Remember how last time I was tittering between reading a historical non-fiction on Black Republicans or continuing to pore over memoirs? Yeah?
Well…I didn’t choose either one of those. I ended up scrummaging through a book truck trade where I found my next read:
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky by Chris Greenhalgh.
This book, the one I’m holding, looks like a stray dog.
The cover is all scuffed up, some of the pages are folded/crumpled, and I’m pretty sure it suffered some, I’m assuming, water damage. The pages are wrinkled in a very telling way. I really hope it was water.
I picked it up because I was wondering, “What’s wrong with this one?” But the title caught my attention.
I’m moderately aware of who Coco Chanel was and I have an affinity for enterprising women. It’s a bonus that, on the page with the reviews, one mentioned the word “fiery”.
That’s all I needed to tuck it under my arm and claim this one as mine for the next ~
two weeks.
Turns out this book is a fictionalized account of the work & love life of Igor Stravinsky, a Russian composer and Coco Chanel, the French designer that has been turned into a “major motion picture.”
Another win for me!
I didn’t know what I was going to read next for “The Book is Better.”
I missed the movie when it premiered in 2009/2010 but its streaming on Amazon Prime now so I get to spread out on my couch and maybe drink some hot chocolate in Chanel’s honor?
If your first thought after ‘hot chocolate’ was, “It’s too hot for that!” don’t worry. I have the A/C turned down to a frosty 68 degrees in my house. I’m surprised icicles aren’t forming on the vents because the things been going non-stop since mid-May and it’s not even the official start of summer, which I know is tomorrow (June 20th) but still.
Right now, being inside, watching movies, reading books or doing anything that doesn’t involve leaving the chill of my home seems like the safest things to do.
I’m a bit upset about this because I have plans for the Summer. But it doesn’t feel like Summer. It feels like Hell.
okay…that’s extreme. I’m just hot.
I visited the Audubon Zoo with my family last weekend and it was so hot, the lionesses were laid out.
Read this slowly: It was too hot outside for an African lioness to sit up straight but me and my people decided to traverse, to move to and fro, over and along in the heat.
I love being outside and I feel like the heat index is trying to steal my joy. I won’t be denied though.
We may have to limit the number of hours spent outdoors and increase our hydration levels, but the intention is to play more this season. I mean that for the season of life right now too.
For Summer, I want to be a local explorer. There are swim clubs, community events, restaurants and cook-outs to attend. I even plan on busting out my copy of Cresent City Snow by Megan Braden Perry to cross more snoball stands off my list.
For life, I want to be an avatar for jubilation and merrymaking. I said a month ago, before I got too hot and mad, that I want to “put action/movement to this joy I feel.”
This current season I’m in, I don’t know what it’s called. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced this. Maybe more time is needed to put it into words? Once they start to form around this thing, I’ll be more than happy to share it with you.
In the meantime, I’ll be tangled up in a European love affair and trying hard not to complain about the temperature.
Sincerely,
Thelisia