The Pond: May 7, 2021
"Beauty is the promise of happiness." The art-bonsai-fashion update. (And a special offer for the shy and frugal).
1. The legitimate importance of clothing
NOW THAT I’M CRAWLING OUT of my mole hole I’ve started to shed my COVID-15 and consider what exactly I’m subjecting the world to with my re-emerged presence at the supermarket. How about you?
Why not come back onto life’s stage with a bit of gusto? Put together ensembles that convey something other than “I survived COVID and all I got was the opportunity to wear this old t-shirt again.” (French ensemblée: “…all the parts of a thing considered together.”) Now is your chance for a genuine makeover.
For some folks, an interest in personal style is often associated with a lot of outdated notions about fashion. For instance: superficiality is bad and people ought to not be judged for how they look. Or that the life force should be channeled into nobler pursuits, such as social justice and science. An interest in clothes, because it relates to the body, is often considered shameful. It’s linked to vanity and pride, a doorway into the deadly sins. Oy. I notice that men often have a particularly vexing attitude about what they wear. Again, more ossified beliefs—specifically related to masculinity vs. femininity. Only women care about how they look—men have serious subjects to consider and attend to. Blah blah.
Anyway, now that we’ve all been rebooted by Mother Nature, you can get into the groove of how you appear within the theater of reality. Either that or join a nudist colony once COVID restrictions are history.
4. Sucking at things and continuing on
“What sticks with me the most right now is that it’s really good and healthy to suck at things and do them anyway. We all could use more outlets for that. There’s enormous pressure to turn any hobby into a side hustle or part of your brand; I already have people asking me if I plan to write a book about bonsai. I just want to help my trees grow, man, and I'm still pretty bad at it!”
—Max Falkowitz from Fire Escape Bonsai
3. Where in the fuck are all of Bob Ross’s paintings?
4. Back to clothing: Getting laid and leggings
“I have felt like a brain floating in a jar, disconnected from my corporeal self and its needs. I’m not sure when my body will start to feel like mine again, and not some alien thing my consciousness has to drag from room to room. The urge to shop feels, at least in part, like an effort to reconcile my physical alienation and the version of myself I need to be in a couple of months. If I can figure out what I want to wear, maybe I can be a coherent person again. Or maybe, at the very least, I can get laid.” —Amanda Mull from Burn All the Leggings: What do you wear to the reopening of society?
5. When cats and the zodiac collide
BADGE BOMB’S CATASTROLOGY stickers are da bomb. You know you want them. And they also make cool Catastrology buttons (currently on sale from $18.00 to $15.00)
Courtesy PSA from WOODRUFF: Did you miss your horoscope for May? Dude! You still have 4 days before the new Moon to research your download
THESE PRIVATE REPORTS are a paid subscriber feature but I’m offering a 20% discount this weekend for my shy or cautious readers.
Love,
