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clementineesotsm · 2 years

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FINLAND !

Early this year i finally flew to Finland for the first time !

I was not quite excited to be honest, because traveling in pandemic = complicated

Complicated preparations, a bit more expensive because there were many additions, for example PCR test, covid insurance, increased visa fee, and many unplanned cost happens

But every difficulties seems vanish the moment we landed, meet our family and experience Finland in winter. Extremely charming, even though its freezing, but so much fun

I am a bit teary when we landed LOL because seeing Finland in snow was beautiful, giving some strange feelings inside

https://youtube.com/shorts/cTMQJY89Qlk?feature=share

And then more excitement comes after seeing my family at the airport! I haven't seen them for like 10 years?! Crazy! but no tears, no, just smileee :)

Extremely grateful to have them as family because they all are a beautiful people inside and out, they live here so they are as good as the local, so we can go around Helsinki comfortably, eat Indonesian food at home (and also smoke Salmon, Finland signature i guess? ) and be able to see its beauty even more, I'm so lucky!

1 place which on my must go list was Helsinki Central Library Oodi, Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki, Finland . Great place, extremely comfortable, has a lot of books collection, mostly in Finnish but they have books in English too. There was a cafe, which you can order tea (try the rooibos, yummm), coffee and snacks, there was a study room, meeting room (i guess?) and a hall which you can use for study, reading etc The public library was well made, you probably will never wish to go outside the whole day. Oh and they also have an amazing balcony, but it was closed back then because its winter, you’ll freeze to death :) Just when you think this place could not be any better, it has a small restaurant at the ground floor which you can have your little buffet there, and not so expensive, but i totally forgot about the price :P

My family take me to eat at Löyly, Hernesaarenranta 4, 00150 Helsinki, Finland, its restaurant with sauna as well, btw, sauna was extremely popular in Finland, but since its winter and pandemic still there, the sauna closed temporarily, too bad, i want to try. They say, usually people will jump to the cold lake water then get into the sauna right away. Sounds freezing, but i would love to try someday. Aside from the sauna, the restaurant famous of its Salmon soup, which taste gooood, and even better if you eat it on winter day! If you watch latest season of Somebody Feed Phil in Helsinki, you can see this place in more detail, i just love this place sm.

The other day, we visit Porfo. Its a small town outside Helsinki, it took about 40 minutes by bus, and its sooo pretty. You can just walk the town and you can almost see all of it. Its a bit more freezing here btw. And more quite than Helsinki. But was so much fun just to stroll around this small charming town, peaceful with many charming buildings. I go there with mom, brother, cousins and aunty. Cold but warm, as i spend it with my closes circle :)

https://youtube.com/shorts/vxwqIDmOmVk?feature=share

Heureka, Tiedepuisto 1, 01300 Vantaa, Finland also one of my must go list. Admission fee was euro 22/adult. Every time i saw my cousins visit the Science Centre made me curious what is the place like, so when i finally visit Helsinki i must experience it by myself. And it was more fun that what i expected. In here we can try our self many science facts, there also a mini escape room which was sooo much fun! we can play here all day, seriously.

Not far from Helsinki, there is a small land called Suomenlinna, we went there with boat, with euro 2,80/adult actually its the same cost also if you take bus or train. I need to praise their transportation line, because integrated, comfortable, on time, efficient and easy. Anyway this small land was even more quite than Porfo. But maybe because its winter. According to https://www.suomenlinna.fi/en/ Suomenlinna was inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991 to preserve it for future generations as an example of 18th century fortress architecture in Europe. There were a huge fortress who still stands strong and not changed at all. Some part of it was quite creepy lol And because the land near the water, its a extra windy, you will need extra layer of cloths before you put on your jacket because it was painfully freezing. But don't worry, if you need something warm, there were few cafe’s to rest before you go on to your adventure. There were not much things we can do here just walk and enjoy the scenery, but i fall in love deeply with the land. I cant explain why...

After Finland, we had a chance to visit an amazing nearby, neighbor country, Estonia. According to Wikipedia, it is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. We stroll around for 1 day in their beautiful lovely city Tallin :) Of all place that i said was my favorites, Tallin is the number 1 best thing i’ve ever visited so far! We took Ferry to go there it cost around euro 50/adult, round trip including antigen test. Usually will be cheaper because back then we still need to test. The Ferry was comfortable, 2 hours ++ inside it was a no problem at all. We go there in the morning and going back to Helsinki on the evening, on the same day :) I have always wanted to come to Tallin because it was the perfect definition of an old town. There were many old buildings that maybe 100 years old? but still strong and used well by the local, Tallin also have the oldest Pharmacy in Europe called The Raeapteek exist and still operating until today. Overall i really love all the surroundings, the buildings, also here was cheaper than Finland. In Helsinki we must spent minimum euro 10-13/adult to have a meal, in Tallin, Euro 5-8/adult we already got a very good reasonable meal. Unfortunately few shops/cafe were close due to pandemic. Still have fun though, so much! I think Tallin also famous for its Amber? because i saw many store that sells Amber.

Another thing that was surreal happens in Finland was when we visit Rovaniemi. The northern Finland where Santa Claus actually exist. Copied from Wikipedia, the city centre is situated about 6 kilometres (4 miles) south of the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the river Kemijoki and its tributary, the Ounasjoki. 1 of many reasons we came to Finland was because my mother wish to see Aurora at least once in a lifetime. Which a bit of a gamble, because Aurora was not something you can predict. But what can we do but try? So we went there, with no expectation at all, surrounding by super freezing weather and not so much convenient transportation to see the Aurora. First plan was to visit Ounasvaara, a bit upper area to get a better chance to see it. The local suggest us to go there around 10pm until midnight, but right after we open the cottage door to went there, THE AURORA SHOW UP RIGHT ABOVE US EVEN THOUGH WE ARE NOT NORTH ENOUGH! We stay on Motelli Rovaniemi, and its a bit far from Ounasvaara. But apparently the sky was clear since the day before so its possible to see aurora, even from Helsinki (even though not as clear as what we saw in Rovaniemi). We feel blessed! so we decide to just enjoy the aurora from our stay, and get back inside to warm ourself because its crazy freezing. Anyway, seeing the aurora mad us all cried, all the guests not just us, even the reception lady said this thing never happen before. We are just very lucky. The aurora was beautiful, crazy, i cant describe with words about how beautiful it was. Its just different when you saw it with your own eyes. Just stunning. Then after back to reality, we just sleep and prepare to go back to Helsinki the next day. We decide to also visit the santa claus village because why not. It was okay, but nothing to make us promise to visit again :P But its fun though, we are stepping our feet on the artic circle!

I stay in Helsinki until end of January. The last weeks there i just enjoy Helsinki, Kannelmäki to be exact, play around with my family, experiencing storms that only happens every 10 years, go to second hand shop which if you lucky you can got anything only 1 Euro, i got it when i visit UFF. There were many second hand shop and it has good quality things you need, you can visit Fida, Aino, etc We also visit the Fazer factory (and buy my fav Wiener Nougat, the best sweets in the whole world!) , see a lot of moomins, there were so many cute moomins that we want to brought home! I spend so much time with my family that i might not meet again for years after this, so every moment with them was precious. It was really fun to have them as a family, we share the same jokes, same brain cells, same interest, we go to play badminton together! The whole experience was amazing, i would want to comeback if the world healed later on. Finland = FUN ! Maybe i will comeback on summer next time :)

wiener nougat pic credit : ubuy indonesia

#finland #helsinki #rovaniemi #lapland #tallin #estonia #suomenlinna #holiday #vacation #family

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carpedzem · 2 years

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Hi! apologies if this is weird or anything, feel free to not answer!! i think that if I'm right, you're Polish

I'm probably going to be moving to Poland to teach for 8 months next year and have a choice of places to go including Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, as well as a few smaller towns.

do you, or any other polish blogs, have any recommendations for cities or places to stay or visit, or just any advice/tips for living in Poland at all?

I've never visited and am a little unsure of where to go so any advice would be great, but obv no pressure!

very very happy to come off anon or dm/message if that'd be any easier and obv I'm not trying to doxx or anything so if you'd rather not say anything I'd completely 100% understand :)

(also btw you always have very based lore opinions and I love reading your analysis!)

hi anon! first of all it's perfectly okay to dm me! dont mind me answering in random moments tho im really busy this month :( nevertheless putting some answers under the cut :]

i'm for a big city! i would recommend moving in here because in general it provides a better living standards, for example public transport can take you anywhere and it's relevantly cheep, you have all kinds of things to spend free time - including museums, art galleries, clubs, etc. but general living cost is higher! it also depends on from where you are - if your currency right now is dollar, euro or pounds you will probably win living anywhere at this moment LMAO since inflation is crushing our currency

also in big city the chances that other people speak english are also way higher, especially among older folks - not saying that small cities citizens are lacking in educations, they just need using english less and tend to forget it!

i can recommend my city from the bottom of my heart bc i love it so so much. of course it's not perfect, but it's lovely and full of life. and i feel relatively safe here

about things you can see... gods there is so much to see in poland. list is soooo long

i keep thinking about things i could tell you and its a lot lmao sorry you meet someone who really likes history and know things asdhasdh so yeah feel free to ask about anything :D

#nonny

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dybdahltravels2022 · 2 years

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London

October 6, 2022

How and why we waited until we were 70 years old to visit London is a huge question for me. BUT we are finally here and no surprise - WE LOVE IT!

We arrived from Dublin on September 30 and opted for an iconic black cab from the airport.

It was pricey but we enjoyed talking to the driver who explained that the cabbies own their own vehicle but must attend lengthy classes and pass a comprehensive test before being licensed to be a cabbie in London. That test includes being given several pairs of addresses and having to map out the best route on the spot - no GPS. He impressed us by telling us that there was a really great bakery just a block of so away from our flat - long before we got there.

Oh - then our flat... I knew the location was by a bus stop and a tube station. I knew it was an efficiency with the couch, table and bed in one room. I knew the kitchen contained a full size stove and a washer - a real bonus. I knew the price was more than reasonable. too - so I went with it. What I didn't know is that the location was in a sketchy neighborhood, that the place would be dirty and that it was the least well appointed place we have ever rented. There was one glass - one freaking glass. There were ONLY two crappy towels and not even a hand towel. What we discovered was that the water pressure was also an issue and once the hot water tank was emptied the water just cut out. The high temp on the tank - BTW - was warm.

But despite this - we moved ahead to explore. We found a great Mexican restaurant a couple blocks away, the Tube and Bus stations were nearby as were a couple of nice grocery stores. Although our flat was in a sketchy "hood" just a few blocks away were universities and we realized we had landed in the student ghetto - with a crappy host. Oh well.

Transportation ANYWHERE is a piece of cake. We continue to travel all over London with any combo of Tube Train and double decker busses - another icon of London. If you miss a bus, sit tight as there will be another one arriving within 2 or 3 minutes. They are clean inside and out and either hybrid or electric.

The tube stations are amazing - but most certainly are NOT handicapped assessable - many having no lift or even escalators. London is redoing its Tube Stations one at the time but the renovated stations are fabulous. The Tube Stations are deep and if they connect they are even deeper. Remember these stations served as bomb shelters during WWII. Since I still cannot read - Mark is completely in charge of getting us from point A to point B and I will say he has done a great job.

We have been doing all the touristy stuff - at least superficially. We saw the tower of London but felt no compulsion to go in it.

We saw Westminster and Big Ben and Buckingham Palace - which surprised me.

I thought it was a lot bigger but later I Googled an aerial photo and turns out it IS a lot bigger.

Buckingham Palace sits on a huge plot of land much of which is a park open to the public. The fences and gates are opulent and the side walks are ringed with small black metal posts all marked with this:

Just one of the MANY things that will have to be changed from that to this:

Not to mention ALL the money of the UK and ALL the British commonwealths - like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica to mention only a few.. There is a bit of a controversy here about the cost of Queen Elizabeth's funeral - but I'm guessing that will pale with the cost of everything that has to been changed. I think an apostrophe mark and the word "son" would do just fine. King Charles III is not exactly a spring chicken so a LOT OF WORK for a short time is my guess. But this is NOT my decision - thankfully.

We had done a little museum hopping as well. We started in the Museum of London, because we were exploring and saw it. It was truly enjoyable and presented a look at London from ice age times to present. I knew the Romans were here but I thought the entire Roman component was very well done including windows that overlooked the 2000 year old city walls- nice touch.

The most impressive museum we visited was The British Museum the repository of all the ancient artifacts of the world. NOW - I will say that I had a little chip on my shoulder about this museum since when you go to visit the actual sites you will often see a sign indicating that most of the historic artifacts of this area can be seen in London - but I'm feeling better now that I have actually been there.

Apparently in the 1820s when archaeologist were working hard to save things for posterity, many governments could care less. And that was exactly what was happening with areas like Athens - home of the Parthenon - which was ruled by the Ottoman Empire. So certain archeologist sponsored by the British Museum made a deal to haul away these artifacts that people were dragging away to use in their home building. And they have been safe since that time. Slowly items are being returned once the country has demonstrated the ability to protect this artifacts - hence we were able to see in the Parthenon Museum the actual Carotids that lived in the British Museum for almost 200 years. But is still felt wrong to enter this gallery:

This is the actual frieze that surrounded the outside of the Parthenon.

And below is the east pediment:

It did make happy to read on more than one occasion - the head - or arm - or leg - is currently on display at the Acropolis Museum in Athens. (As it should be - I think!)

The Egyptian section is equally magnificent.

This isn't half of what we have done - but I'm going to post as we head out to the theater - again. More on our adventures soon.

Stay tuned

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dlrconlicense · 3 years

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So I've gone and seen Shang Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings. Here are some random thoughts I had about the film.

(Spoilers below)

1) They had to have done the opening arrow scene on purpose and I actually busted out in a laugh. So lemme explain, like about circa 15 years ago, the "great" director Zhang Yimou had his foray into the martial arts genre with a little film called "Hero", starring your Mr. Wen Wu, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (I always say his Chinese name because a) like Wen Wu said your name is sacred, b) there are two great Tony Leungs in HK Entertainment). So anyhoo, in that film there was an incredibly ridiculous scene where an entire army shoots like thousands of arrows at Jet Li's character to execute him. I remember one of the student groups back in college had held a screening of it (which basically is a bunch of us cramped inside a classroom showing a bootleg copy on the projector) and the entire lot of us busted out laughing.

Tony wasn't gonna die from arrows like Jet, he yeeted them away.

2) I think in a circle of Asian American friends, we knew a Shaun-like character, we all knew a Katy, we all have one of THOSE lawyer friends.

3) I actually loved the bus fight scene....and yeah that sounds about right in regards to San Fran public transport lol.

4) Why was Wong hustling for money? He clearly had a hand in fixing matches with Abomination. Was he investigating the Xu siblings and was undercover? Or they really needed money to fix the roof. Actually the Wong scene was rather...unnecessary somehow.

5) I love that this film's main character doesn't fall in to the trap of Asian film main leads...typical good at everything, classically good looking (i.e pasty a la kdrama/c-dramas), RICH by legacy. Shaun running from legacy actually makes him rather relatable in a way. He found his own path eventually to take up his mantle.

6) When I saw the trailer, I had mistook Xialing for the actress who played her mom. The actress, Fala Chen, had an extremely similar bob in one of my favorite TV series from HK. You could see similarities between Meng'er and Fala, so kudos to casting for that.

7) Speaking of Fala, I've always thought that she was infinitely wasted in the later years at her job in the TV station in HK. It was crap scripts one after the other. She was by far the most natural of the actresses that started around the same time, yet she was probably the most criticized. When I saw that she quit her job and further her career by going to Julliard, I thought good for her and what a badass.

8) God, why Ronny Chieng? Just effing why him?!

9) Katy is the best friend you wish you had. Literally.

10) So speaking as a trilingual (native Cantonese speaker, English and fluent in Mandarin), I think the part that really threw off a bit was the Chinese. I've always found Chinese dialogue that pops up in Hollywood productions a bit awkward and clunky. The interchange between English and Mandarin Chinese in this definitely was not awkward. It actually does sound like how my family would communicate at times. While I don't find the dialogue an issue, I did find Tony's Mandarin throws me off while we have other characters speak perfect Mandarin. Just let the man speak Cantonese lol. (Simu's was very typical ABC/CBC to be fair and come to think of it, this is the first time I've heard Fala act in Mandarin Chinese, her self-taught Canto is extremely good btw).

11) The action scenes were awesome, although the dragon fight was a bit dizzying.

12) So basically the final battle is like Mortal Kombat, The Hobbit movie, and Raya all rolled into one.

13) I am glad they don't overuse "honor" in this. There is no honor to defend in this entire family. In fact, speaking as a Chinese person, we don't "defend honor" like we eat rice. We either choose to live honorably like any other folks or just do our own thing.

14) Speaking of eating rice, I completely lost my shit when Wen Wu went to Guang Bo (Mr. Landlord Yuen Wah!) and said a common telling off in Chinese "I've eaten more salt than you've ate rice young man, so you better speak to me with more respect." He's seen more shit than you. I keep on forgetting Wen Wu is like thousands of years old.

15) Tony is very good looking for a thousand years old.

16) During the battle between father and son, I kept on thinking....are those rings from a similar meteor like in Wakanda? Meaning they are Vibranium?

17) So definitely love and grief are the main themes of this new era in the MCU. Wenwu's motivations definitely is like the Strange episode of "What If..." His family was his everything and his weakness.

18) When Shang Chi looked at Katy like THAT, I very audibly said "No!" in the theater. Why can't they just be besties for life? I'm telling you, BroTP for life. It's not even about making the Asian male lead asexual. Why can't a guy and a girl can be ride and die like that.

19) Ok...thank you Bruce for the answer to my questions about the rings.

20) God I wanna hang out with Wong.

21) Is Xialing rebuilding the Ten Rings and why do I have a feeling she is going to have ties to Sharon's Power Broker?

Final thought: A very fun, very solid entry into MCU. I went in with very low expectations and definitely found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. I definitely will rewatch this film when it comes out on streaming. I actually wouldn't mind seeing more of Shaun and Katy.

P.S. Has anyone told Trevor that Liverpool won the League one year?

#shang chi and the ten rings #Shang Chi #Simu Liu #MCU #Awkwafina #Fala Chen #Tony Leung Chiu Wai #Zhang Meng'er #shang chi spoilers

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queen-haq · 2 years

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HOI. um anon that moved here! the way i smiled when i saw that you wanted me to check in :-) ill try to keep this short so i don’t talk your ear off but helloooo! I’m doing alright! Ill be going to the dmv so hopefully i’ll be able to get my license soon (for the record i moved from nyc so i was very use to public transportation, i miss my trains and metrocard & the mta!💔) fingers crossed for me!

And not to be nosey but did your brother come visit you yet? I have a friend that’s actually visiting her brother atm, it’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other and i love how happy she is to see him again :) i hope you guys have (or are having) a great time!!!

Also. Um. Take a shot everytime billy says the word love! Haha i’m not sure if anybody brought up how he use to think love was a stupid word/concept and now he’s using it fairly often towards reader. It really breaks my heart cus we see that he’s really trying, but what he did to her was terrible and shes sooo protective of herself. My chest was getting so warm reading his pov like aching for them!!

Btw how are you liking california! I’m not sure how long ago you moved, but when did it start feeling like home for you? And do you get homesick? Cus i really miss new york sometimes 😅 not to get too personal but i feel like i left a lot back home and sometimes get a pang of guilt about leaving, even though it was for the best and sometimes you just have to move on. Anyways i hope you have a great week my darling!!! 💖

I'm glad you're doing well, dear anon. And I totally get what you're saying about your license. I actually don't drive myself because i have a tendency to panic behind the wheels so I've always been a public transportation woman myself. It's not ideal in California but it works for me. Sometimes I think about getting my license but then I freak out about driving and I have enough stressful things to worry about without adding to the list.

The first couple of months was really difficult. When I moved here, I didn't have any friends or family. It was the biggest risk I took both in my life and my career. And it's honestly the best thing I've ever done for myself. My mental health improved tremendously because it gave me the distance I needed from my parents, and it gave me a chance to go out there and discover myself. I've made great friends here now, built a life here, and my career trajectory shot upward exponentially. But the first few months - oof, that was hard. I do miss my brother a lot and my friends but when we see each other now our time together feels so much more meaningful. The distance made me realize how much they mean to me.

I hope good things are in store for you, dear anon :)

My brother was supposed to be here in May but our plans may now change. We may have to travel to Bangladesh to help bring our dad back to Canada but that's still up in the air. It all depends on how long it takes him to recover.

And I'm glad you were able to empathize with Billy's POV. He messed up so badly, and all he wants is the Reader back in his life, to get back what they had - but that dream is impossible now.

Anyway, thank you again. Good luck!

#feedback i adore

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leupagus · 4 years

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Who’s your County Executive? and other steps to becoming a valuable pain in the ass

I fired off a tweet thread this morning, but I feel like a lot of folks here might benefit from this info, too. Which is: if you want anything to change, from police abolition to getting statues removed to passing local ordinances requiring masks to removing local legislation putting limits on abortion (just for some random examples), you need to get real familiar with your local reps. As in, you need to know who they are, what they do, how they’re elected/appointed, how long they’ve been doing that job, what their history is and how you can pressure them into doing what you want. Using hashtags and sharing links and signal boosting can only do so much. Talking to the people who are actually able to implement the change you want is a huge part that I don’t think gets discussed enough; and although it requires some preliminary work, once you get into the groove it’s surprisingly easy.

First, find out where you live! Which you may think is a stupid step, but —do you live in a city? Are you sure? I live in a city, for example, but I actually live in a township/suburb of that city, not the city proper. (Fortunately due to what I suspect is some white flight-related weirdness, I can still hassle the city proper.) There are entire towns inside of some cities, like West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Double-check; you might be surprised.

Then, find out who’s in charge of said place. There are quite a few people, actually. You probably have a mayor — but they might be called a supervisor. Or you may have a city manager, or executive, or clerk, or all three, or someone else entirely, who’s actually doing the day-to-day running of the place — for instance, while Austin has a mayor, it also has a city manager, and the city manager does WAY more than the mayor does. You also have people at the county/parish level — a county executive is I think the most common term, although sometimes it’s the county clerk, who can have entirely different duties depending on the county. Whatever way it works where you live, find out. While you’re at it, find out who’s in charge of your local elections. Sometimes that’s the county clerk (actually I think it’s almost always the country clerk, but sometimes it’s the county auditor or something weird like that); sometimes they’re elected and sometimes they’re appointed. Find out. Get names, put their contact info in your phone. (More on that later.)

Then, find out who represents you on the city/town council and the county legislature, or whatever they’re called where you are. Finding out what district you’re in can sometimes be hellaciously frustrating; when in doubt, an email to the county or city council can often get you an answer if you provide your address. Also bear in mind that different places have different ways of apportioning council members; sometimes they’re all “at large,” sometimes they’re elected according to districts, sometimes it’s a combination of both. Sometimes (not often I don’t think) they’re not elected at all but appointed by someone. Find out who! And don’t leave out things like school boards and zoning boards and community college boards and anything else you happen upon that has a representative you didn’t know existed. They exist, and I guarantee they’ve got power.

Note: find out who represents you state-wide, too. Often calling the governor isn’t that effective (at least for me, calling Cuomo ain’t gonna do much; if you live in Delaware or Montana or Iowa or somewhere relatively less populous, definitely get your governor’s information), but your state reps are usually pretty eager to talk to constituents, even — and this is really important these days — ones who aren’t of the same party. I’m represented by a GOP state senator, for example, but he ended up voting for this bill that just got signed into law. Most states are bicameral (except Nebraska, heyooo), so you likely have a state senator and a state rep/assemblyman/whatever. Make sure to get info for both. (Unless you live in Nebraska, in which case tell Ernie I said hi.)

Next, find out what the court system looks like where you are. Are your state/county/district/etc judges appointed? Elected? What are their terms? Who’s your District Attorney? Who’s in charge of your Public Defender’s office? (I actually haven’t bothered to look up that myself until today!) What courts handle which offenses in your area? Collect that information.

And what do you do with this info? You put it into your phone contacts, or whatever you use to keep your contacts organized, I dunno, maybe you still use your Wizard from 1992. No judgement. However you do it, put all of these contacts somewhere they’re all together — for example, if you have a letter in your directory that isn’t used much. I have a kind of weird method of organizing my contacts, which is that I put their first and last names (and their handles, if I know them online) in the Firstname field, then the Lastname field I use to say how I know them. So all of my New York-based friends are listed as “NYC, Holly Golightly/moonrivergoddess” or whatever. So for me personally, I just put all my political contacts under “Y” as in “Y do I have to keep pestering you to make you do the right thing.” So a county clerk would be listed like so:

Y, County Clerk Horace Vandergelder

In the “Company” field, I usually put their party and when/if they’re up for election next as well as term length, so Horace would be “Dem, 2020/2024.″ And then I might add any links I thought were helpful as well as notes about, say, what staffer I may’ve talked to or if there’s an important bill coming up etc.

And now you’ve got that information, it’s time to fuckin’ use it. Was there a protest that happened in your area that ended in arrests or violence? Call your mayor, register your displeasure. Call your DA, ask if anyone’s being charged. Call your city council member, ask them what legislation they’d support to end police violence. What do you know that you want them to know? Alternatively, was there a protest in your area that was really great and positive? Call these people; ask if they attended. If they did, offer support for them and say that you want them to follow up with actionable steps. If they didn’t, ask why. (BTW, it’s election season — look at the candidates, too! That state senator I mentioned earlier is retiring this year, and a pretty awesome Democrat is in a good position to get his seat; I’ve started volunteering for him in part because he’s got a history of agitating for police reform and has been regularly attending the protests here.) You can email, too; you’re welcome to c&p form emails, but once you have all these people’s contact info at your fingertips you’d be amazed how easy it’ll be to write something from you, that will be far more effective.

It’s also important to keep a record for yourself of who you’ve talked to, when you talked to them, what they said, if you want to follow up etc. I’ve got a little section of my planner for this; it has dates, names, topics, the works. It’s been really helpful to me over the past few weeks making sure I’m exerting pressure to a variety of people in a variety of positions, not just repeatedly calling one office and leaving the same message over and over again.

But if you really want to, as I put it on twitter, tighten the sphincter of local government, nothing beats face-to-face (or, these days, facetime-to-facetime). And here you’ve got a shitton of options. You can see if a particular politician/government office is taking virtual one-on-one meetings, where you can lobby either your politician or (more likely) one of their staffers to support legislation or policies or whatnot. This is, and I cannot stress it enough, HUGELY EFFECTIVE, especially if you are a demo they don’t often see (aka if you’re not a white Boomer). Local politicians are both desperate for and terrified of an engaged constituency; they want you to care but they’re very much aware that anyone showing up to an office (or a zoom meeting) could make their lives very, very difficult.

If one-on-one isn’t your style, there are also committee meetings, which... holy shit, you would not believe the number of committees there are. Committees for art festivals, committees for transportation, committees for public safety, committees for pretty much everything you can think of and a few I’ll bet you can’t. Noodle around on your councils’ and county’s websites, including their facebook page (nine times out of ten there will be more — and more up-to-date — info on the facebook page) to find out what committees meet when. And here is where your specific priorities will be important, because usually you can attend and in some cases even become part of these committees. Do you want to advocate for better public transportation? Find out when the transportation committee meets. Go to that meeting. If they have a Q&A, get some fuckin’ Qs ready and demand some fuckin’ As.

And then there’s the big kahunas of council meetings and state legislature sessions. Most city/town councils have a segment of their weekly/monthly meetings to hear from the public (this is different from a public hearing, FYI, although they too are really important and you should find out if there are any going on where you live and when). Do you have something you want to get in front of the whole council? Get your ass on the list! In Austin I think you had to call or email the council’s office by the day before; in my town you just roll up and get in line when it comes time. Then for state legislatures, often there will be specific bills on which they ask for “citizen input” or however else they describe it. This is less practical because we don’t all live in easy distance of our state capital, but if you do, consider getting involved there. (And right now with the pandemic, your state legislatures may have new rules about citizen participation that actually make it easier for you to get involved, for once.)

Mostly, though, this is about local involvement — find out who’s in control of your city, your county, your precinct and district and all the other ways your home is demarcated. Talk to these people, even if it makes you nervous; their power to make effective change comes with their responsibility to listen, and your power to make them listen comes with your responsibility to speak.

#you want your city to follow in camden and minneapolis's footsteps?#then CALL THEM UP #protesting sometimes works #advocating sometimes works #if you are only doing one of them that's fine #but doing both is more effective #and if what you want is change then you will want to be at your most effective #ergo this post #politics!

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sleeplessandstubborn · 4 years

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Emily in Paris or why I stopped caring about the protagonist and I started rooting for the French. Episode 1.

Let’s be clear. I was planning to root for the French anyway. They are in the neighbouring country, I quite like them and I was prepared to confront and make fun about all the stereotypes in this series. Because this was exactly what I expected. Funny, lighthearted and totally braindead (wink wink) escapism in an instagrammed to the top Paris which has the same resemblance with the real one than Vincent Minelli’s... But without Gene Kelly. So what did I think of the first episode?

Meet Emily Cooper from Chicago. She’s young, she is dynamic, she struggles to be liked by everyone and at the beginning of the series. She is a marketing executive about to be promoted or so she thinks.

... Because her boss Madeline (played by Kate Walsh) is going to Paris in order to take work with Savoir, a luxury firm the company (sorry I forgot its name) has just adquired. Madeline is overjoyed because working for a year in Paris is one of her dreams and because French men like mature women, as probed by the fact that their young and hot (sic, but this blog agrees) president married his high school teacher. We’ll never know which plans Madeline had for Frenchmen, whether they are young or hot or not. The case is after two minutes in the series she vomits, which means she’s pregnant and she can’t go anywhere because it’s an truth universally aknowledged that pregnant women can’t go on with their plans.

It’s in the next scene when we meet Emily’s boyfriend, Doug, and when we learn she’s going to Paris in Madeline’s place, in spite of being unprepared and not knowing the language. At this point one wonders how it’s possible that no one else in the company can replace Madeline. All of them are monolingual? Our plucky heroine is not discouraged by the litle fact of knowing virtually nothing about the country in which she’s going to live during the next twelve months. She and Doug - the moment you see the scene you know it wont’ go well - agree on a long distance relationship.

And after a very well done transition, we have crossed the ocean. Yes, this is well done, and I say it unironically. Episodes are short, your show is called Emily in Paris, so, what’s better than having your main lady already in the French capital in less than five minutes. The series goes to the point in this aspect and it’s a good thing to spare us of unnecesary scenes.

So Emily arrives to her apartment with pretty views, confused about in which floor she’s supposed to live (running gag ahead) and already hit on by a French guy on a suit that looks like the love child of Gabriel Attal and Albert Rivera (check it, seriously). I couldn’t take him seriously not only because of that but also because he said that Emily’s appartment was a chambre de bonne. Not by any means. Look, I’ve never lived in Paris but I know that apartment is huge when compared with a real chambre de bonne.

Off to know her working place, Emily has this HUGE smile pasted on her face. I don’t know if this supposed to make her charming and likeable. For me - it’s true than I have this European perspective - she looks a mix between an anxious puppy and a psychopath. I would be scared and would avoid her at all costs. The cultural clash is about to happen.

Yeah, I would look at her too, Julien a.k.a. token black character. You have probably heard about the lack of diversity in this series, I won’t abound in that, others have worded it better. It also an established fact that French people smokes at their workplace, even if in the European Union we have these things called smoking bans that won’t allow it.

And enter Sylvie, Emily’s Parisian boss and supposed main antagonist, à la Devil wears Prada. What to say about Sylvie other than I adore her? Her clothes, her style, her sarcasm. As any rational being would do, Sylvie is pretty dismayed to learn that Emily does not have the slightest idea of French and its already wanting to impose her American perspective and her alleged knowledge of social media. The problem is I don’t know if her posts on Instagram really deserve that much attention. Clash ensues with the rest of her new coworkers. C’est la cata! they comment. I quite agree.

Our fish-out-of-water takes an evening afterwork stroll (this Paris is like one square kilometer and public transport is something you mention but never appears) and calls her boyfriend to state the entire city looks like Ratatouille, which legitimately made me laugh. I am not sure if this reference means that Emily’s filmic culture is that limited or if it’s her boyfriend the one who only knows a movie which takes place in Paris and that’s one is Ratatouille. We know that Emily at least has seen Moulin Rouge and that makes two so probably is Doug’s fault.

Back at home, and since she has forgotten how to count, Emily attempts to open the wrong door. Immediately a wild Frenchman appears; it’s Gabriel, played by Lucas Bravo probably one of these young hot men Madeline would target. He takes the intrusion reasonably well. Especially when it’s discovered that Emily only knows his region, Normandy, from Saving Private Ryan. That makes three films, so definitely I think Doug is the problem here as far as filmic culture goes.

Next day Emily picks a yellow outfit and goes to work, purchasing a pain au chocolat in her way to work. I confess I was underwhelmed when discovered that there wouldn’t be any joke about the Great Civil War that has been going on in France since its earliest days: the partidaries of pain au chocolat vs. the ones of chocolatine. A ferocious, merciless conflict unknown by most nations. A lost opportunity not making this woman someone from the South who bravely defies Parisian conventions calling it chocolatine. I’m team pain au chocolat btw. Naturally when she discovers the wonderful world of flavours she makes another Instagram post. She’s earning more and more followers, Heavens know why.

However, she has a Big Problem with Doing Research. Example given, she doesn’t know her schedule - a problem which could have been solved with reading numbers - and arrives two hours early to her workplace.

Once there she discovers she can’t sit with the cool kids. No one wants to lunch with her, so she decides to miserably sit by herself at the park, where we met her best new friend. Her name’s Mindy, she’s from Shangai and she’s working as au pair, while teaching Mandarin to the two blond children she’s looking after. We’ll later discover more about her. She instantly detects the American in Emily and offers her help to this awkward but at the same time arrogant newcomer.

Meanwhile at Savoir, Emily has earned a sobriquet. La Plouc, which is adopted by Sylvie and most of her coworkers even if Luc seems more or less reluctant to say it. La Plouc means the hick, as she instantly discovers thanks to an online translator. It’s really not a good day for our heroine, and she cames back home - remember that thing about this Paris being one square kilometer? - walking. Co-worker and someone who for some resason reminds me to the posh-y version of Philippe Poutou - check it - Luc passes by as she sits lonely by herself and apologizes for calling her la Plouc earlier. He also claims she’s arrogant for coming to Paris without speaking or even understanding French - which is true - and tells her people is probably scared as her new, modern ideas. Which makes no sense at all and it’s probably a white lie.

Meanwhile and for some reason her totally inocuous posts in Instagram makes her earn more and more followers. During the night, her oblivious to timezones boyfriend call her and they have - or attempt to have - a totally awkward and unsexy session of cybersex. At the end Emily is so frustrated that she tries to use her electric vibrator which leads to the short-circuit of the entire building. Fortunately before she has the oportunity of getting closer to the device in question. And that’s how Episode 1 ends.

What did I think? It’s fun and pretty to look at. Even prettier to rant about. As long as your brain remains carefully shut off in the meantime and you don’t take it that seriously you are going to enjoy it I guess. At least it’s my case.

Still frustrated for not covering the Great Civil War tho.

#emily in paris

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not-xpr-art · 3 years

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Art Deep Dives #2 - The History of Fanart

Hi everyone!

This post is part of my Art Deep Dives tag, where I ramble about art-y things, often with some relation to art history in some way.

just so you know, these essays aren’t formal in anyway lol! I just do them for fun & to hopefully be interesting in some way to someone!

This week I’ll be talking about the history and importance of fanart! It’s not the entire history of fanart, just some key moments and points in it that I feel are important!

(this essay is about 2500 words long btw!)

Part 1 - What even is fanart?

I think when a lot of people hear about ‘fanart’, they often think of it as a new thing, something that came along at some point in the last century when media begun to be mass circulated around the world.

But, of course, fanart has existed long before media like Star Wars or Doctor Who were created, and even long before photography was invented, even if it wasn’t necessarily referred to as ‘fanart’ at that time since the concept of ‘intellectual property’ hadn’t been introduced at that point.

So I think at first we need to define what we even mean when we refer to ‘fanart’...

Put simply, it’s artwork made by people who are interested in something created by someone else, such as a TV show, film, book, podcast, video game etc. However, by this definition, where do original characters created by the fans as part of franchises fit into the picture? Or celebrity fanart? Or artists who use famous people’s appearances as the base for their own characters? Or what of artworks of media that have long since passed copyright laws (such as Shakespeare works, Austen works, etc)? And where do illustrations of books fit into this?

So perhaps a wider description would be, artworks made by fans of and inspired by something “belonging” to someone else (either a piece of media or... themselves). The issue of this description is that most portraiture would fit into this. So... are we about to call Thomas Gainsborough or Joshua Reynolds, two of the most famous British portrait painters of the 18th century, fanartists?

I think a lot of people in the art world would scoff at this concept, because even now the feelings surrounding fanart are pretty negative. They see it as less of a valid form of art and instead as ‘derivative’ and ‘unoriginal’. I’ve heard both non-artists and artists alike talk about fanart as ‘not real art’, and then in the next breath they’re praising portraits made by Leonardo da Vinci or Vincent Van Gogh.

I also think it’s important to note that fanart isn’t exclusively portraiture too. Often artists will draw landscapes, still life works or even abstract pieces based on their favourite media. And as previously mention, a lot of artists and writers create their own characters within a world created by another person. So, for all intents and purposes, that is a form of original art, but it is often still put down in comparison to people who make up an entirely new story and world for their characters.

Part 2 - Renaissance artists and Bible fanart!?

One of the most common defences I’ve seen for fanart is that Renaissance artists’ basically did Bible and Mythology fanart, and their artwork is considered ‘masterpieces’ so... that’s that!

Right?

Well, if we’re sticking with the definition of fanart being something based on a series of characters or concepts owned by someone else, then Religious or Mythological based art would definitely fit into this.

(Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Virgin of the Rocks’, currently being held in the National Gallery in London).

But I think it’s important to note that the art world was a very different place in Renaissance Europe. Concepts and characters didn’t belong to any one person or group of people, instead everything was a lot more homogenised. There’s a reason why when we think of figures like Jesus or the Virgin Mary, we have a very particular idea of what they look like (a very white-washed idea, I might add). The same thing goes for portrayals of figures from Greek or Roman mythology. There were often motifs associated with these deities that dated back to Antiquity, and Renaissance artists looked back to this for their inspiration. But there was no one specific point of reference for these ‘characters’ other than the Bible, which didn’t actually ‘belong’ to anyone, not even the church.

So, I think it’s valid to bring up Renaissance artists and how the modern concept of ‘originality’ in art was less important to artists or patrons, and much of the art they did was exclusively works based on something the artist did not come up with. In my first Art Deep Dive, I talked about how History paintings (which were often Religious or Mythology based) were valued for being the product of an ‘artistic genius’ and their connection to spirituality in comparison to portraits or landscapes that depicted the real contemporary world.

But do I think it was actually fanart?

... Probably not... Although I wouldn’t begrudge anyone believing it is, because in a way it does somewhat fit into the definition of fanart. Instead this was to look at how society’s relationship to art has changed drastically in the hundreds of years since that era, as has the purpose of art itself.

And I think it does bring up some interesting discussions of why we are so obsessed with ‘originality’ in art at the moment when it’s not something that was really important before, though!

Part 3 - What about portraiture?

So... What about portraiture huh?

Now, portraiture has existed for as long as art has, essentially, but it took until the Renaissance era and beyond for it to be associated with patrons. Portraiture was more than just ‘old-timey photography’, since it was linked distinctively to a sign of wealth. I mentioned Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds earlier, who were two very influential portrait artists of the 18th century, who both fed into a market of middle and upper class patrons wanting their portraits done in this era.

(This is a piece by Reynolds of the Actress Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse).

And in a way this makes portraiture probably the earliest example of fanart as we see it today.

Except, a part of fanart that people who do it (including myself) often bring up is how it’s connected to a sense of passion and love for something. In a way, portraits done purely as commissions for an aristocrat for profit doesn’t necessarily fit into our modern notion of fanart.

This brings us back to that darn description of fanart again. Because in our current world fanart can be defined as work of celebrities done as commissions. Except, perhaps, if you’re a known portrait painter (no one says the designer of the postage stamp did fanart of Queen Elizabeth, despite the fact that it... kind of is?).

So, why is it that a portrait of the Queen is simply a portrait, but one of Billie Eilish is ‘fanart’? Who decides these parameters? And also who decides which one is more ‘worthy’ or ‘valuable’?

Places like the National Portrait Gallery are filled with portraits of famous people from history. But it’s never referred to as the ‘National Fanart Gallery’. I think in a way this boils down to who is doing the art, who the art is of and why they’re painting it. It is funny, though, that the distinction between fanart and portraiture of famous people is so similar that it requires such detailed specifications as to which is which.

So, I think it’s clear to see that where portraiture fits in the history of fanart is a contentious one...

Part 4 - Shakespeare, Fairy Paintings and other 18th/19th Century Curiosities...

From the late 18th until the late 19th century essentially saw the birth to what we now know as ‘fanart’, in a way. The growth of middle-class audiences in the early part of the 1800′s meant that there was a new found desire for landscape, genre and portrait art. And coupled with the growth of secularism, history paintings in their traditional sense had lost appeal.

There was also the small matter of media being so much more accessible and wide spread to bigger audiences due to the industrial revolution. Books were being printed more easily and sold and a reasonable price, not to mention that a significant portion of the population could now actually read, or at the very least were given some form of education. More travel and trade (and also colonialism) also lead to an increase of new kinds of media being explored. Birth of the Gothic genre, Science Fiction, Fantasy, etc, all forms of fiction that we’re very familiar with now were only just entering the public’s consciousness at this point.

Much like now, technological advances were both a blessing and curse to the people of this era. And also like now, art was used as a way to express what was happening in the world. A great example of this is JMW Turner’s Flying ,,, which shows an old ship being transported into harbour by a steamboat, something that was very new to this era. It spoke of the new technologies overpowering the old, and the fears a lot of people had because of this.

This lead to the development of Fairy Paintings, to move to a new time of history painting that was more based on folktales and works of fiction by writers like Shakespeare, and were often used as a form of escapism. William Blake is a prominent figure in this type of painting, along with some Pre-Raphaelite painters.

This is a piece directly based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Henry Fuseli and is completely undoubtedly fanart in essentially every way. Many of his works, and the works of his contemporaries, were based on the works of writers like Shakespeare.

This piece, along with most of his other works, was also exhibited in the Tate Gallery way back in the early 19th century. Fanart like this was openly welcomed into galleries in this era, something that’s a far cry from my art teachers in school and college actively discouraging us from doing any kind of fanart for our projects.

The mass appeal of these kinds of art lasted well into the 20th century and even after the advent of photography, which created an entirely new kind of media to be consumed.

I actually think that a lot of this animosity towards fanart stems from a lot of fanart being born from drawing from photos as references, which is why I think artworks that are fanart from an pre-photography era are valued above artworks done now.

Part 5 - The Beginnings of Intellectual Property and Copyright Hell...

Earlier I mentioned how fanart could be defined as work done inspired by media belonging to someone else. However, this begs the question whether a single person or company can actually own such things as characters and story concepts.

Copyright as we know it today essentially originated in the 18th century. Now, I’m not going to go into all the history of copyright here (partly because it’s confusing af), but essentially throughout the 18th and 19th century all across the world, intellectual property laws were brought in for books & later extended to other media types. They basically prevented any other person or publisher being able to copy, distribute or adapt the piece of media. As many may know, copyright laws run out after a certain amount of time (I believe either between 70 or 100 years), by which time they enter the Public Domain and are free to be used in anyway by anyone.

Copyright laws can be a real detriment to fanartists, however, particularly when large companies like Disney cracking down on any small hint of one of their characters in the last few years. This feels particularly insidious to me given how most Disney films are based on old fairy-tales and legends. But in using these centuries old stories and giving them the ‘Disney flavour’, they have been able to essentially repackage the original story for their own profit. Disney of course aren’t the only company to do this, but given how Disney own basically everything media-wise now, they are the biggest perpetrator of this at the moment.

It’s important to note that to this day, copyright doesn’t extend to ideas or themes. As well as this, copyrighted media can be used by people who don’t own it either by asking for permission or via ‘fair use’. But as a lot of Youtubers would tell you, this is often something that is ignored by large companies in favour of holding monopoly over the entire thing.

This is of course not to say that copyright can’t be a good thing. I believe that artists and creators deserve to have the rights to their individual works. The issue is surrounding big conglomerate companies using copyright not as a way of protecting and supporting their in-house artists, but as a way of boosting profits.

My thoughts are that copyright laws should exist to prevent other people or companies from stealing or overtly copying/adapting a work made by someone else, not preventing a small freelance artist from selling a couple prints of a drawing from a film Disney made 20+ years ago based on a stories written hundreds of years ago.

(I know it’s not as simple as this, but you get what I mean lol)

In a big way, copyright laws were what created our modern notion of fanart, since prior to that no-one really had ownership of their works in the same way that copyright allows you. So, even thought I’ve been quite pessimistic about it, fanart really wouldn’t exist without it so... it’s not all bad lol?

Part 6 - Why is any of this important??

I realise that this is a strange question to ask at the end of this essay, but I really wanted to leave my true personal thoughts until the end in order to keep at least a vague sense of being objective through this lol...

To me, fanart is something that made me fall in love with art in the first place, particularly digital art. I was able to find communities of like minded people and make some really good friends, all because of fanart.

I’ve also spoken to other artists who say how fanart allows them to connect to their favourite shows or characters or celebrities, and a way of expressing their love for something! It’s also often a gateway for artists to get into art as children, and some have said how fanart has allowed them to be more creative in general!

Fanart is something so intrinsic to fandom culture, so much so that it has existed for as long as people have loved things (even long before the internet). And I know that a lot of public figures who receive fanart, either of themselves or of works they’ve created, often express genuine happiness of being the inspiration for someone else...

So, fanart is important to us because it’s escapism, it’s freedom, and it brings us together in such a genuine way!

I wrote this essay because I wanted to truly explore where fanart actually came from, and what I ended up discovering is that the artworld has never been clean-cut separated into ‘original art’ and ‘fanart’!

The history of fanart is messy, confusing, but one thing is very clear to me: it doesn’t just run parallel to the history of art as a lot of people assume, it is instead interwoven into the fabric of all art!

So for my fellow fanartists, keep on doing what you’re doing, because your passion and love is palpable in your work, and really isn’t that what fanart is all about anyway??

~~~

Phew... Can you believe I actually did try and keep this short lol?

Anyway, thank you for reaching the end! And a special thank you to the people over at Artfolapp (my username is dangerliesbeforeyou over there btw!) who gave me their thoughts on fanart!

As always, my ask box is open for anyone who’s interested in discussing this further, and I also have an Art Advice Tag if you need help on improving your art!

#art deep dives #fanart #history of fanart #art history #art discussion #essay #history of art #blog post #i'm just... really passionate about fanart ... can u tell lol?#i may do a follow up of this one day since this is far from everything i want to talk about #but i figured 2500 words was enough for now..

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sparkles-and-trash · 4 years

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I have quite a busy week ahead of me, so I doubt I’ll publish any fics this week, but is there anything smaller y’all would wanna see? ^u^

I could do drabbles or aesthetics or headcanons, but like, simple ones haha! If you have requests, send them to my inbox! c:

I have family visits I need to do now that Norway’s covid numbers are down and we can see more people (carefully obv), I try to walk 8-10 km with Zelda at least every other day, but preferably every day and I have to go all the way to Oslo by train at 6:30 am on Wednesday and then take more public transport to get my botox filled up for my migraines, and tjen it’s my bff’s birthday this weekend AND THEN it’s our National Day May 17 on Sunday!

Normal «let’s just talk and chill» stuff is also great btw!

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barksbog · 5 years

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the WILD journey of a karen

WELCOME TO MY ESSAY WHERE I WILL EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW WILD THIS ONE STAR REVIEW OF ZOO SCHÖNBRUNN ON TRIP ADVISOR REALLY IS.

^definetly not karen and her family looking at zebras.

(i spent a lot of time at that zoo and lived in vienna for a while myself. that´s why i have knowldege. i have been there by train. by car. by tram. by bus. gone in every entrance. rode the panaroma bahn.)

so let´s start. because i know you probably didn´t read that.

our karen is american but lives in vienna (capital of austria. where the main language is german.) her 71 years old mother and 11 years old nephew visit her one summer and she decides to take them to schönbrunn to ride a little train and go to the zoo.

now living in vienna youd think karen just buys a day ticket for them and takes them there easy and nice by public transport. given that vienna is a kinda large city and even handicapped parking isn´t guaranteed at all.

NO FIRST KAREN MOVE SHE TAKES HER CAR AND THAT`S HOW WE GET OUR JOURNEY OF KARENHOOD

she is like “ah yes my mother she has mobility issues. let´s google this before we go” and based on the websites information alone that just says “there are 3 parking spaces for people with special needs” she drives there. she doesn´t call. she doesn´t contact them if she need permits she just drives there

she obviously doesn´t find them based on that information. so she “circles the palace no less than 6 times.”

schönbrunn is not just a castle it has a whole garden that includes the whole zoo so you don´t circle a building. circling it would take about 20 minutes. i think she more likely just drove up and down the yellow streets you see there. let´s asume she didn´t really circle it. that would be insane.

the main entrance. “while the large ornate gates left no question where that is there seemed no entrance point for a vehicle” NO SHIT KAREN

because that´s where on crowded days A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE WALK IN. not where your car goes. please. why did you not call ahead and ask if the information on the website is that lacking.

so karen sees a taxi pull in at some side entrance and drives after it. as you do. SHE ACTUALLY FINDS THE HANDICAPPED PARKING SLOTS. but wait. karen forgot her mom doesn´t have a handicapped parking permit (probably because she is american). which you need to park in handicapped spots in austria.

she now goes on a quest to find out if she may stay there. she eventually gets directed to a security guard who agrees to let her stay despite not having a permit. now THEIR DAY CAN BEGIN WITH THE TRAIN RIDE.

no.

karen can´t find the panoramabahn

yeah that train. that stops at signs that have a picture of the train on it. and that has a map that you can easily download beforehand.

WELL you can´t help that. so she drags her 71 years old mom and 11 years old nephew back to the car. it´s time for the zoo

i see you thinking “wait what. you said the zoo is in the garden of the castle what is she doing” YEAH THIS ABOUT TO GET REAL GOOD.

the walk there would have been very straight even walk on one level for 450meters. that´s a lot depending on what your mobilty issues are. but just keep these numbers in mind okay.

now we are back in the car. not the zoo. we driving to the zoo now. BUT SPIRE. no we driving to the designated zoo parking lot. according to karen it takes. wait.

“literally two hours”

well she eventually found it and she parked there. BUT SPIRE WHERE IS SHE NOW. at the tiroler entrance. you walk by some emus into the woods (karen has spotted the emus) and she even sees the TIROLER RESTAURANT but she just CAN`T FIND THAT ENTRANCE.

just. wait a second. that´s actually INSIDE THE ZOO

yeah right karen is basically standing at the zoo entrance and decides “nope now is when my mom has endured enough we are going home. i just can´t find that entrance”

this is where karens story ends. she drives home she feels ripped off as she has not found the entrance. wait actually she didn´t find one OUT OF THREE WELL MARKED ENTRANCES.

she also complains that no one could give her enough information in english. which i´m sorry but the legal language here is still german and you really can´t expect everyone to be fluent in english.

--------------------------

now. remeber when i told you to remember those number. of that one zoo entrance that was 450 meters away on the same level as the main enclosures and a nice even path. (would have been the bottom left entrance)

YEAH WHERE KAREN DRAGGED HER MOM ALONG WHO BTW USES A WALKER AS WE LEARN AT THE END. is also 450 meters from the entrance (top one) but you are up a steep hill from the main enclosures that she would have had to get her down and back up at the end. which is not ideal if possible at all.

there is a train going up and down the zoo for that reason in summer but idk as we established karen doesn´t have a great track record with trains.

so what we learned from karen today is.

please if you go to a zoo always research parking, opening hours WHERE TO GET IN?!? before. but research IN GOOD DETAIL and call or email ahead if details aren´t clear WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE WITH A DISABILITY COME.

i think it would have been better if karen would have called the zoo and asked them where they recommend parking. tell her how her mom could get around the zoo the easiest. download some maps. print them out i guess if you don´t have a phone. and this could have been really okay. probabyl still a lot but not this disaster

(please feel free to comment with advice on how to plan trips for people with mobilty issues and other disabilities)

also that was the zoos response

IN SHORT:

karen takes her 71 years old mom who needs a walker and her 11 years old nephew on a schönbrunn trip (a train ride+zoo visit both in the garden of the schönbrunn castle)

parks illegally in a handicapped spot. because she didn´t research the permits you need in the country she lives in

does not find the train.

instead of walking 450 meters on flat ground to one of the low level zoo entrances. GETS BACK IN THE CAR

takes literally TWO HOURS to find the zoo parking lot 5-8 minutes away. at the top of the zoo where it´s much harder to get down to the main enclosures

now drags her mother and nephew 450 meters towards the zoo entrance. sees a prominent building INSIDE THE ZOO. decides they won´t find the zoo and drives hom

leaves a bad review because she couldn´t find any of the three well marked entrances. and not enough people could give info in english which is not austrias main language.

(large thank to my friend who shared the karen thing with me. i instantly lost it at “she couldn´t find the entrance”)

#KAREN #IT`S 4 AM AND I`M AWAKE BECAUSE YOU AER SUCH A FOOL #sorry for typos and stuff my brain is tired #but i had to share this WILD SHIT WITH YALL

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vampirewalterskinner · 4 years

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I fucking hope movie theaters don’t go out of style bc of everything being fucking digital. I understand that downloading content and watching from anywhere is easy and appealing, but the platforms for movies aren’t always accessible. I just saw a cool looking movie trailer and I was interested until it said “available on amazon prime”. Immediately turned off because I don’t have, nor do I desire to have, amazon prime. And that’s only a single example. There are movies and tv shows spread thin across the internet and locked behind subscriptions not everyone wants or has. Movie theaters are far more accessible than any online platform because ANYONE can access them. There are expensive movie theaters. There are cheap movie theaters. If there’s a new movie you want to see, they’ll have it. Online is a great way to see movies that have been out for awhile, but a brand new movie? Hell no. It limits what we can get our hands on and I hate it. Anymore, you have to jump through hoops just to watch something new or something you enjoy unless you buy it on dvd—but fuck, that’s going out of style ever so slowly, too. I don’t think people understand how important movie theaters are. It’s a resource with a wider range of availability than digital. You don’t need wifi or internet access or a phone or laptop or computer or tablet (which, btw, some people still don’t have!!) just a few bucks and transportation (which all public transportation services really need to up their game). Movie theaters are for everyone and I love that and I pray they don’t go away.

#movie theater #delete later

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talkfastromance4 · 5 years

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Cross Her (C.H Part iii)

Summary: With a new album and tour soon to be on the rise, 5SOS’s management has decided to put Calum into a public relationship.

Masterlist

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: none

Part 1 Part II

They had two radio interviews to do in the morning and all Calum could think about was spending the day at the beach with Grace. It was 7:30 in the morning and although he wanted to text her, he knew she was still fast asleep. Was she dreaming of him?

“All right! Good morning guys! How are we feeling on the morning after your debut single of “Falling All into You” last night?” the host asks.

“A little hungover,” Ashton laughs and the rest of the guys follow.

“Well hey, it’s a killer song you should have celebrated last night. Tell me, what was the inspiration behind this? Calum, I know you’ve got a newly sprouted relationship, was your lady the cause?”

“Ash and I both wrote it actually,” Calum speaks into the mic. “And when we were discussing who would do the vocals I volunteered. On our last album we didn’t have love songs, songs that were explicitly love songs, so this one is tender.”

“Tender, that’s a good word for it, actually,” Michael chortles in his mic. “I like that.”

“And what did all the 5sos women think of the song?”

“They like it, I think,” Luke says, “Sierra has heard me practice it for the last three months and she told me she liked it. I don’t think that changed. I hope.” He lets out a nervous chortle.

“Is this a good indicator on what this next album is going to sound like? Almost like a . . . uh rock ballad, almost?”

“I mean, this is definitely going to be a somewhat different album, we do have another slower song, sort of like Ghost of You but not as heavy um, lyrically wise and. . .”

Calum zones out while Ashton explains their new sound and feels his phone buzz in his sweatshirt pocket. He pulls it out and sees Grace’s name in the little message bar, he put the pink hibiscus flower next to her name. He’s not quite sure why but when he saw it it made him think of her.

The song is definitely tender, I love that. It’s perfect. If you’re hungover I’ll bring iced coffee to the beach J have fun at the other interview

Calum is beaming. Here she is, texting him before 8 a.m. commenting on his response on the radio show. She was awake and listening to him and it made him feel all warm inside. His response was quick:

How are you awake right now? My head is killing me

Had to listen to you! The response to the song is incredible, you’re already trending rockstar

Really? That’s great!

Okay I’m gonna get some more sleep my eyes are as heavy as 10 pound weights. But I wanted to hear you on the radio, btw you should talk more. Your voice is nice, ten more points

Have a good sleep, sweetheart. We’re tied now, you realize

oh I know J

Calum pocketed his phone and pulled his attention back to the interview. They were discussing when the album would be released. Calum couldn’t stop smiling. He liked how she wrote the number ten both numerically and printed. It was quirky but it was Grace. He liked how she woke up specifically to listen to him on the radio.

With the song trending, Grace’s texts and the promise of seeing her in a few hours, Calum was soaring above cloud nine.

The other interview went about the same. Same questions, same stupid games but Calum did speak up a bit more. He felt like he needed to impress Grace when she watched the interview later. He hoped she didn’t mind him talking about her.

Finally, finally as they left the radio station he was about to see Grace. Walking out of the building some fans were barricaded off by guards and those metal blockades. Calum heard his name screamed the most and Grace’s was even mixed in.

“What are they saying about Grace?” he asks Ashton as they walk to the cars.

“Uh . . .” Ashton looks beyond Calum trying to listen. “Sounds like they’re saying you guys are cute together.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Calum smiles climbing into the back of the SUV.

“You two were getting pretty snuggly on the boat last night,” Ashton waggles his eyebrows. “Is this fake thing not so fake anymore?”

Calum shrugs. He’s not too sure what’s going on but the more time he spends with Grace . . . .

When Calum picked her up from her hotel room, she seemed a bit off. Her smile was a little less radiant and it didn’t meet her eyes. He decided to let it go for a bit thinking maybe she’s still tired from the night before.

“You look nice,” he compliments as they’re exiting the car. She has on white shorts and a coral colored top that just stops just about her midriff. She looks more than nice but he doesn’t want to overstep.

“Thanks,” she snickers, “my beach look is no make-up.”

“You don’t need make-up so that’s worth 50 points.”

“Fifty?! We aren’t tied anymore,” she pouts shouldering the bag with all their goodies following Calum to the sand.

“As it should be,” he winks then takes a sharp left away from the big crowd.

“Where are we going?”

“This is a little private area so we won’t be ogled at or get photos taken. Today is a relaxing day, Grace.”

They set up camp quickly, Grace even brought a big umbrella to stick in the sand and some pillows. Calum was impressed as he sat down on the blanket.

“Where’d you get all this stuff?” he shakes the umbrella making sure it was sturdy before turning to look at Grace who was pulling out snacks from her big bag.

“I took an Uber and went shopping. I get a little cabin crazy being in the hotel all the time,” she makes a face handing him a mule cup then pours iced coffee from a thermos.

Calum frowns, he hates how she’s locked up in the hotel room like a tower. It’s not homey and she has no means of transportation, not that he’d want her to drive in LA in the first place. Traffic is crazy.

“If you want I could pull for a driver for you,” he suggests.

“Oh, no I couldn’t—“

“Please, it’ll ease my mind knowing you’re with someone I know and trust instead of some stranger from Uber. I’ve read the stories.”

Grace’s body relaxes. “Okay, that’s really sweet of you. Thank you.”

He gives her his best smile then looks out to the water then back at her and wiggles his eyebrows playfully. “Wanna head in?”

“Don’t have to ask me twice!”

To his surprise she only removes her shorts revealing more of her legs and her swimsuit bottoms. Apparently her top was her swimsuit top. Her bottoms were high-waisted and showed off her curves tastefully. He was so preoccupied checking her out (discreetly of course) he hadn’t even removed his tank top yet.

“Are you going to swim in your tank top or what?” she laughs.

Calum removes it quickly then Grace grabs hold of his hand tugging him to the water’s edge. Before they go in she stops in the wet sand, her toes curling in and out creating small grooves.

“This is the first time I’ll actually be going in the ocean,” she admits excitedly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve always felt drawn to it, maybe it’s cause I’m a Cancer and a water sign but I don’t know. The water is my second home.”

“Wait, when’s your birthday?”

“July 6,” she smiles shyly.

“That’s a—“

“Day before Ashton’s, I know,” she nods. “I’m a year younger than him though.”

“Your birthday is coming up! We need to celebrate!”

“Nah, we don’t have to. I was hoping to maybe fly back home for my birthday if it doesn’t mess up with our um . . . deal.”

“I’ll fly you back there myself.”

“No, Calum it’s fine. Francesca will probably want us to stay in town because of the release and—“

“I don’t care what Francesca wants. We created our own boundaries, right? We’ll go back to your home for your birthday, okay? Now, let’s get you into this home now.”

He takes the first steps into the warm ocean water and he pulls her with him. He watches her the whole time, loving the soft gasp that emits from her lips at the first touch of the sea. A glorious smile shines on her face as they wade deeper and deeper until it’s a little bit past her waist. The water just touches Calum’s hips but since she’s shorter it met her first.

Their hands join together under the water and she does a small happy dance causing Calum to laugh at her antics.

“Feel good?” he laughs.

“It feels wonderful!” she releases one of his hands to dip herself all the way back so her hair gets wet.

She comes back up with her hair clinging to her back and Calum thinks she looks like a mermaid. Water droplets race down her skin and she shakes his hand.

“Come on, let’s swim!”

All the other girls Calum has been with never ever swam in the ocean. They just stood there to cool off before going back to the sand to catch up on their tan. She does the breast stroke, floats on her back and even goes under the water to swim a few paces.

Calum is fascinated by her until she splashes him in the chest.

“What are you, my lifeguard? Swim around, Cal.”

He doesn’t need telling twice. With a devious smirk, he launches himself at her through the water and picks her up in his arms. She squeals against him and he tosses her back in the water. When she surfaces she’s laughing and wipes the water from her eyes before trying to tackle him as well.

Playing along (and to make her feel strong) he lets himself be barreled over into the water. At one point she hops on his back and he tries to run deep in the water, his feet slipping in the sand and her laughter in his ear.

After playing around in the water they both became hungry and went back to their blanket. Grace dabbed herself a little dry before getting onto it and taking out the food. Calum gazes in amazement at all of the goodies she takes out; watermelon, veggie chips, grapes, pretzels, hummus and a thermos of iced tea.

“You’re incredible,” he splutters and Grace beams.

***

Calum is a bit more somber while he and the boys are in New York for more promo for Falling All into You because Grace is on his mind. He wonders if she’s spending time with the girls. He’s in constant contact with her and with Francesca who is finding the perfect house for Grace to stay in instead of the hotel.

Grace is writing a lot while Calum is away. He’s on her mind constantly but she’s been hanging out with Sierra a lot which is nice. She feels like she can confide in her and they get lunch almost every day.

“So, I know you and Cal are doing the whole fake relationship for the song, how’re you holding up with that?” Sierra asks when they’re eating at a small bistro.

It’s Wednesday and the guys will be back in two days, Grace can’t wait.

“I’m doing okay,” Grace nods swirling her straw in her glass. “It’s not really as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought Francesca and Dewey would be ordering me around like a puppet but Calum said we’d make our own boundaries.”

“That’s good!” Sierra smiles then smirks a little, “are you catching feelings at all?”

Grace swirls her ice faster, is she catching feelings? She thinks she is, she’s actually one hundred percent sure she is. It’s so easy with Calum and even though they’re relationship is ‘fake’ she’s never connected more with anyone before. Even in past relationships she felt like she couldn’t really be herself but with Calum it was a different story.

Should she tell Sierra what she’s feeling? Grace has a good feeling about her but she also knows how girls can be two faced and is unsure.

“You don’t have to tell me if you are,” Sierra assures putting her hand on Grace’s. “But I’ve known Calum for a while and I’m pretty sure he has feelings for you.”

“Why do you say that?” Grace asks trying very, very hard to keep her voice even. But inside, butterflies are erupting in her stomach.

“The way he looks at you, even when you aren’t around him he’s always searching for you to make sure you’re okay. Luke does the same for me,” she smiles, “and the way he says your name is so . . . tender.”

Grace can’t help the blush that colors her cheeks.

“And I bet he’s wishing he was here instead of in New York.”

------

The next few days went by a little bit faster, Calum would Facetime Grace whenever he got back in the hotel. He’d ask about her day, what she did, and what the best part was and if she wrote anything. She always joked, ‘I’m always writing in my head,’ and it made him smile each time.

Grace wanted to go meet him at the airport but he kindly declined because the fans can get pretty crazy there. She even suggested that Sierra could go with her, they’ve gotten close this past week, and Calum knew Luke didn’t even like Sierra coming to pick him up. Regardless of them being engaged now, some fans still sent her hate mail and rude comments and he didn’t want to put her right in the line of fire.

And besides, Calum wanted to pick Grace up from the hotel because her newly rented home was finally furnished and ready for her to move in. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction. Yeah, he was supposed to be getting ready for the Friends of Friends show that night, but Grace was more important to him.

When he picked her up she threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug, he chuckled into her hair and hugged her tightly back. She felt so soft and yet solid in his arms, this was the first hug they’ve shared and it felt so good. He got a good look at her and saw she was wearing one of the FOF long sleeve shirts.

“Nice shirt,” he comments.

“Thanks, I thought it’d be fitting for tonight,” she smiles.

“Get your purse and things, I have to show you something.”

Grace is jittering in her seat the whole way to . . . wherever it was that Calum was taking her. She tried getting it out of him the whole ride what he had to show her but Calum kept his lips sealed. When he rolled to a stop in front of a small blue home, he looked at her expectantly then out the window.

Grace looked at the house then back at Calum in confusion.

“Are we at your house?”

“No, we’re at your house,” he grins then unbuckles quickly and exits the car. He opens her door and she’s gaping at him, still buckled and wide eyed. He reaches over to unbuckle her belt then takes her hand pulling her out of the car.

“My what?”

“I spoke with Francesca and this is where you’re going to be staying while you write your book. I couldn’t stand you being up in that hotel room all the time,” he shakes his head leading her to the front door. “It’s a little further from my house, but I figured you’d like the quiet suburbs to remind you of your home.”

“Calum, this is—“she shakes her head in disbelief as he pulls out a key from his pocket.

“Don’t even say it. Want to go inside?” he dangles the key in front of her.

With a shaky hand she plucks the key from between his finger and pushes it through the key slot. It turns easily and she opens it to see beech wood flooring all around except for in the living room to the right. It has lush looking carpet with a big dark gray couch with a ton of blankets, a TV, and a coffee table.

Calum nudges her gently from behind so he can shut the door behind him, he peers around to look at her face and she’s still struck in awe.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he says gently.

The kitchen is medium sized with a small island in the middle that has flowers in a vase and a round table to the right for eating. Calum keeps guiding her through the halls until they reach her master bedroom. It has a king sized bed with a mural above it of the ocean. There’s French doors to the left that lead out to her fenced in backyard, with a hot tub, and a nice patio.

“The bathroom is through there,” he points past the large screen TV opposite the bed, “and past the kitchen is another little room I had set up to be your creative room. I thought it’d be a nice temporary home while you’re—“

Grace leaps into his arms hugging him tightly. Her face is buried in his shoulder and hot tears fall through her eyes in pure happiness, disbelief and gratitude. Calum wraps his arms around her, he holds her easily off the floor.

“D’you like it?” he mumbles into her hair.

“I love it,” she cries into his shirt.

He pulls her from his chest gently so he can see her face. A tear rolls down her cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb, his heart is hammering in his chest. Was this all wrong?

“Why’re you crying?” he continues wiping the tears from her face as they fall freely, his thumbs are like windshield wipers.

“Because, this is too much and you’ve been so good to me. No one has ever done something like this for me and we’ve only known each other for a month and I don’t know how I’ll every repay you for all of this—“she chokes on her words as her emotions take over.

“Hey, hey, you don’t owe me anything,” he shakes his head. “This is a gift. You’ve sacrificed so much for being here, I feel like I’m repaying you,” he chuckles.

Grace shakes her head and looks down trying to hide her tear stained face from him. Calum won’t have that so he lowers his head until he’s looking into her eyes.

“Can you smile for me? This has to earn me at least a hundred points of adorable, right?” he asks and she gives him a watery laugh. “There we go. No more crying, okay?”

“Okay,” she nods then sniffs. “And you get 75 points.”

Calum laughs.

In this moment Calum wants to kiss her tears away. Their faces are so close together he could count how many eyelashes are on her lid but instead, he pulls her in for another hug. With her arms wrapped around his waist and his cheek resting on his head, his kiss to her forehead was like a reflex.

#calum hood #calum hood fanfiction #calum hood 5sos #calum hood imagines #calum hood imagine #ashton irwin fanfiction #michael clifford fanfiction #luke hemmings fanfiction #ashton irwin 5sos #michael clifford 5sos #luke hemmings 5sos

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lit--bitch · 4 years

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Current-Reads (20/04/2020 - 26/04/2020) 🍓🐢

(Disclosure: I don’t know anybody I’ve been currently reading this week. 😊)

Adding the preface again here: every Sunday without fail I throw up the freshest literature and photography I’ve read over the week, sometimes it’s a book, sometimes it’s a piece I saw in a magazine or an online zine, sometimes it’s something I saw on social media, etc. Sometimes I add ‘RECOMMEND’ next to a few of the titles, but that’s not to say I don’t recommend all of them, I just love some pieces more than others. Not everything will be everybody’s cup of tea, yanno, c’est la vie. And any titles that you see in bold are hyperlinked so if you click or tap them they’ll direct you straight to the source… or shopping basket.

This week I’m gonna throw in a red herring and tell you about something I’ve been watching as well as what I’ve been reading, because I think it’s really cool and definitely appropriate for the age we’re living in at the moment.

So I’ve been reading: Susan Sontag’s As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh (Diaries 1964—1980) which was edited by her son, David. I also read an interview on Granta from March between Rachel Long and Morgan Parker. I’ve also tucked into a couple pieces on Fence, Lexi Welch’s ‘Astroturf’ and Anthony Michael Morena’s ‘The Whale’. I also saw Cecelia Knapp’s poem in Bath Magg Issue Three (but the whole issue is an absolute smacker, it’s great). Last but not least, I’m up to episode 5 of a brand new thing called The Midnight Gospel. It is crazy good. And it’s on Netflix right now.

***

Cecilia Knapp, ‘I Used To Eat KFC Zingers Without Hating Myself’, Bath Magg Issue #3: I really loved the whole of Issue Three, I guess I was quite struck by this particular poem for its “staccato-ness”. This poem is buttered with present-day references. But they’re not necessarily about creating a familiar environment. Rather the object of familiarity is found within the assemblage of places, snacks and thoughts, all of which compound the grief ‘I’ is experiencing. The ‘I’ ruminates on life’s banality and their personal insecurities in living banality: ‘I need a thigh gap. I use emojis / to avoid conflict. Worry I’m a gentrifier. Watch docs about murdered women’. The vapidity is funny. The pain is not. The insecurities deepen. Your body, your life, continues the ache of day-to-day routine, and finds no resolution in the things which may or may not stand to comfort oneself when ravaged by loss. The poem feels quite loose, and disinterested. It’s a sore poem, but its array of references make it colourful. It sort of reminded me of Édouard Levé’s work a little bit? But if Édouard Levé had been a pop culture fanatic chewing HubbaBubba bubblegum on the London Overground. Bath Magg is a pretty exciting new magazine, (been around just under a year I think?) and they’ve published a lot of great writers, many of whom are emerging and I’ve spotted some quite established peple in there too. Kudos to their rubber ducky logo. It’s run by Mariah Whelan and Joe Carrick-Varty.

In Conversation with Morgan Parker and Rachel Long, Granta Magazine: I deeply love Morgan Parker’s work, she’s, in my opinion, the master of titles. I can’t think of anybody who titles their work as well as Morgan Parker does. And I love the depth of honesty and charisma in this interview. Like yeah, it appears to be a generic Q/A but, it genuinely feels like a conversation, and it’s welcoming and unpretentious. Rachel Long asks some penetrating questions, and Morgan’s answers are so detailed and self-aware. Most of the discussion revolves around the action of writing poetry in general and where does that impulse arise from, but they do discuss Morgan’s latest collection Magical Negro which came out February last year. It’s a narrative on black womanhood, on micro-aggressions and reoccuring violence, it’s about breaking down white perceptions of blackness, and dissolving those projections. What I love about Morgan Parker is she’s tackling this fucking idiot thing where (mostly) white people think she’s attempting to represent all black women in her writing, which is, by Morgan’s own admission, impossible. Her work is a duty to herself, to the background she’s lived and lives, and to unpack that discourse in her own way. And if it resonates, then great! I felt all this was inherent in the interview and only adds to my respect for her, and to Rachel for being such an attentive interviewer. BTW Rachel Long has a debut collection coming out this July, My Darling from the Lions.

Anthony Michael Morena, ‘The Whale’, Fence Portal (Streaming) (RECOMMEND): I can’t tell you how much I adored this beautiful mass of whale and word. It’s an essay which references the American Natural History Museum’s Blue Whale model. The writing is thick with feeling and fat with concern. It blends monologue, memoir. It’s non-fiction and documentary. It’s elusive, enigmatic, fragmented. It’s like broken biscuits and blubber. To me it felt like a note on the offences of climate change, the emotional response and grief as we bystand erosion and corrosion, the loss of life, and the urge to merge something back together as it dissolves and fragments before our eyes. It’s as personal as it is public. A gorgeous and complex piece.

Susan Sontag’s As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh (Diaries 1964—1980) (RECOMMEND): I felt so afflicted reading Susan Sontag’s diaries, because y’know, it’s the equivalent of invading an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb. Like, leave people alone. At the same like, this woman. These diaries are still shaping me, and each section leaves you with the weirdest aftertaste. Her personality permeates through every detail, every line-break, every reference and articulation of feeling. You learn so much, you gain so much from her perceptions and observations. How do I contain Susan Sontag? How do I describe these diaries? Not at all. Just buy it.

Lexi Welch’s ‘Astroturf’, Fence Portal (Streaming) (RECOMMEND): My eyes locked onto this piece and just didn’t really stop reading. Lexi’s voice is enamouring and hypnotic. It’s so violent too. You’re lunged into friction burns and sports injuries, time and progression, the tensions between collectivity and individuality, family and sexuality, or as Fence put it, ‘lesbian eros’. This piece felt acidic. At times you can’t tell if the ‘I’ is indifferent or hurting to the point of numbness. It straddles so many different thematics, and breaks down a lot of conventions pertaining to the “ideal experience” of family relationships and team work. The resolution seems to be that in spite of people, our collectivity is defined by our collective solitude. This essay kicked me around a football field. It takes a good few repeated reads to appreciate its kaleidoscopic shifting, but it’s definitely one of my favourites.

The Midnight Gospel, from Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell, Netflix: (RECOMMEND) So the other day my friend Ben linked this to me and I had seen the trailer ages back and thought “Oh yeah I really wanna watch that”, but just forgot. After his reminder, I started watching it and ever since I’ve been saying to loads of other friends “Have you watched ‘The Midnight Gospel’ on Netflix?” because I’m d y i n g to talk about it with everybody.

I literally can’t categorise this “TV show” to you. It’s like if animation had a baby with a philosophy podcast and then put that baby onto an IV drip of psychedelics. It’s this swarm of different stimuli which you kind have to zone in on and absorb individually and yet somehow collectively.

So like, “Clancy” is a spacecaster who sets up “spacecasts” (podcasts) with creatures from other simulated worlds and he interviews them. But when Clancy transports himself into these worlds, it’s not like they’re sat down on some cream sofa with two glasses of water like it’s animated Oprah. No, his interviewees are like in the middle of fighting off a zombie apocalypse or meditating on a mountain or trying to find and save their lost lover. And Clancy just joins them on the journey and interviews them about their “specialism”. These are real people that are being interviewed like, the first episode is with Dr. Drew Pinker. And when you’re watching it, you think that the animation is totally separate to the conversation exchange the characters are having, but that’s not true. They have intersections, they have meaning. It only becomes obvious that it has meaning right at the end of each episode, but if you lock on you’ll see it’s all relevant throughout.

One of my friends was like “Oh I might stick that on tonight and have a joint” and I was like, don’t fucking get high when you’re watching this because it’s already intense enough as it is, like you know that Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell have felt some real shit to create this absolute rare jewel. In my opinion, you don’t need cannabis to appreciate these discussions. But if you wanna do it, then hey it’s a “free country”. And it’s not as though there’s a serious, central core plot like there is with Rick & Morty, I mean there is a kind of overarching plot but it’s not always integral. Like ultimately we’re invested in Clancy’s story but also all the stories of all the other people that come his way. There’s multiple plots, there’s multiple dimensions and ways of seeing. It’s a programme which delivers on multiplicity, which manifests itself in everything and everyone we see and know and touch and hear, etc, etc.

This production articulates some of the revelations that psychedelics can give you. Psychedelics don’t make you see the world literally like these animations do, but the sensations of the animation are reminiscent of an acid trip’s oscillating moods and sensitivities. It’s really cool, and it’s very poignant, and it’s my new favourite show to watch. And what’s so great about it is that, it requires multiple watches in order to really absorb everything in its entirety, so it’s a series you can just keep going back to even after you’ve seen them all. It’s re-watchable. Just fundamental goodness all round. Best way to indulge in it is with ice cream. 🍨

***

So that’s it for this week, next Friday’s review is Annie Ernaux’s A Girl’s Story translated by Alison L. Strayer, published with Fitzcarraldo Editions.

Stay safe and well as always, my little caramels. 💁🏽

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