What I Read April

A photo posted by Sophie Overett (@sophieoverett) on Apr 28, 2015 at 2:52pm PDT

Oddly enough, I really find reading a short story collection slows down my reading habit. It’s not that I didn’t devour (and totally love!) Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Other Stories, just that hopping in and out of storyworlds means it’s a little harder to plunge into a whole new one once it’s finished.

I ended up following the taut horror of Jackson’s stories with the totally wonderful This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. It’s a gorgeous coming of age story that deals with shifting friendships and mental illness very tenderly.

I finished up the month with Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik which I’m really still making my mind up on. It’s an engaging and compelling story, and Anolik is an interesting writer, but I can’t help but feel with a few changes it could’ve made a terrific YA novel instead of this adult crime novel it currently sits at.

So yeah, a quiet few weeks of reading! How about you? What did you read in April?

You Must Create SS 2015

There's something pretty sexy in this new line from You Must Create (YMC). A pretty remarkable feat given a lot of it is sleek, warm knits and loose silhouettes. It's a deceptively simple collection, one that clearly pays homage to the nineties but twists it into a compelling selection of looks. It's pretty darn cool.

You can check out the full collection over on the website.

   

  

  

  

Sunday Short: 'Half-Life' by Jillian Tamaki

I came to Jillian Tamaki in a bit of a roundabout way though a review at The AV Club for the 'Diary' episode of Adventure Time. After that, I read the tremendous graphic novel, This One Summer she illustrated (authored by her cousin Mariko Tamaki), and since then have basically stalked her online. She's a remarkable artist, and Half-Life, is such a well rounded, painful thing that it's hard to believe it's only four pages.

You can read 'Half-Life' by Jillian Tamaki over at her blog.

Shop Girl: Jordan Baker 'The Great Gatsby'

When you talk about the women of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan normally dominates the discussion. It's easy to see why, she's a fragile, broken muse - selfish, cruel and left to her pedestal. She's a compelling character to talk about.

That said, in a novel of unlikable characters, I've always been pretty partial to Jordan Baker, perhaps the only one who doesn't show traits that are generally despicable. The glamorous amateur golf star, friend to Daisy and partner in flirting with narrator, Nick Carraway. She's basically a pathological liar, but she's so engaging (and the other characters are so cruel) it's more or less forgivable. She's a bachelorette and unafraid and damn compelling. She's pretty great.

Jordan Baker, The Great Gatsby
1. Gold Deco Studs, Polli, $70.
2. All Neutral Dress, ModCloth, $100.
3. Deep Red Unicorn Lipstick, Lime Crime. $18.
4. Krushonu pumps, Nine West. $140.
5. Miriam Gold, Glomesh. $345.

Sunday Short: 'How to Talk to Girls at Parties' by Neil Gaiman

The times I had kissed my sister's friends I had not spoken to them. They had been around while my sister was off doing something elsewhere, and they had drifted into my orbit, and so I had kissed them. I do not remember any talking. I did not know what to say to girls, and I told him so. 

Neil Gaiman has a pretty awesome knack for turning charming nostalgic stories into bona fide creepy-fests in the space of a few carefully placed sentences. This is such a great example of that. What begins as two teenage boys trying to find a party ends, well, in something very much not that.

You can read 'How to Talk to Girls at Parties' by Neil Gaiman over on his website.

Friday Finds

Just a short one tonight while I generally obsess over the new Star Wars trailer. I go on and off JJ Abrams, but I am tentatively hopeful about this one. Anywho, your Friday Finds:

- I'm a big fan of Blank on Blank generally, but this Dolly Parton one is particularly charming.

- This nursing cat is giving me a lot of emotions.

- The top 10 indie horror movies on Netflix. I've seen most of these, but there are a couple to add still!

- These illustrations of Istanbul landmarks are gorgeous.

- Why is your millennial crying? 

- A comprehensive Wes Anderson playlist for your weekend.

- this piece on the history of Cinderella from folklore to pop culture is fascinating and really funny.

Lessons in Crochet

I am terrible at crochet

A photo posted by Sophie Overett (@sophieoverett) on Apr 15, 2015 at 2:31am PDT

One of my 24 before 25 goals was to learn how to crochet. I took the first step in that last night by attending a class care of Laneway Learning in Brisbane.

It's hard to say why crochet appealed to me. On a surface level, it's really about developing a new skill and having something to pass on. To share with my family, my friends, and the future of them both. It's about being able to make something out of a couple of twists of yarn and a shining hook. I love that. Love the strange, practical poetry of it.

On a deeper level it's harder to talk about. I don't suffer from anxiety - in that way I'm very lucky - but I do suffer from restlessness. I find it very, very hard to relax. My body might yearn to curl up on a couch somewhere, but my mind's always racing, thinking of things I can do, things I can do better, how I can be more, to more people, and that's a pretty exhausting way to be.

The idea of crochet as something that forced me to stop, that required my full attention for a bit over an hour was kind of amazing for that. To have my hands and head occupied around this little weave was refreshing and, at times, pretty frustrating. I made the hilarious little bit of knit you can see above before my friend and I gave up on it and just made braided friendship bracelets which, y'know. Winning.

Anyway, I'm planning on keeping up with it. Who knows, maybe one day I'll manage the double crochet stitch.