This Week: Five Things That Caught My Eye

Happy new moon in Scorpio! Here’s what’s calming my nervous system and helping me prepare for the shitshow ahead.

1. Once persimmons start appearing at the farmer’s market, I yield to the inevitability of fall and winter. They remind me of the bounty of the seasons to come. The fruit is both pleasing to the eye and palate with its soft fleshy texture and crisp hints of cinnamon. Persimmons are also teachers: They require patience to transform from bitter, astringent flesh into edible sweetness. In dreams, permissions are a reminder that we have decisions to make, that even our perceptions are a choice. I love slicing up fuyu persimmons for fall salads with kale, butternut squash and toasted pecans, but lately I’ve been craving them served on (gluten-free) toast over a layer of labne or yogurt with some flaky salt, maybe even a drizzle of honey and olive oil. 

2. 24-karat ear seeds. This recent essay in Heavies reminded me that sometimes the best care rituals are DIY. The practice of using ear seeds is a form of auriculotherapy, activating acupressure points in the ear, similar to traditional acupuncture. This needle-free practice came out of harm reduction strategies in the 1970s to figure out accessible ways to treat addiction, and they became essential tools used by the Young Lords as radical health interventions to aid underserved communities. I’ve been doing my own for the last few weeks and they’re lovely and low-lift.

3. I’ve been working on a book about dissociation and the body for years (though, truly, studying the art form for my entire life) and one thing I’ve learned is that voluntarily logging out of your brain from time to time is necessary work. My latest escape hatch is a delightful Instagram show called Shop Cat, starring the iridescent Michelladonna as she interviews cats in local bodegas. The editing is superb and over time, the gimmick transforms into a thoughtful survey of our city and the people who live and work in it.

4. Collective processing has become its own genre of entertainment, through documentaries that relitigate the 90s and 2000s and obsessive recountings of past cultural eras on TikTok. Dawn Porter’s new film “Luther: Never Too Much,” is a tender and evocative study of one of America’s most legendary performers. Porter makes the case that anti-Blackness and fat-phobia tormented Vandross and the heightened pressure may have exacerbated his diabetes and contributed to his early death at the age of 54. I saw the film when it premiered last winter at Sundance and it has lingered with me — especially the gut-wrenching revelations about Luther’s own thwarted searches for romantic love. I wrote the film up, too, in case you’re keen to hear more of my thoughts on it.

5. I have a brain that never turns off, thanks to a fun trail mix of obsessive worrying, anxiety and ADHD. At night, I read (print!) to wind down, but I can only read books that won’t stimulate any of the work-y parts of my brain. Often what works is romance (“The Idea of You” was perfect, hot and excellent) or fantasy. I just finished the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik, a story about a young sorceress named El who matriculates at a school for magically gifted students. In this universe, magic is real, but using it generates carnivorous entities called maleficaria who love to prey on young spellcasters. I found it to be engaging, easy work for a tired brain.

   What’s helping you cope this season?