☕ what the hell is "fika" anyways?
big fans of break time
Hi friends,
Happy Monday! I don’t know if we’ve ever really been big Monday fans, but it feels like we spent most of this last, impossibly long week holding in our breaths. Now, a new week is upon us and we can finally let out a huge sigh - of relief? Of exhaustion? It feels impossible to isolate emotions now.
[ taking a cue from the swedes ]
There’s a Swedish concept called fika. Derived from the slang word for coffee (kaffi), fika is often used to describe a simple coffee break from a hectic workday. More than just the literal refueling of caffeine, fika has come to represent an important daily ritual: a moment to slow down. It’s also a sentiment we hope to embody with Kopi Club. As we are all presented with another daunting week ahead (who knows what the news cycle will bring around this time), we hope Kopi Club can be your fika: a way to refuel, re-energize, and re-inspire yourselves for the days ahead.
PS: Kopi Club is now on Instagram! Find us at: @our.kopiclub
Coffee chats, without the business BS – conversations about life, art, and everyday oddities
J:
a love letter to muji
Last week, I learned that Muji was filing for bankruptcy protection in the US. As an avid collector of their dinnerware and stationary (I’m looking at you, trusty 0.38 ballpoint pen), I was sad to say the least.
If you find that you have five minutes of time to kill, I’d recommend checking out their About page. Interesting line breaks aside (their biography is reminiscent of an e.e. cummings poem), I was drawn to how Muji articulated their own vision. “Simplicity and emptiness yield the ultimate universality, embracing the feelings and thoughts of all people” reads less like a description of homeware than it does a philosophy for living.
That no-frills approach is, of course, part of Muji’s universal appeal. It also feels oddly relevant. The principle of living life stripped down to the bare essentials, and made more beautiful because of that simplicity. Maybe it’s just the signature essential oils getting me in a philosophical mood. Anyways, here’s a picture of me ensuring the survival of my pen collection.
N:
It is Not Persimmon Season
It isn’t Persimmon Season – that which befalls October through to February, but my home is filled with persimmons: a small, orange shaped fruit that tastes a little like honey and apples mixed together. We cut them up and let them cool in the fridge; a refreshing summer treat; a sweet, unfamiliar surprise.
Speaking of the unexpected, I remember a few years ago we experienced a drought that was so arid that the entire country wished for rain. Now, every morning I wake up to rain outside my window: its soft and calming presence. The days of drought are very far away. I’m thinking of seasons, how they shift and morph. How feelings and events, both terrible and exhilarating, will tentatively fill a space in time and then retreat swiftly into the past. The point is that our very large and imposing worries right now will not carry on through every day of our lives. The seasons will change, for the better.
J:
Some songs stuck in my head:
For a lazy picnic: Ordinary Guy by Toro y Moi
For the next dinner party I am planning, in 2025: Atras / Alem by O Terno
For a solo afternoon boogie: You by Yellow Days
Also, this guitar tutorial by Finneas. I neither own a guitar nor do I know how to play, but I kinda just love Finneas.
N:
Early morning musical fudge: I’ve been living in my ‘discover weekly’ playlist. Some highlights:
gone gone gone by HONNE
I Can’t Help by Shoffy (a strange but lovely electronic remix of the Elvis classic)
J:
“I went back to a bookstore and I felt really, really alive” is a top contender for Nerdiest Things I’ve Ever Said. The distinct smell of new books; the literal and metaphorical ‘getting lost’ in the New Releases section. A bookworm’s paradise.
“The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes”: It sounds almost counter-intuitive to be writing about binging a Netflix show in the Wellness section of our newsletter, but hear me out. “Extraordinary Homes” is my new favorite find: the episodes are all beautifully produced, and doubles as a form of pseudo-travel.
(The episode on Denmark is especially therapeutic - Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk’s lakeside Concrete House is a sight for sore eyes)
A month ago, I decided to cut out added sugars. An important disclaimer: I’m not a big believer in crazy diets, but I was definitely starting to overdo it with the midnight snacks. Two observations so far:
Funnily enough, I feel more energized now. Fewer crashes.
As hard as it was in the beginning, I’m realizing I’m not as dependent on sugar as I thought I was. Small wins people, small wins.
N:
Psychedelic Houses: This week I bought a brand spanking new watercolor set! It’s so nice upgrading after 4 years of my old one. Nothing makes me happier than sitting at the dinner table painting.
An Incredible Poem: Maggie Smith’s Good Bones ALWAYS gets to me, here’s a lovely excerpt
“Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.”
J:
“Immensity is within ourselves. It is attached to a sort of expansion of being that life curbs and caution arrests, but which starts again when we are alone. As soon as we become motionless, we are elsewhere; we are dreaming in a world that is immense. Indeed, immense is the movement of motionless man. It is one of the dynamic characteristics of quiet daydreaming.” - Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
N:
“Lucretius says that all objects release films, or “peeled skins” of themselves. These intimations travel from the objects and beings around us and eventually reach our senses. But the opposite is also true: we radiate films of what we have within us and project them onto everything we see—which is how we become aware of the world and, ultimately, why we come to love it.” – André Aciman
J:
On Conscious Consumption: there are many articles of (bad) clothing in my wardrobe that remind me of 2017 Justine’s compulsive shopping habits, and the need to become a better consumer. A friend recommended Good on You recently. Besides rating fashion brands for how ethical they are, the app also features some great articles about the sustainability industry as a whole.
N:
On Financial Health: Learning investing (slowly) for the year(s) ahead! (Ft. my new investing reading list).
Speaking of money, to save when spending online I use honey, an extension that tries literally every coupon code to save money for you, and soulsmileclub founded by Penn students (you go, girls!) that donates a small % of your purchase to charities.
We don’t quite know the origins of these new memes, but it is a 2020 trend we can get behind. We’ll leave you with these charming lil guys. (Justine is still struggling to find a frog/dog/cow/bunny for her name; please tag her if you see anything)
Hugs,
J & N