Horses are good company -- The Witcher

1. Do you believe that music can have a direct effect on your life?

Music has been so, so helpful over the last year and a half in particular. I made a Spotify playlist for optimistic music / concussion songs, and I keep adding to it. While badly concussed I put that on and let it play 24/7. It helps manage my mood.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7tHhrkr1HWD1wLYAy3u0lT?si=b93a5cbec69b4102

Music is a big part of vidding culture, too.

2. What is your current favorite song?

Strange Currencies by REM, which I sort of re-discovered (as many did), by watching the Bear.

3. What's the one song from junior high that you can still rattle off all the words to?

Most of the country songs from the 90s, which was perhaps a golden age for country? Everyone listened to it here. Probably all of Garth Brook's country discography.

4. Did you have a prom song? Don't be embarrassed, we all did it.

No idea. Prom was not a great experience for me, not like traumatic or anything, but very comp het and deeply uncomfortable. Well. I had an instance of selective mutism during prom that lasted hours so maybe it was a bit bad.

5. Do you and your significant other have a "song" that you share?

I don't have a sig other, but there are plenty of songs I associate with people. My mom likes Ann Reed's "The Fair," Rosemary Clooney, Joan Baez, the Beatles. My dad will listen to anything but he particularly likes that guy who is married to Amy Grant, a country singer I can never remember the name of.

ETA: I added one song and posted this to the Ao3, here, https://archiveofourown.org/works/52618357


I've been working on a Bucky Barnes fan playlist. Bucky is Going Thru It; it's about struggle and hope. My own version of this character is the fanon one, influenced by the many stories, art, and ideas fans have come up with about him as a disabled queer veteran with complex trauma, and in some stories, a Jewish identity. Some examples are,
Ain't No Grave by spit and vinegar (locked, must have ao3 account to view. Podfic available.)
http://archiveofourown.org/works/5094785/chapters/11716436
Winter's Children by neery (Podfic available);
https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771769
a Dira Sudis story where he works on undoing his triggers, "There is no shortage of Blood," https://archiveofourown.org/works/12692403
my story, "Bucky's Reasons for Staying Alive" (podfic available),
https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661110

Playlist at Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3P2S1ttPYX3dYAHDFRsBnp?si=d8d4a8f3009c4d29

notes on why each song is included (x-posted).

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2 songs from the Decemberists that I am into lately,

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Read recently:

"Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan, which I picked up at a thrift store. This was cute and an easy read; overall I liked it. But strong warning for fat phobia throughout the book that is treated as comic relief. The story is about two teens named Will Grayson; one is gay and one is straight. They have a friend in common, a large guy who is sarcastically called Tiny. Tiny is both fat and tall and hardly a page goes by without one of the two narrators commenting on this fact.

"Passport" a graphic/ comics memoir. The story was dull but the art was gorgeous. Mostly it's a coming of age, teen story about friendships.

"Grand Theft Horse", a graphic /comics biography. Just the opposite: the story here is super fascinating, the art is a little too busy. Loved it though.

Two audio books I listened to in the car but did not finish:
"Second Chance Dog" by John Katz. Feels like a book that is meant to be skimmed or read in waiting rooms because there is a lot of repeated information and the reading level is low. Not great on audio so I bounced off it.

"Alone on the Ice", an antarctic expedition book. Interesting and I gave it a fair shot, but way too long and detailed for me-- it's 10 discs!

Mostly off the top of my head. Some of these I had to think about for a while! Hardest one: profession.

Something to wear: New Shoes by Paolo Nutini (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaecIn0iLfU)
Something to drink: Cherry Wine by Hozier (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtRIz7VocNs)
Place: The Little Old Lady from Pasadena by Jan and Dean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7f9hsFrKUY)
Food: Grits ain't Groceries, by Little Milton, and others (I have it on the Commitments soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVpt2mSwXe0)
Animal: Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQmDUEv939A)
Color: Golden Brown by the Stranglers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-GUjA67mdc)
Girl's Name: Cleopatra by the Lumineers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN5s9N_pTUs)
Boy's Name: Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXV_QjenbDw)
Profession: The Scientist by Coldplay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-RcX5DS5A)
Day of the Week: Monday, Monday by the Mommas and the Poppas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81Ojd3d2rY)
Vehicle: Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2MXxoQTLY)

Watching:
The Magicians on Netflix. This took me a couple of tries to get into, and I mostly listened to seasons 1 and 2 rather than watching closely. But towards the end of season 2 I started to genuinely enjoy it. The characters have grown on me.

Listening:
Hozier's new album Wasteland, Baby, on youtube. UGH IT'S SO GOOD I CAN'T HANDLE IT.

Reading:
Some queer comics!

I enjoyed Taproot immensely. One of the things I really liked about it is a spoiler for the story. This book is a dream-like tale of a gardener and a ghost who are friends. It is lovely, slightly creepy, a pleasure to look at and read. It is by Keezy Young.

Calling Dr. Laura is a graphic memoir by Nicole Georges. It is largely about her relationships with her mother, who is a Piece of Work, and with a couple of girlfriends. She explores the possibility that her father might not be dead, and that her mother has been lying to her. I really enjoyed this!

Trigger warning: rape, rape culture, sexism, racism

In “80 Books No Woman Should Read,” [http://lithub.com/80-books-no-woman-should-read/] Rebecca Solnit says, “I just think some books are instructions on why women are dirt or hardly exist at all except as accessories or are inherently evil and empty. Or they’re instructions in the version of masculinity that means being unkind and unaware, that set of values that expands out into violence at home, in war, and by economic means.”

Those who listen to popular music at all, know this is true of music also. In her sensitive essay, “Hear him Whip the Women,” [http://curamag.com/issues/2015/12/4/hear-him-whip-the-women], Stacy Parker Le Melle ponders the Rolling Stones’ song “Brown Sugar”:

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Cute local dog up for adoption!

Neko Case and Kelly Hogan sing a feminist SF song!!

p.s. be sure to check out fancake this round for femslash! :D

I am currently re-listening to this interview in a quest to see if Regina Spektor is gay. Google won't tell me.

"Regina Spektor Reflects on the Pussy Riot Trial" (and other things)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/10/17/regina-spektor-q.html
Interview is 24:52

She is talking about Ani DiFranco and Joni Mitchell
Talking about ART and how HAPPY it makes her :D
Searched YouTube for recordings of her OWN songs to remember them!! Has forgotten some of her songs.
Emigrated from Russia in 1989 to the Bronx.
Returned to Russia to tour recently, talks about Pussy Riot sentencing, Russia making examples of people. Talks about Occupy Movement.
Tremendous amount of very open homophobia in Russia.
"Why aren't you boycotting Russia? In St Petersburg you can't even say that you're gay publicly."
She says she plays for the people that come to her shows, not for the politicians.

I am crabby and in pain today, but when I go to the dog park I like to amuse myself by singing "Walking at the Dog Park" to the tune of "Working at the Car Wash, yeah!".