YUMMY ART AND TATTOO WORTHY PROSE

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

A book to savor: Reading Marilynne Robinson's Gilead is an experience that I can only describe as holy. I started it a couple of months ago, and it takes time. Not because it's long, but because it settles in the corner cushions of your heart one achingly gorgeous line at a time. The book, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner, is written as a letter from a father to his son. It is so simple, but it carries so much power – about what it means to be human, to be family, to be flawed, to hold hope (“hope deferred is still hope” she writes). I underlined multiple phrases that, if I were the tattooing kind, would be inked in cursive on my forearm forever. But this one really brought me to my knees:



“I’m writing this in part to tell you that if you ever wonder what you’ve done in your life, and everyone does wonder sooner or later, you have been God’s grace to me, a miracle, something more than a miracle.”

If you need something slow and beautiful in your life, Gilead will not disappoint. It'll be a book that I gift for many years to come.

What I'm writing: Honestly, just a lot of website copy. Which I can't wait to reveal to you oh, so very soon!

WOMEN'S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon: I recently devoured the Ezra Klein episode: The Deep Conflict Between Our Work and Parenting Ideals with guest Caitlyn Collins, the author of Making Motherhood Work. It's no secret that America is hostile to families, and I see that burden in the day-to-day lives of every friend with kids that I know. This deep dive into what our culture values, the policies it produces (or lack thereof), and what other countries are doing to create a world where people can work and parent... is fascinating. In my opinion, achieving gender parity starts with the basics: access to birth control, safe abortions, and affordable child care...all of which this country seems to find up for debate at the moment. Ugh. 


PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine: I love stumbling upon artists who reflect on femininity through whatever mediums they work with. Two I'm digging recently are Paola Vilas (I'm lusting after her clasped hands necklace and pregnant woman pendant) and Denise Lima who transfers her art to textiles (I've purchased two beautiful congas “Life” and “The Women”). The quality of the fabrics is as lovely as the impression they leave.

xx