A Something Good retrospective
Did you read the first one?
When I sent out the very first edition of this newsletter one year ago today, it went to 33 people. Since most of you weren’t here yet, I figured I’d share that first edition again. It explains why I named the this space “Something Good” and what I hoped to do with it. As I scroll through the 51 dispatches that followed, I feel like I met my goal of delivering a sweet something to those who care to receive. Below, I’ve sorted these messages into what emerged as the dominant subcategories: Music, Art, Design, Meditation, and Musings.
Thank you for being here.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Please consider this a massive, frilly, heart-shaped valentine that, when opened, dumps glitter all over your lap. Inside is a picture of Christopher Plummer, who shuffled off this mortal coil on February 5th.
The timing is funny, since I named this newsletter after his duet with Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. The song is about two people wondering aloud what each could have done to deserve the love of the other. As a part-time Lutheran (the other part is “agnostic who loves astrology”), all I hear in this song is the concept of grace. Not in the sense of “graceful” or “gracious,” but the theological description, which I’ve boiled down over the years to “love and acceptance given without consideration of ‘deservingness.’” When someone is really hopscotching on my last nerve, I repeat “grace is undeserved” like a mantra in my head until I unclench and retire the desire for a cinematic backhand.
Fun fact: The song wasn’t part of the original soundtrack. According to the definitive guide to all things SOM, The Making of The Sound of Music by Max Wilk (pick up a copy from your local bookstore, I refuse to link to Amazon!), Richard Rodgers wrote “Something Good” specifically for the film version, replacing the song “An Ordinary Couple” from the stage adaptation, at the urging of the producers, who felt the song was weak. In the final version, Plummer’s voice was dubbed by legendary playback singer Bill Lee, but we’ll forgive that. Wanting more from him than this gif is honestly greedy.
When my grandmother neared the end of her life in the hospital this past fall, my mom put on The Sound of Music for her, hoping she’d be soothed by the familiar melodies. That this was the last piece of art Grandmomma consumed—that “Something Good” soundtracked one of her last days—feels appropriate. She had, as the song lyrics go, a wicked childhood, a miserable youth. But despite all that, she welcomed love into her life then gave it back out a thousand-fold to everyone she knew, creating a house full of joy and art, playing Rodgers and Hammerstein records on the turntable and dancing in the kitchen. No one taught her how to love or what to love. Yet, she moved naturally and authentically from a challenging childhood and adolescence to an adulthood festooned with community, choir, pearls, art, china dishes, Handel, baking, and special cards for every occasion.
She had every reason to reject love, art, beauty and connection as superficial, unworthy of time and money. But she didn’t. She didn’t question the deservingness of what brought her peace or pleasure. She may have questioned her own deservingness for love, but she didn’t let it stop her from building a life around her great love with my grandfather. Grandmomma’s life was a masterclass in loving without a thought to perceived deservingness.
That is the ethos of Zhuzh and why this newsletter is named “Something Good.” We’re going to celebrate what we love, what brings us peace or pleasure, without a thought to “deservingness.” I am not a critic (well, except for my tepid takedown of Linda Holmes’ book). I am not here to put my sociology degree to use with thoughtful analyses of art and culture. I am here to share something good with you, to add a sprinkle of sparkle to your Sunday evening, to remind you to stay arms-wide-open to whatever you love.
What’s something good that you’d like to share? Reply to this email and tell me. I will think of it as a valentine <3.
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
Elizabeth
A Catalog of Somethings Good:
MUSIC
Remember Sex? Whew, I really came hot out the gate with this one! It’s a playlist about the experience of physical intimacy, which has been a purely theoretical concept for me for many moons. Like, many, many moons. So many moons. I’m fine.
Afternoon Jolt: A Reason to Dance This is a playlist for shimmying and chair-dancing through your workday. Or, regular dancing through your any day.
Who is Beverly Glenn-Copeland? Please listen to this one song.
The Charlie’s Angels Theme Song It is so good. More shimmying to be had!
Who is Minnie Ripperton? A soul angel, that’s who. This newsletter is also the only one that mentions a lion attack.
Summer 2021 This is a truly excellent playlist. I am tooting my own horn. Toot toot. Or, rather, Tute Tute.
Yacht Rock I basically just defined this genre for you and linked you to a pre-made Spotify playlist. Not my best effort, but now we know the nuances of Yacht Rock.
Autumn 2021 This playlist is also really, really good. It’s like I have great taste in music or something. She’s humble, too!
Who is Nicholas Britell? A composer you’ve probably heard, that’s who! He did both the theme to Succession and the most beautiful composition I think I’ve ever heard.
Take a Hot Bath This is a fabulous little 32 minute playlist of chill, beautiful tunes to soundscape a warm submersion.
LUMP Fresh off my first plant medicine experience, which really defined my year, I waxed poetic about one great album.
Meet Rising Appalachia Another transcendent experience of this past year was seeing Rising Appalachia live. Fiddle music makes me weep.
Sondheim’s Company I can’t believe it took me nearly a year to talk about my favorite musical.
ART
Who is Yayoi Kusama? Come visit me in DC and experience her for yourself! Her art is like walking into the physical manifestation of universal love.
Who is Laurie Anderson? See her and her work in my TikTok!
Who is Schiaparelli? The woman, the fashion house, the surrealist fever-dream.
Lichtenstein meets Monet in a botanical garden.
Yves Klein Blue And some background on the artist.
Who is Pamela Colman Smith? Mysticism, art, history…this one had it all.
A deep dive into the color pink
DESIGN
A history of Depression glass featuring my favorite prop-styling shoot ever.
Timorous Beastie’s Bloomsbury Gardens pattern I floated using “gruntle” in our day-to-day vocabulary and talked about wallpaper.
Neoclassical Hyper-fixated on some wrapping paper and ended up learning what a cornice is.
Art Deco My favorite architectural influence.
Victorian Renaissance Revival And the story of my big red mirror.
Beaux-Arts Super fancy stone and columns.
TOILE! This pattern is so great. I have a Toile shower curtain now.
Brocade vs. Jacquard vs. Damask Important fabric knowledge.
The history of Corelle dishware And my pattern, Spring Blossom.
Eglomise is the practice of painting on glass with the intention of seeing the painting through the glass. We also get into chinoiserie.
My incredible childhood birthday cakes Truly feats of architectural prowess by my mom.
MEDITATION
A guided meditation I had a transcendental shower experience and it turned into writing my first guided meditation.
A guided chakra meditation This is a great track to transition between active hours and winding-down sleepy time.
“I Release Control” Still working on applying the message of this song.
Space to contemplate the year ahead I think these questions still have bearing through the first quarter of the year. Q2? No way. No reflection allowed in Q2. Sorry.
MUSINGS
What I Bought Knowing I’d Have to Move It An unhinged note from the weeks where my belongings were packed up and I was living in a near-empty apartment going crazy.
The history of Gray Gardens I loved researching the history of this infamous mansion with Kennedy and Washington Post ties.
The Love Witch is a perfect movie for Halloween AND Valentine’s Day! Versatile!
The history of an Appomattox mill house where I turned 28 in July.
That time I invited strangers over for dinner
A soup recipe and a new moon ritual
Three movies to celebrate mothers guest curated by my dear friend, journalist Kayla Randall.
Some sustainable shopping suggestions
The history of the National Zoo Glockenspiel The only mention of “sperm” in 51 newsletters.
An introduction to advocacy group Fashion Revolution
Anna Marie Tendler, Susan Sontag, and Instagram This one was real navel-gazey.