such_heights | Reading

Every year when spring comes I feel more sun-starved,
touch-starved, warmth-starved, petrified in my bones.
I go out and lift my face to the sunlight, sunshine, and
just for a moment, I feel it: the relief of still being here,
the joy of having a body
that needs, a mind that tethers
itself to whatever love it encounters. I walk
with my eyes closed, or squinting, arms by my sides, and
I feel my hands, bare to the sunrays, present again,
safe,
and alive,
for the first time
since October.

Current Mood: another shower poem

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poetry makes the heart grow fonder

seekingferret

Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The second movie comes out next month... The Devil Wears Prada 2: Maybe This One is Jewish?

I mean, scriptwriter Aline Brosh McKenna said in an interview a decade ago that she had wanted to make the first movie Jewish but in early 2000s Hollywood that was unthinkable. So maybe this time is different? lololol of course not.

Anyway in preparation, I checked out Weisberger's sequel, which is set 10 years after the first one and is even more subliminally Jewish because Andy has made herself even more subliminally Jewish. She has dumped her Jewish boyfriend Alex from the first book and marries Max, a WASP millionaire who went to Duke and Harvard Business school.

Andy is a culinary Jew and one of the quiet coded ways Weisberger suggests marrying Max is a mistake is with very subtle culinary signifiers. When she is hanging with Jewish BFF Lily they eat rugelach, when she is commiserating with her mother they talk about the Federation luncheon in the City. But her first date with Max is eating steamers. And when she is in Max's world there are shrimp and crabs galore. Weisberger never uses the word Jewish in Revenge Wears Prada, but at some deep inchoate level culinary Jews are still Jews. They feel the wrongness of the shrimp in their bones even as they eat them by the pound.

Max does step on a glass at their wedding, but it's buried in the middle of a paragraph that starts "The rest of the ceremony was a blur". It's a signifier that in marrying a non-Jew she is drifting further away from her authentic self.

They have a fight over an insistence that she change her last name from Sachs to Harrison upon marriage. She likes the idea of sharing a name with her husband, but Sachs *means* something to Andy in a way she cannot put words to. The final compromise is that she will change her name but continue to use Sachs professionally. Her body physically rebels against the idea of losing her Jewish name; her mind tells her she's being irrational but her body wins. Of course, Miranda waged the same battle decades earlier and rejected her Jewish name... the whole point of Revenge in the book's title is not quite Revenge, but it is a sort of repetition. Andy will once again get the opportunity to work for Miranda and she will have to decide if she is the same person she was a decade earlier, or if she has become a better, stronger, more moral person.

And in the end, her Jewishness wins. She divorces the WASP after he betrays her ambitions for his own (and she frames it in generational tribal terms: what Max has truly betrayed is Andy's ability to transmit her values to her daughter) and the final chapter is swathed in the signifiers of her return to the fold: all of the food of her grandmother's shiva, to start, as a hint that she is finally ready to return to Alex, her Jewish ex-boyfriend and true love.

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beccaelizabeth

I finished rereading Ancillary Mercy this morning and when I went to check my catalog I gave some of the three books about half a star higher than I had before, except the one I rated 5 already. And I think I like them better this time because I read Translation State. Translaters aren't just quirky weird now, they're, well, really difficult to translate, and having the same problem reading everyone in the story. Knowing the new stuff it is just a Very Different experience, reading them again.

So that is cool.

Also today I tried to put my hands on a piece of paper I was sure I'd put right under the TV but I couldn't find it so I went through All The Paper. All.
Then I gave up and sat down
and found it immediately
right where I would see it from the chair.

Well done earlier me, I was not to know I would not be ~~lazy~~ sitting this once.

April is annoying the way all the numbers change, I have several number change things to do this week, but at least I have rediscovered the paperwork for it.

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books

kalloway posting in

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torachan

1. Still failing on the sleep front, but I keep hoping the next night will be better. We’ll see!

2. We had planned to go to Dotonbori this morning before heading over to Universal Studios, but were both worn out from yesterday’s sunburn and Carla was sore, so we decided to skip it for this trip and just rest in the morning before we needed to check out. There were some shops nearby that were on the list to check out (Muji and HMV), but they both didn’t open until 11, so we rested and then packed up and checked it and had the hotel hold our luggage. The Muji was a huge one that has a cafe, too, so that’s where we had lunch.

3. Another change in plans was that we were going to take the train to USJ, but with Carla being so exhausted the idea of lugging our bags on public transport was not appealing so we decided to just get a taxi. It was of course much more expensive than taking the train would have been (even though it’s only five miles away), but it was worth it.

4. The Front Gate Hotel here at USJ is way nicer in every way than the Hankyu Respire in Umeda was, even though it’s much cheaper. The Respire you’re definitely paying for the convenience of being in the heart of the city.

5. We got the 1.5 day tickets for USJ so we just went in for a few hours this afternoon/evening to explore the park. Could not get into Super Nintendo Land, but hopefully tomorrow.

Tags:

daily happiness

melroseee posting in

fandom_on_dw

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leanwellback

We sweat and ache to extract our glittering truth
Like so much precious ore from cold rock and stone
Our value inherent and potential unending
But it's hard to keep our shape when the world is on fire;
In the intense heat your choices are limited --
Become malleable, become brittle,
Or break.

You sharpen our edges on the whetstone of your hate,
Then brandish our existence like a knife;
Hold us to the throats of others you wish to subdue
And tell them to fear the metal itself,
Not the ones who put it through the crucible
Beat it into submission and use it
As a weapon.

Tags:

escapril,
poetry

celli

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oliviacirce

My brother Pete died fifteen years ago in March, which is kind of crazy to think about. How can it have been fifteen years? How has it only been fifteen years? (Maybe less the second one, but later this month I turn 41, which is the age he was when he died, and that sure makes me feel some type of way.) Grief is a very strange thing, and sometimes poetry helps me understand it better, or at least feel less alone in something that is often isolating, even while being completely universal. Since 2012—or 2011, I guess, if you count the original day—I've been posting grief poems on April 5, the anniversary of the day we held his memorial.

This poem is from Gregory Orr's How Beautiful the Beloved, which is a whole book of perfect little gems like this one. ( Grief will come to you )

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aurumcalendula

I remember my grandparents having gorgeous marbleized looking dyed Easter Eggs and I kinda want to see if I can recreate that sometime. I wasn't there for the dying process, so I'm not sure it it involved dying them in stages, or if was more similar to marbleizing paper (with different dyes floating on the surface of water/oil).

green

Hi, all!

My mood has improved, and I've had energy for the past 3 days. Out of nowhere. I actually got some much-needed cleaning done, and it's been very beneficial to my mental health. I've been eating healthier leading up to my first Ozempic shot, so that might have something to do with it, but it hasn't been a HUGE change yet, just little stuff. But I guess it could have still made a difference. idk, I just feel great. It's so weird!

musesfool

Happy Easter if you celebrate! Happy Sunday if not.

Here is today's poem:

Sunflower Astronaut
by Charlie Espinosa

[commence imbibition]

I begin my log in the seed capsule. There is little to report.
I am dormant. I am alone. I am drifting through the void.
Sometimes, I wonder what lies beyond the vacuum-sealed walls.
Sometimes, I swear I hear a very faint, very beautiful, song.

I have landed. Surface: moist. Atmosphere: favorable. Competition: unknown.
I discard the shriveled seed coat. Every cell in my body pulses with life.
Enzymes fly like meteorites and I emerge, gasping from my pod.

[commence germination]

There is no need to waste time with instructions.
I open my endosperm sack and gorge on the stored feast of sugar.
Invigorated, my radicle, that intrepid probe, plunges into the depths.
For the first time I taste, no absorb, the rich minerals of the new world.

My cotyledons unfurl like two green sails into the light.
Ah, sweet solar wind, filling my chlorophyll with galactic energy.
Gradually, I establish myself here, growing up and down, in light and dark.

[commence vegetative growth]

Forgive me. I have not been carefully logging my progress.
The divisions, they simply became too numerous to catalogue.
Besides, I was in a kind of trance, conducting the photo-symphony–
Keeping my glucose stocks fat and multiplying my meristems.

The important point is that I am tall with a well-defined stalk and enviable leaves.
There are other sunflowers too, and a rather impudent beast who is fond of digging.
All in all, I have adapted well. I am happy. Though I don’t care for the beast.

[commence ripening]

For months I have studied the sun. My head of bracts tracked its arc like an antenna.
Now I am a sun, with a yellow crown and a hot core of disk florets and pollen.
I, too, emit signals to orbiting bodies who come and go with fertile stardust.
Was this my mission, to set into motion a new solar system?

I merge with another star. My head sags under the weight of our fruits.
The inflorescence fades. The wind scatters my wilted petals over the floor.
It has become difficult to know where I end and where this planet begins.

[commence decomposition]

The digging beast beheaded me and made off with my seeds.
The sparrows peck at what’s left. Somehow, I don’t seem to mind.
Each day, a little darker, a little colder, siphons me away.

I said before I began alone, but now I remember something else:
Being a seed among other seeds encircled in a halo of yellow rays.

*

I made gyoza! #mygyoza They might not look that great but they are delicious!

*

Current Mood: full
Current Music: Mets vs Giants on tv

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kaberett

Reading. She's A Beast archives, forever and always (by which I mean that I am now up to October 2023).

Another few pages of my Wicked Problems (Max Gladstone) reread.

Also an absolutely baffling academic paper that is technically relevant to my academic interests but which... doesn't really explain why what it's doing is better than state-of-the-art, sure as hell doesn't demonstrate it adequately with an appropriate range of reference materials, and cites only my reference materials paper and not my one on actual real life rocks, which it absolutely should, especially as it is citing [redacted for professionalism] like it's a solid contribution to the field.

Writing. Manuscript is over 10k words???

Listening. Hidden Almanac continues; presently we are relistening to another chunk I've theoretically heard once already but actually slept through. Knitting during it continues a good way of preventing myself from falling asleep. I continue to enjoy myself. (Eminent Domain and Tapping Of Ley Lines is the chunk we're currently in.)

Playing. Games various with... nieces and nephews??? plus A's other relatives, particularly Boggle, Shithead (to which I have been newly introduced), and Five Crowns.

Cooking. ... I made a big batch of chilli? I made a big batch of chilli.

Eating. Many and various exciting cheeses. Some excellent potato dauphinoise that I didn't have to cook.

Exploring. North Leigh Roman villa, Chedworth Roman villa, some surrounding woodlands, and Davis's Copse near Curbridge (BLUEBELLS).

Making & mending. A's glove progresses, by which I mean I've stalled a little over the past few days because I foolishly decided I didn't need to bring my circs with me and therefore I am knitting flat on DPNs and it is Suboptimal. But. Nearly ready to turn around for the other side of the flap. Nearly.

Growing. Lemongrass much cheerfuller for having been put back into the warm box. No evidence of aubergine yet (yes I know I'm late). Broad beans now actually properly coming up!!! Oca doing nothing. Cherry finally just about ready to start blossoming as of Wednesday; josta definitively blossoming and really quite green; project Build Up Spinach Seed Stash progressing nicely.

Observing. Pheasants! BLUEBELLS, both as a sea in woodland and on banks with primroses. Cowslips. So many excellent spring flowers. Pheasants; COOT EGGS; Egyptian goslings; and I have spent the past couple of days being Menaced by a Canada goose that is OUTRAGED whenever anybody... passes it... on a tarmac drive... even if they're doing so in a motor vehicle. All extremely satisfactory.

Tags:

vital functions

isabrella posting in

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Current Mood: ecstatic

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condnsdmlk posting in

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Submissions for Vidder's Choice are now open (Premieres and Themed Premieres coming soon)! Before we get into how to submit a vid, just a quick note to say that while we still recommend Firefox as your go-to browser, at this point you should be okay using most other browsers. However, we recommend iPhone users not use Safari Mobile to submit vids.

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siria

A Covenant Will I Establish
The Pitt/ER | Jack/Robby, Carter | ~21,000 words | Thanks to

sheafrotherdon and

melroseee for betaing, and to

trinityofone for supplying baseball terms, and to the Discord chat for the thing they'll recognise when they get to it.

(Also on AO3)

( Robby and Jack figure out what they want to build together. )

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glinda

In March, I was mostly watching films. In general terms not that many films - five new-to-me films - but given last year’s hideously low number of films that weren’t re-watches I’m going to call it a victory. It took me until August to get to this many films last year, so while my new-to-me books is still looking grim and my audio series list doesn’t bear mentioning, at least my film watching is fairly healthy.

In my quest to actually get something written, given the general uptick in watching new-to-me films, I went on a binge of documentaries in the Storyville strand on iPlayer, and wrote them up for the film blog. (I’ve been full of the desire to write but seriously lacking the inspiration for it.) I also decided after K-pop Demon Hunters that I’d try and watch a bunch of last year’s films that I missed and write those up too, but I only managed Sinners though in fairness, it was an absolute banger. (They deserved every last nomination, acting and sound in particular.) I’m really glad I managed to see it in the cinema - my local arthouse cinema was screening it ahead of the Oscars so I saw it with like 20 other people who’d all either seen it before and loved it or like me and had missed it the first time and were keen to be impressed, it was a good audience vibe, is what I’m saying - because the sound was immense, it really benefited from having the big screen good sound system experience. Speaking of films that benefited from being on the big screen, I saw Project Hail Mary in the cinema this week. Just a delight. (Rocky!) Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller acting their wee hearts out in what is ultimately quite a silly film. Too long obviously, but honestly I barely cared. (Also I’m not really across a lot of pop music, but what do you mean Harry Styles wrote that song? I presumed it was a cover of something 70s but no it’s just a homage to Bowie and glamrock, significantly more impressed with that lad’s talents now. Though mostly I need me a copy of Sandra Hüller singing it.) And, it has my favourite Beatles song in it. There’s a LEGO set I can’t justify but really, really want.

With the election period upon us, I figured what I actually needed was a nice straight-forward knitting project to work on while on the road and generally too brain-fried to deal with anything too complicated. So I’m making a loop scarf in a basic shell pattern - it’s basically one row of straight forward lace shaping and one row of purl stitch, knit until you run out of wool - in alternating colours, so is a nice way to use up a set of hand-dyed mini-skeins that I bought during lockdown and have been waiting for a project since then. It’s excellent TV knitting, though mostly I’ve been doing it while catching up on my podcast backlog. (I’ve spent a lot of this weekend catching up on Gastropod and 99% Invisible) I’m hoping to do a bit more actual TV watching, there’s a bunch of things serieses I want to tackle, but I’m not going to talk about those plans until I’ve actually started them in the hope that they’ll actually happen. It’s always such a crapshoot these last few years what will and won’t catch and hold my attention on that front.

Current Mood: amused

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summerstorm

I borrowed a prompt list from

leanwellback and

yarnofariadne and I don't know how much of it I'll get through, but today's actually produced something? I haven't written a poem in forever, but I sometimes think up some lines, get in the shower, sit down and can't be bothered to type them in. This time I did. Growth! Or something.

#5 dandelion

these ephemeral things
we were taught to wish on: the
flash of light, the flickering fire, the
keratin, metaphorical enamel -- each hope
a snuffler, the smoke
folding into the fabric we breathe in.
It's in the last exhale that their aim is clear:
to come back in a year, ready
to scatter.

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poetry makes the heart grow fonder

leanwellback

a bright yellow sun
the pale white moon
stars scattered
to the winds
one man's weed
is another man's wish

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escapril,
poetry

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Amy

December 2024

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friends

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escapril 2026: #4 flesh

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Multifandom: Spring Renewal Prompt Fest

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New The Pitt Community: robbyabbot

escapril 2026: #6 a weapon

26/46

keep singing

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update

Sometimes, I swear I hear a very faint, very beautiful, song.

vital functions

Multifandom: The Completely Arbitrary Sunset Exchange - Noms open!

Submissions for Vidder's Choice now open!

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2608 / Fic - The Pitt/ER

March Media

escapril 2026: #5 dandelion

escapril 2026: #5 dandelion

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December 2024

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