#Kelly Meding

[alfvaen]

Novel Score

It's sometime around the beginning of a month, which apparently means these days that it's time for me to do a roundup post of the books I read in the preceding month--in this case, January 2024. Once again have been keeping on top of it during the month which helps me actually produce it in a timely manner. Because I started this back in November/December, doing monthly book posts isn't a New Year's resolution, unless the resolution was just "keep doing it". I'm keeping doing it.

Book list under the cut, book-related ramblings may include spoilers for Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, Martha Wells's Murderbot series, Kelly Meding's Dreg City series, and maybe others. You have been warned.

Ashok Banker: Siege of Mithila, completed January 6

As mentioned previously, I am rapidly running out of books by male "diversity" slot authors in my collection. I read the first Ashok Banker book, Prince of Ayodhya, a few years earlier, and was kind of meh on it, so I wasn't sure if I would continue. But I did pick up the other one as a library discard (ah, the days when I got books and CDs as library discards…back when they used to have a sale rack in the local branch all the time, instead of saving them up for periodic bulk sales…) so I hadn't entirely given up on it. So, in not quite desperation, I turned to Siege of Mithila as my next diversity read.

The series is apparently a retelling of the Ramayana, which is some kind of important epic in India, though I can't judge if it's like "the Bible" or "King Arthur" or "The Iliad" or what, but I assume it's somewhere on that level, at least among certain cultures. My brief skimming of the Wikipedia article on the Ramayana implies that Banker is following the story pretty closely, which means that sometimes it gets a little weird plotwise, but is perhaps more revealing culturally or something. And sometimes it's a wee bit problematic…like the way that the main adversary for the first two books is Ravana, lord of the Asuras (basically demons), who rules over the southern island kingdom of Lanka (like…"Sri Lanka"?), which is populated entirely by Asuras. Which is about like if there was a fantasy series set in England where they had to fight evil demons from the western island kingdom of Eire or something. (Wait…do they have those?) One wonders if this series (or the original Ramayana) are quite as popular in Sri Lanka, then…

Anyway, we mostly follow Rama, the titular Prince of Ayodhya from the first book, and his half-brother Lakshman, but a lot of this book is also set back in the palace in Ayodhya following Rama's father the Maharaja, his three wives, and the evil (and hunchbacked--oh look, it's equating deformity with wickedness, that's awesome) witch Manthara as she and Ravana try to sabotage the kingdom from within. Rama and Lakshman end up going to Mithila instead of back to Ayodhya, and foiling a big Asura attack on the city, which comes unbelievably close to the end of the book and is not quite solved by deus ex machina, but doesn't feel particularly satisfying.

One element of the series is that some of the characters are just like ridiculously powerful sages who were like "I've been meditating for 5000 years so I'm really wise and can do anything, though I guess I should let Rama solve a few things on his own to gain some of his own wisdom". Not that this is all that different from, say, Gandalf or Merlin, of course... There are also some odd storytelling choices, like switching to a different set of characters just at a dramatic point in a different storyline, or, in one major side-quest, just skipping the ending of it and coming back to it a couple of chapters later in flashbacks. Also, one character is given important advice by a ghost which he then completely ignores (luckily other people overrule him, but it bugged me).

The book kind of feels like the second book of a trilogy, but not quite, which makes sense because apparently there are eight other books in the series, so it's not just about fighting Ravana and the Asuras. I'm on the bubble about the series, as you may have gathered, so I don't know offhand if I'll be going on.

T. Kingfisher: Clockwork Boys, completed January 9

I paced myself going through Siege of Mithila, taking seven days for it (I started on December 31st to get a little head start), so it put me a bit behind on my Goodreads challenge (100 books for the year, again). This means, time to read some shorter things! I haven't read any T. Kingfisher yet (though I have read, like, the webcomic "Digger" under her real name, Ursula Vernon, if nothing else), so I let my wife, who has read a lot of them, suggest which one I should start with, and this was the one she chose (at the time; it may have been a couple of years ago). We have it as an ebook from Kobo, which sometimes makes it a little hard to tell how long the book actually is in pages, but Goodreads claimed it was under 300 pages, so it seemed a possible three-day read.

I was, I guess, vaguely expecting a steampunk story involving two boys who were made of clockwork or something, but apparently it's more straight fantasy (not too similar to the Ramayana was far as I can tell, though, which is good because I like consecutive reads to vary in genre if at all possible) where the Clockwork Boys are the bad guys. Also, apparently this is the first of a duology, a "long book split in two" duology as opposed to "book and a sequel featuring the same characters" duology.

The characters seem somewhat interesting, though I'm not sure I'm 100% won over. Sir Caliban for some reason reminds me of both Sanderson's Kaladin and Bujold's Cazaril, but maybe it's just the similarity of names enhancing certain similarities of character. And the demons also made me think of Bujold's Penric books. Maybe the tone is a little light for me on this one. We've got the second one as an ebook too, so I'll finish it off at some point and then maybe take a look at Nettle & Bone or something.

Kelly Meding: The Night Before Dead, completed January 12

As I may have also mentioned previously, I've tried a whole lot of urban fantasy series. Many of them, my wife has enjoyed more than I have, and is all caught up on them, but most of those I'm only a few books in. (I've given up on relatively few--Jennifer Estep and Jess Haines, among others.) For whatever reason, my wife didn't like the first book in Kelly Meding's "Dreg City" series, Three Days To Dead, and this time, to be actually clever about it, I decided to read the book myself and decide if I wanted to continue on in the series before it went out of print. As it turned out, I did like the first book, and I kept reading it on my own. When the series got dropped by the publisher after four books, I even went and bought the last two books (self-published, probably print on demand) to finish the series.

So this is the last one, which is supposed to wrap up the main conflict. Our main character, Evy Stone, started out the series waking up after death in a newly-vacated body; she was part of a group that worked to deal with paranormal threats. This world has beast-form shapeshifters named "Theria", vampires, and lots of types of fey--mostly pretty usual when it comes to urban fantasy--and their existence is unknown to world at large, etc.

Thie book does seem to wrap things up well enough, at least for the main characters, though it's hard to say if all the resolutions are satisfying. Still, it was enjoyable enough. She does have a couple of other, shorter series which I can try next, since we do actually own them. (And maybe some stuff under a different name?)

Lois McMaster Bujold: Brothers In Arms, completed January 15

Next (chronologically) in the reread order, this is the one where Miles goes to Earth and discovers the existence of his clone-brother Mark (spoilers). It starts up with a level of frustration--why does Miles have to stay at the embassy, and why aren't his mercenaries getting paid?--but things mostly work out in the end. Ivan shows up again (by authorial fiat--it's a bit too much of a coincidence, really), we meet recurring character Duv Galeni, and of course Mark, as mentioned already. It's not a particular favourite, but it's pretty good. And without it, how would we get Mirror Dance, and thus Memory?

I feel like I should be able to say more about it, but I've already talked about the Vorkosigan series a lot in previous posts, and, like I said, it's not a particular favourite. I guess I could mention how the first time through the series I read them in publication order, and so this was before The Vor Game and Cetaganda… Also, although we don't see much of Earth outside of London, we do get a good look at the gigantic dikes being used to hold back the ocean, because in the intervening mumble-mumble centuries the sea levels have risen. So presumably the icecaps have melted or something, though it doesn't seem like the Gulf Stream has shut down or anything, so maybe they have managed to mitigate things somewhat. An interesting view of future Earth, anyway, without going too overboard on covering the vast majority of the planet not relevant to our immediate plot.

Seth Dickinson: The Traitor Baru Cormorant, completed January 20

Taking another book from my list of authors to try (currently stored on my pool table); I picked this one because apparently the author has a new book coming out, and I do see people talking about the character from time to time, so clearly this is a book/series that has had some staying power and cultural impact, as opposed to something obscure that apparently sank without a trace. But this is a book that my wife tried, and either didn't finish or didn't want to continue the series.

And, having finished it, I can see why. I wouldn't say that it's a bad book…but I didn't, in the end, like it. I read it all the way to the end, and I've decided I'll leave it there and not try to continue the series. And probably I won't look for other books by Dickinson either. Like Ian McDonald's Desolation Road, which I read last year, I felt, as I was reading it, that this was a book I would have liked a lot better when I was younger, but these days it just doesn't do it for me.

It has the feeling of fantasy, in that it's set in a different world from our own, and there is none of the futuristic technology that would explain this as being a colony world…but there is also little or nothing in the way of magic. A little alchemy, maybe, but I don't know that it's out of line with what you could achieve with actual drugs. No wizards, and I don't think there were supernatural creatures either. But it's fantasy-coded, and maybe there's some minor thing I'm forgetting. It's not about magic, though. It's really about colonialism, and what happens when you're sucked into the colonizer's system so far that you think that the only way to help your people is by going along with that system. And Baru Cormorant is somewhat autistic-coded, perhaps--not only is she a savant, but she seems to have trouble figuring out the motives and feelings of others. Puts too much confidence in the ability to explain everything using economics (the character and possibly also the author, quite frankly), in a way which reminds me mostly of Dave Sim's deconstruction of faith and fantasy in Cerebus: Church And State. Not sure if it counts as grimdark, but it feels like the honorable are punished for their naivety like in "A Song of Ice And Fire". I lost sympathy for the main character partway through, and never got much for anyone else either. One character I liked and hoped to see more of was (gratuitously?) killed in the middle of the book. I was forewarned of the existence of a plot twist at the end of the book, and when it came, although I wasn't completely surprised, I was disappointed, and I didn't feel that it worked.

So, yeah. Your mileage may vary, but this book did not win me over.

Charles Stross: The Annihilation Score, completed January 25

I wanted something a bit more light-hearted after the previous book, but not, apparently, too much so. Charles Stross's "Laundry Files" series is set against a backdrop of cosmic horror and the looming end of the world, but also of British governmental bureaucracy, out of which he can usually pull of a fair amount of humour, as well as humanity. The main protagonist of the series is Bob Howard (named in honour of Robert E. Howard, inventor of Conan and friend of Lovecraft), computational demonologist, and the books in turn have paid tribute to a lot of different sources--James Bond, vampires, American evangelical megachurches, and--in this book--superheroes. But also, in this book, Bob is not our narrator; instead, we get his wife, Mo, in the fallout of a scene in the previous book (which we get from her POV here) with dire implications for their relationship…which has always been kind of a three-way between Bob, Mo, and Mo's soul-eating sentient violin, and this triangle has now come to a crisis. Plus there's superheroes.

Stross notes in the introduction that he never really read American superhero comics, so he had to pick a few brains about them, but the book really isn't about American superheroes either; he references the British superhero anthology series "Temps" (which I never did manage to read, since I only managed to find the second book, but now I feel like I should check out) as contrasted with the "Wild Cards" series.

All in all it's pretty decent, with lots of witty read-aloud bits, but the pacing is odd; there's a lot of plotlines, and some of them don't seem to progress for a long time. Some of them turn out to be red herrings, I guess, but overall it doesn't gel as well as it could. We don't see much of Bob (which makes sense since this isn't his book), though Mo is a perfectly fine protagonist. I'll be fine going back to Bob for the next book. If I can ever find it.

See, apparently this is the last book in the series I own right now, and probably the next one, The Nightmare Stacks, came and went while I was behind on reading it, and now it's out of print (and possibly never had a mass-market release at all, which is still my preferred format) and seems like it'll be hard to find in any physical format. I mean, I went on a site which allows you to search indie and second-hand bookstores, and the title didn't even come up on search. I have long been resisting switching wholeheartedly over to ebooks (a transition my wife has already made), but I can see that at some point I may have to get used to the fact that ebooks are just replacing mass-market paperbacks for the cheap release format. (I still can't manage to bring myself to spend as much as $8, let alone $12 or more, for an ebook, though. Like…what am I paying for? The publishing costs are minuscule compared to physical copies, and I expect that saving to be passed on to me. I guess I don't know if the extra is being passed on to the author in a non-self-published situation, but given our current corporate hellscape I'm gonna say probably not. Note: if you think this makes me a horrible person who hates writers to make money, please remember that I am married to a writer who I would love to make enough money that I don't have to work, but the publishing industry is horrible and they're the ones that actually have the capability to allow writers to make enough money to make a living, and they're not doing it, so I don't know what to tell you. I've bought thousands of books in my life, even if I don't go out of my way to buy the most expensive ones, because that's a good way to go broke. Get off my back, person I made up for this parenthetical aside.)

Martha Wells: System Collapse, completed January 28

I may be the last person in my house to have read Murderbot. My wife had already read some of Martha Wells earlier books (Raksura series, I want to say) before she read the Murderbot novells, and she loved them and read them to/got our kids to read them too. I eventually scheduled one in (novellas are good when I'm behind on my Goodreads challenge) and…it was okay, I guess? And I kept reading them because, well, more novellas. Last year I read the first novel-length story, Network Effect, and I liked it somewhat better than the novellas, for whatever reason.

I had been putting off the latest one for a little while, though, partly because of my Vorkosigan reread--I generally don't like books that are too close in genre too close together, and they're both kinda space opera-ish, though quite different kinds (Murderbot's future is more corporate-dominated), but next up I'm taking a break for a Dick Francis reread, so I thought I might as well put it in now. Though I've got to say that, since we have it as a physical hardcover as opposed to the digital novella ebooks, I'm really not a big fan of the texture of the dust jacket. Like, it is physically unpleasant to touch, being just a little bit rough. But not as bad as some I'd run across in the past few years, so I don't have to, like, take off the dust jacket to read it.

In the end I didn't like it as well as Network Effect, though I did like the middle bit where Murderbot becomes a Youtube influencer. The early part of the book, Murderbot is in a bit of a depressive state and not fun to read, like the first part of "Order of The Phoenix" or something. I guess if a character is too hypercompetent then nothing challenges them, but I wasn't a big fan of the emotional arc.

Dick Francis: Forfeit, completed January 31

I remember precisely where I was when I first heard of Dick Francis. See, I went to this convention in Edmonton in the summer of 1989, "ConText '89". It was an important convention--a reader-oriented rather than media-dominated SF/Fantasy convention, for one thing, and also it resulted in the formation of the first SF/Fantasy writer's organization in Canada, currently named SF Canada. Oh, and also, I met a cute girl there (Nicole, a YA author guest from northern Alberta), started dating, fell in love, got married, had three kids, and we're still married today.

I also saw this posting for a writing course out at a place called the Black Cat Guest Ranch, in the Rockies near Hinton, and decided to go. There I met Candas Jane Dorsey (who was the instructor for the course) and several other writers, and we later formed a writers' group called The Cult of Pain which is still going to this day. Anyway, I went out for a second course there, with Nicole coming along this time (though we may not have technically been dating and didn't share a room)--I think it was in mid-February sometime--and one evening we were all hanging out in the outdoor hot tub, watching snowflakes melt over our heads, and talking about books. And Candas and Nicole started rhapsodizing about this guy named Dick Francis. I said, "Who?" And they both told me I had to go read him, like, right away.

Dick Francis, apparently, was a former steeplechase jockey turned mystery/thriller writer. Now, mysteries and thrillers were not really my thing--I was into the SF & fantasy--but I supposed I was willing to try it. I was in university and trying to read other stuff outside my comfort zone, like Thomas Hardy and The Brothers Karamazov and William S. Burroughs, so why not. Plus, I wanted my girlfriend to like me. And the first one I picked up was one that one of my roommates had lying around, called Forfeit. It was pretty decent, and I went on to others--Nicole had a copy of Nerve, and I soon started to pick up more--and eventually read almost all of them (a few proved elusive, but I tracked down a copy of Smokescreen not long ago…).

Every book was concerned in some way with horse racing, but there was a wide variety--sometimes the main character was a jockey, but sometimes that was just their side hustle, and they had another profession, or sometimes they did something else like train horses or transport horses, or paint pictures of horses, or they didn't do anything about horses but the romantic interest did… He covered a lot of different professions over his books, they were usually quite interesting, and his characters were always very well-drawn. After his wife Mary (apparently an uncredited frequent collaborator and researcher) died, there was a gap of a few years before he started writing them with his son Felix. I think I read all of those ones, but after he died and Felix started writing solo novels, I haven't really kept up on those ones.

Instead, a few years ago I decided I was going to reread all the books, in publication order, interspersed with my series rereads as I was already doing with Discworld and Star Trek books. Forfeit is his seventh published book…and when I went to look for it on my shelf, I discovered that I actually didn't own a copy, and probably never had. I had just borrowed it from my roommate, and then given it back (a rookie mistake). Was it in print? Of course not, don't be silly. I had managed to find a used copy of Smokescreen online, as I mentioned, but for Forfeit there was only more expensive trade paperbacks, or $8 ebooks. They didn't even have it at the library! Except, well, they did…but I'd have to interlibrary loan it. I went back on forth on which to try to do, and eventually went ILL, and it came in for me at the library on the 20th. So there, overpriced ebooks. (And person I made up for the earlier parenthetical aside.)

Dick Francis novels have turned to be pretty rereadable, because they're not primarily mysteries of the sort where you don't remember which of the suspects is guilty; they're mysteries where the main character has to figure out who's behind the crimes and then avoid getting killed by them. Some of it is competency porn as they use their special skills to solve problems. And some of it just because of the engaging characters, which are maybe not quite all the way there in the earlier books (the ones I've reread so far are still books from the 60s, so the female characters could be more nuanced). In Forfeit what I recalled from that first read (some 34 years ago) was that the main character was a sportswriter, it started with one of his colleagues killing himself, and his wife was disabled and bedridden. (And one exciting scene in the middle of the book in which spoilers.) Though it turned out I was conflating two suicide openings (Nerve also starts with one, a gunshot suicide on the first page, whereas Forfeit's is more falling out of a window), and the exciting scene is missing an element I was sure was there.

So that's eight books in one month, which is basically enough to keep up on my Goodreads challenge, but I also managed to squeeze in a couple more on the side track. First of all, there was my brother's book, Paths of Pollen, which came out last year; my mom went to the book launch in Toronto and brought back a signed copy for me. As one might expect, it talks about honeybees (and the time he was working on our stepfather's apiary), but covers a lot of pollen details I didn't know, about all the other bees, beetles, butterflies, insects, and other animals that also do pollination. It's a sobering look at how plants reproduce and how we're screwing it up in a lot of cases. (I hadn't realized before how much insects use pollen as food…somehow I thought they were nectar-eaters and they just picked up pollen because the plants forced them too, but I guess it makes sense that they also eat it.)

Then there was another one of the Love & Rockets ebook bundle that I've been going through. This volume, Esperanza, is around the latest stuff I read in the Love & Rockets Vol. 2 comics (which I have only read once or twice), so it's fairly unfamiliar to me. Despite it being named after Esperanza "Hopey" Glass, most of the book seems to revolve around Vivian, a.k.a. Frogmouth, a hot, buxom woman with an unfortunate voice, who both Maggie and Ray are lusting after, despite her problematic relationships with some violent criminals. Ray and Maggie do meet up again briefly; Maggie's working as an apartment superintendent, Hopey's working in a bar but trying to get into a teaching assistant job, surreal things happen with Izzy, Doyle's around as well, and we see brief glimpses of Maggie's sister Esther. It was interesting but I didn't find it altogether compelling.

With ten books for January, that means I'm really read up to 36.5 days into the year, or February 5th, so I'm a little bit ahead. I'll be taking advantage of this to start off February with a longer book, for my female diversity slot--Fonda Lee's Jade Legacy, to wrap up that series. More about that next month, of course…

[redgoldsparks]

May Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon.

Boys Run The Riot vol 2 by Keito Gaku

I really wanted to like this series, but unfortunately, I don't. The pacing feels rushed, the characters aren't very realistic and burst out into outsized emotional reactions that don't feel earned, and at the end of this volume the trans character is outed against his will on a youtube channel with a million followers. I'm going to have to give up on this story. 

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price

This book is short, accessible and very informative! Price is trans and autistic, and was only diagnosed later in life. He blends narrative of his own lived experience with many interviews and thorough research. This book encourages compassion, self-knowledge, community building, and unmasking- the process of shedding the habits many autistic people employ to hide or mask their autistic traits. As a queer person pondering my own potential place on the autism spectrum, this book was an excellent introduction and gave me a lot of food for thought!

Thick as Thieves by Megan Whelan Turner read by Steve West

These books continue to delight! This deep into the series, I don't want to summarize the plot, as one of the pleasures of this series is how each book has built on the previous ones. The volatile political machinations between the the three peninsula countries of Eddis, Attolia, Sounis and the Mede Empire grow increasingly complex. Eugenides continues to make moves that appear petty and childish, whose deeper purpose is only revealed much later. I continue to be amazed at the character arcs, both of new characters and returning favorites. Read these books! I can't recommend them highly enough!

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

Another magical short story collection from Kelly Link! These stories are more directly inspired by existing fairy tales than Link's other work, but each one has been moved into the modern day, and generally changed so much as to be only loosely recognizable. A Game of Smash and Recovery, inspired by Hansel and Gretel, does feature a brother and sister; but they have been stranded on a foreign moon by their space-traveling parents, and live by scavenging supplies from vast warehouses left behind by previous inhabitants, while evading the vampires which flutter around the edges of their downed spacecraft. As the younger sister gets older, she comes closer and closer to a realization that neither she nor her brother nor their parents are who she thinks they are. The Lady and the Fox, based on Tamlin, does involve a young woman clutching her beloved to her chest through a series of painful magical transformations, but the woman is a charity case goddaughter of a rich actress who's family hosts ridiculously elaborate Christmas parties in their family mansion. Skinder's Veil, loosely Snow-White and Rose Red, does contain two nearly identical sisters, but the main character is a grad student struggling to finish his thesis who takes on a house-sitting job in a cabin in Vermont that might be visited by immortals. And so on and so on, Link weaves her threads. This one didn't unseat Get in Trouble as my favorite Link collection, but I enjoyed it very much. 

Return of The Thief by Megan Whelan Turner read by Steve West

Once again, Turner introduces a new POV character, and once again she knocks a complicated, emotional, satisfying tale of historical fantasy out of the park! I can't get over the fact that this six book series book the author over 20 years to write, and yet is so internally consistent, it feels as if she knew from the very beginning exactly how to she wanted everything to go. This series is technically YA, but the majority of the characters are adults; it was started in the era before YA existed as the genre we know it now. If you are a fan of any Tamora Pierce books, or Steven Brust's Jhereg series, or Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor, I think you'd like these too. 

Different for Boys by Patrick Ness illustrated by Tea Bendix

This illustrated book tells an impressively nuanced story in a very short space. The narrator, Ant, ponders the meaning of virginity as a high school boy questioning his own sexuality. Ant and his best friend from childhood, Charlie, regularly mess around with each other, performing sexual acts which are blacked out in the text. The characters themselves are aware of this textual censorship and comment on it, adding a level of meta to this already nonlinear and nontraditional narrative. Charlie is sweet in private but vocally homophobic in school, hurling insults at another mutual friend, Jack, who isn't publicly out but is read as queer by his peers. Ant struggles with how much, or when, to step in and defend Jack without outing his and Charlie's secret relationship. The story has an open but hopeful ending, and its questions and unresolved aspects feel deeply true. 

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke

Told entirely in slack messages, this nontraditional novel unfolds the minor and major dramas of a public relations firm with a speculative twist. The main character, Gerald, has accidentally uploaded his consciousness into the slack app and is unsure what is happening to the body he left behind. The slackbot is becoming increasingly sentient as he sends it help query after help query. His co-workers think this is an elaborate ruse to take advantage of their company's lax work from home policies during a particularly snowy New York winter. Meanwhile, his coworker Lydia is being haunted by spectral howling, Tripp is regularly the only man in the on-site office and keeps leaving the heating on overnight, Deepu is feeling left out of office in jokes and Doug, their boss, is convinced that someone is sabotaging his office furniture. This story is snappy, queer, and never gets bogged down by what could have been a gimmicky premise. It took me one Saturday afternoon to read! 

The Thief by Megan Whelan Turner read by Steve West

After finishing this whole 6 book series I went back to re-read book one and it is DELICIOUS to catch all of the hints and foreshadowing once you know how the story ends. Here’s the review I wrote after my first read in 2018:

This book was DELIGHTFUL. Set in a fantasy Mediterranean Renaissance world, the prose is simple and the initial plot set up is uncomplicated. Gen is a master level thief who made a mistake and ended up in the King's prison in Sounis. After months of imprisonment he is summoned by the Magnus, the King's most trusted adviser, who threatens Gen into joining a covert mission. A small party (the magus, the thief, one soldier and two of the magus' students) will sneak into the neighboring country of Attolia, in search of a powerful and ancient artifact. But every member of the party is intentionally or unintentionally carrying secrets, and in the end few of them are who they appear to be. I already feel like I've said too much. Go and read this book to find out the rest!

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying

I'm refraining from giving this book a star rating because I feel genuinely unqualified to rate its effectiveness. This story deals with two very heavy topics- a character struggling with an eating disorder and grief after the death of a parent- which I have no experience with. The book portrays the main character binging and purging, which could potentially be very triggering for some readers in ED recovery, but could also be extremely cathartic to those who haven't seen their experiences reflected before. That's really going to depend on the reader. What I can say is that the art is very beautiful, I enjoyed the limited color palette, and I hope this book finds the readers who need it.

Freestyle by Gale Galligan

Eighth grader Cory is part of a tight friend group of dancers who practice every weekend. It's their last year of middle school and they want to make the most of this year- and hopefully win the annual winter Bronx Dance Battle! Unfortunately, Cory's parents aren't thrilled with his grades, and they hire a tutor three afternoons a week after school, cutting into his free time with his friend crew. Worse yet, his tutor turns out to be the best student in his grade, a girl named Sunna who he immediately clashes with. But then Cory realizes that Sunna also as a secret talent: she can throw a yo-yo like no one he's ever seen. The art in this book is fantastic, colorful and energetic, with beautiful panels capturing the movement of dance, running, yo-yo tricks, and physical humor. I had to set aside a little bit of disbelief that any eighth graders might be this motivated and organized; I've also seen a couple minor critics of the way Sunna, a hijab wearing Muslim character, was portrayed as attending a school dance and spending time tutoring Cory in his bedroom with the door closed. However, the overall tone of this book is so joyful, positive, warmhearted, and well-intentioned that I'd still absolutely recommend it. 

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

I am not a very active reader of poetry, but this collection contains one of the poems I think about possibly more than any other: "We Lived Happily during the War." I first read it in the New Yorker magazine sometime before 2017, though I don't remember exactly when. I saw the poem circulating the internet again when Russian began to invade Ukraine. Kaminsky was born in the former Soviet Union, and the majority of the poems in this collection unfold a story of an Eastern European town occupied by enemy soldiers. Reoccurring characters tell of the violence and tragedy of this occupation: a newly married couple expecting a child, the owner of a puppetry theater, a young deaf child killed by soldiers, neighbors who defend and betray each other. Read it almost like a poetic play in two acts, relevant to our times. 

[hcldr]

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— Chidambara .ML. (@chidambara09) May 18, 2023

[universomovie]

Apartamento de 95 m² exibe décor inspirado no Nordeste e móveis feitos sob medida

Apartamento de 95 m² exibe décor inspirado no Nordeste e móveis feitos sob medida

Desenvolvido pela LL Arquitetura, o projeto é recheado de objetos afetivos do morador, um médico de João Pessoa que vive em São PauloPor Bruna Martins | Fotos Kelly Queiroz Por ali, o sofá mede 6 metros de comprimento e integra toda a área social — Foto: Kelly Queiroz Brasilidade é a palavra-chave do projeto elaborado pela LL Arquitetura para este apartamento de 95 m² em São Paulo. Morada de um…

[blackkatmagic]

Hey kat, what are your favorite books?

(I had already started my response when you sent your second message, so. Extra recs??)

I have a book rec tag if you want to see what I’ve recced previously, but for some new stuff: 

Heroine’s Journey by Sarah Khun

The Marla Mason series by Tim Pratt

The Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly

The Matthew Swift series by Kate Griffin

The Connor Grey series by Mark Del Franco

Eyes to See by Joseph Nassise

The Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk

The Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey

Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon

The Villains series by V.E. Schwab

The Pax Arcana Series by Elliot James

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (which, i think, is the first time I’ve ever seen a Native American protagonist actually written by a Native American writer, so, that’s really cool)

The Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston

Free Agent by C.S.E Cooney

The Mortal Path series by Dakota Banks

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

To Walk the Night by E.S. Moore

Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann 

Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters 

Dead Iron by Devon Monk

Empire State by Adam Christopher 

Devil’s Cape by Rob Rogers 

Demon Jack by Patrick Donovan

Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines  (superheroes meet zombies. It’s exactly as wild as it sounds)

London Falling by Paul Cornell

The Alex Verus series

Three Days to Dead by Kelly Meding (one of those terrible covers so common to urban fantasy, but a fantastic book with a great protagonist)

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (Idk if I recced this in one of my other lists but tbh it deserves multiple recs)

The Dragon and Thief series by Timothy Zahn

Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series by Karen Miller

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell

The Last Knight by Hilari Bell

[technoskittles]

Pure Feeling Playlist

Okay, so I had someone on twitter express interest in the songs I have for my playlist for Pure Feeling and figured, yeah, I could share it. I don’t have a spotify (I don’t like the interface plus the music selection is way too limited for my taste) and the playlist itself is on Youtube Music. It’s also private because I don’t really want random people seeing it or other people messing with it if I unlocked it, so I’ll just type up all the songs here with links that way y’all can scroll through and listen to what you want.

I understand there’s probably an easier and faster way to do this probably, but hey, with the quarantine I clearly have some extra time on my hands so why not?

Though, couple of warnings:

1. It’s LOOOOOOONG (it’s 300+ songs in total) (don’t worry I’m gonna put this under a cut)

2. Some of the songs aren’t going to make much sense in terms of the AU. This is for two reasons: a) Some of the songs allude to events/characters that haven’t shown up in the story yet (there’s a LOT of songs regarding Mara’s father) and b) some of them are just general songs that I use to get a basis of emotion/vibe when writing particular types of scenes.

3. My music tastes are all over the place (and this doesn’t even include some of the other genres I listen to just because it doesn’t fit this AU lol)

But this playlist is my main muse and is probably one of the best insights to my process/inner thoughts so, without further ado.....my full playlist.

(I grouped the songs from the same artist together for the easiest convenience)

(And some songs might kind of be repeats if I listen to multiple versions for the purpose of this fic)

Got any favorites? Any songs that worry you about the future of this fic? Or just something you might want more clarification on? Feel free to shoot me ask about it!

South London Forever by Florence + The Machine

Patricia by Florence + The Machine

I Will Be by Florence + The Machine

Too Much Is Never Enough by Florence + The Machine

You’ve Got The Love by Florence + The Machine

Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine

Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine

Ship To Wreck by Florence + The Machine

St. Jude by Florence + The Machine

Over The Love by Florence + The Machine

Pure Feeling by Florence + The Machine (hey look it’s the fic title)

Heavy In Your Arms by Florence + The Machine

What Kind Of Man by Florence + The Machine

Stuck On You by Meiko

Stuck On You (Acoustic Version) by Meiko

Adventure of A Lifetime by Coldplay

Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay

Hymn For The Weekend by Coldplay

Simple and Clean by Hikaru Utada

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI - Hikaru Utada

Be My Last by Hikaru Utada

Colors by Hikaru Utada

Distance (M-Flo Remix) by Hikaru Utada

Without You (Justice Skolnik Remix) by Oh Wonder

Rockabye by Clean Bandit ft. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie

In The Rain (an unofficial rendition from Miraculous Ladybug by David Russell)

Stone Heart (an unofficial rendition from Miraculous Ladybug by sxrlove06)

Lost In The Moment by Daniel Lee Kendall

Fragile by ARCADES

Daddy Issues by The Neighbourhood

Scary Love by The Neighbourhood

Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood

Sweater Weather (Vaski Remix) by The Neighbourhood

Honest by The Neighbourhood

Alleyways by The Neighbourhood

Stuck With Me by The Neighbourhood

Lights by Ellie Goulding

Goodness Gracious (The Chainsmokers Remix) by Ellie Goulding

Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding

Starry Eyed by Ellie Goulding

Don’t Need Nobody by Ellie Goulding

Candy-Coloured Sky by Catmosphere

‘Till We’re In The Sea by RKCB

affection by Jinsang

summers day v2 by Jinsang

Let Go by Frou Frou

Must Be Dreaming by Frou Frou

I Just Want You by Robert Duncan

Forget by Alicks

Dinner & Diatribes by Hozier

Nevermind by Dennis Lloyd

Let It Happen by Tame Impala

Think About You by Kygo ft. Valerie Broussard

First Time by Kygo ft. Ellie Goulding

Fragile by Kygo ft. Labrinth

Feel Your Love by Nyquill

I See You by MISSIO

Learn To Let Go by Kesha

Praying by Kesha

I Love My Life by Justice Crew

Sex by Cheat Codes x Kris Kross Amsterdam

Everlong by Foo Fighters

Party Like It’s Your Birthday by Studio Killers

The Disappearance of The Girl by Phildel

Soul On Fire by Mystery Skulls

we’ve never met but, can we have coffee or something? by in love with a ghost

What is Love? by Y//2//K & Yung Death Ray ft. Jaymes Young

A Manner to Act by Ra Ra Riot

Suckers by Ra Ra Riot

Do You Remember by Ra Ra Riot

You And I Know by Ra Ra Riot

Oh, La by Ra Ra Riot

Can You Tell by Ra Ra Riot

Consequence by The Notwist

Anyone Else by PVRIS

Dead Weight by PVRIS

Can You Hold Me by NF ft. Britt Nicole

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

No Fear by Dej Loaf

I’ve Been Waiting by Lil Peep & ILoveMakonnen ft. Fall Out Boy

Give U Up by CALVIN (I’m sorry in advance for this one)

Heartbeat by Scouting For Girls

Keep It Simple by Tove Lo

Sweettalk My Heart by Tove Lo

Glad He’s Gone by Tove Lo

Not On Drugs by Tove Lo

Got Love by Tove Lo

Crave by Tove Lo

Paradise by Tove Lo

Moments by Tove Lo

Talking Body by Tove Lo

Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo

Scars by Tove Lo

Out Of Your Mind by Tove Lo

Vibes by Tove Lo

Lies In The Dark by Tove Lo

Come Undone by Tove Lo

dont ask dont tell by Tove Lo

Cherry Blossom by ALA.NI

Feels Like Home by The Him ft. Son Mieux

Quiet by Lights

Skydiving by Lights

365 by Zedd & Katy Perry

Left to Right by Marteen

Could You Love Me? by Black Saint

Midnight City by M83

Marble Soda by Shawn Wasabi

Crystal Dolphin by Engelwood

Pusher (Shawn Wasabi Remix) by Clear ft. Mothica

She’s A Riot by The Jungle Giants

Stranger by Jay Hayden & King Vodka

Now That I’ve Found You by Carly Rae Jepsen

Marty McFly by Luke Christopher

Rocks by Imagine Dragons

All Day And Night by Jax Jones ft. Madison Beer & Martin Solveig

Run Free by Deep Chills ft. IVIE

Maps by Maroon 5

Feelings by Maroon 5

blue by Pools

High Hopes (The Lucifer Edit) by Quails

breathin’ by Ariana Grande

Into You by Ariana Grande

Shy Girl by Kedam

Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club

What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club

Sleep Alone by Two Door Cinema Club

This Is The Life by Two Door Cinema Club

Do You Want It All? by Two Door Cinema Club

Sun by Two Door Cinema Club

Eat That Up, It’s Good For You by Two Door Cinema Club

Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club

Sunflower by Post Malone & Swan Lee

Señorita by Shawn Medes & Camila Cabello

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie

Everybody’s Angel by Down With Webster

All Fall Down by OneRepublic

Counting Stars by OneRepublic

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T by Fall Out Boy

Jenny by Walk The Moon

Youth by Daughter

Get Lucky (Cover) by Daughter

Love by Daughter

River Flows In You by Yiruma

Girls And Boys In School by Neon Trees

Girls And Boys In School (EP Version) by Neon Trees

Helpless by Neon Trees

In The Next Room by Neon Trees

Beings by Madeon

Dried-Out Cities by Fallulah

Bloodline by Fallulah

Almost Home by Mariah Carey

Headlock by Imogen Heap

Closing In by Imogen Heap

Lifeline by Imogen Heap

Goodnight And Go by Imogen Heap

First Train Home by Imogen Heap

I Am In Love With You by Imogen Heap

The Walk by Imogen Heap

More by Kaskade & Felix Cartal ft. Jenn Blosil

Lay Down by Kaskade & Late Night Alumni

My Distance by Kaskade

Lessons In Love by Kaskade ft. Neon Trees

Kill The Lights (Audien Remix) by Alex Newell ft. DJ Cassidy, Nile Rogers, & Jess Glynne

Fall In Love/Lie by INNA

Cola Song by INNA

Caliente by INNA

Iguana by INNA

Ruleta by INNA ft. Erik

I Like You by INNA

Love by INNA

Shining Star by INNA

Bebe by INNA

Bebe (Yaniss Extended Remix) by INNA

Better Not by Louis The Child ft. Wafia

Living Island by Pogo

Still Into You by Paramore

Hard Times by Paramore

Emergency by Paramore

Ignorance by Paramore

I Caught Myself by Paramore

Letting Go by HERB x Kendall Miles

To Be Human by Sia ft. Labrinth

Big Girls Cry (ODESZA Remix) by Sia

Elastic Heart by Sia

Angel By The Wings by Sia

If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t On The Dancefloor) by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Butterfly In The Still by Iwasaki Taku

Dare (La La La) by Shakira

Me Enamore by Shakira

Loca by Shakira ft. Dizzee Rascal

Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango) by Shakira

Addicted To You by Shakira

Whenever, Wherever by Shakira

When A Woman by Shakira

Can’t Remember To Forget You by Shakira ft. Rihanna

Better Than Yesterday by HollySiz

This is What You Came For by Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna

Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch

Rain by Pueblo Vista ft. .Eehlou & Shiloh Dynasty

G.B.D. Pressure (Extended) by Chillster

Valentine by Aether ft. Veela

Lemme See by Usher ft. Rick Ross

Promises by Aly & AJ

Like Whoa by Aly & AJ

Silence by Aly & AJ

Find A Way by Safety Suit

Ordinary Day by Emilie Mover

Green Light by Lorde

Don’t Feel Like Crying (MK Remix) by Sigrid

Crazy in Love by EDEN ft. Leah Kelly

Broken Girl by Matthew West

Crazy in Love by Sofia Karlberg

This Is What Makes Us Girls (The Confect Remix) by Lana del Rey

1901 by Phoenix

Lisztomania by Phoenix

Please Don’t Touch by RAYE

Island In The Sun by Weezer

God Is A Dancer by Tiesto & Mabel

Tighten Up by The Black Keys

Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys

Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups

Don’t Play by Halsey

Bad At Love by Halsey

Young God by Halsey

Now Or Never by Halsey

Hurricane by Halsey

Drive by Halsey

Eyes Closed by Halsey

Eyes Closed (Stripped) by Halsey

Haunting by Halsey

Strangers by Halsey ft. Lauren Jauregui

100 Letters by Halsey

Ghost by Halsey

Break A Sweat by Becky G

Little Talks by Of Monsters And Men

I wanna be your girlfriend by girl in red

Run by Alison Wonderland

I Want U by Alison Wonderland

Peace by Alison Wonderland

Peace (Acoustic) by Alison Wonderland

Dead To Me by Kali Uchis

Good Enough by Evanescence

Go Slow by Gorgon City & Kaskade ft. Romeo

Feel Good Inc by filous & LissA

All I Need by Within Temptation

A Lot Like Love (Oliver Heldens Edit) by The Voyagers ft. Haris

Hideaway by Kiesza

Memories by KSHMR ft. Sirah

American Sadness by XYLO

One Step At A Time by Jordin Sparks

Your Shirt by Chelsea Cutler

Hope Of Morning by Icon For Hire

Collect Call by Metric

Flowers On The Grave (Acoustic) by The Maine

Fabulous by Ally Brooke

Falling (blackbear Remix) by Trevor Daniel

You by Petit Biscuit

Unlove You (Drop G Remix) by Armin van Burren ft. Ne-Yo

Formation (R-TRAX Trap Remix) by Beyonce

Schoolin’ Life by Beyonce

Simmer by Hayley Williams

Ruby by Foster The People

Moral Of The Story by Ashe

Colorblind (Left/Right Remix) by Karma Fields ft. Tove Lo

Don’t Stop The Music by Jamie Cullum

Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant

Don’t Stop the Fancy Footwork (Chromeo vs. Rihanna)

She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) by David Guetta ft. Sia

Slow Burn by Audiograf

Write My Story by Olly Anna

1 Thing by Amerie

I Like That by Janelle Monae

Your Favorite Place by Joey Pecoraro

Beauty Mark by Parov Stelar ft. Anduze

Dead Hearts by Stars

Change of Seasons (EP Version) by Sweet Thing

Larger Than Life by Pink Zebra ft. Benji Jackson

Are You With Me (Pretty Pink Remix) by Lost Frequencies

Nothing But by Skin

In Common (Kenny Dope Remix) by Alicia Keys

Resonance by HOME

All Stars by Martin Solveig ft. ALMA

Lavender’s Blue Dilly Dilly [From the Cinderella (2015) OST]

Besame Mucho by Jorge Blanco

Touch You Right Now by Basic Element

Dinero by Trinidad

Icon (Reggaeton Remix) by Jaden Smith ft. Nicky Jam & Will Smith

Make Me Sweat by Kat DeLuna

Sombredosis by Kat DeLuna ft. El Cata

Real Love by Memory Tapes

Feelings by Hayley Kiyoko

This Side Of Paradise by Hayley Kiyoko

Wanna Be Missed by Hayley Kiyoko

Gravel To Tempo by Hayley Kiyoko

Pretty Girl by Hayley Kiyoko

Fiesta (Remix) by Bombe Estereo ft. Will Smith

Love by TeZATalks

Had by TeZATalks

Heal by Loreen

Analyser by AlunaGeorge

Attracting Flies by AlunaGeorge

Damaged by Plummet

My Kind by Hilary Duff

Sparks by Hilary Duff

Talk by DJ Snake ft. George Maple

First summer without you by Outgoing Hikikomori

First birthday without you by Outgoing Hikikomori

2 Heads by Coleman Hell

Mathematics by Little Boots

Hearts Collide by Little Boots

Meddle by Little Boots

Parachute by Cheryl Cole

When she went away by Max Richter

When she came back by Max Richter

Who Knew by Pink

Lash Out by Alice Merton

Back To The Start by Mr. Little Jeans

Perfecto. by Ayo. & .Disfnk ft. Daniela Andrade

service by j^p^n

I’m In Love Again by tomppabeats

Close by Nick Jonas ft. Tove Lo

Falling Apart by Michael Schulte

Dusk ‘Til Dawn by ZAYN ft. Sia

Pillowtalk by ZAYN

Minimal Beat by Lindsey Stirling

Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga

Do I Wanna Know? (Cover) by CHVRCHES

La Familia (Guy Sigsworth Remix) by Mirah

Broken Parts by The Ready Set & Mokita

Invisible Chains by Lauren Jauregui

Lonely Gun by CYN

Cartier by Dopebwoy ft. 3robi & Chivv

Boss Bitch by Doja Cat

[into-control]

Justin Bieber, shawn medes, and Tori Kelly are together, have you seen it?

unfortunately

[mrsmarymorstan]

I made a Momiji playlist by JUST European Artists and is also like 80% Eurovision hits. You can listen to it on Spotify here 

Track List:  Love Love Peace Peace - Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede || No Prejudice - Pollapönk || Spirit in the Sky - Keiino || Never Forget - Greta Salome & Jonsi || Yodel It! - Ilinca Băcilă Ft. Alex Florea || Dancing Lasha Tumbai - Verka Serduchka || Dancing Queen - ABBA || Cake to Bake - Aarezemnieki || Waterline - Jedwood || 99 Luftballons - Nena || Fairytale - Alexander Rybak || Nocturne - Rolf Løvland, Secret Garden || Turn Loose The Mermaids - Nightwish || Requiem - Alma || Wenn Ein Stern in Finst’rer Nacht - Chorus of Pinochio || Invincible - Carola || Grace Kelly - MIKA || It’s My Life - Gay Dubstep Dracula  Cezar || Rise Like A Pheonix - Conchita Wurst || This Is my Life - Euroband || Ich bin bereit - Debby van Dooren 

[annatorvswife]

Could you make a list of favorite milfs? Either real life or fictional. I legitimately want this for research. (For stories) I also wanna look at pretty ladies in their 30s+

oh omg…. what an honor!!

your friends mom type milf, the real true milf: maria doyle kennedy, angela bassett, julia louis-dreyfus, jamie lee curtis, meryl streep, tracee ellis ross, sandra oh, lena olin, petra mede, olivia colman, viola davis

your general milf: anna torv, jennifer hudson, elizabeth mitchell, julianne moore, lucy liu, cate blanchett, jodie whittaker, vanessa l. williams, kelly mccreary, laura dern, naomi watts, jennifer aniston, vera farmiga, taraji p. henson, salma hayek, penélope cruz, catherine zeta-jones, drew barrymore, constance wu, gillian anderson, sandra bullock, nicole kidman…

(norwegian milfs bc i dont get to mention them ever: kari bremnes, ane dahl torp, kari slaatsveen, nadia hasnaoui, ine jansen, kjersti bergesen, hege schøyen, haddy n’jie, solveig kloppen, marian saastad ottesen, helene uri, line verndal) 

[fictionvxn]

Review: Stray Magic by Kelly Meding

Review: Stray Magic by Kelly Meding

Summary:

Shiloh Harrison was hoping for a few days off to recover from a particularly nasty assignment, preferably with the help of the talented hands (and, well, the rest of his body too) of her sexy boyfriend, Vincent. But when a group of vampires takes an entire trailer park hostage, there’s nothing to do but make her apologies and get to the scene.

Such is the life of a Federal Marshal in the…

[actuma]

Wiegman wint historische Europese titel met Engeland

Sarina Wiegman heeft de Engelse vrouwen naar een historische eerste Europese titel weten te leiden. De finale tegen Duitsland won Engeland uiteindelijk in de verlenging met 2-1, mede dankzij een opnieuw sterke wisselhand van Wiegman. De Nederlandse Wiegman is daarmee ook meteen de allereerste vrouwencoach die een prijs pakt met 2 verschillende landen, aangezien ze 5 jaar geleden ook al Europees kampioen werd met de Nederlandse vrouwen. Wiegman koos in deze finale voor dezelfde opstelling als in de 5 wedstrijden daarvoor, waarbij ook Ellen White de voorkeur voorin kreeg, ondanks haar moeizame toernooi. In de openingsfase had Engeland een licht overwicht en stichtten ze enig gevaar door een kopbal en een onverwachte uithaal van Lucy Bronze. Duitsland kwam gaandeweg echter beter in de wedstrijd en de beste mogelijkheden waren dan ook voor hen. In de eerste helft werd er door beide ploegen niet gescoord. Dit zorgde ervoor dat plan B in de 56e minuut moest worden ingezet, waarbij Wiegman haar troeven inzette met Toone voor Kirby en Russo voor White. Slechts 6 minuten daarna viel de openingsgoal voor Engeland. Toone werd diep gestuurd door Walsh en de aanvalster passeerde uiteindelijk de Duitse doelvrouw Frohms met een prachtige lob. Na een aantal waarschuwingen van Duitsland viel echter de tegengoal via Wassmuth, op aangeven van Magull. In de reguliere speeltijd vielen er vervolgens geen doelpunten meer en dus werd er verlengd. Wiegman bracht daarvoor Scott in de ploeg, die zorgde voor meer passie in de Engelse ploeg. Uiteindelijk kreeg Duitsland de bal niet weg na een hoekschop van Hemp en Kelly gebruikte vervolgens haar lichaam goed om zich vrij te spelen en de 2-1 binnen te schieten. Er was nog even een lichte twijfel of de goal goedgekeurd werd, maar toen dat zo was ging Wembley los en was de missie volbracht voor Engeland en Wiegman. Read the full article

[judocritics]

GSL Budapest: zwaar tornooi voor alle Belgische vrouwen.

(06-jul-2022)  

>> 2022 GSL Hungary, Budapest (live results)  

Ook al geeft de wereldranking momenteel vaak nog een vertekend beeld van de ware verhoudingen (de Olympische cyclus is immers nog maar pas gestart), toch kunnen we stellen dat alle Belgische vrouwen in Budapest mogelijks wereldtop tegen zich krijgen:

/-48kg 

Ellen Salens & Loïs Petit: 7 judoka’s uit de huidige top-10, waaronder de beide Françaises (Boukli & Clement), de Spaanse Figueroa, Rishony (Isr), Ganbaatar (Mgl) en Funa Tonaki (Jpn) en - wat mij betreft - in mindere mate : Milika Nicolic (Srb), Catarina Costa (Por), Francesca Milani (Ita), Amanda Lima (Bra). Neen, noch Ellen, noch Loïs mogen dromen van top-8. Proberen moeten ze wél natuurlijk !

/-52kg  

Amber Ryheul: misschien een top-8, maar zéker géén podium want starten ook: Amandine Buchard, Reka Pupp, Chelsie Giles, Gefen Primo. Maar ook tegen Larissa Pimenta, Ana Perez-Box of een Mascha Ballhaus zie ik haar nog steeds niet winnen, en Amber is hier not-seeded ! 

/-57kg   

Mina Libeer: je pakt dan wel mooi brons op het EK, de Spelen zijn het échte doel, en die strijd begint hier en nu voor Mina. En als de loting hier tegen zit, ook al is ze 8th seeded, dan is een top-8 zelfs niet zeker. Wie ze alvast wel vermijdt vóór de 1/4-finales zijn: Timna Nelson-Levy (Isr), Jessica Klimkait (Can), Sarah Leonie Cysique (Fra), Eteri Liparteliani (Geo), Telma Monteiro (Por),  Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo (Mgl) en Rafaela Silva (Bra), stuk voor stuk judoka’s waarvan ze  nog nooit won (als ze er al überhaupt tegen vocht). Maar wie ze wél kan ontmoeten bvb. vóór 1/4-fin en waartegen ze in het verleden ook al verloor:  Chen-Ling Lien (Tpe), Marica Perisic (Srb), Haruka Funakubo (Jpn), Julia Kowalczyk (Pol),...  So definitely not ‘a walk in the park’. 

/-70kg   

Gaby Willems: ‘not seeded’, en staat, mede daardoor, voor een hoge muur, lees: een lange lijst van sterke judoka’s die ze mogelijks kan treffen vanaf haar eerste kamp: Sanne Van Dijke (Ned), Barbara Matic (Cro), de 2 Françaises (Gahie & Pinot), Maria Portela (Bra), Kelly Petersen-Pollard (Gbr), Maria Perez (Pur), Szabina Gercsak (Hun), en last but not least: 2 not-seeded straffe Japanese (Saki Niizoe & Shiho Tanaka).  Dat zijn 10 zware klanten op een totaal van 30 tegenstanders...  

Ik overdrijf dus niet zeker, dat de eerste Olympische punten voor de vrouwen hier zeker niet voor het grijpen liggen...  < to be cont’d >

[whenitsdarkweilluminate]

Malmö 2013 – Semi-Final 1

Host: Sweden Slogan: “We Are One” Participants: 39 Voting method: 12-point system (50/50 system - combined) Format: 2 Semi-Finals / Grand Final = the top 10 of semi 1 & 2 + the Big 5 + host General Overview: The first semi-final begins with a montage of cultural footage from various European countries. This is followed by a nighttime view of Malmö, which leads to a 68-member children's choir performing “Euphoria” on the arena bridge, whilst doing sign language. Loreen joins them soon after. It's actually kind of a magical opener. This sequence finishes with Petra Mede raising from beneath the stage floor. Petra presents the show all by herself, which is unusual in the modern era, but she's more than capable of it. She brings a healthy dosage of Nordic humour to the contest. Including her narration of the ESC history segment. The character of “Lynda Woodruff” also appears in a skit, where she explores the snowy countryside of the country, mispronouncing names along the way. There's also a filler segment about Australia being Eurovision fans... ahh the foreshadowing! The interval act highlights the northern lights, with music provided by Kleerup, who is probably best known for producing Robyn's “With Every Heartbeat”. I liked the ambient atmosphere of it. The choreography routine involves dancing on a fluffy snow-filled floor. This year sees Armenia return (not in this semi), while Bosnia, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey all depart, reducing the number of participants to 39 – the same as 2010. This is also the year when the producers start deciding the running order themselves instead of leaving it up to a random draw. I won't go into details with the jury/televote split this time because the EBU never released the point distribution for 2013. Instead, they only provided the average placements, which is useless because only the top 10 matters for the scoreboard. But I will note that the two metrics were in agreement with Denmark at #1 and Russia at #2 for this semi-final. While out of the non-qualifiers, Montenegro had the most televote support and Austria had the most jury support. Lastly, the editing team really loves the visual effects this year.

× Austria: Natália Kelly - Shine Austria weren't doing so hot in the years preceding Conchita huh? Although they did impress the juries back in 2011... the televoters less so. So “Shine” is a pop-rock song, that's guided by a restless strumming pattern. The intro is akin to Adele's “Rolling in the Deep” or something. It suggests an atmosphere of building up courage or going on a mission. The grittiness helps the cliché lyrical message sound more sincere though. The backing singers also supplement the melody nicely, in particular their “OH-oh”s in the verse. The song promotes a positive outlook for the future, where Natalia believes this person is capable of overcoming their troubles (“I see the light in your eyes”). But the overall execution feels underdeveloped. It aims to be an uplifting reassurance, but it lacks that “punch” or that power or that emphasis. The instrumental is too mild and the chorus melody never fully takes off. The staging is mostly uneventful too. It features a line of backing singers standing behind Natalia amongst an array of hanging glowing crystals. She has lovely stage presence though. ✓ Estonia: Birgit - Et uus saaks alguse I'm pleasantly surprised this qualified, since Finland's foreign language nostalgic ballad couldn't do it last year; although the juries saved this one. “Et uus” reminds me of older Eurovision, but in a good way. The performance even begins in black-and-white to reinforce a nostalgic sentiment, while Birgit stands on the audience platform amidst some faded shots, which are a bit much. The visual switches to colour upon the first chorus as she walks to the main stage. The song, meanwhile, exudes a gorgeous, delicate, dreamy texture. The atmosphere is sweet and heartwarming, like the dawn of a new day. In the lyrics, Birgit uses nature metaphors to describe how things are cyclical (“Every end is just a new beginning”). She views change as a positive thing instead of dwelling on what used to be. But above all else, this melody has such a dynamic progression to it, especially in the chorus. Like the way the “VEEEEL” part radiates, and how the rest raises and lowers is really effective. The “Ja ma tean, ma tean” pre-chorus is a solid transition as well. As is the bridge, which involves a surging guitar and a big note. The song feels organic and Birgit has warm stage presence too. × Slovenia: Hannah - Straight Into Love The last placed entry of SF1. Between the poor running order slot, the aggressive EDM production, and Hannah's thin live vocal... I'm not surprised. The intro literally disrupts the scene with a raucous, Skrillex-style explosion of dubstep. I prefer the dark and brooding type of dubstep, not this harsh and ugly bass distortion, which sounds like my speaker is being chewed through a blender. That said, the sound is modern for 2013, and it isn't used as a novelty either. The production really overpowers this entry though. It represents the overwhelming force of two lovers coming together. The verses are more drawn back with the sparkly synths. While the chorus strikes with a pulsating/grinding motor. And the bridge contains a euphoric ascension. But it's so industrial that it actually sounds emotionally sterile. Plus Hannah's vocal is drowned-out and it deflates the melody. The “straight into looooove” hook flat-lines for me. The lyrics aren't that imaginative either. Still, the choreography of the three welder mask guys is engaging. × Croatia: Klapa s Mora - Mižerja Croatia's 4th consecutive non-qualifier, which leads to them skipping the next two contests. I loved so many of their '90s and '00s entries, but this is a nadir. “Mižerja” is a pure classical song in the Klapa genre, featuring 2 tenors, 2 baritones, and 2 bass all from 5 different established Klapa groups. The 6 singers are dressed in traditional robes too. It reminds me of Latvia's 2007 entry, but without the roses to communicate the emotion better. The song is from the point of view of a poor person who still gives what they can. There's soaring strings, valiant percussion starting in the second verse, and an atmosphere of wonderment in the bridge. As well as collective harmonizing during the chorus, which occupies most of the song. And it's those parts where all 6 of them harmonize that is so tedious to me. It just drones on, and it's so dull. That melody doesn't really go anywhere. Moreover, the genre doesn't cater to my tastes. It's too stuffy. But there is some chemistry between the performers I suppose. ✓ Denmark: Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops (winner review in the Grand Final post) ✓ Russia: Dina Garipova - What If I just get cynical about Russia promoting a message of peace and unity. It seems hypocritical. The fact that they annexed Crimea a year later is not lost on me. I question the intentions since the song was internally selected and Dina didn't write it. But maybe I'm being unfair to her – she certainly conveys earnest innocence on stage. She's here to share her dream and to lead a movement (“What if we all bury our guns!”). Otherwise, Russia goes for style points here. “What If” is one grandiose inspirational ballad. The beginning is lead by the piano, where Dina speaks directly to the audience. She's alone on stage surrounded by an array of illuminated balloons that look like street lamps. The triumphant drums enter in the second verse. The backing vocalists bolster the second chorus, as they stand in a line to imply unity. There's a big key change. Balloons are thrown into the audience. And finally, the last chorus is an otherworldly, “lighters in the air”, singalong anthem, where the camera cuts to the audience swaying along, and the backing singers hold hands. It's a powerful performance for sure. Plus the “what if we ALL / opened our ARMS” part is catchy enough. I like the “If I...If I” bit as well. But the melody is tiresome and unoriginal. “What If” was accused of plagiarizing multiple songs, but Daughtry's “What About Now” is the one I hear. ✓ Ukraine: Zlata Ognevich - Gravity Ukraine returns to the top 3! Last year was just a fluke haha. “Gravity”'s staging is notable for the “giant” who carries Zlata at the start. There's even a shaky camera effect during his footsteps, which is funny, alongside some distressing strings. The song captures a fairytale-esque atmosphere right from the start. It goes for the “damsel in distress” theme, where Zlata is skeptical about “dreams” and “love”, but she still entertains letting go of her “pride”. However, her “gravity” brings her back down. The first verse sticks to delicate vocals and harps, until the “thunder” part switches things up. The rest of the song is driven by this dominant, recurring nudging sound. It's like a force pushing Zlata to keep her levitated, as if she'd tumble without it. There's also ricocheting percussion and chanting vocals in the background. The latter establishes forest imagery. Moreover, I love how the chorus melody progressively elevates tension. Although the “my gravity...” conclusion is a little plain. Still, it's a stormy and fantastical song. The backing vocalists are used well (ie. “it's stronger than me”). And Zlata performs confidently on that rock. Fun fact: she went on to become a Ukrainian member of parliament after this. ✓ Netherlands: Anouk - Birds The streak is broken!!! Not only is this the first Dutch qualifier since 2004, it's their first top 10 since 1999! And they'll continue to perform well for the rest of the decade. “Birds” has such a unique and captivating soundscape, thanks to Anouk's low, granular vocal style and the misty orchestra, which has a vintage cinematic quality to it. It follows a steady pace, and the atmosphere is like a tragic fairytale. It paints a grey-scale image of overcast skies filled with an ominous flock of birds overhead. The song definitely sets itself apart from the other ballads. The first verse is tranquil with the harps and bowls(?), while the strings in the chorus soar. The second verse introduces the soft drums, and the bridge introduces a teary backing choir. The lyrical metaphor, meanwhile, compares birds losing their ability to fly to Anouk's inability to resume a “normal” life. Her “hopes [have] turned into fear”. On stage, she performs entirely on the centre audience platform. There's some nice camera shots with the flag-waving audience surrounding her. She comes off as a professional performer too – I mean she had released 7 studio albums by this point. × Montenegro: Who See - Igranka The fact that this was a televote favourite is notable alright. “Igranka” involves some bizarre staging. There's two dudes in astronaut suits rapping about partying as a distraction from life. It also features Nina Žižić, who provides the choruses amidst an unapologetic explosion of dubstep. She ascends from underneath the stage in a robotic outfit, and she's easily the best part of this entry. She serves badass energy. And her sharp, biting vocal style commands over the dubstep parts. That chorus production is a harsh and wobbly broken machine that consumes the arena. But it works in this instance because Nina's attitude complements it. The verse production, by contrast, is usual dance-pop fair. It moves from a strut to a sprint, and ends with quick-fire bangs. There's also a door-banging beat that opens the song. While the stage displays yellow-green neon lights and an overabundance of smoke puffs. Ultimately though, this entry is so trashy, and the rapping parts are too aggressive. ✓ Lithuania: Andrius Pojavis - Something What a random qualifier. Is this a joke entry? Because it's not that amusing. Andrius spends the first verse teasing a secret he needs to get off his chest. He drags it out to test our patience. Then in the chorus, he uses a nonsense metaphor about his shoes to explain his inconsistent feelings – “One is called Love, the other is Pain”!... Right! Meanwhile on stage, he exhibits some goofy expressions to imply that the song isn't serious. He also uses a talking voice and awkwardly pauses several times. The chorus is admittedly catchy though, namely in how the backing vocalists emphasize the second half of each line. As well as the “way too long” hook in the first verse, and the responses in the second verse. Otherwise, the adult alternative instrumentation carries an anxious, “grabbing everything and running away” mood here, while the chorus transition is a pent-up release. But as the song flows downstream, Andrius just stands idly by. There's just an awkwardness to this entry. Oh and the visual effects are back! – this time a smudge filter. ✓ Belarus: Alyona Lanskaya - Solayoh Another year, another sloppy Belarusian selection process. After being disqualified over vote rigging last year, Alyona won the national final again in 2013, but with a different song called “Rhythm of Love”. It was later switched to “Solayoh”. The new song recalls the “Ethnic pop” era of Eurovision, featuring traditional strings in the intro and bridge, while being driven by a robust, Earth-shaking percussion beat reminiscent of “Wild Dances”. Except Alyona doesn't reach Ruslana's charisma... although that is a high bar. She makes a grand entrance by stepping out of a giant disco ball. But her approach seems mismatched? The choreo from the two guys next to her is decent though. Otherwise, “Solayoh” is a percussion-dominant song, with most lines ending in a series of addictive, emphatic stomps (ie. “GONNA. GET. YA.”). And there's even a drum breakdown in the bridge. The pre-chorus is decent hook too. The lyrics are about the power of music itself. The song's tone borders on being campy however, and I probably would've enjoyed this more in 2005, but I'd say this is Belarus's best entry since “Work Your Magic”. ✓ Moldova: Aliona Moon - O mie Probably my favourite Moldovan entry. As much as I appreciate their outlandish ones, the dramatic theatrical nature of “O mie”, alongside Aliona's pristine vocal, and the majestic melody won me over. The chorus is remarkable in how it swiftly ascends, then freely descends. As is the bridge escalation in how it intensifies to the verge of bursting. This is where the instrumental breaks and restarts towards the climax, while Aliona grows taller inside her expanding dress. That dress displays pastel colours until the bridge. After which it blends in with the LED screen behind her, copying the lightning and fire imagery. Elsewhere, the backing dancers exhibit graceful choreo in their angel white outfits against a smoke-filled floor. The bellowing orchestral strings are a highlight. And the lyrics use hyperbolic quantities of 1000 of everything to signify the long-term passage of time. It's a heartbreak song where she wants to move on but can't. Also, this entry witnesses a role reversal from last year, where Aliona was a backing singer on “Lăutar”. This time she's the main artist, while Pasha plays the piano on stage. He also wrote the song. ✓ Ireland: Ryan Dolan - Only Love Survives The last placed entry of the Grand Final with a whopping 5 points, which I believe is the lowest a semi-final qualifier has ever attained. But considering Ireland's average televote rank was 14th, I'm guessing this fell victim to middling rankings. Anyways, the song announces an impending apocalypse, but Ryan assures that love will survive it and the final night will be a dance party. Sure. The verses are filled with a flurry of vigorous, pattering tribal drums. They provide a celebratory mood, while Ryan brings a light tone and some charm on stage. He's joined by three shirtless drummers in body paint who deliver great infectious energy. But then the pre-chorus ushers in a generic dance-pop production. It does that thing where the beat progressively accelerates to hyper-speed to transition into the chorus drop. The chorus then follows a clasping/slapping rhythm. Also the second pre-chorus turns dubstepp-y. The dance-pop production is a consuming force, but the bigger issue is the chorus melody – that “So be love / just be love” part – falls completely flat. Without the drumming and the staging, this would be a rather bland (and cheesy) entry. × Cyprus: Despina Olympiou - An me thimasai Yawn. Cyprus's personal ballad didn't do much this year. So Despina performs the song solo on stage. She begins a cappella, but the acoustic guitar joins soon after, followed by a woodsy, snapping / crashing drum line that dominates from the second verse on. Its inclusion feels random. Although the second chorus drags when it disappears. There's also an overuse of overlayed split-screens during this performance. Otherwise, the song lacks an accessible hook, and the melody is sluggish. Despite the “dawn of a new day” atmosphere, Despina's delicate vocal, and her intimate stage presence... it all ends up sounding drab and lifeless instead. In the song, she doesn't regret or apologize for her feelings while yearning to reunite with her ex. She's skeptical that they even remember her, but she desperately and endlessly waits for them anyways. It's just so dreary. ✓ Belgium: Roberto Bellarosa - Love Kills It's nice to see Belgium back in it again. Outside of Tom Dice in 2010, they were doing just as badly as the Netherlands since the expansion into semi-finals. “Love Kills” placed 12th, which isn't too shabby. The power of a killer chorus I suppose! It's so instantly catchy, from the “waiting for...” set-up to the doomed exclamation of “LOVE KILLS... OVER AND OVER” that follows. Especially when paired with the immense, arena-consuming synth-pop production. The keyboard heightens the dramatics too. The first chorus creates anticipation, while the second one unleashes the energy. The main hook is kinda repetitive, but that just makes it more effective. The dubstep breakdown in the bridge comes out of nowhere though. It's a speed bump in an otherwise smooth road that interrupts the momentum for no reason. The lyrics, meanwhile, tell a tragic story of a destructive couple; concluding that love always leads to pain, which is a “bitter pill” to swallow. On stage, Roberto wears a formal suit, while two backing members dance beside him, all against dark blue lighting. It almost gives a spy thriller image. × Serbia: Moje 3 - Ljubav je svuda The unlucky 11th placer of SF1. Sad because this entry has a fun concept! It involves a 3-member girl group, where the middle one receives conflicting relationship advice from her two sisters on either side. The sibling on her right plays the “Angel”, who encourages her to date this guy; stating it's a dream come true and “He will make you coffee”! While the sibling on her left plays the “Devil”, who warns that he'll cheat, he'll lie and he'll disappear at night. The two sisters also have contrasting vocal styles – the “Angel” sounds sweet, while the “Devil” acts mischievous and bratty. The verse production likewise contrasts their sections, with the former being dreamy, and latter using a punching transition. However, Serbia ruined this entry with a misguided outfit change. The national final performance incorporated angel and devil outfits to communicate the concept. But they switched to ugly children's clothing for the Eurovision stage for some reason. Still, the interactions between the 3 girls are hilarious in how they bicker and compete for the protagonist's attention. It's silly but it works. They also trade lines smoothly. And the chorus is irresistibly catchy, from the “JAAAAAAAAAA k'o da sam LUDAAA“ exclamation to the rapid up/down melody that follows, alongside the jogging dance-pop beat. My Ranking: 01. Denmark: Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops ✓ 02. Moldova: Aliona Moon - O mie ✓ 03. Netherlands: Anouk - Birds ✓ 04. Ukraine: Zlata Ognevich - Gravity ✓ 05. Estonia: Birgit - Et uus saaks alguse ✓ 06. Serbia: Moje 3 - Ljubav je svuda 07. Belgium: Roberto Bellarosa - Love Kills ✓ 08. Belarus: Alyona Lanskaya - Solayoh ✓ 09. Austria: Natália Kelly - Shine 10. Ireland: Ryan Dolan - Only Love Survives ✓ 11. Russia: Dina Garipova - What If ✓ 12. Montenegro: Who See - Igranka 13. Lithuania: Andrius Pojavis - Something ✓ 14. Slovenia: Hannah - Straight Into Love 15. Cyprus: Despina Olympiou - An me thimasai 16. Croatia: Klapa s Mora - Mižerja

[hcldr]

HCSM News

RT @HCNowRadio: THIS WEEK on @PopHealthWeek @greggmastersmph and @fsgoldstein talk to Kelly McVearry, PhD, MA, EdM, Managing Partner & Co-Founder @hypatiabuilds and Yusuf N'Krumah Henriques, CEO @IndyGeneUS_AI. #digitalhealth #MedEd #MedTwitter #phychat #hcldr https://t.co/eUCUAjgpLU https://t.co/c3WrLPHSRJ

— Fred Goldstein (@fsgoldstein) May 18, 2023

[maeliteratura]

Leitura #13 de 2021⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ 📖Adultos de @emjaneunsworth, tradução de Ana Rodrigues - @intrinseca⁣ ⁣⁣ Uma crítica muito interessante e potente sobre as redes sociais.⁣ ⁣⁣ Jenny é uma mulher insegura, carente, que mede seu "sucesso e aceitação" pelas redes sociais. O relacionamento com a mãe e com o ex-namorado são complicados e abusivos. Todas os seus relacionamentos são estranhos, tanto com as amigas, com as colegas de trabalho e com suas inquilinas.⁣ ⁣ Sua amiga Kelly é o seu termômetro, seu porto seguro. É à ela que Jenny recorre para se certificar se as postagens estão "boas".⁣ ⁣ Os personagens não despertam simpatia nem empatia, mas trazem uma reflexão interessante. Qual é a importância das redes sociais na sua vida?⁣ ⁣ Um livro que divide opiniões. Eu estou na turma que gostei da crítica, embora ela seja bem incômoda! ⁣ ⁣ É triste, patético e pior...real, não é difícil se identificar com as algumas passagens da trama. Foi o livro de janeiro da nossa leitura coletiva e rendeu uma ótima discussão. ⁣ ⁣⁣ Gostei da capa, edição bonita e uma ótima diagramação da Intrínseca, que aliás, é um dos pontos altos do livro.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Veja minha reflexão mais aprofundada no nosso canal do #YouTube, link na bio. Você leu? Quer ler? Me conta!⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ #Resenhamaeliteratura⁣⁣ #maeliteratura ⁣⁣⁣⁣ #literaturamundial⁣⁣ #adultos⁣ #emmajaneunsworth⁣ #Desafiodos100livrosemumano⁣⁣ #intrinseca⁣ #LCMaeliteratura (em São Paulo, Brazil) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLc0WbkJsvn/?igshid=d8je2azrtdms

[elgerben]

Positief denken

Probeer in deze tijd als starter maar eens een huis te kopen. Mijn vriendin en ik zijn al zes maanden actief bezig en er zit nog geen schot in de zaak. Deze week is het ‘de Week van de Starter.’ Hoe kunnen we dit initiatief beoordelen aan de hand van het CRAAP- model? De geweldige column van Kelli van der Waals in dagblad Trouw (Achterop, 1 oktober 2020) heeft mij daar vanmorgen goed mee geholpen. In enkele woorden fileert zij het neoliberale overheidsbeleid en het stuitende eigenbelang dat de woningmarkt op dit moment bepaalt. Wat nu volgt kun je lezen als de  ‘P’ van het CRAAP-model, de purpose van de informatie en als kritiek op het maakbaarheidsideaal van positief denken.

‘De Week van de Starter’ is een initiatief van verschillende instanties die zich met de woningmarkt bezighouden, zoals de Vereniging Eigen Huis, de Rijksoverheid en makelaarsorganisatie NVM. Volgens van der Waals is dit mede een uiting van het neoliberale denken. De overheid helpt je op weg met een flashy website en je succes op de woningmarkt bepaal je vervolgens zelf. De auteur laat zich kritisch uit over deze grondhouding van slagen, falen en positief denken. Ik volg haar daarin, omdat mijn ervaringen van de laatste zes maanden deze observatie staven.

Onze overheid laat de woningmarkt over aan de vrije markt en dat resulteert in cowboygedrag. Het hele scala van prijsopdrijvende maatregelen heb ik al voorbij zien komen. Wie er niet aan meedoet, dus wie besluit een verstandig financieel beleid te voeren en zich niet gek te laten maken, staat met lege handen. De verkopende partij zegt ‘wat vervelend dat jullie steeds worden teleurgesteld, de markt is een gekkenhuis.’ Om het pand vervolgens te gunnen aan de hoogste bieder. Dat de aspirant-koper vervolgens met lege handen staat, is zijn eigen schuld. ‘Volhouden en positief blijven denken, anders lukt het je nooit.’

In dit verband kom je er niet met positief denken. De markt is ziek en de houding van de verkopende partij is kannibalistisch. Er is geen sprake van gunnen, er is evenmin sprake van zelf succes creëren met handelingen, of positief denken. Wat ik moet accepteren, is dat wij te maken hebben met factoren die buiten mijn span of control liggen. Het ligt niet alleen aan mijn inspanningen, dank voor dat inzicht Kelli! En dat de NVM meedoet aan ‘De week van Starter’ is hypocriet, want haar leden hebben mij tot nu toe nog niet laten zien dat ze zich daadwerkelijk om mij, als koper van een eerste huis, bekommeren. Dagobert Duck regeert, probeer daar maar eens een positieve draai aan te geven.