Instagram story viewer> @whatpossessedme> Posts

Persephone

@whatpossessedme

832

followers

2325

following

🐈‍⬛🍭🌸🔨

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Lots of love to my darling dad, who turned 100 today drinking a gin martini and listening to Ethel Merman belt somewhere in the Great Mystery.

He was 50 when I was born, the same age I am now. I was acutely aware as a tiny girl that I would not have him for long, so I loved him a lot. He was the most intellectually curious person I’ve ever met (and one of the shyest), and he never failed to dazzle everyone he met with his cathedral of a brain.

He was not a man at ease with big emotions, but somehow he always knew what little thing you needed to cheer up. In this photo, he had just taken his recently furloughed and weeping daughter to lunch, where he ordered chocolate mousse and wore it on his mustache for the duration.

I know I’ll never stop missing him, needing him, learning from him, and wanting to make him proud. His memory is eternal ✨ by @whatpossessedme

149

26

5 months ago

LA friends: sending out an SOS for a foster for Oreo, an outside kitty that needs in. His family can’t really care for him, his health is suffering, and he desperately needs a dental. He is the sweetest and most gentle friend who gets along great with dogs and cats. Please dm me if you can help, or share with others who might be able to 🙏🏻 taken in Los Angeles, California by @whatpossessedme

46

9

a year ago

it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,

do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

- Mary Oliver by @whatpossessedme

51

9

a year ago

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Every time I try to force myself to like coconut I remember your warm, steadying presence and deep suspicion of tropical fruit and the urge quickly passes. This is just one of four billion things that make me think of you, laugh and thank my lucky stars.

📷: @caratakesphotos by @whatpossessedme

83

5

a year ago

If Manhattan won’t go to Mykonos, then Mykonos must come to Manhattan.

Rose: Tess of the D’Urbervilles (David Austin)
Paint: Big Country Blue (Benjamin Moore)
Security deposit: 😬😬😬😬 by @whatpossessedme

74

6

a year ago

The Easter table, never complete without a drunk nymph riding an angry swan. by @whatpossessedme

53

2

a year ago

After church this morning, I mused aloud that it might be fun to try dyeing our Easter eggs with onion skins instead of the suspicious red powder mined from Chernobyl that is marketed to Greeks.

“I saw it on YouTube,” I said, full of hope. “You press herbs against each egg, stuff it into an old stocking and dip it into the…it’s…really cool…” My voice trailed off as my mother’s eyes rolled back into her head, never to return.

Easter is about tradition, so I guess we’ll all be growing an extra finger...again. The truth is, last year’s eggs looked like they caught leprosy from a Catholic missionary and I lost my nerve contemplating a repeat performance.

This year, the eggs are middling. Some are mottled, some are dingy, and only a few are a brilliant garnet. I studied, I fussed, I did all the things, but in the end, the eggs decide how red they want to be. taken in Upper West Side by @whatpossessedme

51

3

a year ago

“Making things under duress” was the theme of this winter. I made a lot of things, mostly because I needed time when my hands were busy and my brain was somewhere away from the election, the rapid dissolution of our democracy, the unending sadness of Israel and Gaza, our abandonment of Ukraine, the fires in LA and all the loss that came with it.

Making things seemed like a small act of rebellion against despair. It cheered me up. I spent a lot of early mornings and late nights working on things when I’d otherwise be doom scrolling and eviscerating some idiot in the comments section.

I stumbled across @corriebethmakes and fell down a wonderful rabbit hole of her paper mache creations - Grecian urns, ancient apothecary jars, trays and objects inspired by museum treasures, flowers made from Domino Sugar bags. She has downloadable templates on Etsy and an excellent Substack that focuses on her creative process and the curiosity that drives it.

I am now a person who gets excited when I see a particularly good piece of cardboard in the recycling bin. This little tray was dead easy to make. Painting it was a battle because of impulse control problems and issues with authority (instructions on the paint tube are not the boss of me!). It turns out they are, in fact, the boss, because when you use the wrong kind of paint at 1am, it smears everywhere from the varnish and then you end up swearing a lot and starting over. *Normal people* will not have this problem and will enjoy how simple it is to make something beautiful. The project is very forgiving, even if you’re reckless like me.

Snakes are a symbol of trickery and deceit, but also the hope for rebirth, renewal, and regeneration. It felt right for these times. by @whatpossessedme

99

24

a year ago

We’ve had a few warm days and the thick blanket of ice covering the bare landing strip in front of our brownstone has thawed, revealing an unappetizing stew of mud, pigeon guano and PowerBar wrappers. Last November I was so despondent about the election results that I ordered a bunch of bulbs, picked out all the toxic waste from the landing strip, and guerilla gardened.

In my tiny act of rebellion I must have cut a strange figure, maniacally stabbing the ground in my PJ bottoms under cover of darkness. But the nice thing about living in New York is that your neighbors don’t care what you do as long as you’re not skipping the line, stealing their cab, or shoving them off the subway platform. What’s a few bulbs? No one will notice!

To my utter delight, a sharp green edge of narcissus poked through the sludge this morning. I instantly became Dickon and Mary from The Secret Garden, discovering life in a neglected and unpromising place, running from plant to plant exclaiming, “IT’S WICK! IT’S WICK!”

Even in this dystopian landscape we’ve created - where things seem to go from bad to worse by the day - we have the ecstatic promise of spring. This year, it feels extra miraculous that we should be allowed to have such nice things. taken in New York City by @whatpossessedme

64

7

2 years ago

Franz does this fun thing where his body cooks up several different esoteric and poorly understood ways to kill him, but then chooses not to, mostly because of medicine, money and miracles. He should be dead twice over, and yet here he is, detonating a jumbo container of cronchies all over the apartment. I guess he decided he has more sunbeams to snooze in and strangers to menace and cryptic texts to send to @claud_dogg. He does not care a whit about cardiology or oncology. He’s more into baking, so that’s what he’s doing. I accept his biscuits with gratitude, so lucky to have one more birthday with this loving, ill-tempered, determined little panther. I love you, Franz 🖤 by @whatpossessedme

68

10

2 years ago

When faced with the indignities and atrocities of a buffoonish despot, it is important to run home and make tassels. CRAFTING IS COPING.

How are you all doing? taken in New York, New York by @whatpossessedme

66

9

2 years ago

*LOST IN THE PALISADES FIRE*
Please help me find Lucy, my friends’ kitty.
Last seen 1/7/25 on El Medio Ave between Northfield and Temecula in Pacific Palisades.

Female DSH, 11 years old
Solid black with sparse white tuft on chest
Distinctive broken tail, which flops downward
Spayed and chipped (not sure if registered)
Timid with strangers
Outdoor savvy

CALL OR TEXT 917-667-8248 taken in Pacific Palisades by @whatpossessedme

215

22

2 years ago