#potato hadley

[evalucent]

As the narrative shifts, the three actors playing the three original Lehmans – Henry, Emanuel and Mayer, the head, the arm and "the potato" who keeps peace between them – take on multiple roles.

...

I particularly loved Lindsay's uptight Philip, pouring out his torrent of words as he pushes the business towards the future; the scene where he auditions a succession of potential wives, all played by Fraser with swift changes of voice and gesture is a comic joy; Fraser is wonderful too as the final Lehman, Bobbie, twisting in an ever quickening dance (choreography by Polly Bennett) as the firm hurtles towards the end. 

[oddlittlestories]

The House MD characters need more Life-changing Field Trips. I tried to do a poll but

Kutner & Thirteen. Comicon like @greghatecrimes headcanon. Ooh or a road trip down to Roswell.

Chase & ??? after his major injury & dealing with depression and healing. Extended road trip. (Kutner would’ve been the obvious choice but). I think it should be family vibes so Thirteen I guess.

Chase & Thirteen. European backpacking maybe? They keep going in cathedrals even though they should really stop doing that.

The whole team ends up at a Renaissance Fair. But I’m not sure who the non-nerd is (there’s only one and it isn’t Taub). Maybe Wilson? I think Park would be embarrassed but love it anyways.

Kutner & Taub go to a cheesy pop-up carnival as per my headcanon.

Thirteen, Kutner, and Taub go to a special haunted house down the coast. House and Wilson show up to scare the crap out of them at the end. Foreman, Cameron and Chase get lost on the way and end up at a roadside cafe instead.

Thirteen & Cameron. Rocky cliff beach trip? Six flags trip? Wine tasting tour? Whale watching? Something scenic somehow I think. Which ofc devolves into something way more wild

Kutner & Cuddy & Rachel. Some sufficiently child-oriented trip.

Wilson, House and Alvie? Some contestant based show that House and Alvie trick Wilson into?? Best of Route 66? There is no way this doesn’t end the same way as the bachelor party.

Wilson and the OG trio. To a conference together but their return flights get canceled.

Wilson & Cuddy. NYC to see Broadway shows and art. End up at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Wilson & Thirteen. Supposedly to do something fancy but actually to do something fun and ridiculous but without House lol

And finally J Whitner and House should go on an Accessibility Tour where they see if businesses that claim to be accessible really are. And no one can tell if they’re in cahoots or if they’re feuding (both ofc)

[greghatecrimes]

another scene that will (most likely) happen in Two Little Ducklings: House coming into the apartment to find Thirteen and Chase laughing and drunk off their asses (because they wanted a couple drinks, but magically shrunken teenage bodies can’t handle alcohol the same way a regular adult body can)

[alittlepawblog]

Behind the stage and view from the wings on Lehman Trilogy

📸 : Hellen Murray

[elbiotipo]

your post about potatoes in fantasy worlds made me base my primary fantasy continent off sudamérica so i could use fantasy versions of andean and amazonian fauna/flora. I'm still trying to figure out how to change the geography enough to have the big desert i want in the right area(andes get an offshoot that encircles a rain shadow desert in the central north is the best idea i have) but actually being forced to consider how native wildlife works and needing to create trade routes if i wanted imported crops was fun. i was also trying to figure out why the southern hemisphere has more hot climates than the north and something said it's because the south on earth has less landmass so i think having the northern hemisphere above it be mostly tropical works if I have mostly archipelagos? also every time i see a european based fantasy have potatoes or tomatoes i shake my head and scowl.

The reason why the Southern Hemisphere seems to have more hot climates is indeed simply because the continental parts don't spread that far South to actually cold southern latitudes. The only place that really sticks that far south to have a truly cold climate is the Patagonia. And of course, Antarctica, which by coinicidence, basically surrounds the South Pole.

Here is a map of "temperate" latitudes, or rather, latitudes between the tropics and the polar circles (as someone who lives here, or indeed an Australian can tell you, many places there are not "temperate" at all but more on that below). What is important here is that the southern hemisphere has less places closer to the pole, except, again, Antarctica, while the northern hemisphere has lots of land near the poles. This is why we don't have our equivalents of say, Siberia, for example. The closest thing is again, Patagonia. Honestly an underused place for worldbuilding, with the steppe, the glaciers, the temperate rainforests, and the recently extinct megafauna, but I digress.

You could in fact have a tropical "north" if you keep most of the northern hemisphere's landmasses near the equator (here I'm picturing some kind of big Indonesia or Caribbean, an area where tectonic plates collide and there's lots of volcanic islands and lands), and you could place a big continent in the South to make it a cold South. Interesting reversal on the cold North/warm South of most settings.

This would bring some interesting effects, though. Placing a big landmass on any pole (not a small one like Antarctica) would lead to glaciation, as land is "colder" or rather less moderated by ocean (more on that later) and glaciers grow, and glaciers and arid land have greater albedo, reflectivity, that is, and so they reflect more sunlight, thus those place become colder, and the glaciers keep growing, and so on, until there is an ice-age. I don't have the link where I read it with me, but I recall that continents shifting to polar latitudes might have triggered ice-ages in Earth's past.

Deserts are very tricky to place. The standard worldbuilding recommendation is that the interior of the continents are drier as you get away from the sea, and that mountain chains and high terrain serves as rainshadows that stop rain from the sea. However, there is a lot more to it. A LOT more.

You can find deserts even next to oceans, in the so-called "horse latitudes", the meeting points of the Hadley Cells that circulate air from the Equator to the subtropics and beyond. The details are a bit technical, but what this means basically is that they create jet streams of circulating air at 30° South and North, keeping the climate sunny, warm and dry. This is indeed where many of the world's coastal deserts are: Atacama, Kalahari, and of course, Australia.

Meanwhile, in the equatorial zone, the "trade winds" (because they have regular wind patterns that have historical formed major sea trade routes, worldbuilding hint!) converge in the Equator, forming rainy areas... but not quite that simple.

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, where these winds meet, ocsilates during the year, creating monsoons, but as always, there are lots of factors involved. In particular, given our real life scenario of rapid climate change and global warming, a warmer temperature means more intense ocsilations. This makes monsoon events sharper (more droughts and floods in those regions) and more strong La Niña/El Niño events, which are their own thing, influenced by the Pacific which is a huge factor in global climate.

And this brings me to ocean currents. Usually, being close to the ocean moderates the climate, making it more rainy and warm, or at least stable. However, if the surrounding sea is cool, it means less evaporation and less rainfall, especially if it's influenced by cool polar currents (this is the case of eastern Patagonia, for example, with the cold Malvinas Current). The opposite is the case in, for example, Europe, where the warm gulf stream moderates climate, making it warmer and rainer compared to the same latitudes in the US and Canada. I'll admit I'm not very well informed on how ocean currents work, but the depth and salinity of the ocean have much to do with it. What basically happens is that dense salty water sinks and and this works as a "conveyor belt" for warm less dense surface water to flow over it and over great distances. These currents are slow, but since the ocean is so massive, they move extensive amounts of heat across the world. I will admit defeat here and just say I don't wholly understand how it works, but I can tell you this; if your world has a less salty ocean, your currents will be less strong, which means that the differences of temperature between the poles and the tropics will be sharper as there are no strong currents to overall moderate temperature. If this is all too complex for you as it is to me, the quick cheat is just looking at this map: warm water flows from the equator, and cold water flows from the poles, and they create "gyres" around the oceans and the Equator, and cold currents contribute to colder and drier climates (note the Canary, Benguela and Peru currents, the Malvinas current is not shown for some reason...)

Did I forget something? Oh, yes. A colder climate of course, means less rainfall, because there is less evaporation and there is much water "trapped" in glaciers and snow. Which seems to be the case during the last ice ages. Rainforests and forests in general retreated as deserts expanded. In fact, the few forests that remained served as refugiums for species that only expanded again once the ice age was over. Some especulate that this might meant a 'weakening' of megafauna, as they were trapped in those refuges with lots of interbreeding and weakened populations when humans arrived on the scene. Here is a very interesting map:

Now, there are some contradictions here and there, some researchers have said that the climate wasn't that dry and while I'm not an expert I tend to agree, many parts that are "extreme desert" there might be scrubland instead. But overall, it seems that colder times bring drier times too.

I'm still not done, but I'm almost done! According to the Biotic Pump theory, forests might also influence the climate and rainfall in a big way, basically, evapotranspiration (plants sweat, a lot, 90% of water through a plant evaporates to the atmosphere) in forests might actually create by itself the rainy environment where forests thrive, so for example, the Amazon is a rainforest BECAUSE of the forest there. I think with the increasing droughts here in South America we're seeing that theory proven in practice, as deforestation of the Mata Atlantica, the Chaco and the Amazon is causing less rainfall in the centre of the continent. Forests and plants also have a cooling effect, since they fix carbon dioxide, and also a bit of a warming effect, since they have darker albedo and so absorb more sunlight. I'm going to be very lazy and instead of reading a thousand papers say that they overall have a "moderating" effect.

Well, I could go on and on but I think I've already written way too much, so I'll leave you this to munch on a bit. It might seem like a lot, but when in doubt, you can always "eyeball" it by comparing real regions of Earth, and it will help you to create more interesting world than the omnipresent "spring-summer-fall-winter" temperate standard in so many settings.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Oh, and also, if you found this helpful or interesting, I would appreciate a tip to my ko-fi!

[kentwells]

I’d like “know exactly where this leads” bestie thank you!!!!!! Live laugh love ~clatoera

(I’d actually like ALL of them on that little Taylor Swift lyric list)

@clatoera for u :) this was hard but i missed writing these idiots

For all she’s heard about Clove, Cato’s partner is tiny. All of these kids carry weapons heavier than they are, but there are spears that are twice as tall as her. Her dark hair in an intricate braid down her back. When Cato points her out across the room, Arlene looks straight past Clove, sure that his partner must be someone else.

“Cato, go against the wall,” she calls in lieu of a greeting, pulling three knives from the colorful waistband of her leggings. Cato’s grin is brighter than she’s seen in years as he presses his back against the foam target wall. 

Mikhail nudges her, “No need to worry about this, hm?”

“He’s reckless, not suicidal,” Arlene whispers back. The younger years at the academy are all brute force, letting the kids run around as much as humanly possible. She’s seen Cato throw, it’s sweet in how terrible it is. She’s still laughing a bit about the pile of sweatpants that are nowhere near the laundry bin when she notices the knives, one just above each of Cato’s shoulders. Her heart drags out of her chest as the third flies right at his forehead, landing so close that she’s grateful for the academy mandated buzzcut. The sharp, silver knives line his body, but the grin hasn’t left his face. Her heart sinks as she watches Cato return Clove’s knives, holding them high above her head. 

He looks like a kid. He’s twice her size, holding knives above his head, but there’s no cruel gleam in his eye as he tugs on her braid. She knows exactly where this leads. 

+ 

“You may not recognize your children,” they told Arlene at orientation. She still recognizes Cato, though. Of course the boy who pushed kids off the monkey bars and got frustrated when he wasn’t the first one to finish a coloring page would end up in the Center. 

Cato comes home for four days in November, and even though Arlene recognizes the hard set of his jaw and Mikhail’s blond hair, he’s bigger every time. He was well past taller when they dropped him off at the academy, but by now, he’s the type of tall where he ducks slightly to cross through the door. Clove comes too, still tiny, in a sweatshirt that Arlene bought for Cato when he was little. 

She has a thousand questions for them. Are they quite this obvious when the trainers are around, are they being sent into the same games, where do they rank in their class? Instead, she kisses Cato on the cheek and sends them to the grocery store to restock. 

“I can help, Mrs. Hadley.” Clove says, as Arlene peels potatoes. She must see the apprehension on Arlene’s face, not quite willing to attach herself to this girl, because she immediately follows with “Just because Cato’s useless doesn’t mean we all are.”

Arlene is impulsive, she speaks without thinking. The regret is instant when she says “Arlene, not Mrs. Hadley,” and Clove cracks a quarter of a smile. 

Snow, is it obvious. The way Clove tucks herself into Cato’s side on the couch. His eyes don’t track her like a hunter’s should, instead watching her every movement with something unrecognizably light. When she finds Clove’s bra stuffed between the couch cushions, she tosses it into the wash before tucking it into Clove’s duffel bag.

It’s twenty-three to one that he dies, twenty-two to two that District 2 has a winner – she can pretend, for 2 hours, that she’s worried about Clove getting pregnant and not about Clove killing her son.

♡ taylor swift prompt list

[rimworldretreats]

Day 3-Day 19: Beds, tables, and chairs, oh my

So, starting from a robust baseline of "alive" and "in no immediate danger of starvation", it's time to start our first major project: continuing to not be in danger of starvation and/or exposure.

First up are filling in the gaps between the hills so our sleeping rocks are defined as Inside, and the table and chairs mentioned earlier. I went wild, and invested in a bookcase as well. Fish is splitting her time between construction, mining, and cooking (which includes butchering). As anticipated, she's busy; and I want her to level up construction to the point where she can build a freezer. In the meantime, digging out the future freezer so we can at least get all the things that deteriorate outdoors under cover.

Just to the right of Fish, you can see a rustic window from the (Dirty) Windows mod. It's basically a hole in the wall with shutters; but it lets light, air, and projectiles through. Beats standing in the open to be mobbed by raiders or rabid megasloths.

And, on day 6, a momentous event; our first guest.

Samantha could technically walk out of here and has chosen not to just yet. Who wouldn't hang around to sample all the mod cons, such as "open air latrine" and "basic wooden table"? Or take in the scenic views of "potatoes and steel debris chunks"?

The daily grind of eating terrible nutrient paste from the slurrypede and slowly building a semblance of civilization continues for a few days.

We'll round this out with day 19's big news: Hinton has built a truly awful double bed for her and Fish to share, inspired by the pretty good one Fish built for Hadley. Most of the people we pulled from the burning wreckage have moved on, one way or another. Hori is hanging out enjoying being a severely injured 81 year old trying to recover while sleeping on bare rock. It's her favorite hobby.

We're in the big leagues now!

Maybe once we build another bed for the wounded geriatric, anyway.

[storiesbyjes2g]

It’s your sims family barbecue or the family Sunday dinner. Everybody has their famous dish, dessert or designated staple to bring. Who is bringing what?

Ooooh! Hi Nonnie! Thanks for the question. Let's do two families!

Sunday Dinner w/The Piersons

Even though Noemi is getting good at cooking now, she'll attempt to show up empty-handed LOL. But of course that is not allowed so she's on drink duty. Nate has gotten really good at fish since living in Sulani and taking up fishing. He'll bring one of his famous dishes lol. Kameron is the meat man and does steaks, chops, or whatever big hunk of meat is on the brain. But he loves to cook and will probably do some veggie sides as there will be hell to pay if there are no veggies on the table. He is partial to grilled or roasted veggies. (mmmm broccoli!) Nadia, who is the coordinator of all this, often gets away with not bringing anything. But sometimes she'll buy a nice dessert from somewhere depending on her mood. Finally, for Melany it's all about the carbs sides. She loooooves mac 'n cheese. Really all pasta and cheese combos. If it's not mac 'n cheese it might be some kind of alfredo or pasta primavera.

Annual End of Summer Cookout w/The Churchills

Jorden's family is quite large, and we got to attend their last BBQ. Man...talking about drama lol. His mother (rest in peace) used to do it, but now that she's gone his older sister, Hadley, has made herself Vice President of Family Affairs. She makes her husband grill the hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken and takes the credit lol. His younger sister, Loren, isn't much of a cook and brings all the paper goods. Luckily her husband, Noah, cooks. He brings the potato salad (his mom's recipe), and no one ever believes he made it and thinks Loren did. Jorden, our resident vegetarian and lover of plants, brings salad. Every time. Never fails. Needless, most of it is left at the end of the day lol. He has never made his made from scratch tomato sauce and spaghetti for them, and they have no idea he has skills in the kitchen. Finally, his little brother, Aiden, brings the drank lol. Don't worry...there are sodas for the kids, but he makes sure the adults have a good time if they want. As for the rest of the menu, the nieces, nephews, and spouses bring enough to provide the variety.

[the-cooler-sidestep]

🧅 for Hadley, 🥑 for Jonah, and 🥔 for Varro

🧅 [ONION] What is surefire to make your OC cry? Who knows of this information?

Answered here!

🥑 [AVOCADO] What will they never back down about, even if it makes them seem bad?

Pineapple on pizza is GOOD. Y'all are just MEAN.

🥔 [POTATO] What do they have that others see as a flaw, but they don't care about?

Probably the 'being over 7' tall' thing. she's not complaining. she LOVES it.

[clickedbaita]

[ EXPERIMENT ]  muses try touching each other more intimately for the first time,  groping,  caressing and kissing new areas. 

Leaving the mountain a second time hadn't initially been his plan. When he returned he'd planned on staying and being part of his clan's ways, but with Big Foster going missing and G'win taking over things drastically turned. He was sent off, banished for an act he hadn't committed but was at fault for-- something he'd been framed with by the woman he thought he could trust. He should've known better after coming back that he wasn't going to fit in anymore-- he was an outcast, a lostie. He should've trusted @sondair more when she tried to warn him about all of it, especially when she started talking about leaving together. He'd been so blind to what was true then-- he would come to regret it as the clan fell.

He and Hadley ran in the night, bansihing themselves from the world that was being built and the war that was going to rage on the mountain. She didn't need to leave with him, but she insisted on it and he knew plenty of it had to do with them. With the feelings that were growing since his return, the time spent with her tending to him in that cage, and him lingering around her more when G'win turned him away. They'd kissed multiple times on the mountain before they ran, but it wasn't until they were away from it all that they started falling into it fully.

Asa had confessed to her that he wasn't sure they would work together, but they fit well. Their lips worked in a way he hadn't felt with G'win and their bodies slotted together so perfectly when they slept. He knew he was falling into it hard with Hadley, but he was also trying his best to work which is what he spent a majority of the time doing. He busied himself at a mechanic shop during the day and worked a graveyard security gig at night. It was exhausting, tiring, and he rarely saw Hadley which he could tell was weighing on her.

Perhaps that's why he brought on tonight with one of his rare times off. He usually spent that time sleeping, but he felt he owed it to Hadley for the commitment and hope she put into him. He knew how she felt about him and he wasn't doing well to reciprocate it-- again, that thought of them not working together well sitting with him. But he liked Hadley, he felt for her and he wanted to explore it which is why he'd gone about making them a nice dinner-- steak, potatoes, and vegetables. It was a bit of a splurge meal, but he owed her an apology and an explanation for his inability to give himself over entirely.

Not that he was struggling in this moment or so it felt as their lips meshed together for a warm kiss, arms wound around one another on the couch to keep each other close. He was, again, aware he wanted to apologize for how he was behaving but he felt in the moment he could show it both physically and verbally if he needed. And right now the physical option was winning out, Asa leaning into her until she was tipping back into the cushions of the couch. His hands move, one settling onto the armrest for support and the other rubbing along her side. Their lips still locked in a kiss that was melting him and he hoped her, but judging by the way she moved with such ease-- it was simple to see she felt the same.

That's why he owed her.

He broke the kiss but only so he could drag his mouth down to her neck, kissing a warm line between soft breaths of confession, "I haven't been the best to you," the hand on her side dips to slip under the hem of her shirt, running his fingers up until he could brush the tips of them to the curve of her breast-- "I owe you an apology before I continue," the words follow the way his fingers draw back from the teasing touch, "Because God do I wanna continue."

[evalucent]

The brothers are close, Henry, "the Head", bickers with Emanuel, "the Arm", while younger, fresh-faced Mayer, "the Potato" attempts to keep the peace.

.......and Fraser excelling in moments of energetic comedy, such as when he demonstrates all the qualities nerdy Philip requires of a bride or as the elderly Bobbie (pictured below) twisting the night away in his final decade.

[jaynedolluk]

BOOKS OF 2023

I'm so late posting this but I'm determined to get it done. These are some of the books I read/enjoyed in 2023. I still have a massive to-read pile so not all these books actually came out in 2023 (tho' most of them did)

I don’t tend to read that many novels/fiction – I think the only one I read this year was Queen K. by Sarah Thomas about a tutor to a rich oligarch’s family. Also got the books of the scripts for Succession Seasons 3 & 4.

I tend to read a lot of memoirs. This year I read ones by Paris Hilton (which was surprisingly good), Hadley Freeman (which also talks about anorexia in general), Michelle Tea (which talked about her experiences of pregnancy in the context of being a queer woman), Ava Cherry and the latest one by Boy George.

Also Anita Bhagwandas’ book Ugly which looks at various beauty standards and how they affect us all + I really liked it. Plus Grace Dent did a book based on her podcast called Comfort Eating which looks at the favourite comfort foods of various celebrities (including recipes) combined with a bit of her own memoir.

I got a new book on Marilyn Monroe by Richard Barrios which examines her acting roles and re-evaluates her as an actor.

Read Claire Dederer’s book, Monsters, which looks at how we respond to problematic artists/creators. It raised some really interesting questions and personally I don’t think there are any easy answers. Another interesting book I came across was Creative Not Famous: The Small Potato Manifesto by Ayun Halliday which I thought offered some really good advice.

I’m keen on history especially books that look at cultural/social history. I found this fascinating book called Queer Blues which looks at the early blues musicians who explored sexuality/gender. Also another book I really recommend is I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records by Audrey Golden – one thing I really liked about it was the range of women they spoke to, so not just musicians but the security staff and DJs from the Hacienda. Read We Peaked At Paper which was about the UK fanzine scene.

In terms of more general history I got David Mitchell’s book, Unruly, which is his personal take on the history of the British monarchy up to Elizabeth I with plenty of sarcasm and general observations of the concept of monarchy.

I love the format of oral histories in books. This year I read Reach For the Stars (about the pop stars of the late 90s/early 00s), Faster Than a Cannonball (looking at various aspects of the nineties), and Don’t F&&K It Up (about the first ten years of RuPaul’s Drag Race).

I also read a lot of books on music. This year I read two of the new releases on goth music/culture – The Art of Darkness by John Robb and Season of the Witch by Cathi Unsworth (which I preferred especially the book/film recommendations and the gothmothers/gothfathers sections).

Read Parachute Women by Elizabeth Winder which re-evaluates the legacy of some of the women linked with the Rolling Stones – (Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull, Bianca Jagger and Marsha Hunt). I felt like it concentrated more on Anita & Marianne and it would have been nice to expand the book to cover the likes of Jo Wood, Jerry Hall and Mandy Smith but overall I loved the book.

It also ties in with one of my other areas of interest, feminism. I read Toxic by Sarah Ditum which looks at how various female celebrities were treated by the popular media in the late 90s/early 00s such as Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse.

[jaggerinparis]

HEMINGWAY HUNT - Part 2 & Conclusion

Stop 6

27 Rue de Fleurus, Place de L’Observatoire to Rue de Vaugirard (not pictured - 10 photo max on Tumblr), Musée du Luxembourg, Rue Férou, Place St. Sulpice (and the Square)

We first visited the apartment that once belonged to Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas. I can imagine this was a great place for Hemingway to talk with them and, as a gay man, I wish I could meet a queer person from that time period who was looked down on the way the Stein was by Hemingway and tell them what the LGBTQ+ community is like now. We also made the walk that Hemingway once described was hard to make without getting hungry. The smells of the food as we passed as well as the aesthetics of some of the cafes and restaurants were endearing and I can see why the walk would be difficult for a hungry person. The fountain in front of St. Sulpice was so BEAUTIFUL.

Stop 7

Brasserie Lipp

I stopped by the Brasserie Lipp, which doesn’t look as casual as it was when Hemingway came here for sausage, potatoes and beer. However, that meal sounds delicious following the walk without getting hungry challenge. I love the neon sign in front of the beer jug.

Stop 8 & 9

Café de Flore & Deux Magots

These two cafes were gorgeous and I wish I had time to sit and eat and write here. I’m sure they weren’t as extravagant back then as they look now, but it still seems like an inspiring street to look at and write on. I especially love the flowers above the entry of the Café de Flore, and the tendency for other restaurants in Paris to do this decoration above their entry ways as well.

Stop 10

Michaud’s

My tenth stop was at Michaud’s, where Hemingway once at with his wife Hadley. Although it was a fancy dinner for them, it doesn’t look all that fancy as Le Comptoir Des Saints Peres. I wish I could see it in its former state to better relate to why this was one of Hemingway’s favorite restaurants.

Stop 11

Hotel d’Angleterre

I stood in front of the hotel where Hemingway and Hadley stayed together when they first arrived in Paris. I can only imagine what it’s like to enter such a romantic city with someone you’re in love with, and it’s a feeling I’m sure could not be understated by Hemingway himself.

Stop 12

22 Rue Jacob

For my last stop, I looked at the former address of Natalie Barney and thought about Hemingway’s outdated ideas of homosexuality. He first mentions these in chapter 2 when interacting with Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, who were in a relationship with each other. I honestly can’t blame him, for this was the common thought process of the time.

Conclusion

My favorite line from A Moveable Feast is actually a rather basic one, and perhaps the line from which the book derives its title: “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” I can’t wait to see how my short time living in Paris will impact me after I have reaped inspiration and memories and appreciation from each and every place I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. I’ve gotten a beautiful glimpse into a more intentional way of living - thanks to the guidance of a couple insiders - and will be more intentional in my way of living back at home, even after getting settled back in. This quote shows even though I am leaving Paris, Paris is not necessarily leaving me. This is what Hemingway means in the title of the book, as Paris and the things you can take away from it make it “a moveable feast.”

My favorite humorous episode in the book was when Scott Fitzgerald shared his insecurity about his manhood with Hemingway and the duo visited the Louvre to make him feel better about himself. This use of humor almost humanizes the two important literary figures, and also highlights Fitzgerald’s hyperbolic personality.

[alittlepawblog]

Hadley Fraser, The Lehman Trilogy Press Night, 2023.

[beninparis]

Hemingway Hunt

Stop 1:

I arrive to find Cafe des Amateurs gone in favor of Cafe Delma. There was no sadness or evilness to this place, at least none that I noticed. Although it might have been a place that charges for restroom use, and that’s pretty evil to me.

There is bustling chatter overlapped by the constant noise of the fountain. A child chases a brown pigeon only to be pulled out of the road by her mom. A man tries to ask for money and I tell him I don’t speak French. The air carries a very subtle scent of fried foods and alcohol.

Stop 2:

During their time in Paris, Ernest and his wife Hadley stayed at 74 rue du Cardinal Lemoine. It was a place Hemingway described as one of the poorest addresses in Paris. Of course Hemingway probably didn’t predict to be immortalized by a plaque at the building. I’m not sure, but the price has probably skyrocketed since his time and because of his time.

Stop 3:

Just close by, Hemingway rented an attic room at the once hotel 39 rue Descartes. 25 years earlier, poet Paul Verlaine had died in that room. Paul is immortalized here as well, not just through a plaque, but also with the restaurant La Maison de Verlaine. In fact, he’s immortalized a bit more than Hemingway at this particular spot

Stop 4:

I took the B route to get to the book stalls along the Quais. Due to poor timing however, I arrived when they were closed. Fortunately I managed to catch them midday the next day. I even purchased a volume of Asterix at the recommendation of a very helpful and nostalgic bookseller.

Stop 5:

After a line that feels like the Mona Lisa’s little sister, we only get a minute upstairs before we are told they are closing the floor. That was just lovely.

It was more like a village house converted into a bookstore than a traditional bookstore. Rustic boards support old stone and cradle new editions of not so new classics. They kept the more venerated works in the front, stuff like Catcher in the Rye, Moby Dick, and The Sun Also Rises. Meanwhile the modern works such as Circe or A Court of Thorns and Roses was kept more towards the back. The spiral staircase led up to a loft that overlooked the store and the street below. There was a very personal nook where one could theoretically block themselves off from everyone else and its cramped size would force them to do nothing but write. The instrument to do so being a typewriter that bears its age and takes up a good chunk of table space. Hopefully enough space is left for your whiteout. Behind the nook are 2 walls. One containing the portraits of minds who were most likely mocked then celebrated, the other holding a mirror which in turn holds millions upon millions of sticky notes. They were most likely from guests wanting to be immortalized with Shakespeare & Co. The tumbleweeds in question are simply aspiring minds, such as those in the portraits, who stay afloat through working in the bookshop. Although with the small size of the place and huge crowds filling in, I’m not sure how much time they have to sit up there.

Stop 6:

This was the longest stop and I hesitate to call it a stop. They were more like stops. There was a long walk from Musee du Luxembourg to the rest of the stops, one was actually pretty out of a way of my current route, so I had to revisit a different day. The grand jewel of this stop was the massive fountain in front of the church where the Saints stand forever.

Stop 7:

Hemingway’s order consisted of a distingue (A big glass mug of beer), pommes a l’huile (Potato salad with firm potatoes (Why? Soft potatoes are better.) that are marinated in olive oil) and cervelas (a wide, heavy sausage split in two and covered with a special mustard sauce). I went to the Brasserie Lipp myself because I wanted to try that order, but found something much different than what I imagined. Something more expensive, upper class, and not of the common folk. I feel like that order, if not attached to a famous writer, would be sacrilege in the kind of restaurant that it is today.

Stop 8:

Hemingway would often stop at Cafe de Flores and Des Magots to eat and write. He considered these places good for writing. I decided to try and follow in this tradition at Cafe de Flores and simply write about what I observed in the space. I even started drafting a second story, but I don’t know if I’m going to revisit it or not.

Stop 9:

My door-side seat is the perfect vantage point. A private dwelling to sit and spy over customers and imagine their stories. The Englishmen are to the right of me, one filling coffee with sugar. My guess is they’re on holiday, perhaps to Disneyland. Something about mice and princesses seems to unite people. A French family is to my right, 2 teenagers and parents younger than mine, or at least appear to be. They talk of Hemingway too. Maybe they are here for the same reason as me. The golden room is packed with waiters in a constant rush. If any of them get called “garcon” I expect rightful violence from them. I imagine myself as the most American in my sport shorts, yet no one cares. From my seat I exist in the world, but not entirely. A mere fly simply watching.

I feel something is missing from my story…

A dragon! Every story is better with a dragon! Let’s add one perched on the awning, watching cars go by. She is responsible for bringing “fresh beef” straight from the countryside with her massive claws and wings. There, now it feels like a short story I would write.

Stop 10:

Michaud’s presents a bit of a switch up. Instead of an average or poor place elevating after Hemingway stayed there, Michaud’s is now gone. It was already an expensive and uppity place in his time so maybe it got so uppity that it went uppity out of the atmosphere. Writer James Joyce would often visit this place with his wife and children. Whenever Hemingway got a bit of money, him and his wife would go here to live like the upper class, if for only one meal.

Stop 11:

When Ernest and Hadley Hemingway first arrived in Paris, they stayed at the Hotel d’Angleterre. While I was able to find the hotel, I did not get the chance to go inside and experience the courtyard. I can only imagine now, possibly a lavish jungle that’s a far cry from what Hemingway saw. That’s the effect he has on these kinds of places.

Stop 12:

22 Rue Jacob, where Miss Stein Lived.

In chapter 2, Hemingway expresses his prejudices against homosexuality to Miss Stein. He claims gay people are sick, cannot help themselves, and deserve no pity. He also describes a time when he lived among a milieu of criminals and states “When you were a boy and moved in the company of men, you had to be prepared to kill a man, know how to do it and really know that you would do it in order to not be interfered with.” This makes me wonder about Hemingway’s past and what led him to these prejudices. Could it have been an adverse sexual encounter when he was too young? Could it have just been that his parents were prejudiced and wanted him to protect himself from what they perceived as threats?

Conclusion:

One line that perplexes me is the one where Hemingway glorifies his hunger. “Hunger is good discipline and you will learn from it.” As a writer myself, hunger is a hindrance to writing. Once I get hungry, that’s all I can think about until it is satisfied. Is he trying to elevate himself above common needs?

An episode I found particularly funny was “Birth of a New School.” The story starts with Hemingway choosing violence. A patron comes up and simply says hi. Hemingway basically tells this guy to screw off, but with more language. The whole chapter is just this argument started by a stubborn and angry mule named Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway describes Paris as a “moveable feast”. While he could have meant a number of things with this description, there’s one possible interpretation that I could apply to my trip. Paris is a feast you take with you, something you eat and draw from wherever you are in the world or whenever you are in your life. The experience stays with you to be feasted on forever.

[descended-from-legends]

Hot Potato

@starbcrn-kids

Perry groans and rolls her neck as she walks down the hallway. That test had been awful. They're pretty sure they passed, but only barely. Hopefully it'll be enough to move on with the rest of the cadets.

But right now, all she really wants to do, is go back to her dorm, hold her baby, and decompress. They sigh and make the turn towards their room. It's not long before they're entering the code and bouncing on their feet as the door slides open.

She almost immediately flops on her own bed when she enters the room, another deep groan resonating through her pillow. Sighing and looking around, she sees Addi, studying away for their own exams. Her eyebrows scrunch and her heartrate spikes a little when she notices the empty crib in the corner and no baby crawling around the room. "Where's Hadley?"

They're not concerned just yet. They’re not. It's not entirely out of the blue for her child to get passed around the family when it's exam season. They just hadn't expected it. At least that’s what she keeps telling herself to keep calm.