frankness
Heated love edition, brace yourself.
Before I get any hate messages from the Francophiles1 in my subscriber pool about offering a François as a Frank, direct your eyes to this man’s Instagram where he not only validates my delusionary behavior use of the nickname, he also charmingly offers this pronunciation of his formal name: fran-swāāā. Precious! Now, this man is not the kind of Frank who is an iconic performer or legendary crooner or any kind of activist [that we know of] but I submit that these things are not necessary to be considered a solid, successful human being.2 There is honor in aspiring to be the best at whatever you do that brings you joy and if you also bring joy to others, even better. Out of his dozens of film & TV credits, I have only seen Arnaud in Schitt’s Creek, Yellowjackets, of course Heated Rivalry, and as of yesterday this wildly entrancing Orville Peck & Noah Cyrus music video.
Now, some bonus action shots…happy Valentine’s week to us.
Encounters
A few weeks ago as I perused the book section at the thrift store, a young guy rounded the corner, almost running into me, and announced in a forceful voice, “OH WOW, I LOVE your grey hair!” It was startling - at first I thought he was passive-aggressively yelling at me for my cart in the aisle - then sweet. We then talked for a minute about my hair color history, his starting-to-grey hair, and his teacher sister before we simultaneously, silently turned back to our shopping. My favorite kind of encounter: kind + brief.
On my way home from the post office awhile ago, I noticed a man in the block ahead starting to cross the street, so I began to slow down. He, clearly not expecting drivers to voluntarily pause for him, was thrusting his hand out in the classic STOP gesture while sauntering into the crosswalk. As I came to an easy halt a few yards from him, he looked over mid-stride (stop hand still up); we exchanged smiles & thumbs-up and he chuckled the rest of the way across, occasionally glancing over to grin gratefully at me, with more thumbs-up waving. When I passed by that way last week, I was really hoping he’d be there again.
The other morning a Steller’s jay was out in our dogwood tree before my crow friends arrived. Usually the jays sleep in, only coming around the yard as I finish throwing treats, then they dive in recklessly to snatch them up. But the crows were late that day so I set a peanut on the balcony rail as a reward for this guy’s early rising, and for not shrieking like a banshee while hanging around.
Tiny Joys
A bird sticker my friend grabbed for me from a pile of freebies at his work
Watching neighborhood dogs stop to slop a drink from the water bowl we keep filled next to the road by our yard
Complimentary [and good!] lip balm at my dentist’s office
Rereading Sally Rooney’s heartrending3 Normal People
Recent Delights
Snake plant4 for a weird blank space in our family room, by the door where there’s only a slant of sunlight each day
Eating spring mix salads with blueberries & bleu cheese & candied walnuts and a splash of vinaigrette
A Seattle Kraken game5 in our besties’ season ticketholder seats when they were out of town
That stunning Bad Bunny halftime show
FrancoCanadianphiles? Canadienphiles? Anyway. He’s from Montreal, Quebec, not France.
I cannot explain why/how much I love a story that is mildly anguishing a lot of the time. Maybe because the lovely parts are truly sublime, eclipsing the somber elements? Maybe also because the series, which I might be rewatching soon, stars the impeccable Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones, two of the most remarkable, sorrowfully appealing actors working right now.
I looked up houseplants that thrive with little sun and realllly wanted to get a monstera [not just* because Scott Hunter/today’s Frank has one in his apartment on Heated Rivalry] but 1st husband claims to hate them, which seems irrational and a little extreme.
*about 80%
And bonus: their tasty signature Kraken rum cocktail
This is a good reminder to stop and appreciate those little things, and I sure appreciate reading about YOUR little things!
Well, that's fun to look at! Thanks!