Noodle

About a month ago, I noticed a lump on the neck of one of my dogs. It seemed unusual so we had it checked out. The vet confirmed that it was in fact unusual, worrisome even, and should be removed. She had surgery the following week.

A few days after the surgery, the vet called to let us know that the lump was cancerous, a thyroid carcinoma, and asked if we wanted to be referred to an oncologist. I said yes.

At the oncologist, we were offered a number of options, the most sensical being a CT scan to determine if the cancer had spread. We again said yes. It turned out the cancer had spread—in this case to her other thyroid. She had a second surgery to remove it.

After a five-day, post-op stay at the vet, she is now home and recovering incredibly well. (She is a husky cross and has been running around the house howling since she got home.)

I tell you all this because the last month has been exhausting and has thrown everything I had planned out of whack, which means the essay I was working on for this month is nowhere near finished.

In its place, I thought I would offer a few links to things I have enjoyed reading, watching or listening to in the last few weeks, along with a picture of my sweet pup. Her name is Kai but her nickname is Noodle, for no particular reason other than we said it one day and it stuck. It often gets shortened to Noods, which leads me to sometimes call her Tasteful Nudes—occasionally out loud, more often in my head. Again, I have no idea why. She is a remarkable creature and I love her to bits.

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Some links:

-I really enjoyed this interview with Margot Jefferson (by Hilton Als) for the Paris Review, as part of their Art of Criticism series.

-I’ve always liked Norwegian photographer Ola Rindal’s work. His photographs juxtapose formal simplicity with a subtle sense of mystery. It gives them a feeling I struggle to describe but love to look at. His new book, Stains & Ashes, looks interesting.

-this review of Andrea Long Chu’s new book, Authority, really got at what I struggle with about some of Chu’s writing.

-I really enjoyed this episode of Switched on Pop (Does it trance? The Weeknd & FKA Twigs), which I listened to with my partner a few weeks ago.

-because of the podcast, I have been listening to the new FKA twigs album pretty steadily. But perhaps even more importantly, I’ve been watching the video for “Eusexua,” which has some of the best dance choreography I’ve seen in a while. (I sent it to my sister-in-law, a choreographer, who confirmed that the choreography is great.)

-during the production of The Virgin Suicides, the photographer Corrine Day took a series of photographs of the cast and set that I’ve always loved. A book was published some years ago, but I’ve never been able to get my hands on a copy. At long last, MACK is publishing a new book of Day’s photographs from the set of the film, as part of Sofia Coppola’s imprint with the publisher. I loved Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel of the same name, and though I thought Coppola’s movie didn’t fully capture the magic of that book, I think it probably came as close as anyone could. Either way, I am really looking forward to the book.

-I liked this essay in The New Yorker about Kate Friend’s series of photographs called “There Are Always Flowers for Those Who Want to See Them.” The photographs are beautiful and reminded me a bit of Taryn Simon’s “Paperwork and the Will of Capital.” What I liked most about the essay was the inclusion of the photograph showing Friend’s portable studio. I love seeing process photographs—sometimes more than I love seeing the final work.

-I recently picked up David Szalay’s Flesh, thanks in part to a positive review in The Guardian. I’m in the middle of two other books right now so I haven’t properly started it yet, but from what I’ve read so far, it’s great. The beginning of the book has been published on Granta.

-lastly, two things I wrote that were recently published. They can be found here and here.

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