weekly digest #27
june 29 - july 5, 2026: the mysteries of udolpho, project hail mary, yard, earrings, knitting & sewing
Living with my parents in a neighborhood full of retirees, it’s almost disorienting to spend time with people who aren’t twice my age. My sibling and their boyfriend came to visit for a few days on their way to camp with his family for the long weekend, which was nice. The fourth of July isn’t a holiday I care about – I don’t think there’s much worth celebrating – but I’m happy enough to eat some hot dogs and watch strangers set off fireworks along the shore.
reading
I’m about two thirds of the way through The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (published 1794), which is proving to be a slow read. I expected drama, but it takes a loooooong time to get there. There are a dozen chapters of our heroine Emily being virtuous and appreciating nature and loving her father before we get to any evil plotting or spooky castles. (The titular Udolpho, a decaying castle in the Apennines, isn’t reached until chapter 18.)
Radcliffe is not my favorite writer. Her prose is quite repetitive, and she has an irritating habit of inserting poetry in the middle of scenes. I don’t know enough about 18th century poetry to evaluate it properly, but it doesn’t seem like it’s very good. And boy does she love a comma. For example, this relatively simple sentence contains nine commas and one semicolon:
As the carriage-wheels rolled heavily under the portcullis, Emily’s heart sunk, and she seemed, as if she was going into her prison; the gloomy court, into which she passed, served to confirm the idea, and her imagination, ever awake to circumstance, suggested even more terrors, than her reason could justify.
I wouldn’t say I regret reading this so far, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up anything else by Ms. Radcliffe.
watching
We’ve been watching bits and pieces of the world cup. My dad and I were rooting for Croatia (where the Mestriches are from), but now that they’ve been eliminated I don’t really care who wins. We caught the end of the Cape Verde vs. Argentina match which was pretty incredible. I’m not a big sports person in general, but have found that I prefer soccer to a lot of the other sports I’ve watched sporadically. It’s not constantly interrupted by time outs and whatever bullshit eats the clock in American football.
We also watched Project Hail Mary (2026, dir. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller), which I don’t think I would have watched without my dad suggesting it. It’s an enjoyable enough blockbuster, but the humor is frequently grating. My mom pointed out that although the stakes are high (the end of the world, a suicide mission to space), nothing ever feels that serious – I think the word she used was facile. The movie wants to be funny and heartwarming more than it wants to be suspenseful. I guess that’s fine? Not the choices I would have made, but then I’m not getting a multi-million dollar Amazon budget.
listening
I’ve had Slow Pulp’s Yard, a moody indie rock album, on repeat. It strikes me as ideal heat wave music, just soft enough for lying as still as possible in a dark room with all the blinds drawn. The title track is my favorite of the bunch.
eating & drinking
For dinner my dad made crunchy roll bowls, white beans and chorizo with marinated tomatoes and onion, spaghetti and meatballs, fajitas, summer rolls, hot dogs, and pork chops with zucchini and feta. My mom made strawberry shortcakes, the first of hopefully many summer berry inspired treats.
making
I’m continuing to knit on my scrappy sweater and hand sew my hinterland dress. This was originally just going to be a quick mock-up, but once I got the fit right I thought it might actually be wearable, so I decided to finish everything properly – the skirt and pockets are french seamed and the bodice is fully lined (the thrifted bed sheet I’m using as fabric is a little transparent). I still have to attach the second button placket, gather the skirt, attach the skirt to the bodice, and hem the skirt. It’s slow going, especially since I made some mistakes I had to rip out and redo, and because adding a lining meant I basically had to make the bodice twice. I’m learning a lot!
shopping
I didn’t buy anything this week, but I did get these beautiful earrings from my sibling Charley, who made them for me as a birthday gift. They look like little candies.
kitsch corner
Behold the July page of my vintage cats calendar. I have also been saying hi to the local frogs, who I hear almost every evening and can occasionally see in the pond near our house. (A generous name for a very tiny body of water.)
See you next week.
xoxo,
Franny 💋🐸
Omg those earrings from Charley are amazing