This was beautiful. I just wanted to say thank you for the paintings. I bought the 3 Ladies with the bikes. I can’t explain to you what they mean to me; I can hear the sea in the south of France, I can feel my legs heavier for the cadence. I can smell the sea and hear the laughter. Things I am missing. I miss my bikes. I miss my life on bikes. So thank you. Thank you for creating a safe space you mentioned in your post. That image will always be safety. And a lot of whispered laughter.
dear sophie, i am sorry you had such a bad dream. i have nightmares where i wake up crying at least once a month. sometimes more. i have very vivid dreams, and lots of big feelings, and clearly i am working things out. my kiddo very rarely has nightmares, i’m glad he’s not as prone to them as i am. they are not fun. i hope you sleep better this week.
and thank you for the bird class, it was so fun & really made me feel like i could draw birds! and my kiddo has already colored in several of my birds and wants to draw & color more together. success!
I have had an on-off relationship to SNL but it can be magnificent. Samuri Dry Cleaners. Gilda Radner, anything. The music. But one skit hit my heart: Melissa McCarthy and Michael Che, Mother's Day. She played his step-mom. She was so sweet, funny, and lovely. When she tears up about the Horseshoe Crabs!!! I'm a step-mother—it did not go well (I pray and hope some day this is healed), but this skit was wonderful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpsXJLizBDU
I just finished reading "19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei," which is a very short book that looks at one poem by Wang Wei in 19 different translations. It felt like a type of looking, maybe similar to what you described with the Art History assignment, except with watching how words shift from page to page. I want to try this focused attention with a painting sometime.
I'm also very inspired to plant bulbs now! I love the idea of giving a gift to my future self.
Sadly, yes to the crying nightmares, and I'm sorry you had one, Sophie. And yes to the on-the-nose dreams too. Congrats on the New Yorker cartoon!
I listened in the car after visiting my first arboretum, what a treat! My partner and I also watch every episode of SNL together, since 2008. I love it. (Well, we skipped I think 2 episodes hosted by garbage humans.) Last week the monologue was on YouTube, but now we have to wait for it to go up on the free NBC app. I miss Hulu putting them up the next day.
I am well acquainted with wake up crying nightmares unfortunately, they're the worst. Those bats are so cute, I hope I see a bat someday!
I also watch SNL religiously AND have woken up crying, screaming, you name it. But that happens mostly when I'm under intense stress or am in a toxic relationship (work, romantic, all). I will try to plant some bulbs... cross your fingers for me. XO
This was beautiful. I just wanted to say thank you for the paintings. I bought the 3 Ladies with the bikes. I can’t explain to you what they mean to me; I can hear the sea in the south of France, I can feel my legs heavier for the cadence. I can smell the sea and hear the laughter. Things I am missing. I miss my bikes. I miss my life on bikes. So thank you. Thank you for creating a safe space you mentioned in your post. That image will always be safety. And a lot of whispered laughter.
Thank you for this, Sophie! I listened to it on the train home from teaching my evening class and it made me feel calm and happy :)
dear sophie, i am sorry you had such a bad dream. i have nightmares where i wake up crying at least once a month. sometimes more. i have very vivid dreams, and lots of big feelings, and clearly i am working things out. my kiddo very rarely has nightmares, i’m glad he’s not as prone to them as i am. they are not fun. i hope you sleep better this week.
and thank you for the bird class, it was so fun & really made me feel like i could draw birds! and my kiddo has already colored in several of my birds and wants to draw & color more together. success!
There are so many sentences in this newsletter that I really appreciated.
(To wit:
"I’ll pause to answer your questions."
"It’s remarkable how quickly people can move from, 'I’m scared of that,' to, 'We should kill it.'
Adults are just children who got bigger.""
"If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it is time to plant bulbs, and I’m afraid you must.")
Thank you.
Also: Even though I have a little apartment without a yard, I will plant some bulbs this month. (I have some big pots, with dirt in them!)
The idea of surreptitious bulb-planting outside a McDonald's is serene and subversive. I'm genuinely tempted to try that, too.
Do it! Urban gardening for the win
Has anyone here heard of lasagna planting bulbs (layering different bulbs that will pop up at different times)? I learned about it this summer and was so enormously tickled by the name -- and then conceptually it seems also extremely rewarding! Here's an article for those interested: https://www.highcountrygardens.com/content/gardening/lasagna-planting-fall-planted-bulbs-for-spring-blooms
I have had an on-off relationship to SNL but it can be magnificent. Samuri Dry Cleaners. Gilda Radner, anything. The music. But one skit hit my heart: Melissa McCarthy and Michael Che, Mother's Day. She played his step-mom. She was so sweet, funny, and lovely. When she tears up about the Horseshoe Crabs!!! I'm a step-mother—it did not go well (I pray and hope some day this is healed), but this skit was wonderful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpsXJLizBDU
dear sophie,
thank you for all of this.
Adults ARE just children who got bigger.
love you, love the bat, love the story, love those children, love it all.
love,
myq
Thanks for reading to me 🥰
Hi Sophie and all,
I just finished reading "19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei," which is a very short book that looks at one poem by Wang Wei in 19 different translations. It felt like a type of looking, maybe similar to what you described with the Art History assignment, except with watching how words shift from page to page. I want to try this focused attention with a painting sometime.
I'm also very inspired to plant bulbs now! I love the idea of giving a gift to my future self.
Sadly, yes to the crying nightmares, and I'm sorry you had one, Sophie. And yes to the on-the-nose dreams too. Congrats on the New Yorker cartoon!
I listened in the car after visiting my first arboretum, what a treat! My partner and I also watch every episode of SNL together, since 2008. I love it. (Well, we skipped I think 2 episodes hosted by garbage humans.) Last week the monologue was on YouTube, but now we have to wait for it to go up on the free NBC app. I miss Hulu putting them up the next day.
I am well acquainted with wake up crying nightmares unfortunately, they're the worst. Those bats are so cute, I hope I see a bat someday!
I also watch SNL religiously AND have woken up crying, screaming, you name it. But that happens mostly when I'm under intense stress or am in a toxic relationship (work, romantic, all). I will try to plant some bulbs... cross your fingers for me. XO