I just want to go for a swim
brief thoughts from London in the summer
Good morning, and welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about doing your best. This week: deranged hot day thoughts and yearning for the beach. Plus: clips including some lovely new hot weather clothing, a brief review of the F1 movie and other cool stuff on the internet and about town in London.
missing the beach
It’s hot in London this weekend. Sweaty, restless sleep, warnings about heatstroke on the tube hot.
Since we arrived here in March, we’ve had what I’m told over and over is an unbelievable run of weather, featuring multiple “heatwaves,” otherwise known as summer weather, supercharged somewhat by climate change.
The heat is compounded by a number of factors: how many buildings there are everywhere to soak up the temperature, landlords’ unwillingness to install air conditioning even in a relatively new building like the one I live in, and the fact that the underground gets hotter every year.
But mostly, it hits hardest because of how inaccessible it is to go for a swim.
In New Zealand, I lived a blessed life where I was never far from a beach, and when the mercury hit 30, I could just head down to any one of many different spots to immerse myself in safe clean water, for free.
Swimming in London summer is an exclusively paid, pre-booked type of affair, often with strict rules on how you can swim. For example, my flat literally has a waterfront view, but in order to swim in the body of water I look out on every day, I’d have to pay £13, tie a buoy around my waist and swim a predetermined route. If I want to go to a lido or the Hampstead Heath ponds or whatever, I’d need to cram onto a bus or train on the way back, somewhat defeating the whole purpose of the endeavour.
When I talk to Londoners about this they basically say “yeah, and?”, which in my view reflects a deprived upbringing, although I would say that.
Swimming, the recreational, splashing around or riding the waves version, has been such a huge part of the first 27 years of my life, and having the spontaneity of it all taken away in this heat is no good!
We’ve got no immediate plans to leave London (we only just got here!) but wherever the next stop is, there better be a beach. In the meantime, stay tuned for summer lido reviews, I guess.
clips
Speaking of the heat, the kings of sprezzatura styling at Drake’s have just dropped an excellent high summer capsule collection and lookbook, shot in Italy. I can’t afford anything they make (maybe a tee or a cap), but if I could I would be all over this fantastic madras check shirt.
I really want to buy a Switch 2 and play the new Tony Hawk game on it.
We went to watch the F1 movie last week and had a blast - expensive, dumb fun that doesn’t require much thinking. Also, one of the most impressively brazen surfaces for product placement I’ve seen in a long time; I’d love to know what Expensify paid to be the named sponsor of the made up team Brad Pitt drives for.
There are no London jobs on the Feed Me job board (yet), but if I lived in New York I’d certainly be taking a look.
Does anyone have any good tips for finding a hairdresser in a new area? Asking for me.
The news this year has been incredibly “That Funny Feeling” and “Love it if we made it” coded, both good songs that hold up but will make you feel bad about our collective inability to learn things!
Liv gave me a Montbell keep cup for my birthday and I have been getting lots of compliments about it from cool baristas all over town - strong recommend!
Chris Black wades in on shorts and sandals in the office - a divisive topic! I wear shorts to the office regularly now, but I think I draw the line at getting my toes out in a professional setting. Each to their own, of course.
That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! If you enjoy reading my regular musings, forward this email or send a link to your friend who suddenly discovered they like flip flops in the last month. Until then, you can always get in touch via email or on Instagram. See you next Sunday!