Good Things #15
In which I discover a practical tip for "living in the moment", a gripping true-story podcast that made my heart drop and learn a lifetime of lessons from a single brilliant book
Dear friends,
Hi! Ready for some good things?
Podcasts: S-Town
S.Town is not new. It was released 2017, so you might have already listened to it but, on the off-chance there is anyone left out there like me who hasn’t, this is really good (and a shout out to my friend Danny for recommending it to me). When you get to the last 20 seconds of episode two, something happens that genuinely made my heart drop and my ears ring. How cool is that from just listening to a story?
S.Town is made by the same people who produced Serial and This American Life. An American voice narrating in detail an unbelievable true-story about the goings-on in a small-town in Alabama. We follow a man named John - a bit of a “character” with the most incredible southern drawl you’ve ever heard but who utterly despises his hometown. I’m only on episode three myself and I have no idea what’s going to happen. My head is spinning. If I say anything else it’ll ruin it for you, but if you’re looking for something truly absorbing, this is it.
Money: Bootstrap Cook
Those who are on Twitter quite a lot don’t need me to tell them who Jack Monroe is. I actually just went to her Twitter to find recent examples of her online-vibes and her last tweet says she’s just finished listening to S.Town! Ha! So me and Jack on the same wavelength this week. Anyway, she’s basically the Money Saving Expert of food. A food writer, journalist and activist, known for her campaigning on poverty issues. She has lived in poverty and used foodbanks to provide for herself and her son, so she’s well-used to adding up a shopping list in pennies rather than pounds. If you really are living on a bootstrap, then her recipes are excellent. And even if you’re not then it’s still satisfying not to waste any food and to shop wisely, isn’t it?
On her website there are hundreds of articles, recipes and tips for making your dinner-money go as far as possible. One that caught my eye this week was “Salad Bag Pesto” Get a bag of supermarket salad (from the “reduced” aisle would be even better) and then whizz it up in a blender with a bit of oil, salt, pepper, bit of lemon juice. Measurements and costings are always listed against her recipes (Jack is nothing if not absolutely meticulous on measurements and costings) and it works out at 9p a serving.
For hundreds more money-saving food ideas, visit cookingonabootstrap.com
Books: Bittersweet by Susan Cain
Ever wondered why you like sad music … ? Do you take comfort or inspiration from a rainy day … ? Bittersweet is a mix of research, storytelling and memoir which explores why and how we experience feelings of sorrow and longing.
“Did the love of your life betray you? Did your parents divorce when you were young, did your father die, was he cruel? Do you miss home? Or the country of your birth? How are you supposed to integrate this bitter with your sweet?” The answers (says the author) are what shape your psyche and are the patterns for all your interactions. She says you can never escape these feelings: “Even once you break free (and you can break free), these siren songs may call you back to your accustomed ways of seeing and thinking and reacting”. And finally, that: “The love you lost, or the love you wished for but never had: That love exists eternally. It shifts its shape but it’s always there. The task is to recognise it in its new form.”
It’s very philosophical but not at all preachy and every page represents 100s of hours worth of reading and research. Clearly the work of a lifetime, and indeed the author says she’s worked on it officially since 2016, but unofficially for her whole life.
Musings: A practical tip for living in the present moment that actually works
I can’t remember where I saw this top tip, possibly even in Bittersweet. But anyway, it’s stuck with me and kind of worked. “Living in the moment” is really hard when you have so much to do each day. And when failure to anticipate the next steps always leads to chaos you find yourself never quite appreciating what you’re doing there and then. That’s especially true when you’re looking after little children. Part of you knows these precious years won’t last forever. Every parent of older children tells you wistfully: “Treasure these days because they go so fast and you’ll miss them so much”.
But then another part of you hasn’t washed your hair for three days and is currently on the kitchen floor, at 9pm, on a Thursday, picking bits of broccoli out of bits of lego you just found under the fridge, and wishing all the children would just GO TO BED.
Anyway, here’s the tip: Imagine that you’ve time-travelled from your old age, back to this moment (on the floor by the fridge) for the chance to live one of these classic days, when the children were little and you were knackered, just one last time. I tell you what, I had to choke back the tears just thinking about it.
Treasure from the internet: “We’re just normal men. Just innocent men”
We’re still watching CBeebies in my house, but over on the more grown-up version (CBBC) presenter Lauren Layfield presents the in-between bits with a puppet dog called Hacker T Dog. Apparently he’s a bit of a card and, if it’s possible to have on-screen chemistry with a puppet dog, these two are definitely the new Phillip Schofield and Gordon the Gopher.
There isn't a huge amount to say about the situation in this clip, other than this week it's brought happiness to millions online and no one quite knows why. Burtons Menswear even referenced it in a Twitter post showing models dressed in suits with the caption "All our models are just normal men. Just innocent men."
Have a great week!
Please like, share and subscribe, and hooray and welcome to all the new people this week.
See you next Friday.
Love, Emily xx
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More stuff by me:
I write a monthly column in my gorgeous local Cambridge magazine, Velvet. This month it’s about the sun-creaming of children. I had a lot to say.
You can find me on Twitter @emilyincam.
Thank you so much! --Susan Cain, bestselling author of BITTERSWEET