Hey there. Is it spring where you are? Happy spring! A week ago I was returning from New York, having spent an extra night in the city after my flight home was canceled due to a weather event called a bomb cyclone—rain, followed by snow, followed by gusts of wind, as best I can tell. I had been in the city for a week already, as part of the class I’m teaching this semester, and the weather was different every day. One day was overcast but in the 50s, the next was sunnier but in the 30s with snow flurries. We had massive rain midweek—just unbelievably dark skies and downpours most of the day. And we walked and trained up and down and across the city. It was fun and exciting to be back in New York after more than two years but wow it was exhausting.
Where else am I going?
I will be in Philadelphia for AWP later this week. Will you be there? Look for me at the VQR booth.
What am I reading?
I read Rabih Alameddine’s The Wrong End of the Telescope in preparation for our Virginia Festival of the Book event last week (and it was so great!). I am now reading his debut novel, Koolaids, a dual exploration of the AIDS epidemic and the Lebanese civil war.
I am also reading The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century, a collection of essays by Amia Srinivasan, for my book club’s April meeting.
What have I watched lately?
As part of my class visit to New York, I watched Inventing Anna on Netflix. The series is based on this article by Jessica Pressler.
We Need To Talk About Cosby (trailer here) is a must-watch for anyone who ever listened to a Bill Cosby album or watched a Bill Cosby show or thinks they know the Bill Cosby story.
Years ago I watched a few seasons of a British show called Death in Paradise, and I recently found it again on Prime Video so have been catching up on the seasons I’ve missed. It’s a crime procedural filmed in the Caribbean. It’s a little campy, yes, but it’s become my comfort show.
How is my art progressing?
I will leave you with this monotype, which I made in a watercolor workshop a few weeks ago. What are you making?
Thank you for the Death in Paradise recc! I am always looking for video series for my 90-year-old mother, and this is right up her alley - BBC nerds in the Caribe!
Your last newsletter spurred me to undertake The 100 Day Project, which has been wonderful for getting a practice going again (although I wish hadn't shelled out for the paid subscription because I feel like the writer phones it in most days). I'm making 2" x 2" collages as a diary of sorts. In case you're interested: #icrashintomaking or #ldavisparsons on Instagram.