The Hits

Hug your cello and other highlights.

Today I’m sharing some highlights from my week from personal work to articles, books and movies i’ve loved. You know, the hits! I’ve never done a highlights post before but they tend to be my favourite thing to read on substack so without further ado:

1. I printed some of my emo poems in a book this week to see how the quality of different drawing materials would translate, but didn’t realize quite how small the dimensions of the book were. If I went this route it would require an accompanying magnifying glass.

I did enjoy how small this page was:

And I was pleased with the print quality:

This printer was a little out of my price range so if anyone has any reasonably priced book printers they’d recommend please let me know in the comments <3

2. I drew a mouse that you can now buy as a print and mug in my shop.

   

3. I took my first cello lesson this week and the cello instructor gave me some homework before my first lesson:

And so I did.

I am rolling up my sleeves here because a woman on youtube said your arms needed to be loose like ski slopes. I also learnt that the bottom of a bow is called a frog and the top of a cello is called a scroll. But the most important thing is that I feel I could have hugged my cello better.

4. Toni Erdmann

   This movie came out in 2015 but I only just watched it and it’s a brilliant exploration of father daughter relationships. This video is a spoiler so don’t watch it if you plan to see the movie but for all intensive purposes, this is how you should hug your cello:

4. I wasn’t sure how to get rid of this second 4. So hear it stands, a testament to my lack of tech cunning.

5. I was interviewed by the brilliant Jay Springett for his new podcast that focuses on aphantasia and creativity.

   Julia Pott

   I became aware of Jay a few years ago when he gave a talk on Solar punk - I highly recommend checking it out.

6. I fell deeply in love with the ceramic work of Ruth Easterbrook - more specifically this mug:

I have no idea how she made it, I assume witchcraft.

7. While we’re in the world of ceramics, I had the pleasure of seeing Emily Yong Beck’s work in person in New York recently. GORGEOUS:

and a great write up on her here.

8. I would imagine someone is already writing up the script to the film adaptation of this NYT article from last week.

You can listen to it here but pairing it with the photographs is best.

9. Again a little late to the party on this one but Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan is a joy. Its a collection of short stories with this energy:

Enhance!

10. I just started watching Planet Earth 3 which does a beautiful and haunting job of discussing how climate change is affecting ecosystems. It also made me aware of this delightful gentleman, the saiga antelope:

Please do yourself a favour and watch him in the episode, I personally watched his segment 3 times.

11. The glorious Aparna Nancherla (Opie on Summer Camp!) reposted this yesterday and I loved it very much. This is a recommendation for this quote and also for Aparna’s own substack which is a joy to behold.