Who wants some bad advice?
A drawing prompt, a soundtrack to listen to (then talk about), and some very questionable advice that definitely didn't come from me.
This week smelled like golden wattle, which is still blooming in Sydney, and tasted like Ottolenghi’s ozro with prawns, tomato, and marinated feta. We’re about to enter our eighth week of lockdown but if you focus on flowers and fresh produce, things can momentarily still feel okay.
Let’s get to the recommendations, shall we?
A Cute And Creative Thing To Do Without Leaving Your Desk
A couple of weeks ago, Michael and I decided that ‘drawing’ would be a cute lockdown hobby. Unfortunately for us—and the friends we subjected our creations to over Zoom—we decided to draw each other and the results were horrendous. A hot tip from me to you: Do not offer to draw a portrait of someone you love unless you’re a working artist, or simply want to hurt their feelings. Thankfully, I came across a solution to my problem this week when I found Still Here Still Life on Instagram. If you’re not familiar, every week the account shares one still life photo prompt, then throughout the week shares people’s interpretations of it. Look at this very cute fruit my former co-worker Tarn drew!
Something To Read If You’ve Had The White Lotus Soundtrack On Repeat
I watched the first five episodes of The White Lotus last week, which left me equal parts entertained and deeply unsettled. I enjoyed this Vulture interview with composer Tapia de Veer on how the soundtrack came to life, and why it makes us feel the way we do.
When we’re finally out of lockdown is it too much to ask that a DJ drops a remix of ‘Aloha!’ while I’m in the middle of a crowded dance floor?
Two Helpful Kitchen Purchases For Anyone Who Hates The Imperial System!!!
Sorry to Americans, but the Imperial system is bad and confusing in so many ways. For me personally, it’s most annoying when I’m trying to cook an American recipe in Australia. Obviously this was no issue in New York, but now I’m back in Sydney, far too many meals involve me Googling “425F to C” or “1 pound in grams?????” more times than I’d like to admit. I don’t have a lot going on right now (shocker) so this mild frustration is something I decided to finally address this week.
First, I ordered a couple of Pyrex measuring cups that have mLs/ounces/cups on them. Then, I ordered and printed this cooking conversation chart from Etsy and stuck it to the side of my fridge. If you’d prefer not to spend any money, but also experience the frustration of mid-cook Googling, you could just as easily make your own chart, or screenshot your most-searched questions and save them in an ‘I hate the Imperial system’ photo album on your phone.
And, If You’re Done With Good Life Advice, Here Are Two Pieces Of Bad Advice
Sometimes you read something so shocking, you truly can’t work out whether you hate it or actually kind of admire the audacity of it. This happened to me recently when reading Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts, as I reached the part towards the end of the novel where the main character Nina [redacted] her [redacted]. (If you have read this book: WTF, right?) It also happened to me when I opened this Slate article in which a reader writes to Dear Prudence: “Help! My Awful Neighbor Is Searching for His Cat—Which I Ran Over and Hid”. I will let you read Prudence’s answer which, IMO, is not what I would do, but is also entertaining in a this-advice-has-no-influence-on-my-life-thank-god kind of way.
The second piece of bad advice I present to you comes via Gawker, which published a piece about “finding and befriending someone who is the shittier version of yourself”. It’s light-hearted and relatable (maybe?) but I am begging you to please not to do this! As someone who has never had a nemesis, I cannot recommend you make a friend simply to internally dunk on them constantly.
Anyway, turns out there’s nothing like seeing someone dole out questionable advice to the masses to make you feel better about your own silly little low-stakes decisions.
That’s it for this week. Once again, thank you for being here!
If you’re reading but haven’t subscribed to She’ll Be Right yet, now is as good a time as any.
Gyan x