Looks like a pump, feels like a sneaker 👟
Do you remember third grade?
My kid started third grade last month, so I've been telling her all the things I remember from when I was her age. (I got glasses AND braces that year. Double threat!) I also started writing lots of poems and stories back then, so not too much has changed, except now I wear bras* and drink margaritas**.Â
Five things to tell you:
1. I put 10 NEW SONGS on my Spotify playlist of new music! There was just too much good stuff to overlook from the likes of Whitney (the band, not me), Bleached, Rostam, Romy (from the xx), Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Frank Turner and Jon Snodgrass, Lowell, spill tab, Molchat Doma and Lo Talker. Hope you find something you like.
2. Last weekend I went to the Whitney Museum, and it was fantastic. I think my favorite work was Liza Lou's "Kitchen," which is a full-scale kitchen covered in shiny beads. I realize photos aren't the same as being there, but this dang kitchen will blow your mind, so hit that link.
3. I also saw a wonderful exhibit from Chris Lucius at the Royal Society of American Art called "Such fleas, ere they approach the eye." For the project, Lucius made small replicas of walls: brick walls, living room walls, walls with doors or windows. He then recruited artists to create TINY PAINTINGS to hang on them! Here are some examples. I left feeling quite inspired.
4. I'm making my way through Season 2 of PEN15 on Hulu. It's just as funny to see 30-somethings Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play 13-year-olds as it is to see the actual gangly 13-year-olds who play their peers and crushes.
5. I'm still reeling from Jack White's perfect SNL performance. It was just what I needed.
*sometimes
**often
I POSTED A NEW COMIC!
This week I posted a short comic called HEARTBREAK SWEATER on Patreon. It's about nostalgia, the pandemic, sweaters and cities, and I hope it makes you feel something.
Thanks to all of you who support my work, whether it's via Patreon, forwarding these newsletters to friends, saying nice things on social media or simply taking the time to open this email. I shower you with warmth.
Five MORE things:
1. I'm honored to be on FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS, a new podcast/YouTube series from Benjamin Wagner (director of MISTER ROGERS & ME). Benjamin is a shining example of the power of positivity; he was one of the first people to reach out and encourage me after I lost my job several years ago.
2. Don't forget that DAVID BYRNE'S AMERICAN UTOPIA premieres Saturday on HBO Max. Directed by Spike Lee, it was filmed during the hit show's Broadway run.
3. Our pal Herman made a six-hour Halloween-themed playlist that sounds great any time of year. I'm particularly fond of all the candy tunes.
4. The documentary ROM BOYS: 40 YEARS OF RAD is now available. It traces the history of skateboarding/BMX and has tons of new interviews and archival footage.
5. And finally, I love the trailer for the new indie film MY SUMMER AS A GOTH.
NEW/FREE/COOL:
THE RED HOOK: BLACKOUT
Our longtime pal Dean Haspiel just launched the fourth season of his free online comic THE RED HOOK called BLACKOUT. I share a studio with Dean, so I've witnessed the thousands of hours he puts into drawing these pages. THE RED HOOK takes place in an alternative Brooklyn and follows a guy who becomes a superhero against his will. It's bombastic, intergalactic, romantic and well worth a click--especially in these times when, sadly, clicks and likes can determine an artist's future.
Read THE RED HOOK via Webtoon's site or app. (I prefer to read it through the phone app.) Before you dive in to BLACKOUT, catch up with Seasons 1, 2 and 3. Congrats, Dean!
That's all for now! Email thoughts and rhymed couplets to whitmath@gmail.com. I wish you a week of nonverbal discoveries and bananas that look/taste just the way YOU like them.
Your day-sleeping, night-working
Henrietta Pussycat
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself
than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
- Henry David Thoreau
Reach out! Find me on Twitter, Instagram and at whitmath@gmail.com.