on rotation: the monthly orbit

thoughts on: Lena Dunham, Backrooms, and finally watching Gilmore Girls

Welcome to a double-whammy of both the April and May Orbit, where I tell you about everything I’ve been ~revolving around~ recently. Last week was my final month of teaching at uni, which (between my final workshop and starting dissertation period) has been slightly hectic writing-wise. But let’s gooo. Here’s everything I’ve been watching, reading, listening to, and enjoying during the past two months! . ⋆⭒˚.⋆

✩ FILMS ✩

Looking over the list of films I’ve watched in the last two months, it seems like a bizarre collection. Usually I can sense a bit of a theme, but it seems to be pretty random. I gave everything decent scores though (apart from The Drama which I thought would be a great fifty-minute episode of Black Mirror but not such a great film,) so I guess I had a good time. I’m still really enjoying tracking the films I watch on Letterboxd, so if you want real-time updates and ratings, you can follow me there! Here are all films I watched during April and May, in the order I watched them:

• Dead Man Walking ★★★★½

• Good Boy (or ‘Heel’) ★★★½

• Booksmart ★★★★½

• The Drama ★★★½

• Juno ★★★★

• Grease ★★★★★

• Mistress Dispeller ★★★★

• Grizzly Man ★★★★★ This was, by far, my favourite new thing I watched all month. I was so intrigued because the story is obviously so insane, but the story around the story (the side-characters, the voiceover) ended up being the most interesting part. This is literally a surreal masterpiece.

• School of Rock ★★★★★

• James Acaster: Hecklers Welcome ★★★★

• Sam Campbell: Companion ★★★★

• Backrooms ★★★★ Planning another cinema trip to see this again immediately. I was truly disturbed by this and I love it!!!

• The Backrooms: Found Footage ★★★½

✩ LIFE ✩

Here are some fun things I’ve been up to during April and May:

• I went to a women’s football game

• A short story I wrote got longlisted for an award (but can’t say where yet lol, it’s a secret so shhh)

• During the heatwave I went to the beach three times. I have a car in Norwich again and it feels soo good to be able to go wherever the hellll I want and swim in the evenings!

• I had a rehearsal for the film I’m in next month woooo

• I really haven’t been going to the cinema as much as I’d like recently, and last night seeing Backrooms reminded me that I need to go more

• Last week I went to the graveyard that I used to walk/run around a lot last year, and I swear to god I have not felt that level of peace in a while. From the mixed reactions I get when I tell people I like to walk around a graveyard I think this will either make sense to you, or it won’t lol

• I’m usually pretty violently committed to keeping my hair straight, but I’ve been enjoying plaiting it overnight so it’s wavy the next day

• I’ve been thinking about what I want to do / where I want to go after my masters finishes in a few months which is terrifying but also exciting

✩ BOOKS ✩

My workshops for my masters finished last week so I’m going to have more time to read actual (published) books. Here’s everything I read during the last two months:

• Famesick by QUEEN Lena Dunham. I listened to the audiobook and this is my biggest book recommendation of the month!! As a pretty lifelong and hardcore Lena fan and defender, I have been waiting patiently for this book since it was announced. It was essentially the only thing I was able to talk about for an entire week whilst I was listening to it. My jaw was perpetually on the floor throughout, and I cried multiple times. I honestly just think she’s so great.

• Motherhood by Sheila Heti. My dissertation supervisor recommended this to me and I think it is genius so far, but I’m not quite finished with it yet.

An extract from Motherhood by Sheila Heti which I have read aloud to multiple people. I think this is so so so good <3

• Sex Will Be Good Again by Katherine Angel

• I reread half of Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

• My friend recommended that I read the essay My Vocation from Natalia Ginzburg’s book The Little Virtues, which I loved. My big takeaway was this: ‘it is a bad sign if [writing] doesn’t make you tired.’

✩ TV ✩

• Half Man. I’m finding this show frustratingly plotted, but I’m only seeing positive reviews so I’m confused. It feels unpolished to me, and whilst I think there’s lots of things this show does exceptionally well, the characters’ decisions often make no sense and are really winding me up.

• Gilmore Girls. I am fiiiinally getting round to watching this because we have the DVDs of the first two seasons. I am so far very into Luke, and Jess seems okay too but he’s only just arrived lol. For literal years now people have told me that I remind them of Lorelai Gilmore and it has slightly confused/insulted me. But, whilst I think she’s a questionable mother and an absolutely terrible friend, her hair and clothes are exceptional, so I’m choosing to take it as a compliment for now.

✩ FOOD ✩

Here’s all the food I’ve been hyperfixating on lately:

• I went through a big baked potato phase last month which I cannot fully explain but it seems to be over now

• My CHEF housemate baked a vegan chocolate cake. It was insane

The vegan chocolate cake (& a dog in pink sunglasses to give you an indication of my energy)

• Vegan ice cream from Cromer beach

• Bun X in Norwich

Bun X (my digital camera makes food look soo yummy I swear to godddd)

• My housemate went home to America for a week and brought back three bags of these Trader Joe’s chilli and lime almonds that I am OBSESSED with

• Also, the Trader Joe’s vanilla dark chocolate!!

• Focaccia and chilled red wine from aforementioned CHEF housemate’s work (she made this)

✩ PODCASTS ✩

It hasn’t been a music-heavy few months, and I’ve felt much more inclined to listen to podcasts whilst I’m walking, driving, getting ready etc. Here’s what I’ve been listening to:

• Lena Dunham’s episode of ‘The Interview.’ I pretty much rinsed every single Lena Dunham press tour interview on Youtube, but this interview was especially good

• I listened to a couple of podcasts interviewing Jameela Jamil this month. I love listening to women speaking authoritatively and ‘unapologetically’ about their lives, and I think there’s something so addictive and tbh inspiring about the way Jameela Jamil talks.

• I’m really into this meditation teacher called Tara Brach. I’ve been listening to her podcast whilst I walk through the park into uni and I always get to the library feeling zen. She’s extremely sincere which can sometimes be a bit hard to stomach early in the morning, but I really recommend the four-part series she’s doing now called ‘Universal Expressions of Love.’ It’s earnest as hellll but also undeniably good vibes.

Thank you SO much for reading!!!! Hope you’ve enjoyed this Orbit ⋆⭒˚.⋆

LOVE, SEPHY x