Good things #6
In which I am grateful for my freedom, reject Valentine's Day and spend £22 on an eyeliner for literally no reason
Dear friend,
I hope you are well.
Ready for some good things?
Love: Roses are red, highlights are blonde
Firstly, Happy Valentine’s Day for the 14th.
It’s the dreaded day designed exclusively for couples who JUST got together and feel like covering their houses in petals, but the day where everyone else feels weirdly as though they have to participate despite having not seen a petal for many years.
It’s a day spent passive-aggressively being irritated that your partner STILL doesn’t know what flowers you like after 25 years. Or leaving red envelopes on tables for partners who then suddenly have to go to the Co-op.
I think this year, instead of participating in this endlessly disappointing charade, we should just treat ourselves?
I’m thinking of getting blonde highlights through my relentlessly brown hair. Should I do it?
Please leave a comment with your view on this (but if you say no, I probably won’t listen).
Books: The Sun Does Shine, by Anthony Ray Hinton
When I wrote last week, I truly believed I would be getting out of my Covid isolation after the “5 days” I’d heard so much about. Little did I know that testing negative for Covid after just 5 days is highly unlikely. And as each morning I watched sadly as the two red lines appeared, it reminded me of this book.
Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on Death Row in Alabama for a crime it turned out he didn’t commit. “Whoops”, said the American justice system and released him into the sunshine but not before he’d spent the best years of his life alone in a small room.
It’s IMPOSSIBLE to comprehend how someone could mentally get through 30 years in a 5x7 foot cell, watching people shuffle past to their deaths. And even more impossible to comprehend getting out and not going on an absolute rampage.
Anyway, what a remarkable story. You should read it if you’re feeling sorry for yourself in any way, about anything.
And I’m out now too!
If you see me, don’t approach.
Beauty: Satin Kajal Eyeliner in “Ash”, by Victoria Beckham Beauty
I don’t wear much make-up. But who does? When you literally never go out, and even going to work is just going to a room in your own house, is there any point in putting make up on? If a woman wears eyeliner in the woods, and there’s no one there to see it, is she even wearing eyeliner? That’s how I feel.
Anyway, Victoria Beckham (that spicy temptress) and her clever algorithms have somehow got to me this week. Instagram videos of this incredible looking eyeliner kept popping up in my phone as I scrolled and now, idiotically, I have spent £22 on “Ash” and a sharpener…
It’s OK though, I really thought about it a lot. I mulled it over in my mind, repeatedly watching Victoria describe it, and then decided - I do deserve to have ONE nice thing.
Go to Victoria Beckham Beauty and watch the almond-shaped eye-model applying it to her lids. It just looks like the dreamiest, creamiest thing I’ve ever seen.
Podcasts: Queen of the Con
Queen of the Con is like a brilliant Netflix Original you’d absolutely binge-watch, but for the ears. That’s the best way I can describe it. American voices unfold an unbelievable story - I’m gripped and I still have a bit left to go so don’t yet know how it ends.
So far, “Mair Smith” is an alluring, attractive woman (probably a wearer of the eyeliner) who manages to deceive loads of high-profile and normally intelligent people into giving her hundreds of thousands of dollars.
You know those friends you’ve had who had a tendency to tell a few lies? Those friends who exaggerate all their stories?
Well this is like that, but on steroids. It’s also mad because “Mair” pretends to be Irish and tells everyone she’s descended from “Irish Royalty”, but her Irish accent is non-existent.
You’ll listen to it like: “Guys, come on.”
Food: Mob Kitchen
If you’ve been watching Jamie Oliver’s Great Cookbook Challenge on Channel 4, you will know it’s an eye-opening insight into the completely impossible world of cookbook-publishing.
Goliaths dominate the shelves (Nigella, Nigel, Jamie, Ottolenghi, Dishoom, La Rousse) along with a handful of others who may have pitched the right idea at the right moment.
Feeling annoyed by this I went to Instagram and immediately found Mob Kitchen. Granted, they do have four published cookbooks, but it all started online - just mates making videos using overheard cameras and it’s what they self-describe as “food you will actually cook”. Basically, loads of pasta and loads of cheese. And no one needs to spend £20 on a book to get the instructions. Yum.
Watch Sophie make her Leek and Taleggio Paccheri - I made it last night and *chefs kiss*
TV: Louis Theroux: Forbidden America
I don’t even have to watch this to know it deserves a spot on this week’s “Good Things”.
The entire Louis Theroux back-catalogue is on iPlayer, plus a few bits and bobs are on Netflix, and I’ve re-watched some things many times so on Sunday evening (February 13) I will most definitely be tuning in to Forbidden American: Extreme and Online.
The official synopsis for episode 1 reads:
“The film-maker returns to the US to explore the impact of the internet and social media on some of the most controversial corners of American society. He begins by meeting the new influencers of the far-right who are promoting an ideology that is defiantly racist, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic, often packaging the most extreme views as “irony". Louis attempts to understand their recent surge in popularity and challenges the divisive rhetoric that is being streamed to millions of young viewers online.”
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s “Good Things” newsletter.
And if you have, please leave a comment (should I get the highlights?) and please share with your friends to help me spread it far and wide!
I’m having a week off next week (half-term) so I’ll see you on Friday 25th.
You can find me on Twitter @emilyincam.
Bye!
Emily xx
Definitely get highlights .Always done a card on Valentines but go to the card factory for a cheap one !
Great article again .
Love your description of Valentines Day