It feels pretty miraculous to be writing this from the couch on my front porch, because the end of last week was filled with travel. We drove all day Thursday and were in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday morning for a memorial service, then Jordan officiated a wedding in the mountains of North Carolina the following afternoon. All told, we (he!) did about twenty-six hours of driving to make it happen. I’m so happy we were able to be present for both events, but wow, I am also grateful to be back in my own home.
Currently reading
Thanks to all that time spent in the passenger seat, I was able to finish a couple of great books:
Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb was a Bookmarks Signed First Edition Club pick before they sadly ended the program last year, and I attended an event the bookstore hosted with Slocumb to celebrate its April 2023 release. After a delightful conversation with the store manager (who is also a part-time musicologist), he also treated us to a short violin performance! And then, despite my excitement about it, I let it sit on my shelf for a year before I picked it up. Classic.
But I’m glad I finally did. Symphony of Secrets, like Slocumb’s first novel, The Violin Conspiracy, is a suspenseful mystery based in the world of classical music. The main character is a musicologist who gets recruited to help transcribe a newly discovered piece of lost work by a famous composer. Of course, once he starts digging, he realizes that things aren’t exactly as they seem; he uncovers a previously unknown woman in this composer’s past whose existence might throw everything into disarray. Dun dun dunnnn! A musician myself, I especially nerded out on that aspect of the story, but I think this would also be an enjoyable page-turner for folks who know nothing about symphonies or composition. Here’s my full review.
And while we’re on the subject of music, Kathleen Hanna’s memoir, Rebel Girl, came out this past week! I snatched up a signed copy on release day and read it in approximately one sitting on the drive from St. Louis back to North Carolina. I’m already a big fan of Hanna’s, so this book was a home run for me, but if you’re unfamiliar with her, she’s known as the lead singer of Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin, and one of the founders of the 1990s Riot Grrrl movement. In her memoir, she covers her life so far—from childhood, through her time singing in bands, to her health struggles and more recent journey to parenthood.
She’s a well-known feminist figure, but (of course) she isn’t perfect, and I really appreciated her reflection on what went wrong in Riot Grrrl, how her thinking has evolved, and how she would do things differently if she could go back. If you’re interested, check out my review on Storygraph, listen to the Bikini Kill song that inspired the title, and pair your reading with the 2013 documentary The Punk Singer.
Currently listening
Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior this Fire Swimmer cover of “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Chicks? It came up on a Spotify playlist during the first leg of our long drive, and my mouth immediately dropped open in surprise and delight. The nostalgia of this song, first of all—I grew up on country music, and have continued to love The Chicks long after gravitating away from the genre in high school. But the harmony in this reinterpretation. THE HARMONY! It’s thick, it’s delicious. With a cappella vibes akin to another all-time favorite of mine, “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap. I want to wrap myself up in this song like a blanket and sleep forever, but since I don’t think that’s physically possible, I instead added it to my covers playlist and will be listening to it over and over again until further notice.
At another point during our road trip, Jordan put on The Mae Shi’s album HLLLYH and I was immediately transported back to 2008. My best attempt at describing this music is the phrase “frantic, joyful chaos,” but some of my favorite categorizations from the band’s wikipedia page are “avant-pop,” “punk with a bubblegum soul,” and “surprise music.” It’s like you’re inside a video game being played on a TV that’s occasionally filled with static. And you’re winning.
Speaking of static: creeping along I-40 through Tennessee, slowed by some unknown accident or construction work ahead, we noticed a low hum, buzzing in the background of our music. Jordan hit pause, rolled down the windows, and… folks. The cicada superbloom had arrived.
Haiku round-up
In case you’re a silly little goose who hasn’t picked up on it, the unofficial theme of last week was travel, and these poems definitely reflect that on the whole. But Friday’s haiku is all about a priest’s slip of the tongue during the memorial service we attended that day, a moment of levity on a somber occasion. Because if we can’t laugh, what are we even doing here??
Monday, May 13
One step, another, then miles spooling out behind, a whole day ahead
Tuesday, May 14
Forgotten, we’re here bonding over a shared love of crossword puzzles
Wednesday, May 15
The liminal space of the home from which you will depart in the morn
Thursday, May 16
Sit here for a while, watch as the day passes by You’ll sleep somewhere new
Friday, May 17
“The grease… the grease… the grace and peace,” he says, as we stifle our giggles
Saturday, May 18
Thunder shakes the barn while candles illuminate faces huddled close
Sunday, May 19
We’re following whims, not making agendas, so let’s linger a while
Until next time
Unsurprisingly, we hit a few traffic slowdowns during our weekend journey. One of them was on a two-lane rural highway, a wreck that kept us at a standstill for fifteen or twenty minutes before we gave up, three-point turned around, and backtracked to find an alternate route. Our path around the congestion took us through some gorgeous country, though, and with windows down, a fresh breeze in my hair, and an old Coldplay song in my ears, I felt all right.
What are a few delays in exchange for scenery like this? We made it where we were going in the end.
See you next week, and until then, are you that somebody?
The Mae Shi!!!