Monday Miscellany: Sonically soothing and lyrically melancholy
Notes from September 16 - 22
This morning I took my little electric car to the shop for her yearly state inspection and a once-over to make sure she didn’t need any repairs or adjustments. It was so relaxing to just sit in the waiting room for an hour and a half reading a book (which I still! have not finished) and lightly eavesdropping on everything happening around me. But now here I am getting a late start on this week’s newsletter and trying to ignore the panicky feeling that I put off an assignment until the last minute. Shut up, brain, this is fun—I’m writing a letter to my friends! Hi friends! Let’s get into it.
Currently reading
I normally only talk here about books I’ve finished in any given week, but this week, I didn’t finish any! As of this moment I have about 15% left to go in The Book of Love by Kelly Link. I’m going to tell you about it anyway because no one wants a fully blank “currently reading” section. Embarrassing!
Kelly Link has written lots of short story collections (most recently White Cat, Black Dog, but also Magic for Beginners and Get in Trouble, among others), but The Book of Love is her first novel. And it is a chonker! Thank goddess I am reading on my kobo, because the hardcover print edition is 640 pages long.
It’s about a few high-school-aged kids, Laura, Daniel, and Mo, who have died but inexplicably come back to life in their old music classroom, only to find themselves embroiled in a confusing supernatural drama. They are given a series of tasks by their music teacher, Mr. Anabin, who turns out to be magical himself, and by working through these, they slowly unravel the details of what originally caused their deaths and what the heck is going on now.
I’ll admit that it took me a while to sink into the story, but I persisted; things kicked into a higher gear a little before the halfway point, and now I’m eager to know how everything wraps up. Come back next week for my thoughts on the book as a whole!
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
Talking about Great Grandpa last week led me down a brief rabbit hole to Al Menne, the band’s lead singer, who released a full-length solo album last year called Freak Accident (2023). It’s a much calmer vibe than Great Grandpa—sonically soothing and lyrically melancholy, like a sheer curtain in a dim house, gently dancing in an open window’s breeze. My favorite tracks right now are “Kill Me” and “W/Arms Wide Open” (clarification: not a Creed cover), but the whole record is excellent. Think coffee shop on a rainy day, which, incidentally, is where I’ve been playing it pretty frequently lately.
On a totally different note, I was drawing myself a bath a few days ago, listening to a mallgoth mix that Spotify made for me (did you know this was a genre? I did not) which was full of, frankly, incredible stuff—Jack’s Mannequin, Metric, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Jets to Brazil, Anberlin, Linkin Park—and Jordan appeared in the bathroom doorway and said “you know what band I had forgotten about? The Juliana Theory.” And my heart fell out of my chest.
I immediately pulled up Emotion is Dead (2000) and we briefly debated which track to play first before settling on “If I Told You This Was Killing Me, Would You Stop?”¹ Do you know the feeling of remembering a song or album’s existence after not thinking of it for a period of years and discovering that, despite the huge lapse in time, you still know all the words? That’s it. That’s everything to me.
Music is the most effective time machine there is. I’ve been driving around this week listening to this album and I swear, it’s the summer before college and I’m eighteen again, stressing about a long-distance relationship with an absolutely wrong guy, worrying that no one at my new private southern college will get me, scream-singing my feelings out the open windows of my 1995 Ford Mustang. The world is enormous and full of possibility and I’m running straight at it with my arms wide.
(I’m realizing I haven’t mentioned anything about The Juliana Theory’s actual sound. Suffice it to say: if you are/were into bands like Our Lady Peace, Silverchair, Straylight Run, or early Jimmy Eat World, this is for you.)
¹ The Juliana Theory was doing Panic! At The Disco song titles long before Panic! At The Disco.
And another thing
Here are The Amplifier’s five most anticipated albums of the fall, including a solo record from Kim Deal (of The Breeders and Pixies) out November 22!
One thing about me is that I love a caesar salad, so when I saw this autumnal roasted brussels sprout version, I immediately added it to my “recipes to try” list.
For my fellow North Carolinians: this weekend is the 2024 Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors! I’m excited to hear TJ Klune give his keynote talk on Thursday night and go to as many author panels as I can manage on Saturday.
Haiku round-up
Monday, September 16
A reassurance: No matter how old you get, you’re always learning
Tuesday, September 17
Wrapped in yellow wool as chilly rain falls outside, coffee cup in hand
Wednesday, September 18
Gliding toward the trees, miles from where I meant to go We can’t stop laughing
Thursday, September 19
Say the word “sidewalk” Hear a beep, press this button You’re doing just fine
Friday, September 20
When it hits just right— involuntary cackling and wheezy giggles
Saturday, September 21
Afternoons out here, condensation rings marking the place friendship grows
Sunday, September 22
Come over, bring snacks We’ll play games, then fall asleep while watching a film
Until next time
There’s a Graza delivery box that’s lived at our back door for the past month or so, and usually one of the cats can be found there at any given time, curled up and sleeping. A few days ago, I walked into the kitchen to find BOTH of them squeezed in there together—Phoebe snoozing and Louise sitting watch. They stayed that way for quite a while. I know they’ll always go back to occasional periods of growling and skibbity-paps, but it sure was nice to see them snuggled up like this for an afternoon.
See you next time, and until then, everybody do the alla turca (shouts to Anna for sending me this video)!
—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.