The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Emmalea Russo

Pleasures, Curated by author and astrologist Emmalea Russo

We’re back with another installment of

The Pleasure Lists

: Pleasures, Curated.

I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoy getting to know members of the Pleasure Lists community and what makes their Pleasures tick.

Pleasures, Curated by

Emmalea Russo

of

Cosmic Edges

Emmalea Russo is a writer and astrologer. Her novel, Vivienne, was published by Arcade in September 2024. She writes about culture and the cosmos on her Substack, Cosmic Edges, works 1-1 with astrology and tarot clients, and teaches classes on literature, art, and the occult.

Social: @emmalea.russo

Location: Bucks County, PA and the NJ shore

Pleasures

Dogs

I'm with Freud on this. Dogs are honest and capable of pure love. He said: “Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate in their object-relations.” I'm partial to my own mutts, pictured here guarding the yard and/or sunbathing.

Martha's Vineyard

Can't help it. I adore MV's active harbors, old world island vibes, and people watching. It's a curious mix of hippie and preppy, neat and messy. Chappaquiddick, Edgartown, the ferry ride over, island air, island fever: I love it here. Some shots from a recent trip, this past Virgo season around the full moon in Pisces.

New England Porn

On the Martha's Vineyard note: whether a movie is great or sucky, I'll watch it if it was set/filmed in New England (even better, a 19th century New England). Examples include Jaws, Little Women (the 90s version), What Lies Beneath, The Perfect Couple, The Witches of Eastwick, Mystic Pizza.

Fassbinder

I always return to Rainer Werner Fassbinder when I'm feeling highbrow, blue, or like all movies suck now. A notoriously hardcore director, his movies are beautiful and disturbing. My favorite is his BRD trilogy from the late 70s/early 80s (perhaps my favorite time for movies...) which tracks, via the lives of three women, the aftermath of WWII in West Germany. Because his shots are so gorgeously bonkers, I often end up taking pictures. Here's one from Fear of Fear (1975), a claustrophobic meditation on female madness.

Old Paparazzi Pics

The best style inspirations can come from candids that feel very alive. You can see how clothes move, and get a sense of the vibe of the times. I'm partial to shots of couples, and I looked at so many while writing my novel, Vivienne, which is very image-oriented. Pics from the 90s and early aughts tend to be better for this sort of 'archival research' than ones from the present. That's just the truth. My canonical candids include JFK Jr. and CBK in TriBeCa, goth Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp, and Bogie and Bacall doing anything.

Backyard fire parties

Nothing better than gathering around a fire with people you really like. We threw a fire party this past August with old friends and new friends and some family, and I loved it. We laughed into the night, until the fire died. I don't remember what was talked about but I can recall the good, solid, last hoorah, one-final-cig-before-the-fall energy very clearly. The next morning, we drove to the beach.

Right after it rains

After the rain, especially when the sun comes out, it seems like everything will be okay. The roads are still wet and sparkly but the skies are clear, and wow.