Boats, Custom Totes, And Some Good Reads

Welcome to A Few Good Mentions, a weekly (or so) toss-up of five random, share-worthy things I might come across, see, read, do, or eat in a given week. You can find me on Instagram, and my website, which I try my best to update with latest published works. Ok, let’s go!

Happy 2024, everyone! What’s everyone’s WORD for the new year ahead, eh?

It’s been a while (I know, I know…), and while I promise I haven’t reduced my publishing schedule to one newsletter a year, I can’t guarantee I’ll get back to a weekly pace anytime in the immediate future. So just consider these occasional dispatches to be surprise deliveries. It’s not like anyone’s really suffering from a shortage of newsletters to read, right?

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1.

It didn’t take much, but I was so over the “Ins and Outs” and “Best of 2023” lists before the calendar even hit December 31st. I feel like they’ve become the perfect coalescence of fatigue and fervor in such a way that it doesn’t matter if something is good or bad—merely that it’s actually on a list. This one however, shared by my friend Julie, gave me something to really tuck into and relish, not just as a writer, but as someone who’s only happy to revisit the best and worst of the last twelve months by reading these sentences, penned some of the country’s best commentators.

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2.

Who wants to go on a three-hour tour? This is already making me excited for warmer days and later sunsets…no explanation required, given the straightforward name.

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3.

I’m about halfway through Carlene Bauer’s novel Girls They Write Songs About (thank you, Colu!), and while I don’t normally recommend books until I’ve read them to completion, this one is worth at least reading halfway for the line: “What would Anne Frank do if she knew I was wasting my precious freedom of speech worried about what the fuck other people think.” That question is something I consider often now.

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4.

A friend recently gifted me a sturdy canvas tote bag, practically big enough to climb into a la Victoria Beckham (here, too), emblazoned with a hand-painted tribute to a place that’s very close to my heart. It’s by Father & Finn, a single-artist operation, that’s been on a sell-out streak since hosting a pop-up at Soho’s Alex Mill store last month. If you can get your hands on one, consider yourself lucky! And if you have to wait about six months, well, I’d say it’s worth it.

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5.

Two things you can make with your hands (but requiring some initial tech aid to get started)—

As a designer friend recently said to me, this is an example of “AI-use done right.” Take a picture of your pile of Legos (or other brick-y things), and this app will show you what you can make. (I’m still waiting for a culinary equivalent that works with the ingredients in my fridge…)

My neighbor Bryce builds and makes all sorts of things: greenhouses, kitchens, children’s playhouses, etc., yet I was still surprised to see a small mountain of these adorable crochet kits piled onto his desk last week. I had no idea he was as adept at handcrafts, too. Once you have your chosen kit (personally, I’m a fan of this little ‘snowbird’), videos on the brand’s website will guide you through the various components. As someone who knit a LOT of scarves as distraction from working on her college thesis, I think these might be too dangerous for me.

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IYKYK: I recently wrote an ode to the J. Peterman Company, and its delightfully anachronistic ways, over on «Dress Codes».