12: Deadlines + Disintegration
I've always said I work better on tight deadlines. I've never really planned out the work I do, preferring to let it just happen, and then I tidy up afterwards. Fill in the gaps. Delete the pure, excruciating passages where I actually say what I mean.
Learning another language has shown me that preparation is just as awful as I feared, but that forcing myself to do it gets me the results I crave. I want to be fluent in Spanish more than I think I've ever wanted anything else in my life. Don't be alarmed: I always feel this way about my Projects. I'm incredibly thankful that I seem to be clinging to this one -- they usually drift off into the night somewhere around the three month mark never to be seen again.
Two weeks ago I saw The Cure in Glasgow, and the whole show was flawless. Especially so was Disintegration, which shimmered with sad, bright catharsis and a tight, compelling energy that drove and drove and drove. You'd never have believed they've been playing it for as long as I've been alive.
At the end, Robert was grinning and breathless, and he smiled and waved to the (inevitably tear-stained) crowd and said,
"That was a good Disintegration. They aren't always great, but I really, really enjoyed that one."
He blew my mind. It means even he feels like his best isn't good enough sometimes. It means even after more than 30 years, he finds joy in something he's made, something he's still doing. It means that perhaps constant practice doesn't kill off spontaneity -- it can make you better, give you strength, enable you to find and explore new ways to express yourself. I've been thinking about it ever since.
Other Stuff
This minidoc on the incredible women challenging sexism and changing Roda de Samba forever is stunning. It's dark, brutal and unforgiving, but it's incredibly enlightening and inspiring too. The link above takes you to an interview with director Tobias Nathan in which the whole film is embedded. I was going to make this week's whole newsletter about this one thing. I might still do that at a later date.
"To exist is to defy."
"Joy is also a beautiful part of the human condition."
[CW: There are scenes of and descriptions of violence throughout, and there's a v. short clip that includes animal slaughter around the 1min 30s mark FYI]I loved this beautiful and refreshingly down-to-earth look at the Garfagnana by Craig Ballinger, especially the Irn Bru in the window of the alimentari. And the photography is just gorge. So beautifully sun-drenched.
In his fuming Medium piece, Miles Leibtag isn't fucking sick of craft beer culture, whatever that is, he's fucking sick of anti-intellectualism. And he's got some ideas on how to solve the problem too, he's not just yelling into the sky! I am exceptionally here for it. His best advice? "Stop treating people like the mouth breathing simpletons they are, and start treating them like the pedantic assholes they could be."
My Stuff
This week my story about Rivington Brewing Co. was published on Pellicle -- a brewery close to my heart, and close to my home.
I was going through past pieces for... a thing, and I came across The Knack Of Snacks, a piece I wrote when I was clearly very much still missing being in León (when am I not?), and very hungry indeed.
Just filed a couple of pieces I'm super pleased with, so you'll be getting to see them soon I hope.
Question: If I collated some of my favourite older pieces into a zine or two, would you buy them? Just something to ruminate on.
Charlie Watley for Pellicle