Summer is my least favorite season. My backwards seasonal depression kicks in, the humidity rockets up into the stratosphere, and I find myself fighting migraines on a daily basis while sweating through every piece of clothing that I own. Give me back my glorious New York City fall before I die!
Now that this critical bit of context is on the table, remember that I am spending all of this humid and terrible July far away from my wife, my cats, and my beloved mattress. This means that I have nothing but work, Camille Saint-Saëns, and the internet to keep me entertained. It’s a struggle.
Now, without further ado, here is my list of recommendations for a successful damp summer.
home food
I am particularly blessed here, because I am a short train ride away from home, and I have a delightful and extremely gifted wife who planned, shopped for, and made me a weeks worth of meals and then packaged them with love and care. I’m going to be singing her praises for this for the rest of my life because she singlehandedly saved me from a fate worse than death(inedible cafeteria food).
a family sized box of lucky charms
Sometimes, you just need to feed your inner child. A long rehearsal? Lucky Charms. Need a snack in the night but all the food in the world is unavailable because you’re in the middle of nowhere? Lucky Charms. Feeling like you need a marshmallow? Lucky Charms.
If you want to be a grinch, you can substitute with something inferior like Rice Krispies or Kashi, or Honey Bunches of Oats, but you should know that you’re not really keeping up with the spirit of the thing, and your inner child is coughing on the dry cereal you attempted to appease them with.
decompression Music
Some songs that are not the project that you are currently working on. Trust me on this. I’ve been loving TALK recently.
My wife sent me this and I love it
Also, because I’ve been working on my German, I’ve been listening to a lot of Rammstein.
books to read
Recently, I read and enjoyed the following:
- Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
- Hester, by Laurie Lico Albanese
- A House Full of Females by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
- Blood Roses: The Houses of Lancaster and York Before the Wars of the Roses by Kathryn Warner
extra reading
I am a passionate reader of newsletters and random things on the internet, so this makes up a LOT of my extracurricular reading.
- Olivia Giovetti’s TREMENDOUS opus The Opera Fuckboy Matrix
- In Search of Luise Adolpha le Beau Part I by Noelle McMurtry
Noelle is a dear friend and I also worked on the graphics for this, so its very nice to see her Substack up and running! - Fashion & Finance — Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2009) by Shelli Nicole
I’m a new subscriber and have been suuuper enjoying Shelli’s work.
television
Ok. So. I’ve been down a rabbit hole lately. In part because of the show I’m currently working on, but also in part because this is a period of history that I’m very into. I read an ancient battered paperback history of Catherine of Aragon and have been hooked since. This is presented in the order of my consumption, you’re welcome.
miscellaneous
This dehumidifier has changed my entire life, and I would not be sleeping without it. More than heat, humidity is literally I MEAN LITERAL LITERALLY my kryptonite, and I have taken this year as a year of rejecting needless suffering.
Easy cold coffee that doesn’t require a walk? Priceless. Pair that with a crossword (my crossword technique is improving daily) and you’ve got a golden start to the morning.
final thoughts
If you’re away from home this summer, bring your own pillow, or splurge on a great pillow. Trust me. Its worth it on every conceivable level. There are two takeaways from my 30’s and they are as follows:
- Get all the sleep you can
- Get all the sleep you can
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