I Am Firenze
Sharing my deep love of a complicated city along with highlighting a trailblazing Octogenarian and introducing my Tiny Tales in 10 x 10....
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I Am Firenze
I didn’t realise I would fall in love with her straight away but I did.
I fell hard. Head right over my heels.
Full blown ‘I adore you with all my heart’.
From a chance glance down a narrow street I first saw her dome and one round window. Moving closer her full body came into view.
And there she was.
Calm and stable and beautiful.
A riot of rose, ivory and sage. With breath caught the tears started to fall. She is stunning from every angle. Each side of her has something to show us.
When the sun is high she gleams. When it’s low she glows. Does she realise how beautiful she is? She must do. She’s been around for a long time. Soaking up her daily admiration.
Sometimes she can be too much though. Too much beauty exuding from her, filled with so much love, overflowing with impressive craftsmanship. There are only so many pictures one can take of the same building.
She is nestled in the centre of a complicated city. A city that is both breathtaking and despairing.
The tourists are never ending. They spread into every corner whether individually or within a group. An umbrella, held aloft, comes towards you with a sea of floating bodies behind it. Barely looking up, mostly watching their feet. Familiar accents surround you making it hard to stop and stare and wander and dream. Gliding over bridges they move en masse. Loud voices wrenching you from your reverie.
Because Firenze should be experienced in a dream ~ David is here, with hearts in his eyes, in many forms. The river a substitute date if you’re on your own. Ornate churches, cobbled streets, statues of love, pain, war, religion. The presence and adoration of art is palpable. This city is overflowing with romance. It slides through the streets, seeps out of buildings, rises over bridges and creeps up into you.
Before you know it you’re smitten.
Away from the city centre, and the mass of holiday migration, down a small street lies a green door. Behind the green door, up some steep steps, in an apartment with high ceilings lives a Boy. A young Boy who is calm and stable and beautiful.
And he lives a life I envy.
It is slow paced and creative and easy going. His days are filled with daily coffees, early evening appretivo, friends and sex and music and a rotation of new people. And being in his world can be so easy. So easy and beautiful and calm…
He often drinks in the square below his apartment with locals and their dogs and those visitors who have dared venture further afield. If he crosses the road and looks to his right the Duomo can be seen. Peeking through the buildings she is always there.
Standing tall telling everyone that I am Firenze and Firenze can be in all of you.
Wherever you find your romance go get it. Look up not down. Make time to stop and stare and wander and dream.
And take a trip to Florence. Life’s too short not to.
The Contents of My Consumption
~ Watching 📺~
Survival of the thickest | Netflix
Forever the main stars ‘best friend’, stand up Michelle Buteau finally takes centre stage in her fabulously camp and heartwarming comedy series which is loosely based on her life. She is so gorgeous and infectious and just a joy to watch. Ever a champion for thicker women this is a lush weekend binge. Oh and her stand up special on Netflix with her story of working with JLo is hilarious too.
Having been in awe of two friends who have survived the hell of hyperemisis {Shout out to the phenomenal Rosewood & Liv } this documentary follows Amy Schumer through her incredibly difficult pregnancy as well as touring the country AND filming a Netflix special. What a frikkin’ warrior woman! She is such a trooper as she spends time in hospital, navigates a diagnosis for her husbands mental health and gets on stage EVERY NIGHT to be funny. Not a great watch if you are pregnant but a fab insight into someone with a staunch work ethic.
~ Theatre 🎭 ~
Untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play | Young Vic
As a big lover of musicals, especially Miss Saigon, I knew I needed to be challenged so back in April I booked this for Sister With Massive Laugh and myself. We saw an early preview but it was excellent. A small cast play multiple roles and explore how Asian stereotypes have been depicted on stage for years. It’s funny, really well performed and gives the viewpoint from two generations of Asian women which I found the most compelling. Take your tissues for the end.
~ Reading 📖 ~
Whenever I need a cathartic cry I go back to this 2019 article journalist Suzanne Moore wrote about the editor and writer Deborah Orr. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny. It’s basically a love letter to a difficult, incredible friend and I often dream that someone will write something as honest about me when I pop my clogs ‘She could be such a miserable cunt at times but always managed to spin her woes into a funny tale’ Whoever wants to take up that challenge I’ve given you your first line….#guttediwontbeabletoheartherest
How to light the dark months | Katherine May | Substack
Summer’s eventual appearance in September {and now October!} has been a welcome surprise but Autumn/Winter is fast approaching and I’m not great in those seasons. The lack of light really affects me so I loved reading this article from the author of Wintering. Small tips and tricks to help us through the incoming dark times.
{In Scandinavia}…candles are lit early, burning through grey mornings and dull afternoons. They do not seem to be there to illuminate anything, but instead to offer warmth and contrast to the blue winter light.
Tiny Tales in 10 x 10
Inspired by Tiny Love Stories, as part of Modern Love for The New York Times, I decided to challenge myself to writing short stories in no more than 100 words…
I took myself to A&E in a taxi once. I cracked jokes with everyone I met because I’d never been to hospital and it was an adventure.
At 4am I finally cried when the doctor told me it was appendicitis. I mostly cried because I was envious she was my age and had a career.
My parents came two days later and took a photo of me in the carpark carrying a pouch of puss and blood. After the op doctors wouldn’t let me leave until I had taken a shit. I managed one on my Dads 71st birthday
100/100
I see you, Ladies🔎
Highlighting extraordinary, hardworking, fabulous women over the age of 50. Regardless of how society has previously treated women past a certain age I am looking to be inspired by generations before me and refuse to fade away anytime soon. I see you, Ladies….I see you.
Bethann Hardison, former model, activist and agent, only recently came to my attention with a newly released documentary about her extraordinary life.
Invisible Beauty showcases her rise from being the only ‘black, black-looking model on 7th avenue’ to setting up her own modelling agency, Bethann Management, to still championing inclusion and diversity within the fashion industry today.
In 1988 she started The Black Girls Coalition, with Iman, to highlight the lack of models of colour on the catwalk. Change started to happen but it was short lived. Even though Hardison had left the modelling world in 1996 she was called back to lend her voice once more.
In 2012, again with Iman and this time Naomi Campbell, she set up The Diversity Coalition which included other concerned industry professionals who wanted to see change when it came to the lack of diversity and inclusion within fashion.
I had to change the game immediately, so after Fashion Week in 2013, I wrote a letter naming the fashion houses that were consistently lacking in racial diversity and sent it to Women’s Wear Daily and the four councils of fashion in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. I had to really temper the list because so many designers were at fault.
In 2014 she was awarded the prestigious CFDA Founders Award for her contribution to the world of fashion.
Model. Activist. Icon ~ 81 years young
We see you, Bethann Hardison…We see you.