Welcome to the final High Noon of 2021! There’s something twisted about this last week of the year. I’ve always felt it. This year perhaps more than ever for some reason. Apparently, the Romans only had 304 days in their calendar year with only 10 months. The other ~61~62 days they simply ignored… seems cool.
Anyway, in 2020 for my final issue of the year, I produced my first trend forecast. Take a look and see all the things that came true… and those that didn’t (looking at u no. 21).
This week everyone on Twitter is being SO ANNOYING with their little IN/OUT trend lists. I even saw someone say “I like this trend” to caption hers. ugh. No trend report from me at the end of this year. (That’s not to say trend reporting itself is out…but let’s just say I don’t want to add noise to a presently saturated space.)
So happy new year to you all! I will be taking a hiatus in January to develop a new project. Working on High Noon over the past year and a half has been such a pleasure and as I’ve done so, I’ve had lots of excellent conversations with many of you that have directly led to the concept for a new project that I very much look forward to announcing soon.
I want to give thanks to everyone who I had the privilege of working with this year — Lea Zikmund, Griffin Wynne, Jane Drinkard, Myka Kielbon, Emma Vernon, Dan Lang, Alana May Johnson, Nick Patlan, Grace Remp, Lauren Kovin, and Katja Grober — on various issues of High Noon. Collaborations are my favorite!!
Ciao for now. x SCREMES (Shawn)
The Roundup
Links to the stories you should be reading this week
Have novels suffered in the postmodern period, revealing a dearth of ideas? ✺ For the first time, over a hundred of Katsushika Hokusai’s drawings will be exhibited together at the British Museum. ✺ A house in Tangiers has become an inter-generational design gem. ✺ Eminem has opened a restaurant in Detroit literally called Mom’s Spaghetti…and apparently, it’s pretty good. ✺ A piece I wrote for Dendwell on the aesthetic of ‘geoglam’.
The Long Read
The week’s keynote story
Only going to read one thing? Read me.
THE SCREMES GUIDE TO LIVING A SWEEPING LIFE!
Life, I’ve heard it said, is worth living. In this publication, I frequently discuss luxury. And I think that’s what life is about, if I must pinpoint something. And I don’t mean dsigner clothes and hundred rack watches. I think the most luxurious thing in the world is to wholly enjoy something, with no reservations or apologies, and to sweeten the experience even more, to share that with friends.
I have a dozen or so sticky notes affixed to the wall above my desk. One of them poses the question: When was the last time hedonism was mainstream? Will it ever be again? I am interested in this type of luxury— luxury that…well…for lack of more a more nuanced English word…luxuriates.
One of my favorite films is Amelie and from time to time, particularly when I’m feeling down or adrift, I’ll employ an exercise for myself that I call the “Amelie List”. It goes like this: Make a list in the third person describing five or six things (objects, habits, activities) that I love that are unexpected. The goal is to surprise myself into realizing an indulgence I treasure.
A few weeks ago, I came across a phrase I liked very much. It was something about “a sweeping life.” When I think of the figures I admire, I think this is their central commonality. The best teacher I ever had set us a project once to map a novel’s component parts onto a web. Characters, themes, settings, quotes, iconography — they were all to be arranged and connected where it made sense. The lesson is both the simplest and most profound thing I’ve ever learned.
Everything is connected.
So when I think of the web of my own life, with all of these admirables ranged around me on their various spokes, the thing that connects all of them is that they live(d) a sweeping life. To that end, I’ve begun to think about what makes a life sweeping. Won’t you indulge me in a few thoughts?
Wear a tiara! Drink everything that sparkles out of the daintiest crystal glasses! Never go longer than ten days without sautéeing mushrooms in butter! Wear a tiny ribbon or very thin scarf around your neck in place of a necklace!
Hug your friends! Kiss your friends! Take a bath with your friends! Leave society! But come back! Always bring food in real dishes to friends’ houses — and leave the dish! I buy funky plates and serving ware at thrift stores; it’s often even cheaper than disposable and so much chicer!
If you don’t have enough storage in your apartment or house invest in a nearby storage unit for all of your party/off-season things. But give things away frequently and with abandon! Always host parties with multiple starting times. It leaves everyone happier!
Be patient — the treasures that will illuminate your life will find their time. But be spontaneous! Yes > No! Light a dozen candles and pour a tiny saucer of very cold gin for a long bath! And always, always, always have dessert, even if it’s only a bite of briefly frozen yogurt or a tangerine!
Watch
A video for nothing in particular, simply a piece of kinetic digital art, that beautifully marries contemporary and historical art/textiles/fashion and bears a kind of haunted quality that is never exactly resolved…a metaphor perhaps?
Cheers
Amber made me this truly delightful and seasonally well-suited cocktail while we made a pear frangipane tart yesterday (see below!) and I insist you all try it!!
Our pear tart…