hejira
A CIRCUS of a week!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe I’m sending this out so late. Those are always the first two things I say in every thot, so I guess it’s good that I’m at least consistent. How was your week? It’s the week after vacation for us, and I honestly don’t understand how I was able to make it to the end of the workday today without just collapsing on the ground. Alex has been sick all week and it’s really a miracle that I don’t feel ill. At least the heatwave is over. What are your plans for the weekend? I just DM’d a new tattoo artist on Instagram, so we’ll see if that comes to fruition…
👯♀️ La Cérémonie (1995) directed by Claude Chabrol at The Metrograph - Another movie proving that Isabelle Huppert really is THAT bitch!!!! La Cérémonie is kinda a mix between Parasite and Funny Games but also sort of its own thing with a hint of lesbian. I could feel everyone in the theater having a grin on their face most of the movie, and I couldn’t help but think this is you and me when you’re reading this newsletter:
After the movie, Karina, Miles, Meg, Alex, and I went to Lavagna for dinner and then to Niagra next to Tompkins to see Thomas play with Le Keep. We were all out past 1 am on a Tuesday night, and the streets and bars were surprisingly full, and it lowkey irked me (GO HOME AND GO TO SLEEP WHY ARE YOU OUT THIS LATE ON A TUESDAY!!!), but it was fun to see friends doing what they love doing. Here’s a pic of Thomas on guitar and Miles taking pics:
The following morning, we woke up early, got bagels, and drove to the cabin.
🌄 Summer solstice at the cabin - We spent most of last week at the cabin with Karina and Miles. Some of the things we did included me cooking about 10 lbs of shrimp, going to the Iroquois Museum, roasting hotdogs over the firepit, bouncing around a couple of different farmstands looking for different fruits and veg, swimming (sitting) in the creek out back, eating at The Yellow Deli (which is a literal CULT. Sad they didn’t ask us to join!!) and went spelunking down in the caves and were afraid as the heavy rainwater started to rise at our feet on the way out (this is both a Joanna Newsom reference and actually happened). We had a lot of fun and I didn’t want it to end.
Here’s a pic of Karina in the creek:
And here’s a pic Miles took of me doing yardwork:
And here’s another pic he took of Alex and me in front of the cabin:
When we drove Karina and Miles to the Albany airport on Sunday, Alex got a speeding ticket. The cop informed us that there was another Alex Carroll with a similar birthday that had an arrest warrant out, and damn, would it have made for a great thots if Alex was arrested!
🎢 Coney Island - We went to Coney Island a couple of weekends ago before Karina came to town with Miles and it all feels like a fever dream to think back on it. We went in the late afternoon at sunset, when everyone in the park was exhausted and cranky from the day. We witnessed a woman with a bloody nose from being punched in the face by another woman scream and shake three security guards off of her as she rummaged through her purse for her taser (which she pulled out and chased the other woman around with). We also stood in a 10-foot line for 2 hours to ride the go-karts (my only request), which also granted us the pleasure of witnessing another pair of teens fighting. We ate hot dogs, the worst calamari of my life, the biggest funnel cake I’ve ever seen, and a handful of Dramamines. I would be happy if I never rode another coaster in my life, and Alex would be in heaven if he could ride one every day. Así es la vida. Here’s a couple pics Miles took:
🦊 Fleet Foxes at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston, NY - On Friday, we saw Fleet Foxes in the town of Kingston. They played an incredible set and Robin Pecknold’s voice is something I think everyone needs to hear live at least once (lol). Tim Bernardes was the opener, and we almost skipped it because we thought we were fine with skipping it, but thank god we didn’t. Miles’ photographer friend Kevin, who we met before the show at the bar across the street, insisted we didn’t miss it. The opener was a Brazilian singer/songwriter who sang in Portuguese, and for singing to a room of white people who obviously had no idea what he was singing about, he still had everyone completely silent and on the edge of their seats. He collaborated with Fleet Foxes on their last album, and after Googling, I read that he’s also collabed with Devendra Banhart, Shintaro Sakamoto, and David Byrne… TASTE!!!
🍅 Mirador in Kingston, NY - Before the show last week, we wandered around Kingston looking for a place to eat because we weren’t able to make reservations anywhere. We got lucky at Mirador and were able to get a table. Now that it’s summer, I want some form of raw tomato with every dish, and the pan con tomate was everything I could have dreamed of. Grilled bread and raw tomatoes are really what summer is all about if we’re being honest. We also got the anchovies, patatas bravas, some sort of arroz verde with pea shoots and queso fresco, a tortilla espanola with salmon roe, and rabbit confit with morels and pan sauce. Sharing everything with 4 people was tough and probably would’ve been better with just 2, but it was still my ideal dinner before a show.
🎭 Ren Faire on MAX - Ren Faire is a 3-episode docuseries (and also kinda docufiction??) from Elara (Safdie brother production company). It’s like if Succession was written by The Safdie Brothers but not because it’s a documentary. It’s like watching a stylish-ly shot trainwreck and you will hate/love every minute of it.
🍕 Pizzeria Panina in Ridgewood, NY - We met up with Meg, Thomas, and Miles a couple of weekends ago in the POURING rain at Pizzeria Panina. I’ve had high hopes ever since Meg’s mom told me at the fashn show we went to last year that Pizzeria Panina was “better than the pizza we had in Italy.” After we all collectively ate 6 pizzas (and I was the only person to finish all of their crust), I can confirm… SHE SPILLED!!! I didn’t take any pictures, but just imagine 6 pizzas on our table and me inhaling each slice without chewing. We got one that was spicy, one with anchovies, one with white sauce, one that had arugula on top, and one that had ramps. It all slapped, and we finished the night with panna cotta and espresso martinis.
👵 Thelma (2024) directed by Josh Margolin - It’s kinda tea that we saw Thelma before Kinds of Kindness, but I just haven’t been in the right mood for Kinds this week. Thelma stars 94-year-old June Squibb, who is at the top of her game, and I’m saying this unironically!!! It’s about an elderly woman, played by June, who gets scammed out of $10,000. It’s sincere and endearing, and it had everyone in our theater in STITCHES the entire movie. I cried, and it’ll make you want to run to your grandma’s house and hug her tight the minute it ends.
🧆 Eel Bar on The Lower East Side - One of our favorite restaurants, Cervo’s, opened a new restaurant around the corner on Broome Street. I was able to snag us a reservation on Tuesday night, but on our walk there, Alex got really nauseous and sweaty. So, for the 5 courses, he PERSERVERED and took tiny bites of everything so that he didn’t throw up on the table. He was also covered in sweat for most of the meal, and I’m convinced the wait staff thought it was the food’s fault. We got the shrimp & egg gildas, the minnow snail pintxo, ham and cheese croquetas, rainbow trout pil pil, and the meatballs and fries.
The minute I took a bite of the meatballs, it was exactly like the flashback scene in Ratatouille because it reminded me of my mom’s albondigas.
🏖️ A Summer’s Tale (1996) directed by Éric Rohmer - Wow, another whole ass vibe of a movie. A Summer’s Tale is part of Rohmer’s “Tales of the Four Seasons,” which dives into the complexities of love and yearning in an insouciant saunter (I rolled my eyes typing that). But it’s true!!! Anyway, there are a ton of great melodramatic quotes from this movie and I think everyone could benefit by taking inspiration from the Rohermerian summer costume design.
And finally, me -
There are a few shows I want to go to this weekend, but Alex is in the middle of going through a coughing fit as I’m typing this, so we’ll see if we feel good enough to go. I can picture not leaving the house on Sunday to get back to 100%. We’ll see.
Alright, I’ve yapped enough and it’s already so late.
Thank you for reading, and have a good weekend.
Talk soon.