Reboot

Oct 25, 2017: Skim

I’m writing about Skim and enjoying looking at all the swooping skirts and the brushwork coming together to look so effortless. However, I’m having the hardest time weaving an argument through this and I’m just hung up on whether or not I will be able to cover each book that I’m looking at to its fullest potential. Also, I’m irked by the fact that there’s something about the collaborative and pseudo-autobiographical nature of this book that has this push-and-pull effect on my argument; on one hand, Jillian & Mariko are constructing this ideal narrative together by reliving and editing their own stories, and on the other, they’re constructing this ideal narrative together by reliving and editing their own stories. Get what I’m saying? But I really want to keep them in there for diversity’s sake, because the field is dominated by a lot of white ladies.

Anyway, I aired my Sina Grace essay idea to my supervisor and she's jazzed. Toodles. 

Oct 19th 2017: Sina Grace

So I’ve fallen in love with Sina Grace, you guys. I picked up Nothing Lasts Forever (2017) at Desert Island in Brooklyn in September (please if you’re in NYC go there, it’s a beautiful graphic novel Eden and the staff is wonderful), and I’ve finally gotten my hands on his earlier memoirs Not My Bag (2012) and Self-Obsessed (2015).

The books are totally wonderful, Sina is a great storyteller and his style has this incredible transformative quality that means that his overt references to iconic comics aesthetics are recognizable, but never seem to be out of place.

Nothing Lasts Forever is really rough, both in its narrative arc and its visual style, but the diaristic tone reads as this casual curtain-lift glimpse into the average everyday life of an Iranian-American gay guy and his relationships and fantasies and esophageal conditions... you get what I’m saying. His identity is a secondary concern to the narrator/author/artist, mostly being brought up when faced with issues of privilege or the whole masc4masc thing - which is commented on via a slew of grindr messages and fantastical anime drag-related fantasy sequences.

Anyway, those are some evening thoughts I have about Sina Grace, for whatever that’s worth. I might write an essay about him for a special issue CfP due in March - stay tuned!

Also, please buy his books.

Anyway, I start my PhD in a week and a half (pending the results of my MSc dissertation, please pray for me lol) and I want to keep Reboot as a sort of research diary/thesis overflow receptacle/studyblr combo. Hopefully, I can keep up and not abandon this like I do most things! *screams into the void*

Yes! It was Folding Ideas’s video on Rent that got me to Lindsay’s video, it’s so great! I also really loved his video about Suicide Squad, which was so entertaining but absolutely accessible to folks like me who know nothing about filmmaking.

January Book Discussion Challenge: 7/31

Recommendation

Challenge Your Shelf 2017: 7/365

January 7th - Comfort Book

Matilda was always my comfort book. So was anything else by Roald Dahl, to be honest. I only read Dahl books growing up, first in their Norwegian translation. When I wanted to read English books that weren’t picture books, his stories was the obvious choice, Dahl himself being an Englishman with Norwegian parents. My favorite of his stories is George’s Marvellous Medicine, but Matilda? Matilda is my homegirl.

See, I never identified with George, I just thought the crazy inventor story and mega-chickens made the book a really good ride. In Matilda, however, I saw a girl who also sought comfort in her imagination and saw the world on her own terms. And she has a defiance to her character that I envy even as a 23-year-old.

So when I wanted a tattoo to commemorate finishing my BA degree, I chose Matilda for her love of reading and her will to continue to influence those around her, even when they wouldn’t listen. At first, I planned on just getting a stack of books illustrated by Quentin Blake, but my artist convinced me to not shy away from the literalness of the art I wanted on my body. We chose this half-visible Matilda from a sketch collage of Blake illustrations, and I’m so happy we did.

I went on a walk today and got all my errands done by 1.30 pm.

After a productive first full day back in Edinburgh, I sat down for dinner and accidentally came across this video essay by Chez Lindsay. It was a random click, and when I saw the time mark I chuckled.

However, I was hooked after a mere 30 seconds. Why has no one introduced me to her before??

I watched to whole darn 45 minutes and cried at the end. And I even kinda like Rent, if only in a guilty-pleasure-damn-these-songs-are-catchy-and-also-look-there’s-an-interracial-queer-lady-couple way.

So, I’ve spent the evening binging on Lindsay’s videos, subscribing to her Patreon because research notes, and I don’t even feel bad because I can totally sell this as “dissertation reading” i.e. productive procrastination.

Challenge Your Shelf 2017: 6/365

January 6th - Glitter

My priorities when I come home to a bombed apartment that needs to be cleaned: reorganize my bookshelves and give my new Snape a floating speech bubble. I have since moved him to hang out with my Holyhead Hapies banner, and I’ll try to do a little photo set of my shelves soon!

(Ali Smith photographed for an interview with the New Statesman, 2015)

January Book Discussion Challenge: 5/31

Female Author

This year, one of my resolutions is to read as many books by female and gender non-conforming authors as possible, meaning, I’ll try to only read straight white dudes if they’re on my curriculum or my “book guilt” TBR list.

I especially want to read more by Ali Smith this year. She received an honorary degree at my BA graduation ceremony where she gave an amazing speech, and hails from my new home country, Scotland! I want to become more familiar with Scottish women writers, especially LGBTQ+ writers, and I’ve also added Jackie Kay to my list. 

I currently have three Ali Smith books on my shelf:

Like (1997) How to Be Both (2014) Autumn (2016)

(Photo by Arren Williams)

Challenge Your Shelf 2017: 5/365

January 5th - Party

One of my favorite lines of The Great Gatsby has always been Jordan’s remark while at one of Gatsby’s ragers:

“I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy,” (50).

As an introvert, I do agree that some of the best conversations happen when I’m stuck in a corner of a busy party with one or two good friends. Life is always analyzed and secrets are always told during those conversations.

The above Penguin edition of The Great Gatsby has been on my wishlist for a long time, so long in fact that I’m scared to check if they still publish it. If it’s discontinued I’ll be shattered. The shiny copper foil of this monotone and gorgeously simple art deco edition embodies this feeling for me; it definitely looks like a party but feels simple and close.