No entiendes
The week that was
Dear diary,
I’m writing this as I scan images to use in my exhibition. It is a tedious process - I’m scanning at very high resolution, so each scan takes 5-8 minutes. They are going to be blown up really huge on the walls of the space. I like to have something to do while I wait for each one. I have one hour this morning in the quiet cold of the studio to do this. My small but mighty fan heater is scalding my legs but I’m not moving myself any further away.
I realised this week that our trip to the Gold Coast for my exhibition in September is not a distant, abstract concept - but a reality that will be upon us in less than two months. There is nothing more boring than throwing your hands in the air lamenting about how fast the year or time in general is seeming to go, but I find myself doing it often (sorry friends and co-workers). Each year of my life is speedier and speedier. I’ve been staying up too late looking at old photos and videos of Seren. (I then regret it deeply at every 4.30am wake) Only a year ago he was not even walking and now he’s a little upright person. Everyone tells you it goes fast. That the days are long but the years are short. There has never been a truer adage. I am not making the most of it! I tell myself. But what is the most of it? To be grateful and calm in every frustrating moment? To not even perceive a single moment of parenting as frustrating? To take a million photos and videos to remember this by because you are so grateful? Wait, but don’t stick the phone in their face all day!
Life itself is also is a lot different to this time last year. Having a two year old for us means constantly spotting Seren as he climbs dangerously on anything and everything. Discouraging him from moving chairs to enable him to climb higher and even more dangerously. “Don’t pull the TV down on top of yourself”. “Don’t tease Larry (our dog)” “Don’t feed Larry rocks” “Don’t pour stagnant mosquito larvae water all over yourself.” Constantly coming up with strategies to lure Seren and Larry away from each other (there is an ongoing battle for status between the two at the moment) There is no sitting down. Sitting down is a distant memory. But if parenting has taught me anything it’s that even if you don’t think things are shifting, they probably are. Then one day I’ll be sitting down again. I’m sure of it. And I’ll miss the days where I wasn’t, and future me will stay up too late watching videos of now on my phone.
I am literally busting to show off the art I’ve been making!!!!
Ins/Outs:
In: The chocolate chip cookies from Mile End Bagels. Yes, I’ve spoken of them before, and yes, they now cost a whole dollar more… getting dangerously near to $10 per cookie… but, they are so divine. So soft. So doughy. So sweet they make your teeth hurt. My weekly office day treat. I love them.
Out: The emoji over the kid’s face naysayers were in my Instagram feed again recently. It reiterated in every fibre of my being how happy I am with the decision we made to not show Seren’s face online and to use the occasional emoji over face where appropriate. It’s the one ‘Subway Takes’ issue that really gets me going, as someone who can often let online arguments wash over me. I won’t fight the good fight here again. But let me just say that the people who advocate for you to either show your kid’s face OR not to post anything at all - appear to have deeply ingrained misogynistic tendencies. This take is essentially suggesting that motherhood and family life only belong online if children themselves are made visible, leaving no room for parents to share those experiences while preserving their children’s safety and autonomy, which I believe they are entitled to. You can only talk about or share the experience of being a Mother and having a family if you put your child in danger. Someone pay me to write on this so I can justify my rage and don’t have to bore everyone here? I’ll move on :)
Wishlist:
I purchased this wonderful long sleeve top from Variety Hour. A brand that’s been on my periphery for a while but I have somehow never purchased from! This will be so cute for my interstate trip capsule wardrobe, and beyond!
I have also been toying with getting an iconic Après Studio dress for my trip but I just can’t afford it. This dress came up on Depop by Steele, and I purchased it for $90. Am I inadvertently participating in dupe culture now? Eek. Apologies if so?
Watching/Listening:
I started watching Margo’s Got Money Troubles on Apple. It’s good, not mind blowing, but perfect for putting on while I’m deep-etching the scanned images on my laptop of an evening : )
After a week, Confessions II is now a certified masterpiece in my eyes. It’s either playing in my headphones, my car, or my head. I can’t stop. Danceteria and L.E.S. Girl are still equal number one. However, after marination, new favourite contenders have emerged - One Step Away, Love Without Words, Fragile, The Test, and Love Sensation. I just love it.
Me to anyone not bumping Danceteria this week.
Inside a book/magazine from my collection:
Returning for the second half of this weird 1984 magazine called Follow Me. The pages of obscure inventions is why it went in my basket in the first place. High-heel skates and the Autolook sunglasses. Brilliant. Also the Chloé perfume ad “A woman does not put on my fragrance, she enters it”
Best wishes,
Minna