jenyfly

[jenyfly]

[jenyfly]

A young female Bison grazes on winter grasses, Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming

© riverwindphotography, January 2022

[jenyfly]

Nocturne   -  Christopher Burk, 2022.

American ,  ,b. 1960s -

Digital artwork

[jenyfly]

The laziest yet most effective form of neoliberal reproduction must be asking faculty to reconcile their own purchases on their company card while providing incomplete training on the purchase codes, reconciliation process, or the unassailable commandment that is apparently waving the tax-free form under the noses of every cashier or waitstaff or invisible Amazon billing person you ever encounter. The amount of hours I have spent eyebrows-deep in the financials tab of the human resources software. The spike in blood pressure every time I receive an email from the business office. They created this problem when they gave me research funds instead of a higher salary; there are fucking easier ways to embezzle money.

[jenyfly]

Yesterday, following tradition, I gave a book to my undergraduate research assistant as a parting gift; that book was my personal copy of The Sparrow, which I had last read when I was an undergrad. Was working through one of Spotify's playlists this morning and something about Slow Pulp's "Slugs" made me recall, how else to put it, that youthful yearning that my research assistant had exuded in spades. Not that yearning peters out with age, but this specific form involved independence, or the notion that gaining independence was a form of truth-seeking, and thus a worthwhile pursuit. Certainly as I get older, independence has been imperfectly proven again and again and the project has become, instead, maintaining meaningful relationships, which require weighty and consistent doses of time and action.

I guess I'm caught off guard that this yearning, one that I thought I was wholly familiar with because of fiction and fandom, has manifested so acutely in my working life. I gave him The Sparrow because it was unsettling and rooted deep, and although there are no guarantees he will read it, I guess I'm hoping it does the same. Gets him a little closer to his goals, as it did for me. I think it's making me think of myself as that background-background character, one that takes up a couple sentences at most, or just a few seconds on film.

[jenyfly]

Serge Wolf was ready with his camera when he spotted a northern harrier bird of prey getting up close and personal with a black bear sleeping on a hay bale in a field near Salmon Valley. 

[jenyfly]

Corey Alston (Mount Pleasant, SC)

“​​My name is Corey Alston. I’m a fifth generation Sweetgrass Basket Weaver. I currently run the family business in the Charleston City Market. Sweetgrass Basket Weaving has been a major part of the Gullah Geechee Culture dating back to days of Enslavement. This coastal art form has been recognized as South Carolina State Handcraft and has been known to be kept alive the longest along Sweetgrass Basket Makers HWY of South Carolina. This skill is one of the rare arts of our country that is founded nowhere else in America. Gullah Sweetgrass Baskets are a national treasure.

“​​Being chosen as one of the artisans of Mt. Pleasant does not only bring awareness to my skill set and my culture as a Gullah Geechee representative, but in collaboration with Acres of Ancestry raises awareness of the unjustifiable treatment that Black and minority farmers have endured. The more that this topic is brought to the forefront, the more that our nation’s leaders will see that treating white farmers one way and then treating Black farmers another way will not be accepted. I applaud Acres of Ancestry for working tirelessly on making sure that everyone understands what our elder farmers are going through.

“​​These two Sweetgrass Baskets are called ‘Poppa’ and ‘Big Momma.’ It took six months to complete ‘Big Momma’ and four months to complete ‘Poppa.’ They both measure 36 inches tall.”

​​—Corey Alston, fifth generation basket weaver and cultural preservationist from Mount Pleasant, SC, Artisan Statement

[jenyfly]

A wee knitter and friend. Ca. 1939. Shetland Museum and Archives, Scotland.

[jenyfly]

The Tower. Art by Angel Fernandez.

[jenyfly]

birds flying over the jurassic canyon of Iceland

[jenyfly]

the death of 8tracks made you all so bad at making playlists i fear. good ship or character playlist is max 16 songs and devastatingly perfectly crushingly curated. it should make sense musically, if not across the playlist, then at least from song to song. GRADIENTS of genre. think about this before you make a 200 song ship playlist that includes both maroon 5 and mitski. Think on it

[jenyfly]

I am a bored and curious human being who wants to know what the majority grew up with for their pleasure reading time.

[jenyfly]

A running joke is my staunch commitment to my identity as a displaced Midwesterner who remains deeply uncomfortable with cynical New England and its preference for laughing in order to cope with terrible things. Any expression of sincere emotion withers from lack of recognition and leaves me feeling like I'm at fault. That said, I have been listening to Noah Kahan nonstop while grinding through holiday chores and work emails; it is indeed stick season in Vermont.

[jenyfly]

Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain smirk while RuPaul tries to console a screaming Frances Bean, 1993

[jenyfly]

there is no man in this world who is thinking about the roman empire as often as i'm thinking about ronan lynch beating the shit out of adam's dad this I can tell u for sure

[jenyfly]

A few weeks ago, my spouse attended a homeowner association (HOA) meeting, had trouble sleeping for the next two nights, then decided to run for the board. This is a draft of the statement he will not be submitting, which is an obvious shame.

I am pleased to announce my candidacy for a Homeowner Association Board seat. As a dedicated resident and homeowner, I am excited for the opportunity to serve this growing community as we continue to make this a great place to live.  The worst thing we could do to our new neighborhood is become a place where complicated, tiresome rules are passed to maintain a fictionalized version of how people are supposed to act in a neighborhood. Micromanaging people’s lives about immaterial things like where and when they are allowed to put their trash and recycling receptacles is a foolish endeavor that inevitably creates a venue for personal vendettas. Further, these types of lifestyle-based rules are inherently racist and classist, as they try to uphold a standard that is predominantly white and affluent. As your board member, I promise to work tirelessly to keep this sort of nonsense out of our neighborhood. The HOA exists to serve its members. It does not do this by letting vocal minorities find ways to penalize people who do things that they simply don’t like. In pursuit of this, I pledge to pass no community rules unless the overwhelming majority of residents want and agree to them. I pledge to ensure that the city is the one to enforce rules that already apply to everyone, such as parking on sidewalks, overnight parking, parking on streets that don’t allow parking, being a loud nuisance, or other crimes that are already crimes. Remember, we are all paying [an exorbitant amount] in property taxes already; let’s use those services we pay for. In conclusion, you should barely even realize that the HOA exists.

[jenyfly]

there is no man in this world who is thinking about the roman empire as often as i'm thinking about ronan lynch beating the shit out of adam's dad this I can tell u for sure