Natalie Diaz, “Manhattan Is A Lenape Word.” Postcolonial Love Poem

How we need another soul to cling to, another body to keep us warm.

Sylvia Plath / 2046 (2004) dir. Wong Kar Wai / Henry Miller / One Fine Spring Day (2001) dir. Hur Jin ho / Franz Kafka / Norwegian Wood (2010) dir. Anh Hung Tran / Anaïs Nin / Girl From Nowhere (2018–) / Haruki Murakami / A Room with a View (1985) dir. James Ivory / Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Actually, ancient glass, having been rather neglected by archaeology for decades, is a pretty exciting topic in scholarship right now. The main thing is that glass persists–it’s very stable. After fabric rots and metal turns to a scrap of rust, there will lie a necklace, still scattered across a chest that itself has turned mostly to earth. 

Bead typologies, for example (that is, the classification of different styles/shapes/decorative motifs/colors) can allow scholars to trace trade routes, as they study the distributions of different bead types over time and geography. Glass production is kinda industrial in nature, not like spinning or beer that make good cottage industries. It was often produced in one place, and then sold on to artisans elsewhere, and then the beads themselves were traded across entire continents. 

Chemical analysis of the glass can do even more to trace routes, since different compositions and incidence of different mineral contaminants can allow archaeologists to trace glass production to individual sites, thousands of years after the fact. It’s dizzying, really.

The downside is that for a long time, archaeologists regarded beads as unimportant trinkets, and antiquities dealers understood that they were easy to take and easy to move. So an awful lot of the most exceptional beads we have from the distant past spent time in private collections or uncategorized drawers somewhere in a museum back room, so they’ve lost much of what we could have learned from their original provenance. Maybe we’ll be able to turn new analytical tools on some of these to reconstruct more of their past.

there's a recent vox video about how tiktok contributes to what kind of music is being demanded and put forward on spotify and i think it's also parallel to how booktok is directly influencing the decisions of big publishing companies. they will continue to churn out terrible romance novels that were previously fanfics if that's what would continue to circulate. it's so tiring

instead of actively promoting and advocating for marginalised authors, esp working class authors & authors of colour, in all genres, and hiring more diversely, they’re spotlighting reylo fanfic and the next boring historical or mythological retelling by a white woman. and ppl have the gall to act like it’s not a big deal. (** white) fandom nerds and tiktokers literally have a dominating cultural influence now just based on sheer numbers alone and they want to act like they’re being persecuted for lining the pockets of execs and making it everyone else’s problem

“Let it pass; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Sensible Thing (via h-o-r-n-g-r-y)

“‘Do you fall in love often?’ Yes often. With a view, with a book, with a dog, a cat, with numbers, with friends, with complete strangers, with nothing at all.”

— Jeanette Winterson, Gut Symmetries (via luthienne)

video essays i’ve loved a lot recently!

the history of dieting is crazier than you think - a history of diet culture, its phases, faces, and diet culture media by mina le

When Hollywood Speaks Chinese, I Cringe - short essay about the cringey racist way Chinese language is portrayed in Hollywood

Good LGBT Representation is Boring (and why that’s a problem) - essay that dives into the double edge sword of “unproblematic” lgbt rep

The Decline of History Channel - a history of the history channel and how it lost almost all credibility. 

The Black Right Wing - fascinating essay on Black Americans who support Donald Trump, right wing politics and why that is. 

Can We Kill the Final Girl Trope Already? - one of my favourite essays ever about the first girl who dies in horror films.

Exploring The “Gender Critical” Radicalization Pipeline - tw: major transphobia, an essay about how TERF ideology online radicalises people to the right

A Buffet of Black Food History - do not watch this on an empty stomach! essay about the history of Black American food, culture and the success of Black cooks/chefs

No, Superhero Movies are NOT Like Westerns - excellent breakdown of all the reasons why the current proliferation of superhero films is not comparable culturally, economically or artistically to Westerns.

Maybe you should stay in the closet?…Coming Out re-examined - personal vlog/video essay about the history of “coming out” as lgbt and the culture around doing so has changed

The Matrix Resurrections Is Absolutely Beautiful - an analysis/review of the beautifully executed trans-ness of latest matrix films

make more characters bi, you cowards: why (not) romance? - analysis on the current state of bisexual representation in pop culture 

Heterofatalism: WHY straight women aren’t okay. - absolutely wild essay on the complex cultural attitudes that encourages straight women to hate themselves for loving men

The Pandemic Onscreen - How Film & TV Do Covid - analysis of the different ways fictional media is acknowledging the pandemic

Happy pride month to the tiny cowboy and tiny Trojan man from Night at the Museum

Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars

rinezha dynamic as tumblr posts