6-22-2025 MY FAVES: high end living, and eastward tones

 books of the week

i finally read great tales of horror. beside the blatant racism, the fantastical elements and lore were super interesting. 

i read my vogue adria living  edition sib brought back for me from cro, and indulge in the luxury of hotel resorts and incredibly beautiful and incredibly expensive home decorations. different tax bracket here, but it was sweet to read an article on the art of olive picking. something i grew up with considering far from luxurious, but the end result always was a lusciously goldish elixir. how charming to know i plan to be there for my parents' farm this fall myself!  

my new by-the-pool read is notorious, book #2 in the gossip girl spin off called the it girl, which follows adventures of jenny humphrey in boarding school. i read most of the gossip girl series books and they area bit problematic, sexist, and at times, inconsistent. then again, there's charm in the flawed teen character. i found some of the books from the series at a recent book sale at a local library. i couldn't resist them. they're great easy summer reads. how many times will jenny's "big boobs" be mentioned? the first 50 pages already had too many. 

music of the week

i caught myself drifting a bit east. not with habibi funk this time. just random songs from jai paul and m.i.a., a well as a somali band called dur-dur band. still, heavy on the funk, on the dj's and just dancy kind of music. my recent 10 saved songs are so random, i'll let you listen to them yourself...

jimmy - m.i.a.

i just wanna love u - jay-z

hammer - lorde

gorof (elixir) - dur-dur band

c'mon n' ride it (the train) - quad city dj's

experience - victoria monet, khalid, sg lewis

bonde bo brunão - bruno mars

i try to talk to you - hercules & the love affair, john grant

ćao bao - žuvi

vibin' (unfinished) - jai paul