tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75658809781797632052024-03-12T16:34:12.341-07:00Wait + Hope..."Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril." - Oscar Wildesamarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.comBlogger1147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-7287400377259162642016-07-30T16:10:00.002-07:002016-07-30T16:36:52.283-07:00the sound of a storySometimes I come across a song and book pairing that just capture each other so well it's startling! It's like they were designed by the same minds! Here are a few especially direct matches:<br />
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"Gold" by Sir Sly | <a href="http://samarasthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/red-rising.html"><i>Red Rising</i> by Pierce Brown</a><br />
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"Mouth made of metal, metal, metal<br />
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Pocket full of yellow, yellow<br />
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Pocket full of gold<br />
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And I hope you find<br />
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I hope you find your dream<br />
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And darling never settle, settle, settle<br />
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Chasing down the devil, devil<br />
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Chasing down the gods<br />
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And I hope you find<br />
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I hope you find your dream..."<br />
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"Bite" by Troye Sivan | <i>Carry On</i> by Rainbow Rowell<br />
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"Kiss me on the mouth and set me free<br />
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Sing me like a choir<br />
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I can be the subject of your dreams<br />
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Your sickening desire<br />
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Don't you want to see a man up close?<br />
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A phoenix in the fire<br />
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So kiss me on the mouth and set me free<br />
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But please don't bite..."<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* Ok, so I'm <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jueWbwYiS40">not the first person to think this</a>... But it can't be helped - the whole album is full of <i>Carry On</i> feels, to be honest.</span><br />
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"Unsteady" by X Ambassadors | <i>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe</i> by Benjamin Alire Sáenz<br />
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"Mother, I know<br />
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That you're tired of being alone<br />
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Dad, I know you're trying<br />
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To fight when you feel like flying<br />
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But if you love me, don't let go<br />
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If you love me, don't let go<br />
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Hold, hold on, hold onto me<br />
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'Cause I'm a little unsteady..."<br />
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samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-21244816841617382752016-06-03T18:06:00.000-07:002016-06-03T18:06:11.460-07:00I'd like to thank... <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As of today, I am done with class indefinitely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ah!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">While there will be many, many more end-of-grad school posts, today I wanted to share the acknowledgments for my thesis: "Its Own Sense of Verisimilitude": <i>The Lizzie Bennet Diaries</i> As a Transhistorical Adaptation of the Semipublic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* * * * *</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would like to thank the professors and faculty at Oregon State for their guidance and support. I am also grateful to the MA Symposium, the PAMLA and PCA/ACA Conferences where I got to try out many of these ideas. Thank you to my committee: Bradley Boovy, Jillian St. Jacques, Jon Lewis, and especially to Megan Ward, who so often offered me the vocabulary for what I was trying to articulate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To the creators whose work inspired this process, I cannot fully express my gratitude. To everyone at Pemberley Digital, who pursued this passion project with excellence and care, and to show runner Bernie Su for your vision, commentary, and responses to my Twitter inquiries. Most importantly, to Jane Austen whose quietly subversive and effervescently witty work has shaped my life in a myriad of ways.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To all the artists and creators that became a part of my graduate school experience, thank you for making art. Your work has sustained, invigorated, and fueled me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To the friends who have supported my work whether in person or hypermediated forms. To my friends and colleagues at Oregon State, and specifically Hannah, Rita, Ethan, Hayley, the Emily’s, Melissa, and more. To the graduate students from other fields who encouraged me and served as editors: Stephanie Downing and Jordan Cox—I could not have made it through grad school without you. Thank you to Lois who introduced me to Lizzie Bennet, my kindred spirit Kristina, and dear friend Julia. My thanks to Hannah Green for her endless enthusiasm about my work. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would like to thank my family for all their support. Mom and dad, thanks for having me read aloud to you at night as a child. To both of my “squads”… Jeremiah and Melissa, your humor, encouragement, and love have meant the world to me. And to my closest friends—Rebekah Gilley and Cami Morrill—thank you for the times you have literally held my hand through this process: you are my stars. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My sincere gratitude to each of you!</span><br />
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<br /></div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-42169218770622395132016-05-23T00:04:00.000-07:002016-05-23T00:04:17.927-07:00dance your wayI'm three weeks away from finishing grad school - aaaah! <br />
<br />
I firmly believe mental work only gets done with the help of dancing. And I've been dancing a lot - out with my friends when I can, but also in my room and in my car constantly! <br />
<br />
I have a whole playlist of dance-y music, including some really moody synth-pop I've been into lately. Thought I'd share a few with you...<br />
<br />
First up? Troye Sivan. Oh my word, Troye Sivan. I'm not sure I would have made it through the last several months without Troye! I feel guilty for even picking a song--the whole album is incredible!!--but I think this is one of his objectively "best" songs. It's a collab he did with the imitable Jack Antonoff <span style="font-size: x-small;">[of fun., Bleachers, Taylor Swift, etc. fame]</span>. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IqQC7B_D0oY" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
Other stand outs from the album include Bite, Fools, Talk Me Down, and Lost Boy [and the rest of the album!]<br />
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<br />
Next up? Halsey. I know I'm about a year late [shout out to <a href="http://missdaydreamersplace.blogspot.com/">Miss Daydreamer</a> for nudging me over the edge]. Castle is the aural representation of how I felt writing my thesis :) If you need to tackle something difficult, this is how you do it:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1rfSHisyHdc" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<br />
A softer sound... Lights. She has some peppier songs, but I can't get away from "Portal"!<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tRedqQIEsh4" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Of Monsters and Men released a fantastic sophomore album. This bonus remix is the song I listen to most often:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kuhrLueUN6U" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
And most recently, I've added Porter Robinson. Here's his Divinity...<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/si81bIoZRJQ" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
So that's me lately! These, with the interspersing of whole albums like Lemonade or Ryan Adams 1989, I'm dancing my way to the end of grad school!samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-13018097350421754172016-04-30T16:42:00.002-07:002016-04-30T16:42:41.652-07:00My Thesis...sort of.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Here is my thesis as a word cloud!</div>
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It's full title is...</div>
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<br /></div>
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"It’s Own Sense of Verisimilitude": <i>The Lizzie Bennet Diaries</i> As a Transhistorical Adaptation of the Semipublic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJhuJCJXRU3EPDntt4nItbLC-rlZJDRF6Ey9Uu6uPQBe8wIPkWr0H1R_Rx6D7qqoudSP7DR7dGE5gG3yMbnK8-nVfCd49j4K-tZqhyUhXfZltaneSJwcOxt9IrP5GqWwvfvyY3jqaNv0/s1600/Thesis+Word+Cloud.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJhuJCJXRU3EPDntt4nItbLC-rlZJDRF6Ey9Uu6uPQBe8wIPkWr0H1R_Rx6D7qqoudSP7DR7dGE5gG3yMbnK8-nVfCd49j4K-tZqhyUhXfZltaneSJwcOxt9IrP5GqWwvfvyY3jqaNv0/s1600/Thesis+Word+Cloud.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Have a long ways to go with this quarter and the defense, but my committee-draft is off to the printers and I'm a bit weepy about it :')</div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-32967041397814388082016-04-29T00:30:00.000-07:002016-04-29T00:30:10.589-07:00golden.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizy90t4Fc91L0dDWm8A0_bR-md-AuZ3VzIj-he8n9eUO4_uChHn4JzHVrxNlJsf9IjyBkdTN_ienoW6nLEjsyiXYEoXAtrSrhibmETUGg0EQh45VXdICP2hL7rVGHf_JM7N40h9XnOkDc/s1600/golden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizy90t4Fc91L0dDWm8A0_bR-md-AuZ3VzIj-he8n9eUO4_uChHn4JzHVrxNlJsf9IjyBkdTN_ienoW6nLEjsyiXYEoXAtrSrhibmETUGg0EQh45VXdICP2hL7rVGHf_JM7N40h9XnOkDc/s1600/golden.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Sarah Atkinson | <a href="http://dailyartjournal.tumblr.com/post/119382474686/artpropelled-sarah-atkinson">Marigold 8</a>]</td></tr>
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samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-65245211380763778502016-04-18T20:51:00.000-07:002016-04-18T20:51:30.527-07:00PCA/ACAHey!<br />
<br />
So last month I got to present a paper at the national conference for the Pop Culture Association / American Culture Association (the PCA/ACA). The conference was huge and they had a bunch of panels on adaptation. My paper was part of a panel (along with 3 other great speakers) on "Transmedia Adaptation." Here's the proposal I wrote last fall:<br />
<br />
* * * * *<br />
<br />
“Novel” Media: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Horizontal Adaptation<br />
<br />
This paper explores the definition of adaptation as a horizontal, formal move by looking at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. This Emmy-award winning, transmedia retelling of Pride and Prejudice set as a vlog in modern day California—told in “real-time” across platforms including YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr—provokes questions about our framework for adaptation.<br />
<br />
Until now, most adaptation theory has been defined in the vertical terms of “layering texts” or of “palimpsest.” While the vertical is significant, this paper argues for a definition of adaptation that include the horizontal dimension, that of narrative’s historical continuum. Bolter and Grusin refer to new media as “refashioned…versions of other media” (Remediation 14). For new media adaptations, they refashion, thereby reclaiming the novels that inspired them. They repurpose the novel forms of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as fictional autobiographies and epistolary or serialized novels. This allows us to re-experience both the plot and what was once an emerging, “novel” media.<br />
<br />
Just as Austen’s novel was not only arguing for proto-feminism and against classism but also for the very form of the novel, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is not merely making claims about female friendships or stereotyping but that adaptation through transmedia is a valid form, participating in what John Fiske refers to as “culture making” and Robert Stam calls an “ongoing dialogical process.” As a new avenue for adaptation opens, it sheds light on the horizontal facet of adaptation.<br />
<br />
* * * * *<br />
<br />
The panel was well-attended by 20 or so people [including my younger brother :] and I made a couple of useful great connections with people already in the field. Even more exciting to me is that many people said "I'm new to adaptation, but I'm beginning to see it connecting with ________ [this thing they were already doing]." And that makes me so exciting because I think we are seeing adaptation of one sort or another <i>everywhere</i> right now! It's so great to watch the field expanding and to feel like a small part of it!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
In other news, my thesis is written! The intro, 2 chapters, and conclusion have been drafted, revised, and re-revised. Due to some bureaucracy I'm still waiting on a thesis defense date, but I have this 70-page document and I'm amazed it's even done! Thanks for all the encouragement, friends--8 more weeks!samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-56994695913326896722016-03-09T13:29:00.001-08:002016-03-09T13:29:44.271-08:00<div class="tab-content active" id="poem-top" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<h1 style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 10px 0px 3px; padding: 0px;">
Are All the Break-Ups in Your Poems Real?</h1>
</div>
<span class="author" style="background-color: white; color: #4d493f; display: inline-block; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase;">BY <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/aimee-nezhukumatathil" style="color: #043d6e; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div class="tab-content active" id="poem" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">
<div class="poem" style="color: #505050; font-family: georgia; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 24px; margin: 25px 0px 0px;">
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
If by real you mean as real as a shark tooth stuck</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
in your heel, the wetness of a finished lollipop stick,</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
the surprise of a thumbtack in your purse—</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
then <em>Yes</em>, every last page is true, every nuance,</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
bit, and bite. <em>Wait.</em> I have made them up—all of them—</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
and when I say I am married, it means I married</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<em>all</em> of them, a whole neighborhood of past loves.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Can you imagine the number of bouquets, how many</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
slices of cake? Even now, my husbands plan a great meal</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
for us—one chops up some parsley, one stirs a bubbling pot</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
on the stove. One changes the baby, and one sleeps</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
in a fat chair. One flips through the newspaper, another</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
whistles while he shaves in the shower, and every single</div>
<div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
one of them wonders what time I am coming home.</div>
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<div class="credit" style="color: #7f7f7f; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding-top: 24px;">
<br />
Source: <em id="source_1932195580">Lucky Fish</em> (Tupelo Press, 2011)<br />
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* * * * * * *<br />
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<br />
This sublime piece is via my flatmate and <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/245516?utm_source=Twitter%26utm_medium=iphone%26utm_campaign=mobile%252Bsharing">The Poetry Foundation</a></div>
</div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-31320333734827270212016-02-27T20:06:00.000-08:002016-03-19T10:52:57.586-07:00<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://samarasthoughts.blogspot.com/2016/02/well.html">The reading this week</a> went well. There were a dozen or so readers with a diverse array of genres and topics--one colleague performed two pieces of slam poetry on discrimination and immigration, another wrote a short story about one "Jane Bond," while someone else shared a beautiful essay on oysters. The experience was really fun and encouraging. I read three poems - two of which were edited versions of ones I'd posted here. The third is something I thought I'd share now...</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">* * * * * * *</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">P</span></b><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">ondering </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">T</span></b><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">hose </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">S</span></b><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">tars & </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">D</span></b><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;">ots</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Like the sting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of a fresh tattoo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">perpetual</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I bear </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">my grief.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">while I </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">feel these wounds </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in the body,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">nothing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">manifests</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on the body.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At least</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a tattoo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">would create</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a scar made</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">art.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If only I</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">could display</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">this pain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">so colorfully.</span><br />
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samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-40548179888445835242016-02-18T23:34:00.000-08:002016-02-18T23:34:08.380-08:00<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6nzkWdvhDiK0NTbKz8XlUE3m9repJH-BLh61Tt-4Aj-HdFMIzMMiNxICF8-vxh7VULndir_l-DXJfEJuhVX3kNzLwZzbIp9PHaUku0UcafqrObqH1E5m5D5sw7MzUFEFaN5iEHugpj4/s640/blogger-image-1879226689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6nzkWdvhDiK0NTbKz8XlUE3m9repJH-BLh61Tt-4Aj-HdFMIzMMiNxICF8-vxh7VULndir_l-DXJfEJuhVX3kNzLwZzbIp9PHaUku0UcafqrObqH1E5m5D5sw7MzUFEFaN5iEHugpj4/s400/blogger-image-1879226689.jpg" width="309" /></a></div>
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Well... this will be a first...:)</div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-39915575151644836802016-02-16T01:39:00.000-08:002016-02-16T01:39:03.055-08:00And now for something a little different... <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I recently finished watching a show that, at the outset, is highly out of character for me. It would require the most severe parental guidance warnings in nearly every category - nudity, sex, profanity, drug use, and even occasional violent images [though not easy, I've made it my aim to keep this review PG-13]. For half of the first season, my experience watching was a constant oscillation between sneering "Wow, this show is such trash" to sobbing "Oh my goodness - how is this so good?!?" It went from being a guilty pleasure show to something much more significant. In the process, I flew through 5 seasons in one month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So a little bit of background on the show... <i>Queer as Folk</i>, which centers on a group of gay friends, aired on Showtime from 2000-2005. It was an adaptation of a British tv show of the same name created by Russell T. Davies (just a few years before he'd revive <i>Doctor Who</i>). From the clips I've seen online, the first season of the US/Canadian version (though set in Pittsburgh, it was filmed in Toronto) relies heavily (at times shot-for-shot) on the British one (1999-2000). Fun fact... the British <i>QaF</i> starred Aiden Gillen (most known as <i>Game of Thrones</i>'s Petyr Baelish, <i>The Wire</i>) and Charlie Hunnam (<i>Sons of Anarchy, Crimson Peak</i>) - reportedly break out performances for both of them. The American <i>QaF</i> centers on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6NT_IL1iY8">Brian Kinney</a> (Gale Harold)--a <a href="http://heystud.tumblr.com/post/135732301522/justintaylorr-brian-kinney-10-character-traits">narcissistic, ego-centric, hedonistic, self-proclaimed heterophobe, and all around a-hole</a>. He is also the most effervescently sensual character I have ever encountered. And I'm in love with him.</span><br />
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</span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-e9OW8D7y6fphpyFvybY010S3tTmMHyKN_Y6UHgmSxPR9qVP17L2JEeX6n5GPuRgP5wOi_gUrbFMlaoq4u1fLUtI8RlFlckHhfHwH_zoWsCNtmIuCSRsvqk02RHhNx1FrzkDHHmDRG4/s1600/brian+kinney_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-e9OW8D7y6fphpyFvybY010S3tTmMHyKN_Y6UHgmSxPR9qVP17L2JEeX6n5GPuRgP5wOi_gUrbFMlaoq4u1fLUtI8RlFlckHhfHwH_zoWsCNtmIuCSRsvqk02RHhNx1FrzkDHHmDRG4/s400/brian+kinney_1.jpg" width="275" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[a little bit of Ashton Kutcher, a little bit of Nathan Fillion, a lot of sexy]</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The show opens on the night when, after leaving Babylon (a dazzling gay club), Brian meets a young, impressionable Justin Taylor (Randy Harrison) and takes him home. There's no "will they/won't they" in this show--Justin loses his virginity with Brian and is completely smitten. There are just a few problems. Brian, 29, is a successful advertising agent on his way to becoming an executive; he owns an awe-inspiring loft, designer clothes, a fancy car... despite deep-seeded insecurities about getting older, he has it made. Justin...is 17 and in his senior year of high school. Also, in coming out to his parents and at school, his life is instantly much more complicated.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPwZoGawGgtPPLDNItrcoJdfEnZfbuHfyTqGBBs6m8WQeb9I6kGhZCONi8x-eXKLfpeZQQSU0lbC1FBEyvZS3-rYe5qmtr9O00eX1P5r0sGkgZ904b1RNySRqK2u5J_fdS-pJIbdg5aw/s1600/britin_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPwZoGawGgtPPLDNItrcoJdfEnZfbuHfyTqGBBs6m8WQeb9I6kGhZCONi8x-eXKLfpeZQQSU0lbC1FBEyvZS3-rYe5qmtr9O00eX1P5r0sGkgZ904b1RNySRqK2u5J_fdS-pJIbdg5aw/s400/britin_2.jpg" width="218" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Justin "Sunshine" Taylor and Brian Kinney]</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On top of all that--and in some ways the crux of the show--Brian doesn't do relationships. He does one-night-stands...lots and lots of them <span style="font-size: x-small;">(e.g. in the pilot he bangs 3 separate guys in a 24 hour period, with Justin being the middle of the trio)</span>. As the hottest stud in town, his character apparently gets so much action he can walk into a bar and sigh with boredom that "I've done everyone here." When Justin seeks him out after their first night together, Brian tells him:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"I've had you. What happened last night, it was for fun. You wanted me, and I wanted you. That's all it was... Look, I. don't. believe. in. love. I believe in f---ing. It's honest, it's efficient. You get in and out with the maximum of pleasure and minimum of bullsh-t. Love is something that straight people tell themselves they're in, so they can get laid. And then they end up hurting each other, because it was all based on lies to begin with. If that's what you want, then go find yourself a pretty little girl... and get married."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And yet, despite his best efforts, Brian's life becomes increasingly intertwined with Justin's, often through tragedy. Theirs is an on-and-off again, unconventional, and yet profound romance. And oh what a romance it is...</span><br />
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</span> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yz7OcCiOgCg" width="480"></iframe><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[If nothing else, watch this "ridiculously romantic" montage...]</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's Michael, who's been Brian's best friend since high school when they both came out. While he is the only person Brian won't sleep with, as his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hCUMtWSp1s">not-entirely-platonic</a> friend, Michael's also the only one he'll say "I love you" to. The pilot also introduces us to partners Lindsay, an art historian, and Melanie, an intense lawyer. Lindsay, who'd always been the "Wendy" to Brian's "Peter," is about to have a baby--thanks to a donation from Brian. Then there's the other best-friend pairing: Ted, a deeply insecure accountant who loves opera, and Emmet, the stereotypical to archetypal "flamboyant one" who is also one of the show's most engaging and inspirational characters. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ICfl4eM1Vud3qwr5QUvmpd0TQXNdYkHYAp2PkPDc9sm9hD3aS-MYoBFLiIz4xue3FKJyQvMIiQPOgkZ49FacYMYmUXZpWqfnkupUXRa1bYKYlSVH8xg3AFGzUjZKZcOnclOqdx5Wwyc/s1600/QaF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ICfl4eM1Vud3qwr5QUvmpd0TQXNdYkHYAp2PkPDc9sm9hD3aS-MYoBFLiIz4xue3FKJyQvMIiQPOgkZ49FacYMYmUXZpWqfnkupUXRa1bYKYlSVH8xg3AFGzUjZKZcOnclOqdx5Wwyc/s400/QaF.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[L to R, Emmet (Peter Paige), Ted (Scott Lowell), Brian (Gale Harold), Ben (Robert Gant), Lindsay (Thea Gill), Michael (Hal Sparks)<br />
Justin (Randy Harrison) and Mel (Michelle Clunie)]</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The group act as a non-traditional family through many ups and downs, united especially in their fond ridiculing of Brian. While his actions often come off as heartless, it becomes apparent that he is willing to do what he believes will be best for his friends--even if they hate him for it. He is willing to bear that hatred if it means his friends will have better opportunities. He's the guy who says he won't help and then actually, quietly does all the work. And then, there are a few times his own pain surfaces and the world seems to stop when Brian Kinney cries. As the series progresses, he slowly, subtly changes. Eventually, he is self-aware enough to admit:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My mother is a frigid b-tch, my father was an abusive drunk; they had a hateful marriage, which is probably why I am unwilling, or unable, to form a long-term committed relationship of my own. The fact that I drink like a fish, abuse drugs and have more or less redefined promiscuity doesn't help... much.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If nothing else, this show as a character study of what can happen when a broken person is loved. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aoRcNv3qugfmdIwBzrBJHRbnKG5-uA5Y2Mxsi6wM4YnCQYARkpC1bw-MmFGnILVxwDJIAHr-JFDGrkq8r3R5QBYJH83GFbL9028yLF5bb9OlyCIp7dGdmNNgSMMyBmoFmI7AweCFvdU/s1600/IMG_5176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aoRcNv3qugfmdIwBzrBJHRbnKG5-uA5Y2Mxsi6wM4YnCQYARkpC1bw-MmFGnILVxwDJIAHr-JFDGrkq8r3R5QBYJH83GFbL9028yLF5bb9OlyCIp7dGdmNNgSMMyBmoFmI7AweCFvdU/s400/IMG_5176.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Season 4 promo]</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But enough of an introduction to the characters... It's worth discussing that <i>QaF</i> deals more frankly and graphically with sex than anything else I've ever seen - including <i>Game of Thrones</i>. But there is an old adage in the study of literature (and I imagine other arts) that "It's always about sex... unless its actually about sex and then its about something different." While a vast over-simplification, there's a reason this saying has stuck around and I've often found it's that second half that's accurate. So while this show is unashamedly, from the get-go, in-your-face "about sex," I've found that it's actually about something else, something more. In the world of the show, sex is a way people work through insecurities and their identities</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The show is far from perfect. It's too melodramatic. It reinforces some at-best unflattering, at-worst harmful stereotypes. The cast is alarmingly white. The dialogue can be campy. Groundbreaking for 2000, the showrunners clearly went for shock more than sophistication or nuance. I think the reason I haven't been able to stop thinking about it is how paradoxical it is - while not always "good," it is meaningful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the end, <i>Queer as Folk</i> is a show about overcoming. As the title suggests, the show reappropriates many of the derogatory terms used to demean LGBTQ people to make them empowering. The characters face issues ranging from the dark--homelessness, bashing, HIV+ status, discrimination, conversion therapy, infidelity, prostitution, rape, addiction, and death--to the beautiful--adoption, reconciliation, recovery, and gay marriage...including the first legal gay wedding ever shown on US television. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While, as a straight person, most of this show was a learning experience for me, I identified strongly with their perseverance in overcoming, in loving each other, and in living the truth. At one point in the show, Emmet is offered a relationship he wants but at the price of secrecy and he responds by saying, "I never had to live a lie. And I'm not about to start now. Not for you. Not for anyone." Watching this show reaffirmed for me that I want to be the type of person that doesn't live a lie for anyone, that the me you get is honest even if it's raw. </span><br />
<br />samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-86166602935092377492016-02-08T00:41:00.000-08:002016-02-08T09:12:34.580-08:00<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So... this happened. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBoc9iDguaczoadeQMgbU07Ud3EuJvM6hGbwEzaIsGHIv0GnnCs7a0r8VubcsEegCCBSogbq9DQEEwqldywSXuAk6t2JZVcSgEuj1ZzbM84rHhx_KnBfDpMeXIN2USymor4KzAfbbqsg/s640/blogger-image--994572547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBoc9iDguaczoadeQMgbU07Ud3EuJvM6hGbwEzaIsGHIv0GnnCs7a0r8VubcsEegCCBSogbq9DQEEwqldywSXuAk6t2JZVcSgEuj1ZzbM84rHhx_KnBfDpMeXIN2USymor4KzAfbbqsg/s640/blogger-image--994572547.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUOQzrXkuxKwfE9vtKVlza0vkmystW_EzcraoQdNBUK9e9OhEjDoVt7IktbROx8ewffi1EHg7zHQqiF-vil7s4DCNZ_l5xwXZczFKB7ZbbEsc1hBUxnUULFO11Ugop3kQRc8cDdYZmk8/s640/blogger-image-1896540621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUOQzrXkuxKwfE9vtKVlza0vkmystW_EzcraoQdNBUK9e9OhEjDoVt7IktbROx8ewffi1EHg7zHQqiF-vil7s4DCNZ_l5xwXZczFKB7ZbbEsc1hBUxnUULFO11Ugop3kQRc8cDdYZmk8/s640/blogger-image-1896540621.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">O.O</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm gonna go eat some chocolate and tell some dementors to beat it with the encouragement of the <b>best. selling. author. of. all. time!!!!!! </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Update: <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/eleanorbate/jk-rowling-gives-fan-advice?bftw&utm_term=.jpGwwAaGQq#.uaQaapek6L">Buzzfeed</a>!</span></div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-39953614660672292942016-01-31T15:05:00.001-08:002016-01-31T15:05:09.985-08:00Meletaó, No. 1<div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No wonder</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">we dream of flying</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">when hearts float incessant</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">on rise... fall...</span></div></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But leave your head </span></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">awhile;</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">allow yourself the present</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">weight of dust. </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We possess these</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">root-like</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">lungs</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">commanding bones</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">move and</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">muscles work </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">incessant. </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Use them. </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Love them.</div>samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-63360824547382231252016-01-28T21:45:00.003-08:002016-01-28T21:45:27.785-08:00January: all the things!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hello and Happy New Year! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know I'm quite behind on this but, dear blog-reader, please don't feel like it's you. In the throes of thesising, there are a lot of things I'm behind on, like folding my laundry and taking down Christmas decorations. But while its still January, I feel I can say "Happy New Year."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">...Annnd share my reading list from 2015 :) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>The Allegory of the Cave - Plato</u>* (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>The Evolution of the Language of Cinema - Andre Bazin</u> (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Golden Son - Pierce Brown [Also a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this fabulous author!]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema - Laura Mulvey</u> (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Passing - Nella Larsen</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Nightwood - Djuna Barnes</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf</u>*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">11.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Moments of Being - Virginia Woolf (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">12.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Falling Upward - Richard Rohr (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">13.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Faerie Queene: Book I - Edmund Spencer</u>*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">14.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Amoretti - Edmund Spencer</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">15.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Faerie Queene: Book III - Edmund Spencer</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">16.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">17.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One More Thing - B.J. Novak (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">18.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Slow Regard of Silent Things - Patrick Rothfuss (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">19.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Landline - Rainbow Rowell (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">20.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>First Meetings - Orson Scott Card (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">21.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Everyday - David Levithan (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">22.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Shadow of the Giant - Orson Scott Card (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">23.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (nf)(a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">24.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">25.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Theory of Adaptation - Linda Hutcheon (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">26.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Remediation - Bolter and Grusin (nf)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">27.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>Double Indemnity - James M. Cain</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">28.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><u>The Big Nowhere - James Ellroy</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">29.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Watership Down - Richard Adams (a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">30.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why Not Me - Mindy Kaling (nf)(a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">31.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me - Mindy Kaling (nf)(a)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">key:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* re-read</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">__ - read for school</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(nf) - non-fiction</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(a) - audiobook </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Overall trends:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">// I read fewer books this year--thanks grad school. What this list does not account for are the pages and pages of dense theoretical and critical essays and book chapters I read for school. I swear, 20 pages of theory can be far more challenging than a 200 page novel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">// Where did all that non-fiction come from - especially the non-fiction for pleasure reading?!? Unusual for me, but I read--er, listened to some great memoirs this year, which brings me to... </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">// Audiobooks! Before 2015 I would have considered this cheating, but due to certain factors--grad school, again, and working in a file room this summer--I discovered not only how great audiobooks can be, but also the types of books I'm comfortable audiobooking. I got to hear authors B.J. Novak, Patrick Rothfuss, and Mindy Kaling read their own books and it was a beautiful experience!! I also discovered that my library system back home works with a great audiobooking app that I utilize for road trips and such :)</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stand-outs: </span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Golden Son</i> - Brown's followup to <i><a href="http://samarasthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/red-rising.html">Red Rising</a></i> was packed with even more plot twists than the original! Also, the final book in this landmark trilogy comes out in just 12 days, so it's a perfect time to pick up this series!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>One More Thing</i> - This collection of short stories is just <b>fabulous</b>! Some stories quite lengthy while others are only 3 sentences. I shared some of my favorite <a href="http://samarasthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/06/snippets.html">snippets</a> already, but I'd also highly recommend the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FxhTn9cEhI">book's trailer</a>--it is a treat! Audiobooking this was such a great experience as B.J. Novak enlists a lot of quality voice work--from <i>The Office</i> co-stars Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and (of course) Mindy Kaling to thespians like Emma Thompson and Carey Mulligan to the quirky talents of Lena Dunham and Jason Schwartzman. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Landline</i> - I only grow more impressed with Rainbow Rowell (I'm currently reading my fourth book by her...she's only written 5 so I'm probably gonna run out). She captures romance so authentically well while also making her stories gritty. This one was especially good because it was simultaneously about first love <i>and</i> rekindling love. Sooo lovely!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I am Malala</i> - This is one of those books <b>everyone</b><i> </i>should read [I'd love to see Emma Watson pick it for her bookclub!]. It is such an incredible story and the news had only covered a small portion of it. Again, the audiobook was stellar - especially because it ended with the actual audio of her UN speech.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Why Not Me</i> - Perhaps it's just that I read/listened to this at the perfect time, but this was a really meaningful collection of essays. Even if you don't pick up the book, you should do yourself the favor of reading the excerpt on confidence <a href="http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/2015/08/mindy-kaling-guide-to-killer-confidence">here</a>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So there you have my 2015 in books!!</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* * * * *</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I do every year on this date, I also have to commemorate a few other things... </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, today is the 203rd anniversary of the publication of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>. I first read it 12 years ago, but with each passing year it has become more and more valuable to me. If all goes according to plan, a few months from now I'll be defending a thesis project that wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for this extraordinary, beautiful, quietly subversive novel.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGo7yUCxVI4wRF3jD4OCE3hKYnMv1TFKNI07wJE48EtycTHaK6mn9plNXL_c5MWUoCmUS1ymJfhPb2YWgdmqGwX4cXJyh7mV7Bpc9VpXpSYogQJlFlwBeWJgwS8j95Hfkd7vi4zCairw/s1600/Sheldon+on+Pride+and+Prejudice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGo7yUCxVI4wRF3jD4OCE3hKYnMv1TFKNI07wJE48EtycTHaK6mn9plNXL_c5MWUoCmUS1ymJfhPb2YWgdmqGwX4cXJyh7mV7Bpc9VpXpSYogQJlFlwBeWJgwS8j95Hfkd7vi4zCairw/s320/Sheldon+on+Pride+and+Prejudice.jpg" width="290" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[<a href="http://just-me-francesca.tumblr.com/post/64797483322">via</a>]</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And lastly... today also marks 7 years of blogging here. Thank you to anyone who has followed along for even just a smidge of that journey - I appreciate you all very much!</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-38064471163557076892015-12-30T15:24:00.000-08:002016-12-27T10:44:06.863-08:00My introduction to Star Wars...I've recounted this story for a couple of different people lately, decided I should actually write it down, and now is actually the <i>perfect</i> time :)<br />
<br />
It was the week between Christmas and New Years, I was 5-years-old, and Seattle was hit with a much stronger than usual snowstorm. As it does when it gets a proper snow storm (or, ok--let's be real--even a couple of flurries), the city shut down. Whether my dad had planned to take that time off of work or not, the whole family was together that week.<br />
<br />
At some point around Christmas, one of the network TV stations aired the trilogy or at least <i>A New Hope</i>. So my parents recorded it on VHS - ad breaks and all. They showed us <i>A New Hope</i> and we all had our minds blown!! Transported to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away! The enthralling opening music and scroll (even though my parents had to read it aloud to us), this defiant princess, the twin suns of Tattooine, jedi mind tricks, wookies, droids, lightsabers!! Then my parents told us there was more! More of this new, unbelievable drug of wonder, humor, and bravery?!? Yes please! Our family was <b>never</b> the "binge-watching" type. We got one movie a day on weekends and that was it. But my parents must have been moved by our delightful reactions and put on <i>Empire Strikes Back</i>. I liked this one even more (and still do!). His scoundrely romance with Leia cemented Han Solo as my first crush. And you should have seen our visceral reactions and loud gasps to The Biggest Reveal in Movie History™. What a film; what a cliffhanger!<br />
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Somehow, my parents had been able to get Episode IV and V, but not VI! With the storm, even VHS Rental Stores (now a historical relic) were closed. But they had 4 agonized children suffering not only movie hangover but also dying to find out what would happen! Out of that desperation, my dad phoned a friend, the Smiths, our closest family friends [like I still have their phone number memorized]. They owned the whole trilogy and, yes, they would let us borrow <i>Return of the Jedi</i>. But since the roads weren't drivable, my heroic dad ran through the snow--a mile and a half uphill, a mile and a half downhill--to obtain the Episode VI. <br />
<br />
My dad was a good runner and, though the snow slowed him down, it probably took no more than an hour. But what. an. hour. I remember my mom saying, "At least you didn't have to wait 3 years like we did." I also remember writhing; I'm pretty sure some of us were writhing on the floor, exposed to the pain I would learn to become very familiar with: waiting for resolution. But at last, we could see our dad jogging through a white world up our street and our rejoicing rivaled that of the Ewoks' we were about to meet!<br />
<br />
We watched it, finished it...the whole <i>Star Wars</i> trilogy in one day and it was magic! I was changed forever. And <b>that</b> snowy, starry, unique day happens to be 20 years ago this week. I have seen <i>The Force Awakens</i> twice and am now living again with that dull but sweet pain that accompanies waiting in between <i>Star Wars</i>. Till then, may the force be with you!samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-13902986129449982152015-11-28T19:52:00.001-08:002015-11-28T19:52:47.296-08:00My Favorite Scene in Film Noir<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I'm writing a term paper for my <i>film noir</i> class on fashion, the femme fatale, and women in the workforce during the post-war period. It's quite fun - my only regret is that I only have a short window to write it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But in reflecting back on the films we've watched this term, this scene has stayed with me since we first watched it. It's a bit mature, but its also exceptional! <i>Noir</i> like most film of the time has female characters that pretty much conform to a binary of the <i>femme fatale</i> and the nurturing home-maker. But this clip of Bogart's Marlowe meeting a never-named character played by Dorothy Malone defies that binary...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm <b>so</b> impressed by this characterization. She wears her desire openly - her face at 2:49! - and she isn't punished for it!! She's smart enough to see through him and he's not threatened, he's impressed. And can we talk about this fantastic early use of the "nerdy girl takes off her glasses" trope? This is from the film that brought Bogart and Bacall together (and of course they do have fabulous chemistry), but its this scene that wins the "cold shower edit" as its known. You go, Glen Coco! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hats off to Hawks, Bogart, and Malone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">...and now, back to paper-writing :)</span><br />
<br />samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-90789862173548661172015-11-13T16:30:00.001-08:002015-11-13T16:30:58.986-08:00Je ne sais pas que dire... <div>Seulement, ce soir, mon cœur est avec Paris. </div>samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-11661404979419806712015-10-31T03:07:00.000-07:002015-10-31T03:07:42.384-07:00<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lately, Friday nights seem to lead me to interviews on Lady Gaga...and then 2 am happens. But they've been incredibly restorative. I get that she's not everyone's cup of tea, but there is a kind of depth to her that I've needed recently. I don't really know how to describe it other than letting her speak for herself. She sums it up wonderfully when she says:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>"I'm gonna be responsible for all my pain looking beautiful."</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Well, 'Marry the Night' is about marrying the darkness, marrying what is difficult about your life. So, I guess, what the video is asking from all of you is to bear your struggles very close to your heart and have them be a part of you that you're proud of, as opposed to being something you're ashamed of."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[Jump to around 1:40]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"I like to channel my pain in vibrant ways and that's how I deal with my sadness." </span><br />
<br /></div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-38384958120155047712015-10-26T23:03:00.002-07:002016-02-23T23:30:01.456-08:00Magdalen Cloisters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Reminiscing about the rainy visit I made to Magdalen College...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoSqfgBJCcDBz_jN_MhgOCdrkEIyoYyY_3poe2CdBSioN-PZnADvg_AqcVUvBf2pTn0_VSDWvGSbU-0uT0x7AFFzMY7OjCcLo3f8k2Nl4zbTATRVmJreFdxT5z6-7CLIte1YWMZlSick/s1600/IMG_0072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoSqfgBJCcDBz_jN_MhgOCdrkEIyoYyY_3poe2CdBSioN-PZnADvg_AqcVUvBf2pTn0_VSDWvGSbU-0uT0x7AFFzMY7OjCcLo3f8k2Nl4zbTATRVmJreFdxT5z6-7CLIte1YWMZlSick/s640/IMG_0072.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 15.2727px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Even Oxford's infrastructure was conducive to contemplation, revelation. Its walls seemed infused with mystery... It was tempting to think that resting my head against its stony chest would betray a heartbeat, or by putting my ear to this shell, I could hear the distant but undeniable advancing and then retreating of whispered wisdom." - Carolyn Weber</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLOvClv5mIG_wmVj45iV1Rz4gijHfhyGfSvNoeUgS3g96T4D2-wgOpu60rfZ48idFDDIs6_YLZEonZ-lXvIXvaoMnQ1hKwAqOFyzMRRpItf7eA1gQ8eSxGt8f7EkM6ZIbNtjmsiJcxGY/s1600/IMG_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLOvClv5mIG_wmVj45iV1Rz4gijHfhyGfSvNoeUgS3g96T4D2-wgOpu60rfZ48idFDDIs6_YLZEonZ-lXvIXvaoMnQ1hKwAqOFyzMRRpItf7eA1gQ8eSxGt8f7EkM6ZIbNtjmsiJcxGY/s640/IMG_0073.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 15.2727px;">The spirit of the elder days found a dwelling here, and we delighted to trace its footsteps." - Mary Shelley on Oxford</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnWuZk28uXqCyrM2hNexQ5uk4CmYQAdjTaQo6Rr9rdZ6CiZemj12OgpXwZTgKxjM7ZVxVeTXe6Rr1PC6O_PaiPhHUwzIT94MPfORSZikL4Rq6C_fq04R9cAbGmZ-DbcjU2fI-8LM0dqw/s1600/IMG_0077a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYnWuZk28uXqCyrM2hNexQ5uk4CmYQAdjTaQo6Rr9rdZ6CiZemj12OgpXwZTgKxjM7ZVxVeTXe6Rr1PC6O_PaiPhHUwzIT94MPfORSZikL4Rq6C_fq04R9cAbGmZ-DbcjU2fI-8LM0dqw/s640/IMG_0077a.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 15.2727px;">I tended, indeed, to feel that God Himself dwelt in Oxford, His holy city, where He could hear the bells." - Sheldon Vanauken</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 15.2727px;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; line-height: 15.2727px;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">* * * * *</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.2727px;">All photos courtesy of <a href="http://capturingthespirit.tumblr.com/">Cami</a> :)</span></span></div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-30361155653023148882015-10-25T13:00:00.001-07:002015-10-26T22:49:20.849-07:00Jones<div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
candlelit steam and dreaming </div>
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of waking up next</div>
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to someone... </div>
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<br /></div>
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i'm about to be raw, </div>
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let you decide</div>
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and wondering should I be </div>
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bracing for sanitation or</div>
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a salve? and will you still</div>
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want the brokenness </div>
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of me? will you</div>
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walk out of my life just as </div>
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easily as "are you dancing</div>
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with someone?" or can i</div>
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cut in. </div>
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is this you cutting out?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-4671672148657660742015-10-19T19:44:00.000-07:002015-10-19T19:44:46.438-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
So this is my current aesthetic...</div>
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samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-73069396104859656472015-10-16T00:30:00.000-07:002015-10-16T00:32:25.609-07:00Hello, I have few bits of graduate school news to share with you...<br />
<br />
So, the most significant thing this week is that I turned in the first drafted chapter of my thesis! It's actually not the first chronological chapter--I'll probably be writing that last; it's a chapter from the body and will probably chapter 3 of 4. It ended up being about 18 pages long and just over 6,000 words. I can't believe it's there. actually there. on the page. There were many times this spring and summer where I looked at many aspects of my life and thought "I don't know how I'm gonna make it..." I definitely wondered how I could possibly do the necessary research <i>and</i> write this chapter. But here it is. I don't know if it's any good yet, but it's here :) I'll be meeting with my adviser next week and hopefully will have some good feedback because...<br />
<br />
That chapter is doing double-duty as a conference paper next month, PAMLA. I've already shared my <a href="http://samarasthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/pride-and-prejudice-joins-twitter.html">paper proposal</a> on here, but the official schedule has come out and I now have the <a href="http://www.pamla.org/2015/sessions/comparative-media-i">link to the comparative media panel</a> I'm on! I am also super grateful to have won their (small, but significant) graduate student scholarship. One can kind of wonder if they were accepted to a panel just because there was no one else applying, but this wonderful honor makes me feel like they actually want me there, which is lovely!<br />
<br />
This week I also heard back from a similar proposal I made for an adaptation panel at the Pop Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA). Their national conference is in March and it's in Seattle, plus this particular conference is almost like an academic conference meets a fan convention - so I reeeally wanted to present at this conference. Well...I'm in! The panel chair sent such an encouraging email and I'm so looking forward to attending in the Spring. Here was my PCA/ACA proposal:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Novel” Media: <i>The Lizzie Bennet Diaries</i> and
Horizontal Adaptation </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<o:p> </o:p><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
paper explores the definition of adaptation as a horizontal, formal move by looking
at <i>The Lizzie Bennet Diaries</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Emmy-award winning, transmedia retelling
of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> set as a vlog in modern day California—told in “real-time”
across platforms including YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr—provokes questions
about our framework for adaptation.</span><o:p> </o:p> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Until now, most adaptation theory has been defined in the vertical
terms of “layering texts” or of “palimpsest.” While the vertical is
significant, this paper argues for a definition of adaptation that include the
horizontal dimension, that of narrative’s historical continuum. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bolter and Grusin refer to new media as “refashioned…versions
of other media” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Remediation</i> 14). For
new media adaptations, they refashion, thereby reclaiming the novels that inspired
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They repurpose the novel forms of
the 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup> centuries, such as fictional
autobiographies and epistolary or serialized novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This allows us to re-experience both the plot
and what was once an emerging, “novel” media. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Just as Austen’s novel was not only arguing for
proto-feminism and against classism but also for the very form of the novel, <i>The
Lizzie Bennet Diaries</i> is not merely making claims about female friendships
or stereotyping but that adaptation through transmedia is a valid form,
participating in what John Fiske refers to as “culture making” and Robert Stam
calls an “ongoing dialogical process.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
a new avenue for adaptation opens, it sheds light on the horizontal facet of
adaptation.</blockquote>
So grateful for every chance I get to dialogue through these intriguing questions. Here's to many more conversations about Jane Austen :)<br />
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samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-78392733578717253702015-10-13T23:52:00.000-07:002015-10-13T23:52:38.820-07:00<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately I've had Ryan Adam's <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0XuugFoVt9mpuWuDMqOu4mLzkZZvnbUQ">1989</a></i> on repeat. I've also been working on a chapter for my thesis on <i>The Lizzie Bennet Diaries</i>...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it hasn't been lost on me that I'm indulging a full-scale adaptation while writing about adaptation. I love it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adaptception!! </span>samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-77206673296120380852015-10-13T01:00:00.000-07:002015-10-13T01:00:15.254-07:00<br />
To say that I was in love with you is taking things too far. So, no, I wasn't in love with you.<br />
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But I could have been.<br />
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I had almost succeeded in erasing you, unfriended and unfollowed... But today I slipped on the tee I wore on the last day - not the last day I almost loved you - but the last one I had permission to. And in the days and days and daze that followed, my greatest tragedy was intangibility, not even having the satisfaction of calling you my ex. Because that would have justified my pain and excused me from the fake smiles I gave you.<br />
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[probably to be continued...]samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-38447268879534411872015-10-10T17:43:00.001-07:002015-10-10T17:45:47.190-07:00Growing out a pixie....<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once upon a time... I was a <a href="http://samarasthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/04/h-i-r-e-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n.html">pixie</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I <i>loooved</i> being a pixie! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizV03ySxBZm0tzlKgwXPpJPpshBMXHwjzNUlzITWN7NbeGnh1O_oH02aQS8l7DlORQFMCgmw9_v51dTMYfY9VUDyBJpSkPoX1-Lqs4ZASTQpvGtKkZVqJWvQYzJn_b3fe8hTSJTPoDt14/s640/blogger-image-524986154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizV03ySxBZm0tzlKgwXPpJPpshBMXHwjzNUlzITWN7NbeGnh1O_oH02aQS8l7DlORQFMCgmw9_v51dTMYfY9VUDyBJpSkPoX1-Lqs4ZASTQpvGtKkZVqJWvQYzJn_b3fe8hTSJTPoDt14/s640/blogger-image-524986154.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And yet, for various reasons, I decided to grow out my pixie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQhY8OOUEavEV3NujKSIK_spJ7wGG352VXqlsP8kB8RSO5tm5hKc22cwRIDK3cY3GRuF9K_4TqABQBeSMJj_O-TnTPpQnsOq6Ba0wBhxBT3DYrEOapGm3XRZnxzwplCROcE7c0bMqCYk/s640/blogger-image-1127732453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQhY8OOUEavEV3NujKSIK_spJ7wGG352VXqlsP8kB8RSO5tm5hKc22cwRIDK3cY3GRuF9K_4TqABQBeSMJj_O-TnTPpQnsOq6Ba0wBhxBT3DYrEOapGm3XRZnxzwplCROcE7c0bMqCYk/s640/blogger-image-1127732453.jpg" /></span></a></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9.20.14</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I didn't decide to grow out the pixie until a few months later but here's an example of it near its shortest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVg9TdotUhGiLvBe-UcyQ60K_1sR3XgL5H9n7E67ebdG8XjntVsby150O2upQNoqqstYNtmRjsgUgXm6HgqA8Dx5l4pbUe6RhPkFmQYfESNKYXyinJERMzPsWPM6IQzNAJjO9ZCdiLs0/s640/blogger-image--820358976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVg9TdotUhGiLvBe-UcyQ60K_1sR3XgL5H9n7E67ebdG8XjntVsby150O2upQNoqqstYNtmRjsgUgXm6HgqA8Dx5l4pbUe6RhPkFmQYfESNKYXyinJERMzPsWPM6IQzNAJjO9ZCdiLs0/s640/blogger-image--820358976.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">12.2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is about when I decided to let it grow out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSBgBNA19ooweoY1gp_kCLMes0Qbhzp7KgMF9GzkWiuwMie_1y7zaJJ_MlPJ__o5JlEvfZ-y8Ef7FIhFbyA7dPj2Im73GhyphenhyphenUt02T3mBwrmiZKhAicLvlIvliU7T48ZJtWVOF_EkKz52s/s640/blogger-image-1506117444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSBgBNA19ooweoY1gp_kCLMes0Qbhzp7KgMF9GzkWiuwMie_1y7zaJJ_MlPJ__o5JlEvfZ-y8Ef7FIhFbyA7dPj2Im73GhyphenhyphenUt02T3mBwrmiZKhAicLvlIvliU7T48ZJtWVOF_EkKz52s/s640/blogger-image-1506117444.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.27</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis0PdwvEOLZWzunSy8qPs3Yws1xwAC7EtWglxJKPHA-1YvVM2HghibOmQJRIsKPDHzhSwwOYxWX8DaqjltHV0m1Mz7iRKE05wJuiJr7C5ojllIFfWS5fWdtWGl2m_DaZjgsqOIcVNFEyM/s640/blogger-image-50723358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis0PdwvEOLZWzunSy8qPs3Yws1xwAC7EtWglxJKPHA-1YvVM2HghibOmQJRIsKPDHzhSwwOYxWX8DaqjltHV0m1Mz7iRKE05wJuiJr7C5ojllIFfWS5fWdtWGl2m_DaZjgsqOIcVNFEyM/s640/blogger-image-50723358.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2.28</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You know... just a "Don't Stop Believing" lip-sync sesh in the car.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3.30</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4.22</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8I_Ax7KRh10dU2HCQsXaAvhaUxaIrov1vj1Mn_eEnDWVQGfaSpJtnLzSsZzIxGw7TPHPvRgMbHhlvPjYxohug04JwMDB3OhmBBJZwsQsRQUtJcJAH5ALz5a5zpa8dWa5jlJIwhZZdie8/s640/blogger-image--1235018041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8I_Ax7KRh10dU2HCQsXaAvhaUxaIrov1vj1Mn_eEnDWVQGfaSpJtnLzSsZzIxGw7TPHPvRgMbHhlvPjYxohug04JwMDB3OhmBBJZwsQsRQUtJcJAH5ALz5a5zpa8dWa5jlJIwhZZdie8/s640/blogger-image--1235018041.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6.12</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7.12</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9.1</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHS-8W2dsg1FOFiJ_G470LqjlBc_JS9syT4LTL8gYXEMu5m-3ider9HwMowCiegmZgyBcuZyDGhLoljJ1M1deqCItdKojUiHy11QreOeZVUWUSo4eJjMdp-SjxdhP4sl7XmPzvVh_f6Ys/s640/blogger-image--1332995887.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHS-8W2dsg1FOFiJ_G470LqjlBc_JS9syT4LTL8gYXEMu5m-3ider9HwMowCiegmZgyBcuZyDGhLoljJ1M1deqCItdKojUiHy11QreOeZVUWUSo4eJjMdp-SjxdhP4sl7XmPzvVh_f6Ys/s640/blogger-image--1332995887.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9.24</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvY-GZIjKfgSfQvEF2qKVPQAQRBEPXXtZyCMFfQiABTXvSbwJcfBXwYzw-pO8-jyYgso5yNwVIlULyDQ1dT2kc9QOmFAZUJ1MO-fGypt4xg5STRg4eakUh8h0w6f12m93Ve8M9uInjHM/s640/blogger-image--1402613988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvY-GZIjKfgSfQvEF2qKVPQAQRBEPXXtZyCMFfQiABTXvSbwJcfBXwYzw-pO8-jyYgso5yNwVIlULyDQ1dT2kc9QOmFAZUJ1MO-fGypt4xg5STRg4eakUh8h0w6f12m93Ve8M9uInjHM/s640/blogger-image--1402613988.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">10.9</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As of yesterday, I've unlocked the "bob with bangs" level and from here I should have an easier time - fewer haircuts interpolated by bang trims. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The grow-out process hasn't always been easy, but it wasn't so bad that I wouldn't go back to a pixie. Here are a few tips and tricks I learned along the way:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* A hairstylist you trust is a requirement! I mean, it should probably be a requirement before getting a pixie. But you need someone who really knows your long term vision (is it weird that I always have a 1-2 year hair plan?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* Be prepared to visit said hairstylist often to take care of trouble spots #FightTheMullet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* I grew out one side at a time and it kept me sane! I probably could have grown it out faster, but I refused to look like a 2008 Beiber! My pixie had always been asymmetric, so I kept trimming the left side while the right grew out till I could really style it. That way I could draw attention away from the left as it grew out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* Color is your friend! Before I started growing out the left side, I had ombré highlights added and they have helped even more than I anticipated!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* A women's multivitamin has improved my overall hair health. I also added lavender essential oil to my shampoo to help it grow a bit faster. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* Get experimental with tools and products. It seemed like I had to slightly adjust my hair routine every 4-5 weeks or so. And at one point I was blow drying with 3 different round brushes! My favorite products? This <a href="http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod12041711&skuId=2285461&cmpid=PS_Non!google!Product_Listing_Ads&cagpspn=pla&CAWELAID=330000200000264250&catargetid=330000200000190441&cadevice=c&gclid=CjwKEAjw7uKwBRDUlJvRo-z6rgMSJACbmSBhGrIGFdGOpwUWbDo4MVoXOHLWdZDbf_T8oCHIkrSmDhoC7GHw_wcB">texturizing spray</a> and a good dry shampoo (preferably Batiste's). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* To see some more of my "goal hairstyles" along the way, visit my <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/samarasurface/hair/">Hair</a> board on Pinterest :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* * * * * * *</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dear pixie,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You were good to me. You helped me be more <i>me</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thanks you so much for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day, I'll find you again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Samara</span></div>
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samarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110418558011704941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565880978179763205.post-22356996245686739302015-10-03T19:02:00.000-07:002015-10-03T19:05:12.140-07:00Haikus: Epiphany<div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know this summer I haven't posted as much as usual. Due to my job and thesis research, I didn't have as much time for personal writing as I wanted to. I did find myself jotting down phrases on the go and eventually got the idea to work on a collection of haikus. I had a lot of fun with this project and it was really fascinating how once I embraced the form, it seems like I started thinking 5-7-5. I'm not sure if this project is over, but it's time I share these snippets from the past few months.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>So, without further adieu, summer 2015 according to </i>Haikus: Epiphany<i>.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">* * * * *</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cascadia:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Disillusioned ones</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">walk on. But the face of God</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">is a mountainside. </span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Staying up the hours the carpool lane is open:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Embrace the night owl </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">living within yourself and </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">stop harboring guilt.</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Post Alley:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't remember</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the song playing, but I now </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">have my alibi </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Flat Rate Boxes:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Can't account for the </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">words, tears, everything, but...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"You want your stuff back?" </span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Park West:</span></u></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See the pale half-moon, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fire-red sun share the sky</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and feel my pulse calm. </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Breakfast conversations:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Girls go to work, too?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As mothers and execs, but</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">yes, darling girl, yes.</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">12805:</span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Strangers footprints mark</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">once most-familiar floors,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">when home is not home.</span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Soho, 1.30am:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"What the hell is that?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Your wedding ring... Brokenness </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I can't help you bear. </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anticipation:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oxford isn't a place, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">but an ancient creature made</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of heart-beating stones. </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Original Starbucks:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spain. England. Belgium. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"No, that wasn't the last one." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stroking away fears...</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fresh-faced pixies, once</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was like you, before I </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">felt always behind. </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cœur de la vallée:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wood smoke. Unbroke. Our</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">star-gazing conversations</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ease anxiety. </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Highway 101:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ever think about</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seattle and recall that</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">corridor we shared? </span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An Erasure from Compline, Book of Common Prayer:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Glory to Father, Son </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Holy Spirit, as it was, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">is, will be. Amen.</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Westview:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That moment when they</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">cry, "I can't believe..." and it's</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">like vindication. </span><br />
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