#if there is a labor history book you like please recommend it to me especially if it has an audiobook
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i read another book! i mean i read it a couple days ago but i forgot to post about it so i am posting now
the book is 'the hammer' by hamilton nolan. it reminded me a lot of 'fight like hell,' which i could not finish (it's not bad but i lost steam; also, the narrator enunciated both Ts in "atlanta", which i might also do if i were narrating a book but nevertheless sounds deeply wrong to me). both of these books are by journalists on the labor beat, and were a little unfocused for my taste. there's a good amount of bouncing around between subjects of past reporting, which is reasonable but doesn't really feel like it's book writing, you know? harder to keep on a central argument.
the central argument of 'the hammer' is that there are a lot of workers who want to organize into unions, that unions desperately need to expand their membership in order to be able to do anything, and that there is a disastrous & ongoing failure of established labor institutions to strategize & commit sufficient resources to new organizing campaigns. i think this premise is very reasonable, so many points there, but there were a few weird choices in this book, probably as a result of the 'bouncing around between subjects of past reporting' thing & the specific time in which the book was written. there is no substantial discussion of the UAW or the election of shawn fain, which feels weird because shawn fain's whole thing is that the UAW is swinging big at labor organizing in the south & they're fighting to get more workers included in UAW contracts, especially in EV manufacturing, and also because shawn fain was elected in no small part by the academic workers in UAW. the 2865 strike was an unholy mess in some very important ways (as an outside observer with an inside friend), but it was still a huge deal in the labor movement. i kept waiting for it to come up and it didn't! instead, there was a ton of stuff about sara nelson. like, not just her high-profile role in the labor movement or that time she called for a general strike or her aspirations for the AFL-CIO, her religious background & her health issues & (for some reason multiple times?) her appearance. i like sara nelson fine but i found this sort of dull.
especially because there is some good stuff in this book! we spend a bunch of time on the culinary union in las vegas (unfortunately, nolan narrates this book himself and he pronounces it as "kyulinary" for reasons i don't understand); there's a lengthy discussion of the complicated work that went into getting child care providers united off the ground in california, which requires one to poke the legal definition of a union; we spend time with workers in a fast food joint in a small west virginia town who tried to organize. this stuff is engaging and thoughtfully reported. there's also a bunch of reflection from nolan's own involvement in organizing his workplace, back when he worked at gawker. (i think the book was written before the bottom completely fell out of online journalism, because he doesn't really talk about the fate of the efforts to unionize online journalism, just takes a moment to dunk on the people who said it couldn't be done.)
i've never been in a union, but i liked what he said about being in his: that you argue a lot, it's frustrating, but it's also a kind of direct & immediate democracy that you don't really see anywhere else. there's a bit where a shop steward for the culinary union in a huge vegas casino stops to write down that the casino changed the layout of the gelato case and the workers there don't like it, which was memorable to me because i thought it was such a concise & specific & convincing argument for the idea of a union, even in the absence of glaring abuses. i vividly remember having stupid problems at work because someone who had a nice office & no idea what i did all day had had some kind of clever thought, & having no particular recourse in those situations; i would have loved to have some sort of formal avenue to go, 'hey, chucklefuck, you added fifty cents to all the prices but didn't give me any change in my cash drawer, fix your shit' or whatever.
anyway! that stuff was cool. i struggled a little more with nolan's political vision of the american labor union. the book ends with this like, long meditation on what labor needs to do (organize more workers) and speculation about why that doesn't happen (workers in unions want to protect what they have and aren't directly motivated to invest in organizing new workers, even though, as sara nelson puts it, power grows when you use it; there's no actual system to catch workers who are thinking about unionizing & connect them to local unions in their sector who can help). i found this part kind of preachy & historically vapid. nolan spends time on two failed union campaigns (the west virginia fast food place, and one guy in new orleans who tried to unionize his lowe's store), and in both of them workers tried to organize because of existing ideological commitments. one of the west virginia workers 'always wears a red bandana,' which, nolan explains to us, is part of west virginia's radical labor history & the legacy of the battle of blair mountain. the lone hero who tried to unionize lowe's did so because he knew about unions from marxist friends. it feels very strange to say, here are these two workers who got some genuine momentum rolling on unionization campaigns because of their political backgrounds (well, i'm counting the red bandana, even though WV politics can get weird; you can thank socialists a hundred years ago for the fact that we have any records of blair mountain at all, and socialists & their allies of five years ago for the fact that the battle site wasn't stripped for coal), and then just. you know. completely ignore the aggressive anticommunist turn of american labor politics in the last century. we discuss john l. lewis, we criticize the AFL-CIO's disconnection from marginalized workers & the continued membership of police unions, but we just don't mention this turn at all, even though the book is called, you know, 'the hammer'? weird choice! it talks about the connection between labor unions & democrats, mostly to say that these relationships have been transactional (we push for better policies for you, you get your members out to knock on doors & vote), but that they don't have to be, and then, um, talked about how great it was that UNITE HERE was canvassing. so i think that was going somewhere but maybe it wasn't going as decisively as i might've liked
overall i thought 'the hammer' was a pretty good time & a lot of it was very interesting. i would not call its political analysis incisive, and also it doesn't spend nearly enough time on labor safety. it mentions black lung briefly though so points there too
#booksbooksbooks#if there is a labor history book you like please recommend it to me especially if it has an audiobook#or if you have read this book i would be curious to hear other opinions!!#since i finished this book i have been reading star wars fanfictions again. not sure what this choice says about me
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⊱ tagged by @thanekrios to recommend some books! I've been back to reading since last winter and it brings me so much joy so I'd absolutely love to talk more about books! ☕🌸
1. — the last book I read:
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS by Max Porter.
I just love Max Porter's writing style. It's unlike anything I've ever read before. The way he manages to capture some of the deepest, most confusing human emotions in such a succinct way without making them sound too saccharine is incredible.
2. — a book i recommend:
HOLLOW PLACES by Christopher Hadley.
This is my favourite book of all time. I used to sleep with it next to my pillow so the cover is crooked and worn and i love it so much. It's a non-fiction exploration about the life of a medieval legend, how it shaped through the years and affected people around it. It's very much an essay on human memory and culture and our desire to tell stories, inadvertently leaving pieces of ourselves in the narrative as we go. It's beautiful, it's touching, it's incredibly entertaining to read, and it makes me feel so much love inside. As someone who studied folklore and religion in university it is deeply personal for me to visit all the castle ruins and other places people from the past lived in. It's a way to connect with them and to see that even though we are so incredibly different, we are also incredibly similar in some aspects. And this book captures that so well.
3. — a book that i couldn’t put down:
LANNY by Max Porter.
Another fave from Max Porter. It's about this sleepy village and the eldritch horror forest being that stalks it and a little boy that is very much very strange. It's also a social commentary and an essay on environmental mindfulness. And it's incredible. I finished it in two days.
4. — a book i’ve read twice (or more):
WITCHES ABROAD by Terry Pratchett.
This is where I come out as a Discworld fan. They were a huge part of my childhood and I remember especially loving the books about wizards and the witches. This one was definitely my fave and I did read it basically in one day when I read it for the first time. And I loved it so much I came back to it.
5. — a book on my tbr:
There are literally so many (I have a hoarding problem). But the most recent ones are: The Land of Maybe by Tim Ecott and Master and Margarita.
6. — a book i’ve put down:
The Witcher series... The writing style is really not for me and the plot (and the blatant sexism and male fantasy type of storytelling) lost me after the 5th book (sorry).
7. — a book on my wishlist:
Again, so many. I literally have two excel spreadsheets for my wishlisted books and it's getting out of hand. But the one I am especially keen on getting is A Natural History of Fairies, a beautifully illustrated little guide on fairy folklore.
8. — a favorite book from childhood:
REAPER MAN by Terry Pratchett.
I used to be terrified of death when I was a kid. I still am but now I at least know he loves cats, has a horse called Binky, and supports labor workers.
9. — a book you would give to a friend:
WEIRD MEDIEVAL GUYS by Olivia Swarthout.
If you are my friend then you know that I am absolutely normal (read "insane") about marginalia art. And this book has some of the silliest ones available for your thine pleasure (I would not want to fuck with a rabbit that has a bomb. Or a cat with a massive club. Or the snail with those grabby hands. Like nu-uh. They would grab me. With their hands. Cuz. Ya know... we still friends right???)
10. — a book of poetry or lyrics you own:
KYTICE by Karel Erben.
Okay this is me being Slavic but also not generally into poetry much (as in I don't collect poetry books) but. I adore Kytice. It's a collection of ballads that center around monsters from slavic mythology (eat it witcher I mean I am sorry I just don't like the witcher please don't leave me come back I swear I am more than just a hater listen to me baby give me a chance) and they range from brutally sad to tragic to super gruesome and gory (okay most of them are pretty gory. but in a poetic way). Anyway I am not sure if they were translated to English yet but there is a movie and hopefully that one has subtitles (if not I am gonna learn how to make subtitles because I need people to see it).
11. — a non-fiction book you own:
DON'T TELL MY HORSE by Zora Neale Hurston.
Because we need to mention more classical works by people of color. This is basically an anthropological view on the Haitian + Jamaican voodoo beliefs and it's so incredibly intricate and interesting to read I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject or just wants to broaden their range of classical literature.
12. — what are you currently reading:
Alice in Wonderland. I got the prettiest edition for my birthday so I am revisiting my childhood. :3
13. — what are you planning on reading next:
The Land of Maybe by Tim Ecott. It's a book about the slow life and nature of the Faroe Islands which is where I am staying at currently!
⊱ tagging (I am not sure who exactly reads from my mutuals so I will be using my regular tag list, feel free to ignore <3):
@hibernationsuit﹒@lavampira﹒@euryalex﹒@starforger﹒@pawnguild
@florbelles﹒@baldurians﹒@archonfurina﹒@dekarios
@inafieldofdaisies﹒@feykiller﹒@zahra-hydris﹒@noughtomaton﹒@corvus-rose
@ferwynter﹒@thefrostyshepard﹒@melancholicrainstorm﹒@sylvthara﹒@katsigian
@rindemption﹒@juniemoe﹒@eldensrings﹒@claudiawolf﹒@therapyvibes
@sibeal﹒@epheyang﹒@lotusfaebell﹒@ravensgard﹒@princessmelinoe
@lutebard﹒@nokstella﹒@pavus﹒@gothimp﹒and you ♡ — (un)like this post to be added / removed.
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Long time lurker first time caller, taking my first dip into having a side blog— don’t know what to make as my pinned intro but I will try my best!!!
Hello!!! My name is rosy (they/he/she), I am 21, and I love talking history!! Also will be reposting art and pretty/goofy architecture!!!
Might talk about whatever current history deep dive I am in!!!
I am autistic so while I don’t always use tone indicators I do find them very very helpful!!
So feel free to ask for tone clarification!!
I also am trying to get in the habit of doing image descriptions (IDs). I’ve been going back and trying to retroactively add them as well as add them moving forward but if I miss one PLEASE tell me!!!!!
[GIF Description: a big brown bear in a thick grassy field behind a mesh wire barrier/fence. the bear is a sitting on its hind legs and waving at the person who is recording from inside their car. End ID]
Current Book: Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History by Vidya Krishnan
(I tend to get sidetracked while reading by looking at its historical context so it may therefore—like it does with anyone else— impact the way I analyze art and history for a bit) (also I am trying to get back into reading and sometimes read a bit slow or randomly switch books 😢 so don’t expect the book to change or genuinely get finished too often lolol)
Last Book: Slaughter House Five
Still processing, but I really liked the nonlinear structure and found it an interesting way to depict the character’s PTSD. I could see how it would seem very anti-war when it came out, though it’s less staunch than what I would consider an anti-war book. While I enjoyed its structure. I found myself wanting more from the story (having said that, I do not know what).
Last Last Book: Piranesi by Suzanna Clarke
Wowow loved this book!! Such a cool and interesting format, walked into it blind and I think that was a great choice to make!! Another banger recommendation from Shayne Topp from iCarly!!
Next Book: probably will be The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Berry
[GIF Description: an already damp polar bear charging up and the jumping through a patch of ice over a body of water. the bear kind of jumps, the ice breaks, THEN he goes through, a bit cute and clunky and definitely not a skillful and fluid motion. the bears but goes through very last, almost slumping in, much slower than the initial push and dive it does. End ID]
In college I studied business (economics and labor rights were my favorite topics) and theatre (mostly tech and theory, not acting) so perspectives can often come from those lenses!! I most definitely have blind spots as I am a white person in the US and from a pretty progressive city, so criticism and corrections in my msgs are always welcome!! if you know good resources outside of what I post that you think will help me gain a new perspective or understand a topic further I would love to hear it!!
Art reblogged will probably be more focused on older art pieces/artifacts, just to keep it more separate for my brain between the newer art I repost on my main
[GIF Description: forest landscape containing the midsection of a few trees. during the gif a sun bear climbs up one of the trees in a sort of one paw after the other motion; kind of like someone cautiously climbing a rope, but the sun bear seems very determined, yet relaxed and sure of itself. the tree is about large enough for its paws to mostly wrap around but small enough that you would expect it to sway if it was any smaller. when the bear goes up it. The bears mouth is slightly open, seemingly breathing out of that instead of its nose, making it appear a little goofy looking. End ID]
History Interest Stuff::
BIG into Los Angeles history, specifically the history of Griffith Park (I could talk about that for hours!!) would love to chat about community spaces being epicenters for cultural change, especially Griffith and it’s use by all demographics during times when that was atypical (bc of vague deed details please ask more I love telling people abt it). Or it’s darker less talked about involvement in post ww1-cold war.
Love 20th century history, but not in the often questionable ‘I like world war tactics/weapons/military leaders’ way, I’m more into ww1, 2, and Cold War pre and post war causes, implications, and consequences.
Been into learning abt british colonialism in Ireland and its history of religious persecution and its cause on later british colonialism!!
[GIF Description: someone cutting into a loaf of bread on a cutting board. it is brown and shaped like a teddy bear. It has lighter tan/white bread in the areas where the face and rear paws are. It has darker brown/black bread as eyes, nose/mouth, ears, paw pads on rear legs. End ID]
Ok I think that is all again I lurk far more than post bc I am shy 🙈🤣😜🐻😱 and bad at talking to people
If you read this far you are legally obligated to become my friend sorry I don’t make the rules
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They Should Be Dead: A Collection of Works by The Living
Early on during the quarantine, I suddenly had more time to indulge in media. After a few months, I’ve notice a pattern, so here it is: a list of shows and stories that all have living dead people.
TV Shows
Ghosts (BBC) - The series follows a collection of ghosts from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing the house with its new living occupants. This is a great show with well written plots, characters, and stories. I find it appeals especially to the queer and neurodivergent community.
What We Do In The Shadows - The series follows 4 vampires in a mockumentary format. If you like those shows where fiction meets real historical events, or just plain vampire humor, this is for you.
Pushing Daisies - The series follows a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with his touch, an ability that comes with stipulations. Together with his formerly deceased childhood crush Chuck, private investigator Emerson Cod and co-worker Olive Snook, Ned uses his abilities to solve murder cases. Perfectly pleasing visuals, an interesting premise, and REALLY relatable for all of under quarantine. Lots of yearning.
Dead Like Me - George dies early in the pilot episode and becomes one of the "undead", a "grim reaper". The show explores the experiences of a small team of such reapers, as well as the changes in George and her family as they deal with George's death. I’m not sure if the show employs edgy humor but I like it. It is slightly nihilistic in tone but the way it connects the experiences of life with the reality of death is a really interesting take. It’s perfect for teens and young adults. Also, Mandy Patinkin.
The Good Place - Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman welcomed after her death to "the Good Place", a highly selective Heaven-like utopia designed and run by afterlife "architect" Michael as a reward for her righteous life. This series has everything: dreamlike scenes, nightmarelike scenes, philosophy, EAT THE RICH, genderless she/her icon Janet, good characters, accurate representations, and an all-around touching story.
Santa Clarita Diet - The series centers on husband and wife real estate team Joel and Sheila Hammond whose normal, boring lives change dramatically when Sheila shows symptoms of having become a zombie. The bewildered family seek a cure for her condition while dealing with its consequences. Wild family goes on the time of their lives because their mom has become a zombie. It’s great. They kill n*zis and a cop and eat them.
Star Trek - too many Star Trek episodes have the “oh no they died! anyway...” premise and aside from the idealistic paradise Gene Roddenberry pictured, death and resurrection are large themes in Star Trek.
Books/Graphic Novels/Short Stories
The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya (by @reimenaashelyee) - A two-volume Eisner-nominated graphic novel set in 17th century Istanbul and 18th century England, about a carpet merchant's reconcilitation with faith, love and home in the aftermath of his death by a vampire. It’s a great story. I’ll be telling this to everyone who will listen: the graphic novel is engaging and insightful, life cannot get better than this graphic novel. (Also: ACE REP!) Also by the author is The World in Deeper Inspection which explores the setting and premise of other characters.
The Shadow of The Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) - Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. Magical realism abounds, it’s sinister, it’s beautiful, it’s a perfect book about dancing the line between death and life.
The Graveyard Book (by Neil Gaiman) - Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead. Great book about growing up and leaving childhood.
The Book Thief (by Markus Zusak) - It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. Featuring Death themself as the omniscient narrator, the story intertwines with books and stories of life and of survival. It’s a sobering book but important to read.
May Day Eve (by Nick Joaquin) - Magical realism, time travel vibes. But most importantly, myth, enchantment, the Devil, passion, everlasting love. There’s a reason why this is required reading for Philippine colleges. I cry every time I read it.
Movies
Night at The Museum Trilogy - Night guard in charge of museum. Exhibits come back to life, wacky shenanigans follow. The only downside to this is that they visited the British Museum and not one of the exhibits screamed “I DONT BELONG HERE! TAKE ME BACK!”
The Book Thief - I would say it’s a faithful enough adaptation of the book.
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock
The Lovely Bones - astounding <3 ik she’s dead but letting her breach the curtain between life and death? Good shit.
What We Do In The Shadows - The mockumentary that started it all. Once again Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement are geniuses. And correct: all vampires know is be bisexual eat hot virgin and fly.
Musicals/Plays
Hadestown- Retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. Folk type of music, features great talents and songs by Anaïs Mitchell. The story is good, it touches on capitalism, progress, labor, and love.
Indecent- Play exploring the play "God Of Vengeance" which was cited for indecency on Broadway for its themes and indecent acts committed by the actors. It begins as a play brought by several actors who rise from the ashes of the Holocaust and gradually extends to the multiple characters they become. I find this important for anyone interested in queer Jewish history.
I really like media focusing on death and life so recommend some and take some from the list!
ADDITIONAL NOTE: I have a really bad attention span but these stuff somehow get my brain. They're good.
#death mention#cannibalism mention#nazi mention#literature#books#the good place#what we do in the shadows#bbc ghosts#star trek#santa clarita diet#dead like me#pushing daisies#the book thief#may day eve#ph lit#night at the museum#the lovely bones#the shadow of the wind#the carpet merchant of konstantiniyya#indecent#hadestown#show recommendations
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Do you have any book recommendations?
sure :)
House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende - a favorite of mine, I re-read probably once every 3 years since HS at this point. Isabel Allende is the niece of Salvador Allende, the democratically elected socialist leader of Chile that was removed from office by a US backed coup. A piece of Chilean/American history not oft taught to American students. Isabel wrote this novel about an aristocratic family leading up to the coup. It does detail sexual assault and rape, but the story is focused on multiple generations of women.
The Second Shift by Arlie Russell Hochschild - A book I had to read in college for a sociology class that was called "Psychology and Marriage" or something to that nature. That class and this book specifically were instrumental in leading me towards radical feminism (despite neither being about it). Sociology books on gender are a great way to put your feminist framework to work, and should not be overlooked as important texts to feminism. This book is an engaging read about the labor of housework, written in chapters detailing the lives of specific families.
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth - I just finished this so it's on my mind, very quick read and engaging read. The tv show is based on this memoir, and on her following two memoirs as well which I have yet to read. There is a spiritual/religious bent to it that might be off putting, and Jenny does write at times in some strikingly sexist and tone-deft language that is shocking to find considering the subject matter, but it's no more so than what you would find from an average woman I suppose. What's more important is that it's her account of her times as a midwife in Poplar in the 50s, aiding extremely poor women through their numerous pregnancies in her own words. Very eye opening to the reality of post-war poverty in the UK, as well as the reality of obstetrics pre so many of our now common modern-day medical advances.
Why does he do that? by Lundy Bancroft - Some books are worth the over-recommendation. This book has been instrumental for me in navigating my life with the relationships of men I have, not just purely sexual and romantic, but in friendship, work, and community. Recognizing patterns of male dominance and entitlement is an essential tool to survive. It also has helped me navigate my relationship with my mother, who can at times be selfish and manipulative. There are posts floating about detailing accusations made against Bancroft that I would not be able to find without some serious digging, but yes Bancroft is a man (some women don't know this). He has an extensive career working with abusive men and their victims, so he has incredible insight and yet also has been accused himself entitled to women. This has, in my opinion, brought a deeper understanding of his words in that he might think he is detailing the minds of the abusive man, I see him as detailing the minds of men who will abuse their power over women. In any case, I have recently been re-reading it at leisure.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - This book has been high in my mind the past few months as the author passed away in March. What a lovely children's book, delightful exploration of the English language in fun and magical ways. I had a teacher read this book out loud to us at the end of each day in either 2nd or 3rd grade and it's been a favorite ever since. It's a little long for a children's book, and the adventures are repetitive to some degree, so it might be hard for an adult to want to read through the whole thing as their go to book, but flipping through it now and again is delightful. If you have an 7-10 year old kid in your life, it's a fun thing to share with them.
Wise Child by Monica Furlong - Maybe there's something to analyze about me that I'm recommending two children's books...but I'll let that be my problem. I read this a few years ago as my train-commute book. For some reason, I've been thinking about it a lot lately and want to pick it up again. It's about a witch and her child apprentice in a Scottish village. That's it. But the imagery was very cool and I love magic and witches so it was my jam. I picked it up for free in a neighborhood "little free library" so maybe my heart just goes to it for being given away despite it being a cute book about a female relationship.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - This book comes recommended to me by my boyfriend's mom, who I adore and who is an amazing, hilarious, thoughtful woman, and is the book I'm about to start since I literally just finished reading Call the Midwife last night. It's a long, meaty historical novel about building a cathedral. So if you're interested in reading a book along with me in spirit, especially ones recommended by an amazing older woman, especially if you like giant novels that are hard to carry around dense with details about architecture and the lives of peasant and noble people living in Kingsbridge England in 1123-1174, then girlfriend hop on with me and let's make this monumental smash hit suddenly start trending with 20-30 something feminist women on tumblr this summer for no discernible reason.
Around the Corner by Jeremy J. Majewski - I haven't read this, I'm only recommending it because someone I know wrote it and I want to support the people in my life :) It's a fantasy novel and it might not even be good but it's self published and I bought a copy because I think writing a book and self publishing is a feat worth celebrating. AND! It might be very very good, I just haven't gotten to it yet. :) So if you want to support independent authors that I know, please buy this book for under $10.
#that's it for now :)#ask again in 6 months the first two books will always be included in my recs#like I need people to read those first two books it's my mission in life to get them in front of people.
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How I Letterboxd #13: Erika Amaral.
Film sociologist Erika Amaral on the blossoming of Brazil’s women filmmakers, the joys of queuing for the movies, the on-fire Brazilian Letterboxd community, and the sentimental attachment of her entire nation to A Dog’s Will.
“It is hard to produce art without institutional support and it is very complicated to produce art during this tragic pandemic.” —Erika Amaral
In the wide world outside of English-language Letterboxd, Brazil occupies a particularly fervent corner. Sāo Paulo-based feminist film theorist Erika Amaral has connected with many other local film lovers through her Letterboxd profile, and for anyone with an interest in Cinema Brasileiro, her lists are an excelente place to start.
From her personal introduction to Brazilian film history, to her own attempts to fill gaps in her Latin American cinematic knowledge, Erika’s well-curated selections are a handy primer on the cinema of the fifth-largest country in the world, and its neighbors. These lists sit alongside her finely judged academic deep-dives into filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel, Glauber Rocha and Sarah Bernhardt.
Endlessly fascinated by how “the history of cinema is all intertwined”, Erika has also written on Jia Zhangke for Rosebud Club, is an Ana Carolina stan, enjoys collecting films directed by women featuring mirrors and women, and, like all of us, watched many remarkable movies during quarantine.
Suzana Amaral (left, rear) with cast and crew on the set of her film ‘A Hora da Estrela’ (Hour of the Star, 1985).
Olá, Erika. Please give our readers a brief introduction to your brilliant Introduction to Brazilian Film History list.
I’m so happy to see this list getting popular! I’m a sociologist interested in film and gender studies. It’s been four years since I started studying Brazilian film history but my passion for film is much older. I tried to combine those two aspects in this list; films that are meaningful to me, historically relevant films, and historically relevant films erased from film-history books, for instance, those directed by women. The main purpose of my list is to highlight Brazilian women filmmakers’ fundamental contributions to Brazilian cinema.
I listed some absolute classics such as Hour of the Star by the late director Suzana Amaral, and other obscure gems such as The Interview, by Helena Solberg, which is a short feature released in 1966 alongside the development of Cinema Novo. Solberg’s work was hidden for decades. No-one knew about it. In Brazil, especially in the field of film studies and feminist theories, we are experiencing the blossoming of public debates, books being released, and film festivals that look specifically into films such as Solbergs’s and [those of] many other women directors, including Adélia Sampaio, the first Black female director to release a feature film in Brazil in 1984, Amor Maldito. We need these debates on Letterboxd as well, so I wrote this list in English.
As a representative of the passionate Brazilian community on Letterboxd, can you provide some insight into the site’s popularity where you live, especially for those of us who have not learned Brazilian Portuguese?
I feel at home using Letterboxd. Everywhere I see Brazilian members posting reviews in both Portuguese and English. It’s a passionate community. It’s directly related to Twitter where Brazilian cinephiles are so active and productive, always sharing film memes (and even Letterboxd memes). Many content creators are using both Letterboxd and Twitter to showcase their podcasts, classes and film clubs. I once started a talk at a university for film students mentioning that my Masters research project came into life when I watched Amélia, showing my mind-blown Letterboxd review in the presentation. I follow many of those students now and it is so good to be connected. Brazilian Film Twitter and [the] Brazilian Letterboxd community are on fire!
Alexandre Rodrigues as Buscapé in ‘City of God’ (2002), directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund.
When uninitiated cinephiles think about Brazilian cinema, City of God is most likely top of the list. It’s the only Brazilian film to be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards (despite co-director Kátia Lund being shut out!) and it’s the only Brazilian film in IMDb’s Top 250. After nearly 20 years, is it fair for City of God to represent Brazil?
Of course, it is fair for City of God to represent Brazil! The only problem is if we think all Brazilian cinema is exclusively City of God. The film is entertaining, well-directed, has a great cast, but it has some flaws—for example, the aestheticization of violence and misery in Brazil, which scholar Ivana Bentes calls the “cosmetics of hunger”. Even so, it is a great film and it captivated Brazilian and international audiences. We shouldn’t limit any country to only one or two films.
If you enjoy City of God, check my list for Brazilian films directed by women in this period, which we call “Cinema da Retomada”—the renaissance of Brazilian cinema after the economic problems [that] hampered the film industry in the 1990s.
Selton Mello and Matheus Nachtergaele in beloved Brazilian comedy ‘O Auto da Compadecida’ (A Dog’s Will, 2000).
Several Brazilian films have stunningly high ratings on Letterboxd, giving them a place on many of our official lists. This includes A Dog’s Will, which is in the top ten of our all-time Top 250. On Letterboxd, A Dog’s Will reviews are cleanly divided into two camps: Brazilians (who absolutely love it) and everyone else (who fail to understand its popularity). What drives this home-team spirit?
People truly love A Dog’s Will! It’s funny, has a fantastic rhythm, and it references many aspects of Brazilian culture, especially regarding north-eastern Brazilian culture. It was shown both as a film and as a miniseries infinite times on the largest and most popular television channel in Brazil. I can’t help mentioning that A Dog’s Will portrays Jesus Christ as a black man and Fernanda Montenegro as Brazil’s patron saint, Nossa Senhora Aparecida. It’s a brilliant moment for Matheus Nachtergaele, one of the greatest Brazilian actors ever.
Can you offer us a ‘Gringo’s Guide to A Dog’s Will’?
I love the idea of a ‘Gringo’s Guide to A Dog’s Will’! You need to have good subtitles. The beauty of A Dog’s Will is that it is regional but it was made to be understandable to all of Brazil. You are going to need subtitles that [cover] the expressions, slang and proverbs—not mere translations. I would recommend watching some other films from north-eastern Brazil; Land of São Saruê, Love for Sale and Ó Paí Ó: Look at This. This can help you understand other social and cultural dimensions of Brazil beyond, for instance, City of God. A Dog’s Will is a movie that we would watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon with the family, so we have a strong sentimental attachment to it.
Leonardo Villar bears the weight of a cross in ‘The Given Word’ (1964).
Religion plays an important role in Brazilian cinema—for example, one of the few Brazilian films to win the Palme d’Or is the masterful The Given Word. Is this connection a part of what makes Brazilian cinema so potent for the local community?
Religious symbolism and religious beliefs are extremely significant in Brazilian cinema. Its presence in cinema seems to address our daily challenges, rituals, history, but not always apologetically—as you can see in the despair of Zé do Burro in The Given Word. Religion does not seem to help him. There’s nowhere to run. The spiritual belief, as well as the cross itself, is a weight on his shoulders.
So you see, religion in Brazilian cinema is so potent because we can think beyond it, we can understand how people relate to their beliefs and how sometimes religion can fail a person. That’s what happens when a priest falls in love with a local girl (The Priest and the Girl), when a curse falls upon a man who turns against his people (The Turning Wind), when we teach fear and sin to young girls (Heart and Guts), when religion becomes a determining way of life that does not pay back efforts (Divine Love), when we accept the possibility of going against religious institutions (José Mojica Marin’s, AKA Coffin Joe, films).
We have all these movies fascinated by religion and how it creates meaning in our society. This is just from Christianity, because if we think of African and Indigenous heritage, we have another whole dimension of films to reflect upon, such as Noirblue and the documentary Ex-Pajé.
We have some Brazilian films in our Official Top 100 by Women Directors list, including The Second Mother, which sits in the top five with City of God. Who are some overlooked female Brazilian filmmakers that you want to celebrate and put on our map?
Undoubtedly Juliana Rojas and Gabriela Amaral Almeida. They’re both on the horror scene and their work is astonishing. I strongly recommend Hard Labor and Rojas’ latest film Good Manners (if you are into werewolves). I can’t even pick one for Almeida—The Father’s Shadow and Friendly Beast are awesome. Beatriz Seigner’s The Silences—filmed in the frontier between Brazil, Colombia, and Peru—is really impactful. Glenda Nicácio’s films, co-directed with Ary Rosa, are among my favorite recent Brazilian films. Watch To the End immediately!
Eduardo Coutinho’s ‘Twenty Years Later’ (1984).
Brazilian documentarian Eduardo Coutinho has not one, not two, but three of his films in the Official Top 100 Documentaries list, including the all-time number one Twenty Years Later. Can you describe Coutinho’s significance in Brazil?
Coutinho is a monument! Coutinho is an institution! Coutinho is everything. His works are of strong political importance, as you can see in Twenty Years Later. A movie he was making in 1964 was interrupted by the dictatorship installed in Brazil, and the main actor and activist, João Pedro Teixeira, was murdered, then his wife Elizabeth Teixeira had to flee and change her identity.
The documentary follows Coutinho and his crew looking for the actors from his movie from twenty years before. Later, his works developed many different tones and formats as you can see in Playing, an experimental portrayal of real women and their personal experiences side-by-side with actresses representing their real-life events as if in a play. Playing was one of the mandatory films to be analyzed for [my] Film School entrance exam, so I had to watch it a million times in 2017. His works are profound studies on Brazilian people and culture—piercing, but also delicate.
Contemporary documentaries are also doing well; Petra Costa’s latest, The Edge of Democracy, was nominated for an Oscar, and Emicida: AmarElo – It’s All for Yesterday was briefly Letterboxd’s highest-rated film late last year. How are these docs tapping into the zeitgeist?
Those are both very different films. Emicida is part of a strong and structured movement against racism, against the marginalization of Black people, against limiting the access to art and culture to certain social groups, which is a common practice in the history of this country. Petra Costa’s documentary is another form of reflection on contemporary politics but in a melancholic tone since, recently in Brazil, we have been facing political storms such as the impeachment of ex-president Dilma Roussef, the imprisonment of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (who has recently been declared not guilty), and rising far-right politicians. Not to mention another of our losses, the still-unsolved killing of Marielle Franco, a Black and lesbian political representative. These films have helped us face these difficulties and try to gather some hope for the future.
Bárbara Colen (center) and villagers in ‘Bacurau’ (2019).
How has Brazil’s cinema industry been affected by the one-two punch of the pandemic on top of ongoing social and political issues? And, can you talk a bit about how the acclaimed Cannes-winner Bacurau shocked the nation two years ago, and in what ways the film confronted these problems?
This question is challenging because there’s so much happening. At this moment, we have 428,000 deaths [from] Covid and we are still mourning the Jacarézinho favela massacre in Rio de Janeiro. We have very troubled political representatives that are not fighting Covid in an adequate way to say the least, and we have had major cut downs in the cultural sector since, in Brazil, a lot of artistic and cultural projects are developed with governmental incentives. It is hard to produce art without institutional support and it is very complicated to produce art during this tragic pandemic.
Right before this chaos, we had Bacurau. Actually, I have a pleasant anecdote about my experience with Bacurau. Everybody was talking about how it was going to premiere at a special event with the presence of its directors. We had some expectations regarding the premiere because it was going to be free of charge and it would take place at the heart of São Paulo, the Avenida Paulista, in an immense theater.
We arrived at 1pm to form a line and people were there already. I discovered through Twitter that the first boy in line was hungry so I gave him a banana. I had brought a lot of snacks. The line was part of the event, and it got so long you couldn’t believe it. It was great to see so many friends and people gathered to see a movie—and such an important movie! There weren’t enough seats for everyone but they exhibited the film in two different rooms so more people could enjoy it.
I love everything about that day and I think it helps me to have some perspective on cinema, culture, politics and what we can accomplish by working collectively—people uniting to fight dirty politicians, people joining forces to fight social menaces, generosity, empathy, fight for justice and the power of the masses.
The life of 17th-century nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is explored in María Luisa Bemberg’s ‘Yo, la Peor de Todas’ (I, the Worst of All, 1990).
Would you like to highlight some films from your neighboring countries?
I have been watching some fascinating films from South America. Bolivian filmmaker Jorge Sanjinés has an extensive filmography and his films were the first to portray characters speaking Aymara. I really like his Ukamau. I also love Argentine director María Luisa Bemberg’s films, such as I, the Worst of All. I’m currently studying Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona, from Guatemala. I have no words to say how incendiary this film is. You’ll have to watch it for yourself!
Who are three Brazilian members that you recommend we all follow?
Firstly, I recommend you follow my beautiful partner in crime and cinema, Pedro Britto. Secondly, a fantastic painter and avid researcher of Maya Deren and Agnès Varda, my adored friend Tainah Negreiros. Finally, I recommend you follow Gustavo Menezes, who is the author of many excellent lists [about] Brazilian cinema. He’s also the co-founder of a streaming platform called Cinelimite, which everyone should take a look at.
Related content
Silvia’s Cinema Novo list
Gabriela’s Cinema Brasileiro master list
Serge’s list of films that have won the Grande Otelo (Grande Prêmio de Cinema Brasileiro for Best Film)
Follow Erika on Letterboxd, Tumblr and in print
Follow Jack on Letterboxd
#letterboxd#how i letterboxd#erika amaral#film academic#film study#feminist film theory#feminist film#feminist theory#brazilian cinema#cinema o brasilia#Cinema Brasileiro#Brazilian film#suzana amaral
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hi ash! i know you said before that you're not autistic you just did a lot of research to depict chris realistically- do you have any advice for finding resources on writing disabled characters that isn't like... horribly abelist? im writing someone with an intellectual disability from head trauma and who is nonverbal, and i want to get it right but everything online seems very autism-speaks-y. im autistic and semiverbal but i dont have an id and i want to be realistic and respectful.
I cannot speak with any expertise or sense of speaking from enough experience to be taken as an expert here, and defer as always to those with lived experience with intellectual disability!
But I will give a few more general tips for what to do when looking to write a character with a neurological makeup that doesn’t match your own, as far as what has worked for me with Chris:
1. The story should never be ABOUT their lived experience if you do not also have it. Chris’s story is not about autism, or being autistic. I would never presume to try and write a story like that because, whatever my intentions, I don’t have that knowledge that comes from living it. I would at BEST be taking the experiences of others, their voices. At worst, I would be someone standing with a megaphone shouting over those who deserve to be heard.
Making the disability what the plot revolves around is... generally just not going to be a good idea, in any sense. It’s moments like this where I feel like it’s best to defer to the writers who have lived it, instead.
This is not to say “never write someone different than yourself”, because... I don’t think that’s at all good advice. I think that way lies stunted writers who never push themselves. But it does mean “do not center the story on this thing if you have not experienced it and don’t have that knowledge and understanding”.
2. At the same time, don’t try to be coy or dance around or hide the disability behind purple prose or refuse to acknowledge its reality. Trying to make a disability sound cute, or talk around it instead of speaking it out loud, can be minimizing or shaming in ways that I think it’s easy to miss, if you don’t live with that disability yourself! To me, this touches on one of my hugest pet peeves - characters who are written as having a particular neurodivergence in media, or shown on tv, but they never expressly admit to it or name it.
I know I hesitated with Chris, more because I didn’t feel comfortable giving him a diagnosis until I understood autism better myself, and I do regret how long it took me to embrace that reality about him. I just thought it better to err on the side of researching before I embraced. But I do feel some guilt about waiting so long when I had readers who were identifying so heavily with him, and I kind of knew, but just didn’t feel comfortable owning it yet.
3. On a related note - disabilities in a story that become melodramatic tragedy or turn the disabled character into a ‘redemption story’ for an abled character. This is so, so prevalent in common media and pop culture and once you recognize it for what it is, it’s so hard to not see it in so many places. Think of how many movies, novels, etc contain a disabled character who exists to teach abled people some virtuous lesson about living life to the fullest or ‘what it really means to be human’ blah blah blah blah blah. Don’t do that. Please. (I mean, I kind of feel like you definitely won’t, but I’m just speaking very generally here). If you find the story going in a direction in which abled people learn something from the disabled person, please think very carefully and critically as to why the story is heading in that direction.
Language alone can also be a problem here - think about the difference between openly describing a character moving around their life with a wheelchair vs. calling them “wheelchair-bound” or “reliant on a cane”, when the cane or wheelchair may actually represent freedom to that person - an aid they need, yes, but one that allows them to live with far more agency than they might have had otherwise.
To describe them, especially from their own POV, as “wheelchair-bound”, may ring false to disabled people who understand that the wheelchair isn’t a cage, but a tool that allows that individual person to feel less caged by being able to more freely leave home.
(This varies person to person, just providing an example)
4. Educate. Research. And don’t just do so by asking people with disabilities to tell you their stories. I often express gratitude to the autistic readers, those with ADHD, etc who spoke up about Chris, talked about their own experiences, identified with him, found him very resonating for aspects of their own lives.
These stories, this information, this sharing of their lives was given freely to me, and I’m fucking amazed and grateful for how welcomed Chris was, and how willing readers were to share about themselves when talking about him.
Their willingness to speak about these things is something I treasure. But I absolutely would never believe that a single person owed me the story of their life to make sure I got Chris right. That was my responsibility, you know? I try to keep in mind the concept of ‘emotional labor’. Asking a disabled person to be your resource is asking them to give, and give, and give of themself. They may want to give you that kind of labor, they may not. But I definitely wouldn’t ask it of anyone without understanding it was something they were happy or felt comfortable giving.
Research, on the other hand, is essential. You mentioned things being “autism speaks-y” when trying to research on your own, and oh god, do I feel you. It sucks that autism speaks is the first thing to pop up when trying to research the lives of autistic people - and in my research, I was lucky to already know AS sucks and write them off and anyone who heavily referenced them as not helpful. I can see how someone might not know that, though, and stumble on them and believe they were a helpful resource for writing autism when they... well. Nope.
Try to think about the express disability you are writing for this person, and why, and then go research! I looked up “books on autism recommended by autistic people”, and found some invaluable books, yes, but also papers published online, websites, etc! Each of them vetted and looked over and recommended by autistic people, so I knew I was getting information that came from people with those experiences and that understanding. A good example - I picked up a book on the history of diagnosis and treatment of autism in the United States, mentioned it here, and @redwingedwhump recommended a book called Neurotribes... which turned out to be immensely more helpful, spot-on, and provided some really excellent foundational information I wouldn’t have found in the first book at all.
There’s a lot of information out there on Traumatic Brain Injuries and their lasting effects on individuals who receive them, so I would start there. What you’re describing sounds like a TBI with lasting effects! So I would start your research there, and also look up being nonverbal separately, as well as combining the two. Make sure you’re not just looking at the top links - often paid ads or problematic organizations that are able to pay more for better exposure - but also scanning for blogs, nonprofits, lived-experiences stories, too.
I found a lot of information on the second or even third page of results i would never have seen if I only stuck to the first. Remember the algorithm on search engines is usually showing you what other people are clicking on, not necessarily the best source.
5. This is one you the asker already know, but I want to include it for general reasons: do not ‘dumb down’ the thought processes of a nonverbal or semi-verbal person. I see this in fiction surprisingly often, and I think it’s this sense we have as abled people (’we’ just meaning I’m including myself) that being verbal is required to have a highly complex thought process, and it’s... it’s just fucking not. Speech and though are related but not completely wound around each other, and the ability to verbalize is not the same as the ability to think.
Like I said, I know you know this, asker, but it’s something I see in fiction/media and it drives me up the wall. So I wanted to include it.
6. For the love of God, do not use medical terminology unless you actually know what you’re doing/talking about. Many disabled people or those with serious medical conditions become what amounts to experts on their own diagnoses, because they have to. They have to be experts to receive the care they should be able to rely on. If you constantly fuck up terminology - trust me - it will be noticed, and it will take people out of the story or hurt their ability to suspend disbelief while reading.
There are ways to do medical scenes/conversations with doctors that avoid falling into this problem! I would just be very very careful to heavily research before using any complex terminology.
7. This disabled person does not exist to evoke pity. They are a human - nuanced and multi-layered - living their life, and their story should always, always reflect that. I don’t really have anything else to add to that.
I would love to hear further advice from anyone with anything else to add.
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Resource list
Checking back in. I am very exhausted from the race riots and recent US news. Pandemic, massive unemployment, race riots... 2020, am I right?
I am hopeful because I’ve been to events where Black speakers are discussing if this is a sea change and talking about ways to harness the momentum of energized people the US right now.
Anyway here’s some links on riot responses and anti-racism. Especially for white people -- if you are angry or frustrated and you want to channel that energy? Here’s links, take action with those privileges, your tangible help is needed and necessary. Black folks, I hope you can get or make the space to take care of yourselves. Not all jobs are accommodating, but I know some people have been able to take a leave of absence to deal with this. There’s a lot of Black people doing unpaid labor right now. Non-Black PoC, it’s a weird spot to be in, but please take care of yourselves + also recognize and use privileges and work in solidarity with Black people. Allies, help lift the load, anti-racism is an action, ok y’all LET’S DO THIS.
(PS Again, sorry that, like, we have a pandemic on top of all this, too. Sheesh! EDIT: Although the widespread protests and movements are linked to the pandemic and unemployment in the US...)
(Resource credits: whoever made them.)
Suggestions for Starting
Black Lives Matter resource site. Comprehensive.
Need a general, public, friendly overview? Maybe to review or to send to someone as a starting point? From the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: Being Antiracist and Talking About Race.
Compiled info
Anti-Racism for white people (google doc)
Helping protestors (tumblr)
More place to donate (google doc)
Another BLM google doc
Sprout Distro
List of free books by Black authors and revolutionaries (google doc)
Need some picture books recommendations to talk to young kids about racism and other topics? Raising Luminaries has you covered.
Some specific info
This youtube video will donate to BLM.
CDC site: minority groups affected more by COVID-19, in case anyone needs to know.
White Supremacy looter news + BLM donation link (tumblr)
Tweet about how MN neighbors are protecting each other (Tumblr post)
Vox.com article on white allyship at protests and other times
Some books
Layla F. Saad Me and White Supremacy, a practical workbook.
Ibram X. Kendi How to be an Anti-Racist
Ijeoma Oluo So You Want to Talk about Race
Renni Eddo-Lodge: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
#not whump#resources#I am so tired#my 'about me' page says I will talk about social justice and here I am#anti-racism
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I’m new to THT series and fandom. I literally binged watch the show last week. One thing rubs me the wrong way is the way the word misogynistic is thrown around especially to women who like Nick. Or how ‘you only care for the romance’ since I enjoy Nick/June. Is it not possible for me to love the female characters, but also love Nick? Am I less of a feminist, because I love the romance? I don’t mind people disliking Nick or NJ, because it’s a show, but those things are too harsh IMO. (1/2)
(2/2) so I’m hoping you can recommend so great blogs to follow? Any help would be appreciated!
welcome to the handmaid’s tale fandom, aka hell! (jk, every fandom is hell)
Is it not possible for me to love the female characters, but also love Nick? Am I less of a feminist, because I love the romance?
the short answer is no, just because you like nick doesn’t mean you are less of a feminist. it ESPECIALLY doesn’t mean you love the female characters any less, how does that even work? 😂
put simply, the handmaid’s tale is not about men vs women, and anyone who says otherwise can just take that up with margaret atwood (who has only 1 low-status male character in her story, so you can guess who her example here is referring to):
feminism can be expressed in so many different ways. it’s not a competition. it’s not about shaming each other for who is or isn’t “feminist enough” and we should question the integrity of anyone who does that, especially when it’s being used in the context of something as inane as fandom gatekeeping.
and honestly, it comes down to the fact that you can enjoy this show in any way, for any reason. i know it’s an unpopular opinion here in the handmaid’s tale fandom, but no one has to watch the show for its politics. you can watch it just for the drama and/or the characters and that’s VALID.
(personally, i can’t get behind the show’s political message because of its exclusion of intersectionality and all the damaging tropes they depend on. how is it feminism if it’s not intersectional? i was only ever interested in this show because i enjoy dystopian fiction, so this “feminism competition” the fandom likes to engage in is of no interest to me when i never viewed it as good feminist media (the show, not the book) to begin with.)
now, i could write an essay about why the romance storyline in this context IS an inherently feminist concept, and why treating romantic love like it’s an inferior type of love and calling women who like male characters “shallow” both come from some good old-fashioned internalized sexism, but @skyshipper has already done that and it’s a great read: Why the Romance Between Nick & June is Feminist and Important
i could also go off about why nick blaine’s growth as a character is a great example of what a supportive male ally should look like (which is important) and how he represents the class struggles that are intrinsically linked to theocracies throughout history, and when people dismiss him entirely as a “boring male love interest who adds nothing to the plot” (some of you know which post i’m referring to 🙄) then they dismiss all these points too… but that’s an essay for another day.
anyway, because i can’t answer this question without ranting and i know someone’s going to see this and say “uh, it’s my right to not like a character”— it’s okay if nick isn’t your cup of tea. you can be critical without debasing his entire character and those who find value in what he represents. (this is a lesson i’ve learned myself— i am highly critical of luke, but dismissing him as “just another shitty dude who adds nothing to the story” would also be dismissing the refugee perspective he brings to the show and the people who recognize something in that. i can’t stand luke’s passive misogyny, but his story matters. see? criticism without disparage, it’s doable.)
sidenote: i’m literally begging the people who have such an issue with nick fans that they need to rant about them to PLEASE put that energy toward confronting all the white feminism that plagues this fandom, oh my god
as for your last question…
I’m hoping you can recommend so great blogs to follow?
oooh, there are many great nick and nick/june centric bloggers out there! to name a few off the top of my head…
@splitscreen, @skyshipper, @dcgal814, @smoulderingocean, @dystopiandramaqueen, @benofie, @zalrb, @thesnarkmaidstale, @underhiseyebrow, @lera-cherry-blog, @mikasahaswings, @forthisone
(if you’re looking for blogs that post a particular kind of content, such as gifs or fanfic, let me know and i’ll customize a rec list!)
also, some of us run a fansite where we try to congregate all the nick/june content throughout tumblr and share breaking updates. it’s a labor of our love for this ship, so check it out at @nickjunesource 💖
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Gardeners Gather With Lilacs and Scones
There is something so very innately satisfying about bringing the flowers that you have grown in your garden indoors to brighten your day.
Finishing up on a creative project is rewarding especially when you have cultivated and labored over your hard work. For me, gardening and design go hand-in-hand. Growing flowers in my garden is a labor of love and there is nothing I adore more that bringing nature into my home when designing for when I am hosting an event or styling a home. Little vignettes around your living space using colors from nature brings a sense of wellbeing and health into your life. Whether a potted plant or a vase filled with blooms, they bring joy to a seemingly ordinary day.
I absolutely adore and always look forward to my lilacs blooming every year. For me, lilacs remind me of my childhood. During the springtime, I used to gather lilacs in big bundles and bring them to my mother as a present. She just loved them. Today, the scent of lilacs reminds me of her and that feeling warms my heart like no other.
"Lilacs are May in essence. " -- Jean Hersey
Did you know that the lilacs have been a source of inspiration for artists throughout history? Impressionists Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet both have famous works depicting the beauty of lilacs in their paintings.
Today, I have put together a small centerpiece using lilacs from my yard that you too can do when hosting a small gathering or creating a small vignette in one of your rooms.
Before I start any design, I always try to get a color palette together and a vision in my mind for what I am trying to create. This picture really tells a story about what I want to portray in my design. The theme is a small get together with my closest gardening friends. The picture above gives me inspiration for the deep rich colors of lilacs and all the green hues that are growing in my garden today. Of course, I have my favorite gardening sheers in the picture as well.
Let us look at some of the things I put in my centerpiece that came from my garden
I chose three types of botanicals to go into my flower arrangement. Since it is only late spring, my flowers are just starting to bud but, I do have other choices that I can use that are growing in my yard.
Woodland Ferns
Hosta Leaves
Two Types of Lilacs
Note: I have several large sterling silver mint julep glasses that I found at an estate sale a few years ago. I often repurpose them as vases and place them here and there around my home when entertaining. If I am designing for someone else’s event, I often bring them with me to decorate their home.
Using a vintage item and simply repurposing it is such a great way to create a sophisticated arrangement that will look elegant with any flower. You can put roses, peonies or even just a bunch of lilacs as I have done here and it will look amazing. I love the romantic vintage feel it brings to a design.
These Portmeirion dishes with the botanical garden pattern fit perfectly with my theme. I have had them for a long time and they still make me smile. Each dish has a separate flower scene on them with blooms, butterflies and other critters you would find in a garden.
I brought out some of my favorite things that I have been reading lately. I adore this garden book from Georgianna Lane, Hydranges and my other little book, Markets of Provence that my husband bought me for a gift before we when to Provence a few years back. My gardening sheers were just used to gather all the flowers from outdoors.
What’s a gathering without some treats? Right before my friends came over, I baked some ginger scones using a recipe from The Stay At Home Chef. This recipe gives you a variety of flavors that you can create. There is nothing like entering a home that smells of fresh baked goods. It is just a wonderful way to greet your guests.
Did you know that Lilac blossoms are edible, though they smell better than they taste, so use in small amounts. Another springtime delight is to make a lilac cold-water infusion.
I love decorating with edible flowers. I grow all my flowers organically; therefore, I don’t hesitate to use them if I can. Once I finished drizzling the glaze on my scones, I quickly added the lilac flowers for a garnish.
NOTE: Not all flowers are edible. To learn more about which can be used for eating or decorating follow this link to What’s Cooking America. Here you will learn what flowers you can use for cooking, decorating and eating and they also give you a good idea as to what each flower tastes like. It’s a great source that I often use.
Of course, when designing for a party, I always like to add warm colors, natural textures, and patterns. The bowl I selected for this design was created from our New England surrounding made of natural upcycled wood. I love the unexpected in design and this really does the trick. With the warm homemade scones placed in the bowl, it creates a farm to table feel that is organic and welcoming.
I also served a wonderful Summer Lavender Prosecco drink. The recipe is from Self Proclaimed Foodie and I recommend it highly. I garnished my drinks with some blueberries and served them in my favorite vintage champagne glasses.
Note: When making the lavender Prosecco drink, let the lavender sit in the simple syrup longer if you want a more robust flavor. That is what I did, and it was amazing. What a treat!
""The details are not the details. They make the design."" -- CHARLES EAMES
“The thing is…with just a few simple steps, creating a lovely gathering can be made easily. Follow the same color scheme throughout your design, serve some yummy treats and you are on your way. What is most important is that you create your own design using what makes your heart happy.”
As with everything I post on my blogs, please feel free to comment or if you have any questions, please email me through my contact page. I welcome it anytime!
Design with your heart™️
Happy entertaining my friends!
Mary
"May your home be a place where friends meet, family gathers, and love grows. " -- Anonymous
#entertaining#how to hang a chandelier#how to choose a chandelier#what size chandelier do I need#how to pick out a chandelier#chandelier#chandelier size#which chandelier size do I need#chandeliers over the table#size of chandelier#chandelier hanging#chandelier diy#diy chandelier#how to hang a light fixture#how to pick out a light fixture#Kitchen remodeling#kitchen upgrade#ways to save money on kitchen redesign#how to host a sitdown dinner#hosting a dinner#holiday dinner#how to set a table#how to set a dinner table#biscuits#homemade biscuit#biscuits for the holiday#savery biscuits#old fashion biscuits#biscuit recipe#old fashion biscuit recipe
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Chapter 1: Some History Stuff
C> Posting this before I put chapter 2 out: some cool history that I didn’t fully discuss in chapter 1!
While I’m a huge history nerd, not everyone reading historical fiction is. And anyway, this is fanfiction, not a thesis, so I left out a bunch of cool things I found.
Here they are, quickly!
1) Indenturement: indentured workers got that way because of two reasons. Either they committed a crime that put a big debt on them (like Yoongi in this fic), or they chose indenturement sometimes because of poverty. This system was kind of complex in Korea. Without getting into too many details, unlike black slavery, indentured laborers were paid wages, could hold land, have their own indentured workers, and even received maternity and paternity leave. A lot of them were trapped in the system because of what they owed to the government, but the rules were different.
2) Untouchability: the Korean untouchable caste were mostly comprised of people in menial professions — butchers, basket makers, acrobats, folk performers etc. They were mostly nomadic, which helped in their often becoming disenfranchised and being blamed for thefts, crime or murder. They were the lowest class of people in both the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and often faced discrimination. [This is especially interesting because this caste system was a direct impact of Buddhism being introduced in Korea during Goguryeo/Silla/Baekje era- did the ‘purity’ politics of it come from the place of origin of Buddhism, India?] Again, however, unlike India, around the time period that this story is set in, the baekjeong were allowed to hold land, but discrimination from other groups continued to torment them.
3) Yongchon: I don’t really think there was a district called Yongchon back in the Joseon era - I chose that name because in present day, that’s an area that’s close to the Yalu River in North Korea. As the coldest region in the Korean peninsula, it serves my purpose. That was also a land that was frequently invaded by China (it shares a border) and by Jurchen tribes, so it made sense for me to set it there considering I wanted a village with a strong military presence. In the present day, this region would be in N.Korea.
4) Winter and food: the gap between cultivation in rice and barley is punctuated by horrid winters, and people usually starved in this period. In extreme cases, they ate dug up tree roots to survive. In addition to high taxes, all of this led to a bunch of peasant revolts in the later Joseon period, such as this famous one that laid ground for the end of the dynasty as a whole > Donghak Peasant Revolution
5) the podocheong: they had detectives, they had undercover spies, they had code language and women employees! The podocheong kept a register of indentured female workers so they could be used to investigate in more residential areas where men—especially higher-class men—wouldn’t go. If you wanted to be a lady in the podocheong, you had to be able to drink your weight in makgeolli. That was an actual rule.
6) seonbi: while scholars were learned and respected, those that chose not to occupy governmental positions but act in service of the public often found themselves persecuted by royalty. In this fic, Namjoon is a virtuous scholar, working in service of the common folk. In many instances in Joseon Korea, seonbi submitted blunt petitions to force the king into reducing taxes or giving back wealth to the public. This led to the scholars being purged and pursued by those in service to the king. The seonbi are glorified by the public, but reviled by those in power—which makes sense considering how popular dramas with them are :D
7) inks and paints: making Tae an artist in this fic came with its own body of research—I’ll talk about this later, but I wanted to show you what an inkstick is! It was a stick made of soot, colored pigments, animal glue, and some other sometimes medicinal materials that had to be ground into an inkstone to create ink for painting/calligraphy. Colored inksticks look like this:
Okay, history lesson over. Please let me know if these are fun/helpful to you, or if you want me to address anything else in terms of writing process or research ^^ I’m really enjoying diving into lesser known history for this whole thing!!!
> Link to the fic
Editing to add:
my sources are mostly from Google Books but I referred a lot to Cornelius Osgood’s writings, especially his book “Koreans and their Culture”, which is recommended reading by the National Museum of Korea.
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Books you should read to improve your writing
Reading is one of the best ways to get better at writing. Here are some books that will help you master specific aspects of writing fiction:
1. “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie
Aspects this book will teach you: narrative voice and writing style
Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,” all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts. This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. (Goodreads summary)
This is quite possibly the most well-written novel I have ever read, which is probably why it won the Best of the Bookers prize. This book is metafiction at its best and takes your breath away with the sheer excellence of its style of narration.
If you want to see how to make your writing come alive, create a strong voice, build up suspense and weave complicated narratives, this is a must-read.
2. “Open City” by Teju Cole
Aspects this book will teach you: descriptions and setting the scene
Along the streets of Manhattan, a young Nigerian doctor doing his residency wanders aimlessly. The walks meet a need for Julius: they are a release from the tightly regulated mental environment of work, and they give him the opportunity to process his relationships, his recent breakup with his girlfriend, his present, his past. But it is not only a physical landscape he covers; Julius crisscrosses social territory as well, encountering people from different cultures and classes who will provide insight on his journey—which takes him to Brussels, to the Nigeria of his youth, and into the most unrecognizable facets of his own soul. (Goodreads summary)
This novel takes the form of a walk through New York and Belgium and creates such vivid images of its settings that I feel like I’ve been there.
If you want to learn how to set a scene in a gripping way, write realistic descriptions and convey how your character thinks about the world around him/her, I recommend that you read this.
3. The “Throne of Glass” series by Sarah J Maas
Aspects these books will teach you: beloved characters
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. (Goodreads summary for the first book)
I might be a bit biased here, since this series has consumed my life. However, that could be exactly why these are useful books for writers to read. Sarah creates an ever-increasing cast of characters that all have distinct personalities and backgrounds. Even better, she makes the reader root for nearly all of them.
If you need help creating believable and complex characters that your readers will love, you should invest in this series (and Sarah’s other books).
Please note that I would only recommend the last few books for more mature readers.
4. “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo
Aspects this book will teach you: diverse representation done right (+ world building)
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first. (Goodreads summary)
Within its main cast, Six of Crows has characters of various different ethnicities, sexualities, religions and cultural backgrounds. Each character’s cultural identity comes with a realistic backstory that addresses contemporary issues of race, class and faith. LGBT+ relationships are given the same amount of attention and exposition as their heterosexual counterparts, and various body types are represented.
If you want to create a world with legitimate social problems and learn to represent a diverse cast of characters with respect, this book is your Bible. @lbardugo
5. “The Savior’s Champion” by Jenna Moreci
Aspects this book will teach you: Unapologetic writing
Tobias Kaya doesn't care about The Savior. He doesn't care that She's the Ruler of the realm or that She purified the land, and he certainly doesn't care that She's of age to be married. But when competing for Her hand proves to be his last chance to save his family, he’s forced to make The Savior his priority. Now Tobias is thrown into the Sovereign’s Tournament with nineteen other men, and each of them is fighting—and killing—for the chance to rule at The Savior's side. Instantly his world is plagued with violence, treachery, and manipulation, revealing the hidden ugliness of his proud realm. And when his circumstances seem especially dire, he stumbles into an unexpected romance, one that opens him up to unimaginable dangers and darkness. Trigger warning: this novel contains graphic violence, adult language, and sexual situations. (Goodreads summary)
@jennamoreci is quite honestly one of my favourite people on the planet. If you haven’t checked out her writing advice on Youtube, you’re missing out on a valuable resource.
This novel was a great read and one of the main reasons for that is the fact that Jenna is unafraid to make her writing realistic. Her characters think about sex, use curse words, feel real pain (and there's even a blowjob encounter). It’s not vulgar, but it doesn’t shy away from depicting real-life situations. The characters in this book react like any adult would and that made it a great read.
If you want to get some inspiration for writing realistically and candidly, this is a good book for you.
Please note that this is recommended for adults.
Let's keep the recommendations going. Add books you think writers should read!
Reblog if you found any of this useful or love any of these books.
Follow me for similar content in the future
#midnight's children#salman rushdie#open city#teju cole#throne of glass#tog#sarah j maas#six of crows#soc#leigh bardugo#the savior's champion#tsc#jenna moreci#books#booklr#booklover#writing#write#writers#writing's hard#writeblr#writerblr#life of a writer
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In today’s Washington Post, Elizabeth Bruenig has an article arguing that socialism should no longer be considered a dirty word. Socialists believe that “working Americans deserve a say in how the country’s vast wealth will be used,” and that “more than policy tweaks will be needed to empower everyday people to participate meaningfully in society and democracy.” Since these are sensible positions, she says, socialism is at the very least a reasonable political tendency. She is, of course, completely correct, and all of the common criticisms of contemporary democratic socialism are misleading, unfair, or outright false.
In explaining why it can be difficult to figure out what socialism means, Bruenig notes that “the United States doesn’t have a familiar, established socialist history to look to for guidance on what socialism might mean in this country.” It’s certainly true that the U.S. doesn’t have a “familiar” socialist history, since students generally aren’t taught much about American socialists in school. (Eugene Debs is usually mentioned, mostly as a curiosity.) And it’s true that in the U.S., unlike many European countries, there was never a socialist movement that had mass popular support. In England, for instance, the Labour Party founded by socialist Keir Hardie would become a dominant force in British politics for the entire 20th century and establish the modern social welfare state. In France, socialists took over Paris! (A few things also happened in Russia.) Nothing comparable occurred in America, hence the title question of Werner Sombart’s 1906 book Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?, a question followed up nearly a century later in the book It Didn’t Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed In The United States.
But I also think it’s worth remembering that even though socialism “failed” here, insofar as it never became the kind of political force it was in many European, Latin American, Asian, and African countries, we do have a socialist history, and a rather inspiring one! Delving into that history is a great way to find lessons for contemporary democratic socialists. And in some ways, the successes of American socialists have been underappreciated. As I’ve written before, the list of socialist mayors in the United States in the early 20th century is impressively long, and one reason the Socialist Party fizzled after about 1908 is that the other major political parties actually began co-opting the Socialist agenda. I recommend reading Ira Kipnis’ The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912, which talks a lot about where the socialists succeeded and where they didn’t. Many of the intra-socialist debates were the same ones we are having today: What does socialism really mean? Are particular reforms “socialist”? To what extent should socialists work within the existing political system? Unfortunately, they did not resolve those debates then, and the first thing to learn is that we need to do better this time around.
The history of the American Socialist Party and the IWW are fascinating in their own right. (As well as the histories of socialist publications like The Masses and the Appeal to Reason.) But I’d like to single out a few historic American socialists who I find exemplary. We do have a grand left tradition in the United States, one carried forth from generation to generation by humane and committed activists. We should never forget their lives, struggles, and ideas.
Hubert Harrison
Hubert Harrison is one of my favorite forgotten Americans, period. Known as the “Black Socrates,” he was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance, renowned for his dazzling streetcorner oratory and the seriousness of his intellect. Jeffrey B. Perry’s excellent biography of Harrison calls him the “voice of Harlem radicalism” and the book summary gives you a flavor of Harrison’s extraordinary life:
The foremost Black organizer, agitator, and theoretician of the Socialist Party of New York, Harrison was also the founder of the “New Negro” movement, the editor of Negro World, and the principal radical influence on the Garvey movement. He was a highly praised journalist and critic (reportedly the first regular Black book reviewer), a freethinker and early proponent of birth control, a supporter of Black writers and artists, a leading public intellectual, and a bibliophile who helped transform the 135th Street Public Library into an international center for research in Black culture.
Harrison is particularly notable for the way he combined “race consciousness” with “class consciousness,” And while considered a “Harlem Renaissance” figure, he was critical of the entire concept, because he felt it diminished previous black achievements. As a brilliant atheist, socialist, anti-racist intellectual, Harrison is a standout figure in the history of the left who deserves to be given his due.
Helen Keller
Keller herself is, of course, well-remembered. But her radical socialist politics are still too frequently neglected. She was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and a supporter of Debs, an anti-militarist feminist trade unionist who was staunchly committed to the rights of working people. If you read her socialist writings, it can actually be a little surprising to realize just how firm her conviction was. Here she is describing the IWW and why she supports it:
The creators of wealth are entitled to all they create. Thus they find themselves pitted against the whole profit-making system. They declare that there can be no compromise so long as the majority of the working class lives in want while the master class lives in luxury. They insist that there can be no peace until the workers organize as a class, take possession of the resources of the earth and the machinery of production and distribution and abolish the wage system.
I don’t remember hearing that when we watched The Miracle Worker in middle school! In her essay “How I Became A Socialist,” Keller says she is pleased that people seem so interested in her inspiring life story, particularly because it will help get the word “socialism” into more newspapers! (Ah, how she underestimated the power of the whitewashing machine!) She also amusingly recounted how the New York Times asked her to write an article, before immediately printing an editorial condemning the “contemptible red flag.” This would not do, Keller said:
I love the red flag and what it symbolizes to me and other Socialists. I have a red flag hanging in my study, and if I could I should gladly march with it past the office of the Times and let all the reporters and photographers make the most of the spectacle. According to the inclusive condemnation of the Times I have forfeited all right to respect and sympathy, and I am to be regarded with suspicion. Yet the editor of the Times wants me to write him an article!
Nor did Keller think much of the Brooklyn Eagle when they suggested that her left-wing politics were a product of her physical disabilities. Keller’s reply is so deliciously scathing that it’s worth quoting at length:
The Brooklyn Eagle says, apropos of me, and socialism, that Helen Keller’s “mistakes spring out of the manifest limitations of her development.” Some years ago I met a gentleman who was introduced to me as Mr. McKelway, editor of the Brooklyn Eagle. It was after a meeting that we had in New York in behalf of the blind. At that time the compliments he paid me were so generous that I blush to remember them. But now that I have come out for socialism he reminds me and the public that I am blind and deaf and especially liable to error. I must have shrunk in intelligence during the years since I met him. Surely it is his turn to blush… Oh, ridiculous Brooklyn Eagle! What an ungallant bird it is! … The Eagle is willing to help us prevent misery provided, always provided, that we do not attack the industrial tyranny which supports it and stops its ears and clouds its vision. The Eagle and I are at war. I hate the system which it represents, apologizes for and upholds. When it fights back, let it fight fair. Let it attack my ideas and oppose the aims and arguments of Socialism. It is not fair fighting or good argument to remind me and others that I cannot see or hear. I can read. I can read all the socialist books I have time for in English, German and French. If the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle should read some of them, he might be a wiser man and make a better newspaper. If I ever contribute to the Socialist movement the book that I sometimes dream of, I know what I shall name it: Industrial Blindness and Social Deafness.
Mother Jones
I think if there is one thing we can say for certain about Mother Jones, it’s that she wouldn’t think much of the magazine that publishes under her name. She was certainly no liberal. (“I’m not a humanitarian, I’m a hell-raiser!”) She traveled across the country organizing strike after strike and motivating workers to resist the strike-breakers. She led a march of hundreds of child laborers, which ended up outside Teddy Roosevelt’s summer home, where she demanded to see the president to protest child labor. (She was refused.) She went to prison, was released, raised more hell, went to prison again, and then went to meet John D. Rockefeller, spending two hours telling him personally about the conditions in his mines and demanding he improve them. She was generous toward Rockefeller though: “Him raised in luxury, how could he know anything about real things? It isn’t his fault, though—the raising he got is the cause of it.” The woman who reminded laborers “You ain’t got a damn thing if you ain’t got a union!” was one of the most fearless, frank, uncompromising champions of working people in American history.
“I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator.” — Mother Jones
Peter Clark
Peter Clark is known as the first African American socialist. He was an active abolitionist in the decades leading up to the Civil War, and then afterwards became the first black school principal in the state of Ohio. He ran for office, ran a newspaper, taught black students, supported striking workers. He was once fired by the school he worked at after he taught students about the radical “atheist” thinking of Thomas Paine. Clark’s life is documented in Nikki Taylor’s America’s First Black Socialist: The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark. Here is an excerpt from a talk he gave on socialism in 1877:
Many wise men, learned in political economy, assure us that their doctrines, faithfully followed, will result in a greater production of wealth and a more equal division of the same. But as I have said before, there is but one efficacious remedy proposed, and that is found in Socialism. The present industrial organization of society has been faithfully tried and has proven a failure. We get rid of the king, we get rid of the aristocracy, but the capitalist comes in their place, and in the industrial organization and guidance of society his little finger is heavier than their loins. Whatever Socialism may bring about, it can present nothing more anarchical than is found in Grafton, Baltimore and Pittsburgh today.
(Continue Reading)
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5 things to take advantage of in your first year at Smith
First-year orientation at Smith can be a bit overwhelming as you get ushered from one info-session to the next, learning about all of the centers, organizations, and resources we offer to support your learning on campus. Honestly, you’ll shake hands with so many professors and staff members and be inundated with so many hand-outs that everything will become a blur. In order to help you identify some crucial support systems that will enable you to navigate your first year with confidence, I am sharing my list of top 5 resources that I have most frequently benefited from during my time at Smith. These resources stand out in my mind as ones I wish I had utilized more during my first year, so you’ll definitely want to remember these!
1. Lazarus Center for Career Development
I was daunted by the thought of just waltzing in to the Lazarus Center during my first year. I remember thinking, “but I just graduated from high-school and you already want me to think about my career prospects?! Can’t I just enjoy getting acclimated to college?" You may think that the Lazarus Center won’t be useful if you haven’t even figured out what your major is yet, but that’s not true. The Lazarus Center offers many workshops specifically catered for first year students to introduce you to the general services you may need for future professional development, such as writing your first cover-letter and résumé, setting up a LinkedIn profile, using job/internship search databases, and how to network with Smith alumni. I benefited from 1-on-1 appointments with staff counselors and student peer advisers who helped me craft and format résumés I wrote for scholarship applications and summer jobs. The Lazarus Center also helped me connect with alumnae in Belgium whom I met while studying in Brussels during the summer after my first year (a little more on that later!)
2. Jacobson Center for Writing, Teaching and Learning
During your first year, you are required to take a writing-intensive course. Mine was a First-Year Seminar called Re-Membering Marie Antoinette, which required graded writing exercises every week. Even with the support of a student TA and feedback from my professor, I found it helpful to meet with the knowledgeable staff in the Jacobson Center, who can help you anywhere along the path of your writing process--from brainstorms and outlines to a “polish” on your final draft. You can book appointments with available staff through an online portal. Furthermore, the staff provide support for skills like organization and time-management, combatting procrastination, and public speaking. And, let’s face it, regardless of your major, the majority of the research and work you produce at Smith will culminate in a written component, so it’s a great resource to take advantage of all 4 years here!
3. Office for International Study
Okay, so if you are an international student this office is already one of your top foundations of support. But regardless of who you are and where you come from, the Office for International Study is a great place to reach out if you are thinking about studying abroad! Before I even came to Smith, I dreamed of studying abroad, so I wanted to learn more about the options Smith has to offer. The OIS has a “library” where you can learn about the nearly 100 Smith-hosted or Smith-approved Junior Year Abroad programs, and you can read evaluations from past students’ experiences. Since I was part of the last group of Global STRIDE scholars (you can read more about that in my bio), I had the opportunity to go abroad the summer after my first-year. When I was initially searching for programs that satisfied my interests, I met with peer study-abroad counselors who provided recommendations of where to start researching, how to find housing, etc. Additionally, I applied for an International Experience Grant to help partially fund my studies, so the staff in the OIS helped walk me through the application process. When one of the study-abroad programs that I applied for was abruptly cancelled in April, I was frantically scrambling to find an alternative option. The staff in OIS ultimately helped me secure an awesome experience in Brussels, Belgium, where I got to live in a homestay, take French language courses, and attend an intensive dance training program!
4. Professors’ Office Hours
GO. TO. YOUR. PROFESSORS. OFFICE. HOURS. Seriously. If I could go back in time and do it all again, within my first week I would have gone to the office hours of every professor whose course I was enrolled in during my first semester, even if just to introduce myself. Especially if you are taking any lecture-style courses your first semester (and you might be because most introductory-level courses tend to be the largest in size), going to office hours and being in a smaller environment with your professor is a sure-fire way to help establish important mentor-ships and make connections with a potential major advisers. I can easily say that now I regularly meet with my professors and advisers during office hours at least once every other week. The better your professor knows you, the easier it will be for them to write you solid letters of recommendations for programs, jobs/internships, graduate studies, etc, that you may need later on in your life. Also, professors open research positions to their students when possible, so having those close connections can help you foster really unique opportunities!
5. The Librarians
At Smith, we have librarians who specialize in various academic disciplines in order to best assist you in your research. Please, schedule appointments with them!! They have an intimate knowledge of what’s available in the library catalog, so they can point you to sources that you didn’t even know existed. I love to talk about Marlene Wong, the dance librarian. When I was writing a Dance History paper on modern dance and it’s role in left-wing socialist/communist labor movements in U.S., I met with her and she showed up to our meeting with a legit binder filled with print-outs of resources she had located for me. She was also able to show me primary sources in the Josten Library Rare Book Room that I would never have thought to use!
I feel like I have only hit the tip of the iceberg on the amount of resources available to students at Smith. I hope you’ll find the time to discover these and more throughout your time here!
-Claire
#smith#smith college#lazarus center for career development#smith college libraries#office hours#office for international study#jacobson center for writing teaching and learning
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FMA Extended Media Recommendations - Red Tier (First place)
FMA actually has a lot of material outside of just the manga and anime. For lack of a better term, I call these works the FMA “extended media”, and I think they’re all sorely underappreciated. So, I decided to give my recommendations, and hopefully you might find something new to enjoy!
Because there are so many different works in so many different categories, instead of just doing a top 5 or top 10 list, I decided to divide them into tiers based on the four stages in the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone. Remember that these are all just my personal picks, and it’s all very subjective, so don’t feel bad or get angry if your favorite gets black tier! They’re all fantastic anyway.
A few notes first: I’m only ranking things I’ve actually seen/read/played, so for example, a few of the video games aren’t on here. I’m also not including the character song CDs (which I highly recommend). I’m also not including anything related to Conqueror of Shamballa, purely because of the amount of context required to enjoy those. My final notes are that some of these are in Japanese only, and also, please don’t ask me where to buy/watch things- any answer I give you is just going to be what I got off Google anyway, so might as well cut out the middleman, you know?
Anyway, without further ado, here’s the red tier!
The Ties That Bind (Novel)
This is my absolute favorite of the light novels, by far. In this story, Ed and Al’s search for a rare book leads them to the town of Lambsear, where they meet a young boy named Kip. Kip is Ishvalan, and lives with his Amestrian adoptive parents, Shelley and Luon. Kip feels uncertain of his relationship with both his family and the local Ishvalan community, and as usual, some no-good alchemy is afoot.
This novel really puts an interesting spin on the effects of the Ishvalan War on a more personal level, and has some interesting discussions about community and what it means to be a family. The plot gets quite grim at some points, but there are more lighthearted moments, such as some time with the Curtises, and Ed’s apparent talent as a librarian.
Art Book 2 (Book)
Unfortunately I’ve never been able to find the first art book, but I do love this one. It’s a lovely book full of full-color images by Arakawa spanning from around the Dublith arc to... Just around the Briggs arc, I think..? I don’t really remember and I’m too lazy to go check, lol.
It includes not only manga cover art, but also character concept art, commemorative illustrations, things drawn for friends, and other pieces that might not otherwise be seen by the average western FMA fan. Each piece is also accompanied by Arakawa’s commentary, which ranges from insightful and thought-provoking to hilarious and nonsensical.
Curse of the Crimson Elixir (Game, Playstation 2)
Although this is the second of the three FMA games released for the PS2, don’t let the number fool you; it has nothing to do with the first game. The graphics are greatly improved, though! Like the first game, Crimson Elixir is a story-based fighting game, with gameplay similar to the Kingdom Hearts series (although thankfully not as complicated). It’s also a great game if you’re a fan of Hawkeye, who’s with the Elrics throughout most of the main plot.
Curse of the Crimson Elixir starts out as a canon divergent AU, mostly based off the manga. Mysterious, mud-like creatures known as golems have been popping up everywhere, killing people and even an entire town. With a mysterious, ghostly woman named Elma begging for their help, and a reluctant and bitter old archaeologist named Arlen Glostner, Ed and Al are led to the ancient ruins of Siam-Sid, where a man named Jack Crowley has been using ancient alchemy to revive a lost civilization and try to resurrect his dead wife. It falls to Ed and Al to put a stop to Crowley’s wild scheme before it’s too late.
Sacred Star of Milos (Movie)
Those of you who are familiar with Conqueror of Shamballa might be inclined to assume that Milos is a sequel to Brotherhood,but it’s not. It’s intended to be another untold story from Ed and Al’s five-year journey, although like Crimson Elixir, it doesn’t really fit in anywhere on the timeline.
In this movie, Ed and Al travel to the western border for the first time in FMA history. A group of people known as Milosians live in a garbage-filled valley between Amestris and Creta; Once a great civilization of its own, after Milos was annexed by surrounding countries, the Milosians were forced to live in filth and poverty, provide slave labor for Amestris and Creta, and act as disposable pawns in international politics. The Elrics meet a bright young lady named Julia Crichton, who wants to use legendary Milosian alchemy to aid her people’s attempts to reclaim their country. But the promising technique that’s brought the Milosians so much hope is based around, you guessed it, human sacrifice. Oops! Good luck, Julia...
Sacred Star of Milos may have its faults... boy, does it have its faults... But regardless of its critical reception and its place in the FMA timeline, I still think it’s a very entertaining movie to watch. There’s a lot of fun action scenes and visually stunning sequences, and it has an interesting art style and a great soundtrack. It may not be another Arakawa-given masterpiece, but for FMA fans, I think it’s a fun and entertaining way to kill two hours.
Yet Another Man’s Battlefield (OVA)
This is part of a series of short, Brotherhood-based OVAs that give insight into the lives of various characters in the FMA universe. In this OVA, we get to see Roy and Hughes’ academy days, including how they met and became friends, and their friendship with an Ishvalan-Amestrian student named Heathcliffe Erbe.
But of course, this is the military, and it’s not all fun youthful school days. It greatly showcases the racism against Ishvalans, and also includes scenes from the Ishvalan war that show the subtleties of the war and what it was like for soldiers on both sides. I think this makes it really important, especially considering how much of Ishval was cut from Brotherhood. It’s not a happy OVA, but it’s one I highly recommend watching.
#FMA#FMA light novels#FMA OVAs#FMA video games#I'm gonna do the rest of these later because this took longer than expected and I have a music lesson in a few minutes lmao
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Five Free Ways Westerners Can Help Women in the Middle East Now
1. Go green. It is not a secret that climate change disproportionately affects poor people and that women are disproportionately poor (go figure) so that is one good reason right away, but I have another one. The Wahhabist Gulf States, which include Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, etc), Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, rely on the oil underneath them for their royal families to function and to spread their patriarchal propaganda, including funding ISIS. So if given a choice between something more fuel efficient or with a different power source and a product that depends on a lot of oil, if you can afford it please try to go green! Even recycling uses less plastic and therefore less petroleum and it is free to reuse things!
2. Boycott the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and its sponsors. This is a venture that Middle Eastern feminists have gotten off the ground but we are having a really difficult time spreading this message. Thousands of migrant workers are dying building that FIFA stadium and the entire system of labor is basically human trafficking:
The name of the current system is kafala, a system forcing all migrants to be sponsored and subsequently tied to an employer. This employer controls housing, wages, travel, and the well being of each employee. The kafala system has been frequently described as modern day slavery due to its exploitative nature. Forced labor, unpaid work, confiscation of documents, and withholding food and water to the migrants are a few of the mechanisms of control the employers enact over the migrants under the kafala system.
Workers mainly from South and Southeast Asia travel to Qatar with the hope of a securing a job in order to send remittances back to their families, but the kafala system traps them under the purview of their employer. The 2022 World Cup announcement has seen a significant rise in migrant workers coming to Qatar, creating a larger humanitarian crisis for the living and working conditions of the laborers. Qatar has not changed its policy of the kafala system since it became host of the 2022 World Cup, even with the additional international scrutiny towards its government. If Qatar does not change its policy before 2022, an estimated 4,000 migrant workers will die, making this event the deadliest in sporting history.
Most of the workers dying building that stadium, but almost all domestic workers in the Gulf States who work under the kafala system are women, and they are treated horribly. Boycotting the 2022 World Cup sends a message that the kafala system is abusive and unacceptable, and it helps women AND men. If you can afford to buy other products instead of these, please help. A list of the current 2022 World Cup sponsors:
Adidas
Anheuser-Busch which includes Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois
Coca-Cola which includes Sprite, Fanta, Dasani, Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply Orange, Glaceau Vitamin Water and Smart Water, and Fuze
Gazprom
Hyundai
Kia
McDonald’s
Sony
Visa
If you can, please encourage your national teams not to play. I know most people do not have any sort of power over this, but if even a few teams boycotted to send a message then it could make a big difference!
3. Be aware of issues that specifically affect Middle Eastern women and be ready to talk to other about them. Some of these issues are very sensitive for some people and nobody is obligated to psychologically torture herself. If you feel safe and comfortable you can consider studying one of these topics and talking to other people who might not be aware. Please keep in mind these are issues in the Middle East or parts of the Middle East but many are also problems in other places and in diaspora communities:
Honor killings (I also wrote on honor killings in Iraq here.)
Female genital mutilation
Modern-day slavery and human trafficking, especially with domestic workers
Laws that protect rapists and force victims to marry their rapists
Child marriage, especially the new trend of taking advantage of Syrian refugees
Extremely unsafe conditions in refugee camps including sexual violence
Bans on women basically being independent in any way in Saudi Arabia
Women jailed for reporting rape in Qatar or in Dubai (and these women are European so imagine how many of these cases are not reported in international news)
Assassinating women who speak out in Bahrain
Forced marriage and the mahr (dowry) system
High rates of domestic and intimate partner violence and no punishments for abusers
4. Let Middle Eastern feminists speak. I will give a short recommendation list here but please explore for yourself and form opinions! Many Middle Eastern women write about our lives but for some reason people do not want to listen to us speak and would rather listen to what other people have to say about us. Of course other people are not always inherently wrong but many times, they ignore us and share their own ideas that aren’t very accurate. Here are some works I enjoy that you might be able to find free online:
The works of Inaam Kachachi. Of course because I am Iraqi I will start with an Iraqi woman! I believe her books and other pieces are translated into many languages and she writes about the rise of religion in Iraq and how it has affected women.
Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
Beyond the Veil by Fatema Mernissi. (She is Moroccan which is in North Africa but I think the piece is very important for everyone to read.)
Woman at Point Zero by Nawal Al-Saadawi.
The poetry of Rafeef Ziadah is available on YouTube and Spotify.
Please stop silencing Middle Eastern women or being condescending if you don’t like what we have to say. If one more Westerner tells me they know more about being an Iraqi woman than I do I am going to lose it!
5. Stay aware and critical of what you read and hear. Countries all around the world are active in the Middle East and this directly affects the women who live here. Of course we understand that people might only have very limited control or no control over their governments and large private companies and most rational people do not generalize Westerners as being war-hungry monsters.
Sometimes Western governments insist they are helping when we are screaming that they are not. For example, did you know that the UN Security Council sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s directly or indirectly led to the deaths of half a million children?
According to Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, the death rate of children under five is more than 4,000 a month - that is 4,000 more than would have died before sanctions. That is half a million children dead in eight years. If this statistic is difficult to grasp, consider, on the day you read this, up to 200 Iraqi children may die needlessly. "Even if not all the suffering in Iraq can be imputed to external factors," says Unicef, "the Iraqi people would not be undergoing such deprivation in the absence of the prolonged measures imposed by the Security Council and the effects of war."
Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator but by punishing him this way, the UN also punished many of the most helpless people in Iraq. I understand there are no easy answers in these situations. How can the West fight against ISIS in Iraq? (Cutting ties with the Gulf States would help but nobody listens to Middle Eastern feminists!) These are complicated problems but solutions that cause so many children to die are probably not good solutions.
Please be wary of what you are told about the Middle East and how your government’s actions actually affect the people here. Some questions to ask yourself might be:
Is this news source reliable regarding the Middle East? For example Al Jazeera is Qatar state news. This does not automatically mean all their news is false or propaganda or should not be read, but when you read it you should ask critical questions and stay aware of the source.
Where can I read a different opinion about this topic? What do I think when I read this different idea?
How does this action by my government affect the average person in the Middle East? What are people there saying about this?
How does this issue specifically affect women?
What are the differences in reporting or in ideas between people in the West and people in the Middle East? Where could those differences come from?
Can oppressing women ever be a feminist act? For example some people cheer women soldiers that directly oppress and kill women civilians as feminists for serving alongside men when the entire system is imperialist and deadly.
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