#I think the cancer arc is more bearable for me

[oddlittlestories]

No no it’s simple, the Tritter arc gives me anxiety the cancer arc gives me soul-crushing angst

[velvetsands]

2024: milestone after milestone

living with my partner after two years long distance was such a nice reward, and confirmed that everything was right

realised my dream of going to the australian open

and going to attica(!!) and having a kangaroo meat pie

before coming back to the table and getting engaged(!!!!!!)

unfortunately we wanted to elope but family had other ideas

leading us to plan our wedding in just three weeks

it was such a great day but yeah, not what a little girl dreams of

anyway!

turned 30 on the 2/2 - glamped/biked around riesling country in adelaide which was goooorgeous

i was conferred my phd on the 22/2 which was cool

recieved dean's commendation for outstanding theses

submitted our manuscript for publication after so much tweaking

married on the 3/3

so yeah it was pretty full-on time tbh

we packed up our entire home, facebook marketplace was our best friend

my husband flew to saudi two weeks later, sending us back into the trenches of long-distance with a new challenge of time zones

i started my long goodbye to alcohol on a trip with friends to kangaroo island - lots of wine, laughter, and swimming with dolphins!

packed up my suitcase, ready to live out of it for the next three months and moved back into my childhood room in brisbane

spent easter with my sister, our grandparents and their siblings which was so lovely

went to san diego for a conference and for some reason, we were invited to the first class bar area on the plane (i can only assume an attendant heard my colleague and i talking about our cancer research which was very unexpected and nice)

flew to sydney for two weeks to complete requested experiments from reviewers and said goodbyes to all my friends

and finally received my saudi visa after much faffing around

my first business class experience to saudi was the qatar qsuite and it was heaven 40k feet above earth

all our stuff from adelaide arrived a few days after me, i set up the entire house

the compound is amazing, so much green space and although it hit 46C in summer, the lack of humidity makes it bearable

lack of alcohol was hard at first but then you just don't seem to think about it? there are tough days where you wish you had a whiskey sure but you get through it

worked on the paper revisions back and forth for months on end

we went to paris and bordeaux just before the olympics and stayed in chateaus and drank beautiful wine and did lots of fine dining

the saudi way of life is very much "inshallah", it's not very conducive to a western way of working which has been a steep learning curve

being here finally gave me the TIME to plan, order and cook whatever my heart desired instead of feeling like a total chore and hindrance during my phd

we went to turkey and bought rugs, drank, explored the landmarks, and went back to my hammam that i dreamt about re-visiting since 2018

saudi racing is fun but as no drinking or gambling, you just sort of sit around and gasbag with friends the entire time hahaha

the women like to engage with me and ask lots of question and the kids like to show off their english and be super cheeky with me!

in general, saudi's are the kindest people and feel the need to impress! same with the pakistani and indian expats!

there is such a sense of non-urgency yet things happen at the last minute - it's truly a wonder

i don't dress much differently to australia which made me realise i am quite modest (and that's fine). i try not to wear an abaya to show expat women that you can still be #stylish

i recieved lots of compliments from saudi women on my outfits which makes me feel FANTASTIC

i did however have to buy new racewear for here ofc which is fine

we went back to paris for racing of the arc at longchamp and explored a bit more, caught up with friends, lots of good food and museums, climbed the eiffel tower etc.

started doing mini triathlons are managed to get a sub-1hr 400m swim/8km bike/2.5km run which i was stoked about

made friends with someone at the australian embassy which was been wonderful - we went to a gala dinner onsite and i think that's a once in a lifetime experience

flew back to australia for the holidays which was again, another insane trip of three weeks in a suitcase

brisbane for a few days, to adelaide for racing (we were guests of honor which was hilarious) and to catchup with our friends and chicken schnitzels; back to brisbane and then to sydney

for my graduation gift, we booked a hotel under the sydney harbour bridge which was like a staycation in our own city. that was such a treasured part of my year

the uni dress people gave me a faulty phd bonnet which was too late to be fixed which resulting in a botched graduation photo with VC :( i got it replaced it after the ceremony but i still haven't recovered from the embarassment and anger!!!!!!

we flew out that night to hong kong for the international racing and catch ups! saw romantic warrior win up close <3

and then flew home just in time for christmas (we had a moo deng angel for our fiddle leaf) and spent christmas at the ritz carlton in riyadh which was unparallelled luxury

oh the manuscript was finally published on the 12/12 in nature communications (v prestigious, v proud) but bc of the embargo, i missed out on doing all public inteviews and tv appearances as i was no longer in australia :---(((((( honestly, the whole process sucked and really jaded me as a scientist - i know it's publish or perish but they just make it so demanding and hard

also they charged us 10k USD to publish which is an actual joke as they don't do any print versions, we could used that to perform more experiments

oh the patent was finalised too so now i can say i have officially found a potential cure for cancer

in bed at 10:30pm on new years because honestly, i think we celebrated every week of this year in a different shape or form

2025

just not sure hey!

i can't seem to get a job here try as i might

going to sweden to mid-jan to ski (read: apres bc i don't ski lol) with friends from australia and america! i am scared of the cold but we shall see

saudi cup is a big time here as the richest horse race in the world

we may be moving compounds which is slightly annoying

our cancer therapy will move into clinical trials in the first half of the year so i am really hoping that we can do some good in the world and make a difference to some families

we have tickets to the imola and monaco f1 gps!!! hoping to do lake como between the racing and we have a yacht for monaco!!!!!!

we may be moving to *** mid-year but stay tuned/fingers crossed

but other than that, inshallah it will be a good year!

[bookaddict24-7]

FIRST CHAPTER CHALLENGE!

Happy Sunday everyone!

One of the big things I’m noticing as my ARC collection gets smaller and smaller is how much harder it is to let go of these books. Before the challenge truly got going, I went through the shelves and unhauled the ARCs that I immediately knew I wasn’t even going to attempt to read. Now, I’m in the deep with books I have held on to with the wild hopes of reading them one day. 

This complication makes it harder for me because of my attachment to these books, but it also makes it a little more interesting because it forces me to question why I kept them in the first place/why I never picked them up before if I was so adamant that I would read them one day. 

“Why,” I ask myself looking at those shelves, “why do I want to read them one day and not today?” Why did I not set goals for myself to read these books sooner rather than letting them collect dust and accumulate to an overwhelming level? This is something I’m still trying to figure out while on this long journey.

Well, let’s look at the books for this week!

A gentle reminder: Just because I’ve unhauled the books in this post and in future posts, it doesn’t mean that they’re books not worth reading. They’re just not right for me. This is more of an incentive for me to free up space and give these books better homes than my basement.

Also, there might be some spoilers. If you’re interested in reading these books, tread with care.

Read my original post and how I’m going about this challenge here.

Have any of you practiced this challenge this past week?

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

Decision: Unhauled

I received this book about two summers or so ago. I started reading it then because it was a book I had requested and though I made a bit of progress into the story, I was never truly hooked. It sat on my then TBR shelf in my room for months, if not over a year, until I moved all of my ARCs downstairs. I was contemplating re-reading the first chapter, but then I asked myself why when I had already tried and failed to read it the first time around. Sometimes it’s okay to just let go of that book that haunts you.

Synopsis: 

“Ever since Esther Solar’s grandfather met Death, her entire family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime—a fear that will eventually lead each and every one of them to their graves. Take Esther’s father, for instance: He’s an agoraphobe who hasn’t left the basement in six years. Then there’s her twin brother, Eugene, whose fear of the dark goes far beyond the things that go bump in the night. And her mother, Rosemary, is absolutely terrified of bad luck.

As for Esther, she’s managed to escape the curse…so far. She doesn’t yet have a great fear because she avoids pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces, crowds—anything that might trigger a phobia is off-limits and is meticulously recorded in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares. 

Esther thinks she has it all figured out, until she’s reunited with an old elementary school classmate—and first crush—Jonah Smallwood. The encounter leaves her stranded at a bus stop and swindled out of her phone, all her cash, a Fruit Roll-Up she’d been saving, and her list—not to mention her dignity. But the theft is also the beginning of an unexpected friendship between the two, one that sends the pair on a journey of self-discovery as they try to break the curse that’s consumed Esther’s family. Together they face their greatest fears, one debilitating phobia at a time, only to discover the one fear they hadn’t counted on: love.”

Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Decision: Currently Reading

My first thought when I pulled this out of my TBR jar was “Oh no,” because I knew I kept this one for a reason. Much like my intro to this post, I admit that this is one of those books I should have read a while ago. This is a “one of these days” books. The moment I started reading the first chapter, I knew I wanted to read this. One chapter turned into two, and before I knew it, I was on chapter five. 

Synopsis: 

“When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods -- magic some Romans would kill for.

Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes.

In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders.”

Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now by Dana L. Davis

Decision: Currently Reading

I received this book last summer and I was a big fan of the cover and the story because I love the whole idea of starting over in a new city/town with a long-lost relative. My two main excuses for not picking this up since the summer are that I’ve been in my weird reading funk, AND I will admit that this book got lost in the shelves behind other books--a massive downfall to having a large book collection and limited space. Anyway, because this is a topic I’m interested in, I did enjoy the first chapter and have decided to keep going. 

Synopsis: 

“For sixteen-year-old Tiffany Sly, life hasn’t been safe or normal for a while. Losing her mom to cancer has her a little bit traumatized and now she has to leave her hometown of Chicago to live with the biological dad she’s never known.

Anthony Stone is a rich man with four other daughters—and rules for every second of the day. Tiffany tries to make the best of things, but she doesn’t fit into her new luxurious, but super-strict, home—or get along with her standoffish sister London. The only thing that makes her new life even remotely bearable is the strange boy across the street. Marcus McKinney has had his own experiences with death, and the unexpected friendship that blossoms between them is the only thing that makes her feel grounded.

But Tiffany has a secret. Another man claims he’s Tiffany’s real dad—and she only has seven days before he shows up to demand a paternity test and the truth comes out. With her life about to fall apart all over again, Tiffany finds herself discovering unexpected truths about her father, her mother and herself, and realizing that maybe family is in the bonds you make—and that life means sometimes taking risks.”

Have you read any of these three books? What were your experiences with them?

I’ll be back next week with another three picks!

Happy reading!

[cultofthepigeon]

Venom Reading Order Part 7.

Buckle up gang cause we’re about to enter the utter cluster fuck that was post 9/11 Marvel comics. Kiss that good writing goodbye and open your ass and holes to the dumpster fire that is the early aughts. I can’t speak for everyone but I can say this entire 7 year span that we’re about to dive into sure as shit sent me reeling into at least four separate childhood flashbacks.

Let’s begin.

The Hunger 2003 to....god what does it even matter if this was an accurate list it’d go on for 13 years. I don’t fucking fuckin know the start of fuckin Civil War I guess

Part 7: Backwards Sunglasses If It Were Comics

Spectacular Spider-man #1 (September, 2003) Venom. Eddie Brock and the symbiotes are enemies now i guess???? For no reason. We get a cool shot in the confessional but uhhh that’s about it. Also flash is injured in the hospital I’ll have to go check and see how that happened

Spectacular Spider-man #2 (September, 2003) Venom. Ok it feeds off adrenaline now???? Ok yeah sure fuck the first Hunger mini I guess

Spectacular Spider-man #3 (October, 2003) Venom. Not sure why Eddie Brock is talking like a victorian street urchin or why we’re retreading the whole “symbiote only wants parker” thing but ok WHATEVER

Spectacular Spider-man #4 (November, 2003) Venom. A really interesting touching view at what the symbiote must feel followed by the big whammy of a reveal that’ll haunt the Venom series for the next 6 fucking years

Spectacular Spider-man #5 (December, 2003) Venom. Why is Eddie Brock coughing if his cancer is in the brain? Why is this spawn never mentioned again? Did Spider-man just call the symbiote a pansy? Was that suppose to be a gay insult? IS this series ever going to recover from this issue alone?

Venom #1 (April, 2003) No Venom. You like The Thing right??? What about if it was done in an early aughts faux anime style???

Venom #2 (May, 2003) No Venom. I call this the RIP Patricia Roberston issue because of one (1) panel containing they absolute worst take on female anatomy I have ever seen.

Venom #3 (July, 2003) No Venom. This is all very mysterious and intriguing I’m sure we will get answers to all of this that are satisfying and make sense.

Venom #4 (August, 2003) No Venom. At which point it becomes clear that Patricia Robertson really is just a character made to be put in danger and rescued.

Venom #5 (September, 2003) No Venom. YOU LIKED THE THING RIGHT??

Venom #6 (October, 2003) No Venom. The art style becomes a smidge more bearable and also Wolverine is there.

Venom #7 (October, 2003) No Venom.

Venom #8 (November, 2003) No Venom. It’s going to become a lot more difficult to tll everyone apart. Patricia continues to be a damsel. Reed fuckign Richards is involved soemehow. And a nuke. Ok.

Venom #9 (December, 2003) No Venom. This all feels very sexual.

Venom #10 (January, 2004) No Venom. Yeah ok the writer/artist definitely flashing some fetishes here.

Venom #11 (February, 2004)....11......11 issues into Venom before Venom shows up. This is an 18 issue arc......there are no words...

Venom #12 (March 2004) This symbiote we’ve been following for the past 12 issues is a clone of the Venom symbiote, enhanced with 100% more Rapey DNA.

Venom #13 (May, 2004) The only important thing to take away from this is Nick Fury’s spider-man window decoration for his plane.

Venom #14 (May, 2004) I can’t tell who’s who and who wants to accomplish what and honestly at this point does it even matter

Venom #15 (June, 2004) I think the clone symbiote is also able to release pheromones if I remember correctly? SO it can also make the venom symbiote super rapey! Cool!

Venom #16 (July, 2004) Reed, doing something good for once in his life, suggests Brock’s brain tumor has made him crazy and tbh I’m going to use that as a way to Deal with everything written in the 00s

Venom #17 (July, 2004) I think this is as close of an explanation as we are going to get folks.

Venom #18 (August, 2004) Did....absolutely any of that have a point???

Venom vs Carnage #1 (September, 2004) Venom and Carnage. No you did not miss a comic no you aren’t missing a page it really does just open like that and the last arc really is just ignored. Welcome to the new age fuckos

Venom vs Carnage #2 (October, 2004) Venom and Carnage. I can’t stop staring as Felicia and what the artist thinks a woman’s body looks like. Pat deals with having a baby and being a baby.

Venom vs Carnage #3 (November, 2004) Venom, Carnage, and TOXIN. Domestic Cletus and Red for the soul. Venom decides they can’t have a policeman for a grandchild which I mean, fair enough.

Venom vs Carnage #4 (December, 2004) Venom, Carnage, and Toxin.  Pat is so close to making a good decision and then just....doesn’t.

Marvel Knights Spider-man #1 (April, 2004) No Venom but this is going to be a whole Ordeal and actually makes for a good intro to an important character, an important theme, and the writing is petty good SO.

Marvel Knights Spider-man #2 (May, 2004) No Venom but I NEED TO KNOW WHO ELECTRO WANTS TO FUCK

Marvel Knights Spider-man #3 (June,2004) Can spider-man stop being a homophobe for like 10 minutes??? Also the Vulture really is just making his way into my heart one appearance at a time

Marvel Knights Spider-man #4 (July, 2004) No Venom. And like listen you don’t need to let the vulture go free but at least HELP HIS FUCKING GRANDSON YOU PIECES OF SHIT

Marvel knights spider-man #5 (August, 2004) Some Eddie Brock finally. And with what’s about to happen the few lines he has makes me even sadder.

Marvel Knights Spider-man #6 (September, 2004) *heavy sigh*

Marvel Knights Spider-man #7 (October, 2004) Oh so yall gonna bring OLOTS Church into it? You bastards? You absolute shitlords?

Marvel Knights Spider-man #8 (November, 2004) - Eddie Brock is in one (1) panel and you will be so fucking gobsmacked by what happens in that one panel you re going to be checking and double checking that you didn’t miss a page/issue it is so god damn DISRESPECTFUL

Marvel Knights Spider-man #9 (December, 2004) And so begins out introduction to the New Venom. Because someone in the writers room forgot what Venom was. To help differentiate I will be referring to Mac Gargan + The Venom Symbiote as MacVenom. McVenom for short.

New Avengers #2 (December, 2004)- Carnage. We interrupt this painful separation to bring you an important plot point and Carnage being locked up in Rykers for some reason???? Has anyone been able to make absolutely ANY sense out of Carnage’s story the last few years? No? Must be genetic

Marvel Knights Spider-man #10 (January, 2005) McVenom near the end. Symb may be crazy right now but they still appreciate a dramatic entrance.

Marvel Knights Spider-ma #11 (February, 2005) McVenom. There multiple villainous duos here that just delight me.

Marvel Knights Spider-man #12 (March, 2005) McVenom one panel. Also not to sound like spider-man but Norman das gay.

Toxin #1 (April, 2005) Toxin. So many 2005 era gay jokes in this one I hope this baby will be around more mature people over time.

Toxin #2 (May, 2005) Toxin. Maybe its good Pat abandoned his kid seeing as how this small baby is obviously confused about morality ans he does NOTHING to explain it. Also Pat really let The Cop jump out in this on huh

Toxin #3 (June, 2005) Toxin. L A R R Y  and Toxin literally wants to be playmates with Pat’s kid W H Y is he being such an ass????

Toxin #4 (July, 2005) Toxin. This writer hates art and loves police brutality and gay jokes. Yet still Toxin remains....Baby.

Toxin #5 (August, 2005) Toxin. There’s a lot to be said about this whole Pat/Larry/Gina thing but I can’t stop focusing on the fact that Toxin is 100% farm fresh certified BABY.

Toxin #6 (September, 2005) Toxin. Well at least Pat stops being an idiot at the end

<<<PREVIOUS   NEXT>>>