Leftovers #84

Lots of reading and listening, very little cooking

I arrived in Copenhagen yesterday afternoon. It’s my fourth time here and my second time staying in this flat that belongs to my friend Kathryn (she’s currently inhabiting mine). It’s the third trip I’ve taken this year where I don’t feel the need or pressure to constantly be exploring. The first being Vancouver, which is a second home at this point; the second was Seoul, where the parameters were set by being constantly around family; and now Copenhagen.

Historically I’ve saved a million places on Instagram or Google Maps, intent on visiting every single one. But I’m spending this weekend not doing very much at all. Yesterday afternoon I walked to a familiar neighbourhood, sat in the new Atelier September and drank two cups of coffee and ate a plate of rye bread, comte and whipped butter whilst writing and thinking more than I’ve been able to in weeks. I went home at 5pm and remained there, listening to music, stretching my body, watching a film, eating take out sushi from the place down the road. This morning I went back to Atelier September for a bowl of porridge and I’m now on my way to the Louisiana for an afternoon of getting lost in art. I won’t go out for dinner this weekend and I probably won’t leave the flat after 6pm.

Please enjoy this picture of the apartment buildings opposite feat. a neat little reflection of Kathryn’s kitchen

It’s such a relief to not feel like I have to take in every single aspect of a city to enjoy it. Sometimes I just need a trip where I’m alone with my thoughts. No chance of bumping into anyone. No pressure to go anywhere. I’ve been living in the spin for the past month, and it finally feels like the cycle is coming to an end.

PS: Would really appreciate some feedback about this newsletter. I’ll pre-empt comments that my essays are not really regular (it’s something I’m working on!) – but do you like these curated round ups? Are the recipes up to scratch? I’m doing some strategy work around my own offerings (including something exciting that’s launching next year!), so let me know if there’s anything you love, hate or think is completely mid.

Thinking 🇵🇸

About this harrowing diary entry on n+1 when the author visited occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank to write about the Shuafat Refugee camp in 2016.

“I want to live in peace,” Ayyad told me. “I want to take my family to Tiberius to swim in the sea, I want that kind of life, of happiness and pleasure. Instead, no one has pleasure. We are afraid and the Israelis are afraid. We are all the sons of Abraham. We have only one God. There is no paradise. This place is paradise, but we are wasting it. When you die, you can’t take anything with you, no dollars, no euros, no black whiskey, no red whiskey, nothing. You sleep alone. So what is the point. We all need peace. We want peace.”