Inspirations
Category
Captain Marvel: The Perfect Women’s Day Movie
The only thing marring my love affair with Marvel movies has been their inability to get women right. At first, they just didn’t really have any – Black Widow was the only woman in the original Avengers crew, but although I adore Scarlett Johansson, she wasn..
Morning of War, Evening of Silk
It is one of those times when work is taking over – it was the case the past week and will also be the case for the next. I knew it was coming (EU economic governance has a rather predictable calendar, so I usually know when I will be completely overwhelmed ..
In Extremis: The Life of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin
As happened with me and Nirvana, I found Marie Colvin too late. After a childhood spent in the Soviet Union and early teens in the periphery of the newly independent Estonia, I only really found out about Nirvana once Kurt Cobain died. I went on to listen to..
Cookbook Recommendation: Feast by Anissa Helou
I am writing this on my way to Beirut for a week-long holiday, which is extremely fitting, considering the subject matter of this post. If you are a regular reader, you’re familiar with my love of Middle Eastern, North African and Central Asian food. It is t..
Three Women I Follow Instead of Gwyneth Paltrow
I really was nice to Gwyneth much longer than reasonable: I felt I owed her for the 10-hour chicken and blueberry muffin recipes (still like her cookbooks, in fact) and I also believed that a woman who has the brains to pick this Tom Ford dress for the Oscar..
London Debrief: Gin, Kew and Frida Kahlo
I’m back from my long weekend in London – if you follow me on Instagram, you have probably seen the pictures, but I tried not to spend too much time on social media and deliberately did not blog at all. What follows is a quick run-down of the trip, in case y..
The Making of a Witch: Circe by Madeline Miller
When you are very young, every book can be a miracle, if you’re so inclined. It’s always a new world, exciting and unique, something you haven’t experienced before. Your mind is blown and then blown again. Nothing exists but the book in your hands, you are c..
Five Reasons To See Avengers: Infinity War
This piece was supposed to go online very soon after my second (yay!) guest appearance on the Estonian radio programme Popkulturistid, where we discussed this very movie. That was a month ago. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it’s been a bad time for bloggi..
N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth: Best Fantasy Written in the 21st Century?
I’ve never thought of myself as a reader of particularly high standards: I read for fun as much as I read for enlightenment and catharsis. If anything, I’m suspicious of those whose reading list is only filled with Proust and Nabokov and Sand. More than 30 y..
Winter Reading: The Bear and The Nightingale
There are books that seem to be made for reading in a certain weather or place. Eve Babitz is summer reading while Doctor Zhivago is winter, Zadie Smith is London and Crazy Rich Asians is Singapore. It is of course not necessary nor always possible to match ..