45: Betterment, Brutality and Beauty

I started learning Spanish last March. Although I might still only be learning how to say what times of day I eat sandwiches for my lunch and what I did for my birthday last year, I'm seeing more about the way the language moves and forms itself through its own unique culture into phrases. Food is often at the heart of it. The eccentricity in how it problem-solves it's way around communication makes my brain pop. Everyday phrases are frank with emotion and unburdened by lacy politeness. I couldn't love it more.I've always been bad at doing my homework. It's not that I don't care about the work. I spend a lot of my day thinking about Spanish, and about how fantastic it'll be one day to speak it fluently and demonstratively, perhaps while holding a glass of wine, or even while driving us (I've invented a car full of Spanish friends here) to a brewery somewhere up a pine-lined mountain road. But still I don't do the work. I'm doing well, but I could be doing better. A legendary Katie school report.This is why, as well as with many other things I've had time to think about over the past few weeks, I'm going to try my best to do better. Last week I spoke to a friend who said they were using this time for "self-betterment". I didn't feel up to it then, but I think I do now. And I'm starting it off with 15 minutes a day of Spanish revision. And listening to Rosalía while I scroll doesn't count anymore.Other Stuff

• I've had an Elvis cookbook on my shelf for as long as I can remember, and I had no idea it was a thing. This Eater piece by Nick Mancall-Bitel shows that not only is it a huge thing, it's a very comforting thing too.

• Meet the women activist book collectors bringing women's literature into the light and asking "what really creates the value of an old, old book?"

• Even if you're not a homebrewer, this recipe for a banana milkshake IPA is well worth your time, because it's also a politically-charged reaction against fascism written by the man who threw a milkshake at national disgrace Nigel Farage. Yes, really!

• Do you like Killing Eve? I do. Well, I think I do. I'm not sure if I'm really paying attention to it anymore. Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer have risen above the need for script or plot, really. I'd watch them smoke in silence at a bus stop. Anyway, if you watched this week's episode and wondered what would a Roman Centurion would actually smell like, I'm one step ahead of you. I can, through this article from the Science In School site, show you what Julius Caeser himself would have smelled like. Myrtle. Pomegranate. Power.

• I loved this piece on how cosplayers in the USA are making masks for anyone who needs them. There are so many glittery-heart-emoji-worthy quotes in there. 

• Gabrielle Hamilton's raw and brutally honest insight into the closure of her restaurant Prune due to the Coronavirus outbreak has taken me a week to read. I've still not made it to the end. It's vitally important, and I'm infinitely grateful for her direct, no-bullshit words on the subject, but it's so close to the bone it's literally embedded in my ankle like a bear-trap. So, that was me warning you, I guess.

• You should at least follow @publishrsweakly and read this article about why.

• Lily Waite is creating "Until Further Notice", a zine documenting pubs in East London during lockdown. I believe this will not only be a beautiful, heartfelt piece of stunning photographical work, but an important historical document. Pre-order yours here.

• The Rendition has created a great list of black theatre shows you can watch at home via the BFI, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime and many more platforms.

• A fascinating look at conspiracy theories and the resurgence of Satanic Panic amidst the backdrop of... all this. And it features a bit about making shoes out of human skin like Buffalo Bill which really made me laugh.

• A fun short essay on collecting clichés in the books you read.

• Artist Katherine Jones creates beautiful object art from found and treasured items. "Mamgu's Boxes" stole my heart this week; a careful display of everyday objects, some personal, some disposable, once owned by a beloved Grandma, now a thing of beauty forever. (You might have to scroll down to find it.) It reminds me so much of my own nan.

Mamgu's (Grandma's) Boxes - Katherine Jones