“Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her…In October any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible.”
― Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond

A few days behind times but still in time to celebrate some of the good things in life, trivial though they may be, before we get a spike of anxiety on the morrow.

Minions, share your monthly finds with me in the comments: books, films, exhibitions, lipstick (always lipstick), or anything else worth spreading the good news about!

Urban Decay Cream Vice Lipstick in F-Bomb. This is a punchy blue-based red that, on me at least, looks precisely like shiny red patent leather. Sexy, lethal looking, highly pigmented. ‘Nuff said. I foresee it will get a lot of usage as the holiday season creeps up on us.

The last thirty seconds in the first episode of Netflix’s Luke Cage. Internet troubles hindered my attempts to catch up on pop culture for the first couple of weeks this month, but we did manage to start the latest of the Netflix/Marvel universe iterations. There is a moment where the eponymous character slowly and deliberately pulls his hoodie up around his face and looks out at the viewer. The screen cuts to black…and I about lost my cool. It’s small perhaps, but seemed a deliberate callback to Trayvon Martin’s murder and felt like a much needed middle finger to the racism and ugliness that this summer has seen in the US.

Black Mirror, Netflix. Sorry to give you a double Netflix whammy, but I’m late to the Black Mirror party and needed to catch up as I’d heard nothing but rave reviews from friends on this series. I was not disappointed, this show is properly twisted! I’d classify it as mostly “techno horror” as it’s made up of individual, self contained episodes that each envision a world scarily near to our own (or at least not inconceivably far in the future) where technology and society come in to sharp conflict. Mob behavior online is juxtaposed with actual insect swarm behavior. Our deepest secrets can be carried around with us in a device that can fit in our pocket and may not be as safe as we think it is. Cache on social media blurs the lines between happiness and performance…not that unfamiliar, right? Well, never fear, there is always a twist and some are properly spine tingling.

NailsInc NailKale in Montpelier Walk. There is a very specific Urban London Rich Girl look that I admire from afar. I’m neither tall nor blonde enough to pull it off, to say nothing  not possessing the required levels of svelteness. I also insist on mucking up perfectly acceptable all-black style choices with too-vibrant color, buying weird stuff when I should buy “tasteful” standbys, and fail utterly to understand how to style my hair for the weather. Regrets = zero, but I salute the women who make it an art form and occasionally flirt with some of its trappings. A very good nude nail is one of them and praise be, I’ve finally found one I like. Is this because it was recommended to me by a fantastic and whip smart woman who nails the ULRG look and always looks impeccable, or because the name reminded me of my favorite first lady (Dolley Madison)? YES. The answer is yes.

A Seat at the Table, Solange. This album has been on repeat pretty much since it dropped. It is ridiculously good–personal, powerful, soulful, and an education to listen to.