I wound up moving in August, which drained a lot of my brain/willpower. So most of my books this month are re-reads.

Books

Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels books #1-5

I love Ilona Andrews, so it’s unsurprising I reached for these as comfort reads.

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Music

Joyce Wright’s Must Be Nice (ft. Masego)

Selina Moon’s Hummingbird

Freakquencee’s Running

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Music Video

Michaela Jaé’s Something to Say

Summer vibe goals.

Keiyan Lonsdale’s Rhythm & Music

The dancing in this is so good. I’ve rewatched it multiple times.

Normani’s Wild Side (ft. Cardi B)

The scissoring dance sequence and the white outfit dance sequence? *chefs kiss*

Liza Owens’s Why Aren’t We Having Sex?

More hot girl vaccinated summer vibes.

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Misc.

Podcast: The Bright Sessions S2x19 Zero Hour Live

Julia Morizawa as Damien! AAAH! Support Atypical Artists here.

Podcast: Kazu Haga on Finding Our Way

“one of my favorite quotes that I’ve been repeating nonstop over the last couple of years, is a quote that says “conflict is the spirit of the relationship asking itself to deepen.”

“And I think sometimes one of the mistakes that we make in engaging in conflict is we rush too quickly into bringing the two sides of conflict together.”

Transcript available. Support the podcast on Patreon.

Comic: Sandflake’s The Touch of Sunlight

Patreon here.

Short Story: My Custom Monster by Jo Miles

You can also subscribe to Fireside Mag.

TV: Blindspotting S1

Oakland love. Also I love this use of spoken word and dance musical-style. Oh, and check out Rafael Casal’s Twitter threads for each episode too.

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Articles

What We Mean When We Say “Femme”: A Roundtable by Autostraddle

From 2016 but helpful to me.

20 subtle ways white supremacy manifests in nonprofit and philanthropy

Love(d) at the Roots by Sheri Davis

on deep, nourishing, transformative love. Support the Crunk Feminist Collective here.

“We Are Human”: The Harms of Placing Disabled People Under Conservatorship by Hayden Stern

“Unlike Spears, most individuals in extended custody do not get news coverage or media support. Instead, they get told this such care is for their own safety, while behind closed doors they experience horrific abuse. While under conservatorship, I was described repeatedly as a “hopeless case” who would “never live outside a group home.” But humans cannot be “hopeless cases.” We are people with preferences, desires, and relationships, who deserve the same right as everyone else to make our own choices and mistakes.”

“…even if I had continued to struggle with my mental health, I, like all disabled people, should have the right to make decisions about my own life. Bodily autonomy should not be revocable. Disabled people deserve safety, support, and care on our own terms, not because we meet court criteria that allows our independence, but because we are human.” Stern’s Patreon here.

writing is not only for the writers by Yrsa Daley Ward

I could quote the whole thing (it’s short), but here’s a snippet: “YOU WRITE WHEN YOU NEED TO. YOU WRITE IT DOWN BECAUSE EVERYTHING HAS THE DAZZLING POTENTIAL TO TEACH, HEAL, BECOME WORK, BECOME ART. BECAUSE WHAT MEETS YOU ON THE PAGE WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY SURPRISE YOU. BECAUSE YOU WILL FIND NEW WAYS. THERE ARE ALWAYS NEW WAYS. BECAUSE IN WRITING WE CAN IMAGINE, TRANSFORM, INVENT INCREDIBLE AND NEVER‐ENDING ALTERNATIVES, DREAM THINGS UP. BECAUSE HERE YOU ENSURE THAT NOTHING WILL EVER TRULY BE LOST. AND IF THE WORDS FALL, THEY WILL REACH OUT INTO BETTER PLACES, AND WHEN THE WORDS FALL, THEY WILL DIVIDE AND LAND ON SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THEM EVEN MORE THAN YOU. BECAUSE HERE YOU ALLOW ALL YOUR EXPERIENCES TO BECOME USEFUL.”

From her forthcoming book, The Utter.

How the Pandemic Ends by Ed Yong

“What, now, is the point of masking, distancing, and other precautions?

The answer, as before, is to buy time—for protecting hospitals, keeping schools open, reaching unvaccinated people, and more. Most people will meet the virus eventually; we want to ensure that as many people as possible do so with two doses of vaccine in them, and that everyone else does so over as much time as possible. The pandemic isn’t over, but it will be: The goal is still to reach the endgame with as little damage, death, and disability as possible.”