Old Desires, Renewed Habits: Reflections on Objects of Desire by Clare Sestanovich
In the seventh installment of this series, Rachel Schwartzmann reflects on Objects of Desire by Clare Sestanovich.
Sundays with Kate Arends of Wit & Delight
Ordinary Habits, Fanatical Language: In Conversation with Amanda Montell, Author of Cultish
Nourishing a Habit of Love: Reflections on The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo
At Home with Ally Walsh of Canyon Coffee
Life’s Ordinary Habits: In Conversation with Rainesford Stauffer, Author of An Ordinary Age
The Art and Habit of Listening: Reflections on Earth’s Wild Music by Kathleen Dean Moore
The Good, The Bad, and The Ordinary Habits: In Conversation with Forsyth Harmon, Author of Justine
In Conversation with:
Priscilla Weidlein
Habits with Heart: Reflections on Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
Ordinary Story is a monthly series by Rachel Schwartzmann that features musings and conversations on one of our favorite ordinary habits: reading. In the first installment, Rachel reflects on Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad.
Samantha was named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s “15 Women to Watch in Wine” and has been featured in Bloomberg, Wine&Spirits Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, and the LA Times, among others. In 2020, Mommenpop Grapefruit won a Good Food Award, and was rated 95 points and named one of the Top 100 Spirits by Wine Enthusiast.
At Home with Claire Ptak of Violet Cakes
At Home for the Holidays with Via Maris
In usual times Chanukah is a holiday to see friends and family, eat, light the menorah together, and play games. Games have always been a customary part of celebrating Chanukah – spin the dreidel being a classic, but you’ll also find puzzles, cards, charades, mahjong, and more.
In Conversation with:
Amber Vittoria
The women who occupy artist Amber Vittoria’s world take up space. Their forms are undisguised, alive, and moving. They hold your attention with a vibrancy that is unafraid, pushing the female form into something more fanciful. Color, rubbery limbs, big noses, bizarre and lovely postures, tiny heads, heeled boots that seem to appear from tangled and ballooning bodies—all of it is loud and hyperbolic, fantastic in its total disregard for moderation. Vittoria’s work appeals to our imagination, and also, how tired we are, how delicious it is to see potential and extent not expressed as achievement or goals, but with…roundness and Matisse-blues, and bodies that bring to mind, of all things, liquorice and watermelons and CMYK.
In Conversation with:
Christina Hart
In Conversation with: Shawna X
In Conversation with: Holly Jolley
Jolley’s work, which often features cats, brings about the feeling of a cat. A cat’s energy in the room. How its gracefulness arrives with quirk, some attitude, solitude. Her characters are eccentric; up to something. They display a sense of comic regality. Who is that woman wearing extra large sunglasses? Where is she going in that extra large coat? Why are rosy cheeks and barrettes twin accessories? What is it about a fuzzy sweater that lets you know this woman writes letters to her friends? What is it about references like E.T., or school uniforms, or cereal boxes, that knock us free of adult panic—that remind us to find a book, a quiet spot, a windowsill. Jolley’s work seems to say, “Look up!” Seems to suggest the possibility of getting weird or resting one’s eyes, because the work will always be there, so for now, take a break. Enjoy the cat who’s wearing a crown—that cat is certainly enjoying his cup of tea.