A Thousand Words of Something, Something

I don’t know why the #1000WordsofSummer feels so tempting. A thousand words are a lot to write when you don’t know what you will write about, let alone when you don’t know even in which language you’ll write about. It should be obvious, shouldn’t it? In Spanish! Of course! Write in your mother tongue, in which everything flows easier. Write about what you know! A poem? An essay — which seems to be entirely up your alley and the center of your well inhabited and tenderly decorated comfort zone-A letter to your former self? A short story? Oh God! Not a short story, no! That’s beyond, beyond way beyond the comfort zone and is extremely dangerous.Okay then: write in English. 12 years of bilingual education, hundreds of books and thousands hours spent reading celebrity gossip, social media,blogposts and essays have to be mean something, right? Your command of the language should be strong enough by now that you SHOULD be able to write a thousand words of something, anything in English. This is getting way too close to the “religion is the opium of the word” 900 words essays we wrote at school preparing for the Cambridge exams, 16, 17 years ago. To quote one of my favourite sayings ever: “Sweet Jesus on a bicycle!” This is getting harder and harder. Alright: out of the top of my head. Books I’ve read lately that I thoroughly enjoyed and or devoured: Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. All you can ever know, by Nicole Chung. Books I’ve read that I liked but have to process: Normal People by Sally Rooney. Where do I get my book recommendations from? Everywhere? Twitter, the Fug Girls, Lainey Gossip, GoodReads. Anne Helen Petersen, journalists. I’m rereading Emma in paperback, as I usually do once a year, because it’s so satisfying to hold an actual, physical book in my hands instead of my phone. Taffy Brodesser- Akner’s media blitz for her debut novel “Fleishman is in trouble” has left me very, very keen (how Duchess of Cambridge of me) to read it. I’m also looking forward to Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Party, which comes out in July. And I’ll probably be picking some used books at a classic book store in San Isidro, where I usually buy books for my daughter as well. I’ve basically been reading books by women authors lately, and although it hasn’t been a conscious decision, it feels rather.. satisfying?I’ve also been consuming plenty of women led movies and series of Netflix. Rewatching Gilmore Girls, season 4 and 5 right before everything goes to hell between Rory and Lorelai and the writing in general. Rewatching Gilmore girls: A year in the life, maybe for the third time. Appreciating some choices and protesting loudly (to myself) for others. Rory! what a waste of potential,opportunities and talent. Logan! Extremely charming, with those squinty eyes, roguish smile and cool clothes! Except for the fact that he has a French fianceé and a long time American mistress, he really is the ideal partner. Emily Gilmore! Possibly my favourite character, the one who actually grows and evolves during the revival. And the best Nantucket Whaling Museum volunteer ever, naturally. And Kirk!As endearingly weird, tender and loud as ever. And poor Lane, neglected by her self centred best friend. And why couldn’t we see a full Luke and Lorelai wedding? Probably because of scheduling conflicts. But we (foolishly) pined for them for so long, that they deserved a proper party. The only part of real affection/chemistry between them is when they kiss after Luke’s freak out after Lorelai’s decision that they should, finally and definitely get married. Only a glimpse, for a couple whose chemistry was possibly the strongest claim between them, felt a bit odd. Or maybe I’m being unfair, because while watching the original series at the same time I’m vying for something that really was there, but a decade later, things have really changed. Also, slowly watching What/If because I’ll always enjoy Reneé Zellweger onscreen, even playing against type, and in a poorly written 10 episode Netflix show. And Los Simuladores, because there’s something thrilling about quality Argentine TV which I actually watched during a couple of tormented years, a lifetime ago. I’m missing the heavy British procedurals that have been slowly removed from Netflix in the last year or so: Happy Valley, the US version of The Killing. I also need new Line of Duty episodes to scratch that particular itch. I also miss Call The Midwife, which I devoured during my four month maternity leave back in 2017. I guess I’ll have to slowly add new shows. Everybody’s talking about Phoebe Waller Bridge’s genius Fleabag, and Killing Eve, but I don’t have Amazon Prime and I have other priorities right now ($$$). I did particularly enjoy Sex Education, Dead to Me and You, this year. Other media that I look forward to every week are newsletters. I’ve subscribed to several: Anne Helen Petersen’s, Abby Gardner’s, Jasmine Guillory and added Elizabeth “Not Theranos founder” Holmes’. I find the simple act of receiving them, with their clever subjects and witty banter, a joyful one. And they usually indicate the end of my workweek, as well. They remind me of spirit of the golden era of blogging, circa 2005–2007, which no other platform seems to have harnessed in the same way. And they always link to interesting stories whether about pop culture, UK royals, politics, media or books in general. Well, I finally ended up writing in English, as I knew I would (I told you I was trouble/you know that I’m no good). And maybe, just maybe, if I keep up writing every day,I might step out of my beloved comfort zone and just venture out there with something just a little bit different. Baby steps, one at a time.So that’s close to a thousand words, right? It can’t be that far. No, it definitely can’t be that far from a thousand. There. I’m done.