:: Feeling A Bit Sh*t Digest

Hello! Do you subscribe to my Feeling A Bit Sh*t newsletter? It’s a short email delivered to you at 7pm on Sunday night (when you might be feeling a little bit sh*t about the weekend being over) and it’s jam-packed with good stuff to read and look at. Does that sound good to you? Sign up here! If you want to!

Here’s some of what we sent out this month. Bookmark it for when you need something good to read!

* Courtney Barnett totally nailed it on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series. Shazam! (Also… Depreston!) Also… maybe take a walk down the street where I live?

* In 2007 John Maloof bought a whole bunch of old negatives at auction and began scanning them and uploading them to Flickr. Those negatives were the work of Vivian Maier, a nanny turned street photographer who took hundreds of thousands of photos of New York from the 1950s to the 90s. The documentary Finding Vivian Maier tells the whole John/Vivian story and you can see some of the developed images here.

* I heard this PJ Harvey interview on DoubleJ yesterday and I thought you might like it too. So interesting to hear her talk about wanting to give up her career after 3 years of struggling with touring, depression and the music industry ‘machinery’ (at the 13 minute mark.) ‘”My friends really held me together at that time.”

* ‘A clear head will find itself’ Some common-sense from the US Forest Service circa 1946 (just perfect for all humans, really. No fire/forest needed!)

* Vanessa Paradis is happy. Lily Allen is doing a Spanx dance. For realz.

* Roast some vegetables. Make some overnight oats. Slurp some soup. Eat a bun.

* Anyone can change the world. A Nobel Peace Prize winner tells us how.

* Album covers as drawn by kids. So good. I especially love all The Beatles ones.

* This is my fave. Dreams do come true!!!

* Forget your filtered coffee. Filtered water can save lives. This is totally amazing. CLEVER SCIENCE-Y people.

* How to talk to kids about gay people. Hint – don’t be a dick about it!

*And speaking of music, this site is like a helpful DJ, telling you what you might want to listen to next (with play or download links!) Deep disco,anyone? Don’t mind if I do.

* Insane in the Chromatophores.  I like this a lot because it’s funny and nature-y.

* The ten emotional states of the Pretty In Pink dress. I’m a bit obsessed with this movie so I loved reading this piece!

* Vivienne Westwood shares her life lessons including why she stopped crying, how she brushes her teeth and her very favourite food.

*What butterfly wings really look like (under a microscope) – super beautiful!

* In praise of JOMO – slightly related to FOMO (fear of missing out) but much nicer.

* Picasso at work. So cool with a bit of kook thrown in!

* Why taking a deep breath will improve your creativity.

* 200 free documentaries! Free! Documentaries! Go wild!

* In 1973, 9 year old Anthony wrote a letter to children’s program Blue Peter explaining that he thought he knew how to ‘make people or animals alive‘. Blue Peter wrote an encouraging reply. 35 years later Anthony went on to do something ground-breaking (and related!) and gives Blue Peter some of the credit. Click through for more…

* Stoppit! This is adorable. First big laugh! Guaranteed to make you feel non-sh*t!

* Make Sweet Potato Quinoa Patties of ace-ness. Or gluten-free shortbread. Perhaps Roast Chicken Salad with Goats Cheese AND Croutons!

* I love everything Helen Dardik does!

* The best fashion plucked from a whole bunch of Wes Anderson films.

* Beautiful Maurice Sendak posters celebrating reading and books.

* This is such a gorgeous idea. 52 DATES! Get date-y, guys!

* Everything is better with Sophie Dahl at your side. And drizzly figs.

* The Phantom of Fifth Avenue: Huguette Clark abandoned her 3 treasure-filled Fifth Avenue apartments to spend the last 20 hers of her life living in a hospital (even though she wasn’t sick.)

* This made my whole week. BECOME a microscope.

* This is ace. Think less about strategy, more about people. Yes!

* 1763 TED talks filed in one neat spreadsheet! What a labour of love it is!

* This was my favourite blog post this week. Back to school Dos Family style. I loved the bit about the inappropriate words and the principal. Hilarious.

* Mail art. It’s a total thing. Here’s 19 great examples of snail mail.

* I’m one trillion percent in love with this book subscription idea from Persephone Books. Swoon-attack.

* Dancing in Mom Jeans. Sure. Let’s do it. I can’t stop listening to this since my friend Rebel sent me the video because it reminded her of me. *pop and locks out of room*

* This was my laugh of the week. Did you read it yet? Hint: looks like it’s about rainbow cake. (Is not about rainbow cake in the end!) People are so funny/weird/nuts.

* How to tell if you are not being true to yourself.  So you can be more true to yourself. Or something!

* 37 great books for creatives like you and me! Word.

Hope there’s something in there to make your days non-sh*t!

x Pip