Happy end-of-March y’all! Okay I know it’s April 1st, but yesterday was Easter and I was spending time with my people so today it is. This month felt both long and short and I spent the past 30 days vacillating between feeling creative and smart and like I was failing at everything I set out to do. It’s a feeling I recognize as symptomatic of writing a novel, of deciding to turn myself inside out. It’s also a feeling that emerges when I’ve successfully loaded my plate with a million things that light me up and then realizing that I can only do five of those million things and feeling like I’ve dropped all the balls. It’s a punishing cycle and one I’m working on. So in that vein I’m committing to four sends a month instead of five, which will hopefully give me a little more breathing room. With that said! Onto the post.
The Highlight Reel - standout moments from March
My grandma became a paid subscriber of Extracurricular and then called to tell me she wanted book recommendations. For obvious reasons this made my whole week.
I love a rainy day and March gave us a lot of them. For me a rainy day is explicit communication from the universe that I don’t need to be productive in the way a sunny day demands. A sunny day asks me to go for a walk outdoors or to get out of bed, lest I waste good weather.
Making actual progress on my draft! I’m about 100 pages into my second novel and feeling excited about the way it’s going. I feel like I understand my characters better now, which is always an exciting turning point for me. Writing can be a slippery, elusive thing, so when it’s going well or I feel like I have a handle on all the pieces, I lean into that.
Going on an art date with my friend Adrienne. We visited the Giants exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum and I absolutely ate it up. It also introduced me to a new artist that I’m excited about, Jarvis Boyland.
A dispatch from the biscuit delivery route: we’ve been delivering to Broadway the past few drops and we make up stories about who could possibly be eating the biscuits there.
Talking about Homebodies with students! I’m a Lambda Literary author this year, which means that schools can request visits with me. So far I’ve been to one high school and after spending a few hours I can confirm that the kids are more than alright. They’re cool and smart and interesting. One called me cool, which is the highest compliment anyone under 18 can bestow, and during the Q&A, a teacher told me they can see Zora Neale Hurston in my work. This is the kind of compliment I don’t know what to do with, so I simply fainted (internally) instead.
I also visited my alma mater St Johns University and spoke with a bunch of students there. It was surreal to be back in the same classrooms I studied in under different circumstances, nursing the same dream but unsure about how I’d get there. It’s cool to be on the other side and to stand as living proof that there is life after graduation and that it’s possible to reach goals that feel massive. It’s a good reminder for me now, as I think about stretching myself again. A lot of my former English professors sat in on the talk as well, which was cool because they were titans to me when I was in college and continue to be. In a lot of ways they raised me intellectually, so it was surreal to be in a different position. Many of them are teaching Homebodies in their classes this semester, which further blows my mind.
In more Homebodies news—the book has now sold over 10,000 copies. This is a big book milestone (according to a random website on Google, only 6.7 percent of books do this), and to do it in the first year with my debut is really special. It’s wild to me that so many people have bought and read my novel. I’m grateful. And I think this TikTok (which I’m obsessed with and think about regularly) had something to do with it. Shoutout to Paris J.
My little sister’s basketball team went to the playoffs earlier in the month and I can attest that there are few things more adorable than five year olds playing basketball. They won, which made it even better. Go Mustangs!
My friend Asiah is getting married next month and she had her bridal shower in DC a few weeks ago. It was beautiful, she’s beautiful, her wedding in Mexico City is going to be beautiful!
My friend Shannon, who owns Yowie—the shop I visited last month—hosted a dinner in New York at The Walker Hotel and there’s truly nothing like being in a room with a bunch of interesting people working on cool shit. Shannon also texted me earlier in the month to let me know that a newsletter subscriber stopped in to buy a tote because they saw it in Extracurricular (!!).
My friend Madison turned 30 (not cool journal Madison, a different one!) and we headed down to DC to celebrate. We had dinner at Fiola Mare in DC, which has some of the best seafood I’ve had, probably ever. I’m still thinking about the salmon.
Being home in DC. I drank mid cocktails at a chain diner with my closest friends and siblings until we were all very sleepy, took my sister to the aquarium, watched Trolls at 2AM with some of my favorite people, hugged my grandma and my mom and my dad and my stepmom and my baby sister. Ate some stuffed salmon. Ate lobster. And duck ravioli. Gossiped with a good friend at a restaurant I’ve been meaning to go to. Saw the cherry blossoms. Drank too much wine. Sat by a bonfire. Shazamed a song because I was too embarrassed to ask out loud. Slept in. Remembered who I am. All in all, very needed.
Lowlights
The emotional rollercoaster that was this month. It has been a difficult one for me (the fact that I only got two posts out is reflective of that), but I’m grateful for my friends, who remind me to be nice to myself and tell me that I’m doing a good job.
Losing our parking garage ticket and having to pay a $60 fee only to find it a few hours later.
Getting a pizza oil stain on my shirt while writing this.
Things I Read
Three things!
The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune by Alexander Stille - I bought this one on a recent book date because I love all things cult. I’ve seen virtually every high-control group documentary, from Keep Sweet to Twin Flame Universe to The Vow (and Seduced) so a book like this is catnip for me. It tells the story of a talk therapy cult that existed for decades on the Upper West Side and counted Jackson Pollock and the art critic Clement Greenberg amongst its members. It’s a fascinating book, and although it could’ve been 150 pages shorter, I enjoyed the deep dive. This is also my second nonfiction book this month, which is two more than last year. I’d say I’m doing pretty good!
Erasure by Percival Everett - I read this immediately after watching the movie and had even more thoughts and feelings as a result. I annotated so much of Erasure and am compelled to pick up his latest, James, which has received heaps of critical praise. Similarly to the movie, this book is about an author who decides to write a book in the style of a writer he sees as pandering to white and Black audiences. That’s the broadest stroke possible because it’s much more interesting and nuanced, so much so that I’ve decided to write about it at length and will reserve my thoughts for then! One thought though. From a format perspective, it shares some similarities with Martyr! which I was surprised and delighted by.
Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts
Daniel Lefferts’ debut is a social novel set in 2015, that at its core, is about the American Dream and the myth of social mobility in America. The novel does this by exploring the effects of wealth on three men—Alistair, Mark and Elijah— who are all living in New York and in a sort-of throuple. Mark and Elijah have been together for a while, living off of Mark’s trust fund when they meet Alistair, a young, college kid from Binghamton, New York who wants to work in finance and make more money than he knows what to do with. The story opens with him being on the run because that goal has gone very very left. Alistair’s journey through this is the narrative engine of the novel, and over time we learn why he’s in trouble (shady Billionaire, naturally). The story toggles between Alistair’s present dilemma and the moments leading up to him going into hiding. It also dips into the lives of Mark and Elijah, offering the reader a glimpse into the lives of disillusioned twenty-somethings who are constantly wrestling with the ghosts of their ambition. The novel is filled with sharp social observations (think ultra-specific character studies) that illustrate life in Manhattan for the wealthy and the not-wealthy in their orbit. From a plot perspective, this book goes off the rails about 60 percent in, but I liked it overall because Lefferts’ writing style is compulsively readable. His characters are interesting enough (they’re all vapid and self-obsessed) and if you liked Birnam Wood then you’ll probably like this one too.
Things I Watched
Lots of tv!
Blood and Water (Netflix)
I’ve been locked into this show since season one and I was very much looking forward to being submerged in Puleng and Fikile’s drama for another 8 episodes. Season 4 was disappointing so I’m ready to see this one wrapped on up!
Tokyo Vice (Max)
As I said before, I really love this show. It makes journalism seem fun and exciting, which it rarely is. I need to finish episode 8 (I’ve been waiting for some time to lock in and watch uninterrupted) but I’m already sad that it’ll be over soon. It’s also the best book to tv adaptation I’ve seen in a while. It’s based on a memoir of the same name, which similarly to the show, depicts his life as an American reporter in Japan. The main difference seems to be that the show focuses on a different time period in Jake’s life, but I’m hoping that means there are three more seasons to come.
Love is Blind (Netflix)
I, like everyone else, succumbed to LIB 6. This season was one of the more unhinged ones, but what I can’t stop thinking about is the reunion, which after carefully avoiding any real conversation around Chelsea and Jimmy, then has the cast talk about how much they love the food. Then the camera pans to a vague charcuterie and it all fades to black. It was a meta jab at the lawsuits against the show and if I were the judge overseeing the case, everyone on that production team would be going straight to jail. And another thing! They need to make the show gay. It would solve everything.
The Traitors UK (Peacock)
C and I burned through this, sacrificing sleep and movement to see if they’d get the traitors in the end. We tried to watch the US version and it just doesn’t hit the same but I’m very excited to watch season two.
The Regime (Max)
In HBO’s latest drama, Kate Winslet stars as the leader (dictator) of an unnamed European country. It’s kind of like Veep but if it were a drama instead of a comedy and the consequences were far more dire. In the first few minutes of the show you realize something isn’t quite right with this woman, who is equal parts cruel and enigmatic. Her counterpart, a soldier, is also unhinged, and while it’s clear to me that he’s infatuated with the leader of the regime, I can’t tell if he’s sincere in his other beliefs. It makes for good television.
The Gentleman (Netflix)
A crime thriller set in the English countryside sounds like my cup of tea, but honestly this has been fine. I can’t really get into it like I’d thought, but I’m willing to stick it out for the rest of the season.
The Vince Staples Show (Netflix)
My friend Olu put me onto this one. Well, what he really said was, I can’t believe you haven’t watched it yet, so I had to tap in. I really enjoyed it—it was consistently funny (that initial scene in the jail cell had me screaming) and got more absurd toward the end, which I thought was a smart choice on the show’s part.
Trolls Band Together (Peacock)
I’m a kids movie fanatic, and since watching the first one with my little brother in a movie theater almost 10 years ago, I’ve been a fan. Recently, my friends and I did a movie night, and the newest movie, Band Together was our movie of choice. It’s the best one so far in my opinion, but also the most adult-feeling. A lot of jokes felt geared specifically toward my age group, which was an interesting choice.
American Fiction (MGM+)
A lot of people told me to I had to see this one, so C and I tucked in on a Tuesday and watched it. I have lots of thoughts and feelings about this (saving this for a future send!) but top-level feelings are to read the book before seeing the film, and if you’ve already seen the movie, I’d say read Erasure anyway.
Best Bites
Things I ate
Cacio e pepe and chicken diavola @ Cucina Alba
Lobster ravioli and salmon @ Fiola Mare
Mango-passionfruit sorbet @ L’ardente (along with the lasagna and the duck hunt ravioli and everything else me and Blake ate!)
C’s chicken al pastor tacos
Perfectly stiff vanilla soft-serve cone (with rainbow sprinkles!) procured from a truck outside the Brooklyn Museum
Carrot cake from Magnolia Bakery
Things I want
On the wishlist
Studio 464 plates, which I spotted at Cucina Alba thanks to the writer Aiyana Ishmael, who was able to decipher the plate bottom’s chunky font. We were there for a dinner hosted by Eloquii, and while the food and the conversation was very good, lots of us were zeroed in on the colorful plates.
In that same vein, if I like the silverware at a restaurant I’ll take photos of it because how often do you find a good spoon or the perfect fork (weighty, nicely spaced tines, a tapered profile). This happened most recently at Celestine’s. They use Sambonet cutlery and after some sleuthing, I found the set.
More Black coffee table books
These Nikes, which I saw on TikTok and now feel like I have to have.
These Dries Van Noten sneakers, which happened because of this photo.
Expense Report
Things I actually bought
An absurd amound of books on my last book date, 9 in total.
Wool by Hugh Howey
Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel Delany
No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress
Ways and Means by Daniel Lefferts
The Sullivanians by Alexander Stille
Ours by Phillip B. Williams
The Extinction of Irena Ray by Jennifer Croft
This dress from Afrm that showed up on my doorstep a few days ago. I have yet to try it on, but fingers crossed it looks good!
A dress, two pairs of straight leg sweatpants and a lightweight knit cardigan from H&M, none of which I’m keeping because everything was ill-fitting.
A subscription to Keeper, an app that tracks expenses. I was able to knock out my expenses for 2023 in a few hours, a task that I’ve historically avoided and in the before times would’ve taken me at least a day or two.
Paint samples for my office. I’m going for a moody, dark yellow and haven’t found the right shade yet. Colors that are a no so far—Sherwin Williams Nankeen and Sconce Gold, which are pretty but not quite right.
Until next time!
10,000 copies of homebodies! not you burying that lede!!
I feel like shows (and movies) have only just started to get good again after lockdown. Shown through me watching a slightly excessive amount of TV in March! I feel like it’s almost time for my annual rewatch of Jane the virgin. I have a rule that I can only watch it when cherry blossoms have bloomed and it’s warm + sunny out. It’s a very fun tradition and I would highly recommend doing something similar (even if it’s a movie)