“Home” is a relative phrase. To me, it has many meanings. My apartment. My relationship with my partner. Places I’ve lived in the past. My neighborhood. My borough. My city. My state. My country. The Earth itself.
I’ve lived in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for over a year now. Our apartment is small, but organized and bright, and the huge backyard makes up for the cramped quarters. The shopkeepers and locals know me by face now if not by name. Since our dog passed away in June, I am no longer “the new guy with that cute, happy dog,” I am just “that neighborhood guy.” This feels like home.
In some ways I consider home to be north Alabama, where I have family and lived for many years. Birmingham also feels like home, I lived there for several years over two decades.
There are homes that I can never revisit. Relationships, a marriage, friendships outgrown or lost.
For now, I can always go back to my place on Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn, relax, and work my way through my stack of incoming books with my cat in my lap and my partner beside me. That is home.
Where do you consider home?
Largehearted Likes
Hoplark Sparkling Water with Sabro Hops - The drink of late summer at the Largehearted Lounge. Instantly refreshing and calorie-free, a can has been at my side constantly while writing during the day. Infinitely better tasting than any non-alcoholic beer I’ve tried.
Mo - The Netflix dramedy about a Palestinian seeking asylum in the United States (for 20 years) is both hilarious and moving, refreshingly told from their perspective.
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich - The Netflix docuseries unfolded Epstein’s crimes and the power he used to cover them up and/or receive lenience. A true horror story.
Leah Umansky’s new manuscript - Leah is a poet I admire as well as a friend. The manuscript for her fourth book is a drastic change for her, creative nonfiction, and as a collection it is powerful and unsettling. (The link goes to her poetry published online, several of the recently published pieces are in the manuscript).
Tony’s Chocolonely Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Bar - Eating this chocolate has become a nightly ritual for my partner and me. The milk chocolate is surprisingly flavorful and the hazelnuts impart crunch and a nice complementary flavor. These bars are one of the reasons I am drinking more sparkling hop water instead of beer these days…
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 - When my beloved Grado SR80s finally broke after years of use last year, I begrudgingly started using a pair of Bose 700s that was given to me at work. The difference was startling. On Zoom calls, streaming video, and especially listening to music. Great range and the noise cancelling is the best I have ever experienced.
Azure Gourmet - This “gourmet bodega” is my sandwich spot (“11. Volcano Flower” or “14. North Reuben”). Azure Gourmet is located a block from Transmitter Park so I can sit, read, and eat by the East River, then walk a couple of blocks to WORD Bookstore!
SONOS speakers - I have two of these, a Three in the bedroom and a Five in the living room, and the room-filling sound plus the ease of changing tunes/adjusting volume/switch to a podcast from any cell phone, tablet, or laptop makes them so easy to use.
Brouwerij Lane - My Greenpoint local, with one of the best beer lists in New York City, as well as punk music over the speakers. Great place to take a book, partner, or friend.
Untold: The Rise and Fall of AND1 - Since watching this Netflix docuseries about the athleticwear brand and its rise to (and drop from) glory, I have been occasionally shouting , “Oh Baby!!!!,” like AND1’s announcer at their games. Insightful and entertaining. For more AND1 history, read COMPLEX’s oral history of the brand.
Walking - I’ve been taking long walks lately, through the neighborhood, south through Williamsburg, and along the East River. We’ve been in Greenpoint for 15 months now, and the walks are connecting me to the neighborhood more every day as my eyes are opened to its people and its peculiarities. So many pirogi and kielbasa options!
Largehearted Links
Lincoln Michel on defining literary genres - “Genre is not chemistry or physics. There are not a set of rules we can apply to genres that always hold true or which we can use to sort works of art from across time and culture. There isn’t anyway to objectively measure if a story is genre x or genre y.”
Roxane Gay on the death of Mahsa Amini - “Women are not free when their bodies are legislated whether we are talking about reproductive freedom or gender expression or how we clothe ourselves and move in public and private spaces. We can respect other cultures as feminists while acknowledging practices that are unequivocally unacceptable which the Islamic Hijab Rules absolutely are.”
Alina Stefanescu interviewed poet Pamela Mordecai - “If poetry is to season the spirit (in enslaved persons’ meaning of the term), it must address life’s brutishness, much of which women endure.”
Blake Butler has started a Substack focusing on classic books in translation.
Kamila Shamsie & Sunjeev Sahota in conversation - “Shamsie: It’s funny you should mention how verdant my novels are. I’m an urban cliché in my ignorance of the natural world but when I write I always find it strangely important to know what trees and plants are growing in the places and seasons I’m writing about.”
Sandra Cisneros on her new poetry collection - “It’s more my journal than my journal. My journals are like hieroglyphics. If you look at my journal, you won’t understand a phrase or a name or a quote. It won’t explain where things come from. It’s only when I write poetry that I explore.”
Jill Bialosky on finding time to write - “I can write anywhere if I have solitude. If not, I’ll pop in my ear buds and sound out any noise with classical music.”
Eimear McBride on books and reading - “I despise wafty, goalless female protagonists.”
Nada Alic interviewed about her debut story collection - “"I’m more interested in voice and character than the unfolding of events over time. Plot is more of a loose scaffolding for characters, so if you’ve got a compelling character, they can hold your attention regardless of whether they’re going to the grocery store or doing something glamorous or exciting…”
Last Week on LHB
Amy Fusselman's playlist for her novel The Mean$
Cecil Castellucci's playlist for her graphic novel Shifting Earth
David Ebenbach's playlist for his poetry collection What’s Left to Us by Evening