For your stray attention this weekend...
Briefly: Wintering USA is TWO!! | This month’s Patreon includes a Sharon Blackie book club & a hangout with Leah Hazard - join now | Five books for the approaching winter | My conversation with Lauren Ober on Instagram | Wintering @ The Shift Book Club (& win a proof of Enchantment!) | My autism resource is here.
Hello,
There’s here’s a very heavy mood in the air this week, what with midterm elections, COP 27, darkening afternoons and a seemingly infinite number of nasty germs circulating. I, for one, did not ever want to obsess about Elon Musk this month, but there we have it. Apparently I am. I’m in urgent need of distraction.
I think A.L. Kennedy summed up the zeitgeist on last week’s A Point of View on Radio 4. ‘I don’t know about you, but currently all of my login passwords contain swearing.' They don’t, A.L. (is this how you’re addressed??), but I am taking this as a helpful hint for getting through these dislocated times. Thank you.
Incidentally, A.L. Kennedy has one of the greatest website FAQs of all time.
On quite a different note, the Flight 571: Survival in the Andes episode of You’re Wrong About was the most unexpectedly uplifting and moving thing I’ve listened to in quite some time. It’s worth saying upfront that the survivors of this plane crash were reduced to cannibalism to stay alive, but understanding the extraordinary courage and determination that surrounded it will honestly restore your faith in humanity. I defy you not to gasp over and over again.
On to a different kind of human tragedy - embarrassing tattoos. In Two Tattoos Gone Comically Wrong, Kashana Cauley owns up to being inked in languages she didn’t understand - twice - but then unpacks the reasons behind that urge towards cultural appropriation. Her desire to belong somewhere will resonate with so many.
I’ve been raving about Lauren Ober’s brilliant podcast, The Loudest Girl in the World, and as the season draws to a close, I got the chance to interview her on Instagram about her experiences of sharing her autism diagnosis with the world. As you can imagine, we had a lot of notes to compare.
Finally, this Substack is an absolute salve - SneakyArt Post showcases the drawings of Nishant Jain, usually drawn on streets and in parks, capturing the people who wander into his field of view. I could gaze at his quirky human figures forever. Wonderful stuff.
I think that’s all I can fit into my attention span this week. Take lots of care.
Katherine x
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All artwork by Iveta Vaicule
Thank you so much for the shoutout, I really appreciate it! 🙌🏽
Hello! Tankerton born / Canterbury local here. (waves). Seeing your post about SneakyArt, I wanted to drop you a line to let you know about Chloe Briggs https://www.instagram.com/drawingisfree_org/ who is running an amazing online drawing course that's partly inspired by Wintering. This isn't some weird promotional SEO shill - she's a genuinely magic person, and I think the two of you might get a huge kick out of a chat. Not the least looking at the drawings that people create every Monday morning on her free portrait sessions...