Monday Miscellany: I don’t have to dispose of a dead body today!!
Notes from August 19 - 25
Here we are at the start of another new week! I’m sad to see our little “false fall” end, but also thankful for the temporary period of lower temperatures which has been so reviving and energizing. This morning was still quite cool, so I ran a few miles on the greenway and now I’m here with a cup of coffee next to an open window, excited to talk about what’s been rattling around in my brain of late.
Currently reading
If you take the debauchery of Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing, which I talked about last week, and turn the tone dial ALL the way from “wholesome and joyful” to “sinister and depressing,” you’ll get Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi.
This book takes place in the seedy underbelly of a fictionalized Nigerian city, and it is good, but it is dark. The story begins with a breakup: giving up on the hope that he will ever agree to marry her, Aima is finally leaving Kalu. But when she stays in the city instead of boarding a plane as planned, everything starts to unravel—the choices she and Kalu make over the course of one evening ripple outward to involve multiple other characters, and ultimately spiral into a complicated maelstrom of misunderstanding, intoxication, desire, violence, and death.
Little Rot is a continually escalating series of bad decisions and consequent problems. Just when I thought shit couldn’t get worse, it absolutely did—like oh, you thought you were doing something helpful? Turns out you’ve embarrassed and angered one of the richest and most powerful men in the city, and now there’s a hit out on you. I won’t give specific spoilers, but yeah. That type of thing. On the plus side, I emerged feeling a bit better about my own life? I might not have it all figured out, but thank god I don’t have to dispose of a dead body today!!
I wouldn’t recommend this novel if you’re already in a cynical, dark, dangerous headspace (I will personally need a literary palate cleanser to recover from this reading experience), but if you don’t mind descending into a sinister and twisted world for a while, you will likely enjoy it. I’ve followed Akwaeke Emezi for several years now—their debut novel Freshwater completely knocked me down and I’ve been thinking about it ever since reading it in 2020—and I’ll continue to pick up anything they write.
Oh, and if Little Rot sounds interesting to you but you need a little more information or convincing, check out Traci Thomas’s interview with Akwaeke Emezi on The Stacks podcast. It’s a great episode.
A legally-required heads-up: if you purchase a book through the bookshop.org affiliate links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. ♥︎
Currently listening
This week I’ve been looping Second Dinner (2024) by slimdan on repeat. Are there any Relient K fans in the house? Because if I had to succinctly sum up the vibes of this album, it would be “Relient K, but make it secular Jews who smoke weed and play indie folk instead of pop punk.” Don’t ask me to explain this.
I found the album through the song “Celebrity Lookalikes,” which came on in the car a couple of times while we were driving in the mountains last weekend. Something about the casual storytelling caught my attention, specifically in the second verse. It’s mundane and conversational in the sweetest way:
Played celebrity lookalikes the whole time in the streets of Venice Adam Scott? Rashida Jones, but probably not
The melody is so good (we love a man singing in falsetto), and there’s some mild time signature fuckery in that last line that’s particularly delicious. Honestly, now that I’m reading over the lyrics I’m realizing that this song might be a perfect match, mood- and subject-wise, for The Pairing (can you tell I’m still thinking about that book?):
I didn’t know it’d feel good, I didn’t know it’d be sweet I didn’t even get high, I think I might’ve found peace Wasn’t in the sunrise or out on Sorrento Beach It was looking at you, just looking at me And all of the paint in the Sistine, All of the grapes in Tuscany Don’t really matter much to me
But please don’t take my word for it. Here’s a completely charming and lovely “live from mom’s office” version for your listening and viewing pleasure (in which, I need to point out, the clock in the background is stopped at precisely 4:20—I see you, slimdan):
There aren’t any skips for me on this album, but other tracks I especially love include:
“Problem Solver,” about developing the ability to just listen and be there for someone instead of trying to fix everything for them, which is something Jordan and I have both been working on for a long time and thus feels SO RELATABLE.
“Nosebleeds,” about feeling a little out of place and lost, and no YOU’RE welling up at the idea that “I’m never where I think I ought to be; watching the game from the nosebleeds, living my life from a distance.”
“Wienerschnitzel,” about the deliciousness of freedom but also about how “the burden of having free will is that you have to choose well.” The narrator hides his yarmulke in his pocket at the beginning of the song, orders “a sausage with everything on it,” and waits to be smited, but God just says “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed,” and is that not one of the best uses of that phrase you’ve heard in a while?
I’ll leave you with the video for “Wienerschnitzel,” which might possibly definitely for sure make you want a hotdog (or veggie dog! what’s up, fellow vegetarians?) slathered in mustard.
And another thing
Saturday night I saw The Queen Bees and Flock of Dimes play by the lake at SECCA, our local contemporary art museum. It was a truly lovely time, watching the sun set through the trees as the bats came out, the music underlaid with the comforting drone of crickets and cicadas. At one point just before it got dark, a large formation of geese crossed overhead, and I gasped in surprise and awe when they appeared. That moment made me even more sure of a tattoo idea I had recently: wild geese, from Mary Oliver’s poem of the same name, who, “high in the clean blue air, are heading home again,” their calls “over and over announcing your place in the family of things.”
One of my favorite Durham bookstores, Letters, recently announced that they were transitioning from private ownership to a co-op model and making shares available to the public. Jordan and I decided to buy in, and after receiving our owner ID numbers yesterday, we are now officially official! Shares are still available and come with voting rights and various in-store perks, so if you’re local and this sounds like a fun thing to you, go check it out.
Haiku round-up
Monday, August 19
This will be the week that everything turns around; I mean it this time
Tuesday, August 20
What you’re not saying sits politely between us, outlined in silence
Wednesday, August 21
Make yourself a list. You don’t have to do it all, just start with one thing.
Thursday, August 22
The body must rest before it can achieve, and this is not failure.
Friday, August 23
Patio pizza, conversation, and a film— Spontaneity
Saturday, August 24
Fix the focal length Limit lines and syllables Constrained, I flourish
Sunday, August 25
Birds on the table, Rhinoceros in the street, And a cat on high
Until next time
We’re hosting an employee art show next month at the coffee shop where I work, and after I send out this newsletter, I’m planning to mat and frame a few of my pieces (hand lettering on found snapshots) before turning them in tomorrow. The above photo is one of my favorites, and a quote that’s been top of mind as I’ve spent so much time outdoors recently. My wish for you this week is wilderness, as much of it as your spirit needs.
See you next time, and until then, play the blue keys (we love an interactive music-in-public moment)!
—Emily
If you have any feedback, or want to tell me what you’re reading or listening to, I’d love to hear it. You’re always welcome to leave a comment or reply directly to this email.