unfinished masterpiece
things i can't stop talking about
this week’s style icon:
When my sister Abby was in town a few weeks ago, we made an early evening pit stop at Neue Galerie, which is basically my ideal museum because you can see everything in under an hour. I especially loved this unfinished painting of Maria Munk, commissioned by the Munk family as a posthumous portrait of their daughter. It was stolen from the Munks by Nazis in 1941 and returned to the heirs in 2009.
what I’m clicking:
Why cowboys are everywhere right now | A billionaire’s yacht disaster | How my heart unfolded at a grief retreat | The new lost generation | How traveling with a cane changed everything | Disassociating at Seaworld | The anonymous letters at a Providence library | Warsaw’s milk bars | Everything is becoming a bank | The AI clankers yearn for cultural cachet | The job search humiliation ritual | Downtown’s Angelicism cult | The male loneliness epidemic | The Dark Forest theory of the internet | A rare and beautiful moment | The story behind Mamdani’s rings
what i’m wanderlusting:
The living bridges of Meghalaya
what i’m listening to:
My sister and I went to go see Masquerade, which is a sort of immersive theater spectacle based on Phantom of the Opera. It was so good I got goosebumps! Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that if you’re even a casual fan of Phantom, or Broadway musicals in general, you must find a way to go to this. And dress up!!! After the show, we went on a road trip upstate and listened to the entire album twice in a row (and also the This American Life episode about the orchestra).
what i’m eating & drinking:
After seeing David Byrne a few weeks ago, a bunch of us went to Russian Samovar for borschtinis (and then, inexplicably, across the street to Russian Vodka Room for “one last drink,” which consisted of a round of flavored vodka shots). Vodka has been a theme lately, with tiny tinis this summer at Little Fino at the William Vale Hotel, and then Polish 75s (a French 75 but with Chopin vodka instead of gin) at the Long Bar at the Raffles in Warsaw.
what i’m watching:
We have been on a scary movie binge lately (‘tis the season, I guess) and I just have to say there is something really immersive about horror films, mainly that they are very good at holding my attention long enough so that I don’t pick up my phone to do a crossword puzzle. Weapons was ridiculously entertaining and totally original; Frankenstein was a little too long but kind of sad and beautiful and not scary at all; and Sinners is a slightly corny instant classic that I honestly think needs to be turned into a Broadway musical.
what i’m coveting:
All of my friends and family will be like, “don’t you already own this???” But I swear I do not. I have a theory that great coats can help fend off seasonal depression.
what i’m recommending:
A few years ago I was in São Paulo and I accidentally bought this tiny $80 hairbrush (I did the currency conversion wrong in my head and thought it was $8, until I got about a block away from the store and realized my mistake… but by then I was already attached). Anyways, it’s become my everyday hairbrush. I’d totally buy it again.
what i’m reading:
I’ve been reading lots of art world novels lately, including Happiness and Love, which is maybe one of the worst books we’ve ever chosen for book club. It reads like a transcription of a very long and annoying voice note. I got So Much Blue at one of those “blind date with a book” things at a bookstore in Queens, where they wrap the book in paper and just give you a few hints about it. The book has an absurd Mad Libs plot, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it, but I do keep thinking about it. I Make Envy on Your Disco is also not quite recommendable, but it was fun to read on a recent solo trip. And I love the title.
For something I actually *can* recommend, When the Crocodile Eats the Sun is one of the best memoirs I’ve read recently. It’s about Zimbabwe under Mugabe, but it’s also about identity and grief. I cried, and I love a book that can make me cry.