#mdf stethoscopes

But about Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian's memoir--it's perfect, it's divine, and my only gripe is that it's too short at 255 pages. Kaishian, a mycologist, talks about her struggles to fit in as queer, neurodivergent child with unique special interests and how she found refuge in the swamps and forests near her home. (My ignorance is gonna show here, because I had no idea there were swamps in New York until I read this book). Growing up and immersing herself in the sciences, she learned about the queerness of many creatures (fungi included), and how scientific research has traditionally held very hetero- and cisnormative views that negatively affected outcomes and contrasts glaringly with overwhelming evidence of queerness in nature. I got to learn about sit spots--a form of meditation that seems much more accessible in my view than many others because I'm lousy at relaxing. Loved the sections about cicadas and their uncanny understanding of time, empathetic crows, and magnetized eels. Also all of the sociological and ecological revelations...it really is quite a lot from such a short read. It's also not overly scientific even though it is science-based, so that was easy enough for me to stomach with my humanities background.

But this is how to do an enemies-to-friends arc, I think. These two were never truly enemies, but came surprisingly close. What's most notable, though, is that we get a "romance" type novel for aroace readers. And for the rest of us, because even if you're neither asexual nor aromantic, why not read about this experience? How often is it depicted, in anything, anywhere??? A platonic romcom, if you will. We really need to see more of this. There isn't enough literature that explores this kind of intimacy, so it was a joy to read about it here.

The book: Late Babylon 5 actress Mira Furlan's memoir, Love Me More Than Anything in the World. I started this book just before I lost someone close to me, and considering how much it concerns grief, I wasn't sure that finishing it was wise in the state that I'm currently in. I don't regret it, though, and no state of mind is ideal to read about how Furlan lost her childhood friend to suicide, as well as her parents, friends, and many others, before her untimely death and this posthumous publication. It seems inevitable, in a tragic Shakespearean kind of way, that a woman hailing from the former Yugoslavia, whose family history involves multiple horrific stories of imprisonment in concentration camps, would continue to see unjust ends for the rest of her life. But her ability to find joy in what a lot of people take for granted is one thing that staved off some of my own despair. In one chapter, she writes with great detail and affection about how she accidentally came to be owned by a cat. Anyone who loves them will understand her devotion, and knows how they capture us so quickly and without warning. I became interested in Furlan after watching her character, the Minbari Ambassador Delenn, fiercely commanding fleets, doling out wisdom for the ages, and still being an advocate for nonviolence until all of its options have been exhausted, but this memoir is about much more than how the actress immigrated to the U.S. to eventually star in a science fiction series. I think it was just what I needed, too.

When you buy a stethoscope from MDF Instruments, you get a free case. It's not a particularly impressive or sturdy case, and it's always this drab gray color. But I've found that one of my favorite things about collecting (aside from having gorgeous scopes to use!) is gathering stickers to cover my cases that are VERY me. It's like covering your guitar case...if I had any musical talent whatsoever, of course.

The book: Sherronda J. Brown’s Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture. Brown opens with a Toni Morrison quote: “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”  I admire Brown for doing just that.  As far as I know, there is nothing else out there like this book, and it’s both a long time coming and far ahead of its time.  How many people are ready to talk about the asexual experience for Black Americans?  That’s truly a rhetorical question that I'm not qualified to attempt to answer anyhow, since I'm white.  I’ve never seen someone put into words how a combination of anti-Blackness, capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchal attitudes, and heteronormativity work together to make understanding, disclosing, describing, and living one’s ace identity that much more difficult.  I only have to battle some of those.  I will admit that I was disappointed with Brown’s academic style of writing—I was hoping for something more casual, maybe memoir-esque.  That said, there’s an (all too brief) section in the back with quotes from black aces discussing their experiences.  She devotes an entire chapter to others’ speculations about the identities of Langston Hughes and Octavia Butler, and implications of the assumptions made about them.  I’m not sure about an entire chapter on that subject, but I’m always happy to read anything about Octavia Butler, so her inclusion was a nice (and fitting) surprise.

oh it's pretty though

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