As we’ve been undertaking a strategic review of the newsletter one of the sisters has gotten her words published on the Jewish media platform Vashti and is awaiting her book deal as we speak!
You can read it here - it’s about my favourite Jewish TV characters
I recently was photographing a protest of sorts and got drenched in skunk spray. After 7 long days of smelling like shit I can finally say with joy and repentance that the smell of shit following me around reminding me of my trespasses has finally faded. We!Love!America!
A crutch is a crutch is a crutch
By Tash Lever
During the summer of 2020 when I was just a 24 year old (scientifically the worst age to be during a global pandemic) my mental health was at an All Time Low. Jobless, anxious and determined to upskill, a few things cropped up at just the right time to distract me from the misery of Adobe Animate and thoughts of the sweet embrace of death. Those things were a well timed indie pop album from an artist about to enter her rehabilitation era (folklore by Taylor Swift), the charming videos of Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody and two seasons of Succession, a TV show who since its ending has faded like an old friend you’re really happy you had for a time but now it makes sense that you don’t talk out anymore.
I have come to realise and I’m sure you all have too that I am quite an obsessive person. In this life things come and go but some things never leave you -perhaps a TV show with the right amount of devastation and humour comes along, maybe the perfectly timed release of two movies that couldn’t be more different enters the discourse, or a line from a film perfectly crafted and delivered swirls around your brain endlessly calling to you (“women”). And just like that I am undone. Powerless to stop my greedy heart gobbling it all up I am left with an insatiable appetite for more. I must have more.
As a teenager obsessions make a lot of sense - where else will all that raw unprocessed confusing emotion go if not the poster on your wall of Daniel Radcliffe. How else am I meant to figure out who I am if I am not staking it all on one genre of music - dictating my style and my outlook on life. Who am I if not a fan of something? Being a teenager is absolutely the most insane thing that ever happened to me and there are A LOT of feelings and desires floating around with around ZERO ways to express them so it makes sense that teenagers cling to things. It helps you to find belonging and express some of those feels that don’t have an outlet.
When you feel like death - so anxious all you can do is march around your neighbourhood stuck in thought spirals of wasted life, so sad that the day Trump got covid was one of your best days. Sometimes the only thing that can pull you out needs to be a form of escape - first to distract yourself from death spiral and then to remind yourself that you’re a human being that likes things and wants to do things. Folklore, The Patinkin family and Succession were those things for me.
One hot afternoon (post rule of six) my sister was driving her best friend, me and my best friend to her other best friend’s house to watch Twilight. As folklore gently played from the stereo I cried to my friend and told her how much I was suffering. Even in the pits something about the soft hilarity of the moment would pull me up a little just to take a breath. And the love for that record developed off the back of that. You’re giving me coded music and a fanbase that could figure out who killed JFK in one night on reddit baby that’s going to help me out.
Watching videos of Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody saved my life! I can still remember that first fateful video - man and wife post argument standing in front of beautiful flowers in the lush upstate New York hills. The beauty of them is in their familiarity (we share a favourite snack) and silliness - watching their videos felt like a sweet embrace. I followed them on their RV trip to visit Gideon their mystery child with a creepy name, I watched Mandy say a prayer as he fed Becky the dog. Many a time I have expressed that a week with them in their charming cabin would save me, but the cabin on the screen in my hand ended up being enough.
Every so often, only a brilliantly crafted TV show can distract me from the bottomless pit of nothingness swirling around in my brain, my stomach, my eyes and feet. A crutch is a crutch is a crutch but sometimes we need something to cling to. Like a child staring up at their poster of a prepubescent pale wizard boy, finding an avenue to express, in the safety of their imagination their big little feelings, we sometimes still need those pathways for a little while.
I never understood when people in the presence of their heroes break down and scream or cry. This outpouring of overwhelmed emotion made no sense. That is until I secured tickets to see Taylor Swift in a whole years time. In that moment I knew I would be screaming, that the excitement would not be contained.
I am falling in love with Tony Soprano
I have started watching the Sopranos. I am very attracted to Tony Soprano and of course Christopher. Tony because he’s big and charismatic and Christopher because of his tiny hips and how reluctantly far he wants to go in life. Right now its a slowburn but I trust all of your opinions and I like it when dudes just hang out and watch the Godfather together before their trip to Italy.
