Welcome to Summer Diaries: Summer of Joy
#1
Welcome to Summer Diaries!
Last week, I was in London with my partner, visiting some friends and family. Naturally, I immediately got a pretty bad cold and was stuck in bed for a few days. While that totally sucked, I enjoyed living through my girlfriend vicariously, as she explored galleries, walked along the thames, and lovingly returned with pastries in the evening. After a few days, I was able to at least enjoy some sushi in the park and, because we love little monthly challenges, she came up with an idea for July: Summer of Joy.
The idea is simple: do one thing every day that brings you joy. On that first day of July, it was sushi in the park, and in this new instalment of Lit Lit, I want to share some summer of joy highlights over the next few weeks. Enter: Summer Diaries. Every other week, you’ll now find a summer diary in your inbox. I’ll share my favourite cultural events, films, music, etc, as well as recipes, recommendations, meditations, and some pictures.
Hamad Butt: Apprehensions
I don’t think I have ever experienced an art exhibition so profoundly, been so physically affected by art, as I have with Hamad Butt’s Apprehensions. Pictured above are glass baubles filled with mustard gas, which was used as a weapon in WWI and killed close to 100.000 people. Not knowing his art before, I was stunned at learning that I was in the room with lethal gases that were captured only by glass in three different installations. This is what risk feels like, I soon realised, which was the artist’s way of putting us in his shoes, if only briefly. Butt died too young, of AIDS related illness in 1994. His work reimagines desire and its aesthetics alongside risk and fear. It was absolutely mesmerising; transformative.
Hamad Butt’s work is currently on display at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.
Dinner at the Pub
After the Gallery, I met up with friends at a pub in Bow. They were all quite late (and I was early), so I had time to gaze at the clouds and take this gorgeous picture. I was hogging a large table, having to fend off people who kept wanting to share it. It was quite embarrassing to then have those people see how I sat there by myself for a good half hour. Most of them had finished their pints and left by the time my friends arrived. Excruciating.
We split some chips and wings and later walked home in the setting sun. After we stocked up on snacks and made some tea, the four of us snuggled up on the sofa and watched Ultimatum: Queer Love together. I don’t usually do reality TV but this show is just so unhinged I am physically unable to resist. It was the night before I fell sick, so I went to bed after just one episode. I’ll keep watching and might share some hot takes on here. Stay tuned.
Sunny Strolls
After I was able to leave the house again, my beloved and I went for a walk through Chelsea and neighbouring areas, where I never usually spend time in London. It was gorgeous, of course, but also scorching hot, so we took refuge in the shade at this little square with a Mozart statue. I just love the sun spots as they peek through the tree tops. No ice cream in sight, unfortunately, but we shared some iced tea and a Caesar salad from a local deli.
Not pictured here is a furniture store called Pinch where we found the most perfect dining room chairs that I was ready to buy on the spot—until I saw the price, which reminded me why I’m never in Chelsea. See below at your own risk.
At the Lido
Once I was back home and mostly recovered, my friend came to visit and co-work a little, but I was so tired from the heat that I fell asleep on the sofa. This turned out to be quite productive for him, so I have no regrets. After my nap, we went to the lido, had a little swim and shared some snacks. We attempted to read our books in the sun, though to be honest, we just chatted and then I staged this photo. That night, I started reading So Gay For You and so far I am loving it. The joint memoir vibe takes a little getting used to, but it’s adorable to read how the two perceived each other when they first met, how admiringly they describe the other, and how fast they became best friends. If you were a lesbian or queer woman in the last twenty years, it’s likely you have some sort of opinion on The L Word, I sure do, but Kate and Leisha are an undeniably great thing to come out of that show.
The Room Next Door
Trying to get through our really long watchlist, my betrothed and I finally watched The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar, which was just stunning. I loved every single one of this stylistic choices, wanted to never stop immersing myself in the colour schemes, and frantically googled all the filming locations. Just stunning.
The story is based on What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, which I liked a lot when I read it, but I didn’t realise this and just kept wondering why I feel like I know exactly what’s about to happen. Whoops.
My only note: it should have been more gay.
Cherry Yogurt Bowl
There’s no story here, I just wanted to share this gorgeous yogurt bowl I made the other day. My fingers were stained for a while after I prised apart each cherry to get the pit out, but boy was it worth it. Sweet and stunning. Definitely counts towards the summer of joy, methinks.
I hope you enjoyed the first summer diaries. If you’d like to support Lit Lit, you can like this post or share it with a friend.
In case you missed it: my edited volume about Stone Butch Blues came out recently, you can read it here (free pdf) or read my post that gives some context here.
This has inspired me and now I want to write some Summer Diaries. :)
I was sick last time I was in London too! I hate the feeling of my traveling buddies getting to explore while I’m stuck at home…but I love what you chose to do with your time :)