having fun is cool: where we’re at (a countdown)
:/ somewhere, anywhere, everywhere :/
dear friend from my life, I write to you in your life —
it’s been nearly one year since I’ve written one of these, so it’s time to run down the list on the goops and goos, jams and jellies, movies and books, and life and learnings that have made the last year what it is. I’m currently on summer break from school for one more week, so there has never been a more perfect time to catch the hell up on this correspondence. without further ado, here is a list of the top 10 things that have tickled the hell out of me in the last year:
life: vacation / casual jock activities
I recently had the blessing to go to the PNW for a wedding in olympic national park and used it as an excuse to swim every swim! and by that I mean going on every hike I could fit into 10 days around the state of Washington (cape disappointment rules!!). If you can, take yourself to a mountain or a lake or a coast or a tree. stand in awe of nature. scream about beauty to your friends and lovers! enjoy the day, enjoy the life!
movie: paper moon
real life father daughter duo take on scams, lies, and road trips. my official review: the most charming film there is probably. the director also made what’s up doc, starring babs, which made me laff and laff, and then I learned he was in the sopranos as dr. melfi’s therapist. treats on treats.
movie: all that jazz / cabaret
over winter break, I watched 12 movies, almost all of which were wonderful, but these are the two that are sticking with me. bob fosse? bar none genius. the directing, the acting, the musical numbers, all stunning. liza dazzles! I recommend this diptych to anyone looking for a good time, beautiful colors, bright lights, big production.
book: the summer book / flesh
the summer book was adapted into a movie starring glenn close (!) which I will have to see, but until then, I will tell you to take a little look through this thin volume about a grandmother and granddaughter on a remote island in Finland. it was written by tove jansson who also created the moomins, for all you moomin heads out there. a series of vignettes that you can come in and out of, and now is the perfect time to fall right into the gulf of finland.
flesh is perhaps the opposite. it won the booker prize last year, and it follows the main character being carried from youth to adulthood in hungary. half of the dialogue is just ‘yeah’ which really did more for me than I thought it would. plot! movement! eastern europe!
smell: bo by liis
this smells like the woods in northern california, and it is a delight. this one haunted me from when I finished the entire sample until I could get a bigger bottle. I will get a full size and turn myself into a cedar tree.
goop: skin mercy / beauty of joseon relief sun aqua fresh sunscreen
at some point in the recent past, my skin started peeling and I wanted to figure out a moisturizer that I could use to slug my face that wouldn’t break me out. slugging, which is when you add a layer of ointment or vaseline on top of all your other skincare at night to seal in all of the goops, can be a little tricky. dieux makes my favorite moisturizer, air angel which is a light gel cream, and they recently came out with skin mercy, which is thick and solves any dryness that my acne medication (tazarotene) causes.
being on summer break also means going outside and seeing the sun, which means using sunscreen. I took all of my open sunscreens with me on vacation and continued to love the beauty of joseon tube the most. it can be slightly challenging to get your hands on because it’s korean, but senti senti carries it and you can order from them and know it’s authentic.
life: make the party you want to attend
the first thing I did after finishing my last final was to make a poster for an event called ‘night of 250 ben franklins: a lookalike contest’ and taped up 100 of them all over the city for july 3rd at the liberty bell because all I wanted for the semiquincentennial was to see a sea of bald caps at a national park. and then the posters got noticed and people started posting about it on twitter and reddit and instagram etc. because people are looking for a little more whimsy in their lives, i think!
and even though it was 105 degrees on the day and all of the daytime official city activities were cancelled, 150+ people showed up and we all screamed and then it was all over the news because cspan didn’t get the message that everything was cancelled and they didn’t need to broadcast me for 30 minutes (starting at minute 28). then it became a little bit of a problem on twitter, but we needn’t focus on that, you can do that search on your own dime.
in the meantime, enjoy this interview, and remember, you too can spend $13 at the library to print posters and maybe a lot of people will come and be excited too.
learning: for wellbeing, find Zest, Love, and Purpose or how to be zesty for the party of life
maybe some of you know this instinctually, but one of the most important things to maintain well being in your life (a step above health) is zest, which I interpret as wanting to be at the party of life. however you get the zest is great — hobbies, friendship, community, living life on life’s terms, going to a real party, are all valid.
some other amazing things that will improve your well being: love and purpose. how you get those? that’s a whole other can of worms.
poem:
I’m not sure I have anything amazing to say about this poem, other than it stuck with me and maybe it will stick with you too.
life: gaining focus
this is a classic thing to want more of, but being in school and working at the same time forced me to really work on my focus and discipline more than anything else, getting up at 6 to do homework then do fitness before work, and then back to homework after the day at work. when does a girl go on a walk? that’s anybody’s guess. I’m hoping year 2 I have slightly looser standards for myself, but ….. that seems unlikely !
and just like that, you’re all caught up. I hope you enjoyed this little missive with a countdown of what’s going on for me, and I hope it inspires you to do a zoom out on where you’re at right now, too.
until next time,
xoxo
elena