[anachronism]

anachronism : a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place

aesthetic prompts tag | aesthetic masterlist

A moodboard for writing or art inspiration. All images are sourced from Unsplash and are free to use under their license. If you use this moodboard, feel free to repost it with your finished creation. Credit is appreciated but not required.

October 1, 2022

Sputnik Sweetheart and spiced tea for this lazy morning. This book is the 'contemporary' entry for the 2022 Genre Bingo, and I've actually borrowed it from a friend (you can tell by the fact it looks like it's been through a war zone)! It seems a very quick read, and so far it's good. Anyone ever read/is reading it?

💿 sotd: Beethoven - The Complete Piano Sonatas - Wilhelm Backhaus

🍵 tea otd: homemade masala chai with Birchall's Great Rift breakfast blend

"Are you there? Is Anyone Listening?"

Honey Girl is a book I struggled with for all of the right reasons. Rich, wonderful. evocative. Brimming with the emotional trauma that presses in all of the painful places and leaves me streaming hot tears of equal parts anguish and empathy. A book that teaches me I probably shouldn't read before I go to work anymore; otherwise I'm going to be balling my eyes out inconsolably as I change into the work costume.

I think what impacted me the most is the fact that. [This Book] it's about loneliness and. Realizing that you're truly not alone ever. because there is always someone else is going through the same pain as you, and they can recognize and see it in you too. It's heavy and beautiful. 5.5 stars

Review: Like Real People Do by E.L. Massey

Looking for a fun and diverse feel-good queer novel featuring ice hockey and a great cast among other things? Look no further, E.L. Massey's Like Real People do has your back!

Looking for a fun and diverse feel-good queer novel featuring ice hockey and a great cast among other things? Look no further, E.L. Massey’s Like Real People do has your back! Quick Info Like Real People Do Blurb Like Real People Do The Queer’s Review of Like Real People Do Bookish Thoughts Similiar Books like Like Real People Do Quick InfoLike Real People Do Title: Like Real People…

View On WordPress

The Influence of Hip-Hop Music in the U.S.A.

In the year of 2015, news reports stated that the most popular music genre in the U.S.A. was Hip Hop (“Why Rock Music''). Hip Hop music has a strong, rhythmic beat with a vocal rapping track (Markos). The music can be fast and aggressive and/or slow and relaxed (MasterClass). Majority of songs don’t have simple drum lines. Instead, there are a varity of sounds (''Hip-Hop Music). The main vocal track is rapping and rhyming along with the beat (MasterClass). There are other styles of vocals that are used in Hip Hop. The vocal tracks are singing, spoken word, autotune, and ad-libs (MasterClass). It is said that the genre began in the United States of America (MasterClass). There’s a possibility that the origins of Hip-Hop came from Africa. (''Hip-Hop Music'').  “Since its inception, hip-hop has birthed dozens of subgenres, including trap, grime, gangsta rap, rap rock (or nu metal), crunk, chillhop, bounce, mumble rap, Latin hip-hop, and conscious hip-hop” (qtd. in MasterClass). In this report, I will explain how Hip Hop impacts the United States of America and what caused society to change due to Hip Hop music.

The birth of Hip Hop began in the Bronx, New York during the 1970s (“Hip-Hop Music''). Some people believe that Hip-Hop originated from African “griots.” (“How Hip-Hop”). Griots were village storytellers who played instruments while telling stories to their families (Odenthal). In the beginning stages, there were rappers such as DJ Kool Herc, Grand Wizzard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaata. (MasterClass). They are considered the pioneers of Hip Hop/Rap music because they introduced Hip Hop to the media (MasterClass). The artists experimented with music called Soul and Funk (MasterClass). They would try new techniques while DJing at parties (“Hip-Hop Music''). Examples of some of the techniques are scratching, freestyling, and improvising vocals (MasterClass). In 1979, the first commercial Hip Hop song was created by the rap trio Sugar Hill. Their song “Rapper’s Delight,” reached number forty on the US Billboard Charts (Hip-Hop Music). This achievement caused America to consider Hip Hop as a music genre (“Hip Hop Music). Around the 1980s, the music became more diverse because people began to experiment with new instruments and technology (Hip-Hop Music). Also, Hip Hop gained international fans, especially fans from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan (''Hip-Hop Music). Over time, Hip Hop’s influence in America and the rest of the world began to change society. There are multiple eras of Hip Hop music as time moves forward. The New School Era in the year of 1984, introduced new artists such as the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and DMX. Rappers began to shift away from old school Hip Hop (''Hip Hop Music). The Golden Era, from the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were many mainstream artists, such as Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G, MC Hammer. During the late 1990s, it was the Commercialization era of Hip Hop music (MasterClass). Meaning, the genre became mainstream. Alternative Hip Hop began in the 2000s. The reason why it's called Alternative Hip Hop is because artists used other genres of music such as Punk, Indie Rock, Jazz, and Electronic music in their rap songs (MasterClass). Finally, there is Contemporary Hip Hop. This era consists of internet distribution, streaming services, experimentation, and mixtapes (MasterClass).

Hip Hop music started out as an outlet for African-Americans, Caribbeans, and Latinx to express emotions (“How Hip-Hop”). The music made people aware of social issues in America, especially for Black folks. “Blacks across the country who identified with [rap] were informed by it as a medium through which to share national culture. In the process, rap artists became the dominant public voice of this generation.” (qtd. in How Hip-Hop).The social issues that rappers rapped about were poverty, joblessness, and disempowerment (Odenthal). Hip Hop encouraged people to rise up against Caucasian Americans who economically and psychologically oppress Black Americans (“How Hip Hop”). Even the rapper, Tupac Shakur said, “What makes me saying ‘I don’t give a f***,’ different from Patrick Henry saying ‘Give me liberty or give me death?’ What makes my freedom any different than Bosnians or whoever [America] wants to fight for this year?” (qtd. in Odenthal).

Due to the protests caused by Hip Hop, non-supporters viewed the genre as aggressive, vulgar, and profane. (Odenthal). The audience developed street smarts, what was assumed to be nothing but gang wars and civil unrest (Odenthal). It was seen as an unnecessary rebellion towards the law (Odenthal).  However, Hip Hop music gained more supporters, fans, and artists over the years. A rapper with the stage name, Jay-Z, enjoyed the controversy Hip-Hop created (“How Hip-Hop”). He said, “Hip-hop has always been controversial, and for good reason. When you watch a children's show and they've got a muppet rapping about the alphabet, it's cool, but it's not really hip-hop. The music is meant to be provocative—which doesn't mean it's necessarily obnoxious, but it is (mostly) confrontational, and more than that, it's dense with multiple meanings. Great rap should have all kinds of unresolved layers that you don't necessarily figure out the first time you listen to it.”(qtd. in Odenthal). The United States of America is progressively accepting Hip Hop as art, not a disaster. 

Some believe that the music genre shouldn’t be number one in America. Hip Hop music has a greater influence in the United States of America than its competition (Markos). Thanks to many artists and supporters, the music became highly praised and respected. Hip Hop caused many changes to society and the way people can express themselves. Hip Hop created more diversity in the music industry (Markos). The music, invented by Black people, Caribeans, and Latinx, gave a voice to people of color who aim for success (“Hip-Hop Music). What started out as humble beginnings became a national music trend.

According to Markos’s article, Why Rock Music Is Better Than Hip Hop,” he writes about how Hip Hop generated more album sales than Rock music. In the year of 2017, the United States spent over 248 billion dollars on music (Markos). While Hip Hop music was 35% of the albums sold, Rock and Roll sales decreased by 5% during the years of 2020 and 2021 (“Why Rock Music''). Even though Hip Hop gained popularity in the United States of America, Rock is still considered the best music in the rest of the world, according to some Rock fans. However, there is no evidence proving that one genre is better than the other around the world. In reality, these claims are based on the preferences of fans (''Why Rock Music''). The supporters of both genres have their favorite influencers and artists. However, Hip Hop is diverse, which means more people can relate to it (Markos). The music helped many African-Americans/Black people, Latinx, and Caribbeans and others to become stars (MasterClass). The genre gave a voice to the voiceless who were once unable to express themselves.

In conclusion, Hip Hop music changed many generations of music. The genre gave people a chance to tell stories about their life experiences. Not everyone agrees with Hip Hop being the number one music genre in the United States of America. However, Hip Hop still remains number one in America for at least five years. Due to the styles of other genres used in Hip Hop music, Hip Hop became a diverse music.

Works Cited

"Hip-Hop Music Guide: History of Hip-Hop and Notable Artists." masterclass.com, MasterClass, 16 June 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/hip-hop-guide. Accessed 4 Feb. 2023.

Markos. "Why Rock Music Is Better Than Hip Hop." boysetsfire.net, 25 Sept. 2022, www.boysetsfire.net/why-rock-music-is-better-than-hip-hop/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2023.

Odenthal, Kathleen. "How Hip-Hop Music Has Influenced American Culture and Society." spinditty.com, The Arena Group Brands, LLC, 5 Dec. 2022, spinditty.com/genres/Hip-Hops-Influence-on-America. Accessed 4 Feb. 2023.



men take longer to grow up that's why some of them are built like trees

review: the cuban girl's guide to tea and tomorrow by laura taylor namey

read: 21 january 2024—22 january 2024

medium: audiobook

⭐️2/5

every time i think about this book i want to drop half a star from my rating.

it's okay. it will stay at a 2/5 for now.

usually i don't take the time to actually review a book because i am busy and tired, but i just keep thinking about how much i want to talk about my issues with this book.

i think this book really bothers me because i lived lila's eventual dream life. i moved from the united states to england for university three years ago, and there are a couple of things that just felt really off about lila's character arc and the characterisation of the british characters.

as i said, i'm american and therefore i don't have much claim to knowing exactly how british people act and speak, and that awareness made me wonder if laura taylor namey had it right and i was wrong. later i spoke to my british flatmate and she sort of validated some of my issues with how the british characters spoke—namely that i think i heard/read the word "bloody" more times in the less-than-nine-hours duration of this novel than i have in the entirety of my three years living in the u.k. there may be some regional and generational differences in speech, but "bloody" doesn't really seem to be a prominent staple in british gen z slang in my limited experience. it honestly felt like an american-held stereotype of british speech given personality (and not all that much personality if i'm being honest).

moving on.

i felt like the writing of lila's coming to love england wasn't done very well. this is something that i closely understand and identify with, and the way it was handled in this novel felt very abrupt and awkward. if you're going to tell me that lila 'loves england', you have to show me as well, and i don't think that was accomplished. i took greater issue to it because a big part of her monologues about 'loving england' was that, for her, england was tied to orion. it started to feel like she only loved england because she loved orion. this isn't strictly true, and i think she does cite a few other reasons why she wanted to stay in england, but tellingly, i don't remember what any of them were. i know that not every person who moves to england will fall in love with it the way i did, but i remember being absolutely in wonder at the architecture, the culture, the atmosphere, the transportation links, the blend of modernity and antiquity, and so much more. i didn't get that feeling from lila's narration, and i think more time should have gone into exploring that.

a couple of very small lines at the end compounded this feeling of "that's not how that works". the first was a conversation between lila and pilar, where she says the word "petrol" instead of "gas". the second was her telling orion that she had submitted an application to a university in london and started applying for her student visa.

let me explain.

in my experience, vocabulary shifts take a lot of time. when you grow up into early adulthood saying one thing, it's not going to take only two and a half months for you to slip out of that and randomly start using another word. there are certainly some british words that someone might intentionally switch to using as opposed to the american equivalent.

for me, that was words like 'uni(versity)' over 'college' and, more recently (as in, in the last four months or so), 'trousers' over 'pants'. these are both because 'college' and 'pants' mean something different in england than they do back home, and i use these words daily to discuss my uni work. also, to me, 'petrol' is such a random choice. in my entirety of living here, i've probably heard the word 'petrol' only a handful of times. granted, i live in london where i and all of my friends use public transportation, which might not be the case for lila—i can't remember.

regardless, my point is that if your vocabulary is going to shift within only two months, it's going to be a word you use and hear daily, and you'd probably have to put the mental awareness into using the new word. her slipping up speaking to her american sister and saying 'petrol' just doesn't seem realistic. there is a plethora of more common words that namey could have used to make it more believable.

finally, i think i had a visible and audible reaction to the student visa comment. in public.

this was such a small comment in the grand scheme of the novel but it made me wonder if namey had researched at all how applying for a student visa from the u.s. to the u.k. works. if all of my above points are strictly subjective and reliant on my individual experience, this is the single point i will make that is based in facts.

the specific statement is something like "i applied [to the uni] and started my student visa application this morning" (i'm not entirely sure of the wording nor punctuation, i no longer have access to the book). i read this as she'd submitted her application to study and her application for a student visa on the same day, but i will allow that it could be read as she had submitted her application to study on an earlier date and had started the visa process that morning.

it doesn't matter which interpretation is the correct one because it doesn't make sense logistically either way. i've had to apply for two student visas over my three years of studying so far. to apply for a student visa, you need a number code that is given to you from the school after you've been accepted. for both courses i was accepted into, the application process started in february or march at the very latest, and it took over a month for me to be accepted. from then, it took a few months for me to even get that number code so i could start the visa application. you can't really get very far in the visa application process without that code because it's the thing that tells the u.k. government that you have a school sponsoring your residency.

even if she applied to the school as soon as she got home (and she didn't), there would still only be two weeks between then and her telling orion that she had started the visa process, which is definitely not enough time at all. it's such a small detail, but that was the final straw for any believability i might have given the novel credit for previously. it made me feel like this wasn't a well-researched novel, which is a shame, because i do believe that namey really loves england, and i wish she had let this interest show in her work.

if i didn't have these experiences, i don't think i would have noticed these inconsistencies and misrepresentations.

anyway, i read this book because i learnt while doing research for an essay that kit connor is cast in the movie adaptation. will i still be watching the movie? yes. because while it lacked depth and all i have done in this review is discuss some of its faults, it was still a sweet and relatively enjoyable read. i definitely think that the movie has the potential to be a very lighthearted and easy thing to watch.

tl;dr because i recognise that this review is, indeed, too long: this book was cute and lighthearted, though it lacked the sort of depth i usually look for in novels. there were a lot of inconsistencies in the writing of the british characters and lila's love for england that bothered me because they paralleled my own experiences, but not well. i recognise that this might be entirely subjective and someone else could find that lila's story was a great representation of their individual experience.

Daniel Greene (American, 1934-2020) • Elin Waiting • Unknown date • Private collection

Joseph Lorusso (1966-) "Cafe Couple"

The Rue de la Douane at Strasbourg, Rain Effect, Lothar von Seebach, ca. 1895

A sweeping and lyrical novel that follows a young Palestinian refugee as she slowly becomes radicalized while searching for a better life for her family throughout the Middle East, for readers of international literary bestsellers including Washington Black, My Sister, The Serial Killer, and Her Body and Other Parties. As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation.

[incongruous]

incongruous : not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something.

aesthetic prompts tag | aesthetic masterlist

A moodboard for writing or art inspiration. All images are sourced from Unsplash and Pexels and are free to use under their license. If you use this moodboard, feel free to repost it with your finished creation. Credit is appreciated but not required.

October 10, 2022

Made a black tea cake using Birchall's Great Rift, and following this recipe. It's so soft and tastes heavenly! Everyone liked it, it made me really happy. I almost finished Sputnik Sweetheart while waiting for the cake to bake, with the smell of baked goods filling the air.

Cattle Stop by Kit Oliver | ★★★★

Synopsis: Cooper has a bit of a problem. City-boy turned into Country-man, he's made a career for himself as a full time ranch and farm manager. On his way to another job, Cooper stops in to check on his best friend Drew and his farm find that the farm is... well... suffering and it's all Drew's farm-hand Whit's fault. Or that's at least what Cooper believes; because Whit is stubborn, stuck in his ways, and oh yeah-- not to mention he totally hates Cooper. Now Cooper has to suck up his pride and his apathy towards Whit while he works to save Drew's farm from ruin. Thoughts: Animal Husbandry and Farmstead work is a very not small part of my life right now. You don't want to know the amount of books I've read on chickens and poultry to prepare for my fluffy bird children when they get here next year. So you dangle a queer farm-based romance in front of my face and expect me not to snatch at it? Shame. Shame for 100 years. Honestly, I would say that Kit Oliver is a good comparable to Alexis Hall in the fact that this is well thought out and absolutely funny. Poor Cooper. I believe this is Kit Oliver's debut novel though. So. I expect great things from him in the future. There's also an already published sequel to this about the other main characters, Drew & Penny. So. I will eventually read that. Why 4 stars? Honestly. I really wish we could have gotten more inklings of what was going on in Whit's head. It's one thing that Coop doesn't notice subtle gestures... except there are no things in subtlety for Coop to miss. Whit sort of goes 0 to 60 into the physical aspect with Coop.

Then there's no hashing or discourse between the two of them and what they want. The lack of communication or inclinations here leaves one Drace very aggrieved on behalf of Coop. Except Coop is just as guilty too. so also mad at Coop.

Review: Unstraight by John Thurlow

Unstraight reads like a queer autobiography – I have a few things to note about its authentic main character though.

Unstraight reads like a queer autobiography – I have a few things to note about its authentic main character though. Quick Info Unstraight Blurb Unstraight The Queer’s Review Bookish Thoughts Disclaimer Similiar Queer Books to Unstraight Quick Info Unstraight Title: Unstraight Author: John Thurlow Series: Standalone Genre: Contemporary Content Warnings: cheating, homophobia,…

View On WordPress