Daydreamer Diaries: Sept 2022

Musings

Due to the Queen’s passing a few weeks back, most of the content I consumed in September was royal-related. It’s too complex to explain my thoughts about the monarchy in just a few sentences here so I won’t try, but know that my fascination with the events this month stemmed more from a historical context than a supportive one. (I’ve also recently gotten interested in the fashion of the royal family and the visuals they are able to orchestrate, which we saw in overdrive through out this month. No one does pomp and circumstance like the Brits.) There’s probably not much of an argument to justify royals in our modern world; however, you can’t deny that the cultural impact of Queen Elizabeth II is (was?) global. We got to watch history unfold in real time, and I just couldn’t look away.

I was lucky enough to visit England for my third time in August just 3 weeks before Her Majesty died, and I didn’t realize that it would be my last time (probably ever) in the country with a Queen on the throne. With Charles now King, and with William and George behind him, I had to mourn that fact. I think it meant something to live in a world with a woman at the head of the world’s most prominent monarchy, brightly dressed and demanding to be seen. With the state of the world for women right now, with rights being stripped away what feels like every single day, it scares me to think how the culture (a.k.a. the patriarchy) will be affected with Kings running the U.K. instead of a Queen. I know you can’t link these sorts of things directly, but there’s no way it won’t have some sort of impact.

Reads

On that note, I wanted to share this article by Elizabeth Holmes. She’s the author of HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style. She also runs a fabulous account on Instagram mostly about royal fashion (follow her @ eholmes) and writes a great newsletter called “So Many Thoughts” which you can subscribe to via email. I loved following her coverage of the funeral and the events leading up to it. I especially appreciated this article on The Cut: https://www.thecut.com/2022/09/elizabeth-was-the-last-queen-of-england.html (which, among other things, questions how the world will react to a King in charge versus a grandmother/Queen).

More articles I’ve been reading about the passing of The Queen:

This is a Britain who has lost its Queen — and the luxury of denial about its past by Afua Hirsch. Is it really possible to mourn Elizabeth as a person separate from what her reign stood for? This is a question that perpetually fascinates me in other areas of life as well. For example, can we separate artists as people (who are inherently flawed, sometimes do horrible things, and therefore don’t always deserve our monetary support) from their art (which on its own may be compelling, enjoyable, valuable, and culturally impactful)? For Afua, the answer to the former question is no, and she does a great job articulating why.

King Charles III: The epitome of inherited everything by Robin Givhan. She writes, “He’s the White male heir at a time when White male privilege at all levels has been vigorously called into question. He is the epitome of inherited everything. He is a distillation of our contemporary grievances.” I totally agree with that, and I wonder what legacy he’ll leave behind considering the lack of affection for him during his accession to King.

September Favorites

Whew, that got a bit heavy, so let’s end this month’s post with some lighthearted pleasures! My quarantine hobby from 2020 is still going strong to this day, a.k.a. I’m still finding joy in make up and make up creators on YouTube. One of those creators, Kathleen Lights, released an eyeshadow pallet in collaboration with a brand called Il Makiage, and I had to support her by buying. It is SO GOOD.

I also let myself lean into fall towards the end of the month, and I’m not mad about it. I went camping with friends and made a fall-inspired cocktail which was really tasty–not too sweet, but not too strong either. It was a Cran-Apple Moscow Mule and you can make it by adding 4 oz. Vodka with 1/4 cup cranberry juice and 1/2 cup sparkling apple juice. To finish, top it off with ginger beer and add fresh cranberries for garnish. Very simple but highly recommend for fall vibes!

Don’t Worry Darling is a movie I remember hearing about almost a year ago. That’s when the world found out that Harry Styles was dating Olivia Wilde (they met on set I guess– he starred in it and she acted and directed! and left her husband for him?), and when I feel like the hype for this film really began. Well, fast forward to this month, and the internet was overloaded with drama about Harry, Olivia, Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, and Shia LaBeouf. I couldn’t possibly go into it all here, but I can’t deny that it kept me entertained and also very confused.

There aren’t enough female directors in Hollywood, and I hope that the drama surrounding the premier won’t take away from Olivia’s reputation as a director. This month, I finally saw the film behind it all. I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s my kind of movie and touches on themes like gender roles and control (to be very vague). It left me wanting to have a conversation about what it all meant, so I would recommend seeing it. That being said, critics absolutely HATED it… and after reading reviews, the criticism is totally valid. Definitely a conversation starter!

Words

From a poem called “Ship’s Manifest,” by Amanda Gorman, which you can find in her book, Call Us What We Carry.

…to be accountable we must render an account:

not what was said, but what was meant.

Not the fact, but what was felt.

What was known, even while unnamed.

Our greatest test will be

Our testimony…