bookmarksandbonfires

[bookmarksandbonfires]

Also, if what you're feeling is disgust or repugnance or disappointment or anger, guess what! You're still feeling something, so it worked <3

All of this talk about @taylorswift's new album is really just proving to me that people have no idea what poetry is??? Like every time I see a post online someone's put in the comments "wow how poetic touch me while your boys play grand theft auto" or "that metaphor is so obvious how can you say her lyrics are poetry" or whatever and like I get it. The Poetry you had to read in high school felt Incomprehensible and you were Bad At Analyzing It. I felt that way too, and I got a degree in literature.

But "Incomprehensible" is not in the definition of poetry. It doesn't need to be endlessly complex with allusions and metaphors you'll never be able to unravel. The Google definition (from the Oxford dictionary) is:

All poetry has to do is be words that express meaning and have rhythm. (That's basically all songs.) There's nothing in the definition about how you should be unable to parse all the meanings behind it. If you hear a collection of words that make you feel something, that's poetry. It just is.

Or, to quote Wordsworth, poetry is "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," which he believed should be written in plain language, and since there's a heavy Gothic/Romantic strain in Tortured Poets Department, I think it's reasonable we should default to a definition from that school of thought.

Poetry does not have to be incomprehensible to be meaningful. You can feel something because of the specific words in their specific arrangements, or the literary devices utilized, or even just the rhythm in which they are spoken. It doesn't have to have you getting out a dictionary or diagramming the sentences or spending hours trying to guess what the author really means. It can just make you feel.

I don't know if Taylor Swift is the greatest poet of our generation or whatever. But to say her songs aren't poetry because you think you understand them is belittling and reducing poetry to something it never has been.

#your feelings do not have to be what the poet expected or wanted to elicit #on poetry

[bookmarksandbonfires]

CAUSE IM A REAL TOUGH KID I CAN HANDLE MY SHIT THEY SAID BABE YOU GOTTA FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT AND I DID

[bookmarksandbonfires]

hate the “these are the lyrics y’all are calling poetic genius” tweets/comments soooo much. sends me into an absolute rage spiral not just because they’re taking it out of context, or it’s “10 seconds of a 31 song album” or whatever other (usually incorrect) swiftie response is usually pulled out here but because you could put Shakespeare in front of them and with that attitude they would scorn it all. the people who want to hate will simply hate.

#also like it's just not the point #taylor swift #ttpd anthology

[bookmarksandbonfires]

I love Pride and Prejudice, but it's baby sister Northanger Abbey is just as good if you've already read it. I also loved The Priory of the Orange Tree and An Ember in the Ashes if you're into fantasy. My favorite historical fiction of the past few years was probably The Gown, about the making of Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress. I've also recently reread Percy Jackson bc of the TV show, and loved it just as much as the first time, and I felt like The Selection held up when I reread it a couple years ago too.

I'm trying to put together a reading list for this summer! I will literally read anything so if you could comment or reblog with your favorite book or any other recommended books that would be amazing!

#book recommendations

[bookmarksandbonfires]

All of this talk about @taylorswift's new album is really just proving to me that people have no idea what poetry is??? Like every time I see a post online someone's put in the comments "wow how poetic touch me while your boys play grand theft auto" or "that metaphor is so obvious how can you say her lyrics are poetry" or whatever and like I get it. The Poetry you had to read in high school felt Incomprehensible and you were Bad At Analyzing It. I felt that way too, and I got a degree in literature.

But "Incomprehensible" is not in the definition of poetry. It doesn't need to be endlessly complex with allusions and metaphors you'll never be able to unravel. The Google definition (from the Oxford dictionary) is:

All poetry has to do is be words that express meaning and have rhythm. (That's basically all songs.) There's nothing in the definition about how you should be unable to parse all the meanings behind it. If you hear a collection of words that make you feel something, that's poetry. It just is.

Or, to quote Wordsworth, poetry is "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings," which he believed should be written in plain language, and since there's a heavy Gothic/Romantic strain in Tortured Poets Department, I think it's reasonable we should default to a definition from that school of thought.

Poetry does not have to be incomprehensible to be meaningful. You can feel something because of the specific words in their specific arrangements, or the literary devices utilized, or even just the rhythm in which they are spoken. It doesn't have to have you getting out a dictionary or diagramming the sentences or spending hours trying to guess what the author really means. It can just make you feel.

I don't know if Taylor Swift is the greatest poet of our generation or whatever. But to say her songs aren't poetry because you think you understand them is belittling and reducing poetry to something it never has been.

#thanks for coming to my ted talk #taylor swift #taylornation #the tortured poets department #ttpd #ttpd era #ts ttpd #ttpd anthology #ttpd analysis #tortured poetry #william wordsworth #poetry #poems and poetry #i'm just sick of it #there's my two cents #poetry is poetry

[bookmarksandbonfires]

i love the…. almost horror aspects of this album. all the references to ghosts and death…. and sonically, the unexpected shrieking in WAOLOM and the banging and screaming during “old habits die screaming” and even the way the tension subtly builds across the sixteen tracks and by the end you’re so stressed and shaken it’s like! losing your sense of self and feeling like you’ve become a monster is horror. and i’m sooooo glad she leaned into it

#gothic #ttpd

[bookmarksandbonfires]

I don't have anywhere else to put this so you guys get to deal with it I think I finally figured out what song I Can Do It With a Broken Heart reminds me of pretty sure it's Glad You Came and I assume that's intentional???

#taylor swift #ttpd

[bookmarksandbonfires]

Pride and Prejudice (2005) + tumblr posts (part 1)

[bookmarksandbonfires]

My life has felt so stagnant and some days I just want to skip ahead to living my dreams but for now I'm trying to make myself enjoy February bc it always used to be my favourite month.

I'm rereading Percy Jackson after being inspired by enjoying the show. I want to spend more time outside and at coffee shops and enjoying my days but I can't find the willpower to force myself out of the house sometimes. I keep rewriting the beginning chapters of my book even though my goal is to draft the second half of it this month and I don't think I'm going to make it. I want to write a hundred essays and read every book on my shelf but shrouded in isolation it feels pointless to even get started anymore.

#2024 bullet journal #my bujo #bujo #bullet journal #bujoinspo #my bullet journal #bullet journal 2024 #bujo 2024 #bujo inspo #bujo spread #february #writing #creative writing #writeblr #writerscommunity #percy jackson #pjo #pjo series

[bookmarksandbonfires]

Still working on setting up my 2024 bullet journal (whoops)

I've been having trouble figuring out how I want to write my goals down, but I'm very excited about it all--I'm trying something new bc I liked my 23 23s from last year but didn't actually do most of them 23 times so I'm going more advent calendar-style this year. And I'm going to try a little 2024 memory page, too.

I don't know why I can't get my pictures to rotate the way I took them??? But they're there anyway bc I am very proud of them.

Here's to 2024--I hope it's good to you, and to me.

#my bullet journal #bullet journal #bullet journal setup #bujo #bujoinspo #my bujo #2024 bullet journal #bullet journal 2024 #bujo 2024 #goal setting #season bucket lists #memories #memory keeping #2024

[bookmarksandbonfires]

April book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson, another recommendation from my sibling (a favorite of theirs, which I've heard a lot about, but admittedly am not particularly excited about)

I really enjoyed March's Red Queen--it reminded me of Kiera Cass' The Selection? But I think it's a series (?) and I'm not sure I'll read the rest (at least right now). I have a lot going on in my life right now, so I haven't done much reading really I guess, and I've been pretty stressed I don't know. I'm working on it. Just scheduled a doctor's appointment so maybe I'll ask about all my anxiety who knows.

Still have to answer my grad school offer too, anyone have any advice on whether a master's is worth it these days? (I'm probably going to say yes either way I guess but I'd love to hear about it)

#books #reading #tbr #to be read #red queen #the selection #the subtle art of not giving a f*ck #mark manson #april #productivity #grad school applications #graduate school #grad school #any advice?

[bookmarksandbonfires]

March has been a long month for me, and I've got a lot on my mind that I have to figure out in the coming days and weeks. But here's my March theme, I've really enjoyed drawing a little something each week and keeping it low pressure and I loved my February flowers but the March monstera leaf has brought me happiness too.

It took me ages to finish Aristotle and Dante (and I'm not sure I liked it very much) and I put off opening my March book until I finished it and like yeah I could maybe finish it before the end of the month in like three days but I'm not pressuring myself to or anything. The book is Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen, which I've thought about starting a few times and never made it more than a dozen pages in so here goes kids.

#productivity #books #my bujo #bujo #bullet journal #reading #bujo inspo #red queen #victoria aveyard #aristole and dante discover the secrets of the universe #monstera #doodle #march

[bookmarksandbonfires]

My February book! Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I've started it, but idk there's something I'm not loving about it, at least right now. It's a recommendation from my younger sibling, and we do have different tastes so maybe it's just not my style, but I'm going to give it a shot and maybe I'll like it more by the end.

It maybe doesn't help that I'm also currently reading The Priory of the Orange Tree and I'm loving it, I was worried about it's size but it's been a really quick read for me because I've had a lot of trouble putting it down! I'm maybe 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through, and I was expecting it to take like two months but I'm just loving it--I am starting to worry I'll be disappointed it's over when I finish it though!

#productivity #studyblr #books #reading #wrapped bookshelf #aristotele and dante #aristotle and dante discover the universe #aristole and dante discover the secrets of the universe #aristotle #dante #aristotle and dante #benjamin alire sáenz #the priory of the orange tree #samantha shannon #lgbtq #lgbt fiction

[bookmarksandbonfires]

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath from ml.books

#I've never read the bell jar #BUT I have that mug #the first lines of literature mug #on the top with all the words #and I love it #it's one of my favorite mugs #10/10 purchase and value

[bookmarksandbonfires]

Happy February! I finished The Lost Apothecary last night (maybe 3-4/5, and I don't think the author has ever applied to grad school), and I'm excited for February. And very proud of my bullet journal spreads for it so you get to see lots of them.

I drew little flowers. I don't know how much I'll keep up with it because it might be a little intensive when I get busier later in the month but I hope I do because they make me happy. February is usually pink or purple for me but I couldn't decide... So I did both. I like the flowers at the top a lot more than the ones at the bottom (I'm sorry they're sideways I'm too lazy to figure out how to fix it).

And here's my weekly--a mix of January and February this week, but I think I will be sticking with basically the same format. Haven't decided which color to use on my daily lists yet but I suppose I'll have to soon.

Here's to a productive month!

#productivity #my bujo #bujo #bullet journal #books #bujo inspo #reading #the lost apothecary #February #january #monthly #monthly spread #weekly #weekly spread #my bullet journal #bullet journal 2023 #flowers

[bookmarksandbonfires]

my pressed flower collection. some are from over 12 years ago!

#a little summer project #i used to press flowers as a little little kid at my granny's house #between pages of the biggest books we could find on her shelf #we'd pick them on country walks #I've tried a few times since #but I want the magic of being five again #also maybe I'm nostalgic becuase when I woke up today it was negative eleven degrees Fahrenheit #and the high is exactly one (1) #I just want to go outside and have it not hurt

[bookmarksandbonfires]

Okay I saw someone on Instagram do a wrapped bookshelf where they wrapped 12 books they owned and hadn't read and I wanted to try it (except I'm usually so busy over the summer I don't have time to read so I'm only doing 10). I enlisted my younger sibling that likes to read to do it with me so we each picked out books (I actually had a hard time so I've got a few surprise recommendations coming to me too) and had the other wrap them so we didn't know which book was which month and since I finally finished Jane Eyre it's time to open my January book!

Also for suspense here's a picture of my reading journal spread too I'm very excited about this.

So January is Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary! This is actually a book I received for Christmas and I'm very excited to read it! There's just under a week left in the month but I've been reading a lot since my girlfriend is in Europe until February 1st so I've had a lot of time to myself when she's busy or asleep, so I think I can do it.

#productivity #my reading journal #reading #jane eyre #the lost apothecary #sarah penner #wrapped bookshelf #reading challenge #read #book #books