vol 2 - learning to lock in
my attention span has gone to shit. and i hate it.
this week’s tabs focus on attention, distraction, and the art of slowing down. from rosalia’s hour-long invitation to listen, to the centuries-old rituals still alive in rural england, to a phone that promises less, not more.
🎻 rosalía — finish the thought
rosalía asked her fans for an hour of undivided attention with her LUX listening party in barcelona. if you don’t know what i’m referring to the set design alone is worth the look.
whilst i couldn’t attend (wasn’t invited), i gave her that hour through her conversation with zane lowe about patience, maximalism, and finishing the thought. no loops, no shortcuts, go all the way. it stuck with me. it’s embarrassingly rare that i let anything unfold like that unless it’s work, which on reflection is a bit sad.
she’s on about classics, too, which feels apt; i’ve had the uncontrollable urge to blast vivaldi at every waking moment since the leaves started to fall. she talks about walking with bach and mahler, writing for orchestra, choosing played over programmed so the music breathes like a human. it isn’t nostalgia; it’s intent and feels like she’s about to change the game. I’m excited to see the cultural domino effect on this one.
what i took from it wasn’t productivity, and definitely not be stricter, but be present. so i did the tiniest radical thing i could: closed the extra tabs, put my phone in another room, and listened to the deeply beautiful interview from start to finish followed by the album which is a rare gift of patience in the algorithm age. lately, i’ve been craving something that requires technique and attention, so - inspired - i signed up for ballet for the first time since childhood. and archery, because why the fuck not.
🕯️calendar customs — fandom before the internet
harry and dani came over for dinner, one of those rare nights where we actually hung out, no agenda, just food and talking. somewhere between second servings, we got onto how no one really hangs out anymore.
then they introed me to this site, calendarcustoms.com. a wormhole of british weirdness: cheese rolling, straw bears, viking fire parades. every event is basically an excuse to gather and do something gloriously pointless (or so it may seem). things our phones or ai can’t do. no one seems to question or sometimes know why, because the thrill of joining in with your neighbours outweighs reason.
my favourite is in west witton, where the village drags a stuffed man called bartle through the streets before setting him on fire (metal af). no one’s sure who he was saint, thief, or giant but they still shout his story into the night:
on penhill crags he tore his rags / hunters thorn he blew his horn / cappelbank stee happened a misfortune and brak’ his knee / grassgill beck he brak’ his neck / wadhams end he couldn’t fend / grassgill end we’ll mak’ his end / shout, lads, shout!
now don’t get it twisted, i’m not anti-internet. just anti-isolation and pro-connection. maybe that’s why these half-mad rituals feel so comforting, they make hanging out look sacred again.
📵 the balance phone — less, but make it luxury
somewhere in the substack trenches, i found plum sykes writing about the balance phone which she bought for her teenage daughter; partly due to parenting, partly to protest, and i thought: finally! a phone i’ve been looking for. freedom from the scroll, but still whatsapp, maps, the basics you can’t live without (or it adds inconvenience) in the modern world.
it’s funny how saying no to notifications now feels like an act of privilege. restraint as status. i read digital minimalism by cal newport once. started with all the best intentions, but discipline is hard when the dopamine’s free.
so i ordered one. it’s still in the post. £250 with a discount code. not cheap, but nowhere near iphone territory. still, it feels like a luxury to step back from the apps that dominate our lives in an age where our time and attention are the new currency, and distraction’s the tax.
🥀 some reddish work — the madness of being a girl
girls only want one thing; to descend into 1600s hysteria and fuck by candlelight in the cumbrian countryside.
four chambers’ some reddish work is the kind of film the algorithm can’t categorise. every frame is feral and exquisite. the english countryside at its most unhinged, the music as beautiful as it is haunting. witch trials, repression, surrender all rolled into a fire-lit fever dream.
Starring the most incredible María Riot, Vex Ashley, Marcus Quillan and Cora; and assisted by my gorgeous bff Helena and Sean (who shot some beautful bts) the film is nsfw, but safe for an indulgent solo watch party. or with your lover(s), when netflix just isn’t hitting.
watching it, i kept thinking: what is desire without a little hysteria anyway?
final word
i don’t think i’m craving simplicity. quite the opposite, i’m craving depth. things that require me to take a while. an hour with rosalia, a dinner with friends, a day in a town rolling cheese down a hill for no good reason, a film that makes me feel unhinged and to embrace it. i miss getting lost in stuff, not scrolling past it.
this week reminded me how good it feels to give a damn again.