June Roundup

Proof that it's possible to live with the same person for 25 years, loads of books, Joey King, and an irritating fly.

Hello my Lovely Reader!

Let me start with a big fat thank you for being here and reading what I send out. The life of a writer can be a lonely one, so it’s comforting to have someone to connect with over the written word.

I write this surrounded by the grating buzz of a fly who has snuck its way in through our balcony door. I can’t think of another sound more irritating. Can you?

Let’s try to forget about the fly— how was your June? Is there anything you’d like to recommend (a brand of fly swat perhaps)? In all seriousness, please leave a comment if you’ve read, watched, heard or even eaten for that matter, anything worth sharing.

In the world of books,

I read an amazing one called Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin about a thirty year friendship and the world of video game design. I’m by no means a video game person. In fact, I may have only played two games in my entire life. One when I was 14, and the boy who moved in next door owned a computer and some games (the year was 1989), and the other… I can’t even remember the other, they may not have been another.

But— you need not love video games to love this book. It is brilliant and heartbreaking and inspiring. It’s structured around a friendship (I love friendship/more than friendship stories), but also around the creative process. I felt as though I was eavesdropping in on how a body of art comes to be.

I’m nosy by nature. I’ll wonder about the tiniest details of people’s lives. But I’m especially drawn to other artist’s creative process.

Which is a perfect segue to The Work of Art— How Something Comes From Nothing by Adam Moss, which is by far the most interesting book I’ve read this year. If you’re looking for a book to gift a creative, no matter their discipline, make this one the one. Each chapter has Adam Moss choosing a different artist and a particular piece they’ve created and talking to them about their process from start to finish. You’ll see notes and sketches and emails and text messages from masters like Sofia Coppola, Samin Nosrat, Ira Glass to name a few.

I read two other books this month: Sorry I’m Late, I didn’t want to come, a memoir by Jessica Pan (who also writes this fun Susbstack), which is the account of what happens when a shy introvert spends a year trying to live like a gregarious extrovert. Jessica writes with such humour.

Being an introvert myself, I sometimes do wonder what life would look should I suddenly start acting like the extrovert extraordinaire. Jessica certainly made me believe the adventure doable. I found myself wanting to try an improv class, or sign up for Bumble Friendship just to see what might be out there in the world of friendship (my kids so quickly talked me out of it haha; and yes, my kids do have an influence on what I do).

And— I started on my Summer Reading list with: Funny Story by Emily Henry. One book down, 16,000 more to go, or so it seems. My list keeps growing. I’ve just added on How Should A Person Be by Sheila Heti. She’s one of the artists in the book I mentioned above, The Work of Art, where she talks about writing How Should a Person Be.

In the world of film,

I watched just one this month, the new one on Netflix with Joey King and Zac Efron. A Family Affair. I think it’s my favourite Joey King performance to date and, in my humble opinion, the highlight of the film.

A Family Affair

In the world of baking,

June brought on a sudden craving for Brownies. Don’t ask why, I’m not sure myself except for the fact that they’re chocolate, and they're delicious. I use the Katherine Hepburn New York Times recipe whenever the craving hits. It’s easy, and the brownies turn out with the perfect fudge factor.

On a personal note,

I watched my son play Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid.

And — drumroll please — I celebrated 25 years of being married!

How is that even a real thing? I must say, time is the strangest concept humans ever invented. Did you know that the first time I met my husband, I was the flower girl and he was the pageboy in a wedding?

Front row: my husband and I. My father was standing behind me. My mother is the stylish woman in the brown patterned dress. My mother-in-law was the lady in red. Not to sure who the guy in the black shirt was.

Another fun fact: I don’t remember my husband at all from that time. I remember snippets of the wedding, namely having the seamstress take my measurement for the dress and being deathly afraid because I thought she was a doctor of some sort, but not my husband.

We met again 16 years later, and now we’ve been married for 25!

That’s all for June. July is a busy month, so hopefully I’ll have a lot to report back.

Enjoy the summer weather. And if you haven’t already, I’d love it if you subscribed below.

Until next time,

XO Ingrid