Sutton Long Design
  • home

2020 Wrap Up

12/20/2020

0 Comments

 
Despite my good intentions, my blog has been neglected for months. However, I've been reading, listening, and watching just as much as usual. Looking back over the year, these are some of my favorites in each medium. Most are what have brought me comfort or laughs or travel or growth — reality has been tough, so my entertainment has been easy and light. 

Books

Picture
The fifth book in Sherry Thomas' Lady Sherlock Series. She is one of my favorite writers, and this is a fun, feminist, historical reimagining.
Picture
I loved my years of studying Latin and all the etymology I learned. I also loved following Ann Patty's journey learning Latin as a retiree. And I didn't have to translate!
Picture
This is a heartfelt  romance of yearning and young men finally finding each other. Its tone lingered with me for days after finishing it.
Picture
Maybe the most transformative self-help book I've ever read. It gave me a totally new framework of seeing my past.

Podcasts

Picture
Unlocking Us is Brené Brown talking with a WIDE variety of guests: artists, celebrities, neuroscientists, activists. And every episode is worth listening to.
Picture
Art for Your Ear is hosted by Danielle Krysa. She herself is an artist and art teacher, so these interviews with other artists are a great BTS for how artists create.
Picture
Design Perspectives is a recent find, and I've been loving these conversations with interior designers. Listening to creative women in business discuss what they do is my jam.
Picture
In A New Earth podcast,  Eckhart Tolle and Oprah discuss his book of the same name chapter by chapter. It's been a great re-listen during this tumultuous year.

TV

Picture
Most of what I've watched this year can be found on HGTV, but Home Town with Ben and Erin Napier is my total fave. From Ben's dad jokes to Erin's design aesthetic, it's just lovely.
Picture
The Great British Baking Show returning to Netflix during the pandemic was a gift from the universe. The baking might not have been outstanding, but it was serious comfort viewing.
Picture
Long Way Up is the third docuseries that follows Ewan McGregor and Charly Boorman on months-long motorcycle trips. This one starts at the tip of Patagonia and ends in LA. Total vicarious travel with lovely hosts.
Picture
This title sums up my confusion about how I feel about Ted Lasso: "How on Earth is 'Ted Lasso' Actually Good?" But it is — it's sweet and funny and well-written and -acted. It's inexplicably great.

Movies

Picture
For most of college, all I listened to was the Beastie Boys. This doc is a sweet revisit by Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond of the band's history.
Picture
Palm Springs (my fave vacation spot!) is a romcom (love them!) with a time loop (what??). It's fun and funny and weird. 
0 Comments

WATCH // Elena Boiardi

9/22/2020

0 Comments

 
I'm fascinated by artists and their creative processes. Watching Elena Boiardi place each dot is completely hypnotizing. I also learned that "shagreen" is the skin of a shark or ray, which is really gross, but the pattern is so beautiful.
0 Comments

WATCH // Good Bones

6/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Good Bones is an HGTV mother-daughter fixer-upper show filmed in Indianapolis. Mina (daughter) and Karen (mom) are capable, strong, smart, and funny. They buy dilapidated houses, rip them down to the studs, and build them back up into something beautiful. During these last tumultuous weeks, escaping into their world where everything becomes beautiful in less than an hour has been a gift. My only criticisms — and they're real — is that the show is very white, very heteronormative, and on the bougie side. However, that's also a problem with the entire network. That aside, it's solid, constructive, positive-feeling reality TV where people are kind to each other, and I love it. 
0 Comments

WATCH // What We Do in the Shadows

4/20/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
We recently-ish got a Hulu account, mostly so I could watch FX's What We Do in the Shadows. I am a huge fan of the creator, Taika Waititi, and loved the original movie version. Similar to the film, the series follows a small group of out-of-touch-with-modern-times vampires who live together and deal with modern life, this time set on Staten Island. Its absurdist humor is just my style, and I am completely in love with the opening credits, which are lush and layered but also set up the show in a short 30 seconds. I can't decide which character I like best, but my favorite reaction shots are always whatever face Nadja is making. ALSO, the show has great and unexpected cameos. Season 2 just started on April 16th, so now there's even more to love.

0 Comments

WATCH // Hair Love

3/2/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Hair Love, an Oscar-winning animated short, packs an emotional wallop into its 7 minutes. I'm always a softie for daddy-daughter stories, and this one is a heart warmer. Also, in a year in which the Oscars was stupidly short on representation of anyone other than white men, this film is a powerful reminder that all kids should — and need — to see themselves in the art and culture around them. I also found it fascinating to discover that the filmmaker, Matthew Cherry, is a former NFL football player who moved into entertainment after retirement to become a director and producer. 
0 Comments

WATCH // The Great British Baking Show

1/20/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
It's known as The Great British Bake Off in the UK and The Great British Baking Show in the U.S., but no matter which side of the Atlantic you live on, it is one of the most comforting shows on TV. When the world feels like it's going crazy on the regular, a show where the biggest tragedy is a pie's "soggy bottom," and where the contestants are polite and supportive of each other, is a balm to the soul (as my friend Manfred would say).

It can also be empowering to watch contestants battle their own fears and nerves to create something beautiful and delicious. I was so moved when Nadiya Hussain won season 6 and declared, "I’m never gonna say I can’t do it. I’m never gonna say ‘maybe’. I’m never gonna say, ‘I don’t think I can.’ I can and I will.” 
0 Comments

WATCH // Costume & production design in Little Women

1/13/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
After seeing Little Women, all I could think about afterwards was the costume design (by Jacqueline Durran) and production design (by Jess Gonchor). It's an absolutely luscious movie to watch. All of the details felt real — like I could reach through the screen and touch the beautiful fabrics — and the rich colors of the interiors were a gorgeous backdrop for the costumes. Afterwards, I read that each character had her own color palette, which I wish I had been astute enough to notice while I was watching! 
0 Comments

WATCH // Tiffany Haddish's They Ready

12/16/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
They Ready season trailer 
Tiffany Haddish promised her fellow comedians that when she found fame, she'd help shine the spotlight on them too, and that's exactly what this series does. Each comedian's episode is about 15 or so minutes and is intercut with scenes of the women reconnecting backstage and short interviews with them individually. Although, I didn't plan on a binge, I downed the whole series in one sitting. Some of the comedians are stronger than others — Flame Monroe and Aida Rodriguez are stand-outs — but their collective story is full of grit and determination and women supporting women.
0 Comments

WATCH // Bridget Watson Payne at CreativeMornings/SF

12/12/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
My main takeaway from this talk is that I need to just DO the things I think & dream about. Bridget Watson Payne is an editor at Chronicle Books here in SF; she is also an author, a mom, an artist, and a retail store owner. Although she begins and ends her talk speaking about the impact of her mother's death and how that has compromised her ability to get as much done, Bridget is a force of creativity! I had missed the live version of this talk and am so glad that CreativeMornings shared the video — I was incredibly inspired by how Bridget simply goes and does and makes and creates. ⭐️
0 Comments

WATCH // Mark Ronson documentary

11/18/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Watch the documentary on YouTube
I first became aware of Mark Ronson with the sudden and stunning appearance of Amy Winehouse on the music scene. After that, I followed his solo career as a producer and have generally enjoyed his music. However, things I learned in this doc that I didn't know: he was a NY hip hop kid, he was engaged to Rashida Jones in the early 2000s, and he is a genuine behind-the-scenes music star who seemingly has worked with both old-school greats along with whoever's up-and-coming now. 
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    I'm a omnivorous consumer of media in various forms, and this is a space for me share the fun, inspiring, and interesting things I find.

    Archives

    December 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019

    Categories

    All
    FOLLOW
    LISTEN
    READ
    WATCH

Picture
Picture
Picture
© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • home