Happy Friday,
Here are some African grooves I’ve been listening to, in case you need some feel-good tunes to motivate you to clean the house this weekend.
Next month, I’m heading to Edinburgh with my research team to attend a conference held by the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect. Exciting travel opportunity, bummer of a conference topic. Because we have family in the area, my parents are joining as well and, when my conference is over, we’ll take a train north to Inverness and then south to London. This week, we’ve been planning which shows to see in London and which tours to take in Edinburgh, but I’ve also been gleefully brainstorming which sweaters I’ll need to pack. It’s really freeing to admit that I don’t love summer. 110-degree heat is simply inhumane. Fall is the best season! If you’re also dreaming of sweaters, my sister has a nice 100% cotton one for sale, which I debated adding to my collection.
Inverness is the closest town to the home of the Loch Ness Monster, so of course I was thrilled to learn today that the search for the monster is as strong as ever. A volunteer-led monitoring expedition is planned for this weekend and it will be the largest search in 50 years. For anyone who will not be in the area—great news, you can observe virtually to help with the search. And if you need to get caught up on your Nessie knowledge, the New York Times published an article today about the 1,300-year search to find the Loch Ness Monster. There have been 4 sightings this year, so I’ll keep my eyes peeled when we visit in September.
Quick clarifying question, do we think there are multiple Nessies and they are propogating? Or do we think the original Nessie is still alive, eternally haunting Loch Ness?
LOCAL NEWS
We had Neal’s friend staying with us last weekend so we brought him hiking in William B. Umstead State Park, which is one of the largest urban parks in the world, located near the airport between Durham, Raleigh, and Cary. It’s also part of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile-long system of trails connecting Maine to Florida.
The UNC school year is back in session, which means everyone has returned from their vacations and is getting on top of their inboxes. Emails galore! It will be a weird year—though I’m still very much in the midst of dissertating and working, I’m also looking forward to what’s next. I’m the last of my cohort still living in North Carolina as all the others have decided to finish remotely—this is something I never would have guessed when we moved here in 2020!
For Zaxby’s fan club, I’m happy to report that he’s been on asthma meds for the last 2 weeks and is faring excellently.
CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT
We saw OldBoy in theatres on Friday—a celebration of the film’s 20th anniversary. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a cult classic, known for being strange, clever, and…disgusting? The last 20 minutes made me feel physically ill. Neal’s friend who was visiting us is into Korean films and named the film one of his favorites of all time. Personally, I felt that the movie was a storytelling feat, but also too obviously written by a man who is fascinated by the egos of men. Afterward, we split a bottle of wine at our favorite quirky wine bar and stuck around until they closed, discussing our top movies of all time and what a non-male director’s version of OldBoy might look like. For someone who used to resist watching movies, I’ve really evolved!
Speaking of which, this weekend is National Cinema Day, which means you can see a movie in theatres for $4 (any movie at participating theatres, like AMC)!
I will never not watch these videos:
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BIRTH NOTICES
I’ve been playing the new New York Times game this week and I can’t decide how I feel about it. Fun but occasionally infuriating. It’s been added to our morning ritual of Worldle and Zaxby snuggles while eating breakfast.
If you didn’t already know, a rare spotless giraffe was born in a Tennessee zoo and my British news sources are obsessed with it. As far I can tell, a bunch of zoologists are just calling each other up saying, “hey, have you ever seen a giraffe with no spots?” and they are all responding no.
New obsession with this flavor of Vitamin water.
IN MEMORIAM
I’ve been talking about Yevgeny Prigozhin ad nauseam. Fascinating character to add to the history books.
RIP to what was left of our sanity now that the presidential primary debates have officially begun.
COMICS
Neal found this one:
Peace, love, and best wishes to anyone participating in the Nessie search or the OldBoy anniversary celebrations this weekend.
Claire