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merzbow · 5 years

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Who are some of your fav non-white musicians? They are incredibly underrepresented and I really want to listen to and support more of them

oh my god, where to start? there’s so many and it’s all like, varying across a bunch of genres and some aren’t the most accessible but i’ll name the ones off the top of my head, some with description so you can decide who to listen to from what you think you might like.

The Mars Volta — progressive rock. one of my favorite bands of all time. almost everyone that played in TMV was/is non-white (and they had a lot). TMV was the Omar and Cedric show, but there would be no TMV without founding members Jon Theodore (one of my favorite drummers of all time) and the late Ikey Owens (who was their pianist). listen to De-loused in the Comatorium (2003) from beginning to end, and if you end up liking TMV, then work your way through their discography. it’s worth it.

At the Drive-In — post-hardcore, progressive. Omar and Cedric’s previous band. the most influential, and arguably the most important post-hardcore band of all time. every one except Jim Ward and his replacement is non-white. start with their third studio album Relationship of Command (2000), and if you have never heard their song One Armed Scissor, you absolutely have to.

Omar Rodríguez-López — progressive rock, indie pop, almost every genre under the sun. one of my favorite guitarists of all time. it’s impossible to condense his 49 album discography (and those are just solo albums) into a blurb so i’m not gonna try. afro Puerto-Rican. multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass, to name a couple), producer, composer, songwriter, director. it’s easier to list the things Omar isn’t and hasn’t done.

Dance Gavin Dance — post-hardcore, progressive. DGD has a long, complicated history, but almost every album they have ever released is solid. their guitarist, founder, and honest-to-god visionary Will Swan is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. Will is black and latino (specifically half Mexican). i’ve been a fan since 2010. the best albums to start with are probably the last two latest releases which are Artificial Selection (2018) and Mothership (2016), but my personal favorite albums are Dance Gavin Dance (self-titled, 2008), Happiness (2009), and Acceptance Speech (2013)

the rest of the recommendations are under this read more bc this is long.

Hail the Sun — post-hardcore, progressive. Donovan Melero is one of my favorite drummers of all time, he’s also the front man/vocalist of HTS. He’s Latinx, specifically Mexican-American. Guitarist Aric Garcia is also Latinx. my favorite HTS album is Wake (2014), but their latest album Mental Knife (2018) is a good place to start.

Sianvar — progressive rock/post-hardcore. super group consisting of the previously mentioned favorites Will Swan (Dance Gavin Dance), Donovan Melero (Hail the Sun), and Sergio Medina (Stolas). they recently went on a indefinite hiatus/disbanded this year. they have one self titled EP released in 2014, and a studio album called Stay Lost (2016).

Secret Band — post-hardcore, progressive, on the heavy side. side-project/side-group of Will and the other DGD members, basically DGD without the clean vocals/singing.

Royal Coda — post-hardcore, progressive. super-group consisting of the (again) previously mentioned favorites Will Swan (Dance Gavin Dance), Donovan Melero (Hail the Sun), Sergio Medina (Stolas, Sianvar) and ex-Dance Gavin Dance singer Kurt Travis. definitely listen to Compassion (2019).

Frank Ocean — indie pop. probably the most popular artist i’ve mentioned, besides Earl, or DG, or Denzel. also probably my favorite singer of all time, also probably my favorite bisexual of all time. listen to Blond (2016).

Mitski —indie pop. Mitski is bisexual, Japanese-American woman. her music honestly means a lot to me, all the topics are so personally relatable as another bi asian girl. Puberty 2 (2016) is my favorite Mitski album.

Japanese Breakfast —indie pop. Michelle is a bisexual, Korean-American woman. listen to Psychopomp (2016).

FKA twigs—indie pop.Twigs is incredibly talented, if you like musicians like Kate Bush then she’s perfect for you; she makes incredible music and I couldn’t recommend MAGDALENE (2019) enough.

JPEGMAFIA — experimental rap. Peggy’s latest album All My Heroes Are Cornballs (2019) was released just recently (september 13!), while that’s a good album to start with i recommend starting with his second studio album Veteran (2018). favorite songs from Veteran to name a few are: Baby I’m Bleeding, I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies, 1539 N. Calvert, and Rock N Roll is Dead.

Denzel Curry — experimental rap. start with Ta13oo/Taboo (2018), or ZUU (2019)

Danny Brown — experimental rap. start with either Atrocity Exhibition (2016) or XXX (2012), either way, you can’t go wrong.

Earl Sweatshirt — experimental rap. honestly, pick any of his three studio albums to listen to and you’re set, but Doris (2013) is probably the most accessible/easiest album to start with.

Death Grips — experimental rap. y’all already probably know who DG are and who Ride is, so i don’t have to introduce them/him. recommended: Exmilitary (2011), No Love Deep Web (2012), and The Money Store (2012).

Kero Kero Bonito — indie pop. Sarah Midori Perry, also known as Sarah Bonito, is British-Japanese. listen to Bonito Generation (2015)

Covet — math rock, instrumental. their front woman/guitarist, Yvette Young, is Chinese-American.

Stolas — post-hardcore, progressive. disbanded in 2018, still worth listening to. this is Sergio Medina’s original band, again if you ended up liking ATDI, or TMV, or DGD, you will absolutely love Stolas. Sergio is latino (specifically Mexican and Argentine), i absolutely love his guitar playing, he’s honestly so underrated.

honorable mentions, not necessarily my favorites but i do like and listen to these bands/artists/musicians.

Animals As Leaders — progressive metal, instrumental. there’s nothing about Tosin Abasi’s guitar playing i can say that thousand of others haven’t said before, he’s beyond amazing. Tosin is Nigerian-American, and AAL’s second guitarist Javier Reyes is latino. If you like heavy virtuoso/technical music like maybe, Dream Theater, then AAL is perfect for you.

Nova Charisma — progressive rock. this is Donovan and Sergio’s current side project, Nova Charisma is officially just a duo but their drummer is ex-Stolas drummer Carlo Marquez (who is close friends with both Donovan and Sergio). Nova Charisma is boneless TMV, and i mean that in a very good way (both Donovan and Sergio are heavily influenced by TMV and ATDI). that might change with future releases though, since they only have a three song EP out as of right now.

Periphery — progressive metal. guitarist and founder Misha Mansoor is insanely fucking talented. Misha is Indian-Mauritian.

Chon — progressive rock, instrumental. Mario Camarena, Nathan Camarena, and Esiah Camarena are all Mexican-American.

Polyphia — progressive rock, instrumental. Tim Henson, their guitarist, is half Chinese.

Trivium — early stuff is metalcore, current stuff is metalcore and thrash metal influenced american heavy metal Matt Heafy is Japanese-American, and does a mean James Hetfield impression if you’re into that.

popular/mainstream bands that have members of color and/or musicians of color that i also enjoy/love that you probably already know of:

Metallica (Metal/Thrash Metal. this one’s pretty obvious, since this is a Metallica blog… anyway, Kirk is Filipino (like me), and Rob is Mexican-American/latino.)

The Smashing Pumpkins (Rock. their guitarist, James Iha, is Japanese-American. you have to listen to Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.)

Jimi Hendrix (Rock. Jimi is black, and the greatest guitarist of all time, duh, i don’t have to explain this one.)

John Coltrane (Jazz. the jazz GOAT. listen to A Love Supreme.)

Miles Davis (Jazz. Miles is the GOAT beside Coltrane, if you’ve never listened to Bitches Brew you absolutely have to.)

Rage Against The Machine (Rap metal. Tom Morello is black and Zach de la Rocha is latino.)

Deftones (Rock. Almost all of the band members are latino, with the exception of their first bassist who was Asian and a couple of others.)

Jane’s Addiction (Hard rock. Dave Navarro is latino.)

Soundgarden (Grunge. Kim Thayil is Indian.)

Alice In Chains (Grunge. William DuVall is black and Mike Inez is Filipino.)

My Chemical Romance (Pop-punk. Ray Toro is latino.)

Fall Out Boy (Pop-punk. Pete Wentz is black.)

Playboi Carti (Rap. Carti’s black. please listen to Die Lit.)

Megan Thee Stallion (Rap. Meg is absolutely lovable and supremely talented, and I absolutely adore her. steam her music!)

LAST UPDATED: August 7, 2020

#answered #anon #long post #i hope i'm somehow cohesive #i just wrote this hastily and published it as soon as i was done cus like if i didn't this wouldn't get answered.#i hope you end up liking an artist/band/musician i named here anon! tell me if you do and which! i'd love to hear about it.

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anastasiaoftheironwood · 4 years

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From our friends at The Audubon Society: "This beautiful short dance film by Sarah Bush Dance Project, artist in residence with Richardson Bay Audubon Center, in partnership with sound designer and composer Miles Lassi. A contact call is a type of call used by birds for the purpose of letting other birds know their location. We listen for these calls to learn the language of the birds and to make contact with the more-than-human world."

#One Nice Thing #Sarah Bush Dance Project #Golden Gate Audubon Society #birds #contact call

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dustedmagazine · 5 years

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Dust Volume 5, No. 1

Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids

Our first Dust of the year ties up loose ends from 2018 with several of our writers using the holiday break to rip through big piles of neglected discs, find the good and the great and share their observations. It’s an impressive haul with a little something for everyone from fusion-y Afro-jazz to twin guitar reveries (played by actual twins) to improvised percussion to a fascinating bandleader who reminds us of everyone and no one. This edition’s contributors included Bill Meyer (who wins this round), Isaac Olson, Derek Taylor, Patrick Masterson, Jennifer Kelly and Jonathan Shaw. Happy new year.

Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids — An Angel Fell (Strut)

An Angel Fell by Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids

What makes An Angel Fell, the latest from Idris Ackamoor and his resurrected Pyramids, such a blast is how effortlessly they mix Afrobeat, Afro-Cuban, dub, free jazz, blues, soul, gospel, bossa nova, and Arkestral vocals without sounding like a pastiche. What makes it important is that this inclusive, post-everything musical approach is married to an equally inclusive and utopian political sensibility: inclusive in the sense that sci-fi parables are given a seat at the table next to real world concerns, and utopian in the sense that the mystical Afrofuturism of songs like “An Angel Fell” and goofy exotica of “Papyrus” never trivialize the album highlight, “Soliloquy for Michael Brown,” which, despite its name, includes the whole damn band. Most importantly, it’s inclusive in the sense that Ackamoor and company want you marching and dancing with them, and utopian in that they whipped up a joyous hour and seven minutes of scorching solos, arresting hooks, and straight fire to get you there.

Isaac Olson

Anna & Elizabeth — The Invisible Comes To US (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)

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Ann Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle have used backlit, hand-cranked scrolls to illustrate the stories they rendered with Appalachian harmonies and strings. On their third album, The Invisible Comes to Us, they reframe their tradition-steeped sound with retro-futurist instrumentation supplied by producer and multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Lazar Davis of Cuddle Magic and accompanists such as drummer Jim White (Xylouris White, Dirty Three) and steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. Vocoders, feedback, brass and Mellotron keep the sound varied and far from by-the-numbers folk, but the duo don’t tamper much with their impassive presentation of Civil War-vintage infidelity. It’s hard to shake the suspicion that the duo could have made just as strong an album with just their voices and strings, but that doesn’t keep this from being an intriguing advancement of the evolving folk music paradigm.

Bill Meyer

Martin Blume / Wilbert de Joode / John Butcher — Low Yellow (Jazzwerkstatt)

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The title of this trio recording is a bit of a stumper. When the CD is playing words like “bright,” “acute” and “mercurial” come more quickly to mind than “low” or any single color. German drummer Martin Blume, Dutch bassist Wilbert de Joode and English saxophonist John Butcher have been playing together since 2004, and this live set from 2016 is a splendid example of the aesthetic and methodological rapport that can evolve over such a span. These men might not know exactly what they’re going to do when they get on stage, but it’s pretty clear what they are doing. They improvise with an exacting attention to process that allows a music to come into existence that would not be possible if you swapped any player for another, yet never involves one musician dominating the others. Each has a highly distinct musical vocabulary and sufficient differences in background for the music to surprise in deeply satisfying ways.

Bill Meyer

Bixiga 70 — Quebra Cabeça (Glitterbeat)

Quebra Cabeça by Bixiga 70

Quebra Cabeça means jigsaw puzzle in Portuguese, and this latest double LP from the Afro-Brazilian ten-piece certainly fits a lot of pieces together here — rattling barrio percussion, twitchy Lagos-funked guitars, 1970s American blaxploitation soundtracks, space-age synths and swaggering sax and brass frontlines. If it sounds like too many parts, that’s where you’re wrong. Cuts like “Pedra de Raio” integrate the mystic chill of trippy fusion with a molten throb of samba rhythm. An effortless propulsion of hand drums, bumping bass and warm West African guitars moves the cut forward; serpentine sax melodies and blurts of brass jut off from the foundation. “Levante” syncopates, but slowly, with undulating, Eastern-toned sax lines weaving snake dances over it all. “Torre” picks up the pace from there, leaning into its Afro-funk influences with an agitated tangle of trebly guitars, cow-bells and blasts of horns. None of these pieces are jammed in willy-nilly, and everything fits. If you like the Budos Band, but wish they’d do a Fela tribute, this is your jam.

Jennifer Kelly

East of the Valley Blues — Ressemblera (Astral Spirits)

Ressemblera by East of the Valley Blues

Cryptophasia, a.k.a twinspeak, is the phenomenon of twins developing a language of their own, largely or entirely unintelligible to outsiders. East of the Valley Blues, comprised of Andrew and Patrick Cahill, is a twin guitar group, which is to say, they each play guitar and are literally twins, and while their knotty, wholly improvised fourth release, Ressemblera, isn’t entirely cryptophasic, you’ll need to listen closely to start piecing it together. Grab a pair of headphones and you get a brother in each ear, which helps. So suddenly do the brothers Cahill pick up, break off and drop shards of rhythm and melody that Ressemblera never resembles other guitar music but their own for more than seconds at a time. You’ll hear snatches of Fahey, Connors, Bailey et al. but the fun of Ressemblera comes from hearing familiar sounds doubly refracted through the Cahill’s unique styles and responses to each other. Ressemblera plays out in one, dense half hour track and a short epilogue, making it the least accessible East of the Valley Blues release to date, but for those willing to dive in, it might be the most rewarding.

Isaac Olson

Flanger Magazine — Breslin (Sophomore Lounge)

FLANGER MAGAZINE "Breslin" by Flanger Magazine

Remember Caboladies? For a few years back at the height of the synth resurgence, they kept up a respectable stream of squelchy sound, only to disappear like memories of Myspace. It would appear that Christopher David Bush of Caboladies has taken a path somewhat akin to that navigated by laptop rockers who swapped their Macs for modular synths; go back, man, peel back the generations of gear. The digital sheen’s gone from his solo music as Flanger Magazine, replaced by an unenhanced analog vibe generated by acoustic guitar, monophonic synthesizer, and field recordings of birds that bath near the Ohio River. Instead of the audio expanse of yore, he crafts shy and pensive themes that would be just about right for that PBS afternoon drama you dreamed up after a few too many mid-day snacks about the adventures of some long-haired Scottish mid-teens in already-outgrown flare-legged pants their friends the runaway redundant robots. Damn, that was a good dream.

Bill Meyer

Fred Frith Trio – Closer to the Ground (Intakt)

Closer to the Ground by Fred Frith Trio

Rigorously resisting complacency and conformity across stacked decades can carry the consequences of burnout for even the most ardent and resilient of creative musicians. Closer to the Ground is evidence of guitarist Fred Frith coming to terms with this fact and realizing with renewed vigor the pleasures of playing in a band. Ensemble endeavors have been a regular outlet since his youth and while the measure of their enduring value is no epiphany, the company of bassist Jason Hoopes (fielding both acoustic and electric strings) and drummer Jordan Glenn has an obvious and immediate effect of dialing in the guitarist’s mercurial and explosive side. Both sidemen are mere fractions of the Frith’s age, but each is quick to illustrate that when levied against ardor and experience any differential is just a number. Grooves are plentiful, mixing prog rock atmospherics, dub and latticed drones with a flexing, propulsive sense of consensual purpose. Frith syncs his strings to all manner of filters and pigments, refusing to hew to any enduring signature and his partners respond with a similarly colorful palette of support. Titles for the nine pieces are all evocative, but in the end its the assembled aqueous sounds that adhere to the space between the ears above all else.

Derek Taylor

Fritz Hauser – Laboratorio (hat[now]ART)

The lede to the liners accompanying Fritz Hauser’s Laboratorio is “Drums and Space,” as an accurate and pithy a synopsis of the Swiss percussionist’s art as a curious neophyte listener could ask for. Hauser’s been active as a Contemporary Classical composer for much of his career, constructing complex music that draws on all manner of drum family devices. He’s also devoted time to associations with world-class improvisers including Joe McPhee and Jöelle Léandre. Here, the focus is on solo pieces devised around the nexus of music and architecture with inspiration provided by students of the latter. As with past Hauser projects the organized sounds are exacting. Identified only by a sequential Italian number, each piece explores facets of his assembled kit (snare, toms, cymbals, woodblocks, etc.) and how those components interact and refract within the crystalline acoustics of the recording space. Ranging from ghostly metallic whispers to strident tumbling rhythms the revolving parts create a recital rich with diaphanous dynamics and precision pivots in direction. Hauser’s an unassuming master of his craft and this hours’ worth of drum-driven dramaturgy delivers on nearly every count.

Derek Taylor

Sarah Hennies / Greg Stuart — Rundle (Notice Recordings)

Rundle by Sarah Hennies & Greg Stuart

A few years back Sarah Hennies released an album called Work. While that was a solo CD of composed music, and this is an improvised collaboration between Hennies and fellow percussionist Greg Stuart (who, along with Tim Feeney, comprise the trio Meridian), the title comes to mind when listening to this cassette. For while both musicians are well acquainted with realizing profound, provocative and beautiful works by Michael Pisaro, Clara de Asis and Hennies herself, the vibe here is “let’s get to work.” The two musicians approach the assembled resources of the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity like a couple of tradespeople sizing up a tool shop. “What do you have here?” “What can I do with this?” “What shall we build?” Moving decisively between hard objects, scraped surfaces and hovering mallet and piano figures, they construct an edifice of sound rich in tonal and temporal contrasts. Nice work.

Bill Meyer

MP Hopkins — G.R/S.S (Aussenraum)

MP Hopkins is a both sides of the coin kind of guy. Heads, you get abbreviation.

G.R stands for “The Gallery Rounds” and S.S for “Scratchy Sentence.” Tales, you get elongation. Each of those pieces lasts a side, and each side is an unhurried investigation of the sounds that happen when not much happens. The first is a collection of degraded field recordings of forced air ventilation, not-quite-heard conversations and other stuff you aren’t supposed to notice when you check out some art. “Scratchy Sentence” is the outcome of Hopkins’ struggle to get something out of some synthesizers he didn’t really know how to use, which he compares to the task of coaxing conversation from a grumpy old man. The old man might say, “well if you learned how I talk, I’d sing!” It’s true, but who is holding classes on the lingo of old EMS and Arp machines? You learn as you go, and the discoveries that you make during that early struggle just might yield some cool sounds. That is the case here.

Bill Meyer

Sarah Longfield — Disparity (Season of Mist)

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Sarah Longfield can shred — but is that enough? Maybe it is, in a field of music that’s as hyperbolically dude-centric as virtuoso-level rock guitar. Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, the fellows in Animals as Leaders: there’s little restraint in their compositions or performative styles, which feature as much groin-focused acrobatics as tapping harmonics. So, it’s sort of refreshing to watch Longfield do her thing. She plays. Occasionally she nods her head. Much of her music is as overstuffed as the spiraling, wanking, proggy nonsense that acts like Animals as Leaders churn out. But Longfield’s understated presence and her emotionally poignant vocals keep the songs grounded, if a bit mannerly.

Jonathan Shaw

Richard Papiercuts — Twisting the Night (Ever/Never)

Twisting The Night by Richard Papiercuts

Richard Papiercuts sings in a gothy baritone, tossing off mordant asides like a 1930s movie star. That is, he’s somewhere in the Venn Diagram where the dank glamor of Bauhaus intersects with the Monochrome Set’s fey wit (it’s a very small slice). To add to the complications, his band is large, multi-instrumented and exuberant, prone to happy squalls of guitar and irresistible blurts of brass and saxophone, but also clearly aligned with punk rock’s brevity and punch. (Think Olivia Tremor Control playing Minutemen covers.) And so, it is very hard to get a handle on Richard Papiercuts, much less to box him in with reference and antecedents, but it is much easier to say fuck it all and just dive in. You can start at the beginning with “A Place to Stay,” a walloping beat galloping between big slashes of guitars, and Papiercuts singing archly about (I think) having a baby. Or move right to the ebullient roar of distorted guitars in “Starless Summer Night,” where a rackety, endlessly repeated groove recalls rave-y shoegaze bands like Chapterhouse. “The Riddle” sounds exactly like the Pixies until it doesn’t, that is until its grinding bass and incandescent guitar gives way to a joyful overload of jangling strings, banged piano keys and loopy riffs of trombone and sax. “World and Not World (Twisting the Night)” begins in a pinging new wave synth, which is subsumed not much later by a rushing krautish momentum. And over it all Papiercuts presides, morose, poetic, disdainful and stylish. If rock stars still roamed the earth, he’d be one.

Jennifer Kelly

Dane Rousay — Neuter cassette (Dane Rousay)

Neuter by Dane Rousay

The cassette’s case is pink. The playing is decisive and attentive to contrast, but also reserved. The title cancels gender, and by implication conventionally binary readings of just what a solo drum performance is about. Dane Rousay’s latest recording highlights the communicative power of orchestrated gestures. Each strike, scrape or roll not only fills up space, but asks you to think about the point of that sound manifesting in that space for as long as it is around and as long as you think about it. That’s not just a solo percussion tape you’re hearing; that’s existential expression.

Bill Meyer

Kenny Segal — Happy Little Trees (Ruby Yacht)

happy little trees by Kenny Segal

For a guy who’s fallen asleep to full-length Bob Ross episodes for years now (ask me about the days when I had to navigate endless hazardous popups on this one Chinese streaming site before the Rawse estate finally brought the whole series to YouTube), I really let myself down not investigating Kenny Segal’s Happy Little Trees closer to its mid-October release. The L.A. beatsmith, who made his name at Concrete Jungle playing drum n’ bass, has done work for Busdriver, Open Mike Eagle and collaborated with Milo, but he’s on his own here painting rhythms into the wilderness of your mind’s imagination sure to satisfy both the ASMR devotee in your life and that person who has fallen down the rabbit hole of Spotify chill mixes and cannot be retrieved. Featuring instrumental assistance including guitars, bass, sax, flute and piano from a tight cohort of co-conspirators, you’ll likely know where you stand based on the title of the seventh track alone: “Adultswimtypebeat.” Come, let’s make some big decisions together.

Patrick Masterson

Howard Stelzer — Across The Blazer (Marginal Frequency)

MFCD C | Across the Blazer by Howard Stelzer

The two tracks on Across the Blazer are founded upon a device beloved by sound designers. The Shepard Tone comprises three looped sine tones that are selectively faded to create the impression of an endlessly rising pitch. Imagine pitching a tent inside one of George Martin’s tape creations from “A Day in the Life” and spending the night while it never ends, and you’ve got an idea of what listening to this CD will do to you. It simultaneously instigates the apprehension that something is going to happen and the experience of nothing happening. Stelzer creates this experience with carefully filtered cassette tape noise, but the tools don’t really matter. It’s the vividness of the experience, which is enhanced by the halo-like masslessness of this enveloping sound, that counts.

Bill Meyer

Szun Waves — New Hymn to Freedom (Leaf)

New Hymn To Freedom by Szun Waves

Much of New Hymn to Freedom, the latest by Szun Waves, a free improv drums, sax and electronics trio tangentially related to that booming jazz scene in London you’ve been hearing so much about, is the burbling and exhilarating aural equivalent of the (in)famous “Star Gate” sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey, except there’s a younger, more hopeful version of yourself at the end of the tunnel. But the best tracks on New Hymn To Freedom, the gorgeous, nocturnal “Fall Into the Water” and the melancholy, swinging “Temple”, are grounded and restrained. It’s as easy to imagine them playing as you lay on the hood of your car as it is piloting yourself through the cosmos.

Isaac Olson

Terre Thaemlitz — Comp x Comp (Comatonse Recordings)

Comp x Comp by Terre Thaemlitz

Anyone too lazy (or naïve) to investigate the mammoth back catalog of producer, poet, queer theorist and all around champion of the disenfranchised Terre Thaemlitz beyond the canonized DJ Sprinkles release Midtown 120 Blues has been gifted something special as 2019 dawns: Thaemlitz’s Comatonse Recordings made its way to Bandcamp in early January with a hodgepodge of albums that, as she puts it, “I have sold out of, but there is not enough interest for a physical repress.” Among these releases – which include 1995’s organic Soil and 1999’s bait-and-switch-campaigned Love for Sale: Taking Stock in Our Pride – is something especially noteworthy, Comp x Comp. The 76-track album is, as its title would suggest, a compilation of minimalist glitch, noise, ambient and nigh orchestral pieces that largely eschew dancefloor adrenaline. A series of 10 disorienting audio shorts each around a half-minute, "Mille Glaces.000-009," will intrigue Mille Plateaux completists deprived of a chance to hear it when the label went bankrupt in ’03, but there are also proper tracks like the 11-minute “Get in and Drive” and “A Quiet of Intimacy Mirrors Distance.” Thaemlitz’s idea of filling out the remainder of a CD length with 47 mostly silent one-second tracks occupies much of the tracklisting, but don’t be fooled: You’re getting your 80 minutes’ worth… and not a second more or less.

Patrick Masterson

Mike Westbrook — Starcross Bridge (Hatology)

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As befits a man known best as a big band leader, Mike Westbrook has not made many solo records. This is only his third in 43 years, and it freely references things and people who have passed. Aged 81 when he recorded it in December 2017, Westbrook has seen a lot. He’s old enough to remember World War II and the drabness of postwar England; old enough to have been persuaded first hand of swing and modern jazz’s life-giving inspirations; to have seen his band-mates experiment there way into free improvisation while the world went nuts for the Beatles; and to have seen his generation inevitably pass the world on to the ill-gripping paws that have dubious hold of it now. You can hear bits of all of that across this album’s 14 tracks, as well as more personal memories. Cherished favorites by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk bump up against pop tunes that he played with his wife Kate, and a couple originals are dedicated to musicians who played in his band but are no longer with us. Each performance feels as well framed as a remembered story, the one that you tell over and over to keep that memory alive.

Bill Meyer

Woven Skull — S/T (Oaken Palace)

Woven Skull by Woven Skull

Ireland’s Woven Skull has a few neat tricks up their sleeve: they use drums, viola, mandola and whatever else is laying around, to whip up furious, black metal-esque squalls and eerie folk hauntings. They harness roiling free improv to mantric repetition and pentatonic, vaguely north African motifs. They mimic (and insert) the sounds of the bogs that surround their home base in Leitrim into their headier jams and, like their spiritual forbears Sun City Girls, they’ve got a penchant for homemade, bike bell gamelan. However, Woven Skull’s greatest trick is convincing you, for as long as they’re playing, that they’re the greatest band in the world. More serious than Sun City Girls and more playful than Bardo Pond, Woven Skull is a great introduction to your new favorite cult band.

Isaac Olson

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thehonestmommy · 6 years

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Let me introduce myself...

I’m Sarah. And I’m about to become a first time mom (FTM).

I wanted to tell you a bit about my experience leading up to now, and continue to share what its like to go through this major life change in the most honest way possible.

We don’t all get to this point of being a first time mom through the same route. For some of us, its got some weird detours. It’s my hope that the telling of my story will help others feel just a bit more normal about their path.

Today i’m writing this from week 19 of my pregnancy and i’m glowing (okay its 60% sweat) and proudly showing my bump to the world. I’ve never felt this well in my life, and i’m crazy happy. You might look at me now, and think i’m one of those women who’s been yearning for this her whole life.

With how I feel now, It’s easy enough for me to say that I’ve always wanted to have kids, but I wouldn’t be telling the full truth. So, let me be honest.

A baby-crazy teenager

I spent most of my adolescent years fantasizing about having a great job as an artist, and being married and raising a family in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (my home town). Of course, as I got older those things shifted and the details changed, but the idea of having a family never faded from my fantasy. Even as a young adult of just 16 year old, I wanted to begin having children. In fact, much to the surprise and fear of my friends and boyfriends of that time, I wanted very specifically to be a young mom.

You see, I am the baby of a 3-child family. My parents were not old when they had me, but life circumstances sometimes kept them from being particularly physically active with me. They both worked a lot and had their own financial and emotional challenges (which I appreciate more and more as I get older). My parents gave so much of their life to us, but still, there were times in my up-bringing where I wish my parents could have joined me in some of my experiences. I think back to being in Florida at Universal Studios when I was 14 years old. My original choice of park to visit on our vacation was Bush Gardens with all the exciting rollercoasters, but my parents suggested it would be a waste of our time and money since they weren’t planning on join me on any of the rides (and wouldn’t allow me to go alone). They weren’t completely opposed to joining me all the time though. They both went on some of the tame rides with me at Universal so we still had a fun time at the park. It took some convincing, but my father joined me on one of the rollercoasters. I was thrilled and at the same time sad that it was the only coaster I got to ride in the park. It wasn’t till later in my life that I realized going on those roller coasters was hard on my dads body due to work injuries, and that my mother was not a thrill-seeker (like me). And I couldn’t help but wonder… if they had been younger, would things be different?

And so, during my life as a young adult, I realized that I desperately wanted to have a baby as young as was acceptable, so I could be a parent who was active and able to keep up with an energetic child. Having a baby was always top of mind. I was an anomaly to my friends, but I was honest with myself. This is what I wanted. Of course, I was not in a relationship or life situation that was conducive to having children, so I focused on my schooling and getting myself into a career that could help me get to my family goals.

In college I started dating a guy (now my husband) who I thought from day one was an ultimate catch and serious family-making material. Just when I thought the fantasies about having a baby would click into overdrive, they started to fade.

How it all changed

I was happily in love and enjoying every spare moment we had together. We spent a season away from home having some fun experiencing and learning about ourselves and each other, and we continued to be caught up in our lives, and slowly lost touch with the desire for creating a family. That feeling was being replaced with the intoxication of independence and the illusion of youth.

… and then we took a big hit. After we had moved back to our home province, my boyfriend was was facing unemployment (a familiar story for many people in our area), and was offered a job about 20 hours away. It took the wind out of our sails. Life just got real.

This was a very challenging time for us both, It’s still hard to even conjure up the memories now. For two years, we did the ‘long distance relationship’ dance of lingering late night phone calls and feeling so in love, but utterly alone. Being apart is difficult for any young couple. But for us, there was a strong divide. He knew he was unable to work in our home town (or even our home province) and being away was his only option to hold employment... and I was stubbornly in love with living a small and simple life on our island, and refused to leave that lifestyle behind. We were both holding each other back. , but there was a strong breaking point for us both. We couldn't continue to do this to one another... so he gave me an ultimatum; Either move away to be with him, or lose him for good.

I decided that moving away from home was best for us both in terms of our career and adventure so I packed up my life and headed to the big city. And just like that, the wind was back in our sails, and we were living a dream life. We had an apartment in a high-rise down town, found new jobs in our careers, and made new friends. I worked as a designer for a music production company and spent many nights at music venues enjoying the night-life. We went to concerts together, travelled, partied, ate at new restaurants, got involved in the arts scene and gained a full on lust for life. We were young, living alone together away from family in a big city without a care in the world. We were high on life!

In looking back at that time, I can see now that I was completely disengaged with the idea of having children. I was enjoying being an independent adult, in love and Working on my career. My life was blossoming, and it was thrilling! At the same time as I was enjoying my life, I was also faced very often with the horror of the world around me. Our politics, our environment, and the projection of our future. The news bombarded us daily with stories of war, suicide, disease, famine, violence, social oppression and hatred. All these things had me saying many times in an off the cuff manner that ‘I don’t want to bring a child into a world like this.’ And so, I identified as a woman who chose not to bare children. That was my right, and my choice.

During that time that I would now identify as my non-maternal time, there were people who came into my life, who before knowing me terribly well, noted that despite my views of the world around me, I was still a positive person. I’d been described as a sunny, glass-half-full person. These people were new to me (having moved to a new city) and their perspective of my personality was intriguing. Their comments prompted me to turn inward and see it in myself. It took some time to align my thoughts with my behaviours. For one, it didn’t align very well with how I thought the world was in shambles. And for another, these people didn’t know me as well as say, my best friends or my family. But still, their words and opinions had an impact on me. I did very often (and still do) tend to look on the brighter side of things, and was pretty damn good at finding a silver lining and keeping my head above water when my world was drowning.

Over time, that started to become a strong part of my identity and how I viewed myself. I AM the person who will always find happiness in every dark place. I am the type who can enjoy the little things in daily life. I am powerfully optimistic, and I bring that out in others. Armed with this knowledge, my self esteem began to grow. The more I leaned into that positive identity shift, the closer I became to wanting to be a parent again. It grew very slowly and very subtly; I felt more confident in myself, and I started being more interested in the intricacies of parenthood and fantasized about how I would raise a compassionate, positive and happy child. I grew fond of picturing how my husband and I would tackle the challenges of raising a kid, and how our lives would go from exciting nights on the town, to exciting days experiencing the world through the eyes of a child. I caught myself feeling proud of the parents in my life, and even the strangers as they integrated a child into their lifestyles with ease. And most notably, I caught myself longingly gazing at children, babies, and pregnant moms with a soft smile on my face.

Tick tock goes the clock

It was coming back...that tick-tick-tick of my internal clock. And right in time with it, my husbands expressions of how he wishes to have a bigger life with more meaning, and his unmistakable joy when being around his nieces and nephews. It was like a warm glow of a sunrise finally dawning on us. We were ready to take the step together to become parents. To be a family.

But (there’s always a but!) like the warn out story of so many before us, mother nature wouldn't let it happen that easy. Despite being ready, our bodies were not. And like a striking blow to the heart, I was diagnosed with endometriosis; a reproductive condition (disease) that makes getting pregnant a challenge for many, and an impossibility for some.

My diagnosis meant that, depending on the severity of my condition, I may struggle for a long time to have children, and realistically I may not be able to conceive at all. Fortunately, many women successfully conceive and there are treatment options that could help increase my chances.

I began a 3 year treatment to help set up a ‘hospitable’ environment for my body to carry a baby. During that time, I could not get pregnant. While that was a difficult reality to face and a long time to wait, it was the most logical step forward on our path to parenthood.

3 years passed, and finally, we were cleared for trying to conceive. And yet, mother nature still had more to say. It took us 2 more years of trying, waiting, disappointment and tears before our doctor finally recognized that it wasn't working, and we weren’t getting any younger. At this point I was 32 years old (and my husband 34) and had been trying to have a baby for 5 years (including treatment time). It was time for intervention with a fertility specialist.

We were both saddened by needing the intervention, but ultimately relieved that we were being escalated to the next step and hopefully much closer to success. After a short waiting period, we had our first appointment with our fertility specialist. It was a long appointment of many questions, explanations, and date planning. We were moving forward with appointments immediately, beginning with blood work for us both, and some mildly invasive tests for me.

Of course, my tests were tightly scheduled during specific times in my menstrual cycle so that they could accurately look at egg production, the shape and position of my reproductive organs, and a variety of other factors. All my appointments were laid out; on day 4 of your cycle, procedure A. On day 10 of your cycle, procedure B Etc, etc. I was incredibly nervous about the outcomes of the procedures. What if it wasn't the Endometriosis that was the problem? What if it was something much worse, or what if all this time, I was completely infertile? I was spiralling down with worries of letting my husband down; the man who so badly wanted to have kids. I didn’t want to be the reason he would never have a son or daughter. I was straight up scared.

The waiting game

During the anticipation of my first procedure, I was counting down days in fear, waiting impatiently for my cycle to begin. Waiting, worried and anxious. And waiting. And waiting. and more waiting?

Wait...what day is it? I’m three days late. Now four. And my cute but very independent and non-cuddly dog is following me around like my shadow and cuddling with me constantly. This is weird... I cant be... can I?

I bought a test. It was positive.

OH MY GOD. How did this happen?! We got pregnant while waiting for my cycle to begin for fertility testing! Right when we were least expecting it, mother nature stepped up and said “Fine. If you’re really this serious, here ya go”

WE DID IT!

And so here we are, joyously pregnant after 5 years of trying, and managing to pull off a natural conception with no surgical intervention when all the odds were stacked against us. I’m not the young mom that I’d hoped I would be, but I can say with complete confidence that I’m much more prepared and emotionally stable to bring a child into the world. It was a blessing in disguise that we were met with roadblocks and forced to wait. We are amazed that it happened to us this way, and love that we have such an interesting story so far.

I for one, am super excited to see how this story continues to unfold!

Stay tuned!

#pregnancy #ftm #firsttimemom #first time mom #motherhood #fertility #disease #endometriosis #relationships #parenthood #conception

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glass-kilimanjaro · 3 years

Text

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Tyson was born in Manhattan as the second of three children, into a family living in the Bronx.[3] His mother, Sunchita Maria Tyson (née Feliciano; 1928 -), was a gerontologist for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and is of Puerto Rican descent.[4] His African-American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson (1927–2016), was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay, and the first Director of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited.[5][6] Tyson has two siblings: Stephen Joseph Tyson and Lynn Antipas Tyson.[5] Tyson's middle name, deGrasse, is from the maiden name of his paternal grandmother, who was born as Altima de Grasse in the British West Indies island of Nevis.[7]

Tyson grew up in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, and later in Riverdale.[8] From kindergarten throughout high school, Tyson attended public schools in the Bronx: P.S. 36, P.S. 81, the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy (then called "P.S. 141"), and The Bronx High School of Science (1972–1976) where he was captain of the wrestling team and editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal.[9][10] His interest in astronomy began at the age of nine after visiting the sky theater of the Hayden Planetarium.[11] He recalled that "so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the universe called me."[12] During high school, Tyson attended astronomy courses offered by the Hayden Planetarium, which he called "the most formative period" of his life. He credited Dr. Mark Chartrand III, director of the planetarium at the time, as his "first intellectual role model" and his enthusiastic teaching style mixed with humor inspired Tyson to communicate the universe to others the way he did.[13]

Tyson obsessively studied astronomy in his teen years, and eventually even gained some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of fifteen.[14] Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies.[6] In his book, The Sky Is Not the Limit, Tyson wrote:

My letter of application had been dripping with an interest in the universe. The admission office, unbeknownst to me, had forwarded my application to Carl Sagan's attention. Within weeks, I received a personal letter...[15]

Tyson revisited this moment on his first episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Pulling out a 1975 calendar belonging to the famous astronomer, he found the day Sagan invited the 17-year-old to spend a day in Ithaca. Sagan had offered to put him up for the night if his bus back to the Bronx did not come. Tyson said, "I already knew I wanted to become a scientist. But that afternoon, I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to become."[16][17]

Tyson chose to attend Harvard where he majored in physics and lived in Currier House. He was a member of the crew team during his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, lettering in his senior year. He was also active in dance, in styles including jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin Ballroom.[18]

Tyson hosting the 40th anniversary celebration of

Apollo 11

at the

National Air and Space Museum

in Washington, July 2009

Tyson earned an AB degree in physics at Harvard College in 1980 and then began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin,[19] from which he received an MA degree in astronomy in 1983. By his own account, he did not spend as much time in the research lab as he should have. His professors encouraged him to consider alternative careers and the committee for his doctoral dissertation was dissolved, ending his pursuit of a doctorate from the University of Texas.[20]

Tyson was a lecturer in astronomy at the University of Maryland from 1986 to 1987[21] and in 1988, he was accepted into the astronomy graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned an MPhil degree in astrophysics in 1989, and a PhD degree in astrophysics in 1991[22] under the supervision of Professor R. Michael Rich. Rich obtained funding to support Tyson's doctoral research from NASA and the ARCS foundation[23] enabling Tyson to attend international meetings in Italy, Switzerland, Chile, and South Africa[21] and to hire students to help him with data reduction.[24] In the course of his thesis work, he observed using the 0.91 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, where he obtained images for the Calán/Tololo Supernova Survey[25][26][27] helping to further their work in establishing Type Ia supernovae as standard candles.

During his thesis research at Columbia University, Tyson became acquainted with Professor David Spergel at Princeton University, who visited Columbia University in the course of collaborating with his thesis advisor on the Galactic bulge[28][29][30] typically found in spiral galaxies.

Career

Tyson with students at the 2007

American Astronomical Society

conference

Tyson's research has focused on observations in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formation. He has held numerous positions at institutions including the University of Maryland, Princeton University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Hayden Planetarium.

In 1994, Tyson joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist while he was a research affiliate in Princeton University. He became acting director of the planetarium in June 1995 and was appointed director in 1996.[31] As director, he oversaw the planetarium's $210 million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. Upon being asked for his thoughts on becoming director, Tyson said "when I was a kid... there were scientists and educators on the staff at the Hayden Planetarium... who invested their time and energy in my enlightenment... and I've never forgotten that. And to end up back there as its director, I feel this deep sense of duty, that I serve in the same capacity for people who come through the facility today, that others served for me".[32]

Tyson has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In 1995, he began to write the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine. In a column he authored for a special edition of the magazine, called "City of Stars", in 2002, Tyson popularized the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days annually on which the evening sun aligns with the street grid in Manhattan, making the sunset visible along unobstructed side streets. He had coined the term in 1996, inspired by how the phenomenon recalls the sun's solstice alignment with the Stonehenge monument in England.[33] Tyson's column also influenced his work as a professor with The Great Courses.[34]

In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to serve on the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry and in 2004 to serve on the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, the latter better known as the "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commission. Soon afterward, he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by NASA.[35]

Tyson in December 2011 at a conference marking 1,000 days after the launch of the spacecraft

Kepler

In 2004, Tyson hosted the four-part Origins miniseries of the PBS Nova series,[36] and, with Donald Goldsmith, co-authored the companion volume for this series, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution.[37] He again collaborated with Goldsmith as the narrator on the documentary 400 Years of the Telescope, which premiered on PBS in April 2009.[38]

As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects, and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children.[39] In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the dwarf planet classification.

Tyson recounted the heated online debate on the Cambridge Conference Network (CCNet), a "widely read, UK-based Internet chat group", following Benny Peiser's renewed call for reclassification of Pluto's status.[40] Peiser's entry, in which he posted articles from the AP and The Boston Globe, spawned from The New York Times's article entitled "Pluto's Not a Planet? Only in New York".[41][42]

Tyson has been vice-president, president, and chairman of the board of the Planetary Society. He was also the host of the PBS program Nova ScienceNow until 2011.[43] He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival symposium in November 2006. In 2007, Tyson was chosen to be a regular on The History Channel's popular series The Universe.[citation needed]

Tyson promoting the

Cosmos

TV series in Australia for National Geographic, 2014

In May 2009, Tyson launched a one-hour radio talk show called StarTalk, which he co-hosted with comedian Lynne Koplitz. The show was syndicated on Sunday afternoons on KTLK AM in Los Angeles and WHFS in Washington DC. The show lasted for thirteen weeks, but was resurrected in December 2010 and then, co-hosted with comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord instead of Koplitz. Guests range from colleagues in science to celebrities such as GZA, Wil Wheaton, Sarah Silverman, and Bill Maher. The show is available via the Internet through a live stream or in the form of a podcast.[44]

In April 2011, Tyson was the keynote speaker at the 93rd International Convention of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-year School. He and James Randi delivered a lecture entitled Skepticism, which related directly with the convention's theme of The Democratization of Information: Power, Peril, and Promise.[45]

In 2012, Tyson announced that he would appear in a YouTube series based on his radio show StarTalk. A premiere date for the show has not been announced, but it will be distributed on the Nerdist YouTube Channel.[46] On February 28, 2014, Tyson was a celebrity guest at the White House Student Film Festival.[47]

In 2014, Tyson helped revive Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series, presenting Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey on both FOX and the National Geographic Channel. Thirteen episodes were aired in the first season, and Tyson has stated that if a second season were produced, he would pass the role of host to someone else in the science world.[48][49] In early January, 2018, it was announced that a second season of Cosmos was in production, and that Tyson would once again act as host.[50]

On April 20, 2015, Tyson began hosting a late-night talk show entitled StarTalk on the National Geographic Channel, where Tyson interviews pop culture celebrities and asks them about their life experiences with science.[51]

Tyson is co-developing a sandbox video game with Whatnot Entertainment, Neil deGrasse Tyson Presents: Space Odyssey, which aims to help provide players with a realistic simulation of developing a space-faring culture, incorporating educational materials about space and technology. The game was anticipated for release in 2018.[52]

Views

Spirituality[A] most important feature is the analysis of the information that comes your way. And that's what I don't see enough of in this world. There's a level of gullibility that leaves people susceptible to being taken advantage of. I see science literacy as kind of a vaccine against charlatans who would try to exploit your ignorance.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson, from a transcript of an interview by Roger Bingham on The Science Network[53][54]

Tyson has written and broadcast extensively about his views of science, spirituality, and the spirituality of science, including the essays "The Perimeter of Ignorance"[55] and "Holy Wars",[56] both appearing in Natural History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop. In an interview with comedian Paul Mecurio, Tyson offered his definition of spirituality: "For me, when I say spiritual, I’m referring to a feeling you would have that connects you to the universe in a way that it may defy simple vocabulary. We think about the universe as an intellectual playground, which it surely is, but the moment you learn something that touches an emotion rather than just something intellectual, I would call that a spiritual encounter with the universe."[57] Tyson has argued that many great historical scientists' belief in intelligent design limited their scientific inquiries, to the detriment of the advance of scientific knowledge.[56][58]

When asked during a question session at the University at Buffalo if he believed in a higher power, Tyson responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence."[59][60]:341 In an interview with Big Think, Tyson said, "So, what people are really after is what is my stance on religion or spirituality or God, and I would say if I find a word that came closest, it would be 'agnostic' ... at the end of the day I'd rather not be any category at all."[61] Additionally, in the same interview with Big Think, Tyson mentioned that he edited Wikipedia's entry on him to include the fact that he is an agnostic:

I'm constantly claimed by atheists. I find this intriguing. In fact, on my Wiki page – I didn't create the Wiki page, others did, and I'm flattered that people cared enough about my life to assemble it – and it said "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an atheist." I said, "Well that's not really true." I said, "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an agnostic." I went back a week later, it said "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an atheist" again – within a week! – and I said, "What's up with that?" and I said "Alright, I have to word it a little differently." So I said, okay "Neil deGrasse Tyson, widely claimed by atheists, is actually an agnostic."[61]

During the interview "Called by the Universe: A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson" in 2009, Tyson said: "I can't agree to the claims by atheists that I'm one of that community. I don't have the time, energy, interest of conducting myself that way... I'm not trying to convert people. I don't care."[62]

Tyson in conversation with

Richard Dawkins

at Howard University, 2010

In March 2014, philosopher and secularism proponent Massimo Pigliucci asked Tyson "What is it you think about God?" Tyson replied "I remain unconvinced by any claims anyone has ever made about the existence or the power of a divine force operating in the universe." Pigliucci then asked him why he expressed discomfort with the label "atheist" in his Big Think video. Tyson replied by reiterating his dislike for one-word labels, saying "That's what adjectives are for. What kind of atheist are you? Are you an ardent atheist? Are you a passive atheist? An apathetic atheist? Do you rally, or do you just not even care? So I'd be on the 'I really don't care' side of that, if you had to find adjectives to put in front of the word 'atheist'." Pigliucci contrasted Tyson with scientist Richard Dawkins: "[Dawkins] really does consider, at this point, himself to be an atheist activist. You very clearly made the point that you are not." Tyson replied: "I completely respect that activity. He's fulfilling a really important role out there."[63]

Tyson has spoken about philosophy on numerous occasions. In March 2014, during an episode of The Nerdist Podcast, he stated that philosophy is "useless" and that a philosophy major "can really mess you up",[64] which was met with disapproval.[65][66][67][68] The philosopher Massimo Pigliucci later criticized him for "dismiss[ing] philosophy as a useless enterprise".[69]

Race and social justice

In an undated interview at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tyson talked about being black and one of the most visible and well-known scientists in the world. He told a story about being interviewed about a plasma burst from the sun on a local Fox affiliate in 1989. "I'd never before in my life seen an interview with a black person on television for expertise that had nothing to do with being black. And at that point, I realized that one of the last stereotypes that prevailed among people who carry stereotypes is that, sort of, black people are somehow dumb. I wondered, maybe ... that's a way to undermine this sort of, this stereotype that prevailed about who's smart and who's dumb. I said to myself, 'I just have to be visible, or others like me, in that situation.' That would have a greater force on society than anything else I could imagine."[70][71]

In 2005, at a conference at the National Academy of Sciences, Tyson responded to a question about whether genetic differences might keep women from working as scientists. He said that his goal to become an astrophysicist was "...hands down the path of most resistance through the forces ... of society". He continued: "My life experience tells me, when you don’t find blacks in the sciences, when you don’t find women in the sciences, I know these forces are real and I had to survive them in order to get where I am today. So before we start talking about genetic differences, you gotta come up with a system where there’s equal opportunity. Then we can start having that conversation."[72]

In a 2014 interview with Grantland, Tyson said that he related his experience on that 2005 panel in an effort to make the point that the scientific question about genetic differences can't be answered until the social barriers are dismantled. "I'm saying before you even have that conversation, you have to be really sure that access to opportunity has been level." In that same interview, Tyson said that race is not a part of the point he is trying to make in his career or with his life. According to Tyson, "[T]hat then becomes the point of people's understanding of me, rather than the astrophysics. So it's a failed educational step for that to be the case. If you end up being distracted by that and not [getting] the message." He purposefully no longer speaks publicly about race. "I don't give talks on it. I don't even give Black History Month talks. I decline every single one of them. In fact, since 1993, I've declined every interview that has my being black as a premise of the interview."[73]

NASA

Tyson,

Bill Nye

, and U.S. President

Barack Obama

take a

selfie

at the

White House

, 2014

Tyson is an advocate for expanding the operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Arguing that "the most powerful agency on the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs to be doing".[74] Tyson has suggested that the general public has a tendency to overestimate how much revenue is allocated to the space agency. At a March 2010 address, referencing the proportion of tax revenue spent on NASA, he stated, "By the way, how much does NASA cost? It's a half a penny on the dollar. Did you know that? The people are saying, 'Why are we spending money up there...' I ask them, 'How much do you think we're spending?' They say 'five cents, ten cents on a dollar.' It's a half a penny."[74]

In March 2012, Tyson testified before the United States Senate Science Committee, stating that:

Right now, NASA's annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow.[75][76]

Inspired by Tyson's advocacy and remarks, Penny4NASA, a campaign of the Space Advocates nonprofit,[77] was founded in 2012 by John Zeller and advocates the doubling of NASA's budget to one percent of the federal budget.[78]

In his book Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier Tyson argues that large and ambitious space exploration projects, like getting humans to Mars, will probably require some sort of military or economic driver in order to get the appropriate funding from the United States federal government.[79]

Media appearances

Neil deGrasse Tyson was keynote speaker at

TAM6

of the

JREF

As a science communicator, Tyson regularly appears on television, radio, and various other media outlets. He has been a regular guest on The Colbert Report, and host Stephen Colbert refers to him in his comedic book I Am America (And So Can You!), noting in his chapter on scientists that most scientists are "decent, well-intentioned people", but, presumably tongue-in-cheek, that "Neil DeGrasse [sic] Tyson is an absolute monster."[80] He has appeared numerous times on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has made appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and The Rachel Maddow Show.[81] He served as one of the central interviewees on the various episodes of the History Channel science program, The Universe. Tyson participated on the NPR radio quiz program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in 2007 and 2015.[82] He has appeared several times on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he was also featured on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as the ask-the-expert lifeline.[83] He has spoken numerous times on the Philadelphia morning show, Preston and Steve, on 93.3 WMMR, as well as on SiriusXM's Ron and Fez and The Opie and Anthony Show.

Tyson has been featured as a guest interviewee on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Radiolab, Skepticality, and The Joe Rogan Experience podcasts and has been in several of the Symphony of Science videos.[84][85]

Tyson lived near the World Trade Center and was an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wrote a widely circulated letter on what he saw.[86] Footage he filmed on the day was included in the 2008 documentary film 102 Minutes That Changed America.[87]

In 2007, Tyson was the keynote speaker during the dedication ceremony of Deerfield Academy's new science center, the Koch Center, named for David H. Koch '59. He emphasized the impact science will have on the twenty-first century, as well as explaining that investments into science may be costly, but their returns in the form of knowledge gained and piquing interest is invaluable. Tyson has also appeared as the keynote speaker at The Amazing Meeting, a science and skepticism conference hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation.[88]

Tyson made a guest appearance as a version of himself in the episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis[89] alongside Bill Nye and in the episode "The Apology Insufficiency" of The Big Bang Theory.[90] Archive footage of him is used in the film Europa Report. Tyson also made an appearance in an episode of Martha Speaks as himself.[91]

2010 Space Conference group portrait: Tyson with fellow television personality and science educator

Bill Nye

In a May 2011 StarTalk Radio show, The Political Science of the Daily Show, Tyson said he donates all income earned as a guest speaker.[92]

Tyson is a frequent participant in the website Reddit's AMAs (Ask Me Anythings) where he is responsible for three of the top ten most popular AMAs of all time.[93]

In Action Comics #14 (January 2013), which was published November 7, 2012, Tyson appears in the story, in which he determines that Superman's home planet, Krypton, orbited the red dwarf LHS 2520 in the constellation Corvus 27.1 lightyears from Earth. Tyson assisted DC Comics in selecting a real-life star that would be an appropriate parent star to Krypton, and picked Corvus, which is Latin for "Crow",[94][95] and which is the mascot of Superman's high school, the Smallville Crows.[96][97] Tyson also had a minor appearance as himself in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[98]

In May 2013, the Science Laureates of the United States Act of 2013 (H.R. 1891; 113th Congress) was introduced into Congress. Neil deGrasse Tyson was listed by at least two commentators as a possible nominee for the position of Science Laureate, if the act were to pass.[99][100] On March 8, 2014, Tyson made a SXSW Interactive keynote presentation at the Austin Convention Center.[101]

On June 3, 2014, Tyson co-reviewed Gravity in a CinemaSins episode.[102] He made two more appearances with CinemaSins, co-reviewing Interstellar on September 29, 2015,[103] and The Martian on March 31, 2016.[104]

In 2016, Tyson narrated and was a script supervisor for the science documentary, Food Evolution, directed by Academy Award nominated director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.[105] In the same year, Tyson made a guest appearance on the Avenged Sevenfold album The Stage, where he delivered a monolog on the track "Exist".[106] In 2017, Tyson appeared on Logic's album Everybody as God, uncredited on various tracks, and credited on the song "AfricAryaN"[107] as well as on "The Moon" on Musiq Soulchild's album Feel the Real.[108]

In 2018, Tyson made a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory as himself, together with fellow scientist Bill Nye, in the first episode of the show's final season ("The Conjugal Configuration").[109

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sarahbushdance · 1 year

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Rainy Day Reflections… 2022 Year-In-Review

Sarah takes flight, jumping off a boulder into the blue skyon Native Land of the Ute Indians Dear SBDP friends, family and community, Allow me to share with you my JOY and GRATITUDE — 2022 saw a return to the studio for SBDP! We got to dance in-person again! Lifting each other up in rehearsals, performances, workshops and residencies was life-affirming! We were greeted with the most loving…

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francesprances · 2 years

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Save your spot. Space is limited for: IN-STUDIO PERFORMANCE: Tues 6/28 at 6pm in Berkeley. RSVP for address and info. Space is limited. Direct message Sarah Bush Dance Project or Frances Teves Sedayao to save your spot. 'Always At The Mercy Of The Elements' a collection of pre-pandemic premonitions revisited for these pandemic times. Well-ventilated indoor space, audience must wear KN95 😷 performers: @sarahbushdance @kj_dahlaw @8jiggy8 @fsedayao (at Berkeley, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfU_QWAJES3j9CP5QnkohAQfvXL50w8qqtdTvo0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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sixfootwingspan · 4 years

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A mini-film by Sarah Bush Dance Project and Miles Lassi

#sixfootwingspan #dance film #site-specific dance

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shemakesmusic-uk · 4 years

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Getting To Know...

Dance Lessons.

‘New Job’ is the second single from Dance Lessons, a London-based, female-fronted and produced trio, creating what they define as ‘Serrated Pop’. It follows the successful launch of their “domineering debut” single ‘SMABTO’.

The video has been shot in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown in LA by Director Sarah Chatfield (Lily Allen, Lykke Li, The Cribs). Sarah took to the streets with no crew and minimal gear to shoot a breathtaking dance interpretation of ‘New Job’ – performed and choreographed by Gbari ‘GQ’ Gilliam and Shantel Ureña. Sarah manages to capture the stunning vibrancy of areas usually packed with people (now eerily deserted) allowing for Gbari and Shantel’s incredible performance to shine. Watch below.

We had a chat with Dance Lessons all about their beginnings, influences, ‘New Job’ and more. Read the Q&A below.

Hi, how are you? How have you guys been coping with being in quarantine?

“Hi! It’s been very strange, but we’ve actually found it’s also been a good time to be productive and make music. We’ve had difficult moments, as two of us live alone but we’ve converted all of this unspent energy into our music. Our third single will have been written, recorded and produced during lockdown.”

You've just released your new single 'New Job'. What's the song about?

“’New Job’ is loosely about post-breakup distractions and strategies to mask sadness. It has been like a self-fulfilling prophecy. It was never meant to become personal. Ann initially wrote it late last year – before a break-up.”

What brought the three of you together and make you want to start this project?

“Tom and Ann met at a party and decided to make music together on the spot. As soon as we got into a studio we instantly clicked. That’s when we knew Dance Lessons was born!”

Who/what are your influences?

Tom: “Michael Jackson and Quincey. Favourite bass players are Nathan Watts (Stevie Wonder), Bernard Edwards (Chic), Esperanza Spalding and Thundercat.”

Nat: “Roy Ayers, David Bowie, De La Soul, Herbie Hancock and Jamiroquai. From a guitar perspective, Andy Summers (The Police), Nile Rodgers, Prince and John Frusciante.”

Ann: “In terms of songwriting, my influences include the poetry and fiction I read, but also musicians like Kate Bush, Lauryn Hill, and Michael Jackson. Production-wise I’m definitely influenced by Jungle (the band), Glass Animals, Thundercat and classical music.”

Finally, what's next for Dance Lessons? Will there be an EP/LP release?

“We’re not planning an EP just yet but we’re looking forward to releasing our third single in August along with (hopefully) some shows before the end of the year.”

youtube

‘New Job’ is out now.

#getting to know #dance lessons #new job

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otterthewasted · 5 years

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A Call to Arms

What if Feyre decided to not stand on the sidelines during the first battle in book three A Court of Wind and Run? What if she decided to take to the fight in her own, unique way?

I decided to take a small break from my other project (a retelling of ACOMAF from Rhysand's point of view) to write this short story up. I was not satisfied with the battle scenes ACOWAR, I really felt like Feyre was not given the opportunity to kick ass. In the second book, Rhys had suggested to Feyre that she might have the ability to freeze over an entire army... but we never get to see her try.

I chose the first battle (not the one in Adriata), instead of the second battle, even though her help would have been more useful in the second battle, because... well I'm not sure why. Honestly, there would have been complications with either battle, so what the heck, I went with the first.

I used bits and pieces from the actual book, but twisted things up to work the way I wanted.

This is slightly mature because there are some mildly graphic depictions of violence, as well at the end I included the sex scene from the book, but in my own way and it isn't over the top explicit.

You can also read this on AO3 HERE.

I hope you enjoy!

*Disclaimer - I do not take credit for the any of the characters or the world created by Sarah J. Maas.

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War was… awful. No, that’s not right, that word wasn’t strong enough – it was gut twisting, soul wrenchingly abhorrent.

Mor and I stood on a tree-covered hill, overlooking the battle, and every bloody second of it ripped my soul to shreds – and I was not even in the thick of it. We were both armed and armored, in case things went badly, in case there was a trap, but neither of us were expected to fight today. I was untried and untested, and it had been agreed that I should watch and learn instead, and Mor would remain behind as my guard, and my friend.

I had understood the logic of this decision – I had been receiving training in fighting, with both my magic and my sword, but my training could be measured in months instead of years – unlike most of the fae fighting down below. I was also High Lady, were I to fall in battle my death would not just impact Rhysand, or my family, it would send shock waves through our people that could be disastrous to their morale. So, it made sense to stand back and watch, even if just for this first battle.

It made sense… and it didn’t. Because those were my people down there, not just fae from my Court, but fae from my home – Prythian. To stand back and do nothing… it ate at me, tore at me, ground me to nothing, until I was less than nothing.

I did quickly see that there was no place for me amongst the Illyrians – not only was my flying not strong enough, my reflexes not quick enough to keep up with them, but to hack away with sword and spear and shield over and over until you could no longer feel your arms or body. I had no experience with that, I was not even strong enough for that. Even Keir’s soldier fought in a way I had no training in, lined up in obedient rows, their shields up and interconnecting and hacking away in the same manner as the Illyrians, only on foot.

The battle in Adriata had been different, it was not facing off against an untold horde of soldiers standing side by side with your fellow soldiers, trusting in them as surely as you trusted in your own skills. It had been me and Mor, sweeping through the palace, wiping out small pockets of soldiers with our swords and magic, and I had been good at that. Even the attack on Velaris I had held my own, entirely by myself, against the invading force of Hybern in the Rainbow.

Even knowing all of that… I watched as Rhys and Cassian and Azriel hammered at the army – they were easily recognizable amongst the Illyrians by their armor, and by their single-minded ferocity. Rhys alone stood out from the sheer power that radiated from him – it was glorious and beautiful and so very deadly. And as much as the fighting scared me, as much as I had no desire to kill anyone, despite what Hybern had done to my family and intended to do to my people and my former people, as much as I knew I had no place down there… I knew I needed to help.

I could feel it in me, my power, bubbling up inside of me until it pulsed through my veins and danced over my skin. So maybe, I was not meant to fight as an Illyrian or as a Darkbringer, but I could fight in a way no other in Prythian, no other in the world, could. I could fight as Feyre, reborn from the power of seven High Lords. I could fight with fire and water, wind and ice, darkness and light, and shape-shifting.

I could vaguely hear Mor beside me, vaguely hear her calling my name through the rush of power in my ears – but I ignored her. I could not distract myself – what I would be doing would be hard, and it would have to be precise or I would risk harming my own people.

Along the other side of the battle field lay a shallow river, but it had water enough for me – it was a fair distance away, but I could still feel it. I cast my power out and reached for it, dove into it, twisted and swirled among the lazy current, and then pulled. I drew the water up and over the banks and spun it, molded it, until it took on the form of the water wolves, I had used in Velaris. They stretched and writhed and danced in place, as though anxious to join the battle.

I had enough forethought to reach out to Rhy’s mind, Rhys, inform the others – the wolves are coming.

And I cast him an image he had seen before in my mind, of my battle in Velaris, of the pack of wolves I had run with to track down the beasts that attacked our city. Shock echoed down our bond, tinged with delight, and agreement that he would inform our soldiers.

And then I released the wolves.

They charged into the side of the Hybern army, driving into them with such speed and brutality that for an instant it felt like the battle froze in shock… and then the screaming resumed in earnest. My wolves leapt onto soldiers, enveloping them in water, not just surrounding them with it but actually clawing down their throats into their lungs, until they dropped their weapons and clawed at their throats. Until they dropped to their knees, and their eyes rolled back, and they fell to the ground, dead.

One after another they fell, and if a solider managed to shield just before an attack my wolves would simply move to another, and then another, working their way across the battlefield. Their path formed a small, tight wedge in the army, and I continued to drive them forward, creating more of them and plowed them into the army, until there were a great many of them near the middle mass of the Hybern army, weaving in and amongst them.

And then I released my hold over the shape of the water, and the wolves fell apart into a splash of water that hit the ground like a small wave, soaking the already muddy, trampled ground below. It turned the thick mud into a quagmire, and the soldiers sank down into it. The weight of their arms and armor tugging them down until they were stuck near to their calves in it, making their movements slow and arduous. I was not finished with them yet however – I could do more. This day of battle was hot, the sky clear and the sun punishing us with its heat – but inside of my there lived such icy rage.

Ice.

I cast out my power again, sinking down into the thickly mired mud that sucked at the soldier’s legs and slowed their movements – but did not stop them. With a twist of my power that turned from fluid as the water I had used before, to hard and crystal, I froze the water in the mud. The ground turned solid, and instead of slowing the movements of the soldiers it stopped them completely, trapped them in place. The water resisted being frozen – the air and ground were warm from the sun and the season, but I pushed hard against that heat. Fire was another of my gifts, and I splintered my power so that one part of it could swallow the heat of the day; I was not strong enough to turn this day into winter, but I could… dampen it.

The ground remained frozen, and a large, roughly circular swath of Hybern’s army was stuck in place, unable to advance or flee. I could see them using their weapons to hack at the ground, trying to free themselves, and ultimately bloodying themselves in the effort. The rest of the army – those I had not trapped, panicked. The realized, between my efforts and those of the Illyrians and Keir’s Darkbringers, they were losing. They began to flee, turning tail and running.

I would not allow that to happen.

I could feel exhaustion creeping into me, but I ignored it – there wasn’t time for it. I was juggling fire and ice already, managing them with smooth efficiency, but I was going to add another ball to the performance.

Wind.

The Illyrian’s powerful wings buffeted the air as they dove and swooped and attacked, they rode the currents of the wind, masters of the element. I was its master too – and while I still might not be able to fly as well as the rest of them, I could certainly soar among the wind in other ways.

I splinted off another portion of my power and it leapt into the sky and dove, soaring down until it swirled in front of the retreating army. I spread my power out around the field like a band – it was not long enough to trap the entire face of the army, my strength was beginning to run out, but it did cover a generous portion of it. I took in a deep breath, and as though my power mimicked my body, it sucked in the air around it, causing the grass and small bushes to rustle with the movement, and then I pushed.

And the band of power I put in place became a solid wall of air – like the shield I had once made to protect myself in Tamlin’s study out of pure instinct, this one however was made with vicious intent. The retreating army slammed into it, and bounced back, the reverberation of their movements echoing through several rows of fleeing fae.

Pure panic rippled through them, and even at this distance I could taste it. I could feel them pounding against the shield, with weapons and hands and magic. I knew instinctively that the shield would not last for long, it was too large, and I was fast becoming depleted – but it did not have to. I was not shielding them from something valuable, I was preventing them from fleeing. These precious minutes that I held them in place, most of them at least for a large contingent of them had raced along the edge of the shield and found where it ended and begun to flood around it, gave time for my army, for the Illyrians to swing around and meet them on the other side, and trap them from all sides.

When the Illyrians held solid against their retreat I finally released my control over the air, dropping the shield – causing no few of those shoved hard against it to stumble and fall to the ground and be nearly trampled by those behind - an advantage my armies used to its fullest.

Realizing their defeat, Hybern’s army began casting down their weapons and falling to their knees, begging for mercy.

It was only then I felt Mor touching my arm, shaking me, and heard her calling to me, “Feyre! Feyre enough! It’s done!"

And with a gasp, I released my hold on the fire, and ice, letting the ground melt back into mud and mire, and I, I fell to my knees in the grass. My hands managed to catch me before I went down face first and panted for breath.

Mor crouched beside me, her hand on my back. Her voice held a note of awe to it, “Feyre… Feyre are you ok?”

Before I could respond I felt him, before I could lift my head, I heard him; his wings beating hard, and the sound of him landing firmly on the ground in front of me.

Rhysand.

“Mor, go help Cassian and Azriel with cleaning up,” his voice was rough with yelling, and husky with emotion.

I felt Mor rise from my side, walk a few steps, and winnow away. And then he was there, kneeling in front of me and his hands on my shoulders, lifting me up, supporting me. I felt his hand slide over my cheek, and then cup my chin and lift my tired head so that he could see my eyes, and I fell into pools of violet.

There was pride in them, and concern, and shock and awe… but mostly there was love, such all-encompassing love that it filled me with warmth and strength, and in between one heartbeat and the next, I was holding my own body up.

“Feyre…” he whispered, and before he could say more, I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, hard and desperate, burying my face against his neck as I trembled. His arms wrapped around me, solid and warm, and held me against him. I was home, and the battle had been won, and he was safe.

Nothing else in the world mattered for this moment.

It couldn’t last though, such things never did, but these moments did not always end in terror and grief, but sometimes just in practicality and duty. He drew back from me slowly, when my trembling had eased, and looked into my eyes again, his hands sliding up to cup my face.

A slow smile curved along his lips, “Feyre darling… you are… radiant."

I let out a small laugh, tears welling up in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall – not yet. Later.

“We have work to do,” I said quietly, and he nodded. He did not tell me no, to stay back here out of danger, he did not tell me I was too tired, he did not even ask me if I was. He trusted me to know myself and what I was capable of. He stood, and I did to, though I did take his proffered hand to do so. We stepped up to the edge of the hill and looked down over the terrible scene of battle, and his hand tightened around mine.

It was awful, and the screams of those injured and dying clung to the midday air, turning it heavy and nearly suffocating. This was battle was won, and the loss of life on our side minimal, but it was still terrible. I had not thought there was glory in battle before this but had there been even a glimmer of that lie still inside of me, this day would have utterly destroyed it.

I looked over at Rhys and knew he felt the same way.

He looked at me again, no smile on his face, and asked me quietly, “Where do you want to go? Down to the field, or to the medical tents?”

That had been the plan originally, after battle I was to return to the medical tents to help with the wounded – but he was giving me the choice, always my choice.

I decided, however, to stick with this plan. “The medical tents, I’ll be of more use there.”

A nod and he opened his arms to me, I stepped close and he held me as he winnowed me into the camp, into what was quickly becoming chaos. Leaning down, he kissed my forehead lightly, then stepped back, giving me a small smile, and winnowed away.

The next few hours were exhausting, in body and spirit. By the end I felt nearly numb with exhaustion and soaked near to the bone with the blood of the injured. When the healers finally ordered me to bed, an action which did manage to amuse me, I had stopped at a wash barrel and scrubbed the blood from my hands and arms. The trek across camp to the tent Rhys and I shared was arduous, and I might have just winnowed if my own powers hadn’t been so depleted from earlier in the day.

When I reached the tent it was dark inside, so I entered quietly and shed my clothes in a dirty pile on the floor. Walking to the edge of our pallet I lifted the blankets and slid in beside Rhys, who shifted and wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling his lips against my ear, “You smell like blood.”

A little surprised to find him still awake, I wrapped my arms around him and wiggled closer, feeling the warmth of his bare skin pressing against mine. “Sorry,” I murmured quietly, though I had been too tired to mess with a full bath.

He stroked a hand over my waist and down to my hip, “You must be exhausted.”

And I was, bone deep – and he should be as well. We had both spent our bodies and power today, and it was truly a wonder we had not passed out by now.

“And you should be sleeping,” I admonished gently.

He hesitated a moment then answered, “Can’t.”

That made me lift my head a little, peering at his face through the heavy darkness of this near moonless night, “Why?”

I felt his fingers trace along my spine then, long, languorous touches that sent shivers racing through me, and caused my back to arch in response.

“It takes a while – to settle myself after battle,” he explained quietly as he rolled closer to me then, and began to trace his lips along the curve of my jaw, and to my lips, whispering against them “And the sight of you, of what you did, of your powers…” He pressed his lips to mine, hard and hungry, and I responded in kind, meeting his growing passion with my own enflamed fervor.

He drew back, too soon for my happiness, and rested his forehead against mine, breathing quickly, sharing air with me, “If you’re too tired…”

And I was tired… but I needed him. I needed this: us, together, wrapped in each other, body and soul.

I tilted my head and pressed my lips to his again, parting them to brush my tongue over the curve of his and felt his part to accept my tongue. I slid my body closer, running a foot over the curve of his leg as I hitched my thigh over his, half rolling on top of him. He groaned against me, his hand still on my hip, fingers tightening there, and pulling me the rest of the way on top of him. Our kiss did not break as I settled there, straddling him, feeling the hardness of his erection nestled between my thighs, pressing against my stomach.

He drew back from the kiss a little, and looked up at me, his eyes shining, and face flushed, and so heartbreakingly beautiful.

“Feyre…” He whispered and I kissed him again, lightly, before I whispered softly, “Shh…”

No words, not now, not when I needed him this much.

He understood, and we spoke with our bodies instead, in the touch of our hands as his reached up to cup my breasts and rubbed his thumbs over my nipples, causing me to gasp and arch against him; in the touch of our mouths, as I brushed my lips down the curve of his neck, kissing and licking, tasting the sweet salt of his flesh; in the joining of our bodies as I slid down onto him and he filled every inch of me. Our joining was hard and fast, gasping as we held tightly to each other, afraid to let go.

An act of love in defiance of death.

When we shattered, it was soul deep, and I was trembling on top of him, my face buried in his neck and his arms wrapped tightly around me, holding me firmly against him.

Minutes passed before I finally pushed myself back up to look at him, and he reached up to brush his fingers over my face lightly.

“You,” he said quietly, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, “are simply amazing… I… when you reached out to me today, and told me what you were going to do… I never imagined what it would lead to…”

He fell quiet, as though at a loss for words, and I pressed my cheek into the touch of his hand, thinking, then said, “I realized, watching the battle today, that there wasn’t a place for me in that kind of fighting. Not yet anyways, I don’t have the skill for it… but I couldn’t bear to just watch – those were my people fighting and dying, and I had to… I had to fight alongside them.” I swallowed, and suddenly the realization of what I had done today hit me.

Rhys saw the impact of it and pushed himself up, shifting me backwards on his lap, then reached up to cup my face with his hands, “So you made a place where you fit.” He smiled at me tenderly, “War is ugly, and messy, and unforgiving. You saw that today, became part of it today, and it will weigh on you for all of your remaining days.” Tears came to my eyes, the tears from earlier that I had not let fall and now rolled down my skin, over his hands that held me.

He wiped them away gently, lovingly, “But you can’t lose sight of the good you did today, of all the lives you saved. The deaths will weigh heavily, but the lives you saved should hold equal weight.”

I swallowed, and nodded, and he let my face go to pull me against him and I buried my face against his shoulder. He held me the rest of the night, keeping me close against him, and we slept and while I knew I dreamed of fire and water and ice and death… the warmth of him, and scent of his skin, kept the pain of it from overwhelming me.

We had won this battle, and though there were many more to come we would, as we always had, face them together.

#rhysand #rhys #feyre #archeron #morrigan #mor #prythian #hybern #fae #acotar #acowar #a court of thorns and roses #a court of wings and ruin #sarah ja maas

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tcoffin42 · 7 years

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FINAL POST!! Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

It’s graduation week. Four years of sharing album-of-the-week are over. It’s important to wrap this up with a special album. I’ve decided to go with one of the best debut albums ever, by one of my favorite musicians, for whom I have the utmost respect. With this last album, I want to affirm that this effort was to support my daughter’s personal and professional interests in music (my aim was true). Also, I wanted the graduation album to welcome her to the grown-up world of working for a living (”Welcome To The Working Week”). And finally, since I’ve tied politics to so many of these albums, it feels appropriate - as President Trump continues to bring the country and perhaps the world to ruin (this week, by backing out of the Paris Climate Accord) - to close this project with the track, “Waiting For The End Of The World.”

1 "Welcome to the Working Week" 2 "Miracle Man" 3 "No Dancing" 4 "Blame It on Cain" 5 "Alison" 6 "Sneaky Feelings" 7 "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" 8 "Less Than Zero" 9 "Mystery Dance" 10 "Pay It Back" 11 "I'm Not Angry" 12 "Waiting for the End of the World"

Last week, T Bone Burnett’s name was one of those in the collaboration, and I mentioned his Academy Award winning work on the “Cold Mountain” soundtrack. Well, Elvis Costello collaborated with T Bone to write the track “Scarlett Tide” for that soundtrack. The collaborations Elvis has been a part of are numerous and, I’m sure, will go on and on. He has made so much music in genres outside his punk-pop, new-wave origins that it defies categorization. I recommend a Wikipedia search to keep track of it all. Of late, what I have been most impressed with from Elvis is the musically collaborative TV show he did called “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...” I only saw a few episodes, but they were brilliant. Check it out if you're so inclined. It’s all available on DVD or BluRay.

In closing, I’d like to thank everyone who read my foolish posts (with especially large portions of thanks to those of you who occasionally corrected me) and everyone who listened along with us. As a postscript, here is the entire list of 194 albums we listened to over this four-year project, and the date we started listening. We started a little late, so we did two albums per week through the first summer session to try to catch up on the total count. With occasional exceptions, the albums were pre-1999 (the year my daughter was born). We followed some themes here and there, but mostly we just rocked out!

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac 10/20/2013

Deja Vu - Crosby Stills Nash & Young 10/27/2013

Best of the Doobies - The Doobie Brothers 11/3/2013

Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 - The Eagles 11/10/2013

Greatest Hits 1974-1978 - Steve Miller Band 11/17/2013

American Beauty - Grateful Dead 11/24/2013

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground 12/1/2013

Loaded - The Velvet Underground 12/8/2013

The Monkees - The Monkees 12/15/2013

Jackson 5 Christmas Album - Jackson 5 12/22/2013

The #1's - Elvis Presley 12/29/2013

Legend from the Master Tapes - Buddy Holly 1/5/2014

The #1's - Diana Ross & The Supremes 1/12/2014

Singles 1969-1981 - The Carpenters 1/19/2014

16 Greatest Hits - The Mamas & Papas 1/26/2014

Greatest Hits - The Byrds 2/2/2014

Greatest Hits - Bob Dylan 2/9/2014

Greatest Hits - Simon & Garfunkel 2/16/2014

Greatest Hits - James Taylor 2/23/2014

Greatest Hits - Linda Ronstadt 3/2/2014

Greatest Hits - Janis Joplin 3/9/2014

Greatest Hits - The Doors 3/16/2014

Smash Hits - Jimi Hendrix 3/23/2014

Greatest Hits - Queen 3/30/2014

Legend - Bob Marley & The Wailers 4/6/2014

Mania - The Ramones 4/13/2014

Lennon Legend: The Very Best Of John Lennon - John Lennon 4/20/2014

The Hits - Johnny Cash 4/27/2014

A Quiet Normal Life: The Best Of Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon 5/4/2014

Gold - ABBA 5/11/2014

Greatest Hits - Cat Stevens 5/18/2014

The Best Of - Steely Dan 5/25/2014

Greatest Hits - Bruce Springsteen 6/1/2014

Greatest Hits - Elton John 6/8/2014

Endless Summer - The Beach Boys 6/15/2014

Hot Rocks - The Rolling Stones 6/22/2014

Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin 6/29/2014

Rubber Soul - The Beatles 7/6/2014

Revolver - The Beatles 7/6/2014

Who's Next - The Who 7/13/2014

The Who By Numbers - The Who 7/13/2014

Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd 7/20/2014

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd 7/20/2014

One For The Road - The Kinks 7/27/2014

Pretenders - Pretenders 8/3/2014

Learning To Crawl - Pretenders 8/3/2014

Nevermind The Bollocks - The Sex Pistols 8/10/2014

Sound Affects - The Jam 8/17/2014

London Calling - The Clash 8/24/2014

Changesonebowie - David Bowie 8/31/2014

Ghost In The Machine - The Police 9/7/2014

I Just Can't Stop It - The English Beat 9/14/2014

Absolutely - Madness 9/21/2014

Talk Talk Talk - The Psychedelic Furs 9/28/2014

Hits - Joni Mitchell 10/5/2014

Rickie Lee Jones - Rickie Lee Jones 10/12/2014

Eyes Open - Snow Patrol 10/19/2014

The Best Of Joan Armatrading - Joan Armatrading 10/26/2014

Upstairs At Eric's - Yaz 11/2/2014

Blue Bell Knoll - Cocteau Twins 11/9/2014

Life's Too Good - The Sugarcubes 11/16/2014

The B-52's - The B-52's 11/23/2014

Out Of Time - R.E.M. 11/30/2014

In My Tribe - 10,000 Maniacs 12/7/2014

Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet 12/14/2014

Joy: A Holiday Collection - Jewel 12/21/2014

Fumbling Toward Ecstacy - Sarah McLachlan 12/28/2014

Reading, Writing And Arithmetic - The Sundays 1/4/2015

Meat Is Murder - The Smiths 1/11/2015

Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt 1/18/2015

Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette 1/25/2015

Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers 2/1/2015

Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins 2/8/2015

Ten - Pearl Jam 2/15/2015

Nevermind - Nirvana 2/22/2015

Live Through This - Hole 3/1/2015

Exile In Guyville - Liz Phair 3/8/2015

After - Lady Lamb the Beekeeper 3/15/2015

Garbage - Garbage 3/22/2015

Eight Arms To Hold You - Veruca Salt 3/29/2015

Rid Of Me - PJ Harvey 4/5/2015

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinead O'Connor 4/12/2015

Moondance - Van Morrison 4/19/2015

Joshua Tree - U2 4/26/2015

Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys 5/3/2015

The Fine Art Of Surfacing - The Boomtown Rats 5/10/2015

To The Faithfully Departed - The Cranberries 5/17/2015

Sunshine On Leith - The Proclaimers 5/24/2015

Barricades and Brickwalls - Kasey Chambers 5/31/2015

Mars Needs Guitars - Hoodoo Gurus 6/7/2015

Kick - INXS 6/14/2015

Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett 6/21/2015

The Iron Man - Pete Townshend 6/28/2015

The Wall - Pink Floyd 7/5/2015

Hair - Original Broadway Musical 7/12/2015

Quadrophenia - The Who 7/19/2015

American Idiot - Green Day 7/26/2015

Jesus Christ Superstar - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 8/2/2015

Grease - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 8/9/2015

Rocky Horror Picture Show - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 8/16/2015

Joe's Garage - Frank Zappa 8/23/2015

Graceland - Paul Simon 8/30/2015

So - Peter Gabriel 9/6/2015

Speaking In Tongues - Talking Heads 9/13/2015

The Cars - The Cars 9/20/2015

Boston Boston9/27/2015

Bachelor #2 or The Last Remains Of The Dodo - Aimee Mann 10/4/2015

Become What You Are - The Juliana Hatfield Three 10/11/2015

Verve Jazz Masters 51 - Blossom Dearie 10/18/2015

Come On Feel The Lemonheads - The Lemonheads 10/25/2015

Dizzy Up The Girl - Goo Goo Dolls 11/1/2015

Tiny Days - Scruffy The Cat 11/8/2015

Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches - Happy Mondays 11/15/2015

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses 11/22/2015

Electric Honey - Luscious Jackson 11/29/2015

Becoming X - Sneaker Pimps 12/6/2015

Let Go - Avril Lavigne 12/13/2015

Personal Christmas Collection - Doris Day 12/20/2015

The Grey Album - DJ Dangermouse 12/27/2015

St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley 1/3/2016

El Camino - The Black Keys 1/10/2016

The Good, The Bad, & The Queen - The Good, The Bad, & The Queen 1/17/2016

Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones 1/24/2016

Avalanche - Thea Gilmore 1/31/2016

Born In The UK - Badly Drawn Boy 2/7/2016

Echo and the Bunnymen - Echo and the Bunnymen 2/14/2016

Central Reservation - Beth Orton 2/21/2016

Love Songs: Best of the Verve Song Books - Ella Fitzgerald 2/28/2016

The Sensual World - Kate Bush 3/6/2016

Arular - M.I.A. 3/13/2016

No Angel - Dido 3/20/2016

The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem 3/27/2016

White Blood Cells - The White Stripes 4/3/2016

Motown 40 Forever - Various Artists 4/10/2016

Running On Empty - Jackson Browne 4/17/2016

Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution 4/24/2016

Raw Power - Iggy & The Stooges 5/1/2016

461 Ocean Boulevard - Eric Clapton 5/8/2016

Nick Of Time - Bonnie Raitt 5/15/2016

Damn The Torpedoes - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 5/22/2016

Low Budget - The Kinks 5/29/2016

Making Movies - Dire Straits 6/5/2016

Look Sharp - Joe Jackson 6/12/2016

Live Killers - Queen 6/19/2016

Living In Clip - Ani DiFranco 6/26/2016

Live At Luther College - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds 7/3/2016

Carnegie Hall Live 1938 - Benny Goodman 7/10/2016

Bring On The Night - Sting 7/17/2016

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball - Various Artists 7/24/2016

Disraeli Gears - Cream 7/31/2016

Vol. 1 - Traveling Wilburys 8/7/2016

Down By The Old Mainstream - Golden Smog 8/14/2016

Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk 8/21/2016

Underachievers, Please Try Harder - Camera Obscura 8/28/2016

Horses - Patti Smith 9/4/2016

Under The Pink - Tori Amos 9/11/2016

Gordon - Barenaked Ladies 9/18/2016

#1 Record - Big Star 9/25/2016

Hello Starling - Josh Ritter 10/2/2016

Doolittle - Pixies 10/9/2016

Last Splash - The Breeders 10/16/2016

Star - Belly 10/23/2016

The Bends - Radiohead 10/30/2016

Medusa - Annie Lennox 11/6/2016

XO - Elliott Smith 11/13/2016

Meat Puppets II - Meat Puppets 11/20/2016

violent femmes - violent femmes 11/27/2016

Tidal - Fiona Apple 12/4/2016

Concrete Blonde - Concrete Blonde 12/11/2016

We Three Kings - The Roches 12/18/2016

Holiday Songs and Lullabies - Shawn Colvin 12/25/2016

Marquee Moon - Television 1/1/2017

English Settlement - XTC 1/8/2017

Pelican West - Haircut One Hundred 1/15/2017

Weezer - Weezer 1/22/2017

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel 1/29/2017

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams 2/5/2017

Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls 2/12/2017

The Very Best Of Aretha Franklin - Aretha Franklin 2/19/2017

All For You - Diana Krall 2/26/2017

Collective Soul - Collective Soul 3/5/2017

The Trinity Session - Cowboy Junkies 3/12/2017

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement 3/19/2017

Tuesday Night Music Club - Sheryl Crow 3/26/2017

The Darklands - The Jesus and Mary Chain 4/2/2017

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman 4/9/2017

You're Living All Over Me - Dinosaur Jr. 4/16/2017

Sea Change - Beck 4/23/2017

Auf der Maur - Melissa Auf der Maur 4/30/2017

The Ballad of the Broken Seas - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 5/7/2017

Contraband - Velvet Revolver 5/14/2017

Mermaid Avenue - Billy Bragg and Wilco 5/21/2017

Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss 5/28/2017

My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello 6/4/2017

You read all the way to the end! Thank you very much for your attention to my father/daughter project. Much love to you, and keep on listening.....

#elvis costello #my aim is true #collaboration #album of the week

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muni-is-never-ready · 7 years

Text

Ink and Glue {Fluff}

Summary: The girls were both nameless when declaring their love for each other, signing their name when brave enough.

It was morning, just before school and just after the morning meeting of the school newspaper committee. A certain member in a red hijab was the only member in her locker area, so she found it to be the perfect chance to drop off an envelope at the locker of the girl she had her heart set on. It helped that the member's locker was right next to the girl who stole her heart.

Sarah Abdi had a way with words. Many people had complimented her writing, whether it was the short story she written for English class or the articles she contributed for the school news. She was even known for her beautiful calligraphy, whether it was in English or Arabic, the home language of her Egyptian family. However, she has never shown anyone her poetry related works. Well, not before Son Minyoung. Sarah didn't know when exactly she fell so hard for Minyoung. Was it their first meeting, when Minyoung had first arrived at the locker to the right of Sarah's? Was it when the Korean girl sat next to Sarah and her friends in the cafeteria? Maybe it was the day when Minyoung danced for the talent show, and made everyone's jaws drop with her fluid movements and charisma? Either way, Minyoung held Sarah's affections for quite a long time. Poetry was a hidden passion for Sarah, simply because she was afraid of it being not so great. However, Sarah felt that poetry, with its beautiful metaphors, fluid writing and deep emotional meaning, would fit her feelings like a glove. Sarah always knew that letting her pent up feelings out through creativity was positive. Sharing her feelings anonymously with Minyoung was actually the idea of one of Sarah's closest friends named Tasha. One day, while working on a project for history class in Sarah's room, the two girls had decided to take a break, and when Sarah was going through her drawer to find a new article she recently written, a poem fell out. It's pretty easy to tell what Sarah was feeling, as her deep brown eyes widened, accompanying her general look of panic. It was also not difficult to tell what Tasha was thinking either, as her face softened reading the poem, which was followed by a look of surprise. "I didn't know you written poems." "I only started recently. I feel that I can be real with them," Sarah replied. She just hoped that Tasha wouldn't see through everything and find out her true intentions as usual. However, Sarah was not lucky that day. "This is adorable! Were you thinking of someone? Is it that cute Minyoung girl that you clearly have a thing for?" Damn. Was she that obvious? Sarah replied with a nod, and Tasha giggled softly. "You need to tell her at some point. Minyoung had transferred here like, a year ago yet the whole time you were fawning over her.” As Tasha re-read the paper in her hands, an idea had popped into her mind, like a lightbulb turning on. “Why don’t you give her this poem?”

Sarah was caught off guard by this. The Egyptian girl froze, and only managed to get out a simple “What?”. After a few seconds of letting her friend’s words seep in, she started to panic. “What if she doesn’t like it? What if I ruin our current state with my confession? What if she’s straight and I made her uncomfortable?”

“Calm down girl,” Tasha advised Sarah, with a small laugh. “You don’t have to even sign your name. Just give it to her anonymously, like, through your locker or something. Then one day, when you are confident enough, you can sign your name.”

When Sarah thought about it, it made sense. She immediately thanked Tasha for the idea and decided to put her poem in an envelope with a simple “For Son Minyoung” in pencil. Sarah planned to make it into calligraphy later, but first she had to actually go back to work. Tasha and Sarah went on typing and researching.

(“One question though, how many poems did you write for Minyoung?”

“Other than this one? One other…”

“Are you sure?”

“Okay, two.”

Tasha gave Sarah a raised eyebrow.

“Fine, I written four other poems.”

“Oh my god, you cutie!”)

That day had started a routine for Sarah. Whether it was after school news meetings or just before leaving school, Sarah slipped poems long and short into Minyoung’s locker. Sarah believed that maybe one day, like Tasha said, she would have enough courage to sign her name. Sarah deemed it too early at this point, as it hasn’t been more than a few weeks.

Sarah had slipped her envelope into Minyoung’s locker before going to open hers. While her poetry had embedded itself into her routine, what appeared next was unexpected.

In front of her locker was a small box with a note taped on. Sarah picked it up off of the floor, and took off the note to read it.

dear sarah (i don't want to mess up and give this to the wrong person it’s my first time doing this)

I got you a small gift, though I feel like it doesn’t really capture how much I appreciate you and like you. I hope you like what I made for you!

~someone who loves your smile

Sarah felt a surge of happiness from the note alone, despite the fact that it was anonymous, and she didn’t even open it yet. After a few moments, Sarah decided to open the small purple box.

The box had a handmade bracelet in various shades of purple and blue. It looked very pretty, and Sarah felt a sense of happiness knowing that it was made for her. She put the bracelet on her left wrist and opened her locker. Despite her happiness, however, she pushed back the little voice saying that Minyoung could have given this to her to the back of her mind, because Sarah could not afford to taint this moment with false hopes.

The dance club members knew that Minyoung usually preferred after-school practices over morning ones. However, for the past month or so, Minyoung had shown up at every 7:45 meeting. Early on, no one had questioned Minyoung’s intentions, as it seemed like Minyoung had decided that early mornings worked better for her schedule, or something along those lines.

However, some of the members, like a boy named Mark Bailey, was close to Minyoung, and had seen her visibly tired, and look more energetic on days that she came to school right on time at a quarter to nine.

Boy, was Mark amused to find out what driven Minyoung to come so early to school. One day, when Minyoung was hanging out at the Bailey house, Mark, who wasn’t one to beat around the bush, asked her, “Why do you come so early to dance when you don’t like going to morning practice?”

Minyoung chuckled. “It’s actually kinda embarrassing to say out loud, but I’ll tell you.”

Minyoung explained that after she started to get poetry from a secret admirer (she reads them every day but no one needs to know that), she had the idea to try and make small things anonymously for the girl she liked, Sarah Abdi. Just before early practice, she drops off the gift with a note at Sarah’s locker.

Mark did, in fact, tease her lightly, mentioning how whipped the tall girl was for Sarah. However, he also mentioned that it was cute, and one day, she should add her name on the note when she was ready.

“Mark! Minyoung! Dinner’s ready!”

After Mark’s mother had called the two downstairs, Minyoung had remarked, “You finally got your mom to call you Mark and not Margaret?”

“Yep. It just took some time,” Mark replied. He also mentioned that his top surgery was in a few weeks, and his parents were both paying. Minyoung and Mark went downstairs for dinner, and Minyoung still never knew how the Baileys always made her favourite food.

---

As often as she could, Minyoung made and decorated things. Whether it was a decorated pencil case, or pottery, or jewelry, Minyoung could create wonderful things with her hands. She did make things for others, but at this point, all her creative energy is for a single girl.

Minyoung had been working on a certain craft project for a considerable amount of time, and it was an item she was most proud of. After a while, Minyoung had made and decorated a hijab for Sarah to wear. It was a deep green (Minyoung had dyed it herself) and shined with small sequins. She hoped Sarah would like it. She added a small note as usual.

Minyoung didn't get time to drop off her gift before practice, so she brought it to practice, and just afterwards, she went over to Sarah’s locker.

As she was placing her gift down gently, she started to hear footsteps going down the hall. At first, Minyoung didn’t worry. It was just after practice, and other clubs take this time as well. For example, the volleyball team, the newspaper committee-

Wait, isn't Sarah Abdi on the newspaper committee?

Shit.

Minyoung was still fixing up her box, and placing the note, when she heard the footsteps get closer, and then next to her, where her locker was. However, when she looked up, the one person she didn’t want to be revealed to had made an appearance.

Even from the side, Sarah looked beautiful. It seemed like she shone no matter what. However, Minyoung snapped herself out of her mini-trance and let the pretty girl’s name slip out of her lips.

“Sarah?”

Sarah froze, and turned her head towards Minyoung. The two girls had made eye contact for what felt like an eternity.

“I’m sorry if I surprised you,” Minyoung quickly added.

However, the first thing that came out of the shorter girl’s mouth was, “You were the one who sent me all these gifts?”

Minyoung had wanted to die. What if Sarah didn't like them? No, Minyoung saw Sarah wear her jewelry and use her crafts. What if she hoped it was from someone else, and not the tall, lanky Son Minyoung? Despite this, Minyoung still nodded yes.

Minyoung did not expect the girl in front of her’s face and eyes to light up with happiness. “I always hoped it was you! I really love them, and I use them all the time! Well, I was hoping to say this in a different way, but look,” Sarah exclaimed as she shown Minyoung the envelope in her hands. Minyoung’s eyes widened in surprise. It said “For Son Minyoung” in the same calligraphy as the mysterious poetry.

“I was also hoping that the poetry was from you! Wow, we were dancing around each other this whole time, I mean m, I didn’t even know if you liked girls so I was scared,” Minyoung said. She never knew that everything could change from being embarrassing to being the happiest time in her life in just a single moment. Minyoung had also loved seeing Sarah happy and enthusiastic, but she never thought that she would be the cause of Sarah's happiness.

“Me too! But at this point, it’s kinda given, so would you be my girlfriend?”

Minyoung could not believe that she would hear these words from Sarah's mouth, especially towards a girl like Minyoung. She was even tempted to look around behind her in case Sarah was talking to another prettier girl. All Minyoung could croak out was a “yes”, before squeezing Sarah into a big hug. The other girl had hugged back, and Minyoung could smell fabric softener, ink and happiness when she held Sarah in her arms.

After what felt like an eternity, the two girls let go of each other. Minyoung had mentioned that they should still exchange gifts if they already brought them, so they did. Minyoung even made a show of kissing the envelope five times, and Sarah laughed (Minyoung melted) saying that she should be getting kissed like that, and not the words she written.

That day, even though Minyoung got a pop quiz from her least favourite class, dropped her lunch, and a boy who didn’t like her tried to embarrass her, nothing could take away Minyoung’s positive attitude, because Sarah had wiped away any negativity with just a smile, a hug, and a pen.

#fluff #muni writes #non fandom post #Non fandom writing #Wlw #Cute gays #sapphic #sapphic women of colour #wlwoc #girls of colour as main characters!

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