Alexandra Weekly: Neon Blue
May 20, 2018
Thoughts of the Week
I started this newsletter to get more of my thoughts out there and share cool things I see with friends and other artists. It also kicks my ass to pay attention to what I'm enjoying each week and take in more material.
The past few months have been tough. It made me try to determine what exactly a "funk" is. I'm still creating, but there was less enjoyment in what I was doing and how I was doing it. Most of the funk had to do with feeling uninspired in my current apartment - mostly because I have to move out in a month, which is an exciting thing! There are a few other situations in my life that are up in the air, but I can't make a move on them yet. I have to adapt and accept it is what it is to create a more peaceful atmosphere.
What helped me become more inspired is creating a schedule each day with what I would do each hour, whether it be reading, writing, or getting work done. Doing this has made what I'm doing more enjoyable and productive and having it in my calendar made what I need to do feel like scheduled meetings.
The Pomodoro Technique also works for me when I'm procrastinating.
Thanks for joining me. xo
The Five Senses
Beautiful prose poems by Sarah Rosangela.
Marina and the Diamonds' Blue music video. Catchy, bright, and fantastically neon.
(Click image for video)
Esme Weijun Wang's journals.
Now, Now's long awaited album Saved. A change from their previous rock album, but some good indie pop tunes.
The Dynamic Banter podcast. Mike Falzone, one of my favorite Youtubers and comedians alongside Steve Zaragoza together make for some funny conversations.
What I'm Reading
Books:
All About Love by Bell Hooks: "The more we accept ourselves, the better prepared we are to take responsibility in all areas of our lives." "We live satisfying lives, even when love is lacking." A beautiful, introspective book about what love is and exploring what happens when we define it. I've been reading it slowly but only because my notes on it have been so extensive. I've been writing down some great quotes, some of which have really hit home.
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore: "Even in its first faint traces, love could alter a landscape. It wrote unimagined stories and made the most beautiful, forbidding places.” Had a great start to this book which has a fantastic opening with beautiful descriptions and LGBTAQ characters.
Articles:
Jordan Peterson, Custodian of the Patriarchy: I read Peterson's book 12 Rules for Life back in March, mostly because of all the buzz about him on the internet. He seemed like a controversial, decisive figure. While I didn't agree with a lot of what he had to say, there were some interesting thoughts and anecdotes throughout his book. This NYT article, though? Wow. What an asshole. If you haven't caught up on it, Peterson discusses the pros of "forced monogamy" to ensure non-violence in men. This is timely with the recent SanteFe shooting and Toronto van attack, as both attackers allegedly did it with revenge against women in mind.
On Self-Respect: Joan Didion’s 1961 Essay from the Pages of Vogue: After watching the documentary The Center Will Not Hold, I wanted to read more of Didion's work. This essay is a good starting point and I admired her up-front attitude among vivid descriptions, the latter rare in non-fiction essays. "To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm-milk, phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commission and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth of cowardice or carelessness."
Marina Abramovic at 70: I've always been fascinated with Marina Abramovic. She's seen as the mother of performance art. Her stuff might be seen as the epitome of cliche for performance art, like her piece The Artist is Present, where she sat across from any guest who sat with her in the MoMA for 736 hours. But one of my favorite pieces of hers is Rhythm 0, where she allowed her audience to use objects displayed across a table next to her - including a loaded gun and honey - to hurt or pleasure Abramovic. Despite controversy, she's led a fascinating life and I personally love her memoir Walk Through Walls.
What I'm Writing
I've been working away on my novel Six Brothers. I just finished my Proseminar class at Harvard Extension School, taught by the wonderful Elisabeth Mcketta and feel invigorated that my novel is a good project to pursue. It's been an idea in my head for a couple of years and nearly the entire novel is planned out, so all I have to do is write it. I wrote 2,000 words yesterday and have a goal of writing at least a page a day.
This year, my poetry has been a fascinating experiment. Attempting to write a poem a day lets me see how my writing evolves with everyday practice. And then, I see what happens when I have to rush three poems because I was away from home or too lazy to write for three days: my poems become less inspired. When I write one poem at the end of the day, (alone with myself and not just the pressure to write a poem because I promised I would) I love my poems that much more.
As for nonfiction, I was inspired by the idea Ann Friedman brought up this week on her podcast Call Your Girlfriend that "all your heroes have ghostwriters." She and Aminatou Sow discussed the idea that all heroes and leaders have unnamed people who have lifted them up to where they are, including assistants, those who run their social media, and ghostwriters.
Poem of the Week
