Attention Inventory: Mythmaking impulses, Dilly dallying, Sprouted walnuts

This month's list of strategic distractions

I started traveling six weeks ago, and departed with 2 checked bags, 1 L.L. Bean boat tote, and 1 nylon Longchamp. Within the first week I’d offloaded the first suitcase. By week four I’d shipped another XL cardboard box to California. I’m meeting friends next week, and already contemplating how I might charm them into carrying a few more things back for me.

That’s to say, this month’s Attention Inventory is just…attention. There’s no room for any new belongings right now (but always, apparently, infinite space for mental debris. Light on my toes, chaos in the brain!)

[If you’re new, Attention Inventory is a distillation of what’s subconsciously stuck around in the last few weeks: what I didn’t mean to collect, what I’ve revisited, the themes showing up in the background. As ever, my examples are mine, so take the exercise and interpret how it makes sense to you.]

This round we consider: strategic care packages; retro canapés as color palette; a notebook I use exclusively for eavesdropping; breakfast accoutrements; and the mythos of place. Maybe next month I’ll update you on what’s left in the suitcase.

A surprise gift: a booklet made by a friend, filled with phone photos of roadside flowers she took when we traveled together last year in Japan

1. PRESCIENT CARE PACKAGES

See above re: geographic commitment issues, but I’ve been a bit…hard to pin down lately. I’m sure it’s annoying to everyone. However, a thoughtful friend executed a perfect subversion by not only sending me a gift for no reason, but also arranging for it to arrive at my hotel (name a better thrill than the front desk telling you something has arrived!)

I will be coopting this approach. Never underestimate meeting people exactly where they are—literally.

Color Theory: Poached Shrimp takes a tablet of Adderall (at Cafe Kestrel)

Color Theory: Domestic Schiaparelli (in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn)

Color Theory: Museum Rose silk blouse (bought for $10 on the street in London)

2. SHRIMP VIBE

After dining at Cafe Kestrel, I was haunted by their pink napkins and couldn’t stop thinking about them.