we were idealist

Lizzo Proves She’s Ready For The Big Time With ‘Cuz I Love You’

Singer, rapper and dancer Lizzo has been playing the flute since she was in junior high. The diverse set of songs on her new album showcase an immensely ambitious — and talented — artist. 

Your weekend listen. -Emily

“He fell down on his birthday. We’d just celebrated with a party.  He was standing on a ladder, trying to fix a shelf, and he fell.  It was all very sudden.  He was in a coma for a week and then he was gone.  After his death, I began to write in a journal.  On the first pages I wrote about his final days.  I was so sad.  I just needed to process what happened.  But then I kept going back, back, writing everything I could remember: the walks we had together, the places we visited, museums, castles, holidays with the children.  I carried a pen with me at all times.  Every time I had a memory, I’d write it down.  We’d known each other since we were fourteen years old.  We’d take walks in this park back then, with our parents permission, of course.  It’s been almost nine months since his death.  I’m feeling a little better.  I’m still writing, but it’s not so much about memories anymore.  It’s more spiritual now.  I think he’s still evolving somewhere.  One night I saw him in a dream.  It was the young Claude.  Twenty-five or thirty years old.  It was so real.  I don’t even think it was a dream.  I could feel him there.  He was standing in a doorway, dressed completely in red.  And Claude never wore red.  But when I reached out to hug him, the door closed, and he disappeared.  I believe he’s still out there somewhere.  And that I’ll see him again on the other side of that door.” (Paris, France)

1962 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvkkn0_hFUV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vpzclj358zot

Mood | Pang Xunqin, “The Girl on the Couch” (1930)

PATREON

March 1966 https://www.instagram.com/p/BvExUEGhVCk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=179x8furfrhvv

Adi Dizdarevic

1960s

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard about the accident at South By Southwest a few years back.  A car plowed into a crowd of pedestrians.  Four people died.  Twenty-five were injured.  I was the twenty-fifth.  I broke my back and neck in four places.  The driver was fleeing from the police in a stolen car.  He was twenty-one years old.  His name was Rashad.  A lot of people in my life thought he should get the death penalty.  But I never had strong feelings about it.  Maybe I disconnected from my emotions.  Maybe it’s just my personality.  But I mostly just felt sad that he’s so young and he’ll be in jail for the rest of his life.  Recently I looked up the address of his prison.  I purchased a PO Box.  And I wrote him three letters.  I’ve held onto them for months without sending them.  I guess I’m struggling with the fact that empathy is a privilege.  I’m still alive.  I’m still able to walk.  There are people who lost more than me who might be upset that I’m showing him any compassion at all.  But I find it curious that I know nothing about somebody who had such a profound impact on my life.  All three letters begin the exact same way: ‘We’ve never met, but we were in the same place at the same time.’  I’m not sure what I’m looking for.  I just figure there’s something to be said.  And I’d like to figure out what that is.”

Ahmic Lake, Ontario

Submitted by Jason Surkan / @jasonsurkan

Circa 1910s

Wayne Thiebaud

“24th Street Intersection”

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