Tonight’s diversion from Archipelago, @archipelagobooks.bsky.social , a Pavese that’s not a novel about fascism but something strange, deeply antiquarian, whimsical. Exactly what I needed. I just order their back catalogue blind because they have such good taste and make beautiful books.
11.03.2026 23:30
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Entering her long-legged phase as she grows. Now taking bets for her weight at the vet on Friday. She was 1.9 pounds on February 14.
11.03.2026 20:35
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A List of Recent Loves
Manet Roses, Wyatt Sonnets, Tang Imports, High Femme Japanese Makeup
A new Substack, on various recent loves, including Manet roses, Wyatt sonnets, Golden Peaches of Samarkand, and Japanese High Femme Makeup, with shouts to Hannah Smart and @drewdaniel.bsky.social Read it here:
open.substack.com/pub/avmarrac...
11.03.2026 05:45
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Sometimes you suddenly remember why a poem you’ve seen a hundred times is good again, why a thing is “a classic” as it just snaps backs into its natural place of awe in the world. Now I want to spent the rest of the week reading Wyatt again; noli me tangere for Wyatt’s, I am!
10.03.2026 06:35
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This is tomorrow and I’ll be reading a corona of sonnets on ends of empire, Tang and Song Dynastic influences, museum vitrines, melancholy antiquarianism, and yes, Pliny the kitten.
05.03.2026 04:17
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Love, actually.
28.02.2026 02:41
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LGBT History Month is February in the UK, and I’m thrilled to see We The Parasites featured by its British publisher, @bhousepress.bsky.social!
25.02.2026 19:47
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Hairless?
24.02.2026 07:49
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Lap crashout. She is “sleeping” while I’m back with Monte Cristo, pausing for pets and to promise her I would break her out of any prison and avenge her in eternity. I know this is basically a Plin fan account now, but can you blame me?
24.02.2026 04:00
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Ortolan, Feuilletons, Whores, Misgivings
and a sonnet for good measure
Some stray thoughts on writing on Substack, capital, 19thC French feuilleton culture, and a sonnet on the internet in the age of new anxiety:
open.substack.com/pub/avmarrac...
23.02.2026 08:01
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Plin size comparison of the night— lip balm tube, still a miniature loaf no matter how many times a day I’m feeding her!
23.02.2026 09:00
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Ortolan, Feuilletons, Whores, Misgivings
and a sonnet for good measure
Some stray thoughts on writing on Substack, capital, 19thC French feuilleton culture, and a sonnet on the internet in the age of new anxiety:
open.substack.com/pub/avmarrac...
23.02.2026 08:01
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The Count of Monte Cristo is indeed so exciting and fun that she cannot stop writhing around my lap alternately purring and pouncing as I read. I have already accused her of Royalist, Bonapartist, and Toy Mouse sympathies, to no avail!
23.02.2026 05:17
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During a snowstorm, the rule is you can read anything you want but it can’t be related to your current work, it must be solely for indulgence and pleasure:
22.02.2026 17:44
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Honestly, I just love her so much. She has instantly become a huge joy in my life and home.
22.02.2026 09:03
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Pliny is now five of her Loebs tall (I am reading to her at night but uh, right now she prefers watching Olympics!):
22.02.2026 00:06
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I got some work done but it’s hard when you’re being observed by the boss:
21.02.2026 23:31
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In case you wanted to know what color Plin’s beans are, the answer is every color
21.02.2026 00:31
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Somehow I am snuggling instead of doing the fifteen things around the house that need doing:
21.02.2026 00:13
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I thought we were done for the night but she was too cute:
20.02.2026 03:06
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My new set of epigrams (Decadence Obsédé) on Huysmans, Nijinsky, Ovidian moments, rot, and perfume is currently in print in The Toe Rag, Issue 8. Buy it here or in US stockists:
thetoerag.com/buy
19.02.2026 22:22
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Accidental self portrait when trying to photograph the wooden back of an altarpiece panel. These are always the best pictures of oneself somehow…
19.02.2026 19:35
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In other marvelous unfinished things, you can still see the grain of this 16thC Netherlandish Arrival to Bethlehem and the lines where the paint would go in.
19.02.2026 19:25
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In some ways, an unfinished Rubens triumphs over a complete one; the provisionality of the sketch frees up something daring in his figuration I love.
19.02.2026 19:00
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Another Plin size comparison:
19.02.2026 01:58
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She genuinely loves TV and watches it with real attention! I hope I’m not raising my kitten with too much screen time?
17.02.2026 01:57
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Pliny, human with unkempt hair for scale:
16.02.2026 20:46
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