To Do

To Do (for pleasure; I won't go into my countless other To Do lists):

- Read all the books I currently have by my bedside, so I can start reading Damage (actually, I might not wait): this is one of the books that had been on my To Read list for years, and somehow I never saw it anywhere and always forgot when I ordered books online, which is less than once a year as I prefer buying books in real shops. Then, on Saturday, while waiting for a friend I popped into Bell, Book and Candle, a second-hand book and record shop, and there it was.

- More reading. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels are among my favourite and I have long been fascinated by Zelda Fitzgerald's part in his life and work as well as herself in her own right. My sister gave me the novel Alabama Song a few years ago and I have Nancy Milford's biography, and now, with the new The Great Gatsby film approaching, there are various fiction and non-fiction books being published this year, among them Beautiful Fools by R Clifton Spargo. Everything seems to be Gatsby-themed at the moment, and as someone who loves flapper dresses and ornate headbands, I don't get tired of it, but I have a feeling that despite the abundance of choice at present the flapper dress I have been searching for for so long won't be from a high-street shop. It will be vintage or made by one of my sisters. Or remain a sublime idea.

- Go to the cinema (a rare occurrence for me). I have been meaning to go and see In the House, but the screenings at the cinema here always seem to clash with my teaching or other things, but hopefully I will make it this week. I loved Ozon's Swimming Pool, and until a few weeks ago I didn't know about 2007's Angel, but apparently In the House completes his three-part exploration of the theme of writing.

- Get some sunlight (this - see last photo- is from a lovely book I picked up in a Hippie shop and often dip into for inspiration called 365 Ways to Live a Simple and Spiritual Life by Madonna Gauding. Each entry is preceded by a quote.) I have done that quite a bit over the last few days, which has prompted me to look for a good natural SPF moisturiser. The ones I have used in the past were either too sticky and/or chalky-looking. So far my research has told me that it may be better to use a separate SPF that sits on top of the moisturiser instead of using a combined product. This and this sound good, but I haven't figured out whether I can get them here or if they ship to Ireland. I use jojoba oil as a moisturiser, which is a natural sunscreen, but I worry that it is not sufficient. Lavender and chamomile essential oils also have sun-blocking properties, so mixing those with jojoba as a base oil could be a solution, but again I am not sure how much they protect the skin. Of course I will also go without every now and again to get the full benefit of sunlight. If you have any recommendations for sunscreen, please share in the comments.


| I intend not to use or link to amazon anymore due to their ethically questionable world-domination strategies. And none of the links on my blog are affiliate links.

|| The juxtaposition of the title of this post and the title of the book in the first picture just struck me - no, I do not intend to do damage...