A Little Housekeeping and My Current Read/Watch List
Books, shows, movies, and what I'm writing about next month.
Hi, it’s me.
Welcome back to my weekly Wednesday newsletter. I took some time off in June to celebrate our oldest’s graduation from college, particiapte in Seattle’s No Kings protest, and recover from a head and chest cold that plagued our whole family right as school was winding down for the year.
I’m writing this on Sunday. Yesterday, Trump dragged us into a dangerous game of chicken with Iran. As a GenXer who grew up with Red Dawn, The Day After, War Games, classroom nuclear bomb drills (as if hiding under my desk will do anything), and 9/11 in adulthood, I can’t help but imagine a worst case scenario in our near future. How do I live a fully present life when the future feels so uncertain?
I’m working on it.
Though absent from here, I’ve been quietly writing offline with pen and paper, recharging my creative battery and working to break my social media scrolling addiction. I found a tool that works for me, and my brain feels 1,000 times better without the scrolling. I’m also working on a series of essays about how I’m processing *gestures at the world* that I hope will arrive to your inbox starting in July.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share a round-up of movies, shows, and books I’ve been enjoying, in case you’re looking for something new to consume as we head into summer (and as we disassociate from the multiple dumpster fires Trump is lighting around the world and in our own country).
If you’re local to Seattle, scroll to the bottom to learn more about in-person meetups this summer and fall.
Hope you are well.
Until next time,
Jen
What I recently watched and read:
📺 Dept Q (Netflix) - British crime dramas are my comfort genre, and this one delivered everything familiar: a cranky detective people barely put up with, an inexperienced sidekick who’s eager to prove herself, a partner with a secret past, and a cold case–all wrapped up in dark and moody Broadchurch vibes, but with more wit.
📺 The Residence (Netflix) - A delightful Agatha Christie style whodunit with a Black female protagonist and a whole cast of outrageous characters, including Giancarlo Esposito as the murder victim and Bronson Pinchot as a dramatic Swiss chef. I especially loved how the editing style added to the chaos of the story and kept me disoriented regarding the timeline. Bryan suggested we watch this one because “It’s a White House murder mystery with a detective who’s into birding.” The man knows me.
📺 Hacks, Season 4 (HBO) - I loved all the layers of characters finding their voice this season. How do we change when big, exciting things happen for us? How do we navigate the pressure of expectations as more voices speak into our craft? Who are the people we need around us when our vision becomes clouded?
📺 Andor, Season 2 (Disney+) - I’M OBSESSED. This is Star Wars for adults. It’s Star Wars for people who don’t like Star Wars. I CAN’T STOP TALKING ABOUT ANDOR.
📺 Poker Face, Season 2 (Peacock) and Elsbeth, Season 2 (Paramount+) - Two completely disposable and silly detective shows that are almost identical in structure, both with fantastic celebrity guests whose characters murder someone in the opening act.
📽️ Sinners (in theaters and on HBO) - I mean, just go see it. Throw all the Oscars at this one.
📽️ The Life of Chuck (in theaters) - A lovely, quirky, fantastical story of a life winding down, told in reverse-chronological order.
📽️ The Wild Robot (Netflix) - “What if I have to tell you something and you’re not there?!” Had a good cry watching this while sick.
📚 House Girl, by Tara Conklin is a novel weaving two timelines together—the story of a lawyer working on a slave reparations lawsuit in the present, and the story of an enslaved teenager in 1852. Tara was a teaching artist at a writing retreat I attended in April, and this is her first novel, published in 2013.
📚 Exvangelical and Beyond, by Blake Chastain, covers the history of evangelicalism in America and its ties to politics, particularly Christian Nationalism. I’ve never understood how people who call themselves Christians could attach themselves to a belief system that is so far from anything recognizably Jesus-y, but after reading this book, I get it. Just like everything else in the world, some people will do anything to gain power over others.
📚 Good Inside, by Dr. Becky Kennedy, is a parenting book that focuses on building emotional resilience in our kids versus punishing their behavior. What I loved about this book is her focus on “the most generous interpretation” of our kids’ behavior. In our household, we call it believing the best of someone. If you now reject the evangelical legalism you grew up in or raised your kids in, you might find it refreshing to read about how our kids are inherently good and that tantrums are biological states of dysregulation, not willful acts of disobedience. If you still love the idea that we’re all born terrible and must behave in a manner that is self-controlled and godly, well, you’re probably going to hate this book.
📚 Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson is an excellent, easy-to-read refresher on American history and the longtime struggle between individual vs collective power. Even if you read Heather’s daily Letters from an American newsletter, this book is worth reading for the comprehensive and chronological history of America’s battle for decision-making power.
Anything interesting that you’ve been reading, watching, or listening to?
What’s happening in my garden this week
The only thing I haven’t transplanted from the greenhouse to the garden yet are my pepper starts. I’m forcing myself to wait until July since they love heat and our June overnight temperatures are still in the low 50s. Everything else is just…growing. I hope.
Here’s my apple espalier tree, looking wild and crazy:
It’s not supposed to look wild and crazy, but trimmed neatly to the horizontal wire along the side of the house about two feet under the window. Every year around February or March I prune the vertical branches to focus growth on the horizontal, but this year I procrastinated. So, much like my parenting style, I now have a feral apple tree.
My dahlias are finally blooming:
…and the raspberries have arrived:
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If you're local to the greater Seattle area and would like periodic info and announcements regarding in-person meetups, send me your contact info using the button below. Substack doesn't offer list segmentation, so I'm improvising.
I SOOOOOO need to get myself some Post-It notes.... or update my writing notebook..... or actually WORK ON all the very many posts I have half-brainstormed and half-eaten in order to get myself better planned, better organised and, well, just better! Your line of pink posties has inspired me to get my writing life into better shape, Jen - for which, thank you!
Department Q was incredible, bonkers, deeply gritty, beautifully written and gorgeously acted - an absolutely compelling watch. I read an article in the weekend newspaper supplement about its star Matthew Goode a few weeks ago - I had no idea that beard and grumpy exterior was the elegant chap I'd seen escorting Lady Mary on Downton Abbey years ago! I hope we get to see a lot more of him in the future, because in Department Q he was absolutely brilliant.
I liked all those same shows….also looking forward to your July posts in whatever order they arrive.