the leisure diaries, vol. 2 — "from the cheap seats"
In this week’s entry to the leisure diaries, Casamara Club head of production Erica talks to founder Jason about finding immersive, restorative leisure when it’s hard.
Hello Jason!
We’ve survived another week, and I don’t know about you, but it has been a challenge to carve out meaningful leisure time. I’m grateful for the handful of things that bring my scattered mind into the present, and remind me that joy and spontaneity aren’t abstract concepts. Here are a few:
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You’re Wrong About is a solid podcast that delves deep into people and events misremembered by the public, like Y2K, the life of Princess Diana, and the Newsboy Strike of 1899 best depicted in Newsies. The episodes go down like Pringles, and the hosts banter in the way that only old buddies can.
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Hoo boy, remember live music? For this wound, the band aid is the Tiny Desk Series from NPR. Last week, Jazmine Sullivan sang a few songs from her new (amazing) album and despite watching the performance on my laptop at the kitchen table, I clapped and whooped as if she could hear me from the cheap seats.
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My friend Ana Ortiz runs Day Into Night, a catering company turned digital supper club series. Bi-weekly she sends inspiration: a three-course menu, playlist, and mood-board to remind us that meals can be intimate, extraordinary experiences. She is an incredible chef and recipe writer, distilling her vast culinary influences into straightforward instruction that makes special-occasion cooking accessible for weeknights. Last week I made gnocchi with lemon and pistachio and it was surprisingly easy. Is a recommendation for a newsletter within a newsletter inception?
In the last year I’ve relied on routines for structure, even in my leisure time. It’s been nice to thwart that momentum and try something new, introducing the question: What’s next? I wish you and our readers a week of good meals, and better (socially-distanced) company.
In leisure,
Erica
