The Met Gala dystopian lily pad look and other delights
This week’s giveaway is ‘The Mystery Writer’ by Sulari Gentill
May seems to be the month when the writing world really hits its stride. I’ve received a flurry of responses from journals and other opportunities this week. Mostly nos, of course, but also a nice acceptance into the Heroines Anthology Volume 5 – and a shortlisting for the accompanying writing prize.
The piece I submitted is about Medusa, which I wrote specifically to submit to this anthology. It’s heavy on wordplay, feminism, and slash symbols. Different from what I’d usually write (other than the feminism). I like taking a holiday from my usual style every now and then to experiment.
I also had a tough cage match with my website late last week but eventually emerged victorious. I had several updates to make and most went smoothly, but the most fraught one (adding WellBeing magazine to my grid of feature articles on this page) gave me trouble right at the end. I had to leave my website broken overnight, because I could tell that once I was tired that continuing to work the problem would only lead to frustration and messing it up for good. When I returned to it with fresh eyes in the morning, I found the solution quite quickly, which was a relief.
Friday afternoon, I met my friend to work on our top-secret writing project together. We sat on the floor, Pop Rocks crackling in our mouths and brains (remember those?), and rearranged words on index cards splayed out in front of us. It was such a glorious, playful way to work… and it produced results! Maybe sitting on the floor is the key ingredient missing from my other projects, ha ha.
Anyway, time to delve into this week’s new and reviews. Catch you next time. xx
News
1. Obviously, the general rule around exercise is ‘more is better’, at least for those of us who do a lot of sitting throughout the day. There is a never-ending amount of advice floating around about exactly what type of exercise we should be doing more of, and – surprise, surprise – much of it is geared towards what is healthy for men. In light of this, I was pleased to read this CNN article delving into what’s best for women as we age. The basic takeaways? Doing strength training to retain muscle mass and help keep dementia at bay, and weaving high-intensity intervals into our workouts for our cardio-vascular health. I already do plenty of strength training, but I’m definitely thinking about how I can add some HIIT to my regime.
2. How unrelentingly fun does this wedding sound? If the marriage ceremony trend these days is towards less money being spent and more themed elements tied to the couple’s interests, can everyone please invite me to their weddings? They sound like an extremely good time. I’m especially digging the smarts of holding the event at a medieval fair so you essentially get the theme for free and I’m sure it adds extra revelry to the fair as well – everyone wins!
3. When it comes to fashion ‘go big or go home’ is a vantage point I’d take daily if it wouldn’t lead to me being shunned by society and having to go live in a cave (actually that sounds kinda alright), but anyway – I’m all for the flamboyant Met Gala outfits. If you’re not looking ridiculous, you’re not doing it right. Honestly, I’d rather the celebs don outrageous fails than play it safe and look sleek. I’m not going to select fails because that’s cruel and unnecessary, but Zendaya ruled the roost for me. That navy forest goth look was just chef’s kiss and fit the ‘Garden of Time’ theme to a T. It probably also helps that one of my favourite shirts is vaguely reminiscent of navy-and-black combo, so I might have to crack that out in the coming days to channel the teensiest amount of Zendaya’s fash panache.
Honourable mentions to Gwendoline Christie for her horizontal cloud of hair and red-and-black number, and Jordan Roth’s dystopian lily pad look. Scroll through the complete collection of Vogue photos here. I thought SJP looked lovely and appropriately Carrie, but I wish she’d gone fully bonkers with her outfit.
Reviews
1. Plenty of useful titbits of life advice to be had from flower farmer Nikki Davey in this ABC article. Her habit of journaling three positive things, three things she’s grateful for, and three things she wants to create, frankly sounds exhausting and onerous to me, but I’m on board with her approach of improving things by 1 percent per day, including learning to unwind more, as well as blocking out her diary from 3pm on Thursdays. The fortnightly date night routine she has with her partner also sounds like a good habit to adopt.
2. My friend Kat, who has a sizeable collection of Naked Sundays products, gave me a sample of the Collagen Glow SPF 50+ Perfecting Priming Lotion ($39.95 for 50ml at MECCA). I use the brand’s Glow Body Sunscreen Mist regularly, so I was keen to try one of their other products. This baby’s fragrance-free and cruelty-free and it does a lot all in one package – primes, moisturises, promotes collagen, and protects from the sun. So how does it stack up against my go-to face sunscreen, MECCA’s To Save Face? It’s similar in that they both come out tanned from the tube, but rub in clear, and are cruelty-free. This Naked Sundays offering is a heck of a lot thicker, though, which is not necessarily a bad thing, just different. It dries a bit glowy, but not too shiny – essentially the same as To Save Face. They both also seem to go okay under other make-up, although I tend to just wear my sunscreen without other foundation on top these days. Overall, I still lean towards To Save Face, despite its lack of collagen-boosting powers, but this Naked Sundays goop comes in a close second.
What I’m Feelin’ Right Now
Feeling extremely attacked by the existence of the word ‘spuddle’
Looking at pics of Picasso bugs because they are gorgeous
Making a gnocchi dish with shiitake mushrooms
Pulling back from doing all the (little) things all at once to doing longer-term, bigger things
Stained glass sculptures
‘Don’t Go Insane’ by DPR Ian
Merry People’s ‘Bobbi’ boots in denim blue
A radicchio salad paired with some sort of dumpling
Wearing all the tartan for winter
Giveaway
Last week’s giveaway, Bri Lee’s new novel The Work, was won by Caroline Kelly.
The giveaway this week is The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (how seriously pretty is the cover?!). Enter your name and email address here for a chance to win.
Playlist of the Week
When the supervillain’s a woman:
Great newsletter as usual, Beck, and thank for you for mentioning (and linking) to the CNN post about exercise needs for women. Very eye opening.