🌙 Resistance and Change Often Begin in Art
"Philly is like one big dive bar," said my new friend Shelly. It's a grungy city that's often overlooked, but it's full of friendly strangers who have hidden talents, eclectic interests, and unquenchable enthusiasm.
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After the Women's March, I spotted this guy carrying a giant sousaphone waiting for the subway. I asked him about the slogan on his oversize instrument and he told me he's part of the West Philly Orchestra, a raucous Balkan brass band that shows up everywhere from protests to weddings (here they are in action at the Women's March).
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When our next-door neighbor spotted us moving in last month, she came out to say hello. "Do you need anything?" she asked. "I think we have too much stuff," I said, regretting the 25 boxes we'd have to carry upstairs. "How about holiday decorations?" she asked. The next week, a bright red spiraling Christmas tree and green holiday wreath showed up on our front porch. Not really our style, but they made me smile every time I walked up the stairs.
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Last night was way below freezing, so Ben and I were hustling to walk home when a neighbor shouted hello. He was sitting in his front yard next to what appeared at first to be a cannon but turned out to be a large black telescope. A bright white cat sat next to him. "Want to see the Orion nebula?" he asked. We got to talking. "Is that your cat?" I asked. He looked over at the white fluffball. "More the other way around. We're all hers. She's a street cat, but she's taken us in as her people. We call her GB—gato blanco." I grinned. "That's sweet!" "It's all the Spanish I know," he said. "I learned it back when OJ was on TV in his Blanco Bronco."
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I went to the post office to mail some copies of Sex from Scratch and the postal clerk asked me if it was a good book. "Did you like it?" she said, affixing stamps to my envelopes. "Well, yes and no," I said. "I wrote it." She gasped in delight. "Look at this!" she called to the rest of the mail clerks, holding the book above her head. "She wrote this book! That's amazing"
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When I told people back home that I was moving to Philadelphia, the responses were usually, "The cream cheese city?" or "Isn't it dangerous there? Kill-adelphia?" But the city isn't defined by cheese or crime—the thing that makes it Philadelphia is the kindness of strangers.
THIS WEEK'S COMIC:
Shout-out to the fine fox-tailed folks at Philly Aids Thrift.
STUFF I MADE:
A comic! Artist Dylan Meconis and I collaborated to create a short comic in tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin, who passed away this week. Her work meant so much to so many people.
A print! In addition to the Ursula K. Le Guin comic above, I made a print with a portrait of the author and her quote: “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” Check it out here and get one for just $6 if you want!
STUFF I LOVE:
Adopt, Don't Shop - The big news in my life is that my boyfriend Ben and I just adopted a cat! We picked up this extra-long-tailed former stray from PAWS. I'm happy to give a cat a home, though I've never had one before and I'm baffled by her mysteries. Things she loves: climbing onto your shoulders, eating plastic, devouring plants, running away at the sight of you but then returning to snuggle into your lap. People tell me these are normal cat things. Her name is Ginsburg because, like the Supreme Court Justice, she is very skeptical and full of dissents.
Labor of Love - I read this book on the history of dating in the U.S. when it first came out, but I had to speed through it to prepare for an interview with the author. I re-read it this past week and realized I'd forgotten pretty much everything Moira Weigel wrote about how economics has influenced our dating norms—and how the "simpler times" of yesteryear were shaped by economic inequality.
Raw Material - Did you know SFMOMA produces podcasts about art history? I found out about the show because the current season, Landfall (about land artists in California), is hosted by a friend-of-a-friend of mine. I like it a lot! I always wish I knew more about contemporary art and the podcast tells the story of how art is made in a really accessible, fun, and relevant way.
Gearing Up - I'm looking for places to volunteer in Philly and me friend Dawn Riddle pointed me toward this cool organization, Gearing Up, that leads group rides for women who have histories of abuse, addiction, and incarceration. Seems awesome!
Vegan Corn Chowder - I think I'm addicted to corn chowder. It's all I want. I declare it the best winter soup! I've been making the chowder from this excellent cookbook, but I can't find it online so here's a similar recipe (I use coconut milk instead of soy milk. Why would you put soy milk in soup?).
SOMEONE TO KNOW:
Mari Andrew started drawing two years ago as a way to do express all the ideas she was keeping inside her head. "If you want to be a writer, you have to write," she says. "It’s crazy, but so many people will say, 'I’d like to play guitar.' First step: get one!" I love the candid sketches and vulnerable watercolors she posts on Instagram—and now she has a book coming out this spring!
SOMETHING TO DO:
Disconnect. I'm trying to write a novel this winter, which means I'm staring at a word document and then checking my email every five minutes. But science shows, of course, that if you actually want to get something done, you have to do "deep work"—meaning sinking into a task and not letting yourself be distracted. I'm going to seriously carve out some time to disconnect from WIFI this weekend and actually write. Unless the kitchen needs to be cleaned... or the laundry needs to be done... or I can find any possible other way to procrastinate.
I’ll write to you in two weeks! In the meantime, keep in touch on Instagram and Twitter, okay? If this is your first time seeing this newsletter, you can subscribe here.