Newsletter: Woke Up In The Morning Feeling Like P Diddy

(One of my weekly newsletters where I talk about what I did, what I read, what I ate and what I wrote that week! If you'd like more up-to-date updates, subscribe here! I will be occasionally posting them on the blog (very occasionally, this one is from July 15th) so if you're "not an email person" there's this too.)

Another Friday, where did the week go? Although it's been raining pretty hard, so all days became one weird endless rainy day, which is kinda cool, but also not great in keeping track of your week. I was bullet journaling for a bit--which I still do (sorta)--but once I put something down on my to-do list it feels like I've already done it, you know? The act of recording something is pretty much the same as actually doing it. At least, that's the excuse I'm using for not being able to do everything on my list.


Throwback book(s) of the week: What Katy Did, What Katy Did At School, What Katy Did Next, Clover (Jesus), something something wild frontiers? Ah, Katy Carr. She begins as this rambunctious twelve year old when we first meet her, always up to something, leading her pack of motherless siblings into great drama and adventure when ALAS in the middle of the book, she is struck down by her own disobedience. She goes for a swing even though her Aunt Lizzy (?) has told her specifically not to. She falls with a crash, injures her spine and is bedridden for pretty much the rest of the book and most of her adolescence. However, the family already has one role model invalid in the form of a Cousin Helen who is pretty much the most irritatingly soothing all-will-be-well character you've ever met. Cousin Helen is all "make yourself look nice for other people" and "be good and don't lose your temper" and Katy emerges a nicer but much less interesting person. These books go on for aaaaages (but luckily, Katy stops being bedridden after the first), full of good examples and girls being cheerful and saintly and before you know it, you're sort of sneakily drawn into the world after all. In the end (spoiler) everyone marries everyone else and the family has mostly all moved to the Wild West where they have one big house between all sisters and brothers with their kids running back and forth. [No incest babies. These are born of other people and the sibs.] [Katy marries first and so doesn't get to live in Cowboyville with everyone else. Also I don't think she ever has kids. Poor Katy.] [Cousin Helen lives forever.]


This week in food and drink: I have not been anywhere this week so I can only talk about the coconut oil brownies we attempted to make a few days ago. They're pretty good (no butter!) but they are not brownies. More like... fudge? Crunchy fudge! Here's a link to the recipe, maybe you'll have more luck than we did.

This week in what I wrote: *In my relationship column, why you shouldn't date someone rude to the service staff because duh. Also a rant on entitled Indians. ** In my F Word column, Salman Khan and the stern fathers of the 1990s as a role model.** On my blog (& also a column), on being a hermit and why I love it even though it's kinda sad and I should really leave the house already.**

Song of the week: Here have some Indian Ocean featuring Shankar Mahadevan. Very rainy day beats. (They'll be playing at the Bhutan lit fest where I am going next month!)

Friday links: ** Read this only for the term "Jat-setters" **This listicle (Buzzfeed stealing Tumblr content and slapping it together for page views) is my day. ** Animal rights in India and Facebook. **The legacy of the Babysitter's Club and related, a piece I did on the same a while ago. ** Thrilling MURDER long read and also yup not using Couchsurfing. ** Jennifer Anniston has had ENOUGH of you speculating about her womb.**

Have a great weekend!
eM