If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts — like hair spray or an electric toothbrush. We asked Neko Case, whose new book, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir, is available for preorder now, about the natural deodorant, gum oil, and archaeology pens she can’t live without.
I was in Australia, and I was reading this book. It had the worst title ever. It was talking about eating raw food or something. But somehow, this person had a connection with the people who run the Living Libations company, and he was talking about their shampoo, and he made it sound like the greatest shampoo in the history of the world. And so I tried it, and I was like, it really kind of is the greatest shampoo in the history of the world. I use a lot of their stuff now. It has a really good smell. It’s like patchouli adjacent, but not patchouli. It doesn’t stick around. It’s really clean. I just really like it. Their other hair products are really good too. I use the leave-in conditioner, the Honey Myrtle, which smells delicious.
I love natural deodorant, but I find that it’s usually pretty liquid-y and it doesn’t stick around, whereas this one is a little oilier and does stick around in a good way. As it wears off during the day and mixes with your own chemical smells and your own body chemistry, the smell remains really nice. It doesn’t turn into anything that later you’re like, “Ah, what’s going on there?” It’s not greasy or oily and it doesn’t stain your shirt.
It’s a really nice supplement I use along with toothpaste because it really gets in between your teeth and smells really good. It’s got nice oils in it, and it kind of tingles. It feels nice. I’m just really into having my mouth clean. I use it morning and night. I usually put it on my toothbrush with my toothpaste and I just kind of shove them all in together. Toothpaste is good and viscous, but it’s not an oil that seeps in there, where this stuff really gets in between your teeth. It’s nice when you’re flossing with it in there too.
I’m really allergic to mosquitoes. I tried these on a whim, and I was struck by how nice they smell. I was also struck by the fact there were actually no mosquitoes around me, because most things just don’t work. Citronella candles don’t work against mosquitoes. I’m sorry, they just don’t. But these actually keep them away. You do have to use it in a tighter space — I don’t think it’s for a huge backyard, but on my front porch, where I like to write, burning one works fantastically and they last a couple hours. I have a flowerpot filled with rocks that I put it in.
Anybody who keeps a journal gets pretty attached to one thing or another. I love these. I love that there’s a little pocket in the back. I use Rapidograph pens a lot, and it’s just a really nice writing surface that pens don’t bleed through. It’s got the little grid on it, which makes me feel like a less sloppy person. I probably don’t give the grid enough credit. I probably just roll through going, yeah, I’ve really got this. My writing’s so much better than it used to be. I use it for everything: songwriting, journaling, scheduling. I don’t use a computer for that stuff because I don’t remember if I put it in a computer, and having a menu or a Notes page on a device, it goes away, and then I forget it. I have horrible ADHD, so I have to set myself up to win in a different fashion. I like to get an assortment of colors and kind of alternate. That way, it feels like an exciting new adventure. There’s nothing more satisfying than cracking open a new notebook.
I bought my partner, my man friend, Jeff, a pair for Christmas last year, and they were so soft that I wore them sometimes. Then I accidentally came across a pair that had shorts, which is kind of my favorite, and so I bought two of them because I just didn’t want to ever live without them again. I wear them all the time. I’ve worn the top out before just going to the store — like, why does this dream have to end? I can be this person. And they’re so comfortable. They’re stripy, they’re green. What’s not to love? I want to share this joy with the world.
This is a really finicky technical pen that uses anything from waterproof ink to ink that you can write on things like plastic and vellum and film with. I learned about them when I was little. My parents were archaeologists, and they would use them to write on very small fragments of bone or anything. I used to get to draw with them, and there’s no flow that’s nicer than that of a Rapidograph pen. It’s totally addictive, but they’re pretty messy, so you’ve really got to commit. I travel and I still bring them anyway, which is the stupidest idea, because any sort of pressure whatsoever makes the ink come out and then you have to clean the whole thing and it’s a mess. But if you don’t fly on airplanes all the time, then it can be a real satisfying writing experience. I like a mediumish tip for writing, just because it’s easier to see and it’s not too stumpy. If you get too small, you just feel like you’re going to break the thing because they do get microscopically small for the technical reasons I spoke of.
I don’t know what version it is, but it still works. Knock on wood. I don’t want to use a phone for music because one of the things that technology isn’t doing right now is compensating musicians — or thinking about the fact that some people don’t live in an area where you can constantly stream things. I live in rural Vermont. We are basically still in the dark ages of internet there. If you’re driving anywhere in these mountains, reception goes in and out and in and out. But, generally, I’m not a fan of streaming because streaming doesn’t pay musicians. It’s a very bad system. Hopefully, there will be legislation soon that will require streaming services to pay us fairly because, obviously, that is not right or good. But like I said, the technology’s great. If we just had a say in it and we got paid, everybody could get what they wanted.
Because I’m not able to constantly stream things from the internet, and because I want to download things to listen to, the iPod is just the way to do it. It holds so much. I’m a big audiobook listener, too, so I keep it with me all the time. In terms of uploading to it, let’s just be honest here: It’s a pain in the ass. I have to use my old computer. For some reason, technology is getting less user-friendly. But the actual device itself is so user-friendly. It doesn’t charge as well as it used to, but as long as I have my cable nearby, I’m still good. They’re beautiful little machines.
It’s about an hour and a half away, because I live on the other side of the state, but it’s a really fun day trip to make. It’s south of Burlington, just south of Shelburne. It has big, beautiful grounds, and they have good prices. I try to get all my plants here. This year, I kind of gave up my garden and bought a bunch of things for my porch instead. I bought a lot of native things and flowering things to get bees and birds and butterflies and moths and Tachinid flies and dragonflies — all kinds of stuff — to come to the porch. All the creatures come to you when you have things that are blooming. It makes you feel not alone. You’re not distracted from what you’re working on, but there’s a jolly feeling similar to when you’re in a café and everybody’s working around you. You may not be with them, but there’s something about their working that’s a little contagious. There’s a comfort in it. I feel that way, even if it’s insects and birds doing it.
I had the Substack going shortly before I started the book, but it wasn’t full on. When I was writing my book, it was nice to take breaks but still practice writing and talk to a familiar group of people by doing the newsletter. I felt part of a community in a good way. You know people are there, you check in, you ask them how their projects are going. It’s very conversational, and it just felt really helpful. My book is a memoir, which is not really what I wanted to write, but it was early pandemic and I said, yes, I’ll do this and I’ll do it happily, which I did. I really enjoyed writing it. I enjoyed working with a woman named Carrie Frye, who’s a really great editor, and Colin Dickerman at Grand Central. It was really a lovely experience and I ended up having so much fun doing it. Because I was going to have to be alone and spend more weird time with myself and write about myself, I’m glad I didn’t do it alone. They made it a lot easier, like I wasn’t just hollering into the void and the mirror.
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