time isn't real

there's no way i've been the same height for four years

Dec 31, 2022

this week’s Thought (singular)

changing bedsheets and pillow covers should be considered an extreme sport

i wish i could be normal about the passage of time, but without fail, every year-end comes and hits me like a freight train. i swear 2022 started last week.

to commemorate, i’ve compiled some cloud pictures for this new year edition. something something my age is like passing clouds and sometimes it is solid and present but sometimes it is wispy and floating along; sometimes they feel like they’re barely holding onto the sky and might fall down, but sometimes they see some cloud friends and combine to form the shape of a strong, tender heart. something something.

anyway, here are my favourite cloud/sky pictures from 2022.

*august (it was a good month to be a cloud)*

*october (these end-of-the-year clouds are as cool as people w end-of-the-year bdays)*

*november (only a coward stops at a single cloud photo per month)*

ps: temporal shock notwithstanding, happy new year :D :D make sure to keep some room for improvement, some for forgiveness, and fill all of it with grace and gentleness.

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English Recitation Competition

Desiderata - Words for Life, Max Ehrmann

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You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

For everyone who tried on the slipper before Cinderella, Ariana Brown

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For those who have looked in the mirror and begged
For those with weak knees and an attitude
For those called “sensitive” or “too much”
For those not called enough
For the times you needed and went without
For the photo of you as a child
quietly icing cupcakes your hair a crackling thunderstorm

Love is coming.
It’s on its way.
Look—

Egg, Linda Pastan

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For the egg itself 
is a moon 
glowing faintly 
in the galaxy of the barn, 
safe but for the spoon's 
ominous thunder, 
the first delicate crack 
of lightning.

A Poll!

Middle School Book Review

The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne

the only word i can use to describe this is gritty. also maybe brittle. vicious, dark. bordering on horror, but even when i was scared, i was morbidly curious and attached enough to keep reading. i’ve never rooted for a main character as much as i did gothel, and her character development is beautifully written. women’s rights but also women’s wrongs <3

find all shared books here.

A Picture!

i think you’ve seen enough visual media in this issue, no?

The Good Side of the Internet

Gossip was a powerful tool for the powerless in Ancient Greece
At the heart of the greatest works of Ancient Greek literature are mighty acts of revenge. Revengers overcome their enemies through superior physical prowess, as when Achilles kills Hector in a single combat to avenge the death of his comrade Patroclus; or through their employment of trickery and deceit, as when Medea slays Creon and his daughter by using poisoned clothing in revenge against Jason, her unfaithful husband. But how could a person lacking in physical strength, magical abilities or supportive friends take revenge? Low-status women without strong family connections were among the weakest in Ancient society but they wielded a powerful weapon in ensuring the demise of a hated enemy: gossip.
Saying Goodbye to My Chest
I never hated my chest. It’s a perfectly fine chest; a good one, and I’m fond of it, even. But it needs to go now, not because it is wrong, or something worth despising, but simply because it is standing in the way of a life I can no longer postpone.
Meet the men paying six figures to get taller—by having their legs broken
A growing number of men are undergoing a radical and expensive surgery to grow anywhere from three to six inches. The catch: It requires having both your femurs broken.
Roman Empress Agrippina was a master strategist. She paid the price for it.
Rome’s hardball politics were off-limits to women, yet this great-granddaughter of Augustus won power for herself and her son, Nero, who would later have her murdered.
Ross Gay Waters The Seed Of Joy (interview)
Gay exudes a generosity of spirit. It’s true in person and on the page, evidenced in his newest collection of essays, Inciting Joy. I’m glad that poetry is how I got to know his work because it explains his approach to essays too. Joy is the follow-up to his previous collection of essays, Book of Delights. Over Zoom I mentioned how the poet comes through in his prose, to which he replied, “I love the catalog—big lists. I was reading Inciting Joy for the audiobook, and reading it out loud I realized I was a list-making motherfucker.” So, we start with poetry and delve into unknowing as a way to forge a deeper path into creative work.