Occasionally I desire to have my skull popped open, my brain removed, and all its grody nooks and crannies pressure washed clean — and never moreso than at the tail end of a superlatively hot July spent in the thrall of a cartoonish parade of medium-shitty boring life shit plus a baby cutting two top teeth. Unfortunately, my insurance recently changed and skull-popping is now out of network! I’ve started and abandoned about six different drafts for this month’s newsletter, but trying to write under present conditions feels about like it feels to walk around outside right now, like being sous-vided in the devil’s asscrack. It’s bleak even in my trusty Notes app note where I keep a list of all the things I’ve enjoyed recently so as to make lighter, brighter work of these occasional phoned-in issues — or at least as bleak as a list can be when it’s exclusively snacks, which perhaps isn’t too bleak at all. I dunno, you tell me!
TO WIT, SOME GOOD SNACKS (AND TWO SELTZERS, ALSO GOOD):
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Coconut Almonds
Trader Joe’s Herbs & Spices Popcorn
Life Raft Treats’ Not Fried Chicken
Bright Side Beverage Club Yuzu Elderflower or Peach Ginger
There we go, a highly meltable mid-summer offering from me to you. I hope to make a more thoughtful return in August; in the meantime, stay cool, drink your water, and stop Cop City.
Thanks for reading Vanitas, a newsletter about life, death, and other dumb stuff. If you’d like, follow me on Instagram: @by_rachaelmaddux.
The painting is Sun, by Arthur Dove.