#and i like the poem it's pretty and i can do fun related illustrations

[camellia-thea]

bookbinding project for class begun. research underway. i have the supplies, and now i must make decisions.

[2030kamenriders]

Today's Dracula Daily entry was really short. So I'm picking another author from that post by @zarzava with the Romanian authors. This time, the author is Marin Sorescu.

(reads the first poem on the list)

I love this person's writing already.

"Seashell" seems to be about trying to find a piece of yourself (in a sea of other people?) which is quite a relatable feeling. Except instead of a sea of people, it's a literal sea full of seashells. He doesn't even mind if his seashell is in some dangerous situation (like eaten by a giant fish); he just wants to be complete again. I think there are a lot of people who might feel a similar way.

"Carbon Paper" is the next poem on the list. Unless I'm misunderstanding it, this poem is about a giant piece of paper stuck to Sorescu's front door, which constantly illustrates his thoughts. It's probably a metaphor for how it feels to be a poet. All sorts of people being able to literally read what you think about, and react to it in very different ways.

So far, the theme seems to be "a not-so-tangible part of this person is somehow in something that's not himself". First a part of his personality in a seashell, and then his thoughts on that giant piece of paper. Like the second poem says, it's like a part of his soul keeps slipping away from him whenever he tries to look for it.

The next poem on the list is "Creation", a poem where a very surreal earthquake in happening. But I'm not sure what the deeper meaning is, even though I'm pretty sure there is one? Perhaps it ties into the theme of the first two somehow? The first paragraph talks about how he writes "on the earthquakes", and that, because of this, his words often slip away from him. So perhaps, in this case, the not-so-tangible part of him is his words, which are now written in the earthquake.

Unfortunately I do not have the literacy skills to figure out what the deeper meaning behind that last poem is. Or for probably any of the poems.

But I can say this for sure: those were some fun and thoughtful poems. They low-key remind me of Bill Wurtz's song videos on YouTube: kinda surreal at first glance, but makes you think about some really deep stuff. I'll look for more of Sorescu's works in the future, whenever I feel like reading a poem. And I definitely recommend these poems if anyone else wants to read them!

[kendall-coded]

hi! i really like your style and *wave hands around* general style and things. so i wonder do you have any book recommendations for me? thanks!

oh and i discovered richard siken through you so there's that

this is so nice omg you just made my day! i am so happy you were able to find richard siken through me. i think he captures panic and pain in a way that is really relatable, especially for queer people. at least, crush was a cathartic and emotional read for me personally. i would love to hear your favorite poems of his/lines/any thoughts you might have and want to share <3

as for book recommendations, i have a few!! i will say, though, i am not sure if my reading style translates to my *waves hands around* general style, so i hope you can find something you might like from this list :D

a monster calls by patrick ness - hands down my favorite book of all time. if you decide to read this, i recommend the illustrated version. it is legit like $9 (usd) and it will change your life. i read it in three hours and just cried.

okay for now by gary d. schmidt - a great book. it’s a middle grade level read, but the content in it is for everyone in my opinion. i go back to it every now and then for comfort. it’s just a great book.

daisy jones & the six by taylor jenkins reid - this one is just fun. it follows a fictional fleetwood mac type of band popular in the 60s/70s and is told entirely in interview format. it’s a quick read and pretty mindless, i read it in a handful of days just by picking it up on my lunch break and stuff. very memorable characters.

the female of the species by mindy mcginnis - this is a really good book, i read it in a day. it follows a girl who is investigating her sister’s death. it alternates pov and is a close examination of friendship and socio-normative slut shaming.

the folk of the air trilogy by holly black - i just really like these books. i read them in like two days. i like the girlboss and malewife aspect to jude and cardan’s relationship. the romantic dynamic is interesting and it’s just one of my guilty pleasure reads haha.

i am currently reading: a little life by hanya yanagihara (which is very highly recommended and seems very well written so far) as well as stone butch blues by leslie feinberg which is an exploration of gender identity and what it means to exist outside of the binary. i can definitely post an update when i finish them (:

thank you again for your kindness and i hope this list gives you something worthwhile <3

[anthrotographer]

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Directed by: Agnès Varda

Daises (1966)

Directed by: Věra Chytilová

Sorry for the long scroll. This is an essay I did for a class about a year ago. It was on two women directed foreign films Cleo from 5 to 7 and Daises. In the paper I get into a lot of the similarities between the films and what they do well, but I don’t get to really give my opinion on them. Both the Czech Daises and French Cleo are wonderfully unique. Daises was chaotic, fun, and plotless. I really had to work to eek out some meaning from that one. Cleo from 5 to 7 caught me by surprise of how much I loved it. It’s one of the best films I’ve ever watched. I don’t always judge films objectively like I ought to. Usually if there is an extremely stuck up, narcissistic lead character in a movie it turns me off. I’m not really interested in seeing personality types like that. Cleo from 5 to 7 breaks through for me though. The evolution of Cleo’s character is based so much on real experiences that I find it to be such a truthful story, with layers of weighty symbolism.

———————————————————————

The Timid Cleo and the Bold Daises

Through the Nineteen-sixties feminist movements could be seen sprouting all across the globe. The art, music, and filmmaking alike from these periods captured and spread these feminist ideals. Agnes Varda in France and Vera Chytilová in Czechoslovakia were women film directors who made films with women’s issues in mind. Varda’s Cleo from 5 to 7 is a slow, plot driven drama that follows, as David Cook puts it, “the life of a young pop singer who is waiting for a lab report that will tell her whether she has cancer” (Cook 370). Vera Chytilová ’s Daises appears to be a plot-less comedy headed by an anarchic female duo. Both films were made in patriarchal societies and appear to take place in them. The two films explore how their women protagonists deal with being seen as objects of beauty in these male dominated worlds. Cleo struggles with finding her self-worth outside of her superficiality and feels like maintaining her beauty is tied to that self-worth. Marie I and Marie II in Daises inversely have no questions about their self-worth and use their objectivity to their advantage. The Maries thus have less evolving to do in comparison to Cleo who’s journey it is to detach her pride from her beauty.

Cleo wallows in fear as she awaits the results of her biopsy. Everyone she would consider “close” to her, like her assistant, her boyfriend, and her pianist seem uninterested in her troubles or are unwilling to give her a comforting ear. That is until Cleo meets up with her old friend from art school, Dorothee. After a stressful day Cleo heads to the sculpting studio where Dorothee works as a nude model. As Cleo walks into the studio the camera appears to give us a first person shot from Cleo’s perspective. It’s a slow, apprehensive moving shot into the room where the sculpting is happening, giving us the feeling that Cleo is uncomfortable with what’s happening. Then we see Dorothee posing naked still in the middle of the class and she meets eyes with Cleo. She does not appear embarrassed in the slightest, on the contrary she is excited to see her friend. Cleo waits for Dorothee to finish her shift and get changed so they can walk out together. We learn as they talk that Cleo was in fact uncomfortable in the studio as she tells Dorothee that she would be “afraid people would find a fault” if that was her. Dorothee responds with one of the most profound quotes of the film and one that seems to stick with Cleo. Dorothee says “my body makes me happy, not proud” meaning that she can be happy about the way she looks without having her self-esteem or pride being affected by it. Through the first half of the film Cleo had been overtly concerned about her disease possibly affecting her appearance. This is exemplified by her constantly checking in mirrors to see if she is still pretty. It appears that to Cleo her beauty and fame are all she is good for. She sees herself through the patriarchal lens. For example, Cleo’s never present boyfriend shows up to her apartment for a quick chat in which he avoids the topic of her sickness and extols upon her beauty for five minutes until he leaves. Also, a few minutes later Bob, her pianist shows up and jokes about how he’s attracted to her because of her money. The possibility of a cancer diagnosis forces Cleo to start thinking the way Dorothee thinks. Allison Smith writes about Cleo’s cancer that “Her knowledge of its existence therefore obliges her to see herself differently, to take account of her own awareness” (Smith 97). This focus on the world outside of herself helps her find someone who actually cares about her and not just her good looks. That person is the soldier Antoine. Even though he finds her beautiful that is not the only aspect of Cleo that he is invested in. He cares about her health; the only other character in the film besides her longtime friend Dorothee that truly worries about her diagnosis. Cleo ultimately finds solace in the fact that she has made a real, non-superficial relationship with another human being. The protagonists in Daises also are involved in superficial relations, yet they do not perceive them as negative the way Cleo does.

The two young woman named Marie who headline the film Daises have no qualms about being objectified. Like Cleo, everywhere they go, they capture the gaze of men. The Maries are  comfortable within themselves enough to use their beauty as a tool for their own benefit. From the outset of the film the girls exclaim that they intend to spoil themselves, so using men for free dinners and then dropping them like used napkins afterwards naturally follows. One such occurrence happens in a scene where the red headed Marie is over at the apartment of some butterfly collecting pianist. The man creepily exclaims his love to her through a poem while Marie poses nude for him. He calls her Julie, giving us the impression that Marie gave him a false name, just like the Maries do with all the men they meet. Handing out false names shows the lack of commitment and respect they have for the men they toy with. Once Marie starts to put her bra back on, the pianist gets angry and says, “I wish you’d never come into my life!” Marie knows exactly how to play him though and the next thing he sees is Marie holding two framed butterflies over her exposed chest. The man completely reverts back to exclaiming his love for “Julie”. Marie uses this opportunity to ask for the one thing that the Maries always want, food. Women overeating is just one of the patriarchal taboos that Daises flips on its head.

The characters of this film go against the traditional patriarchal ideals of what women should be. Women are used to having their beauty be used against them and for the pleasure of men, but in Vera Chytilová ’s film the Maries use their beauty against men and for the pleasure of themselves. Traditionally women also have been forced into the submissive role in society, where they have to keep themselves composed and presentable constantly. To the Maries that is not even a thought that crosses their minds. They do not adhere to being the submissive ones, in fact they control the dialogue and direction of every interaction with men in the film. Laurel Harris seems to agree with me when he writes “…the Maries’ hysterical excess is a calculated response to inadequate roles in their society for individuals of their age and gender” (Harris 4). The duo also does not worry about seeming composed or mannerly when scoffing down pastries and appetizers in crowded restaurants. In antiquated gender roles women are made to watch how much they eat so they can maintain their figure, but at dinner with one of their suckers, one Marie asks the man “Are you on a diet?” I agree with Peter Hames assessment of Daises’ conception when he writes “Since women have been excluded from productive behavior, they have turned to art and play” (Hames 87). Hames is saying that Vera Chytilová ’s film is a reaction to woman being controlled for far too long. Whether Chytilová  set out to make a feminist film or not the end result for Daises is a film that does not judge its non-conformist female characters.

Cleo from 5 to 7 is more explicitly set in a male run society. Agnes Varda created a character in Cleo that starts off fully invested in that societal structure. Her happiness is tied up into her superficial being, but because of the cancer she is forced to take account of what truly is meaningful in her life. She starts to crave caring relationships with people who recognize her for more than just being a pretty pop star. Cleo finds the power within herself to break out of the caged existence of women in a male dominated society. Cleo at one point in the film rips off her wig and gives away her fashionable hat; two symbols of conventional female beauty. Cleo from 5 to 7 and Daises both represent women’s lives in these feministic ways.

The two women filmmakers Agnes Varda and Vera Chytilová end up making similar films in that they have themes of women empowerment. Yet, the way in which its illustrated in each film is drastically different. Chytilová’s Daises wastes no time in showing the viewer that women can be unapologetic anarchists. There is no preconception of womanhood that the Maries have to fight to overcome. They just are empowered women. Cleo from 5 to 7 shows the evolution that a particular woman has to make to escape from seeing herself as just an object. These films helped inspire a generation of women in not conforming to typical patriarchal standards.

 

 

Works Cited

Cook, David A. “Chapter 13.” A History of Narrative Film. W.W. Norton, 2016.

Hames, Peter. “The Golden Sixties: The Czechoslovak New Wave revisited.” Studies in

Eastern European Cinema, 2013.

Harris, Laurel. “Czech New Wave Cinema: The Children of Marx and Kafka.” PopMatters, PopMatters, 30 Mar. 2002.

Smith, Alison. “Agnes Varda.” Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press, 1998.

[formashimataichi]

Halu. I've read your post about Tarareba's tweets and it's interesting that you see Arata and Chihaya "return to each other regardless the circumstances". Personally the phrase connotes intimacy and a place (whether the physical/metaphysical). I don't see this kind of dynamic between them. Instead of each other it's more like "to something"--which is their same dream.

As much as I want to be objective, I may be subconsciously influenced by my shipper preferences. So as a non-shipper of either ships, I'm curious what specific instances in the manga you think this "returning to each other" is demonstrated? Most especially after Chihaya's brief retirement from karuta.

I actually kind of agree! The crux of Chihaya and Arata’s relationship is their shared dreams—they’re always returning to each other by this interesting combo of force of will and opportune coincidence. Both of them are very driven in terms of karuta and share similar goals with regards to it, so it naturally pushes them in the same direction and towards the same “place”, despite both of them obviously charting different paths to get there. I think it’s what makes the magpies analogy between them kind of sweet—similarly in relation to the Weaver and the Herdsman thought to be referenced by the poem in question, there’s only rare occasions that they’re able to meet each other at that intersection of dreams. And coupled with the poem we already mentioned, about a river breaking on rocks before its separate streams are reunited, I think it makes for a pretty clear picture that inevitably, Chihaya and Arata’s paths are always going to cross somehow. Whether that will result in anything romantic really depends on Chihaya, because as we all know, she’s far too focused on saving Shinobu and becoming the Queen right now, but I do think it’s something Suetsugu is foreshadowing at least. As to answer your last question, I feel like the most obvious example lies in their match at Nationals. Like I mentioned before, part of their meetings are due to force of will, and part of them are due to opportune coincidence. I feel like that match incorporated both, but moreso the latter, because sure, inevitably, Chihaya and Arata may have played against each other again, but it was still monumental that it actually, finally happened, wasn’t it? After so many years of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, that was one of the first moments where their paths and dreams directly intersected. The only funny thing about it is that obviously there was the specter of Taichi hanging over Chihaya’s head, and she was also way more focused on playing for Mizusawa (and Taichi) than she was necessarily on the idea of playing against Arata. Going off on that tangent, I think it once more speaks to how inextricable these three are of each other (as do the Qualifiers, especially given how Chihaya reacts after Arata and Taichi’s match is finished). They’re always in each other’s heads, always influencing each other subconsciously, etc. That’s personally why I value an ending where their friendship is emphasized rather than any romantic ending, because I think that’s kind of what the point has been since the beginning—for them to be able to grow in their own ways, but also return to a place where they’re truly happy with each other’s company. I do feel like Chihaya is more inclined to end up with Arata, but I think an ending where her passion and drive, along with their friendship, is emphasized would be more meaningful. But at least in terms of this poem, I guess ultimately my takeaway from it is that Chihaya and Arata’s dreams will make for inevitable intersections between them, regardless of whether they have to chart separate paths in the process. Maybe that will result in something romantic, maybe it won’t. Another part of the magpie poem is that the poet notices night is deepening and daylight is approaching, meaning the magpies’ bridge is vanishing—and in a way I think that can also illustrate how Chihaya is always just out of Arata’s reach, or vice versa, so despite the existence of that bridge, there’s still issues with them properly connecting. Chihaya is a very fickle thing, and that’s what makes her fun to read about. It’s also probably what makes the love triangle so enticing, because there’s so many reasons to believe she may end up with one person or the other, as well as plenty of reasons as to why she may not. It’s all very interesting, and it definitely makes me curious about how Suetsugu will end things. 

[tangled-the-series-forever]

Rapunzel and the Lost Lagoon

As soon as I heard about this book, I put it on my birthday wishlist. But alas, my birthday had come and gone. No Lost Lagoon. Apparently my mom didn’t see it on the wishlist, so that’s why. Flash forward to Christmas Day and I held the book in my hands, which were trembling with excitement. Not really, but you get the idea. I had been waiting to devour this book for months on end and I did. So without further ado, I will present to you this handy-dandy post that encapsulates my thoughts on Lost Lagoon before, during, and after reading. I thought it would be fun to record my expectations and compare them to what I discovered. If you’ve read Lost Lagoon, what did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts! ❤️

Before Reading

honestly, I’m not quite sure what to expect. All I know is that there’s a lot of moments between Raps and Cass and I am ready for them!

maybe it explains how Cass came to be Raps’ lady-in-waiting? (I hope so because I’ve always wondered this...)

I think I’ll like the book as a whole (I’m hoping I’ll love it)

I’m guessing that it is cute, funny, serious, and adventurous all in one

maybe we’ll learn more about Cass?

will Raps tell Cass about her life in the tower?

what will be the ratio of lighthearted to serious moments? Am I more likely to laugh or cry? Probably both 😅😂😂

this book’s design is absolutely gorgeous! 😍😍😍 I literally just stared at it for a while beginning to read it

During Reading

Rapunzel’s hair hasn’t grown back yet? Oh, it’s her first week in Corona. Okay...

“Something was missing. I was hoping painting would help me find whatever that was, or at least help me end the afternoon on a happy note.” (is this relatable or what? I know not to chase after the elusive beast referred to as happiness, but I do often strive to end the day on a good note because I feel like Satan wins if I don’t)

Friedborg is Arianna’s lady-in-waiting? That makes more sense now. I always feel bad not knowing much about her or her background. I hope she makes some appearances in the book (no sooner did I type this than I look down and skim the scene where she teaches Raps how to sit. Crazy, right?)

Eugene referring to Rapunzel as “my girl” (so sweet 🥰)

“Eugene’s warm brown eyes and mischievous smile are irresistible from any angle” (she’s head over heels, ya’ll 😂💕😂)

first look at Cass 🥰 That’s my girl! Not only does she want to be part of the guard, but she wants to succeed her father as Captain! Go after your dreams, girl! I support you ❤️

“I’d rather shovel sheep dung than mend clothes and gossip.” Mood 😂😂

she recently discovered a hidden spot by using maps of an ancient underground tunnel system? How cool!

okay, but Cass’ animosity towards Raps is fair. And the fact that she refers to her as “that girl”? Priceless

names of nearby nations? Like, yes please!

the irony of Cass piquing Raps’ interest in her by leaving as soon as she can after throwing the shot put 😅😂😂

Cass worrying she got herself in trouble by practicing shot put. Poor thing!

the angst Cass feels towards her dad because he wants her to be a lady-in-waiting when she clearly doesn’t... so relatable (it’s tough when a parent’s expectations and our own dreams/desires don’t match)

I didn’t realize Cass created the maps herself! She’s so determined to prove herself to her dad, it hurts 😭😭

I wonder if the pools in Yultadore are what make up the lost lagoon...

“Her enthusiasm was so shiny and bright I had to squint” (I totally understand this)

pretty boy Eugene and his quips 😂😂

Cass trying to keep her distance from Raps by calling her “Princess” and firmly saying “Goodbye” before shutting and locking the door behind her

So that’s how Cass and Eugene met... okay, cool. Nothing too crazy or weird. I don’t know what I expected but it’s nice to know how their battle of wits began

I’m noticing a pattern in the words used to describe Cass: knowledgeable, brave, etc. I think that’s cool because I feel like her pessimism gets a lot more attention in the series. It’s nice to acknowledge her other qualities as well.

Arianna chose Cass to be Raps’ lady-in-waiting. I always wondered how she got the position. I’m loving how many little things this book is explaining 🥰

Also, just noticed the bird illustrations on the page of every new chapter. I wonder if there’s a pattern...

OWL!!! 😍😍 he literally “senses her distress”. I wish we got to hear about how they met

I wanted to cry for Cass. Poor thing just wants to follow her dreams. I like the way the finality of the decision was described. It’s so tragic 💔

“When Cassandra saw him [Eugene], her face clouded over like a stormy afternoon” 😂😂 I love how Cass doesn’t try to hide her feelings about people. It’s true that she keeps personal things close to her chest, but not when it comes to what she thinks of others. Honesty is the best policy, right?

I love how Cass continuously prompts Raps to keep reading the poem. She’s like, “Yeah, yeah, just get to the good stuff” 😂

about that poem... maybe it’s from Herz Der Sonne’s perspective. Could the “truth sealed in precious stones” be a reference to Zhan Tiri’s disciples and how they were trapped within stones? And what about the three gems? What’s the emerald tapestry supposed to be? Does it reference Saporia? I HAVE TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

“A few times I thought I heard some rustling behind me, but I kept going” (me: yeah, Raps is definitely following her) 😂

me when I realize the “emerald tapestry” is grass: 🙃

why is Cass so fearful around water? Did someone try to drown her? someone please tell me who is responsible so I can PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE 😅🤣

painfully ironic how Rapunzel can swim despite being locked in a tower all her life and Cass can’t

Raps nonchalantly offering to teach Cass how to swim just warms my heart 🥰❤️

okay, so Cass is responsible for her fear of water. That’s almost worse because it invites shame and self-hatred, which makes it more difficult to push against that fear or overcome it 😔

the importance of Raps agreeing to help Cass even after realizing she doesn’t want to be her lady-in-waiting is HUGE. This is something I feel like should have happened throughout Season 1 but never did (Raps supporting Cass and trusting that she has a good reason for things even if she doesn’t understand)

“But now I have to teach you which fork to eat your waffles with and stuff” 😂

the first time they call each other Cass and Raps 🥰😍🥰😍

woah, I didn’t expect there to be a time jump. I should have known because I kept wondering why they would depict Rapunzel with her blonde hair on the cover if this takes place before it comes back. Anyways...

I forgot to take notes as I read the majority of part 2. I’m currently a chapter or two away from part 3 and all I have to say is that something bad is about to happen. I can feel it. Dahlia’s definitely shady and so is Marco. I suspected Marie earlier but now I’m not sure. She wasn’t obvious until she was but now she’s not again so maybe she is guilty after all? Either way, Raps is making dumb decisions and I’m over here yelling at her to get her life together before she gets killed or kidnapped (whichever comes first, I guess) 😅🙃

Cass is absolutely roasting Rapunzel and I am here for it! Don’t mind me just munching away on my popcorn over here 🍿

Cass said she’s finally gonna leave Corona so I bet Raps will fess up and tell her that Dahlia’s been helping her with the painting for Cass so Cass will let her guard down and think Dahlia’s okay after all. But... she won’t be and they’re gonna realize she was the bad guy after all 😎

didn’t think Cass would get attacked 😅 also, the fact that she is highly skilled and powerful yet trips and twists her ankle is such a mood. Like, that’s literally me in a nutshell. She is beauty, she is grace, and she falls flat on her face 🤣🤣 while I’m here, I’m guessing Marco is her attacker because he probably has a rough voice

Okay, so I guess Dahlia really is innocent then... idk, I still think she could be up to something

I WAS RIGHT!

Marco’s the bad guy and things just escalated quickly cause now he’s got a knife against Cass’ throat 😳😬😵

so Dahlia’s innocent after all... I thought she or Marie might be working with Marco but I guess not (kinda disappointed to be honest)

okay so this Dahlia chick is exasperatingly hilarious 😂😂 she legit took part of Raps’ bookcase to use for an art piece. Like, who does that?

“Pascal shook his head, totally fed up” me too bud, me too 🤣

After Reading

so I did get to see how Cass and Raps first met (also how she first met Eugene as well)

I like how they combined their talents and passions at the end to create the map painting

There were a bunch of lines that made me laugh, although there were just as many that hit me like a knife to the chest (pretty much anything angsty from Cass’ POV) so I like how it made me feel all the feels (I felt like an investigator trying to figure out who the bad guy was and that was a blast 😆)

overall it was pretty good. I did feel like the characters were off (Arianna seemed like she swapped personalities with Frederick at times and Eugene apologized for joking Cass- as if!), but other than that I enjoyed it. There were a bunch of new characters being introduced so it was somewhat hard to tell who was bad and who wasn’t but I guessed correctly in the end. I was hoping there would be more than one bad guy but oh well.

I’m glad I read it because now I know a few extra things about Corona and its surrounding countries (plus I can finally read through all the Lost Lagoon related tumblr posts I saved for later... I was waiting until I read the book and here I am!)

If anyone needs me, I’ll be going through LL tumblr posts. I should definitely be sleeping but that’s not important 😅😂😂

[halberdierminister]

July Monthly Goals Check-In

1. Write 250 Words Each Day Well, I started out very faithful to this. But sometime around the middle of the month, I got pretty choppy. I honestly don't know exactly how many days I skipped. I'm gonna try to write a fair amount today when I can and hope that it is enough to make up for it. Which is fine. It has been an otherwise very productive month in many other ways, so I cannot be too upset about it. I may start running a wordpress blog with a friend of mine, and if I do that may keep me more on track with these.. We shall see. We shall see.

2. Read 55 Books This Year I finished reading 55 books in May! Last month I read 10 more books. THIS month, however… I read 31 books. That brings me to a total of 97 books read for the year!!! A lot of them have been VERY short books. Lots of poetry collections, manga volumes, graphic novels, etc etc etc. But not exclusively!! I was hoping to get to 100 books by the time I wrote this but the last couple days, I have not been able to make the magic happen. But that's fine! That's TOTALLY FINE. This will be a very significant get, but I have months to get over that hump. By the time you hear from me on this goals check-in next month, I will undoubtedly be decently well over 100 books, and I can talk about why that personally feels so good then!

3. Get A Full Time Job I did not get a full time job this month. BUT. I applied to 38 full time jobs. Got a bunch of rejections. HOWEVER, I have scheduled EXACTLY ONE JOB INTERVIEW so far so that is good news! And that would be a VERY good job if I were to get it! Some of these jobs are actually pretty exciting things and I feel confident for the first time in a while that I might actually find a good job IN MY CAREER PLAN!!!! Also I almost lost my part time job but the library director was able to convince the village to let me stay on as a substitute, and it has paid off surprisingly well. I've been working two to three shifts a week on that, which is more than any of us expected. So I guess what I'm saying is I am making good progress again and I hope I can have something positive to report by the time I'm thirty. Eugh.

4. Move Out Speaking of being almost thirty. I really do not want to be here. If I get the job I interview for, I would be able to move in with my friends in Milwaukee just about as soon as possible. So that is good news. Every day it gets more tempting to just say "screw it" and live down there. But that won't help me find a job. And the job really is the important thing.

5. Drink Less Soda I mean yeah. Occasionally, I drink-a the soda. But not too much. I am good at drinking less soda than I did last year or the years before that. That's because I would have several sodas each day, to the point where it worried some of the people I know.

6. Get Something Published Just found out that I'm getting something else published today! So that is one new poem published this month! I also had my fic in the Lalonde Zine come out, but it turns out that the Lalonde Zine was more of a shared Google Drive folder than an actual zine. Maybe I should offer to compile the zine into one document? I should do that. That would be a good thing to do and it would give me a lot of experience with doing that, something I haven't really done in a while. So the practice would do me good! And then I would feel better saying that I got published there too. But yes so besides the Lalonde fic, I have had two poems published in zines, one poem published in an online literary journal, and one fic published in an online fanzine this year! If you include the articles I wrote for school newspapers, I have gotten at least one thing published every year for the past fifteen years. If you don't count the articles (or the Lalonde fic yet), I have had 30 pieces of fiction and poetry published since 2005! That's pretty neat! I want even more though!!!!!! I found a publisher's website that accepts unsolicited manuscripts. I'm going to try to put together an honest to god actual collection of my poetry, one bigger than either of the two digital chapbooks I have made. I have a friend who is a professional editor -- not of poetry, mind you, but I might be able to convince her to give it a shot -- and I would honestly hire her at full price to take a look at it. I actually will need to seek a lot of feedback from a lot of people, so if you want to read a document full of a bunch of my poetry, lemme know and I will show you what I've got when I've got something.

7. Finish Writing A Legitimate Businessman Finished in April! No new news. But just because I completed this goal doesn't mean that is the end of it! I do still have the sequel to work on, even though I haven't done any of that this month. And one of these days I am going to get around to sitting down with the printed copy and a pen and editing the shit out of it so that I can write draft #2! I think I'll probably throw draft #2 up on wattpad (why not?? I've been curious about that website and know absolutely nothing about it) and maybe I'll make a nice looking e-book out of it that I can distribute on noisetrade or itchio or something! I wonder if I could get it printed on demand or something. Obviously not for profit. But like, maybe I have friends I want to send a nice printed copy to.

8. Write More The Revelation of Takaya According to Jin Finished in Februrary! No new news. A friend of mine has offered to bind a copy of it when he has access to the materials, and I think that'd be dope as hell. I ought to work on compiling it into a nice document. I don't know if that's what he would need. He would probably want to do that work himself. Sometimes I think about the concept of making an illustration for it? I don't know. I can't draw. But I might not need to draw for the thing I have in mind. Really I should be consulting with him on that. Ah well. Either way, I hope that ends up happening. That would be so friggin cool.

MINOR GOALS

9. Finish Playthroughs Of 1. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild: Finished in January! 2. Persona 1 Main Quest Good Ending: I didn't do anything on this whooooops. Getting into the second half of the year without once having touched it. I ought to get back to this. 3. Pokemon Sword: Finished in March! 4. Pokemon Let's Go Eevee: Finished in February and March! 5. Persona Q2: I have finished the fourth dungeon and gotten to The Twist!!! It's weak. This really is the kids' version of a Persona game. Minus like… the fact that it's still rated M for partial nudity. There was exactly one moment of horror and even that was like… just a bit scarier than The Nightmare Before Christmas. But I did some of the side quests and those are actually decently fun. So I have the final dungeon left. I just wanna sort of power through this. I'll worry about completion when I do new game plus, whenever that might be.

10. Record More Ukulele Videos I did not do this. I want a new microphone. These are not inherently related things, as I do have a microphone already. I have everything I need to do this. I just haven't done this. And I would like a new microphone. Also, an amp for the uke would be nice. I should text my old coworker, see if he still has one to sell.

11. Record Let's Plays Neither did I do this. How could I? My parents think video gaming is the Devil's Lettuce. And they are always home. They would notice if they heard me talking to my computer. And that is assuming that I had something I could play on my computer that anyone would want to watch. I need a better computer. A gaming computer. An editing computer. I'm lucky that these are the same thing.

12. Duolingo? I was SUPER gung ho in the end of June and the beginning of July, but before too long I petered out. I've used a couple streak freezes and have really been doing mostly the bare minimum to not drop out of the emerald league. But I've got a streak of about 208 days, and that is nothing to sneeze at! Do I feel like I'm learning? I dunno. But I am at least interacting with Spanish just about every day so that… that's got to be helpful, right? right?

This was over one thousand five hundred words. Wait! Sixteen hundred exactly.

[carriagelamp]

May 2020 Book Review - Short and Sweet

Man, my experience with quarantine has been bonkers -- on one hand going stir-crazy with nothing to do, but on the other hand I have officially been working during all of it and it has made my job a very stressful one and boy howdy is that ramping up for June! Brain fry is still my dear friend and companion, so this is a month of 

~short and sweet~ books, most of it kids lit, that take no brain power and are just a pleasant little treat for my brain. Reading is so much more fun when you’re willing to be compassionate to your own brain and what it can handle!

I Spy: A Book Of Picture Riddles

These books were one of the best things in an elementary school library, and honestly? Is still ridiculously fun. I don’t think you can outgrow I Spy books? So fun to look at, amazing pictures especially when you remember they’re made with physical objects that are actually photographed, satisfying rhymes, and a nice shift for your brain. It gave me something to think about that wasn’t covid-anxiety-related and something to look at that wasn’t a screen. Such a nice break.

Spy X: The Code // Spy X: Hide and Seek

The first two books of the Spy X series. My brother and I loved these as kids, and I dug them out to reread them now. Honestly, they’re still cool books. The story follows two children whose mother seems to have “disappeared”. They know she, like their father, works for a secretive “Company” that may or may not be connected to the military, but they don’t realize how sinister that might actually be until they get a mysterious package on their birthday. They slowly realize that their mom is truly involved in something sinister as they’re drawn into a world of espionage and it’s up to them to follow the clues and keep her secrets in order to bring her home safe. This book has lots of fun riddles, mysteries, and gadgets that are excellent for older elementary school readers (and for adults like me looking for a fun child-adventure romp).

The Elders Are Watching

An incredibly poignant illustrated poem done in the form of a picture book. While it’s appropriate for children, this is honestly pretty heavy hitting as an adult and is very worth the read. It’s a collaborative work between a Canadian Métis author Dave Bouchard and a West Coast First Nations artist Roy Henry Vickers. All the illustrations are his and they’re breath-taking. Seriously, I don’t know what else to say about this, it’s worth the read if you want that’s both short and still moving.

Animals of the Salish Sea

As long as we’re talking about the Canadian West Coast First Nations, I’ll add this little board book as well. It’s a cute book about Salish animals and what they represent and teach in that culture. It’s not long, but the Salish-style art is bright and fun, and so are the lessons.

Riding Academy: A Horse For Mary Beth

IS MARY BETH HORSE SHY??!?

I haven’t read a Horse Girl Book in probably decades and I as soon as I realized I was going to settle into a children’s lit reading spree I knew I needed to find one. There’s something so satisfying about books written about young girls becoming enamored with horses, they’re so earnest. And this book was more educational, horse-wise, than I would have expected! It follows Mary-Beth who boards at a new school. Originally she isn’t a part of the horse riding program, but she soon finds out all three of her roommates are and, so as not to feel like an outsider, she ends up claiming that she was just about to sign up for it. Even though she’s terrified of horses. It’s a simple, generic book, but very sweet, and all four roommates have a surprising amount of personality (especially Andie who is a complete shit-disturber and whom I adore)

Dolphin Diaries: Leaving the Shallows // Dolphin Diaries: Chasing The Dream

Another “young girl loves animals and has a Bond with them” series of books because I loved them as a kid and I still vibe with them now. They’re heart-warming y’all. Anyway, this is a series that one of those series that’s written by a million different authors who all share a pen name so the quality varies wildly. Chasing the Dream was honestly kinda garbage, but I enjoyed Leaving the Shallows. They follow Jody, whose parents travel the world studying and filming dolphins. Jody travels all over with her family and the crew of their research ship, learning about dolphins and doing her best to help protect them. I’d say a highlight about this series is that it’s aggressively pro conservation and environmental protection and is pretty educational about those topics, in a way that’s understandable and interesting to young readers. 

The Rainbow Fish // Dazzle The Dinosaur

Had a heated debate with someone re: the thematic underpinnings of The Rainbow Fish that had my head rolling. Let me tell you, an english degree doesn’t prepare you for that. Anyway, it made me go reread The Rainbow Fish (in order to cite my sources) and the lesser known Dazzle because I loved that book as a kid. Book Shiny Is Good sure was the mentality and I stand by it. They’re dang pretty. I am not open to reopening this debate so for the love of fucking everything please don’t message me about it.

The Moccasins

Another Canadian picture book, this time by a Ktunaxa First Nation author about an aboriginal boy who grows up in foster care. It’s a cute book and has a very sweet message, though it was a little underwhelming. I was fairly meh about the art, which is always a downer for me when it comes to picture books. (which is honestly too bad because I like this illustrator, she’s a Cree Métis artist who did My Heart Fills With Happiness and When We Were Alone which are both gorgeous??)

Bloom County: ‘Toons For Our Times

Another comic reread, except that this time it hadn’t been years since I last read it -- I regularly reread this series. We always had tons of comic anthologies at home growing up, and Bloom Country was one of my first exposures to political and social satire. It’s definitely dated at times, and frankly offensive at other times, but I still adore it and it can be incredibly on point, even forty years later. The art is also delightful, the characters are so off the wall and fun, and the constant underlining longing for nature and simplicity and kindness really resonates, especially now.

Calvin and Hobbes: Something Under The Bed Is Drooling // Yukon Ho!

More comics. Never the wrong time to read Calvin and Hobbes. Wholesome feel-good-ness.

Babe The Gallant Pig

I’ve always meant to red Babe and decided now was finally the time. It was delightful! Definitely has Charlotte’s Web vibes, except this time it’s about a piglet who ends up getting adopted by a sheep dog who is determined to teach her unexpected adopted son how to be a proper sheep dog, even if that sheep dog is more of a sheep pig. And Babe manages to blow everyone’s expectations out of the water by his unrelenting gentleness and compassion. So goddamn cute. Only thing that kills me is that they refer to the female dog, not incorrectly, as a “bitch” which makes it a conundrum about giving it to kids to read.

Bread And Jam For Frances

I’d forgotten all about the Frances the Badger books until now! I was so excited to see one again! These books just hit hard in the nostalgia. Very traditional of a children’s book, it feels similar to old-school Berenstain Bears. It has a simple, clear cut message for children that still holds true. It’s really nothing special (the story is pretty simple and the art is mostly duotone) unless you also have warm feelings form your childhood about this series.

Hugh Pine

A chapter book about an unusually large, unusually smart porcupine who realizes that if he wears a bright red hat he found, then drivers on the road are more likely to see him and less likely to hit him. So he teaches himself to stand on his hind legs and wave at the drivers, and is quickly mistaken as a small, old man. The other porcupines, not as smart as Hugh and very much in danger of the cars when they try to cross the road, soon form a committee and come to Hugh for help in keeping the rest of them safe. Absolutely ridiculous and Hugh is a miserable curmudgeon who wants to be left alone, so obviously I align with it.

[nprbooks]

Intern Takeover, Part Deux! The Arts Desk’s excellent intern Milton Guevara conducted this interview with linguist Gaston Dorren about his new book, Babel. Enjoy!

-- Petra

Like a plane ticket, Gaston Dorren’s Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages can take readers across the globe. A fun exploration of the most widely spoken languages, Babel travels to places as far afield as Cameroon and Vietnam to uncover interesting linguistic quirks. Each chapter focuses on a single language, such as Turkish or Tamil, and gives us a glimpse into its unique and curious characteristics -- for example, the way Japanese women and men speak different “dialects.” Or France’s resistance to linguistic diversity.

Dorren himself speaks six languages and reads nine more, but when I asked him to give some advice for would-be language learners, he told me there’s no clear recipe. “I'm afraid it really depends on both what kind of person you are. In my own case, for instance, I find it very important to be able to read stuff. There are many more languages that I can read than I can speak. In order to learn to read, I basically take a very old fashioned approach: learning vocabulary, learning grammar, and applying it. But if you are one of those people who want to speak the language, which of course makes a lot of sense, then I think from the very start you should give a lot of attention to the correct pronunciation of words. And also start conversations right away … It depends on the person, but I would say most people are best off practicing what little they've learned right away.”

What are some of your favorite language-specific expressions?

We have this expression [in Dutch]. "It stands like a pole above water" (Als een paal boven water staan). The meaning is “it is absolutely sure, it is absolutely certain. There is no doubt about it.” The image being that while the water surf is always waves, the poles that the ships will be attached to are always very firm in place. Those poles are a point of certainty within an otherwise very insecure water surface. The Dutch language has a lot of water-related expressions because the Dutch used to be a seafaring nation.

For some languages you talk more about the quirks, for others you emphasize the history. How did you narrow down how you would approach each language?

Basically what I do in Babel -- and what I also did in my previous book Lingo -- is really follow my own curiosity on the assumption that what I find curious and interesting, many readers will probably also find curious and interesting. So if I discover that the Turkish language, say, was deliberately changed over the 20th century in order to purify it and make the language more purely Turkish, that is something that strikes me as unusual. So I look into that. Then I discover that there is this pretty interesting and well-written book about it, which I read, and of course I find additional information … On the other hand, with Spanish for instance, which is much more familiar for many of us, that is a good place to tell something about the grammar of that language. It's easier to relate to Spanish grammar than to, say, Turkish grammar.

Were there any anecdotes you wish you could've included in the book?

Actually yes. I wrote too many chapters about Japanese, because at that point we hadn't decided yet that every language would get just one chapter. I wrote a chapter about Japanese haikus. They’re short five-seven-five syllable poems that are very present in Japanese culture and that we also know about in European and American culture. Whether or not you like that particular poem, the interesting thing is that in Japanese, they don't have five-seven-five syllables, they have five-seven-five moras. Moras are not a concept that we're familiar with in English. Moras are like syllables, but they're different. And that difference is very important for the Japanese language, and haikus are an excellent way of illustrating that. But in the end I had to choose. I could only have one chapter about Japanese … or, actually, I cheated a bit and had two chapters about Japanese.

For Tamil, there is this great story about how they have two rather different forms of Tamil. One for the written language and one for the spoken language, which are way different than spoken English and written English. So how did they do that? And why is that? I didn't write that chapter, but I would have loved to write it.

What language was the most challenging to write about?

In the case of English, it was tricky because English is not my first language … that would be Dutch. So here was I, thinking what to write about a language that the reader probably knows as much about, if not more, than I. I wrote two versions. In one version, I tried to explain what English as a world language is like for second language speakers, such as myself. What do we go through to learn it? How do we experience it? I love the language, I can't get enough of it. In other ways I feel a bit intimidated because the native speaker will always out-discuss me. Some English speaking people, and I really want to underline some, are not very kind to second language speakers. Being monolingual speakers themselves, they don't realize how hard it is to speak a second language.

What are some other thoughts you have about the book?

It's important to note that while the book is about all these languages, it is basically a book for people who may very well be monolinguals themselves. I present the languages as if they were friends of mine. I want to be a sort of tour guide who shows the beauty and the special things of these language while trying to entertain the reader. So if I manage to make the reader feel that this is worth reading about, then I feel I've achieved my aim.

[thefreshfinds]

Soul Food: The Fine Arts - Sugar Shacks

By: Natalee Gilbert

With open arms, Soul Food: The Fine Arts took in all walks of life and allowed passionate creatives to express theirselves freely. Beyond a non-existent canvas, souls were captivated by the performer’s artistic flair. Through the means of all-around awareness, relatability and just having fun — Soul Food: The Fine Arts created a settling ambience. But really, it was everyone involved who made this event worthwhile. It was hard to not take notice of the musician and poet’s way with words. In the hands of urgency, they reeled out inner thoughts, doubts even fears. Other times, they would lend a hand (with precaution). Still, everyone was there to simply enjoy the arts. Sparks flied, friendships rekindled and networks formulated in a smooth manner.

A tale of all tales — Soul Food: The Fine Arts is one for the books. Certainly, this event will go down in history.

Here are 5 creatives that I had the pleasure to speak to with at this diverse event and thank you Big Dawg K for the opportunity:

Ivan Polanco: A singer/songwriter who creates R&B and acoustic pop music — Ivan Polanco is one who provides within his lyrics that he’s just a young man growing up in this day in age. Sure, every guy has love/heartbreak songs but for him its to a certain extent. In his perspective, his music speaks about what a young man encompasses during his growth. Sonically, Ivan’s voice embodies real emotion and care. Moreso, it’s very soft, crystallized and adaptable to change when needed be. Initially Polanco started his music career with the drums. Since his dad was also fond of singing and songwriting, he would play the drums for him from time to time. But Pacheco’s dad seen it more as a hobby. Being a self-taught musician, Ivan decided to dabble into singing and sought to write his own music. A source says that Polanco knew Big Dawg K earlier on. But they lost contact, reconnected and discovered (10 years later) that they both were still making music. In a span of 9 years, Polanco has released 4 albums. Currently, he’s working on another called To Grow. Essentially, it comes with the notion that “this man is 26,” he’s grateful for those he’s encountered and very proud of his journey. Besides being an artist, Polanco is a personal trainer. His advice to all is to be happy with who you are. “Find your voice.” he adds.

LINKS:

1. Website: https://ivanpolanco.com/home

2. Instagram: @ivanpolanco.music

Bobby Sanchez: Bobby Sanchez is one who passes it forward. In the name of education — Sanchez does his part in informing the world about current issues that are (sometimes) unheard of. But really, he wants to be more than heard. Sanchez aims to decolonize the way others think and reconstruct the past in a narrative that’s centered around the indigenous perspective. Apart from this, Sanchez’s cadence depicts the pain felt by our ancestors. In pursuit, his words are taken with much intensity and remembrance. A 24 year old hip-hop artist and poet from New Rochelle, New York — Bobby Sanchez started writing raps/poetry seriously after leaving high school. Back then, it helped him to find purpose and healed him from the depression he was going through at the time so, he went with it. At the break of dawn, Sanchez keeps his family in mind because they keep him motivated. Funnily enough, his ancestors are also a source for inspiration. Sanchez adds “I can feel their [his ancestors] presence on a daily basis.” A strength of his in music, comes from the truth. “It takes courage to speak out against issues that others are not talking about.” For instance, his song “Pasion” was him, looking within to find a truth. To warm up, he reads books about new concepts so it can be added between the lines of his rhymes. “Most books have to do with colonialism, relating to Latin America, as well as indigenous cosmology.” Sanchez says. Currently, Sanchez is sitting on about 9-10 songs. He plans on releasing them every week for the next couple of months.

LINKS:

1. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bobbysanchezmusic

2. Instagram: @bobbysanchezmusic

Lady Kay: The saying “..walk a mile in someone else's shoes.” goes a pretty long way. Especially when you’re Lady Kay. At most, empathic — Lady Kay possesses the skill to feel and understand. As part of her execution, Lady Kay gives a powerful delivery when it comes to speaking the world’s truth. Still, it gets tough for her to do so, when revealing her own. To define her style, Kay says its moreso persona poems. Essentially, Kay goes into their perspective but it can get difficult at times when she has to come for herself. For instance Kay’s poem ‘Don’t Sleep With An Artist’ takes a jab at those who get romantically involved with artist. And funnily enough, she is an artist. Sometimes, she even offends those who listen unintentionally because they believe her poem is about them. But, she’s just doing her part through bold statements and social awareness. Lady Kay put the pen to the pad in 3rd grade. Then she pursued spoken word after high school. Kay adds “I’m not really emotional, but I can write out feelings.” Really, this is what pushed her towards poetry. Now, Kay is apart of a collective called Femsovl. The goal for all 3 is to create events that are calm, cool and collected. In Kay’s words, she relates with this: “To speak your truth whether on a soap box or stage. Its all you" From her poetry, Lady Kay wants others to feel the intensity. She is currently working on a book that’ll include short stories, interactive pieces and illustrations.

LINKS:

1. Instagram: @kaybeethelady

Smoove Babii: One who armors the heart on his sleeve — Smoove Babii speaks from within and astounds others with his familiarity on personal experiences. But really, he self-identifies as “a fireball of energy who just demands attention with his presence.” Smoove Babii comes with the intent of being a safe haven for those who need it. He’d like for people to feel safe when they tune in. However, what he really means is that he’d like for others to feel safe being theirselves. Babii adds “I want them to feel safe by knowing their not the only ones in life going through or has been through what they might experience.” In a passionate tonality, Babii is able to reel out inner emotions. To put it further, his poetry is raw, aggressive and often times, understanding. Likewise, there’s no theme to his mastery. “My mood really determines how creative my poetry gets.” Smoove Babii says. Speaking of which, his favorite verse out of his poems is: What to do? Is the question I ask myself every day. MJ has been trying to tell us for years that, THEY DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT US! So, I talk to THE MAN IN THE MIRROR as I put my coat on. Everybody wants to be THRILLER but they out there trying to make us GHOST! I get BUTTERFLIES in my stomach every time I walk out my door. Seeing who's trying to ROCK WITH ME! Hope my family doesn't have to REMEMBER THE TIMES I MOONWALK back through my door. Look at my brothers as JACKSON 5 and go to school to learn my ABCs and make it easy as 123 and stop leaving BILLY JEANS and chasing these girls to ROCK THEY WORLD! We all are not SCARECROWS, WE ALL HAVE BRAINS, we must show them that WE ARE NOT ALONE and together we are INVINCIBLE so they can just BEAT IT with all those images of all us being SMOOTH CRIMINALS! This is bigger than being BLACK OR WHITE, that's why I get down on my knees and pray at night. Not to forgive me for my sins or beg to let me in but for forgiveness, just in case the cops have to JOE JACKSON me and I can't see my kids. 

From Smoove Babii’s upcoming poetry expect it to be more personal, deep, and talk about adventures that have formed him into who he is. Also, expect poetry albums and poetry EP’s as well. Maybe even a collab with Oliver The Writer. His first EP is out now on SoundCloud. It’s called Welcome To My Ghetto Gospel.

LINKS:

1. Soundcloud: https://m.soundcloud.com/user-515974176/sets/welcome-to-my-ghetto-gospel

2. Instagram: @smoovebabii

Acoustic Cat: Acoustic Cat reminds us why we fell in love with music to begin with. As he goes to great lengths to bring back fine tunes, Acoustic Cat adds his flair through guitar progressions and gruffness. Likewise, Cat goes for a sound that’s more 60’s-70’s. To start off, Acoustic Cat got his big break after joining a rock/medal band. Although he toured around New York City with them and considered them “brothers”, Cat ventured off on his own. To describe what he goes for, its moreso a “naked” sound. In a word it’s an exploration of rock, jazz and everything in between. On the other hand, Acoustic Cat says his now-solo career is a learning curve. But the more he does it, the easier it gets. One message he tries to tell others is to stay positive. Through life’s ups and downs, Cat won’t stop until his sound becomes universal.

LINKS:

1. Website: www.acousticcat.com

2. Instagram: @theacousticcat

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 43: Things Get a Lot Less Vague, But it’s Still Pretty Vague

I’m taking full advantage of the laziest time of the year and I’m watching even more Yugioh. I even gave myself a buffer. Sort of. I kinda lost a day playing Octopath Traveler and I don’t even remember that happening.

Now this episode doesn’t have anyone getting struck by lightning, but if that happened, it would have fit right in. A lot happened in this episode. So, to start off, Mai decided to play one of the three cards we were given explicit instructions to never ever play and it has immediately screwed her over via orb.

Everyone else watching the orb has become completely enamored by it. Especially Kaiba, who is pretty positive he can turn this sphere into a dragon. I don’t know why anyone would ever come to this conclusion, but welcome to Yugioh, it’s well into S2 and I’m just still jaw agape and saying “HOW?” at my screen.

Like y’all I don’t know how to play this game, which should be hella apparent from reading any of my posts, but like there is one thing that everyone knows--even I knew--about Yugioh the game. Let me just, once sec

Ah, there we go.

Like sometimes it shows that your game is originally in a language that doesn’t require spaces between words. And like this is coming from me. You know how verbose I am, I freakin love words. But maybe that’s too many words for a card.

(read more under the cut)

And while this is pretty much the worlds most BS card already, what’s even better is that none of this jargon appeared until after Mai played the card. Like basically the card pretends to be completely normal and then is like “Boom, gotcha. I’ll just be a cool Ikea orb lamp instead!”

At this point, while everyone is scrambling around trying to fathom what to do about this huge ass fake sun blinding everyone down in Domino, Marik decides to deposit some more bizarre lore.

I kind of assumed Yugi and Kaiba were born with the correct soul formula to become the reincarnation of these people from 3000 B.C.E. without any actual blood relations but apparently, somehow, you got people from Ancient Egypt migrating to Ancient Japan. Sure, I mean if you did enough trading routes it could happen. It just seems like it would be a difficult transition?

And we could get real head canon and talk about their parentage since there’s a lot we don’t know. Mokuba and Kaiba could have different fathers, since they are quite different looking, which may be how Mokuba is exempt from all this lore while it still applies to Seto (Cuz Mokuba has been staring at that card for like quite a while and he cannot read it). But like, I don’t know if the show will even bother to cover that.

I don’t know if we’ll find out when in their bloodlines Kaiba and Yugi’s Egyptian cursed lines arrived in Japan. Was this during like the Edo period? Was this to set up a really bizarre Shogun Yugioh spinoff?

Wait, is that a thing? I don’t actually know, Yugioh seems to have like 8 spinoffs that all look a lot of the same to me. It may just be 1 spinoff that Netflix keeps changing the preview image of to trick me into thinking there’s 8 of them.

Or, did Kaiba have a relative that showed up in the 80′s and had a crazy weekend and a one night stand? Would Kaiba even know who his real Dad is?

Whatever, I’m sure there’s plenty of fanfic made over the last 20 years to cover this so I don’t have to. Moving on.

And then this kid’s show decided to tie up Mai to a wall or something? Man, Marik and chaining people up, this is the fourth person he’s chained up today! At least this time she doesn’t have a box over her head.

Still pretty kinky though.

Yo did Mokuba just...casually walk out of Marik’s Shadow Realm just now?

Again, do they cancel the game at this point because the equipment is...clearly malfunctioning? Like, this is the part that Kaiba is supposed to have full control of because he made all the equipment they’re using and he’s just...glossing over this? Like, this is the one thing that Kaiba would be like “OK wait, wait, we can’t ship it like this, my company is actually ruined if the game can do this, one sec, cancel everything.”

Nah. They just kinda watch.

And now, Marik decides to say the bird chant so we can hear what was actually written on the card and it was...a...

...it was the definition of what a poem is all right...

This is the lyrics to the Ra poem, just so you can see how bad it is. My search engine history will never be the same, but I just want y’all to glory on how kid’s show this poem is, compared to everything else going on in this kid’s show at this moment.

"Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry./

Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight/

Envelop the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe./

Unlock your powers deep within so that together we may win./

Appear in this Shadow Game as I call your name,/

Winged Dragon of Ra"

Bravo, writers. Bravo. This corny as hell poem with its very awkward meter was voiced over alllllll the other nuts stuff going on in this show and guys, it’s a juxtaposition.

Now at this point, Kaiba has his poem he needs to make the card works--so he no longer needs to translate it--so he can just cancel. He’s got everything he wants now. Time to just cancel. Throw the cursed boy in whatever prison you got on this ship. In fact, just toss him off the ship entirely. You no longer need him. He doesn’t even have the card anymore. Mai has it.

I honestly think Kaiba just spaced the hell out at this point.

Also then Marik follows it up by saying this:

Joey gets wind that this is pretty bad and we’re going to get a very dead Mai--I mean Joey was the one who just recently got struck by lightning so it’d make sense that he’d be the one to say "I know for a real true fact none of you are going to do a damn thing about this unless I do this myself.” So he runs directly over to Kaiba but then I think the show decided to edit out him talking to Kaiba because it just jump cuts to Joey talking to Roland instead.

Like it really felt like Joey went the long way around to get on this platform but I dunno, maybe he tried to punch Kaiba in the Japanese version and that’s why they edited it out? I dunno.

Also, how many times will Joey get DQ’d before he actually gets DQ’d? Will anyone ever in fact get DQ’d in this entire tourney?

As Ra starts warming up his engines to start spewing fire all over the field, Joey decides to take a moment to try and talk to Mai. To tell her that yes, he did have a dream about her, but didn’t want to tell her earlier, because no teenage boy in their right mind would tell an adult woman that they had a dream about them during a near-death experience.

Which honestly most of it was lost on the fact that Mai can only hear him as a sort of ghostly spooky echo.

So then, through the power of...the show only calls if friendship, but it’s very vague, y’all...they break the curse that Marik put on Mai, and she remembers Joey. Also because Joey is touching her face. Like literally touching her. This would have been way spookier if she could not see him at this point.

So Ra is getting ready to fry these two up and I thought “wow, we’re gonna get two bodies at the end of this episode. What a treat!” but there’s a twist.

What? Lol what?

Within like 3 milliseconds, Yugi goes “dammit what are these assholes doing?” and leaps up to the platform and then takes yet another direct fireball hit in order to save Joey Wheeler. No one even asked Yugi to do this--he’s not even competing in this game, but he certainly got up there and took it.

This episode must have been a right up shipping frenzy when y’all were 12.

Marik is so pleased that he got to eff up Yugi more in this duel than the one that he actually tried to kill Yugi Muto in. If I remember correctly he did mention that this all was very convenient--I mean he got 3 in one go and he wasn’t even trying. So, Because Yugi is passed out and because Kaiba will never actually step in and stop anyone in this show unless Mokuba orders him to, Marik walks straight up to Joey and Mai and makes some more nonsense right in front of everyone on this show.

This is right in front of most of the entire cast.

Maybe it’s the color scheme but I got strong Stinky Cheese Man vibes from this magic effect.

I thought of pulling more caps from this point but there was waaaay too much shirtless Yugi in it. In my mind, all cartoon characters, when they take their shirt off, have another shirt on underneath. And if they take off that shirt, it’s yet another shirt. It’s shirts and boots leggings on all the way down to infinity like a russian nesting doll, and the image of shirtless Yugi really puts a kibosh to my world view and I didn’t like it.

No kinkshame, of course, if that’s your thing, well, you got a 18x18 pixel shirtless Yugi right there for you to enjoy. Enjoy.

Now that Mai has been trapped here in this hourglass resort, she will lose her memories of her friends for the rest of time, obsessively watching everyone else's vacations that are full of friends having way more fun than she is having.

This is just Instagram basically. Y’all, this is just Instagram.

And some of y’alls Instagram has shirtless Yugis in it, I just know it.

And not to get too real but like, last episode we went through how Marik basically gave Mai depression--and it says a lot that his way of doing this was illustrated in a show written like 20 years ago in a lot of the same way social media works today. Just throwing that out there. 

Overall, I feel like the theme of the Mai ark is “Marik just sped up what they were already doing and it was super effective.” Mai trapped herself in her own false and negative insecurities. Kaiba failed to moderate anything. Joey waited way too late to say the right thing. Yugi sacrificed himself again to such a degree that he couldn’t save Mai later when Marik was just strutting around cursing people willy nilly.

And I’m not going to lie, Marik’s cargo pants/cape strut was hilarious.

It was probably supposed to be menacing, but this long cut of this ridiculous cast just watching this weird boy go was great.

Up until now Seto has been a very patient impatient person, but now it’s finally his duel, and he’s so excited to duel Ishizu--but y’all it’s just Seto up against a phsycic again. I imagine it’s gonna go real great.

Other than that one guy in town, will this boy ever duel a normal person?

Also...been debating on whether Mai is dead or alive, and her soul still seems attached to her body--like she’s still salvageable? So I’ll say alive for now. Seems more like a dream than like she literally got transported elsewhere.

Dude. It is S2 and I just realized that Mai Valentine is a pun.

Damn.

If you just got here, this is the end of S2 and things are rapidly losing their mind. Click here if you want to read from ep 1

[twistednuns]

May 2019

Leah Rieck’s book Sag dem Abenteuer, ich komme - she started out in Munich and travelled the world on her motorcycle, alone. I loved how down-to-earth it was, it didn’t glorify the places she visited. Reading it gave me the final impulse to hand in the application for my sabbatical in three years. Now I just have to sign up for Spanish class at uni.

Being sick - good for losing Canada weight. And getting better really quickly, too! I was already prepared for a horrible flu but after one feverish, painful day I was as good as new! Strange magic.

Andre sending me a very old photo of himself, sitting in a 90s bedroom, shirtless, playing a red electric guitar. He has long-ish hair and looks up into the camera. He looks like a seductive young Kurt Cobain.

Reading Meike Winnemuth’s book about gardening. Another book which kinda gives me the desire to have my own garden. Well. For now I’m just sprucing up the balcony.

My new Dyno vinyl label maker. Exactly the right thing for someone with a passion for sorting, labeling and organising.

Eating ripe peaches and strawberries.

Wearing my cowboy boots from Montréal. I love making click clack sounds while walking.

More literature: Finally reading Hesse’s Siddhartha for the first time. / Bela B Felsenheimer’s debut novel. / A very pretty graphic novel I got in Québec: Anne… La Maison Aux Pignons Verts / And another feminist dystopia, one of my favourite genres: Christina Dalcher’s Vox.

An evening with Maxim and Martina at Flex. Playing pool with the computer scientist and his girlfriend from New Zealand. Needing help for the foosball match - fortunately the guy from Kairo was on the spot. Grasovka and Gauloises on a Monday night. Living a little, you know? / Related: getting better at pool even though I have to play with idiots #horribletinderdates

Finding that sticker of Grumpy Cat saying “Don’t be racist - hate everyone!”

This list here is list number 100 of my Things I Love series. Ha. I’ve been doing this for a really long time now.

Long days, short nights. Twilight. Riding my bike in the evening. The smell of lilac in the air.

Reading about multipotentialism; thinking about my passions, skills and interests. Maybe it’s time to expand my portfolio. Get myself out there. Take on a part-time job or find a new project.

The little bird using my balcony as a playground.

Lit Cities - Where do you want to travel to? Just pick the right book. This literary world map will help you choose.

Me, the Queen of Bad Dates, the Realm of Being Single and Sky-High Standards despite Insecurities Galore sometimes needs to hear something like this.

Making my own crisp bread for the first time. With sea salt, rosemary and pine nuts.

Avocado green and beetroot magenta next to each other on a sunflower seed bun. A great colour combination.

Virginia Woolf inventing the ODTAA (One-Damned-Thing- After-Another) Society.

Seeing a girl one morning from the tram window. She rode her bike downhill in the morning sun without holding on to the handles. She wore a light jacket and the wind pushed it back over her shoulders. She looked free.

I love finding partyblowers in men’s pockets. That’s why I sometimes put them there. I think it started with Hannes after watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the cinema. For my birthday, Manu got a green one for his leather jacket. I always instruct them to keep it there for me to find next time.

Drawing a stripper greeting card for Sarah because I didn’t think Leoni was able or organise a real one for her.

Waiting for Lexi in front of the water fountain at Prinzregentenplatz when I saw a bunch of balloons rising up in the sky in the sunshine. I hope someone made a wish. Or a little kid was crying, who knows.

Spending time with Lexi! Bun and litchi mojitos as Thao, ice-cream at Ballabeni. Watching the cats at Katzentempel from outside. Shopping at Edited, Words’ Worth and Mikado (where I ran into Dani who showed me his Harley… what a coincidence).

Also: somehow motorcycles are a recurring theme at the moment. I’d like to get a scooter or my motorcycle driver’s license.

I’m a big fan of sculptures with little legs.

“Everything about this aesthetic is working! Can I buy you a drink?” (Jonah) - one of the best pick-up lines ever used on me. Sadly - of course - by a weirdo toymaker with a bimbo fetish. But hey, he had a very nice voice.

The yellow cascade blossoms on the tree in front of my balcony.

Watching videos by a foster mum for rescue kittens.

My birthday! I treated myself to ramen and pistachio ice-cream at Viktualienmarkt in the afternoon. In the evening I met Barbara, Maike, Lena, Obi, Lexi, Yanic, Bibi, Manu and Frank at Keg. It was karaoke night so I sang the Pina Colada song and I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight by Cutting Crew. I made a fool of myself but that’s fine. Gin and tonic and having an awesome time with my friends helped me get over it. I even got super nice presents: a colour-changing umbrella from Bibi (whose eyes looked especially beautiful that day), a book about epic road trips and &otherstories earrings from Lexi and Yanic, a Rivers of London graphic novel from Barbara and Maike and Lena and Obi gave me a happy llama DIY kit (such fun!) and a voucher for a hike with alpakas and llamas. My mum gave me Avène Antirougeurs face cream and a plant holder. Sounds weird but both items had actually been on my wish list.

Frank and Manu’s bromance. They just kept talking about Quake, ignoring me completely. It’s fine. I did a good deed by getting those two together.

An afternoon at the cinema watching Detective Pikachu with Manu, Isi, Andi, Dani and Martin.

The power of imagination: I get a physical reaction when I imagine cutting my finger on the edge of a metal can.

Planning on making a collection of hand sculptures and prints with different materials and media.

Taking part in iraville’s little drawing challenge (#drawthisinyourstyle) - she posted an illustration (‘Matcha Girl’) and asked her followers to use it as an inspiration to draw the same motif in their own personal style.

Drawing more in general. Actually using the huge set of Polychromos coloured pencils I bought.

Wolfgang Herrndorf’s poem Das Elend und die Welt.

Motto week at school. Getting to wear your pyjamas to work is awesome.

Going to England with the students. There were some small incidents but all in all I had a very good time. As a matter of fact I’m one of those rare teachers who enjoy class trips. Everything is better than routine. So we stayed at a host family with a small zoo - they had three cats, their son brought another one on the first day, and in the garden we’d get visits from foxes, seagulls and the neighbours’ cat, too. Sara’s Iranian cuisine was amazing. So much better than anything we had in a restaurant that week. Her granddaughter Liana was quite a handful but adorable. I love it when children have a British accent. I had never been on the Dover-Calais ferry before and seen the chalk cliffs.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 26 November 2018

Quick Bits:

Action Comics #1005 gives us a reappearance of The Question and a HERO Dial--possibly counterfeit, possibly just doesn’t work for villains--amidst an advancement of the underground mob arc, a surprising “conclusion” to the arson case, and a revelation of who the Red Cloud is. Although there are many spinning plates, and a decided lack of conclusion to most of the arcs, I actually quite like how Brian Michael Bendis is crafting this story. You could argue that it’s decompressed, but it feels a bit like old school superhero soap opera, and that feel really works for Superman. It’s also aided immensely by the gorgeous artwork from Ryan Sook and Brad Anderson.

| Published by DC Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #10 concludes the “Heist” arc in a fairly impressive manner. Nick Spencer really seems to get Spider-Man, Mary Jane, and their world and is delivering some great character moments here, with great heart and humour. Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, Michele Bandini, and Erick Arciniega also do a wonderful job with the art.

| Published by Marvel

Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth #1 concludes the “Drowned Earth” event in fairly epic fashion from Scott Snyder, Francis Manapul, Howard Porter, Scott Godlewski, Hi-Fi, and Tom Napolitano. While this even is definitely a vehicle to move Aquaman to his new status quo for incoming Kelly Sue DeConnick, it’s also been a great story in its own right. Building on Aquaman and Justice League mythology, while also advancing the Legion of Doom and Totality story for the main Justice League book. Also, Super-Pirate should continue as one of Superman’s looks.

| Published by DC Comics

Archie 1941 #3 explores bits of basic training with Archie getting into the usually kind of hijinks that he would and the problems back on the homefront with those left behind. I really like how this series is coming together, looking at some of the basic personal fallout from the war. Also, Peter Krause and Kelly Fitzpatrick’s art remains a huge boon to this series.

| Published by Archie Comics

Barbarella #12 brings Mike Carey and Kenan Yarar’s run on the series to a close, with a kind of retrospective as one of Barbarella’s early antagonists attempts to exact revenge. Very nice guest piece illustrated by Jorge Fornés and Celeste Woods. This has been a fun and entertaining series, definitely feeling like some of the stranger sci-fi that you see out of Europe. 

| Published by Dynamite

Batgirl #29 has some great art from Paul Pelletier, Norm Rapmund, and Jordie Bellaire for this conclusion to “The Art of the Crime”. Also some very interesting development in the status of the Dark Web and Grotesque.

| Published by DC Comics

Beyonders #4 takes a different approach to the material that the team already has, leading them to a new location wherein they hope to save the world and unravel the mystery. The light humour adds a nice touch to the otherwise dense subject matter.

| Published by AfterShock

Black Panther #6 gives some much needed backstory, focusing on the Emperor, his rise to power, and his connection to the Wakandan pantheon. Very interesting implications to both where the gods went and in the Emperor being a host for a symbiote. Beautiful guest art from Jen Bartel, Paul Reinwand, and Tríona Farrell.

| Published by Marvel

Coda #7 has some pretty big revelations as Hum & Co. confront the Pilot, and his schemes to “fix” his wife look like they’re baring fruit. Si Spurrier and Matías Bergara really are creating something epic here.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Daredevil #612 concludes “The Death of Daredevil” from Charles Soule, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles and with it Soule’s run on the title. It’s good, with some nice character bits and twists for this final chapter.

| Published by Marvel

Die!Die!Die! #5 burns Bethany and Theodore as “Paul” turns on them for his side of the battling senators, even as John confronts his side alerting them to something nefarious being afoot. This is still mostly an insane action book, but at least there is something resembling an overarching plot and direction developing. 

| Published by Image / Skybound

Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror #2 gives us an entertaining and somewhat strange adaptation of Poe’s Ligeia from Rachel Pollack, Rick Geary, and Michael Garland. Also a very different take on Jules Verne from Stuart Moore, Ryan Kelly, Rico Renzi, and Rob Steen. This issue is rounded out by a poem, another prose piece, and a wonderful new Black Cat short from Hunt Emerson.

| Published by Ahoy

Faith: Dreamside #3 takes Doctor Mirage and Faith into the deadside where they’re searching for Monica Jim’s soul. Very interesting landscapes and characters from MJ Kim and Jordie Bellaire, capturing the oddity of what’s going on in the story.

| Published by Valiant

The Flash #59 continues the “Force Quest” arc with a cursory investigation of the slaughter of Gorilla City. We don’t really get any answers there, but there is a broader bit of information about the four forces as a means to protect the multiverse. Also we learn just how bloody that Gemini are willing to get. The avatar of the forces motif that Joshua Williamson is bringing in is very reminiscent of the rainbow-coloured Lanterns of Geoff Johns and of the various Parliaments (and the Red and the Rot) in Swamp Thing and Animal Man, but it’s interesting to see where he’s going with this.

| Published by DC Comics

Hellboy and the BPRD: 1956 #1 begins the next chapter in the BPRD’s history, with change definitely coming as they begin operating under the government’s purview and start having more overt bureaucracy and demands on results. You can definitely see that change in the feeling of alienation that Hellboy’s having from his friends and family as he tries to deal with the loss of his dog. Interesting decision to have different plotlines illustrated by different artists, it kind of echoes the previous breakdown of the series’ stories as discrete units, but now under one umbrella much like the changing nature of the Bureau. Great art in each too from Mike Norton, Yishan Li, and Michael Avon Oeming.

| Published by Dark Horse

House Amok #3 starts to break the illusion, with Dylan relating how she became disillusion with the madness that her family is living. Gorgeous artwork from Shawn McManus and Lee Loughridge.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Infinity Wars: Arachknight #2 isn’t a bad conclusion to this origin story for the Spider-Man/Moon Knight mash-up character. Great art from Alé Garza, Victor Olazaba, and Ruth Redmond. Really like the design for Arachknight’s costume.

| Published by Marvel

Infinity Wars: Weapon Hex #2 finishes up one of the more balls-out insane Infinity Warps origin tales, from Bens Acker & Blacker, Gerardo Sandoval, Victor Nava, Israel Silva, and Joe Caramagna. This one has been an entertaining mash-up of X-23 with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver that ports over a lot of the irreverence of an All-New Wolverine or X-23 tale and all the nervous energy of Honey Badger into this story.

| Published by Marvel

Ironheart #1 is off to a pretty good start from Eve L. Ewing, Kevin Libranda, Luciano Vecchio, Geoffo, Matt Milla, and Clayton Cowles, working to give a bit more personality and relatable situations for Riri Williams. There’s still the cold and awkward behaviour from Riri, but Ewing is spotlighting that she’s distancing herself and that may not be great for emotional development. Wonderful artwork from Libranda, Vecchio, Geoffo, and Milla.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League Odyssey #3 sees Philippe Briones and Jeromy Cox take over the art duties from Stjepan Sejic, It’s definitely a different style, but it still looks good.

| Published by DC Comics

KINO #11 continues this fairly dramatic change in tone and status quo for the series from Alex Paknadel, Diego Galindo, Adam Guzowski, and Jim Campbell. It is really damn good, bringing in a fair amount of mystery and intrigue, with two Alistair Meaths running around.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #33 gives us a bit of Ellarien’s history as she navigated this universe tending towards entropy and found herself as its sole Ranger. I really like the new direction and mythology that Marguerite Bennett and Simone Di Meo are building.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Old Lady Harley #2 introduces us to a very frightening extension of the Batman idea with Bruce plugging himself in to the Bat-computer in order to police Gotham through his Bat-robots. It’s interesting, though, how Frank Tieri can go from this grim vision of the future to the more ridiculous hilarity of Arkham Asylum as an old folks home.

| Published by DC Comics

Paradise Court #5 brings the series to a close with the revelation of what’s been going on in the planned community and what its true purpose really is in dramatic fashion. This has been a good little horror thriller from Joe Brusha, Babisu Kourtis, Leonardo Paciarotti, and Taylor Esposito. If you enjoy Bentley Little or Scott Nicholson novels, you’ll probably like this.

| Published by Zenescope

Quincredible #1 is the first Catalyst Prime series to be co-branded with the Roar imprint, Lion Forge’s teen label, (though I suppose at least Superb was also rebranded with it) and it’s a pretty good debut from Rodney Barnes, Selina Espiritu, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Tom Napolitano. This first issue introduces us to Quin, another teen affected by the Event, who has developed what might be invulnerability. Barnes focuses the story on his community involvement in New Orleans, bringing up class and racial divides, as well as a problem Quin has with bullies, to really make the story feel rich.

| Published by Lion Forge / Roar / Catalyst Prime

Regression #12 continues to be bleak, entertaining the very real idea that the “bad guys” are going to win. I think that’s probably one of the reasons why I like this series, not because the Valgeroti are right or worth cheering for, but because Cullen Bunn has created a compelling horror tale where the wrong thing feels like a satisfying end resolution. Also it comes with some phenomenal, beautiful, and grisly artwork from Danny Luckert and Marie Enger as they work their terror.

| Published by Image

Scarlet #4 is an interesting penultimate chapter to this mini from Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Josh Reed. Most of it is discussion of what will happen when Scarlet surrenders and her giving her goodbyes to her friends. Really makes you wonder what’s going to happen in the finale.

| Published by DC Comics

The Silencer #11 begins “Cold Cold Heart” and it feels like the title is working towards an end. I know that many of the other New Age of Heroes titles have been cancelled and are winding down, but I’ve not seen anything in that regard to this one. It could just be working its way through change. In any event, it’s pretty damn good. Seeing all of Leviathan as it exists now is fairly neat and the art from Jack Herbert, Tom Derenick, and Mike Spicer is great.

| Published by DC Comics

Spider-Girls #2 takes a bit of time to trade stories about Normie Osborn before going to him to warn him about the Inheritors on their world and work some magic on the scrolls of the Spider Cult. Nice character development from Jody Houser here.

| Published by Marvel

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #2 explores an alternate reality where Harry Osborn was Spider-Man and Gwen became the Green Goblin. It’s an interesting emotional ride as we see what happened in this reality, beautifully illustrated by Rosi Kämpe and Ian Herring. One thing that isn’t quite clear, though, is why having our Gwen help their Peter find their Gwen because she’s necessary to help our Gwen is blackmail, though. Maybe I missed something, but it seems like the heroic thing to do.

| Published by Marvel

Stranger Things #3 largely works to create an atmosphere of despair and defeat as Will continually tries to reconnect with his mother, or anyone, back in the real world and fails. The artwork from Stefano Martino, Keith Champagne, and Lauren Affe perfectly convey that feeling.

| Published by Dark Horse

Strangers in Paradise XXV #8 takes a running leap into the strange. Or stranger, as Katchoo returns with the package for Jet. Terry Moore is really taking this tale into a different direction from the initial intrigue thriller plotline. Also, a nice return of Libby and Sam from Motor Girl.

| Published by Abstract Studio

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #88 has quite a few “holy crap” moments as the Mutanimals aid the Turtles in repelling the EPF from Burnow Island. Huge revelations about Bishop’s history and a hero moment from Slash. Dave Wachter and Ronda Pattison deliver some incredible artwork all throughout. 

| Published by IDW

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Macro-Series: Leonardo #3 is one of the most beautiful Turtles books I’ve seen. The art from Sophie Campbell and Brittany Peer is gorgeous, guiding us through a fairly introspective tale of what Leonardo really wants out of life, while still advancing major plot points with the fate of the Foot Clan.

| Published by IDW

These Savage Shores #2 continues this brilliant series from Ram V, Sumit Kumar, Vittorio Astone, and Aditya Bidikar. It is a thoroughly stunning combination of horror tale, tragic romance, and political drama rolled into one absolutely beautiful package. The world is deep and enthralling, brought to life in amazing use of mostly variants on 9-panel grids from Kumar and Astone. The design sense alone makes this series interesting to read just from a technical perspective, but Ram V and Kumar put so much into the story and storytelling that it transcends just style. This is a truly great comic.

| Published by Vault

Titans #30 continues to break the team into pieces. The rebuilding, if they ever make it there, should be interesting.

| Published by DC Comics

Vampirella/Dejah Thoris #3 nicely moves this along, introducing even more of the various peoples of Mars as Vampirella searches for aid for her people. Great art from Ediano Silva and Dinei Ribeiro. 

| Published by Dynamite

The Warning #1 is fairly decompressed, slow, methodical, but there’s still an interesting premise here of genetic manipulation of soldiers and an alien invasion. The art from Edward Laroche and Brad Simpson is very nice. Laroche has a style somewhat akin to Chris Sprouse and Jonathan Luna and it works to give this a bit of distance echoed by the existential narration.

| Published by Image

Wonder Woman #59 continues G. Willow Wilson and Cary Nord’s first arc on the series, with an interesting rebirth and reinterpretation of Ares that’s possibly deadlier than the previous one. Love the artwork from Nord, Mick Gray, and Romulo Fajardo Jr. So far this has felt a lot like Greg Rucka’s original run on the series over a decade ago, a nice mix of modern sociopolitical analogues and DC’s take on Greek mythology.

| Published by DC Comics

X-O Manowar #21 sees Juan José Ryp somehow level up his artwork. The designs, detail, and storytelling this issue are just incredible, made even more beautiful with Andrew Dalhouse’s colours. Matt Kindt, Ryp, Dalhouse, and Dave Sharpe are crafting a very interesting next chapter in what started as the Divinity saga, building upon the recent Eternity mini as Aric and co. confront David Camp in New Eden.

| Published by Valiant

Other Highlights: Atomic Empire, Books of Magic #2, Come Into Me #4, DC Nuclear Winter Special #1, Fantastic Four #4, Hex Wives #2, Invader Zim #37, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Under the Spell #1, Man-Eaters #3, Marvel Action: Spider-Man #1, Marvel Two-In-One #12, This Nightmare Kills Fascists, Oh S#!T It’s Kim & Kim #4, Old Man Hawkeye #11, Pandora’s Legacy, Red Sonja #23, Redneck #17, Rick & Morty #44, Sex Death Revolution #2, Spider-Man/Deadpool #42, Star Wars: Darth Vader #24

Recommended Collections: A Walk Through Hell - Volume 1, Amazing Spider-Man - Volume 1: Back to Basics, Black Hammer Library Edition - Volume 1, The Book of Ballads and Sagas, Eternity Girl, GI Joe: A Real American Hero - Volume 21, Harbinger Wars 2, The Highest House, The Mighty Thor - Volume 5: Death of the Mighty Thor, Quicksilver: No Surrender, The Realm - Volume 2, Spider-Man/Deadpool - Volume 7: My Two Dads, Summit - Volume 2: Price of Power

d. emerson eddy does not know, and has never met, those three people who have never been in his kitchen.

[jenroseyokel]

Awesome of the Year 2018: The Books

Happy New Year! ‘Tis the season for year end lists left and right as we attempt to figure out the best of everything from 2018. And of course, as a fan of books, music, and movies, it’s only right to get in on the list-making. Over the next week or so, I’ll be sharing my 2018 favorite lists. First up: books! This year, I set my Goodreads reading challenge at 40 books, and actually passed it. I’ve been setting arbitrary book goals for years, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve succeeded since 2007. Probably because of all the graphic novels and comic trades I read this year WHICH TOTALLY COUNT BTW. Ahem. Anyway. This isn’t really a best of 2018 list so much as a Here’s a Bunch of Books I Really Liked in 2018 list, split up into categories. I hope you’ll find something interesting here, especially if you’re looking for ways to spend bookstore or Amazon gift cards you got for Christmas… ;)

Newish Books by Rad Christian Women:

Every Arbitrary Book Goal should have a small correlated goal attached. This year mine was to make sure I read at least 50% women authors… and there have been a lot of GREAT new books from women writers in the past few years. If the “Christian women” section of your local bookstore makes you cringe a little inside too, check out these three wonderful books, all released in the past couple years:

Courage, Dear Heart by Rebecca K. Reynolds (NavPress, 2018)

Anyone who has read Rebecca’s writing knows she needed to write a book. She has a sharp mind, a poet's soul, a scientist's eye, and the most beautiful, tender heart. Also, she's an incredible writer who loves her readers with a love that radiates off every page. Buy a copy for everyone you know.

Wearing God by Lauren F. Winner (HarperOne, 2017) Girl Meets God was a formative book in my early 20s, and I’ve always meant to read more from this author, but somehow haven't. I finally picked up this one and oh man, for a solid month afterward I couldn’t stop thinking about it. With the eye of a scholar and the heart of a poet, Winner draws on personal stories, deep Biblical study, and a love of language to explore lesser known metaphors for God. Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren (InterVarsity Press, 2016)

Several years ago, James K.A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom helped me see liturgy in a new way, as not just religious practice, but the embedded routines that shape us. In this book, Tish Warren brings that idea to life as she walks through an ordinary day explores the holiness in our most mundane moments of living. You may not look at brushing your teeth or losing your keys the same way again.

Good Stories

This year, fiction reading was… all over the place? I don’t know if I read much that was OMG amazing, but here are a few that were fun…

The Fairyland Series 2-5 by Catherynne M. Valente (Feiwel & Friends, 2012-2015)

I am notoriously awful at finishing book series. I read the first Fairyland book maybe… two years ago? Yikes. Just finished the last one and wow, so fun. Colorful characters, a whimsical narrator, crazy locations, and a whole lot of heart make this Victorian fairytale meets contemporary fantasy a delight to read. 

Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (Harcourt, 1956)

Lewis’ contemporary retelling of the Cupid and Pschye myth through the eyes of Psyche’s jealous sister Orual. Second read for me, and even better this time around. Pretty sure this is Lewis’ storytelling at his best.

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw (Orbit, 2017)

This was a year to embrace fun, nerdy reads. So there was the Star Trek spoof Redshirts (with a plot twist I totally saw coming... and I am not good at guessing plot twists) and my first trip into the Star Wars extended book universe (or whatever the heck they call it these days) and… this. A story about a doctor for the undead in London, trying to solve the mysteries surrounding a murderous cult and keep her monster friends safe. Not the greatest, but a fun Halloween read. I’ll get to the sequel eventually. (See also: bad at finishing book series.)

Poetry for Everyone 

Another new reading practice this year: always keeping a poetry book on the bedside table. Poetry books are best for leisurely dipping in and out rather than reading cover to cover. If you think poetry is only for the ivory towers, give these writers a try and think again.

A Child's Year by Christopher Yokel (Independent, 2018)

Okay, I’m biased here, but hey! Chris quietly released a new poetry book into the world this fall, and I’m a big fan of Chris AND his poems. A Child’s Year is a season cycle, sort of like his last book A Year in Weetamoo Woods, but this time it’s anchored by a four part poem recalling the journey of seasons through childhood eyes. And according to our friend Kirsten’s 7-year-old son, he gets the experience right. ;) 

The Jubilee by John Blase (Bright Coppers Press, 2017) For his 50th birthday, John Blase released his first poetry book, with a poem for every year of life. It’s rare for me to make it through an entire collection start to finish but these were just so good. There are poems about aging — the author’s and his parents’ — and poems that evoke wide spaces and natural wonder. There are psalms and parables, and meditations on dying and, yes, living. All of them finely tuned with wisdom, gentle grace, and a touch of humor in all the right places. How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson (Dial Books, 2014)

When I heard Marilyn Nelson read her poem “Thirteen-Year-Old American Negro Girl” on the On Being podcast, I was captivated. And when I found this lovely hardcover in a used bookstore back home in Florida, I knew I needed to read more. This is a memoir in poetry about growing up in a black military family during the American Civil Rights era, told with gentle lyricism, warmth, and humor. Plus, the book itself is lovely with whimsical illustrations and family photos.

Comics!

I’m always on a quest to get more comics in my life. Plus knocking out a whole series in a couple weeks is a solid way to pad out your Arbitrary Book Goal.

Amulet 1-7 by Kazu Kibuishi (Graphix, 2008-2016)

After their father’s tragic death, Emily and Navin move with their mom to a strange old house that belonged to their great-grandfather… and so the adventure begins. In this fantasy series, the two kids find themselves in an underground world of demons, robots, talking animals, and a dangerous and powerful Amulet. A captivating and beautifully illustrated fantasy tale. Ms. Marvel 1-5 by G. Willow Wilson (Marvel, 2014-2016)

Y’all, I super want to be a Marvel nerd. But alas, I can't keep up, so I get my sister to loan books to me. Ms. Marvel is my new fave. A Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City has the power to grow, shrink, and stretch her body at will. So she’s trying to fight crime, keep up at school, and well, stay out of trouble with her parents. So fun. (Dear Disney: I really want this kid to show up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. before it gets canceled kthxbye.)

The Legend of Wonder Woman by Ranae De Liz and Ray Dillon (DC Comics, 2016)

Weren’t we all mildly obsessed with Wonder Woman after the 2017 film? Another one I borrowed from my sister. A solid take on Diana’s origin story that’s accessible for comic n00bs (ahem, like me) who can’t figure out where to begin with beautiful art and a lot of heart.

The Classic I Finally Read 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen I always try to tackle either a thick intimidating novel or an unread classic in the wintertime. This year, I worked on my Austen deficiency and discovered I relate a little too much to Elinor Dashwood.

What’s Next?

In the new year, I think my goal is less about numbers and more about reading widely. I liked the 50% women authors goal because it helped me actively choose to support women writers. This year, hoping to read more books by authors of color, explore some new ideas and genres, and hopefully do a better job reading deeply and taking notes. I’ve got my eye on Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge too, perhaps as a way to dig into new things I wouldn’t normally notice. And yeah... perhaps a monthly reading life update is a thing I can do here on the blog. :)

If you’re curious to see the full list of What I Read This Year and follow along with me in 2019, feel free to follow me on Goodreads!

What were some of your favorite reads in 2018? And what are your goals for the new year? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

[the-busy-ghost]

Online Sources: Margaret Tudor

Just a quick list of some (not by any means all nor all the most important) sources to be found online relating to Margaret Tudor and her world. I was taking a break from studying and decided it might be interesting to put this together, and while as I say it’s by no means comprehensive, there’s some pretty good ones in there as well as some far less relevant sources, but there’s a mix of poetry, letters, and financial accounts, so that’s fun.

(Just because I know it took me a while to find some of them myself so I thought I’d make it slightly easier for others. Personally I particularly recommend Yonge’s account of the wedding, and more generally I always recommend the poems of Dunbar and the Treasurer’s Accounts, but really whatever strikes your fancy).

At the creation of her brother Henry as Duke of York, 1494- Margaret appears only a few times in this account, mostly just giving out prizes. It can be found as an appendix to Volume I of James Gairdner’s ‘Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III and Henry VII’

Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, Preserved Among the Public Records of England, Vol. 4- This is exactly what it says on the tin- a list of papers, with summaries, that relate to Scottish affairs in the English archives. Margaret appears several times throughout this volume, and I’ve linked to her entry in the index.

Account of the wedding of Margaret Tudor to James IV, 1503, by John Yonge, Somerset Herald- An eyewitness account of Margaret’s journey north, including her entry into York, her first meeting with the king of Scots at the Earl of Morton’s seat of Dalkeith, and the celebrations around her marriage at Holyrood. (In link, follows on after short description ‘from the same manuscript’ of Margaret’s christening).

Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland for 1502-4- First things first, don’t be put off by the Latin at the beginning- that’s the account of charge (i.e. money coming in) and doesn’t usually have much to do with Margaret. The account of discharge (expenditure) that follows is in Scots and is much more easily readable. The accounts of the Lord High Treasurer are the main records of court expenditure for this period in Scottish history. They record all sorts of payments (and can make quite entertaining reading, especially the Bursa Regis section, and especially any time James IV is zooming around the kingdom), thus it may take a while to find Margaret’s section, but I have linked straight to the beginning of the account of 1502-4, which is the second account in this volume, but is the one that covers the preparations for the royal wedding, and later on the first parts of the queen’s personal household expenses. There is an index if you want to find her stuff specifically, but there are also long sections devoted to her clothing, and also her servants and other expenditure, as well as shorter entries scattered throughout. Some of the servants are the English men and women who came north with her (some later went back to England, others stayed in Scotland- for example the difference between Thomas Hally who was one of Margaret’s grooms and went back to England to later become Rouge Croix pursuivant, and the English herald Blewmantill, who ended up one of the heralds in the Scottish court of arms). Others were Scots and some appear earlier in the accounts too- for example Alexander Kers, initially the Master Cook in general but later on much more closely associated with the queen’s household. I do recommend, if you want to understand more about how the accounts work, reading the introduction. Later volumes also are sometimes more or less detailed depending on what has survived.

Letters of James IV, by R.K. Hannay. This collection of letters from the reign of James IV mostly spans the period 1505-1513 and as well as the king’s own letters, includes letters from individuals as various as Patrick Paniter, Alexander Stewart Archbishop of St Andrews, Louis XII of France, Thomas Wolsey, Hugh O’Donnell, Pope Julius II, John King of Denmark, and Margaret of Savoy. Included are a few from Margaret Tudor, and I’ve linked directly to those here- (1) to Ferdinand of Aragon, March 1512; (2) To Henry VIII, April 1513; (3) To Margaret from John of Denmark, July 1507; and all the places she’s mentioned (x), (x- letter 70), (x-Letter 171), (x), (x), (x- letter 498), (x- letter 539), (x- letter 546). Please note that this book is a calendar of the content of these letters, and not a word for word copy of the letters themselves. 

Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, Volume III (1505/6-1507)- As above the accounts of court expenditure, mostly in Scots (though the account of Charge is in Latin), including that of the queen. Really provides an invaluable insight into both everyday life, and major occasions of state, and also gives an idea of the kind of people surrounding the king and queen, as well as the relative openness (if we could call it that) of the court and how it interacted with the general population. Has an index too which helps.

Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, Volume IV (1507-1513)- Again, as with the accounts above, don’t be startled by the Latin in the Account of Charge if you don’t read Latin. There are gaps in this account too, but it also tells us slightly more about the women at court than the earlier two volumes. 

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII- A calendar of letters and papers relating to the reign of Henry VIII, includes a large amount of information about Scotland and Margaret Tudor. Personally I sometimes find this source hard to navigate, the way it’s been put online, but it’s invaluable and it does have an index for each volume, if you root around. Here’s an example of a letter sent by Margaret to her brother in May of 1541, mentioning the deaths of her grandsons the previous month. Once again it is important to note that this is a calendar and not a facsimile nor word for word transcript of the letters.

The Complete Works of William Dunbar- Here’s a fun one- poetry! The great poet William Dunbar was associated with the Scottish court long before Margaret Tudor appeared on the scene, but his poems do have particular relevance for some aspects of her life. For a start there’s the infamous ‘The Thistle and the Rose’, written to mark her marriage in 1503, several ‘to the Queen’, and some vividly bringing to life the people of the court, especially a few associated with the Queen’s household, such as those mentioned in the poem about ‘A Dance in the Queen’s Chamber’ or those less fortunate, like James Dog, the Master of the Queen’s wardrobe, with whom Dunbar had a falling out and decided to satirise.

The Exchequer Rolls, Volume 12 (1502-7) and Volume 13 (1508-1513)- The Exchequer Rolls are the other main source for royal expenditure in this period. Unlike the Treasurer’s Accounts they are largely in Latin, and also deal more widely with things like Crown lands and building works than do the Treasurer’s Accounts which are more concerned with court life.

‘The History and Chronicles of Scotland’, by Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, edited by Aeneas Mackay, Volume 1- There is no major contemporary chronicle for the reign of James IV, but often later chronicles can offer an insight, though they should be read with extreme caution (especially Pitscottie’s). I have linked to the very start of James IV’s reign, though of course Margaret comes in rather later. 

Register of the Great Seal of Scotland Volume 2 (1424-1513) and Volume 3 (1513-1546). This records various actions under the great seal, and thus includes documents related to both the marriage negotiations and Margaret’s dower and properties, and some grants she made of these, and also the period in which acted as tutrix to her son.

Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland Volume 1 (1488-1529)

Flodden Papers, Marguerite Wood- This is a collection of papers regarding France and Scotland from 1507-1517, and thus Margaret appears quite a few times, especially after Flodden itself. Unfortunately many of the letters are not translated, but there is an index that will help finding things. 

Unfortunately I have not been able to find the Letters of James V (also edited by Hannay) online, which is a shame as Margaret has a much larger role to play in this volume than in the letters of James IV, especially during her son’s minority. But you may be able to find them in a library.  

Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer- Volume 5 (1515-1531), Volume 6 (1531-1538), Volume 7 (1538-1541), and Volume 8 (1541-1546). As the editor of Volume 5 points out (though he could have done so in a less insulting Victorian manner towards Margaret), these are rather less exciting accounts than those of the reign of James IV, but Margaret does appear occasionally, most frequently in Volume 5, occasionally in the next two, and only implicitly in Volume 8 where there are records of the purchase of mourning clothes for various members of the family about the time of her death in October 1541.

There are many more I’ve not included (including some very important ones) and I may update this some other time, but I now have to get back to studying, and there’s at least a few really good ones there to start off with. Enjoy.

[acehotel]

Interview: Paige Mehrer

Conversation with artist and illustrator Paige Mehrer on August 21, 1:23pm in New York City. The eclipse occurred an hour later. We waited three weeks until her birthday (today) to post this. 

We were just talking about the eclipse and you’ve done a little research. What kind of impact can you expect from it?

Well for me, as a Virgo, the eclipse is supposed to make me really look inward and become very introspective for the year and it’s supposed to help me heal issues in the shadows. I would say my work is already kind of personal but maybe it will be more personal in a healing way?

Would you describe your work as being autobiographical? Or is it just an intimate expression of your thoughts without you, yourself as a character?

That’s a nice way to put it! Yeah it’s not really autobiographical in like a realistic way.

Yeah, it’s not following a lived narrative…

I’d say it’s fictional…historical fiction maybe.

Why do you work with the materials you do? I like having a physical object. Paper is really important and how it absorbs the ink — the touch of it is important to me, how materials are absorbed into the paper is important to how I work. For example, I won’t do gouache on a soft paper and then do something on top of it, it’s layered in specific ways. It has to be. I don’t like to use colored pencil with paint. I’ll use it with ink, but not paint. Are those rules you set for yourself or are they material constraints? I’ve kind of made them up. You can use colored pencils on gouache, I just don’t like it.

I like how particular that is.

It’s not for me.

Do you find that the intuitive nature of your work can hide how structured of a process it is? Does that bother you? Do you like to present yourself that way? It’s not important for people to know my rules.

Do you find that you incorporate things from your life into the zines? Yes, I do… To what extent are they abstracted?

They’re pretty abstracted. But I definitely make things about certain people. Do you think they know that? I don’t know. I hope not? But I do abstract situations, it’s not a retelling of an event, but a fictionalized story of it. How do you incorporate words into your work? Do images or words come first? I use both a lot. I like to write a lot and like to incorporate that into my zines and comics. It’s never really one or the other first. Or, it’s never always one or the other first. Sometimes I write a poem and create a visual comic about it, and sometimes I have images and write something from it. They feed into each other a lot.

Do you feel like you have to be in a specific work environment to produce that kind of work?

I do have ideas out in the world and will write a note on my phone. What does your workspace look like? I have a studio in Greenpoint [Brooklyn] where I share space with my friends. We have desks.

What are common themes in your pieces? I work with the figure a lot. And natural states and matter. I’m interested in liquid, atmosphere, gases. I use specific animals like frogs and snakes. I used to do a lot of things about whales and dolphins.

Were these things you cared about as a kid?

Yes, there’s always things that have been interests throughout my life for which I just redevelop focus.

It’s nice to finally be able to put words to those things. Did you keep sketchbooks or journals? Yeah, I did. I started drawing more seriously in 3rd grade. I started with S Club 7.

A valid entry point, honestly. What parts of your life helped you formalize your approach? You went to RISD [ Rhode Island School of Design]. Did you find art school to be super important?

I think it was definitely important to go through many processes in school. My process changes a lot. Has changed a lot. I think it was important to be challenged to do things I might not have done outside of school. Even just being exposed to people my age and experiencing the different ways in which they work. Other people definitely have influenced the way I work.

You were showing me my horoscope earlier. And what I’ve noticed is that the level of abstraction in horoscopes and their access to universality through specificity is something that your voice and work encapsulates and I wonder if that’s important to you? Maybe it’s just an aligning of kindred schools of thought? That’s a nice comparison, thank you! What I like about horoscopes is that you can get what you want out of them or, with your birth chart, you can read it and see what resonates with you and that’s what I like about art too. I hope I do that in my work. I hope people can see it and find a way to relate to it.

Do you think that interest in accessibility comes from your background as an illustrator? Do you think that’s different than the way images are made for explicitly fine art spaces?

I guess that’s what I always liked about illustration, as it is very accessible. I like making zines for the same reason. I can give them away or sell them. Accessibility is really important to me. So sweet! I’m very sentimental.

Your work has a spiritual sensibility. To what extent does formal religion and your experience with religion play into your use of materials or figures? I went to catholic school my whole life before college. And I think a lot about the narratives and the archetypes of all religions. But I think a lot about virgins and angels.

And devils! I do love devils! And snakes. I’m interested in morality. I could write a book on morality.

Your work does comment on right and wrong and someone doing wrong. The standards you set for how your world works come through really clearly and you’re quick to congratulate or condemn people. It’s fun to see that expressed in abstract and archetypal forms.

Thank you, that sounds nice! I think I use the archetypes of catholicism that I’m familiar with and have learned. I think I’m always learning new ones too. Are there frogs in the bible? Oh yeah, the plague of frogs. You can find anything you want in the bible.

Do you swap in your own archetypes and icons?

I write my own definition, code or system. Many systems of reptiles. I’m just trying to find peace. I use them to try to find peace.

Your work is a form of processing. Yeah.

But you like showing that to people? Yeah, I like it. That’s really intimate. Yes it is.