The Vibe check is a series of monthly blog posts where I think back to the past month. Today I'm talking about February 2023.
Music and Film Recs
- Cha Cha Real Smooth (film; drama). This is the best film I've seen so far this year. Without being self serving or aggrandising, and without lying, it makes humans look kind and good. That takes something. It's a lot easier to be cynical.
- Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (film; screenplay?). It's about sex and pleasure and regret and getting old, and also about the most beautiful Irish-accented man. Emma Thompson is there. I left feeling hopeful, but I don't think I'll ever re-watch.
- My 21st Century Blues, RAYE (album; Gen Z; 2023). Generation Z are okay sampling vibes/aesthetics/style from a thousand places (this is one of approx. three things I know about them). This record shows that, and it is flawlessly produced. I recommend it.
- To What End, Oddisee (album; hip hop; 2023) Oddisee has sat at the edges of the alternative/boom-bap hip hop that I love so much. This is another record with quality production, and some upbeat beats.
Hope and optimism But life is a thing that happens with us, not to us. It took a few frustrating weeks (unempowered?) but life feels now like I remember life felt at the end of my postgraduate studies, and when I first moved to London. It feels as though things are changeable, as though I can do. I'm not sure why I ever felt the opposite. Or if I just forgot. Either way, it's an undercurrent I feel very grateful to have.
Cycling. It is warm enough to cycle again. Not all the time. Sometimes it's too wet. It is actually quite cold, and a little windy. Being outside doesn't feel universally fantastic, but the blanket ban on prolonged outdoor activity is lifting. In February I managed (checks Strava) three cycle rides over 50k, and a good number of runs. Now that it's not dark at 2pm it's possible to do more in a day.
Magic: The Gathering. I spent far too much of my time at university sitting around student-accommodation-quality (and size) kitchens playing MtG with my house mates (one of whom was my Magic sherpa, guiding me into playing it).
I've played on/off with housemates and friends since then. I hope I'm still playing Magic when I'm sixty, it is a deeply satisfying game that evolves a lot.
This month I discovered Magic's Jumpstart sets. The idea is that you buy two twenty-card boosters and shuffle them together. Now you have a forty-card deck ready to go. This lets you skip the bit where you have to construct your own deck from individual cards (or a couple hundred random ones from boosters).
Having played a few games of Magic recently, I'm really enjoying it.
Sewing. I finished a pair of lovely woollen trousers ! Grey with brown checks on them. They're too wide around the waist, and the seat's a little low, but I made them. I've worn them in public, and I am proud of them.
My current project is a khaki cotton canvas top which is probably thick enough to camp in. I've some leftover fabric that I think will become shorts. It's going to be quite an informal shirt, and I've paired it with some delightful light-brown textured buttons.
Sort-of-related, I went for a suit fitting (for a wedding (not mine)) and ended up having a grand time. It's the first time I've gone this bespoke, and the boutique one-one experience of the fitting was great. I love clothes.
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