Friday Treats #5

15/12/23 - London Writer's Salon, Marilyn Monroe, and The Palace Museum!

Welcome to Friday Treats!

Here is a collection of some cultural highlights that I’ve been enjoying this week, including book recommendations, podcasts, articles, Substack shares, and other observations.

This will be the last Friday Treats before I take a break and travel over the Christmas and New Year period. Also, I am also considering revamping this in January and moving to a biweekly treat format with more details to follow soon… 🎁

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• ✍🏼 In 2021, I was looking for some accountability with my writing, and came across The London Writer’s Salon. I have been a silver member for two years, and this membership levels means that as well as being able to access the writing hours that take place across different time zones (ones that I am awake for), I can also watch/listen to the brilliant workshops/interviews that they provide. Just in the past two weeks,

  Matt & Parul, LWS
  have interviewed Seth Godin, and
  Emma Gannon
  . For anyone who is looking for accountability with their writing, access to a great writing community, AND fantastic interviews with novelists, poets, and other creative individuals, check it out.

  

  Photo by pure julia on Unsplash

• 📺 I came across this fabulous documentary on BBC Two this week - Reframed: Marilyn Monroe. Four episodes, narrated by Jessica Chastain, and includes interviews with Mira Sorvino, and the legendary Dame Joan Collins. Worth a watch.

• 🎮 Seeing as it’s my last Friday Treats before Christmas, I am going to plug my own post. I wrote on Wednesday about my love of gaming.

• 🖼 Finally, I’ve been trying to complete Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way for years… but always failed in one of way or another. However, one thing that has largely stuck is trying to have a weekly artist’s date. So, this week I took a trip to the Hong Kong Palace Museum to visit a special exhibition: Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces From the National Gallery, London. Loved it, and I got to see some of these beauties:

John Constable/Stratford Mill: IMAGE: National Gallery, London

Raphael/The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (‘The Garvagh Madonna’). IMAGE: National Gallery, London

Vincent Van Gogh/Long Grass with Butterflies. IMAGE: National Gallery, London

Have a great weekend!

Sarah xx