Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please.

Carly Martin

07 Aug 2026 — 4 min read

Good morning team! Happy Friday. This edition of the newsletter seeks to explore themes.

Enjoy!

August Ins and Outs

This month's edition was cooked up at 3:30am on the Manhattan bound L train.

ins

labne based dips
restaurants giving out butter mints with the check
Karin decobrush paint pens
noise cancelling headphones

outs

drivers from the state of New Jersey
Colgate hydrogren peroxide toothpaste
halloween candy displays already being up

Artsy Fartsy

Last weekend Nat and I plus bestie Julia spent a fab few days in New York City as hosted by bestie Stef. We got to see "Oh, Mary!" (miss Meg Stalter did call out for our show, but Hannah Solow was incredible), we ate a really solid number of bagels in only 2.5 days, and we spent ample time just walking around. I could regale you all with tales about the fabulous Thai dinner we had or our evening out at Brooklyn's finest disco club, but I won't bore you.

We took the MTA to all our destinations, as one does, and I was loving this art piece that was part of the 40 year anniversary of the MTA arts & design initiative.

Nancy Blum, "Under the Underground," 2026

This piece is called "Under the Underground" by Brooklyn-based artist Nancy Blum and I was staring at it for like 8 stops on the L train. I really was appreciating the use of colored pencil in a fine art piece and also loving that the MTA was willing to shell out on a good enough print that I could see the colored pencil marks while standing in the middle of the train car.

Once I got a seat wedged between a pair of Jamaican women discussing their favorite moments from Game of Thrones and a Spanish couple discussing the Jamaican duo discussing Game of Thrones, I fell down a rabbit hole of the MTA arts & design program and the fact that it's been around for 40 years.

The MTA has a designated page where you can submit inquiries and where they describe the program as creating "... meaningful connections between stations, neighborhoods, and our diverse ridership through a broad spectrum of artistic activity."

Their collection of public art includes more than 400 works from all kinds of artists working in all different mediums.

"Funktional Vibrations" by Xenobia Bailey (34th St–Hudson Yards station), "Fake Plants" by Nina Katchadourian (Bryant Park station), "Morning Bell" poem by Iman Mersal and art by Marcel Dzama, "PARADE" by David Fordjour (145th St station)

I just thought it was so cool to have a whole department of the MTA dedicated to curating public art and amazed that its not a brand new Mamdani addition. MBTA could take some notes.

If you're interested, there is a free digital guide that the MTA has put together so that you can look for your next favorite piece.

art!

Speaking of... here are things I've made recently, look at 'em!

See Ya!

recs for your humble consideration:

a song i'm loving:

oh baby - LCD Soundsystem

a movie i watched:

Tony (2026) - I went to the advanced screening at The Coolidge on Monday, which was fun. I enjoyed overall. I do have thoughts on the story and writing but don't want to influence anyone else before it's even out to the public. Let me know when you go though because I want to discuss.

a book i'm reading:

Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth

Until Next Time!

P.S.

We have another reminder from The Oracle this week to not take life too seriously. Do what you can, but sometimes, that's just the way the cookie crumbles.