Staff Reccs #1
Editor-in-Chief Poppy has been hot and cold in these first fiery weeks of summer. What’s hot? Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 and Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season. Sarah Wes’s Kemetic Yoga classes on Youtube. John Waters’s Polyester and Antonio Marziale’s Starfuckers. Eating kimchi out of the tub. Going blonde. What’s cold? Listening to Ivy’s Long Distance in your underwear. Early, early mornings. That swimmy feeling you get behind your eyes after reading for an hour. Using Screen Slate as a compass. A big lunch.
Naimah is in the process of being born anew during her first summer in California. Particularly delightful and enrapturing facets of this rebirth are: real-life cacti, bar soap, clementines and cherries and PB&J sandwiches, giggling in public, kind people with rich histories, office dogs, The L Word, and being in bed by 11:30pm. The taste of her delicious freestyle pasta from last Wednesday (canned coconut milk, some tomato sauce, something spicy, fresh basil, ginger, garlic, baked vegetables, and whatever other seasonings call out to you) still lingers on her tongue.
Mya is experiencing a slightly adrift and aloof summer, but she wouldn’t say it’s been unpleasant. She’s been most thoroughly enjoying seeking out tide pools, saying the word “miraculously” in ordinary circumstances, “The Rip” by Portishead, wearing mismatched earrings, watching movies primarily about friendship, consuming copious amounts of ice cream in outdoor spaces (black cherry and mint chocolate chip are two favorite flavors), and assembling quaint bouquets from flowers in the garden.
Chloe has officially entered her work-hard-play-hard phase of summer (sweating her butt off at a country club snackbar). She eagerly awaits her departure to Vermont where she will spend the latter half of the season. In the meantime, she has enjoyed mustard on chicken tenders, endless globs of Vaseline “cocoa radiant” body lotion, abundant amounts of family time, and lost sleep from overthinking social interactions (re: the snackbar). She plans on cleaning her room soon.
Tima has rediscovered the joys of having access to her mother’s closet. Vintage River Island, midi skirts for days, and the craziest 80s brown Coach bag you have ever seen. What Ms. Tima’s Mom doesn’t find out about can't hurt her, so please keep these petty thefts amongst the Misters. She also thanks god for watermelon season and being able to spend all day on her childhood swing set.
Anna’s first two Sundays in Pittsburgh have been spent at Orthodox Church (totally by choice and not on assignment). But whether it be in a pew or the booth of a dive bar, she’s been finding welcoming faces in a city for which she’s growing a real soft spot. She’s also been making banana bread, rewatching episodes of The Bear and walking across Lego yellow bridges. She’s always admired people who read on public transportation, so she’s been trying that, too – reading No Country for Old Men and shuddering on the way to her 9-5.
Lucy is glamorizing the hell out of her aimless return from a lovely semester in Amsterdam. When feeling emotionally wiped, she suggests returning to cozy old comforts, so she’s been re-reading her high school favorite novels and re-cooking her favorite NYT recipes. However, this strategy isn’t infallible—one attempt to rewatch Fleabag reminded her how down in the dumps the beginning of that show gets you and left her scrambling to return to Sex and the City (Big is, in fact, moving to Paris).
