April, the angel of the months, the young love of the year
The Looby-list of good things: chasing the muse, delightful things I can't afford, pregnant pigeons, and baking bagels!
Hello friends, and welcome to new subscribers,
Do you ever get that feeling when you are so overwhelmed with the sudden excitement for an idea or a project that you must stop and pace around, the elation buzzing through you? I get that sometimes - rarely, but sometimes - enough to keep chasing that particular dragon. It’s part of the reward for pursuing creativity. It is similar to the feeling you get after drinking a really good coffee or after a really fiery conversation.
Today I was looking into the work of Rumi Hara, whose newest book, The Peanutbutter Sisters, I read this week. I stumbled across a page of mini-comics on her website, which was totally inspiring. The formats, the colours, the structure, the drawings ... I got so excited to create that I had to snap shut my laptop. I love it when that happens.
Now it’s just a case of harnessing and funnelling that feeling into an actual project. I am continuing to work on the follow-up to my first mini-comic, but that annoying work-for-money thing keeps getting in the way. I sometimes wonder if that inspired, “ahhh! I need to make something right now!” feeling I am talking about only exists when you know you have to do something else, like turning all the figures for an annual report into a series of pie charts. I think there might be something about that irritating tension that makes the muse feel needy.
Anyway, I enjoyed The Peanutbutter Sisters (Drawn and Quarterly). “Hari captures the zeitgeist in this sprightly genre-bending collection. In the title story, three energetic and entrepreneurial sisters—Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi—experience the wider world through their yearly excursions off their island via hurricane winds. When the naive but tough trio alight in N.Y.C., they show off their knack for getting in and out of trouble.”
Ducks wins Canada Reads:
Another graphic novel published by Drawn and Quarterly, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, has just won Canada Reads, CBC's annual "battle of the books" competition.
"[Mattea] Roach successfully argued that Ducks — an autobiographical graphic memoir that recounts author Beaton's time spent working in the Alberta oil sands — best fits the Canada Reads 2023 theme as the 'one book to shift your perspective.' After getting a job in the camps to pay off her student debt, she recounts her experiences with economic migration, sexism and environmental destruction through an illustrated narrative."
The monthly covet:
In March, I made a little spread of all the pretty things I coveted. Because I always covet things, I thought I’d make this a monthly occurrence. For April:
Julie Doucet and Michel Gondry:
I did not know this existed before I was doing a little Julie Doucet deep-diving while in Montreal. Two of my favourite creators made a film together in 2008. This is captivating, making me like Julie Doucet even more (and maybe Michel Gondry a little less).
A Newsletter I love:
Last Tuesday, a Twitter post caught my eye, caught my breath, and has me eager for this week’s coming newsletter from Dave Atkinson. Dave sends out his newsletter, The Quack, early every Sunday morning from his home on Prince Edward Island. As a Canadian islander on the other side of the continent, I feel the camaraderie of similarities to his life and the intrigue of the difference. One of the big differences is that he is the keeper of homing pigeons, and I am fully invested in the tales he spins out about his small flock. I’m hoping for exciting updates this weekend. The post that caught my breath and caught my eye was this one… babies!:
Listening:
The new Boy Genius album was released on Friday, and it’s a banger (as the kids say, or they used to say five minutes ago). The Record is 42 minutes of great listening from the supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus.
I love the TV show Somebody Feed Phil. We tried a couple of the places he mentioned in his Montreal episode and want to go back to try more. Phil is a delightful enthusiast, and I enjoyed his conversation with David Lebovitz from a Parisian hotel room where they live-tested French pastries.
Watching:
I make no secret of my crush on Mae Martin. You will crush on them too, after their one hour Netflix stand-up special, Sap. Disarmingly fresh and awkward. You can do the world a favour by spending a little time listening to their take. Directed by genius Abbi Jacobson. Read about it more in the Vulture review.
Crone Cooking: Bagels! Part 2.
In an effort to cook 52 essential recipes by the time I turn 52 (March 21, 2024), I have started a little list, and this week was dish number three; Bagels.
I got up early Friday morning to make bagels. Thank you, newsletter subscribers, for a reason to actually get out of bed to bake. I think another week of good intentions would have slipped by if I had not decided that there was some sense of “content creation obligation.” I mentioned last week that the inspiration for the bagels came from St-Viateur Bagels in Montreal… I followed this recipe, and even though I ended up using regular flour (not bread) and yeast that had an expiry date of May 2022, they were fabulous. A bit fiddly with all the boiling and so on, but way quicker than making a loaf of bread, as the proving time is fast. A good thing to make!
Omg, next week it’s soufflé. What!?
Chime in!
Tell me in the comments…
Do you know that buzzy, overwhelmingly excited feeling I was talking about? Do you know how to harness it?
What are you coveting this month?
Ever made bagels? Are you team sesame, poppy, or everything?
That’s all for this week, see you next Sunday (or Wednesday).
xo,
Claire
*Today’s title is a Vita Sackville-West quote.
What’s coming up on Loobylu (aka The Subscriber Pitch):
In the next paid-subscriber-only edition, there’s a little studio news, and a whole lot of pink pants.
What came before:
In the last paid-subscriber-only I wandered around the streets of Montreal, drew some drawings and felt some feelings. Recently I explored corporate dressing vs. pyjama life. And a while back, I sent out a free mini-comic to paid subscribers.
Loobylu is a reader-supported publication free of affiliates, partners and sponsors. For access to past and future subscriber-only posts, support Loobylu with a paid subscription.
1. I definitely know that feeling of a creative surge. The ability to harness it would be a gift!
2. I'm coveting belly mugs. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1286017742/large-handmade-belly-mug-potterydaddy https://www.etsy.com/listing/1149992809/cute-fat-belly-mug-coffee-mug-handmade
3. I once took a university level cooking class where we made soufflés, bagels, and marshmallows. Because my lab partner and I were young and hadn't experienced many of life's richer emotions, our soufflés did not soufflé, nor did our bagels bagel. Our marshmallows, though, were divine.
1) Inspirational buzz: usually arrives 8 minutes before I must go out the door; something visually exciting comes along and I want to capture it like it could fuel my next project, but too often it's like a dream that dissappears as we start to write it down
2) Coveting: stylish reading glasses (now that my silly aging eyes are making me wear them in public more often)
3) Bagels: going to make them Easter Weekend, with your recipe (bought a big ol' bag o' sesame seeds!)