These are the words, images, and beers that inspired the GBH Collective this week. Drinking alone just got better, because now you’re drinking with all of us.
READ.// “English is his second language, and even as a tall Black teenager himself, he told me that he wasn’t especially aware of the dynamic between Black Americans and the police. When he dialed 911, he said he had no idea what could happen.” Aymann Ismail explores the events and aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in this thorough piece that includes the first interview with the clerk who was working that evening. It is a difficult and thought-provoking read.
LOOK.// I have been cursing at my current record player setup due to a scratchy needle and a mono guitar amplifier. I was planning to visit some friends in Copenhagen last May, who texted me this article about their stunning apartment. Billy is someone I have always trusted with good music taste, and he and Sophia clearly have good design taste, too. Explore their home, their artworks, their record collection, and meet their cat Rhubarb.
DRINK.// Aecht Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier
“Do you have any Rauchbier?” It was a picturesque autumn afternoon, and I was on the patio at Novare Res in Portland, Maine. I hadn’t scanned the QR code yet, but co-owner Shahin Khojastehzad brought this beer out to me. As yellow leaves fell around the beer garden, blown by a coastal breeze, drinking this session smoked Lager felt completely correct.
READ.// “The cruelest part of becoming middle-aged was that it came on the heels of one’s own youth, not some other, better youth, and that it was too late to start over.” Ah, crap. That line in Emma Straub’s 2020 novel, All Adults Here, hit me squarely in my 35-year-old gut, partially as I grapple with my own aging and mortality in the face of a global pandemic, and partially because I’ve recently gone down some weird rabbit holes of Facebook lurking under the inescapable grip of high school nostalgia. High school wasn’t traumatizing, nor was it my peak; but of course, it still contributed an outsize influence on my current state of being. This story of late-in-life self-discovery, and how seemingly insignificant moments can cast a surprisingly long-lasting effect on one’s life, kept me flipping the pages until there were no pages left to be flipped.
LOOK.// When it comes to clothes and home decor, I’m fairly stuck in the “function over fashion” category. But a girl can dream, can’t she? These gorgeous tiles from Los Angeles-based Zia Tile never fail to bring a pop of delight into my Instagram feed, and I’ve lost hours picturing how to incorporate them into my own home. Currently, my top pick is the rosy pink Little Nova in Delta Moon and White for my kitchen backsplash. One day…
DRINK.// Clever Pineapple Name Pale Ale by Second Chance Beer Company
Confession time: I love pineapple beers. Second Chance hits a lot of home runs, and this is no exception: with hugely bright tropical notes and that perfect Pale Ale balance, it’s an ode to the dog days of summer and the dry heat of our coastal desert. Availability is temporary, but isn’t everything?
READ.// “Has anyone here heard of the Left/Right Game?” Embrace the Halloween spirit with this sci-fi/horror short story that will take you on a literal ride through new worlds and slow-burn terror. Turn the lights off first.
LOOK.// Photographer Jamaica Gilmer captures images of Black women “just as they are” to show “the many, varied ways every Black girl is indeed, beautiful.”
DRINK.// Allagash Brewing Company’s North Sky
Trust anything this brewery makes. In this case, a Belgian-inspired Stout with the roasty, milk-chocolate notes that make a malt-forward beer most welcome during these fall nights.
Curated by The GBH Collective
