Leave it to Leonor #316

This week, I'm thinking about creative partnerships. Years ago, I read and became utterly infatuated with the novel, The Animators. This is what I wrote at the time: I loved it SO MUCH. It was about female friendship and heartbreak and creativity and it gave me 101 new ideas, all of which I want to set into motion RIGHT NOW which makes it the best kind of book. Basically, it made my brain itchy which for me means I have more ideas in my brain than I can possibly make sense of which is how I rationalize buying new notebooks. 

I'm currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow which is about two friends who create a video game together (and of course many other things, including disability) and once again I am mildly obsessed. Of course, because these are novels, the relationships are complicated, fraught, and occasionally toxic which is, thankfully, not my real life experience (neither is the WILD success which is honestly very rude! Where is my windfall?)

I was trying to think back to when this all began. When I was at NYMAG, we used to make very elaborate Reasons to Love books/cards for departing colleagues. They were always a group effort and I wasn't always in the trenches, but there were certainly some that I spent a lot of time on, but I only have a record of mayyyybe one or two. Before that, there were specialty birthday cards made for the art/photo team at The Times. 

As I was making a mental catalogue to write this, because it's almost Thanksgiving and I am feeling especially schmoop-y and warm and fuzzy, I figured I may as well make a(n incomplete) list of some of these creative collaborations. 

The Hollow zine - I do not know when or how Troy Griggs and I came up with this, but we really ran with it. I obviously roped in Josef to design it and I asked Raha to edit it. Louisa Cannell drew the cutest Stars Hollow gazebo for the cover (And I *still* have copies, if you want one, let me know) 

Foto Chisme - my most recent project with Marv and nine talented Latino/a/e photographers, plus designer Habib Plancencia coming through with the perfect logo. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Hanya the A Little Life book account, a project which changed my life profoundly and so I dedicated an issue of this newsletter to it.  

The Less novel instagram which involved me asking my coworker (hi BB!) to dress up in a blue suit (borrowed from the author himself) and traipse around New York with Marvin making some truly memorable photos. . .and also hiring 19 photographers in nine cities around the world. 

Day + Night - this is actually Josef's brainchild, but like the best work husband, he brought me on and I was able to write an essay for the first one, bring on writers, find a photo essay, do some light editing (and in some cases heavy editing - did you know writers like to file very long pieces?!) 

Then there are all the smaller things, the non-public, less tangible things. The days hanging out with Kate in her house or her studio, just letting our brains turn over stones, talking through concepts, the lunches with Josef dreaming up magazines we will likely never be able to afford to make, the chats with Marv about what we should do next (which is often never the same as what we actually do next). The word editing help, the photo book editing assists, the many conversations about how to evolve this newsletter and other newsletters, the poems contributed to a friend's site, the brainstorms with various friends scheming and plotting and ideating. Just thinking about it makes me so happy and makes me very excited to do more. You know, with all my spare time!

​This week in reading. . .
Isaac Fitzgerald's Dirtbag, Massachussetts is fantastic. Isaac is a gifted writer and he tells the stories of his life beautifully. Absolutely breezed through it in the best way. 

​This week in listening. . .
I just really needed to get to the bottom of why Penn was on TikTok and so I decided to listen to his podcast, Podcrushed. I dunno, man, I clearly have so many better things to do but here we are. 

​This week in TV. . .
Farewell to The Good Fight, an absolutely brilliant show. I've been saving the finale and am sad to say goodbye to Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart.

I am so utterly disappointed with the new restaurant season of Waffles and Mochi Restaurant. They changed Mochi's voice, the episodes are shorter, there is only one original song in all six episodes. I am upset and MAD. 

​​This week in a gif. . .