Better Late Than Backwards
In which I'm all over the place, including Montreal and Brooklyn. Plus, Anyma and the Ice Capades!
Yes, you’re receiving this on a Saturday instead of the usual Friday. But since I spent the entire day yesterday—from morning coffee at a café in Montreal, through to brunch there with a friend, followed by hotel check out, an Uber ride, a plane ride, security and immigration back in New York, without realizing my tank top was on backwards, this just seems par for the course. Backwards, I am these days. Also: autopilot. Also: tired. But also: full, inspired, and grateful! Still, I wanted to get this out so here we are.
Montreal: I loved it. Maybe not San Francisco love, but pretty damn close considering I was only in town 72 hours. I especially appreciated how locals so seamlessly switched between French and English. There is no shame or judgment. They speak one language one minute, and then mid-sentence switch to the other without having to explain or justify. I overheard blended conversations at restaurants, on the street, and in co-working spaces. The French Canadian accent/dialect is definitely…different, though. It comes from the nose more than the mouth and sounds kind of like an Anglo person trying to speak French, which I guess they are, but with a side of their own twang. Funnily enough, they understand my French whereas I can’t understand theirs, which is the opposite of my situation in France. (I mostly understand them, and they humor me with some side-eye before switching to English.) I’ll likely put together a dedicated post on my time in Montreal in a future letter for paid subs, as well as post the articles I was in town to report in the free one, so watch this space!
Brooklyn: I’d be remiss if I didn’t also express how much I enjoyed bouncing around from North Park Slope to Windsor Terrace to Boerum Hill to Brooklyn Heights and beyond since I first arrived in North America two weeks ago.
Exploring “the city” felt different this visit. While I still get semi-assaulted by the piercing honks and jackhammers, the soaring skyscrapers, and the questionable subway smells in a way I didn’t when I lived there, the outer borough provided a familiar, yet foreign enough sensation to pique my interest. I felt at home, and yet in exploration mode every minute. I’d look up and around and see the architecture of buildings in a new light and relish discovering secret gardens cultivated by neighboring locals and laugh/cry about having to pay $7.50 for one scoop of coffee crunch ice cream. The tree-lined streets, the independent pharmacies, the plethora of coffee shops: they all charmed me.
So there you have it! Next time I write—hopefully on a scheduled Friday—I will have explored another new-to-me North American destination. Will keep ya guessing on where that is, but you can be sure I’ll have my top (and, subsequently, my head) on forwards while there.
Bon week-end, friends. xx — Sara
Clickable
Switched at birth in Canada. | The NY Times
To gatekeep or not? | The Cut
Vacation boasting or bust. | The New Yorker
Dua Lipa, media maven. | T Magazine
Percolating over productivity. | Quartz
Forget the apps! Try a “Date Me Doc.” | The NY Times
In priase of Bluey. | The Atlantic
Watchable
The Instagram and TikTok algorithm tapped deep into the recess of my late ’90s, early aughts brain recently by serving me clips from Tomorrowland, a festival dedicated to techno and electronic music. This one of Anyma, an artist I obviously had to Google because I am now a midlife former raver—key word: former—really hit me where the beats and buildups of my youth use to: deep in the core. We didn’t have such trippy 3D visuals when we were dancing in warehouses and nightclubs, only laser lights and glowsticks. They definitely take things to the next level, though! That said, do people not dance? Why is everyone filming a DJ? Are they really going to rewatch this some time in the foreseeable future? Asking for a…former raver. :)
Currently Overthinking…
…whether to still send this newsletter a day “late”…whether I’m posting too much Montreal content on IG…whether I’m moving too fast…whether I’m even capable of slowing down… *facepalm*
Souvenir: Ice Capades
My brother and I found ourselves watching The Cutting Edge on TV last night (he still gets regular cable for this exact reason: to happen upon old-school movies and succumb to watching them), which reminded us of “graying ex-Olympians mingling with men in Smurf costumes,” as Slate so aptly described the Ice Capades in an article about the touring ice carnival. I definitely saw a handful of these shows as a kid. What about you?
I have so much love for Montréal, especially after living there for three months this year. It's such a beautiful city, and each neighborhood is so distinctive. The ability to speak both French and English really helps for those learning, and they're so kind about it. The Québécois accent threw me the most, but once I was exposed to it more (especially while in Québec City) I started to follow, lol.
I like the idea of being "at home but in exploration mode." This makes me want to go somewhere I once lived. But not NYC. When I go back there it just makes me remember how, every time I flew or drove back into New York City after a vacation, I cried like a baby because I didn't want to go back!