Of the Week | 10.25.24

Spacetoberfest, artist interviews, and starting the Great Books

Happy Friday!

This week //

Peak autumn foliage doesn’t appear until November around here, but we’ve had a few sneak peeks. I went for a hike at Occoneechee Mountain over the weekend and caught the first few glimpses of gold and red. And, I’ve been dogsitting this week, and while I will not be adding a dog to my cat-saturated life anytime soon, I do like having the excuse to take little walks throughout the day and enjoy the cooler air.

Enjoying + link love //

Every October one of my friends hosts Spacetoberfest, an evening dedicated to watching Star Wars with friends. This year she ordered pizza and created bingo cards, and we watched Return of the Jedi on her back patio. I’m not a big Star Wars fan, but I love a casual weeknight hang.

Two features on musical artists I love: Lauren Groff interviews Florence Welch for the New York Times and Amanda Petrusich discusses Bon Iver’s new music with Justin Vernon for The New Yorker.

Curious about the Great Books but don’t know where to begin? Naomi Klein recommends starting with the 19th century.

Joan Didion on keeping a notebook.

Alan Jacobs considers the moral education described in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

Currently //

Reading: Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley, The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Watching: Stardust, Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, Midnight Mass

Listening: SABLE, by Bon Iver (dare I say a perfect EP?), Cacophony by Paris Paloma

Misc: Small Planes’ Colonnade

Looking ahead //

A friend is running her first marathon next month, and has her big 20 mile training run this weekend. She asked for buddies, so a group of us are splitting the route into 5 mile segments and running with her. I have the second section, which I hope(!) means we’ll be going a manageable speed.