Foretaste Nº 6
An occasional newsletter as a deep dive into the minds, habits, obsessions, affairs, and influences of our friends and fam.
Together & Imogen Grasby
Gifted art director and human being Imo has left her mark in many places and brands — Swoosh, Tommy, TedX, UNIQLO, you name it — but also on us. Relentless and humble like a few, lover of a good pub with a 90’s soundtrack to ‘scream’ at, has inspired some of us on how to grab the Bull by the horns. We’re happy to deep dive into her mind ruled by an interesting attention span. Here we go.
Currently
Trying to lean into a more simple existence thanks to the Panny D. Juggling working remotely as a freelance art director with raising a young family. Learning a lot whilst not doing much.
Currently reading
Since lockdown I’ve rediscovered my love of fiction. I have just finished The New Wilderness by Diane Cook which is such an interesting and confronting look into what our world may look like in a not so distant future thanks to the damage we have done to it. Very poignant. I also loved Shuggie Bain which is the debut novel by Scottish writer Douglas Stuart about a family battling with domestic abuse and alcoholism in 1980s Glasgow. Sounds pretty bleak (and it is) but somehow Stuart makes you laugh and cry all at the same time.
Currently watching
Ru Paul’s Drag Race has basically got me through lockdown. It’s total unabashed escapism and I love it so much. If you haven’t discovered the icon that is Bimini Bon Boulash yet, where have you been?
Currently listening
A lot of BBC Radio 4, it’s my comfort background noise, takes me back to my family home in London. And trying to stay informed via the Guardian Today In Focus podcast and The Daily from The New York Times. I have recommended it before on our slack channel but when I need to switch off I love listening to the Gaba mindfulness podcast series which are beautiful, moving and topical soundscapes that I find really immersive – way more than other guided meditations I’ve tried.
Currently eating
The egg sando from Toki. Got to make lunch time a pleasure when you’re WFH every day.
Currently drinking
A lot of lovely wine from my favourite new wine shop in the Jordaan, Chenin Chenin. Go check them out if you’re in the city. Lovely people, delicious drinks. And supporting small, local business is a good way to spend our money at the moment!
Currently obsessed about
Finding new creative outlets that don’t require me to be behind a screen so much. Just bought a book about drying my own flowers so that will be my next project (queue the Simon and Garfunkel). I'm really inspired by lots of young floral designers (quite often female entrepreneurs) in the UK right now doing really beautiful things, like Sage Flowers and Its All Pretty Wild.
Currently distracted by
My children. Instagram. My attention span.
Currently trying to avoid
My children. Instagram. My attention span (joking about the first one)
Currently frightened by
How the world will look for my kids in a few years time. Mostly fuelled by how increasingly binary society feels and how people don't seem to live in a shared reality any more (illustrated pretty well by this doc). I worry that the divides are becoming too wide to heal. Oh and this.
Currently transcended by
I have mentioned them a lot, but I’ve spent such an intense amount of time with my twin toddlers over the last year. It’s been very intense at times (understatement of 2021) but I’m trying to remind myself what a privilege it is to watch them grow and develop in such close proximity. The amount of learning a child's brain does every day is truly inspiring and makes me want to put my dusty old brain to proper use!
Currently fulfilled with
The ritual of making a morning coffee and buying a beautiful bunch of flowers every week. Being this limited in what we can do is not how I would necessarily choose to live, but it definitely has focused my appreciation for the small things in life. Hoping I can keep this sense of simple pleasure going once we are all distracted with all that post lockdown life has to offer and I have to wear trousers without an elasticated waist again.
Imogen
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Quick highlights from the Slacks:
The new science that could transform medicine, via Imogen
WITI The Fermentation Edition, via Joachim
Pocket Field Guide to Carbon Offsets, via Jordi
Good Sports Magazine, via Thomas B
Huddle, by Nalden
Alexander, via Chris
Geoff McFetridge on the pain of painting, via Joachim
APC is about to open its Amsterdam store (dutch article), via/with Menno
Psychedelics in the Brain, via Stef
C. Tangana Is Changing the Game, via Chris
Blame the Algorithm, via Joachim
Linking NFTs to Luxury Goods, via Bas
Tree.fm, via Nalden
Lil Yachty, via Joachim
Hope you enjoyed this one - And let’s get Together soon IRL!
PS. There are enough bots and ghosts in our lives. We’ve always seen
Together&
, human and alive, so please enjoy, share and forward this, and we'd love to see you in Slack to discuss things often. And if you know people who should join, let us know!