My Month in Books: April 2023

Foster by Claire Keegan: I think a lot about kindness and the complications of kindness. I think it rare to find people musing on that in a way that doesn't feel didactic or cheesy or really obvious...and this is that book. Kindness is often a difficult choice and a difficult thing to experience and this book....just understood that so succinctly. I finished this and immediately wanted to start it again.

Profiles in Ignorance by Andy Borowitz: This book was okay. I think...this is a chronicle and not a history. Borowitz provides a listing of dates, of incidents where politicians stuck their foot in their mouths. What he doesn't explain is what people find appealing about this behavior enough to elect someone to high office. There is no greater argument here, not really, and this probably would more effectively made its point as a long essay. So while I felt like I learned a lot of new information, I don't feel like I gained any new insights.

Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri: This is a book I think I'm going to revisit over and over again. This book describes Lahiri's relationship specifically to Italian and her experience translating Italian novels and letters. The most frequent connection she makes in the experience of translation is The Metamorphoses by Ovid and continually returns to this idea of language as an act of transformation. She also examines the role of the translator, the disregard for translation as a creative art form (merely an "echo"). She even carries through the idea of translation from life to death in the moving final essay about her mother's final illness. It's a very academic book and a little dry in places but well worth the effort.

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

Nico n co.

I think Nico deserves a whole legion of older siblings who can mother, manhandle, and annoy the shit out of him (mostly Percy)

oooooooooough i love you i love you i love you!!!! hand in loving hand !!!!!!

reality

Zoë Lianne, "Erasure"

Mary Oliver, "Felicity"

Emily Bronte, "Wuthering Heights"

well, someone had to tell him

on july

allie ray holler \\ charlotte brontë jane eyre \\ charlotte eriksson \\ eileen miles hot night \\ barbara kingsolver barbara kingsolver \\ franz kafka diaries of franz kafka, 1914-1923: “july 16, 1912″ \\ gurpiar sidhu \\ czesław miłosz new and collected poems: 1931-2001: “a magic mountain” (tr. czesław miłosz) (via @soracities​) \\ rick bass the wild marsh: four seasons at home in montana

buy my chai latte because i spent way too much money on them this week x

bingyuan sillies

Steve has a tell when he starts dating someone, which is why Robin always knows when Steve is going on a hot date. There is a cologne that he designates only for date nights. This is how Robin finds out that Steve and Eddie are dating.

"So, who's the lucky lady this time?" Robin asks, leaning over the counter dangling Steve's keys in front of him with a shit eating grin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Steve responds, rolling his eyes.

Before he can grab for his keys Robin pulls them away. "I know you're going on a hot date because of what you're wearing."

Steve scoffs, trying to grab for his keys again with no luck, watching Robin pocket them in horror.

Robin smirks as she looks him up and down. "You're wearing a Henley tucked into the tightest pair of Levi's you can squeeze that ass into..."

"Jesus, Robin." Steve breaths out, ears turning a shade of pink. "I'm..."

Robin puts up a hand to stop him from speaking even further. "Let me finish." She says smugly. "And to top it off you're wearing Drakkar Noir, which always screams, STEVE HARRINGTON IS GETTING LAID." Robin finishes her sentence with a wide grin, seeing as the pink from his ears has now spread to his entire face making it's way down his neck.

Before either one of them can speak the bell jingles as the door to Family Video opens.

"Come on Harrington," Eddie booms from the open door. "I want to get to the diner before anyone can take our booth."

Steve offers a slow smile to Robin, seeing that her jaw has dropped in pure shock. "Can I have my keys now?"

Still speechless, she digs his keys out of her pocket and places them in Steve's hand.

Just as he's about to pull away she grabs his wrist, "I want details, Harrington."

"In your dreams, Buckley."

My Month in Books: March 2023

we are back, babyyyyyy. this was the month of novellasssssssssss

Beowulf, translated by Maria Dahvana Headley: This was so, so, so sexy oh my God. I picked this up from my local bookseller and it just--it really floored me by how phenomenal the translation was? I was skeptical, I have to admit but I felt the excitement, the blood, and the enduring relevance of this story through this translation.

Grendel by John Gardner: We love a themed read but this just wasn't for me. I think reading it so closely to the Headley translation was a mistake. This was exceptionally well-written and there are some great scenes but I felt that the overly academic approach to Grendel sucked the viscera and fear from the story. Grendel's isolation was so complete that, as a reader, I felt alienated from him. The most exciting and climactic moment was, of course, when Beowulf appears and there is this fantastic line: "Oh my God, he's insane" in the wake of Beowulf telling the story of him swimming for several nights through a storm. But, maybe in a different time, this book would have struck me differently but it was a miss for me.

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis: One more in the journey to read the complete works of Lewis!! I'd read parts of this before but never completely and in order. So, here's the thing, I love Lewis. I really, really am a True Fan. The way that he organized and categorized the world and human relationships is really impactful and truthful. Even contextualizing him in his time period and social context, I really struggled with listening to the homophobia in this. It really bothered me in this book in a way that his mentions of it in Mere Christianity didn't. Part of it was because the introduction to the book was written by Charles Colson, notoriously conservative evangelical, and part of it was because it was a book on love. I feel silly objecting to something that I knew was part of his belief system, a belief system that I don't think he ever had life experiences to challenge. But--it got to me this time. It is the feeling of: you have helped shaped my worldview and you would pity me? I don't know. There is a lot of gold in here. I had a similar lukewarm reaction to The Great Divorce last year and that book has subsequently never left me alone. So, Lewis is a guy who needs to age in my system, I think.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: I had such an interesting experience with this one!! I was enjoying it but not feeling particularly moved by it and then halfway through I attended a workshop of an operatic version of it by Paola Prestini and my mind completely changed. Her clear love of the book, the beauty that she mined from it...seeing someone who so clearly loves this book and this story completely changed my perspective on it. And when I finished it, I had a much deeper appreciation for the story, the drama of it, and the beauty in it.

Here Goes Nothing by Eamon McGrath: This sucked. Like, this is already the worst book I have read and will read this year. I mean, it was remarkably bad. I listened to the audiobook version on the drive home from Boston and it was incredible. I listen to audiobooks to help pass the time and this actively made my trip feel longer. I just. It was only 2.5 hours long and I felt like I lost years to this book. The writing was inconsistent--vacillating between pretty good to sophomoric and just filled with poorly constructed metaphors. The story was confusing, without purpose or shape. The idea of the audiobook was to have a customized soundtrack that matched the story and it just--was bad. Like, sir, the reason you never made it big as a musician is because you are bad at this. I understand the romanticization of your misspent youth and a nomadic period of your life...but this whole rebels without a cause thing just didn't land. As I grow older, my patience with the sighing, looking out the window at human foibles and disappointments grows shorter and shorter. My guy, you need better friends. You need to be a better person. Treat your mom better. That's all. It was an interestingly gendered book--the characters are all male and apparently unable to understand or communicate...any emotion or physical urge including anger, hunger, fear, happiness in any way that is remotely productive. The lack of women here was also very noticeable. I mean--to be sure, it was about a group of men and they are in a culture where women are there to be...fucked or are their literal mothers but the narrator low-key drops that he had a nameless girlfriend the ENTIRE time in the last fifteen minutes and you're like, oh my GOD, you really...really...WHAT. You really...really treat the women in your life disposably.

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade: I read one trashy romance book a year and this was ittttttttttttttt. It was, as all these books are, a Time and a Half. I actually liked this one best of the whole series. Like just--absolutely a wild time from beginning to end. 10/10 they tried to fuck in a room next to a wedding proposal filled with all their coworkers no notes. I do think that it's hysterical that D&D not showing up to that Game of Thrones fan conference probably sparked this entire romance trilogy in which they, very specifically, feature as the single worst human beings to ever exist on the face of the earth. Good for her.

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!

it's immensely funny to me how andrew lloyd webber read this passage from the book and was like yeah the journey down to the phantom's lair is this really breathtaking magical gondola ride where christine is just captivated by the strange and fantastical beauty of it all (see below)

when in the novel they're both like in a rowboat in the dark with christine scared out of her mind and confused as hell while erik is paddling like he's out for an extreme day of fishing and just staring christine down for the entire duration of the journey without blinking once . like mind you his eyes quite literally GLOW in the DARK and he's just fucking staring into her soul and silently rowing and probably not even breathing like

once more around the sun!! :3

The sillay

have a lil praise kink as a treat 😘

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