I haven't felt like myself lately.

I must be growing.

Welcome to The Simple Things, a newsletter inspired by one of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes. This is a reminder to soup. Hold it, taste it, luxuriate it. We should never take soup for granted. Today’s titular quote is from J.E. Fitzgerald, a new-to-me writer I came across on Instagram.

I tend to ramble, so you might have to expand this email to avoid missing anything. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please let me know by hitting the heart button or subscribing!

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What a time to be alive. Everything is everywhere happening all at once and here I am writing this little thing as if it’s business as usual. In a way, it’s the only thing I can think to do, in addition to donating and bearing witness to the condition of being alive. I hope you are blissfully offline and off the grid, but if this does happen to find you, I hope it finds you safe and sound and I’m grateful you’re here. As the goddess Animatou Sow wrote: “Good morning and happy Saturday to those of us who know that being human is better than being a brute, to those of us who resist transmogrification and to those of us who refuse the seductions of the herd.”

Anyways onto the distractions.

This is an event-worthy dress, but who’s to say I can’t just order this and wear it around the house while I binge watch British comfort shows? [Attersee]

Suteka makes DIY decor stickers you can apply to ceramic dishes and containers like tattoos. Bake ‘em in the oven to make them permanent or remove them with some acetone.

Source

Wanna build a better economy? Feed kids. [via

Kedits

]

Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries is one of my favorite books about food. In it, he chronicles every meal he made during a single year and it’s just a lovely record of a life lived with intention with all its good recipes and messy moments. Not surprised his home captures a similar style of coziness. [The World of Interiors]

Recent reads:

• The Other Half and The In Crowd, both by Charlotte Vassell - Nice, soapy little suspense tales about posh people murdering each other and a detective whose world sort of orbits theirs.

• Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell - Not a fan, but disliked it less when someone called it a satire.

• Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - Murders solved by an eclectic group of pensioners in a cozy retirement community in a quiet town. Thought it was lovely.

• Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel - Loved the rich descriptions of young women hitting each other in a youth boxing circuit and the mundane details of their lives, but had a hard time connecting with it overall.

• Good Material by Dolly Alderton - A droll look into a couple’s breakup. First half of the book is from the guy’s perspective which is cringe and hilarious in equal parts. Second half is from the woman’s perspective and I love how it centers people who are capable of being alone without being lonely.

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - Wow. What a gorgeous, heartbreaking, sweeping book. Every word settled under my skin to leave its impression and tie an invisible string from my heart to each of the characters in Makkai’s world. Even though it switches from the AIDS crisis in the 1980s to the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015, it felt so contemporary as if dropping into either world was like dropping into today. Another one of those “breaks your heart and puts it back together again” stories.

• I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes - I just started this Bourne thriller-type book. It was recommended by one of the 563 newsletters I follow and apparently it was so good, the reader read it a 2nd time right after. Content warnings: suicidal ideation, biological warfare, murder

I bought a quart of Whole Foods’s tortellini, kale, and parmesan soup and wow was it good. Might treat myself to another container when I make a grocery run later.

10 practical ways to deal with the Trump administration by

Emily in Your Phone

and 10 actionable ways to make a difference during the Trump years by

Playing with Fire

I live for the little reports Scotty’s hiking handlers sends me after their outings:

Also dog-related: J picked up a Pupsicle for Scotty as he was getting one for his dog and it was an absolute hit! It’s a lot cleaner and easier to manage than a Kong toy. You can either purchase the ready-made treats or get the mold to make your own. They have recipes, too.

I live in a 3 story townhome and while my calves are as strong as oxen, I dream of making a home in a sprawling ranch or a charming bungalow with a courtyard like this one in Austin. The warm textures and colors are to die for. [Domino]

Nothing feels as good as being under scheduled.

– Brooklyn journalist

Anne Kadet

for

Amelia Wilson

‘s Happy on Purpose Substack

You should definitely subscribe to Cafe Anne, if not for the completely rarefied off-the-beaten bath coverage of New York City, then for her Pulitzer-level woman-on-the-street reporting like this one about subway riders and their screen time. I found it surprisingly humanity-affirming. Oh, and this entertaining post on what it’s like to live like a rich person in NYC.

Moths making a feast of your cashmere? Did you know you can order parasitic wasps from shops that specialize in “beneficial insects”? Trichogamma wasps seek out the moth eggs, working to exterminate and clean up their remains with very little interruption to your daily life. An online shop called Nature’s Good Guys sells them. Heads up that they arrive fresh, alive, and squirming on little cards, in case that weirds you out. [NY Times]

This Jimmy Carter quote I recently came across on

Will & Way

:

Earlier in my life, I thought the things that mattered were the things that you could see, like your car, your house, your wealth, your property, your office. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve become convinced that the things that matter most are the things you can’t see — the love you share with others, your inner purpose, your comfort with who you are.

Which reminds me, health is wealth. I’ve had more health issues occur in the last 8 months than I’ve ever experienced. A stark reminder to never take your body for granted. Feed it and treat it well.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to an analog toothbrush, but how gorgeous are these? [Trask]

The marriage advice every couple needs, but no one gets by

Celeste Davis

:

The thing no one tells you about marriage is this: in order to form deep bonds of intimacy in heterosexual relationships, in order to truly love and be truly loved- both partners must do the very thing they’ve been taught their entire lives NOT to do. They must learn to disobey the script they were handed at birth called “how to be a man” and “how to be a woman.”

Men must learn to embody “non-manly” things like vulnerability, empathy, compassion, housework and compromise. Women must learn to embody “non-feminine” things like prioritizing her desires, inconveniencing others, tolerating the discomfort of disappointing people, and refusing resentful accommodation.

Interested in this product to make dirty martinis but with less sodium. They also sell blue cheese-filled olives and mixes [Filthy Food].

Why we cook by

Tamar Adler

. Spoiler alert: it’s not just to eat.

Substack is telling me this email is too long so I’ll save my other pebbles for the next one!

Love you very much,
G.