exactly what i want to be doing w my time of a weekend imo.
spent lots of time with vincent, the cat
sorry, i love him. such a silly gentleman. gave him so many silly kisses. fed him so many treats.
how nice is this painting
MARC CHAGALL, THE PROMENADE – love this!!!
EDWARD HOPPER, A WOMAN IN THE SUN – sooooooo cosy and crisp, soooo evocative! apparently hopper’s wife modelled for this painting and i j think that this is such a lovely portrait of someon you love? so austere, but not in an empty way, and also so warm!!!
assorted xmas bits, j pretend this is quality street
Helena, our lovely agent at Lover sent us over a swagbag that honestly, should’ve saved for xmas day it was so chock full of lil goodies. still messing about w them so – watch this space for thoughts – but one of the toys came w a cute sticker isn’t it soo cute!!!!!!!!! i die!!! excellent marketing imo.
gdlp knitted me this balaclava, my sister said i look like a worm, i think i look soooo high fashion.
glorious people’s republic of tottenham <3 <3 <3
how cute is this::: a lil gingerbread house mug topper. almost too cute to eat (ALMOST, bc i did actually yam this in one bite)
i will knit this myself, thank u very much
love a bit of marni mohair but fuck dropping 3/400 on a JUMPER. i will become self-suffieicient. as gdlp would say: teach a man 2 fish etc etc.
did a lil filming in liverpool
for something JMPP related should be out sometime soon, but j wana flag that they let me clack the lil clicky clacker board (great, rly enjoyed the novelty of being entrusted w that)
also, fwiw – i really enjoyed going around and looking at all the paintings again. haven’t been back since the opening and honestly i feel even more in awe and amazement at our choices as a jury (not 2 b self-congratulatory, but j like — u know when you do something and then forget how you even did it? like, howwww did we even choose those, all the submissions were so good, it was like splitting hairs! but these are all such good weird interesting compelling images! so complex & goopy!). i kept declaring things were “MY FAVOURITE' but honestly – spent so much time with all these paintings, i feel like that’s a legit place for all of them! i like them all enormously! i have built this weird tender relationship w them all. i want to put them all in my bedroom, just cover every inch of wallspace and rotate them round until my brain finally goes pop. wish i had an art buying budget!
if you find yourself in liverpool, pls do pop into the walker and then (importantly) lmk what you reckon of the show. which painting was ur favourite, why etc etc etc.
yes, saltburn
this week’s review? say less say less, i will say NUFFINK actually ha ha ha ha HA!
⋆⭒˚｡⋆.*･｡ﾟ☆ﾟ. ･｡ﾟ⋆˚☆˖° so – that’s all! happy new year babycakes. hope ur havin a good one n catch u next week for (what’ll probably be a v dry installment of) WISLW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ⋆⭒˚｡⋆.･｡ﾟ☆ﾟ. *･｡ﾟ⋆˚☆˖°