Anyone else feeling the January Blues settle in?
Blue Monday, the so-called most depressing day of the year, was on January 16th. So we made it through, but it’s hard to avoid feeling listless when the days are dark and seemingly never-ending. I have put together a list of comforting things I have been thinking about this week. You lucky folks in the Southern Hemisphere can bob around in swimming pools and ignore this if you like, but maybe comfort is also what you crave as the long hot days wear you down.
Comfort food
Loads of pasta, a lot of cheese, potatoes, a rich, salty sauce, ground beef, slow roasted veg. These seem to be some of the universal ingredients for a comfort food dish, aside from a touch of nostalgia and a wintery night. My usual go-to has been this spag bol recipe I have been making for years. Lately, I have been making vegetable maafé from the NYT. I leave out the scotch bonnet and add some hot sauce. I also can’t find plantains here on our island, and I add whatever root vegetables I have in the bottom drawer of the fridge (the non-slimy ones). The peanut butter makes it so good. If the NYT paywall is stopping you, this recipe by Nafy Flatley looks equally delicious.
Comfort viewing
I haven’t started watching this yet, but I think The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House might be worth including in this comfort line-up, judging from the trailer and all that incredible food. “‘A modern-day fairytale’: the joyful Japanese food and friendship drama you should never watch hungry.”
Also, our family of mostly grown people has been indulging in a stupid amount of the Australian children’s show Bluey, because it’s charming, funny and nostalgic (for us Aussie ex-pats). I can’t recommend it enough, even if you are not Australian. Or a little kid. You can read about it in “How Bluey Became the Best Kids’ Show of Our Time.”
Comfort reading
Have you read I Capture the Castle? If not, this should be next on your list.
My eldest child took my battered old copy back to Montreal at Christmas time, and I felt like I was losing two limbs when she left. Her, and the book. So cruel! Children are so cruel. Luckily she makes up for it by proofreading my newsletter. Anyway - hop along and get a copy of this (or steal it from your mum). Read it, love it, and you will see you have joined a secret cult. Welcome.
Comfort wear
While researching the best pajamas in the world for this post, I accidentally ordered a pair of cheap flannel ones and can’t wait for them to arrive. I am seriously craving comfort. I avoided these three by Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, and Versace for obvious reasons (and because they seem to make you look very sad).
I also dismissed the cute Giselle pjs from Eberjay, which come out in many publications as the best of the best. Soft and classic, etc. etc., but still on the pricey side for most, when an old T-shirt will surely do. Personally, my favourite pajamas are an old worn-out baggy plaid pair made in a long-ago sewing class. If you are keen, they are super quick and easy to put together, and there are a bunch of free patterns here. In the meantime, get some inspiration from Vogue’s Favourite Glamorous On-Screen Sleepwear Moments. Take your pick.
Comfort (or is it discomfort?) listening
I have just discovered that the very talented musician and actor Johnny Flynn has released a collection of songs inspired by one of my favourite books from childhood. The album, Six Signs: Six Songs (Inspired by Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising), featuring original music by Flynn, Luisa Gerstein, Heloise Tunstall-Behrens, is appropriately folky and grim. It was recorded to accompany a BBC radio adaptation of the book, which sounds so great. It’s a Midwinter tale, but I am sure just as listenable in the thick of January.
Social media brain-drain prevention
To address the enormous amount of time I almost unconsciously waste on social media (self-soothing? Craving comfort?), I have just started using a new app called Screenzen to see if I can break the habit. I have linked it to my Instagram and Facebook apps, my two biggest foils, and now when I go to check either app, it takes me through a series of self-checking steps which make me ask, “Is this important and what I really want to be doing right now?” Obviously, the answer is almost always no.
Mother stands for comfort
Yes, it’s a Kate Bush song, but also, my mum just sent me a text saying she is about to purchase this knitting pattern and might start knitting little people.
I remember seeing this article about a teacher using the same pattern during Covid to stay connected with her students. Ridiculously cute. Mum has a long list of people waiting for hand-knit socks. Now she will need to supply everyone with an accompanying knit version of themselves.
Comfort in letting go
I have been listening to the audio version of the potentially life-changing book, 4000 weeks, Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman.
I first came across Oliver Burkeman on Jessica Abel’s podcast, The Autonomous Creative, discussing the cult of modern productivity.
“The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. If you live to be 80, you’ll have had about 4,000 weeks. But that’s no reason for despair. Confronting our radical finitude – and how little control we really have – is the key to a fulfilling and meaningfully productive life.”
Burkeman urges us to let go of trying to do everything and instead assess what is most important.
Here is his final column for the Guardian from 2020, “The eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life.”
Comforting artists on Instagram (not that I’m checking)
Mark Hearld
Printmaking, painting, collage, dog walks, English countryside, open fires, dinner parties.
Maggie Mice
Little handmade sprite mice, tiny assemblages, whimsical how-tos, joyful dioramas.
Freya Hartas
Illustration, woodsy walks, studio shots, sketchbook tours, Gucci designs, woodland animals, picture books.
Amber M Jensen
Woven fabrics, stitched textiles, dyed cloth, textures, embroidery, looms, Midwest maven.
So, good riddance Blue Monday. Here’s New Order’s classic played by the mysterious Orkestra Obsolete, using only 1930s instruments.
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading!
xo,
Claire.
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The next paid-subscriber-only edition will look at artists’ homes, creative manifestos, oil painting, and redundant recipe books..
What came before:
In recent paid-subscriber-only issues, I wrote about such things as chaotic batch cooking, making books, the first draft of my new comic and the aesthetics of goblincore.
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I Capture the Castle is lovely!!
Your spagbol recipe has been my go-to ever since you posted it years ago! :)