Here’s the round up of the ten wonderful things I’ve read and discovered this month — including pieces from some incredible substack writers.
This heartwarming story of a man who figured out how to use the internet to go to gigs every night. He’s become friends with his route of bus drivers, wears a bright red guard jacket that he found at an antique market and, before COVID-19, went to over 725 gigs. A story worth reading.
The Strangers Project is filled with handwritten stories from strangers from around the world. There are some tragic stories, some heartwarming ones. These stories are filled with honesty, truth, fear, and hope.
One of my favourite things to do is basically just scroll through the Explore page on Instagram to find new food accounts — recipe developers, photographer, unique bartending accounts. I save them all into a little folder to refer back to when I’m feeling in a creative mood. A new one that’s popped up is Drinks by Evie. Great recipes, great photography. It makes me want to buy a bartending kit and just make cocktails all day.
Michael Young writes
and shares his collection of observations, stories and drawings. I stumbled across his page on Substack Notes and I’m glad I did — I’ve thoroughly enjoyed several of his pieces, in particular “I prefer my nightclubs in rural settings.”- from the Guyliner shares his thoughts on dining solo. This quote stands out the most to me: “I could be anyone. I have no companion to define me, to confirm the suspicions of anyone who can be bothered looking. I am the only clue and because I never speak, aside from ordering and asking for the bill, I remain a mystery. Dining alone is, for me, cosplaying as a person who might actually be interesting.”
Gloria Dickie, an environmental journalist for The Walrus, penned a beautiful piece about Bear 148 — a determined grizzly in Canada who earned a name for herself by wandering into the townsites of Banff and Canmore before being relocated farther north. She details the bears life, her rebellious teenage years and in the end, her demise.
Mari Andrew from
shares “100 things I know” with so many being great pieces of advice (i.e. bring a book wherever you go, adopt a senior pet, and (my favourite) when you feel glued to the sofa or to your phone when you KNOW you have something else to do, countdown ‘5-4-3-2-1’ and then get up. The countdown switches your brain into Action Mode.)- from Things Worth Knowing dives into the rise of “Gawpcore” — a term used to describe our current culture climate where determined to make everything extremely large (giant £25 croissants, the famous Jacquemus sun hat). She breaks down what it is and why it’s happened (in short, being viral is to blame).
Anne Thériault, a Toronto-based writer, wrote in “Does Journaling Actually Improve Mental Health?” about how journaling has quickly become a popular tool for documenting our thoughts as a way of reorganising our feelings and coping with events in our lives. She discusses the failure of the Canadian healthcare system and the suggestion that journaling is the answer for people who struggle. As someone who has journaled for years, this resonates with me personally.
Anne Helen Petersen from Culture Studydoes an incredible breakdown of “Bama Rushtok” (which features videos of PNMs (potential new members) describing their OOTD (outfit of the day) for each of the main sorority events at Southern universities). Anne dives into its cultural significance, why girls do it, why they all look the same (something I’ve always wondered) and its lack of diversity.
Thank you so much for the lovely comments and mention, Natalie!
Thank you very much for the mention!