15 Comments

Loved this essay.

In South Florida, where I live, summer is our winter, and I like it that way. Hibernation from the heat and I watch tons of movies, clean and organize the house, sleep more, write more, read more, and cook new recipes.

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Thanks, Charlotte! Is winter then your summer, the time to be outside?

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Jun 27Liked by Chris Jesu Lee

I for one am on team "I love summer but hate shorts" ;___; how DARE the sun conspire to make me show the world my thighs!! You are so brave lol

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I used to not like shorts because I never knew what shoes to wear them with. But I've finally broken in a pair of loafers that I got a couple of years ago so I'm wearing those a lot now.

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See, I personally like sandals (both fancy ones and the utilitarian Teva kind) but I know they're are an acquired taste!

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If we’re talking about summer movies set in Italy I also have to suggest “Il Sorpasso” (1962). It’s about a bookish type cooped up studying on a hot summer day, who then meets a larger than life, life of the party type guy. They go have fun, hit the beach, etc. and the bookish guy starts to think that maybe he’s lived life the wrong way until now…but will he stay too long at the party? I can’t say more without ruining the film. Great piece!

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That sounds really cool, thanks for the rec. It's on Criterion Channel too so I'll be able to watch it anytime I want.

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"but nobody could come up with devastating shabooyas on team bus rides like I could. Huge linemen were petrified I’d find something to rhyme their names with. "

omg a MENACE...for school spirit

made me think of

https://youtu.be/NoUrLbHg5z4?si=4x7PTywIHk0FTWPW&t=7

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lol good thing there are no high school reunions for me in the foreseeable future

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"You are a like a child who is given spaghetti and says, 'No! I want beefstake!' Eat the spaghetti!"

One of my favorite movies, and incredibly important that she never does get the gardenia back, not even at the train station. Gardenias (like summer, and life) are, by definition, temporary, not meant to last.

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Hard to turn down spaghetti, especially spaghetti al limone.

Good point about the gardenia. It was also important that she lost her first gardenia to the canal as well, for the same reason.

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Oh, the whole movie hangs on those gardenias!

These are my favorite lines too:

"I'll love you forever!"

"Yeah, if I leave now. All my life, I've stayed too long at the party."

Such a great, under-rated movie! Dares to be a romance that says something truly profound and different.

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Sounds like you have a beautiful vacation planned. As a UV sponge and certified beach enjoyer, I look forward to summer every year. Give me the blazing rays.

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In line for the ferry now, hoping I can get a deck seat.

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