culture consumed Wednesday
Nov. 5th, 2014 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wisdomeaglebooks:
I finished The Night She Died and read all of Six Feet Under by Dorothy Simpson. I really like these books; they are British cozies featuring an police detective, and all the mysteries are of the small village/lots of secrets/complicated interpersonal relationships kind, very Agatha Christie (and particularly very Jane Marple; Jane Marple would solve all of these cases in basically a day, but we provide allowances for Detective Inspector Luke Thanet.) They were written in the 1980s and 1990s and are set then, which is really nice and appropriately period, and only occasionally provides confusion of the, "How did people live before Google?" variety. (When reading Christie, it's easy to put myself in that time period, but these are much closer to contemporary so I keep doing doubletakes and thinking, "Can't you just check the internets?")
I also read 1 Kings and a good bit of 2 Kings for Sunday school. I will try to finish 2 Kings, and then read Micah, which is what's next.
In terms of fiction, next up is the set of library books that I am very excited about -- there is apparently a third Bridget Jones book, there are two more books by Jincy Willett, and there is Clariel.
For many years of my life, I looked fruitlessly for Regiment of Women by Clemence Dane. A chapter was anthologized in Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present ed. Lillian Faderman, and that chapter plus the things mentioned in the preceding biographical blurb were basically tailor-made for my burgeoning kinks. (It is not a happy story and is deeply homophobic, according to the summary, and ends with pastede on het, but!
[behind the cut for trigger warnings, because your kinks are not my kinks. (Probably internalized) homophobia and mention of suicide]
"The novels title refers to the rule of women [...] at the girls' boarding school in which the action is set," and "Clare's sadism is often a focus of the plot," and, "she deliberately causes the suicide of a thirteen-year-old girl who is in love with her," and, "The 'old maid' feeds off youth in order to sustain herself."
My id at age fourteen let me show you it!
Anyhow, I fruitlessly searched for many years but couldn't find it, and yesterday I suddenly remembered it -- I saw mention of "queer literary fiction" and it popped into my head -- and lo, there is is on Project Gutenberg. If we have this technology, why don't we have the technology to send it back in time to me-at-fourteen, who really wanted to read it? I suck at reading long things on my computer, and my interest in self-loathing lesbians is substantially less than it used to be, so I suspect I won't actually read it. Which is sad, because teenage!me. (and because I feel like a crossover between this and Discworld's Monstrous Regiment needs to exist.)
perfume
My BPAL 'weenie decants from![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
synecdochic_decants arrived just in time for me to wear the first four on the correct days. Brief writeups, since heaven knows I won't manage longer ones:
October:
Should be: "Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air."
Was: not sweet like most perfumes I've worn -- smoke/evergreen at the base with bits of sweet (yes like sap) -- very trees. Starts very strong/sharp, mellows really nicely.
Samhain
Should be: "Truly the scent of autumn itself — damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein."
Was: bitter apples -- sour tea -- can just catch the patch -- softens to honey/amber -- really like this
All Saints
Should be: "Based on a venerable French pontifical incense blend: monastic frankincense and myrrh, Damascus rose, Russian gardenia, cassia, and lily of the valley wafting on a chill Autumn wind. A celebration of the glory and suffering of the saints and martyrs of the Church."
Was: white floral/lily, later roses -- I like it; it was not what I was expecting, it is very incredibly Easter and doesn't feel much at all like All Saints (excepting that they are connected through Resurrection -- in any event, it doesn't feel autumny)
All Souls
Should be: "An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes."
Was: NOM - yes, sweet and cakey -- wow heavy incense -- mostly the sweet baked good is strongest, occasionally I get incense that doesn't seem to quite fit
Pumpkin Spice Everything
Should be:NOT A SINGLE NOTE SEE BELOW
Was:alas, seems to go all to cinnammon on my skin. I suspect I amp BPAL's cinnammon note -- I had similar issues with Shub Niggurath -- and should try to avoid it. (Also, I... this is a "single note," but pumpkin spice is not a single note. It is somewhere between 4-6 distinct spices.)
food
I usually talk about this on Culture Created Tuesday, since most of the food I eat is created by me, but we went out to eat for my birthday.
We went to Alladin Cafe. I got lentil soup ("Red lentils seasoned with saffron, curry, cumin and lemon") and lamb kabob ("Tender marinated lamb, grilled and served with cucumber yogurt sauce" and with basmati rice and sautéed vegetables). It was all quite delicious.
I also got crème brûlée from Cosentinos, which was, as aforementioned, both disappointing and inspirational.
coloring books
I am not sure where these fall on the consumed/created scale, but Elizabeth gave me a Care Bears coloring and activity book for my birthday, so the first hour of being 29 was a lot like being 5.
sports
I half-heartedly watched the by-play on mlb.com during the last game of the World Series, so I would know whether my pie was celebratory or consoling.
+++
idk, I feel like I don't know where the week went. I mean, frequently I frivol away time, but I usually at least know where it went. I guess I did a bunch of baking, and read a novel and a half, and did a bunch of personal writing, and went out to eat with my roommates, and had a long phone call with my dad last night, and these things add up.
I finished The Night She Died and read all of Six Feet Under by Dorothy Simpson. I really like these books; they are British cozies featuring an police detective, and all the mysteries are of the small village/lots of secrets/complicated interpersonal relationships kind, very Agatha Christie (and particularly very Jane Marple; Jane Marple would solve all of these cases in basically a day, but we provide allowances for Detective Inspector Luke Thanet.) They were written in the 1980s and 1990s and are set then, which is really nice and appropriately period, and only occasionally provides confusion of the, "How did people live before Google?" variety. (When reading Christie, it's easy to put myself in that time period, but these are much closer to contemporary so I keep doing doubletakes and thinking, "Can't you just check the internets?")
I also read 1 Kings and a good bit of 2 Kings for Sunday school. I will try to finish 2 Kings, and then read Micah, which is what's next.
In terms of fiction, next up is the set of library books that I am very excited about -- there is apparently a third Bridget Jones book, there are two more books by Jincy Willett, and there is Clariel.
For many years of my life, I looked fruitlessly for Regiment of Women by Clemence Dane. A chapter was anthologized in Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present ed. Lillian Faderman, and that chapter plus the things mentioned in the preceding biographical blurb were basically tailor-made for my burgeoning kinks. (It is not a happy story and is deeply homophobic, according to the summary, and ends with pastede on het, but!
[behind the cut for trigger warnings, because your kinks are not my kinks. (Probably internalized) homophobia and mention of suicide]
"The novels title refers to the rule of women [...] at the girls' boarding school in which the action is set," and "Clare's sadism is often a focus of the plot," and, "she deliberately causes the suicide of a thirteen-year-old girl who is in love with her," and, "The 'old maid' feeds off youth in order to sustain herself."
My id at age fourteen let me show you it!
Anyhow, I fruitlessly searched for many years but couldn't find it, and yesterday I suddenly remembered it -- I saw mention of "queer literary fiction" and it popped into my head -- and lo, there is is on Project Gutenberg. If we have this technology, why don't we have the technology to send it back in time to me-at-fourteen, who really wanted to read it? I suck at reading long things on my computer, and my interest in self-loathing lesbians is substantially less than it used to be, so I suspect I won't actually read it. Which is sad, because teenage!me. (and because I feel like a crossover between this and Discworld's Monstrous Regiment needs to exist.)
perfume
My BPAL 'weenie decants from
synecdochic_decants arrived just in time for me to wear the first four on the correct days. Brief writeups, since heaven knows I won't manage longer ones:October:
Should be: "Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air."
Was: not sweet like most perfumes I've worn -- smoke/evergreen at the base with bits of sweet (yes like sap) -- very trees. Starts very strong/sharp, mellows really nicely.
Samhain
Should be: "Truly the scent of autumn itself — damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein."
Was: bitter apples -- sour tea -- can just catch the patch -- softens to honey/amber -- really like this
All Saints
Should be: "Based on a venerable French pontifical incense blend: monastic frankincense and myrrh, Damascus rose, Russian gardenia, cassia, and lily of the valley wafting on a chill Autumn wind. A celebration of the glory and suffering of the saints and martyrs of the Church."
Was: white floral/lily, later roses -- I like it; it was not what I was expecting, it is very incredibly Easter and doesn't feel much at all like All Saints (excepting that they are connected through Resurrection -- in any event, it doesn't feel autumny)
All Souls
Should be: "An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes."
Was: NOM - yes, sweet and cakey -- wow heavy incense -- mostly the sweet baked good is strongest, occasionally I get incense that doesn't seem to quite fit
Pumpkin Spice Everything
Should be:NOT A SINGLE NOTE SEE BELOW
Was:alas, seems to go all to cinnammon on my skin. I suspect I amp BPAL's cinnammon note -- I had similar issues with Shub Niggurath -- and should try to avoid it. (Also, I... this is a "single note," but pumpkin spice is not a single note. It is somewhere between 4-6 distinct spices.)
food
I usually talk about this on Culture Created Tuesday, since most of the food I eat is created by me, but we went out to eat for my birthday.
We went to Alladin Cafe. I got lentil soup ("Red lentils seasoned with saffron, curry, cumin and lemon") and lamb kabob ("Tender marinated lamb, grilled and served with cucumber yogurt sauce" and with basmati rice and sautéed vegetables). It was all quite delicious.
I also got crème brûlée from Cosentinos, which was, as aforementioned, both disappointing and inspirational.
coloring books
I am not sure where these fall on the consumed/created scale, but Elizabeth gave me a Care Bears coloring and activity book for my birthday, so the first hour of being 29 was a lot like being 5.
sports
I half-heartedly watched the by-play on mlb.com during the last game of the World Series, so I would know whether my pie was celebratory or consoling.
+++
idk, I feel like I don't know where the week went. I mean, frequently I frivol away time, but I usually at least know where it went. I guess I did a bunch of baking, and read a novel and a half, and did a bunch of personal writing, and went out to eat with my roommates, and had a long phone call with my dad last night, and these things add up.