Hi, how is your year going? We are into the sixth month of 2024. That makes me feel slightly sick and more than a little anxious.
Do you feel it, too? That it’s all too fast and close and quick?
Here are some Little Things to hopefully slow it down. Just for a moment. Bring some warmth. Take you somewhere less determined to make it to the finish line. Enjoy.
Read - ‘Dolce Far Niente’ by Lucy Laucht
The soon-to-be-published photo/ recipe collection by Lucy Laucht is a chronicle of summertime life in southern Italy. Includes a trip to the Aeolian Islands, which I have been dying to visit to preferably stay at this airbnb.
I have also just finished Big Swiss by Jen Beagin which would make a very easy summer read for most, I think. A mad, rompy, implausible and very fun novel.
Listen - Mediterranean Sounds by Belle Chen
Sound bites from cities and locales around the Med, interspersed with classical pieces performed by Chen.
OR - my birthday playlist, if you’re more up for dancing than dreaming this June.
Cook - Justin Tsang’s chilli chicken with rice
Hate to admit that a lot of what I cook is determined by an algorithm that knows me better than I know myself - this is no exception.
Watch - Romeo + Juliet (1996) Dir. Baz Luhrman
I was reminded of how perfect Baz Lurhman’s Romeo + Juliet is after watching a ballet rendition of the Bard’s famous play at Saddler’s Wells last week. Nothing wrong with the Olde English version, but I remember so clearly watching this film for the first time and thinking how brilliant cinema is - that Romeo could be Leo di Caprio in a Miami-style floral shirt, and a Capulet party could include Harold Perrineau in drag singing ‘Young Hearts Run Free’. “I feel like we have passed the era of really good movie soundtracks,” my brother said to me recently. This film claims one of my bests, still.
Visit - Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesco Woodman at the NPG
Keep meaning to go. Can’t seem to find the time. But Julia is fascinating. Born in Calcutta, schooled in England, and even met her husband in Cape Town, of all places, whilst both were recouping there from illnesses. She later died in 1879 in Sri Lanka (then, Ceylon). Her photography from her time in the country have transfixed me since I first saw copies of them hanging in a cafe during my own visit to the island in 2019.
Poem - ‘The Orange‘ by Wendy Cope
Earlier this year (feels like a lifetime ago), I went away for a few nights to little town near Cape Town called Rocky. My friends being the sort who will indulge my sentimental tricks agreed to my request that they each bring a game changer for the weekend. It could be anything- a playlist for the drive up, a board game, a silly dress code for one of the meals. Something to make the weekend feel special.
To my surprise and delight, Matthew asked that we each bring a poem to read around the fire on our first night. He never struck me as the poetry sort, but I am glad he is. ‘The Orange’ was his contribution. It is a very good poem.
Do - National Garden Scheme’s summer programme
Essentially, fancy people open their fancy gardens to strangers to stroll through and marvel at. I have not quite understood the point of this, but as an irredeemably nosey person, the concept appeals to me.
Shop - Table Magazine Volume 7
Featuring a piece by me on the nostalgia of house shares in our early twenties, alongside many other wonderful photo essays and articles.
This month’s Long Read chronicles my trip to Majorca in May. June holds two further trips - to Rome & Tuscany, and then to Greece - reports and photography from which will come in July and August’s newsletters. Paid subscribers, I’ve got your summer reading covered.