…so I tried to make it count. I went to a lot of concerts and read a lot of poetry and watched a lot of movies and enjoyed many walks through the nearby fen. Here is a fat ass frog from one of my “bog walks”
I was lucky enough to visit both Connecticut and Missouri this summer. I usually do every other, but my whole family was going to be in Connecticut so my two kids and I went just for the weekend. I got to see my younger sisters that live in Spain for the first time in two years. This summer has flown by and I am making a point to enjoy the rest of the season as much as possible. This is the first year in the last couple that I haven’t been looking forward to the next thing. I avert my gaze every time I’m in a store that already has Halloween stuff out. Let’s just be where we are, shall we?
the air is rich with hemlock & ferns. walking around at night with just the moonlight & our voices to guide us. ummm what else. chewing on poisonous plants bc they make ur mouth feel tingly. catching frogs. it’s fun i miss it
It’s a bit of a trope but when I was a kid I would spend a lot of time at the creek in the park, behind my high school. The park was two hundred acres and the deepest part of the creek was a few minutes off the trail. Going to the creek really felt like going off the grid & I would show it to people who were special to me. Kate, and Catherine, and Elizabeth. They didn’t think it was as nice as I did but now I really miss sitting there and listening to music, and reading Barthes.
for some reason I have gone most of my life acting like I’m the only person on earth who’s not allowed to ask for help… and also feeling evil whenever I ask someone to do/not do something…. and lately I’m realizing that actually it’s okay if I ask. Most people are cool and will say “yes no problem”
I encourage you to rip into me if you disagree because shying away from disagreement is what??👂 OUT!
IN
• Reading books
• Folk-rock and folk-country
• Doing stuff on the computer and not your phone like god intended (social media, online shopping, etc.)
• Clothes-wise: colored tights, mini skirts, scarves
• Being late to work
• Talking to strangers, in the same vein: making new friends
• Writing
• Taking the bus and the train
• Saying what you need to say and doing so succinctly
• Unionizing your workplace
OUT
• Boring convos with coworkers
• Wearing clothes you don’t really like
• Minnesota nice (see also: being nice is not always the same as being kind)
• VAPING OHHH MY GOD. WRAP IT UP!!!
• Caring about makeup, unless you’re a drag queen or a goth. Like you get 15 minutes max
• Shying away from disagreement
• Fast casual chain restaurants - go eat local and sit down for a while
• Paw Patrol (copaganda)
• Ass kissing
• Being under 25
I mean. Wow. I wish I could formulate coherent literary analysis but I think I just need to sit with this for a month. Humanity, gender, politics, fear, love. The heart of culturally long-lasting, impactful sci fi is when the sci is merely a background to the fi, ya know? Tried to pick a quote but can’t right now. If you hear shrill screaming in the distance just know it’s me wailing over this book Illustration by David Lupton