I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer. My bank of wild grass is majestic and full of music. It is a fire that solitude presses against my lips.
-Violette Leduc
Still editing. Still hibernating. Still longing for crisp, fall air. Still raw dog slamming matcha shots to sustain me through all of life’s beautiful bends. Renovations, painting, designing, loving, working, watching, laughing, dancing, connecting, and so. much. reading.
There are some that are here to remind you to feel pleased with ordinary, to find the deep comfort in it. These people are important, they are needed. In my youth, I very much longed for ordinary. It often gets a bad rap as boring. I assure you, it is not. It is lovely and soothing. There are some of us that have never had ordinary lives, will never have ordinary lives, and must find relation with others who can connect over the extraordinary. Please do not misinterpret my use of extraordinary for always wonderful or aspirational. As beautiful as my life has been at moments in time, the extraordinary has also brought about the deepest, most painful wounds of my life. Losses that have been monstrous to scale, grief that has very nearly killed me. I’m here to speak with and for the extraordinary. To remind the ones that have had extraordinary lives to brighten your light, to take up space, to find great comfort in your diverging paths and to offer a hand to hold—when needed—by someone who knows what it’s like to take life changing risks, whether it was by choice or by force.
The Bear. Season 3. Episode 6. “Napkins” Stunning. My God. I won’t say more because of spoilers. If you’re here and connect with my work, you get it.
Living two blocks from the sea and 45 minutes from the city might be the strangest, coolest living environment I’ve ever experienced….and I used to live in Africa! Which rivals first place for coolest living environment.
YOU LIKE IT DARKER by Stephen King. His new short story collection has me staying up way past my usual bedtime. I’ve been reading King since I was a wee lass, maybe that’s why I find his writing so damn cozy. There is a familiarity there that melds the past with the present making my life timeline feel less fragmented.
There are never enough books. Never enough stories. I’m like a Hungry Hungry Hippo when it comes to reading. My TBR list keeps growing and I couldn’t be happier. Looking at it does not overwhelm me. Scanning the titles and authors (I screenshot the covers of the books and they live in an album on my iPhone) I become invigorated at the thought of all the lines yet to be read that have the potential to alter my vision. Bliss!
This dreamy song. Makes me think of sunsets, crashing waves, soft kisses, being held by him, and the delectable silence between lovers. “I live under your eyelids.”
Speaking with my best friend about how the pandemic pushed us back to ground zero when it came to our social anxiety and introverted natures (we were not properly socialized as children, courtesy of brown dad life) left us reminiscing on our late nights out. I can be extroverted depending on my mood and the group of people I’m around. Before the pandemic, I would go out, have cocktails, go dancing. I loved being out in the world but that was after years of exercising my social muscle. After the pandemic, that muscle has atrophied. It’s as if my insides returned to their baseline of wanting to stay home. Maybe it is a combination of getting older, not drinking alcohol anymore (My body has a very hard time making the enzyme that breaks down alcohol and I now get deathly sick if I even have a sip), and living in the coziest of homes that I have very little desire to venture out. I do make trips to the city for museum visits, shopping, dates, and the like, but anything past 8pm outside of home…it’s a hard no for me. I’m not mad at it. We are planning fun dinner parties as soon as our renovations and decorating are done! Joe is an incredible cook and as we grow, they are more our speed. We love the intimacy of candlelight conversation with our loved ones.
26 years ago as a teenager, I bought these cherubs with the intention of hanging them in my home one day. I wrapped them in newspaper and stored them away for safe keeping. Opening that bin decades later was opening a time capsule. The day I bought them, I remember being so enamored with their little romantic faces. Their little patitas, their round bellies. Over the years, I forgot about them as they stayed in a basement for safekeeping whilst I traversed the globe searching for a place that felt like home. Even back then, I was always so intentional about what I wanted for my life. It took me longer than I thought it would to get here (doesn’t it always?!), but for the very first time, I will be hanging these up. They’re going to live in my newly painted office (check my chat on the Substack app to see the color I chose). Except for some print transfer from the newspaper they were wrapped in, they’re in great condition considering how far they traveled. They’re from Italy which is another one of those beautifully bizarre signposts that the Universe lays at our feet when we’re paying attention. The romance of it all makes me feel faint.
Love is:
“Should we make brownies or nah?”
”YEA! Let’s make brownies!!!”
Both run downstairs immediately to go bake.Grateful for:
I can hear the seagulls and smell the salty ocean air from our back door. 😍
Your lives and experiences fascinate me. Tell me all the things, please!
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Love always,
Jenovia
I’ve never met someone overflowing with extraordinaryness quite the way that you do!! And I can’t look away!!!
I’m on a jittery, jittery edge with The Bear…been holding out on watching the last two. But I’m on season two of The House of the Dragon!
I’ve gone to the bookstore twice this week so far…
Got another Catbird bird surprise today ❤️🔥😊
I am obsessed with cherubs (I even have a big one tattooed on my forearm) and THESE ARE PERFECT. Cannot wait to see the office come together 😍