I’m late again, but I’ve been busy getting my shit together (so please forgive me). The first week of January is always weird AF - so I would like to congratulate myself (and you) for getting through it.
I’ve been feeling very nostalgic this week (this is pretty common for me). The only valid explanation is that I’m a cancerian, and we love rehashing the past.
This week I’ve been watching Korean food vlogs, I downloaded a free game called Palia (am I in my gaming era?) and I’ve been (still) trying to find a job to end my 3-month ‘sabbatical’.
PSA: I’m very excited that we’ll be sharing our first Out of Hours takeover next week 🤗 The iconic Ezekiel Santos will be sharing a letter with you all on Saturday. Ezekiel is a Filipino London-based photographer, filmmaker and Creative Director of SMUT. You can learn more about their work here.
Thoughts from my notes app
Siri, why do I feel extremely nostalgic?
For as long as I can remember, I have always kept a memory box stuffed to the brim with birthday cards, post-it notes, flyers, crumpled receipts, photos, ticket stubs, plane tickets - quite literally anything that I found significant enough to keep at that time. I’ve now got boxes stuffed into a Yellow Storage unit in Moulsecoomb and others hidden in the depths of my wardrobe in Dubai, with little treasures that date back to the 90s.
What I love about keeping a memory box is that it acts as a time capsule. As soon as I open the box, I experience fragments of memories from different times of my life, rediscovering things I have no recollection of keeping (this part is fun) and uncovering memories and stories I’ve forgotten.
I sadly have a really bad memory (my friends will agree) and I have also failed at documenting different times in my life.
When I was a teenager, I hated photos of myself (but I loved taking photos of my friends). When I was 12 or 13 (not sure?) I decided to delete all of my photos. I’m not sure what I was thinking at the time, but I really regret that now. I would have loved to see all the photos/videos from that time (even the embarrassing ones).
I’ve also been extremely clumsy in the past - I have broken countless phones/laptops over the years, which has resulted in a huge gap in my archive. I have very little from 2007-2018, so a big portion of my life is missing. For someone who has always treasured the little things I keep in my memory box, I have been pretty shit at treasuring my digital belongings (note to self: please improve).
I have never committed to writing a diary (hello, commitment issues?) which I also regret, because I would pay a big sum of money to be able to read this back.
These days, I rely on my memory box, my school friends sending me unhinged photos from my high school days and my uni friends sharing their recollections of that night out via voice note.
I think I’m always reminiscing because it’s a way for me to try to piece together fragments of memories (a therapist could think otherwise) and perhaps I’m just trying to stay young? I’m also low-key scared that my memories will fade and I won’t be one of those 80-year-olds who tell their grandchildren in-depth stories from 70 years ago.
So, please forgive me, friends, when I ask you for the 10th time to tell me a story, for all my questions and for sending you WhatsApps at 2am asking for photos from 2011.
My learnings (and perhaps these should be on my 2024 to-do list)
Take digital archiving seriously
Start writing a diary
Start writing down the stories your loved ones tell you (or record them)
Overcome your fear of losing your memory
ICYMI
Britney Spears Vows to “Never Return to the Music Industry” (Vanity Fair)
“Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!!”
Britney has announced via Instagram she’s never returning to the music industry 💔 And she’s private on Instagram?
How digitally tracking clothes consumption is taking off online (The Guardian)
Apparently we’re digitally tracking clothes consumption to slow down consumption and save money?
Don’t get me wrong, I love trackers and if I had I had the time (and I wasn’t so obsessive about everything) I would totally track absolutely everything for absolutely no reason at all.
Back to the land: young Italians find la dolce vita in a return to farming (The Guardian)
Young Italians are now turning to simple things, like “the blossoming of a peach flower”, to find the happiness they struggle to get elsewhere.
A new generation is redefining what it means to be a farmer, abandoning well-paid jobs in the cities to tend their plots.
This sounds dreamy.
What to watch this week
This week has been all about food vlogs (you have been warned: please don’t watch these if you’re hungry).
24 Hours: Korean Street Food in Busan
Warning: This one is 36 minutes.
Street Market Fine Dining - From Paris with Love
Warning: This one is 15 minutes.
Obsessed with the random guy showing up with a bottle of 1811 cognac.
24 hours: Eating Through a Korean Convenience Store
Warning: This one is 33 minutes.
Honestly, my favourite thing to do when travelling is to spend a stupid amount of time (and money) in supermarkets. Watching other people to the same via YouTube or TikTok is also just as enjoyable (but not quite as much).
Things you should keep on your radar
Big Swiss - Jen Beagin
A brilliantly original and funny novel about a sex therapist’s transcriptionist who falls in love with a client while listening to her sessions. When they accidentally meet in real life, an explosive affair ensues.
Surprise! Another sapphic book on my TBR list. Sounds juicy.
Obsessive Intrusive Magical Thinking - Marianne Eloise
Obsessive was, still is, my natural state, and I never wondered why. I didn't mind, didn't know that other people could feel at peace. I always felt like a raw nerve, but then, I thought that everyone did.
Writer and journalist Marianne Eloise shares a collection of essays about obsessions through the eyes of an autistic woman with OCD and ADHD. Another one on my TBR list.
HOW TO HAVE SEX
We love a coming-of-age film. HOW TO HAVE SEX follows three British teenage girls who go on a rites-of-passage holiday in Malia, navigating the complexities of sex, consent and self-discovery.
Please don’t watch this if you have emetophobia or just hate vomit (I had to cover my ears on many occasions).
SMOTHERED
If you love reality TV like me, please watch Smothered. It’s wild.
FYI, you can read last week’s newsletter here.
Fancy taking over Out of Hours? Once a month, a friend (or stranger) will take over Out of Hours. All you need to do is reply to this email 💋