Musings on Denim + Scott Kelly + Spend Our Days

I recently stepped out of the door in what is known as a "Canadian Tuxedo," or denim on denim. Some may call it ugly or a fashion faux pas, but I think if Emily Ratajkowski wears double denim unapologetically, I can too. Even my sister, my style icon, often wears a long, elementary schoolteacher-style denim skirt, but it somehow works and looks high fashion. So, I donned my mom's old jean jacket—stone wash with big silver buttons—and my cheap Forever 21 jeans, feeling somewhat cool, self-conscious in a good way, as I followed my normal walk around my neighborhood listening to my indie music. I'm literally a walking cliche—I know.

What also got me thinking about denim recently was seeing a photo of Megan Fox wearing ultra-low-waisted jeans. I shuddered, thanking the heavens I wasn't a young adult at the time. To my knowledge the early 2000s is long considered a blemish on the history of fashion, denim turning tacky most notably with Britney Spears' red carpet denim dress: a hideous patchwork ensemble complete with a denim purse and elaborate silver choker. Love it or hate it, she made her mark on denim history, if not fashion history as a whole. Of course, we can't forget Justin Timberlake at her side, clad in even more excessive denim topped with a cowboy-esque hat of the material. Y2K already starting to be called "camp" with several early 200s trends coming back, but I hesitate to give into it. Mostly, it's the Megan Fox jeans that terrify me.

In other news, more intellectual I hope, I wanted to introduce one of my favorite memoirs. I went through a rabid phase of buying/reading astronaut autobiographies, learning everything I could about living in the space station because it became insanely unfathomable to me the more I absorbed. Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly was the most unbelievable read I've ever experienced; can you believe that he spent a year trying to fall asleep with literal flashes of radiation bombarding his closed eyes? A constant underlying fear of a fatal emergency occurring at any moment—being keenly aware seven of his colleagues were killed just a few years ago on the Columbia? I couldn't imagine staying sane wheeling around the globe at 17,500 miles an hour. Anyway. That's my short book recommendation of the day. It will simply blow your mind. If you know me personally, I have a copy I can lend you.

To follow my new tradition, I will end with a favorite quote of mine. This one sent me spiraling not too long ago; had a mini crisis of, I need to spend my free time not scrolling on my phone. I hope this sticks with you as you go about the rest of your day.

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

—Annie Dillard, in The Writing Life