#Life & Style Weekly

[tomorrowxtogether]

Tomorrow X Together are rebels with a cause in first-look photos for Minisode 3: Tomorrow

From rebellious rockers to fairytale princes, there’s no concept that Tomorrow X Together can’t pull off. 

The K-Pop group (pronounced ‘Tomorrow By Together,’ or TXT for short) is officially back with its sixth mini-album Minisode 3: Tomorrow, and to celebrate, Entertainment Weekly is exclusively revealing five never-before-seen concept photos that highlight Soobin, Huening Kai, Taehyun, Beomgyu, and Yeonjun’s versatile style. 

The snapshots are part of the group’s "Ethereal" and "Romantic" photo concepts for the album, each of which, Taehyun tells EW, “distinctly encompasses a unique story and emotion that we wanted to deliver visually through Minisode 3: Tomorrow.”

They’re also completely different from one another aesthetically. The "Romantic" photoshoot draws upon Snow White-inspired imagery with the quintet's dreamy outfits, while their "Ethereal" snapshots turn TXT into modern-day rock stars — complete with their own winged guitars, amps, and big rig. Minisode 3: Tomorrow's final two concepts — "Light" and "Promise" — further expand upon the group's artistry as they're seen outfitted in ballet slippers, angel wings, and crowns.

“We wanted to [experiment] with a diverse range of fashion styles,” Yeonjun says. “I think, at this point in time, one of our greatest strengths as a band is our versatility, not only in music and performances but also in aesthetics, which we always aim to absorb and make our own.” 

And yes, in case you were wondering, those winged guitars were seriously hefty. “During the 'Ethereal' version concept shoot, I was surprised by the weight of the guitar!” Beomgyu recalls. “It was quite cold on set, and I thought it was so cute how we would huddle around the heater during breaks, which added a heartwarming touch to the experience.”

TXT fans, called MOA (short for 'moments of alwaysness'), will also spot that the concepts directly relate to the group's past albums. “The props like the truck and guitars are reminiscent of our previous releases ‘0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)’ and ‘LO$ER=LO♡ER,’” Taehyun says. “I hope MOA enjoy the throwback!”

That connection can also be heard on Minisode 3: Tomorrow. Leader Soobin says the group is “connecting the dots from our previous releases" with the record, especially on their title track, “Deja Vu.” He adds, "Including lyrics such as ‘I ran away countless times,’ and ‘be my eternity,’ from ‘Run Away’ [from their 2019 album The Dream Chapter: Magic] added a nostalgic touch that I think our fans will enjoy rediscovering."

While TXT is honoring its past, the album still has its own story to tell. One of EW’s concept photos (below) features the group sitting on a truck that reads, “We made a promise when we were young. That’s the reason I have to live for tomorrow.” 

“The phrase hints at the underlying story of Minisode 3: Tomorrow,” Soobin explains. “It means that we will remember our past promises and embark on a journey to find 'you' to charge forward and face a hopeful 'tomorrow' together.”

Beomgyu describes the seven-track album as a “treasure trove of diverse sounds” that “represent the stories of today's generation.” Throughout their careers, TXT has never been afraid of openly and honestly discussing the physical and mental hardships that come with adolescence and, now, young adulthood — the 23-year-old’s favorite track on the album, “Quarter Life,” is actually about navigating a quarter-life crisis.

“Taehyun, Huening Kai, and I participated in the lyric writing to express the inner thoughts that we have at this point in our lives,” Beomgyu says about the song. “I love the track's mood and melody, too!” 

In fact, four of Minisode 3: Tomorrow's tracks were penned in part by the members of TXT. Yeonjun — who co-wrote “I’ll See You There Tomorrow,” “The Killa (I Belong To You),” and “Miracle” — says that the album’s lyrics “have greater depth and uniqueness” this time around because they’re framed through the members' worldview. 

“We have collectively been improving in our lyric writing, and I think it shines through in this album,” he says. “As we aim to give voice to the common experiences of our generation, we tried to focus on applying our own stories in the lyrics.”

And, just like in their "Ethereal" concept photos, TXT will soon find themselves hopping aboard a tour bus and hitting the road when their upcoming Act: Promise tour kicks off stateside next month. The 11-date concert series will see the members perform across the country, including two nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“We are visiting even more cities across the U.S. this time around, so I'm thrilled to meet and interact with more MOA!” Huening Kai says. “Our fans will be able to see some brand new performances of tracks from our new album, so I hope they can look forward to it. Just like our album's opener, ‘I'll See You There.’”

Minisode 3: Tomorrow is available now.

[jdgo51]

Giving Our Feelings to God

Today's inspiration comes from:

The Weekly Habits Project

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." — Isaiah 43:19

"For better or worse, our emotions carry a great deal of influence over how we choose to act. When fear gets in the way, we become impulsive and reactive, losing sight of what God has for us. We trade in the rich, new thing He promised for a cheaper replica.

So how do we know this new thing is happening? We put our senses to work. We see and feel what God has set in motion.

The Father intimately knows your needs, and He will provide for them. Prepare your heart to experience the good He has for you.

Conditioning the Heart

For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. — Hebrews 4:12 AMP

Every new year, people resolve to be healthier. Gym memberships skyrocket along with the sales of athleisure wear. A month or two later, ambition has faded, the gym crowds have thinned out, and athleisure is just a style. We wait for a more pressing call to action to pick up healthy habits... or we wait for the next new year.

So it goes with an on-again, off-again relationship with the Word. Even though we feel lost, overwhelmed, or burdened day after day, our Bibles sit untouched.

To condition your heart, you need to spend time reading the Bible. This week’s verses reveal both the power of God’s Word and why you might shy away from it — because sometimes confronting the truth hurts. But conditioning your heart this way will give you energy, make you whole, and bring you into alignment with God’s heart.

Use this week to meditate on a Bible passage. Read it every day.

What is God saying to you in this passage? Listen for His voice.

Feelings can make or break a habit.

Change Needs Roots

But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. — Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT

It’s a fact: hard times are going to come. And when your resources begin to dry up, you’ll need to connect to your life source. (Remember that stream God promised in the wasteland in Isaiah 43:19?)

Jeremiah reminds us that those who trust in God are blessed, like a tree with deep roots. But God wants more for you than mere survival.

He wants to see you thrive, which can only happen when you tap into His life-giving goodness.

As you start to carry out your habits, check in with your heart. Remember, the fruits of the Spirit you’ll produce as a result of your habit will not only yield actions like love and self-control; they’ll also give you feelings of joy and peace. When our roots reach deep into God’s love, the effort to change comes with more ease. As a result, more fruit follows.

What hardships are you experiencing in this season? Choose one to trust God with this week.

Have you been able to make small changes? Have you seen or felt the fruits of those changes?

Excerpted with permission from The Weekly Habits Project, copyright Zondervan.

[a-2-z-news]

वजन घटाने की कहानी: "63 साल की उम्र में, मैंने अपना बीएमआई 27 से 25.5 तक सफलतापूर्वक लाया" | द टाइम्स ऑफ़ इण्डिया

वजन घटाने की कहानी: “63 साल की उम्र में, मैंने अपना बीएमआई 27 से 25.5 तक सफलतापूर्वक लाया” | द टाइम्स ऑफ़ इण्डिया

नियमित रूप से टहलना, योग करना और रोजाना खाली पेट पानी पीना मेरी फिटनेस का एक अनिवार्य हिस्सा बन गया है। मैं रोजाना रात 9 बजे 10 ग्राम भुनी हुई अलसी और एक फल सेब/नाशपाती/संतरा का सेवन करता हूं। वजन घटाने से सीखे सबक: हमें नियमित अंतराल पर अपने वजन की निगरानी करनी चाहिए। इससे अधिक वजन होने की संभावना कम हो जाती है, क्योंकि हम जागरूक होंगे और बहुत देर होने से पहले कदम उठा सकते हैं। यदि आपके पास साझा…

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: May 2022

It’s getting warmer out and yet I’m still inside watching movies and reading books. Maybe in June I’ll at least read in a park or something.

……….FILM……….

Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982) So close to being a film I’d recommend. It starts with really great visuals and a big expansive world but by the end I felt like that had all melted away into a sort of Saturday morning cartoon. Certainly not terrible but I’d say the first 20ish minutes are lts best.

The Virgin Suicides (1999) Oof I was not ready for how sad this movie was. The life those sisters had? Feeling like there’s nothing left to live for? Ugh just so sad. It beautiful and  felt so personal and poetic; it really captured the spirit of reading someone else’s diary. So great and so SAD!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) The more interesting visuals (and by that I don’t mean the CG stuff but rather the portrait overlays and wonky camera work) really clicked for me and the whole thing had far more personality than I expected. Exasperated Strange paired with a plucky sidekick was a fun choice. Lots of fun choices here. But it still felt like a cotton candy movie. Maybe that’s okay.

……….TELEVISION……….

Fleabag (Episode 1.01 to 1.04) Have you ever just started a show and immediately known you were going to love it? This is that. The characters, the editing, heck even just the music sting at the start and end of each episode: it’s all perfect. Really trying to savour the series knowing there’s only two seasons but also really respect that it has a goal and will wrap when it’s ready.

Our Flag Means Death (Episode 1.01 to 1.10) It took a long time for this to click with me. I was told it would take a few episodes to get into the groove and that’s partially true. For me it wasn’t about the plot or tone, but rather the...genre? I went in expecting a much sillier and funnier show (of which it certainly has moments) but once I adjusted to a light-hearted character piece, it was more enjoyable. It wasn’t quite a comedy in my books but that’s okay. We’re moving into an era of television where nice people doing nice things is celebrated and I’m into it.

……….READING……….

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Complete) So great. This series is only two books deep and already so so good. The first one was great, then the second one comes in with a different protagonist, a slightly different style, and a totally different tone and yet it all feels entirely cohesive. It’s fantasy. It’s sci-fi. It’s meme culture. It’s everything I want out of a book.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll (Complete) I always catch something new with each reread. Just great stuff and so inspiring.

The Secret Service Vol. 1 by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons (Complete) Turns out the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service was based on this so I was excited to dive in! The premise and threat are loosely adapted from this volume but the most charming bits (gentleman tech, the themes of class, the trainee conflict/camaraderie) is mostly absent. Eggsy isn’t much of a character here and the overall tone feels a little more mean-spirited than campy. Your mileage may vary but for me, it’s a case of the adaptation improving upon the original.

Dorohedoro Vol. 2 by Q Hayashida (Complete) Having already watched the anime on Netflix, most of this volume was familiar. The new stuff was fun and has me looking forward to continue with this series! 

……….AUDIO……….

The Fundamental Slimes and Humours by Nekrogoblikon (2022) Big fan of their previous album but this one isn’t connecting with me yet. It just feels like each song kinda...happens? Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re noisier but it feels muddled. Hopefully that changes with further listens.

No Second Chances (Podcast) Nothing has gotten me more amped to vote than listening to this podcast. 

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) My weekly game just reached their 100th session in Neverland! They’re currently pursuing the youngest Pirate who fled with information and a magic sword. Meanwhile my biweekly group (the Mof1 crew) have returned to Neverland after a few months in Oz and are hopping around the island using magical whirlpools to get to know the area better.

And that’s it! If you have anything to recommend then send it my way; I’m always looking to discover new stuff.

Happy Tuesday!

[helenjgaston]

American Media Revokes Shawn Rhoden’s Eligibility for 2019 Mr. Olympia

American Media Revokes Shawn Rhoden’s Eligibility for 2019 Mr. Olympia

https://www.muscleandfitness.com/flexonline/news/american-media-revokes-shawn-rhoden-s-eligibility-2019-mr-olympia

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DNY59 / Getty

American Media, LLC Chairman and CEO David J. Pecker, owner and operator of Joe Weider’s Mr. Olympia Fitness and Performance Expo and the Mr. Olympia Contest, today announced that he is revoking the…

[grimelords]

So since the last time I posted one of these the entire world has changed dramatically and hopefully 4 hours of music will tide you over in quarantine for a bit longer. Strangely I’ve been busier than ever, and what started as a personal challenge to listen to a new album every day in February turned into me listening to 116 new albums in March and 124 in April. I’ve got a stacked google doc full of star ratings and dates now and it’s really been a lot of fun, I highly recommend trying it yourself. This is my March playlist, because I accidentally took a month off, and I’m thinking of either switching these playlists to weekly to make them a little more digestible or just dropping them whenever. Who knows. Let me know what you think and drop album recommendations in the comments please.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0k1JjT8fXcUFO6VpM3kaez?si=gWSv88vdShKSnHhLJ_80pQ

If you’d like to receive these playlists in a more digestible email format, please subscribe to my tinyletter here: http://tinyletter.com/grimelords

On A Slow Boat To China - Bing Crosby & Peggy Lee: Ok first off it’s amazing this song isn’t more racist. I don't remember now how or why I came across this. I think I was just thinking about crooners and how as a genre it's now existed in common popularity as a nostalgic idyll of a mytholigised past far longer than it was ever actually popular which is interesting. The origin of this song, according to wikipedia, is also one of the most 40s ideas I've ever read: "I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China" was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. The idea being that a "slow boat to China" was the longest trip one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase to a more romantic setting, yet it eventually entered general parlance to mean anything that takes an extremely long time".

Fight Night - Migos: I saw that Offset had some new show on Quibi the extremely fake sounding streaming service and I thought "how did Migos get so world conqueringly large that they get to make 10 minute shows nobody will watch for a $2 billion venture capital funded app that will never make any money?" They seem to have this massive reputation without having much to back it up. The last thing I remember everyone talking about was how Culure II was two hours long in order to game streaming numbers and was simply not good. They seemed to have sort of settled into making background music for scrolling instagram. But then I remembered Fight Night and I thought: "oh wait, that's right, Migos are fucking great". Where their other big hits like Bad And Boujee and Walk It Talk It have this sort of laid back vibe where they've comfortably nailed the formula and relax onto it, Fight Night commands your attention. StackboyTwan killed the beat - it has this propulsive momentum where it feels like it's constantly ramping up, moving up from the sidesick and bassline in the verse, up to the claps on the beat, and the big gang chants on the offbeat once the full instrumentation kicks in - then it just goes around and around and around with the constant bassline the whole tim. It's a perfect all-rise production because it never actually explodes, it's all building tension held down by an unchanging bassline.

Do It Puritan! - El Hombre Trajeado & Sue Tompkins: I am extremely delighted to announce that Sue Tompkins of one of my all time favourite single album bands Life Without Buildings has broken a nearly 20 year musical hiatus to appear on this song by El Hombre Trajeado. It is so nice to hear how her voice has changed and her approach has stayed the same. Her style is so unique and so good and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

5 8 6 - New Order: Before 'the incident' I had tickets to see New Order at the end of March and so I embarked on a big listen through of their discography, which has now unfortunately made it feel even worse that live music is cancelled indefinitely.

Oom Sha La La - Haley Heynderickx: First of all I love songs where they talking about how they're writing a song halfway through. And I love songs that seem like a pretty normal singer songwriter indie thing where someone just starts screaming near the end. I love this song. A great staring at the wall and absolutely losing your mind because you haven't done anything with your whole life anthem.

Elektrobank - The Chemical Brothers: Can you believe I've never listening to a full Chemical Brothers album before this month? Can you believe big beat ever went our of style? It feels insane that we ever swapped this sort of energy for the beige algorithm of EDM. I think there's a real triumph in this album, and in this track especially of replicating the live feeling in studio. Giving it this much space to grow and change and get very hairy near the end is amazing, it feels like it was just recorded live.

My Mind's A Ship (That's Going Down) - Katie Pruitt: It feels very rare to me that this sort of extremely smooth Nashville prduction actually makes a song better. It has a habit of strangling the life out of a song and making it blend into a boring paste of soundalikes, but with Katie Pruitt it works amazingly. Her songwriting is so distinct and clear and her voice, especially near the end where it punches hole in the sky, is so strong and so her own that it doesn't need anything else.

Water - Ohmme: "What if Tegan And Sara were a noise band instead?" is a question I didn't know I needed an answer to. I love any band that has the guts to write songs like this that sound like pop from an alternate history, so off kilter and odd and noisy but with this undeniable pop heart that the duo vocals make sound like schoolyard clapping chants remixed by Lightning Bolt.

Lions, Tigers and Bears - SLIFT: A friend put me on to Slift and described them as French King Gizz and really, I'm inclined to agree. This is the traditional long last song at the end of their new album, and as usual I am advocating that every song should be the long last song at the end of the album. I love this style of jam where everyone else goes to space but the rhythm section just digs in and works hard as fuck for ten minutes. Then the whole last 3 minutes of the song are just fat drone riffs. This song's got everything.

The Pines - 070 Shake: This 070 Shake album is unbeleivably good and it warms my heart to see the dark energy of The Pines live on through another century in yet another permutation. I have more to say about it later in the Jackson C Frank version coming up but it feels like this 070 Shake album kind of came and went but I implore you to listen, it’s an aoty contender for sure.

Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On - Funkadelic: If you can stop thinking about the intro, which I certainly can’t (Hey lady won’t you be my dog and I’ll be your tree and you can pee on me.) there is so much goodness in this song. For a while now I’ve been thinking about how, for lack of a better word, ‘positive’ music is consistently underrated in the critical canon. Dance music, disco and funk especially are derided as empty sugar music, while every cookie cutter metal band absolutely demands to be taken seriously. In dance music this manifests as genres like tech house sucking all the fun and individuality out of music until it’s just an endless parade of producers working to a schematic of the barest essentials. It feels like you can’t have fun and be taken seriously at the same time, which feels like an obvious contradiction but shouldn’t be!

Spoils - Dry Cleaning: Dry Cleaning are my Lock Of The Month Band To Watch In The Future Because They’re Gonna Go Off. They have such a great sound and I’m desperate for an album because I just need more. This song absolutely knocked me down when I first heard it. I love any band where it sounds like the singer has just wandered in while the rest of them were rehearsing. There’s a very good talking-songs movement happening in the UK right now between these guys, Do Nothing and Fontaines D.C and i’m excited to see where it progresses. I might put together a playlist a little later to show you what I mean.

As - Stevie Wonder: I finally listened to Songs In The Key Of Life this month, which is an experience I would recommend to everyone. This shit goes for 21 songs over 105 minutes and absolute bangs the whole way. The original release of this album was a double LP plus a 7", which is yet another reason I am grateful for streaming that I don't have to buy a damn box set to hear this thing.

Sleep Now In The Fire - Rage Against The Machine: I am working on a very niche playlist called Songs Where The Guitar Amp Accidentally Picks Up A Nearby Radio Station For A Couple Of Seconds and it's only 3 songs so far. A Man A Plan A Canal Panama by The Fall Of Troy, Melody 4 by Tera Melos and Sleep Now In The Fire by Rage Against The Machine. In every single one of those songs it feels like a critical component even though it's just an accident that's been left in because it sounds good. Here it's the perfect ending as the rage dies down and the commercial world fades back in. Anyway, my other question about this song is about the great Michael Moore directed video where they famously shut down Wall Street for an afternoon. There's a shot of a guy for a second holding a sign that says Donald Trump For President in 1999. Which is odd but not out of the question, he's been famous for a long time and there's always been freaks. My question is why the fuck did he have that sign that day? Was he amongst the Rage Against The Machine Fans that showed up? A counter protestor? Was he, perhaps most chillingly of all, just walking idly around Wall Street with his Donald Trump For President sign like usual and stumbled upon this whole hoo-haa accidentally?

Applause (Purity Ring Remix) - Lady Gaga: Did you fucking know that Purity Ring did a remix of Applause? If there’s something I’d love to know more about and it’s Purity Ring’s forays into pop production. After their first album they did some production for rappers like Danny Brown in the great track 25 Bucks, which is a good fit really - their sound is witch house with the tempo pushed back up, witch house of course just being chopped and screwed reinvented by tumblr users. So it’s a natural fit to take that new perspective back into the world of hip hop. They also did this fantastic remix of Applause after their first album. Then, after their second album they produced 3 songs for Katy Perry’s Witness album, and one Katy Perry song for a Final Fantasy mobile game soundtrack (?) and feel like the long silence and delay between their second and third albums is because of more behind the scenes pop production work - but if that’s true, where is it? Is it, as I suspect, part of my own personal Pepe Silvia, Katy Perry’s scrapped 2019 album that has vanished into thin air? Or is it part of Chromatica? I think Purity Ring have solidified an interesting place in pop, paving the way for Billie Eilish and Kim Petras’ dark anti-pop and so i’m excited to see where they go after this new album now that they’re the architects of the new wave.

React/Revolt - Drahla: The smartest thing you can do is add a saxophone to your band. The whole first half of this song could go for 20 minutes of growling screaming saxophone post-punk and I wouldn't mind. Then when the second half of the song kicks in it's fantastic in the way this whole Drahla album is: it's tight and sprawling post-punk at the same time with a complicated structure that seems to just pile onto itself instead of ever circling back.

And I Was Like - Porridge Radio: I'm seemingly having a real thing this month for songs that open with a bizzare acapella chant. Between this and the Funkadelic one it's a genre I'm very interested in hearing more of. Isaac Newton was a virgin and it's important to recognise that. The thing I love about this song is how it's in 3 distinc sections: Isaac Newton was a virgin, she's a birthday girl in a birthday world, and mum no please it's grunge, and they all feel like the concentrated energy of a 14 year old's thoughts. She sounds like she's almost crying when she sings 'she's a birthday girl in a birthday world'. The concentrated confusing teenaged energy of this song is just overwhelming.

Dirty Mattresses - Mama's Broke: So much of contemporary 'traditional folk' either exists as pure nostalgia music or as music that's trying too hard to be 'authentic' and evoke a mythology of a bygone time, but Mama's Broke manage to make it feel new and modern but honest and  authentic at the same time. The super close harmonies and modern approach remind me of House And Land who I also love, but the songwriting is in another class entirely.

Building A House - CHOPCHOP: I don't know if you've ever seen Bad Boy Bubby but CHOPCHOP feels a little like the band that he ends up joining at the end. A musical ensemble built to enable the will of a very strange man. I think the band is from the UK and I'm not sure where the singer is from, but he has this incredible deeply accented voice that brings such a gravity to everything he sings in the way that anyone speaking english as a second language accidentally brings new weight to common turns of phrase.

Universal Soldier - Jay Electronica: It feels fitting, looking back, that Jay Electronica finally released his album right before the world ended. It was literally now or never. Some how Jay-Z is the breakout star of this album for me. He's got some of his best verses in years on here and he's a great opposition to Electronica's flow when they trade verses. I would also, as an aside, like to know the origin of the kids cheering sample throughout this, because it's the same one from AM//Radio by Earl Sweatshirt and Wish You Were Gay by Billie Eilish. So what's that about.

Sticky Hulks - Thee Oh Sees: I've been very slowly getting into Oh Sees and I love them a lot so far. Their unweildy, huge discography spread across a lot of variations of the same name makes digging into them very rewarding as well. There's a great line on their wiki detailing all the times they've changed their name that goes: Orinoka Crash Suite (1997–2003), OCS (2003–2005, 2017), Orange County Sound (2005), The Ohsees (2006), The Oh Sees (2006–2008), Thee Oh Sees (2008–2017), Oh Sees (2017–2019) Osees (2019) to give you some idea of what we're working with here. Basically it's just everything you could want from a pychedelic band like this: a history and discography as shaggy as the songs themselves.

Knife On The Platter - BODEGA: In reading about Bodega I learned that they don't have a drummer in the traditional sense. They have someone credited as a 'stand up percussionist', and in listening back I realised that's they key to the groove in their music. He's not playing a kit he's just slamming at a tom and a snare on a rack, while one of the singers plays hi-hat here and there. So all the drumming has this barebones caveman feel to it and I absolutely love it. The band feels a lot like The Fashion, and that whole mid-2000s dance-punk movement that I've been desparate to come back so naturally I love it a lot.

Against Gravity - Horse Lords: Horse Lords are one of the most incredible bands I've heard in a long time. Somewhere between a more analogue Battles and Laddio Bolocko, they make a kind of churning math-jazz that sounds like huge intersecting squares of rhythm slowly overlapping. It feels like there's an infinite depth in these songs, you can listen and focus on a single instrument and see it shifting in and out of place with everyone else, before you lose it again and it retreats back into the swirling mass.

Plain To See Plainsman - Colter Wall: I've been listening to this Colter Wall album a lot, and it's really beginning to rank among my all time favourites. I grew up around the flattest place in the southern hemisphere, so I love the plains and it's very nice to have a cowboy song I can relate to like that.

The Nail - Sarah Shook & The Disarmers: Sarah Shook has so much character in her voice I completely love it. She is also a fantastic songwriter that manages to make outlaw country punk that sounds authentic and doesn't have the rockabilly posturing that a lot of the genre suffers from.

Inner Reaches 慾望的暗角二 - Gong Gong Gong 工工工: The best thing about Gong Gong Gong is you can listen to this whole song before you realise they don't have a drummer. They're a guitar and bass duo that play and sing with such a layered rhythmic intensity between the two of them that they really don't need one. A drummer would just clutter the space already taken up by their ferocious rhythm.

Country Pie - Bob Dylan: I'm a big fan of Bob Dylan's dumb songs. He has a lot where if it's the first song you ever heard from him you would be mad at whoever told you he was the greatest songwriter to ever live for trying to trick you like this. What I especially love about this song is how abruptly it ends, like dad just came home and everyone panicked cause they're know they're not supposed to be staying up that late.

You Did It Yourself - Arthur Russell: It seems hard to believe that I've only just found out about Arthur Russel. He seems to be a mainstay of Music Guy lists and somehow I've only heard of him this month. I've been obsessing over the Iowa Dream album, which is a compilation of a lot of different (mostly extremely high quality) demos from the late 70s to mid 80s and what really shines through other than the singular strength of his songwriting is how readily and easily he bends from country style folk to romantic piano ballads, to groovy post-punk like this. What I love so much about this song is it's a great lesson in songwriting: sometimes a song can just be a vague review of a middling movie and still have emotional resonance. Incredible. There's a great NPR article about Arthur Russel and the process of assembling half-takes and demos into complete recordings that you should read if you're interested. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/20/779721417/which-arthur-russell-are-we-getting-on-iowa-dream

The Dogs Outside Are Barking - Arthur Russell: I love this song because it's such a perfect distillation of a teenaged moment: trying to find a moment alone with someone when you have no freedom at all to create one. The song cycles through potential situations but leaves the problem unresolved, existing in the moment of nervous romantic tension preceding an unasked question and it's just beautiful.

Men For Miles - Ought: I love the vocal melody in the verse here so much. Spiking up unnaturally at the end of the lines like a nervous and strange version of The Strokes. Even the way he cramps his words in in the chorus is so good, switching registers randomly like he's impersonating someone else.

Mister Soweto - Lizzy Mercier Descloux: https://pitchfork.com/features/from-the-pitchfork-review/9828-lizzy-mercier-descloux-behind-the-muse/ Pitchfork has a great article about Lizzy Mercier Descloux detailing how she is continually undervalued and underappreciated. I found her though my Discover Weekly and became immediately obsessed with this album - a perfect mix of off-kilter 80s bass and brass that is so colourful and seems to move in a million directions at once like the songs can't even catch up with themselves sometimes. I'm excited to dig into her discography more and try to understand her more because she has a truly unique approach that I can't get enough of.

Sweden - Marilyn Crispell: I've been looking for a while for other pianists of Cecil Taylor's calibre, rare type that it is and I am so glad to have finally found out about Marilyn Crispell. She plays free jazz like Taylor, but in much less percussive and disonnant style. There's a New York Times quote that seems to follow her that says "Hearing Marilyn Crispell play solo piano is like monitoring an active volcano. She is one of a very few pianists who rise to the challenge of free jazz." and it's really very apt. She will move with seemingly no warning at all from mediative, colourful stokes to a mad descent unto uncertainty and beyond, then back again without a moments hesitation. Her music moves like a dream, linking a stream of unlinked images with an ease that only seems incongruous on reflection.

Twins - Gem Club: I have loved this song for a very long time and I come back to it over and over and appreciate it anew. What I appreciate about on listening to it this time is the strangeness of it's structure, following up the verse with an instrumental break, and then a long instrumental intro to the chorus gives it so much space to spread out and breathe, giving the beautiful gravity of the song even more weight. Then after the chorus it moves straight to a bridge and then the intro and first verse again. It's a fantastic song that makes it's small parts so large, where another songwriter or another producer would pare them down.

Grand Central - Paul Cauthen: Something I've learned in listening to a lot of cowboy music is that the number one thing that cowboys hate and fear is getting hanged. They hate it worse than cats hate getting sprayed with water. I found out about Paul Cauthen combing through Colter Wall's similar artists looking for more of this brand of new old fashioned country and I really found it here. Paul Cauthen comes from four generations of preachers and left the church to pursue country music instead, which feels like an extremely old fashioned position to be in here in 2020 but I guess lots of people in Texas still live like that, and thank god they do or we wouldn't have Paul Cauthen's big mournful Elvis voice to sing us songs about the railway.

Serafina - BAMBARA: I love this sort of spoken word leather jacket rock and roll. It's so extremely Cool in an old fashioned way. Like a more rock and roll version of Enablers.

So 4 Real - The Hecks: I love love love this song that sounds like a sped up Prince demo. The strange thinness of the mix and the way the vocals are buried just makes it sound so strange and great, like it was put together on some ancient 4 track recorder that can't handle the pure energy of the song.

In The Pines (Version 2) - Jackson C. Frank: There's a very good 3 hour compilation of Jackson C. Frank recordings that came out a few years called Remastered And Unreleased that I listened through the other day. It's just magnificent. This version of In The Pines is one of my favourite I've ever heard, the mournful vocals coupled with his churning rhythm guitar really brings out the darkness of it in a way I've never heard.

(Tumble) In The Wind (Version 1) - Jackson C. Frank: Another favourite from this compilation that is slightly hard to listen to. I don't know if there's a date on it but I'd guess this was recorded near the end of his life. It is so beautiful, but you can hear in his voice and breathing that he's unwell. In Horseshoe Crabs by Hopalong she sings a story from his perspective this song really seems to fit in the second half of that. "Woke from the dream and I was old / Staring at the ass crack of dawn / Walked these streets up and down / Looking for Paul Simon / All I found was myself, lost in time / I tried singing my songs / But I lost my mind"

Sludge - Squid: I'm thinking of putting together a playlist of all the great Black Midi-adjacent bands I've found out about recently and Squid is at the top of the list. This new breed of art-punk is so fantastic and goes in a million different directions. I'm just so excited it exists.

Straight Shot - Quelle Chris: I love this song and Guns is a phenomenal album but there’s one thing bothering me. The ‘who are you, what are you’ part at the end sounds so incredibly familiar to me and I can’t figure out why. As far as I can tell it’s not a sample, but googling reveals that the english voice on it is fucking James Acaster the standup comedian. So what’s going on? Quelle Chris himself is less than helpful: “Straight Shot is one of those ideas that reached out to me, we got along and I simply showed it around town. The chorus, poem at the end and basic piano progression literally came to me in two separate dreams”. Who knows. Great song though.

Levitation - Dua Lipa: What I really like about this song is that she says sugarboo. This whole album bangs and Dua is really reaping the benefits of being the only pop star with the guts to release an album while everyone’s in lockdown I also have a half-baked theory about the way this song is almost interpolating Blame It On The Boogie in the ‘moonlight, starlight’ part as a sort of aggressive takeover of Michael Jackson’s cancelled legacy. Which is smart really. The same way Taylor Swift is re-recording her albums, let’s just get The Weeknd in the studio for a couple of days and give the world back it’s bangers.

Another Crashed Car - Nine Inch Nails: I am so glad Trent Reznor put out another two volumes of Ghosts. Ghosts I-IV from 2008 seems to have been the bridge from his Nine Inch Nails work to his film score work, and now that he’s had such success with that it’s nice to hear him writing in this style without telling anyone else’s story again. It’s also interesting for him to go back to this project now that Ghosts I-IV has paid dividends in the form of the sample at the centre of Old Town Road but that’s neither here nor there. It’s hard to pick and individual track from these, because they work so effectively as long form albums and not individual tracks, but I chose this one because I put the album on as background ambient while I was doing some boring data entry at work and this track is the point at which I realised I was going out of my mind with stress from doing the simplest tasks because of Trent’s Damned Chords.

Lilacs - Waxahatchee: This is a perfect song. It makes me want to like, draw charts about it and go through it bar by bar to figure out how she did it. It’s perfectly put together. It feels like she uses every trick in the book and it just comes together flawlessly in 3 minutes. Amazing.

Cool Water - Hank Williams: I decided to properly listen to Hank Williams because his shadow stretches over so much of country music, and while a lot of his music really alienated or bored me, and a lot of his songs feel like they would read as novelty songs today (like Hey Good Looking), this is the song that made me understand why he’s so revered.

In My Bones (feat. Kimbra and Tank And The Bangas) - Jacob Collier: Jacob Collier generally irks me. He makes brain music for redditors that lose their mind when someone shows them chord inversions or odd time signatures. Youtubers whose whole personality is ‘y’all heard Giant Steps?’ But he killed it on this song. It’s great despite him. There’s still a lot of corniness to work through, mostly in the big yuck funky lyrics, but structurally it’s a kaleidoscope and a big chunk of its success I’m putting down to Kimbra and Tank who understand that performance is a bigger part of a song than composition in a way Collier maybe doesn’t yet. He can overload the bassline and stop-start the rhythms as much as he likes but without actual personalities driving it it’ll just sound like a Peter Gabriel midi played at 200%.

Earthquake - Graham Central Station: I learned something wonderful in researching this band. The leader, Larry Graham, who was in Sly And The Family Stone is credited with inventing slap bass. He himself refers to the technique as "thumpin' and pluckin' ".

Quand Les Larmes D’un Ange Font Danser La Neige - Melody’s Echo Chamber: Once again furious that I’ve known of Melody’s Echo Chamber for years but never listened to them until now. I have been missing out. This is a perfect sprawling psychedelic jam punctuated with a bizzare cut-up recording about shitting yourself when you die and being declared brain dead in the vatican. It’s got everything. I had to look up who the drummer was on this song because he’s just nailing it, and it turns out it’s Johan Holmegaard from Dungen which is really a perfect fit.

Murder Most Foul - Bob Dylan: I was thinking the other day about how Bob Dylan is doing in quarantine. The man who hasn’t stopped moving his whole life and who’s been on a never ending tour  since the 70s is now, I assume, just pacing a hole in a hotel carpet somewhere and jabbering to himself. The strangest part of Bob dropping this 17 minute song about JFK out of nowhere is that he hasn’t put out any original music since 2012. So a gigantic song like this is an even bigger surprise. I, already a huge fan of gigantic songs and Bob Dylan, unsurprisingly love it. I love the slow stirring of the instrumentation, like he hired Dirty Three as a backing band and I love that nearly the entire second half is just listing good songs that he knows. It’s a remarkable song and unlike anything i’ve heard before from Dylan or anyone else. It’s interesting to hear Bob Dylan step into being the great chronicler of the 60s like he’s been told he already was his entire life almost 50 years later, finally accepting the fate foisted on him. The other thing I love about this song is the line when he for some reason praises Lee Harvey Oswald’s shooting “Greatest magic trick ever under the sun / Perfectly executed, skillfully done”

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0k1JjT8fXcUFO6VpM3kaez?si=gWSv88vdShKSnHhLJ_80pQ

[4homiesfilm]

5 Things - Devin 

April 9, 2021

And so it begins…

Well, I’m missing you all a ton right now, wishing I wasn’t back in shitty, smelly, stinky New York but still on the lake, ripping an apple bong, and trying to shimmy. Anyway, here are 5 things inspiring me right now, that I want to share, and hopefully some of my excitement and inspiration will rub off onto you...

1. “Films aren’t just for telling stories — they should create an impact that encourages other people to make work.” -Mati Diop. 

This wasn’t intentional, but in many ways this may just be the perfect quote to kick off this little weekly experiment of ours. This is what I want to do in general, with each film I make, but it’s especially relevant to the film we started making on this trip. Like I said the night we delved into the dark depths of how hard life has been the past year or more: we can help each other, and we can do so by inspiring one another. Mati is the perfect symbol of this for several reasons. When I first saw Atlantics, a little over a year ago, it made me think of Alisa and her style, particularly her Cuba doc. Both those films moved and inspired me in strangely similar ways, and so I had to tell her to watch it. I think it’s safe to say that Mati’s film also inspired Alisa, and then she urged all of us to watch it last weekend, and the excitement was then spread through all of us. This is so cool to me, and gives me so much creative energy. I could say so much about the film itself, and all the different aspects that moved me and blew me away, but just this rippling impact that it had on all of us makes me so happy. However, one of my favorite aspects is the music, so I will add this quote from Mati as well (which is from the same article, linked just below the quote): 

“Fatima is by far one the best musicians and artists of my generation and embodies the music of my time. I chose her because I wanted the music of the film to bewitch the audience like a djinn [genie] would, she also has an understanding of the complex geopolitical landscape of the film. My [way of telling stories] is fed by a lot of different references — European Gothic and the romantic movement, as well as my African and Muslim heritage — so I think the film is really a strange aesthetic combination. Fatima and I have a very similar hybrid culture.”

The full interview: https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/mati-diop-interview

2. Lee Chang-dong (aka... Director Dong) 

Wow, he has been such a profound source of inspiration for me these past few weeks. Each film of his we watched - and for Thomas and I it was three, yes three damn films! That’s like half his filmography! - had something different and new that blew me away, whether it was particular moments or something larger, something deeper pulsating underneath the surface. This interview he did after Burning’s release is fantastic, and these are the quotes that particularly stuck out to me: 

“To me it seems that films these days are becoming more and more simple, and the audience seems to desire simpler stories. Of course, films sort of shape the desires and the demands the audience makes, so I kind of wanted to go against this trend and see if a film can sort of throw endless questions at the audience. Endless questions about a larger mysterious world. This film is the result of that experiment.”

“[Hae-mi is] also the only character in the film who persistently pursues the meaning of life. The moment she disappears, I wanted the audience to sort of feel her absence and ask themselves what she represents and has been searching for — her presence in this film is very important, even when she's not there. The dancing in this scene really signifies her entire presence in the film.

When she's dancing the Great Hunger dance, searching for the meaning of life and really seeking true freedom, you see her doing that dance surrounded by both the lies and natural beauty that we live in. The scene being set during sunset, you see light and darkness co-existing, and you see the moon in the sky and you also see the grass swaying in the wind, you see the livestock, the farm and, of course, the Korean national flag, which symbolizes politics. You see all these elements that represent aspects of our lives — even the Miles Davis tune. I thought that through this scene I could portray and combine all of these elements together in the most cinematic way possible, so that the audience can really feel the potential of cinema as a medium and the unique aesthetics of cinema. So from the beginning to the end of the scene, I didn't want it to feel like it was directed or staged; I wanted it to feel as if we were able to capture this slice of life very coincidentally, and to capture Hae-mi's pursuit of freedom.

...The moment I thought of this image was when I first knew I could make this story into a film.”

Full interview: www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/news/oscars-interview-lee-chang-dong-burning-1167869

3. Tsai Ming-liang. It makes me so excited that What Time Is It There? connected with Thomas the way it did, because this guy is one of my absolute favorite filmmakers. Watching that film was so inspiring and such a great way to end the trip, because it made me so hopeful about the future, and all its possibilities. In so many ways, Tsai makes the films I want to make. You all have to watch Rebels of the Neon God and Vive L’amour. Here is a quote by Tsai which is so similar to how I think about the films I make:

“When I was younger, I wanted to be a painter and I have always enjoyed looking at paintings. Viewing a film is admittedly a different experience from viewing a painting, but in my films I am continually trying to develop an experience for my audience similar to that of viewing a painting. I am more like a painter who is using the language of filmmaking than a storyteller who is using the medium of film.”

And here is Tsai talking about his star and muse Lee Kang-sheng, his star and muse who has been in every one of his films, which I also find so fascinating and, again, inspiring: 

“It’s not about a face being pretty; it is about how you frame it. The reason that I always cast Lee is his face. His face inspires me to look at film in a different way. Thinking about it, over my twenty-year career in feature films, it was never about the story, it was about filming Lee. 

[His face] evoked a particular sensation that touched me deeply, while the professional actors that I auditioned did not touch me as much. Ordinary faces, and ordinary people, tend to leave a stronger impression on me. When I chose Lee to be my actor, there was a lot of criticism. People complained that he did not have the face of a star. He wasn’t big or muscular. Yet, what deeply touched me was precisely this sense of ordinary-ness in his appearance. He was natural. Lee’s appearance in my films actually changed the whole path of my development as a filmmaker away from standard, industrial-style films and in another direction. 

As we have continued to collaborate, Lee has aged and his body has changed a lot. Usually in the film industry, when an actor ages and changes, the director will get a different actor to perform. Rather than choose that path, I chose to accept these changes and to allow the audience to watch as someone gets old and sometimes gets sick. I am using the changes in the body of Lee to have a conversation with the world. He will always be my actor. Using Lee throughout my career has been a kind of constraint because I could easily have used other professional or “star” actors. Placing this constraint upon myself was an active choice: a choice that was not driven by market forces but by what I wanted to achieve in my films.”

Here’s the full article: 

https://www.cineaste.com/fall2019/painterly-poetics-tsai-ming-liang-and-lee-kang-sheng

4. Our film, which I’ll be posting many stills from in the coming days/weeks, but for now, here are these three. 

It felt so good to be working on something new with all of you, and just be in that process, and see what comes out of it. I think we got some really exciting stuff, which I have to now go through and explore, but just the act of filming it and working together put me on such a high. Particularly that first night, when we got the blue shots of the lake (the boat going by, the green light of the other dock turning off) and then filming Thomas eat the enchilada...I get a specific creative rush when filming something that feels so exciting and new, and it’s a rare feeling, and I felt it then, and in other fleeting moments while filming for those days and nights. This is just the beginning...

5. Planning our next trip. Whether it be a road trip or just another week or so at the lake, I just want to be together again.

[enbyleighlines]

Okay it's not a shippy prompt but I would love some bffs nhs&wwx. Maybe a little good natured teasing from wwx about how nhs could possibly fall for his snappy grumpy baby bro?

Yeeeeee yes I love this idea, thank you! Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang’s friendship is so important to me

Oh, and please be aware that there is some suggestive talk in this one

I hope you enjoy!

—

Wei Wuxian was bound to find out eventually. Still, Nie Huaisang feels like the universe could have given them a little more time to prepare.

The two of them are in the middle of enjoying their weekly “Hump Day Ritual.” It involves some wine, reruns of a show from their childhood playing in the background, and a deck of cards. They use the time to catch up, to swap stories about the grind of daily life, and most importantly, to reminisce about the good old days.

In truth, Nie Huaisang should have had plenty of time to prepare. But Huaisang so enjoys their Wednesday evening get togethers, and in their anticipation they had overlooked the fact that this will be their first time seeing Wei Wuxian since they went on a couple of dates with their Didi, Jiang Cheng. Hence, it will mean telling Wei Wuxian about the dates. And Huaisang doesn’t know how their friend will react.

So when Wei Wuxian asks, “What’s new with you?” Nie Huaisang freezes.

There’s a split second where Nie Huaisang considers lying. They wouldn’t keep this a secret forever, of course, just put it off a little longer. But that would be an insult to their friendship.

So Huaisang answers, “Ah, well... I went on a date.”

Wei Wuxian reacts with exaggerated surprise. “What! You went on a date? And I’m just hearing about it now? Is it someone I know?”

“Yes,” Huaisang admits, “It’s... someone you know very well, in fact. Your, uh, Didi.”

“Huh?” Wei Wuxian blinks, his face blank. “My Didi?” It seemingly takes him a moment to process the meaning of Huaisang’s words. And then his mind finishes buffering, evident by the way his eyes nearly pop out if his skull. “You don’t mean... J-Jiang Cheng?!”

“Do you have another Didi I don’t know about?” Huaisang demands.

“No, but— Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian waves his hands in a complicated manner, like he’s speaking gibberish in sign language. “My straight, thick-headed Didi? That Jiang Cheng?”

Huaisang finds themself smiling despite their annoyance. “Yes, that Jiang Cheng.”

“How did that happen?”

And so Huaisang tells Wei Wuxian the story: “I approached him at Jin Zixuan and your Jiejie’s wedding. I told him I had feelings for him, and a few days later, he texted me and asked me out on a date. Two, in fact. One to the zoo and one to a botanical garden.”

“Wait, wait, hold up.” Wei Wuxian holds his hand up like a stop sign. “Since when do you have feelings for my Didi?”

Huaisang avoids looking at Wei Wuxian’s face as they answer, “A while. I think it started in... sophomore year of high school. You convinced me to come watch your soccer game, and I saw him playing for the first time.”

Wei Wuxian does not immediately reply. When Nie Huaisang glances back, Wuxian is just staring mutely into space.

“That was... six or seven years ago,” Wei Wuxian says at long last.

“Yes,” Huaisang confirms.

“Six or seven years,” Wei Wuxian repeats. He sounds absolutely confounded. “You’ve liked my Didi for that long? And you never told me?”

Huaisang winces. This is the reaction that they were afraid of.

“To be fair,” Huaisang says, “I was afraid you would accidentally mention it in front of him. You’ve always been really bad at keeping secrets. Do you remember when we used to go to Wen Ning’s house sometimes, and you’d do that obnoxious nudge-nudge wink-wink think to Jiang Cheng every time Wen Qing came into the room?”

Wei Wuxian continues to stare for a second. But then he recovers, and starts to laugh. “Did I really do that?”

“Yes, you did.”

Wei Wuxian gives another laugh. He doesn’t seem particularly remorseful. Then he says, “But wait. What about Wen Qing? I thought the two of them were— well, not dating, but...”

“Yeah,” Huaisang hums, “I still don’t know exactly what’s going on between them. I think it’s some sort of friends with benefits situation? In any case, yes, they’re still seeing each other. And yes, before you ask, Wen Qing knows that Jiang Cheng and I have been going out on dates.”

“Oh wow, okay.” Wei Wuxian is frowning. “I didn’t take my Didi for the type of guy to sleep around like that.”

“It’s not like that,” Huaisang scrambles to explain, their face no doubt taking on a bright pink hue, “Jiang Cheng has been a perfect gentleman! It’s not— it’s not about sex.”

“So he’s taking you out on dates and then going home to hook up with Wen Qing?” Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “That... doesn’t sound right. Also, I thought Jiang Cheng was straight. I know that I’m still a baby gay, and I don’t have the best gaydar, but I did not ping him as bisexual.”

At that last part, Huaisang shrugs. “We’re still figuring this whole thing out,” they admit, “Jiang Cheng doesn’t know why he’s attracted to me, or if that makes him bisexual. And honestly, I don’t care if he’s still hooking up with Wen Qing. I’ve never been a conventional person, so I don’t mind having a nonconventional relationship. I mean, it’s 2015. Monogamy isn’t the only option. I’m just glad for the chance to get closer to Jiang Cheng. Maybe it won’t work out, in the end. But I want to give it a try anyway.”

“Oh.” Wei Wuxian takes a moment to digest Huaisang’s words. Slowly, gradually, a smile begins to unfold across his face. “Wow,” he says.

“What?”

Wei Wuxian’s grin takes on a mischievous curl at the side of his mouth. “Huaisang,” he coos, “You really like him, don’t you?”

Huaisang rolls their eyes. “Yes. I already told you that.”

“But you really like him,” Wei Wuxian presses, “Tell me, do you like him in spite of the fact that he’s a grumpy troll, or because he’s a grumpy troll?”

Huaisang’s face warms. “I’m not answering that,” they say.

“You don’t have to,” Wei Wuxian teases, “I can see it on your face. You like that he’s a big grumpy grouch, don’t you? That’s right— you always did like tsundere characters the best. So you’re a sucker for that kind of guy, right?”

Huaisang almost aims a throw pillow at Wei Wuxian’s head, despite the high probability that it’ll just cause him to spill his wine all over the couch. Instead, they shout, “Stop it!”

“No, no, this makes perfect sense to me now!” Wei Wuxian spins the wine around in his glass, all while sporting a deviously triumphant smile. “I don’t know why I didn’t guess it earlier. And now I know why you kept coming to my soccer games, even though you hate sports. It was never about supporting me, was it? You just came to gawk at my tsundere Didi.”

“Don’t forget that I can give you the same treatment,” Huaisang warns their friend, “I know who you have a crush on.”

“Yeah, so?” Wei Wuxian lounges back further, not looking threatened in the least. “I’m not ashamed to say I have a crush on Lan Wangji. He’s a talented man. He’s probably got heaps of admirers. But my Didi— you know, my Da-yima used to call him unmatchable? There was this smart period of time when my Da-yima was obsessed with matchmaking. She set Jiang Cheng up on so many blind dates, and he kept scaring all the girls away.”

“Ah, I remember that!” Huaisang giggles, the memories flooding back into their mind’s eye. “Jiang Cheng complained about it nonstop!”

“I know! None of them were stylish ever enough, according to his impossible standards. He just kept critiquing their clothes and makeup, until they went away. Which, now that I think about it, is weird. Wen Qing’s not a fashionista, but he still loves her.”

Huaisang shrugs, not finding it quite so strange. “I mean, her sense of style is casual, but it’s not bad,” they point out, “She knows what looks good on her. But more importantly, she makes it look effortless. Jiang Cheng appreciates understated beauty. His aesthetic taste is real picky that way. He likes a woman to look beautiful, but he doesn’t want her to look like she spends too much time making herself beautiful. In other words, he wants a natural beauty.”

By the time Huaisang finishes their little spiel, Wei Wuxian is arching an eyebrow at them.

“Unfortunately, I can never be that,” Huaisang adds, with no small touch of sorrow seeping into their voice, “In order to keep up the illusion of androgyny, I need makeup and accessories. There’s no telling if Jiang Cheng will still find me attractive underneath the countour.”

“If he doesn’t, I’ll beat him up.”

Nie Huaisang snorts. “I appreciate the offer, but Jiang Cheng won’t be able to help how he feels. Like I said before, I’m just happy to get this chance in the first place.”

“That’s true, but still.” Wei Wuxian puts his wine glass on the coffee table, and adds, “I wouldn’t worry too much, Huaisang. I mean, I once saw Jiang Cheng kiss Wen Qing when her face was all splotchy and snotty from the flu. And I’ve also seen you without makeup. Trust me when I say that your naked face is far prettier than a feverish Wen Qing.”

The mental image of Jiang Cheng caring for a sick Wen Qing has Nie Huaisang smiling. He would have such a concerned face, which for Jiang Cheng means that he would be scowling like usual, with the addition of pain wrinkling the skin around his eyes.

“Oh man, you really do have it bad,” Wei Wuxian says with a whistle, “Look at you, swooning like a schoolgirl.”

Nie Huaisang lightly slaps Wuxian’s arm. “Yes, yes, I’m a lovesick fool,” they whine, digging into their thespian past to amp up the melodrama, “Haven’t you teased me enough, Xian-xiong?”

“No.” After years of friendship, Wei Wuxian is completely unaffected by Nie Huaisang’s little act. “I think it’s cute. Oh— have you ever tried to make Jiang Cheng angry on purpose? Just to see how he’ll react? Be honest.”

“Ah,” Huaisang says, “Maybe... I don’t remember.”

Wei Wuxian gives them a knowing look. “Uh-huh, sure you don’t,” he replies, tapping his nose, “I won’t blame you, if you did. Jiang Cheng can have some really funny reactions. But, of course, I prefer Lan Wangji’s reactions! It’s so hard to make him lose his temper, but when he does!” Wei Wuxian clasps both hands over his heart. “I honestly don’t know why I love it so much. Maybe I’m a sadist? Is there a word for wanting to see your crush angry all the time?”

Huaisang laughs, and immediately reaches for their phone to look it up. A cursory search doesn’t turn up much, however. “It’s probably some kind of BDSM thing,” they decide.

“Probably,” Wei Wuxian agrees, “I’ll keep that in mind for later.”

“Hmm,” Nie Huaisang says.

“Oh!” Wei Wuxian jolts forward. “Oh no, I just realized something.”

Fearing the worst, Nie Huaisang takes a deep inhale. Then, carefully, they ask, “And what is that?”

And sure enough, Wei Wuxian doesn’t disappoint. “You won’t be able to tell me about all your fun sexcapades,” he blurts out, “I mean, you could, but I don’t want to hear about my Didi’s sex life, so please don’t.”

Huaisang is caught somewhere between amusement and horror. “And why is that a problem?”

“Because I bet you’re a real freak,” Wei Wuxian puts it bluntly, “And don’t try to deny it. I’ve known you for a long time. I know you hide a devious mind underneath that timid exterior. I bet you’re even more of a freak than I am. But since I’m probably not going to get laid anytime within the next decade, I was hoping to live vicariously through you, whenever you finally began dating.”

“At least you’re honest,” Nie Huaisang says with a roll of their eyes. They carefully do not deny Wuxian’s claims.

“I guess we’ll just have to keep all date talk PG for now,” Wei Wuxian decides glumly. But, in the usual Wei Wuxian manner, he doesn’t stay down for long. He perks up and adds, “But I’m still going to tease you about having a crush on a real-life tsundere.”

“I know,” Huaisang sighs, “I know.”

[jessicahamilton]

The Week in Fashion - A Review

From dressing up for a good cause to dressing down in the name of haute couture... fashion has been a very busy girl this week. For those of you too busy to sit down with the latest fashion mags - read on to find the weekly rundown on everythingrunway.

World AIDS Day Gets a Makeover

Project Runway's Mondo Guerra has been very open about his HIV positive status. So when it came to creating this year's awareness tee, Mondo was the perfect choice... in both fashion and fight.Karl Lagerfeld

While one style showcased a simple tree branch with a solitary dangling heart, Guerra's second design was a bit more controversial. The front of the tee gracing a Day of the Dead skeleton, Guerra expresses that this age-old symbol is not about death at all... but yet a celebration of life for loved ones who have been lost to the disease and a tribute to those who continue to fight.

Fashionistas Celebrate Black Swan Couture

Natalie Portman may be hearing Oscar buzz... but the beauty that is Black Swan is tickling another sense for the design world... the fashion sense that is. The ballet costumes created by Rodarte are not only modern but shop stopping-ly breath-taking.

"I remember seeing a dress of theirs at a photo shoot, and just going, `What is that?'" gushed Portman. "I don't have that reaction to clothes very often. It is not something that I really pay attention to that much. But it was just so beautiful. When we were doing this film, I just knew how balletic their clothes were."

Victoria's Secret Angels Fly High on the Catwalk

Just a few days into the future of Thanksgiving dinner, while the rest of us look at our size 6 jeans and wish that we'd stopped at pecan pie slice number two... the ladies of Victoria's Secret strutted down the runway sporting bodies that looked anything but post-turkey-feast.

Among the styles featured was the annually anticipated Fantasy Bra. Valued at over one million dollars, it's no wonder that the fashion show sports plenty of amped up security.

If you can't quite swing the cost of this diamond encrusted sparkler... you aren't alone. Victoria's Secret is offering an almost as dazzling Miraculous Bra that shines with Swavoriski crystals at only $250 dollars a pop.

Lagerfeld Models Go Bare for Pirelli Calendar

When it comes to an eye for art... in the fashion world, Karl Lagerfeld leaves nothing lacking. Tuesday, Lagerfeld arrived in Moscow to present his Greek-god-themed photographs for the annual Pirelli Calendar made famous for its nudes. A sneak peak of some of his stylings included a gold painted Juliana Moore and chiseled male models sporting golden codpieces.

As a child, Lagerfeld doted on Homer classics such as the Iliad and says he found himself lost in the world Homer created. Sporting his trademark white ponytail and black perfectly tailored suit, the designer likened himself to a "visual version of Homer." And a simple glance of his famed works for the House of Fendi and Chanel... reads just like a poetic sonnet.

Armani Goes Global in Chinese Online Market

Though the economy remains slow in the American market, fashion phenomenon Georgio Armani hopes to strike fashion gold with a new online boutique opened up Friday in the Chinese market.

Armani is one of the first to create such a market in China... a close third to American giants such as Wal-Mart and the Gap.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5519514

[ontrackmind]

Study Style

So, I made a post recently about how I like to take notes in medical school. Today, I want to talk about how I study in medical school. These methods might not work for everyone, but I find that this method works for me. I have a daily routine, weekly routine, and a test prep routine. If you are looking for some tips, maybe these can help. The most important part is to know how you study. Knowing what works best for you and sticking with it will ultimately help you more than using an ill-fitting method that someone else came up with. Try out a few things, but if it isn't working then try something else. If you notice improvement, then don't change things! Don't try to fix what isn't broken.

If you are looking for a change, this is what I do:

1. Read the handouts/pre-class material! I make sure to read all of the handouts before class. Often we have more material recommended than we can possibly read for each class. I start with the pre-made pdf files and journal articles because I figure, if it was important enough for a professor to synthesize into a condensed document, it is important enough to know. When I get stuck on a concept, that's when I refer to the textbook for help. A lot of people in my class use first aid as they study, too. I will use it for pathways or if someone in our class points out that a particular section is extra helpful for our class material, but otherwise, I plan to use first aid mostly for Step study. I have found that it is better to read the handouts and be exposed to the material, even if I am confused, than it is to go into a lecture completely blind. It is much harder to follow new material at a fast pace.

2. Do the objectives/Know the main points of each lecture Each week, I fill out our weekly objectives. These are often broad, big concepts that we need to know for the exam. While it's not comprehensive, it is a great place to start. I review all of the weeks' objectives over the weekend. Often, our material builds on itself, so if I didn't understand a topic last week, I will struggle to understand a more advanced concept next week.

3. Flashcards In the evenings, I try to do a few Anki cards. Sometimes it is a class made deck or the pre-made Zanki deck. This doesn't always happen, but when I do get to do some flashcards, I feel like I retain information better. Spaced repetition does indeed help with recall.

4. Use outside resources when needed Usually on Friday or Saturday, I use outside resources like pathoma, sketchy, or boards and beyond. I find that these things are helpful, but since they are supplemental to our class material (and are often more Step focused than our curriculum is), I set aside time for these resources separately. Knowing the information will be helpful for Step, but it isn't always the most high yield for my classes.

5. Handwritten notes before exams Before exams, I start transitioning to paper notes during study time. If we are given flow charts or tables that could be helpful for the exam, I usually print those specific pages and practice drawing it from memory. It's a great way to learn concepts or test your understanding. I also start to write out pathways, rewrite anything that requires basic memorization, and will hand write notes about concepts that I really struggle with. I find that I remember things longer/better when I take the time to write them out. It takes a while, so I try to limit my handwritten notes to when it is truly needed.

6. Flashcards again! (Quiz style, not learning style.) The 2 weeks before exams, I really amp up my use of Anki cards as a way to quiz myself. I also find any/all practice questions we have had from the unit and take them in a "mock quiz" environment. I try to reason through each right and wrong answer without using notes. It is a great way to test myself. I really try to test myself here. I try to come up with a reasonable answer before flipping the card. Don't just do it half way and read the answer when you haven't come up with one. That's not testing yourself. That's just reading.

7. Practice questions If I can find a quiz bank- even better! I save questions from study groups/student organizations and Board Vitals until a few days before the exam. I find that this helps me test my reasoning/recall and helps with my test anxiety. I am a very nervous test taker, so simulating a test environment before the actual test helps reduce my nerves, especially when I take time to go through every missed question thoroughly.

8. Work in a group only if it is helpful for you I do not do well with study groups. I like to share resources, but as soon as you put me in a room with other people, I get distracted. I have to study on the silent floor of the library or at home where I can't talk to other people or get off task. I don't remember information as well when I study "conversation style" or in group work, and I often get confused when concepts are verbally explained. I also find that I hate being quizzed by other people. It takes me longer to learn things with other people than it does on my own. This isn't the case for everyone, but I know this is how it works for me, so I only will agree to study groups for group projects or when it is actually "light studying" during a weekend day.

9. Take breaks, but not too often I am VERY task oriented. Checklists are my life. If you have ever looked at my snapshots of my planner, you will see that there are lists for basically every day, with sticky notes containing more lists on top. Since I know I am task oriented, I generally plan my study time around goals rather than time limits. (While I love the pomodoro method, it doesn't always work well for me. Task based planning works better). I usually set a goal of 1-2 tasks before I allow a break, and I tell myself what the break will be and how long it can take. If I'm in deep study mode/crunch time, that includes scheduling meals, phone calls to family, checking email, paying bills, watching Netflix, etc into my study breaks. Doing this helps keep my day structured and goal oriented without setting specific time limits. And, seeing unfinished tasks on my to-do list is a great motivator to get back to work once I have finished my dedicated "study break task."

10. Don’t pull all nighters                                                                                      If you are tired and unmotivated, staying up late just means more procrastination Plus, anything you read/review won’t stick as well because you’re exhausted. If you are cramming for an exam, the stress might make you feel worse, and you will be mad at yourself if you oversleep for an exam or can’t concentrate on the test because you’re too sleepy. When I find myself lolling off to sleep, I know it is time to turn out the light and get ready for bed. Even if I decide to wake up a little early the next morning, getting the extra sleep will help me in the long run. I find that getting a decent night’s rest helps reduce my stress level and helps me stay focused when I sit down to study next (plus, I fall asleep in class less!) Most of the time, I have found that staying up all night just isn’t worth it.

I have a million other nuances about studying I can share, but everything gets very person-specific after this point. What I like/do might not fit everyone, but it has worked well for me. Hopefully everyone else studying out there finds their ideal study style, too. Happy studying!

[sweetdreamsjeff]

From A Rose Between Thorns: Jeff Buckley article

By Jacob Burkett

Let’s cast our minds back to the early 90s. A time where a guitar without distortion was rather a harp, an amp’s lowest volume level was 11 and a chorus that wasn’t belted out was a wasted opportunity. How’d this come to be? The Seattle grunge movement was spreading fast across America and already hitting pockets throughout Europe. In 1991 alone we saw the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind, Pearl Jam’s Ten and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger. It’s safe to say the trend of the 90s had been set, and was only further cemented with the arrival of Alice in Chains, Bush and Stone Temple Pilots. So how was it that during this time of post-punk mayhem, a singer-songwriter with a voice higher than most female opera leads was able to break the mould?

Growing up in Southern California, Jeff ‘Scottie’ Buckley caught the music bug early. His mother was a talented piano and cello player, while his stepfather would only let the likes of Pink Floyd, The Who and Led Zeppelin ‘grace’ his record player. Combine this with the fact he was given his first guitar at five and you would understand if he took a direct road to rock, but Buckley thrived on the influence of other genres. Joining his high school jazz band and later studying music in Hollywood, it was evident that his love for music was fast becoming a lifestyle rather than a passion. At 23, like many before him, he headed to New York with a guitar on his back and a loose plan to get signed.

This is where it all begun.

As the old saying goes, ‘if you can’t beat them – join them’. But Buckley wasn’t necessarily a modest folk-blues sailor competing with a grunge tidal wave – he was well a part of the culture. In 1991 (his first year in New York) he joined psychedelic rock group Gods and Monsters. Their sound was heavy, and despite still being able to explore a bit of his trademark range, Buckley’s vocals were raspy to match the band. So much so that his voice in this clip resembles Soundgarden’s frontman Chris Cornell.

Recorded in 1990, ‘Radio’ is a prime example of the atmosphere Buckley was making music in. Unlike his later years, here he was sharing a stage with two or three guitarists, a fuzzy bassist, and a frantic drummer. His guitar would be distorted, his amp would be turned up past 11 and the band’s tracks would be belted out with the aid of a wild mosh.

It wasn’t until he joined a café circuit as a solo act that he was able to hone in on the sound we now know him for. It was this intimate setting, this isolation and this opportunity that enabled a punk polluted Buckley to be reborn. The crowd would sit in silence, there was no ruthless headbanging and crowd interaction would be limited to a swaying lighter for atmosphere. It was the Sin-é café where he ultimately took permanent residency and got to explore lighter genres like folk, jazz and blues, covering the softer sounds of rock such as Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and recognisably Leonard Cohen.

When Gods and Monsters wanted to turn their commitment levels up a notch in March 1992, Buckley left the band. Needless to say the decision would turn out to be the right one as his weekly residency at Sin-é attracted the attention of Columbia Records. As early as next year he would release the Live at Sin-é EP and the following year put out his debut album, Grace. Read our Q&A with Steve Berkowitz, the producer of Grace and employee at Columbia Records who discovered Buckle at the Sin-e Cafe.

With the grunge movement continuing to grow, Grace initially wasn’t well received. But as we now know, the transition Buckley made and the timing in which he made it, proved to be pivotal for rock music. In an interview during October of 2015, Muse lead singer Matt Bellamy touches on the importance of Buckley’s music.

“When I started singing my voice was very high, I sang a lot of falsetto. For me I felt like this wasn’t suitable for rock because in the early 90s, groups had a very rough voice. Until I heard this album [Grace], it made me feel confident that a high pitch, softer voice can work with rock.”

As Columbia/Legacy Recordings prepare to release You & I on March 11th (a collection of recently discovered tracks from the Sony vaults) we’re again reminded of how influential Buckley’s style has been.

Adele: “I try to listen to music that might uplift me but I don’t really connect with it.  So mainly [I listen to] Jeff Buckley.  And that’s been my entire life I’ve done that. I remember falling out with my best friend when I was like seven and listening to Jeff Buckley, because my mom was a huge fan. Grace has always been around me.”

Jeff Beck: “The simplicity and beauty of Jeff Buckley’s voice sounded amazing to me. I felt that if I could do with my guitar what he can do with his voice then I could have something pretty special.”

Ben Harper: “Jeff is one of my favourite musicians and singers of all time. Never have I seen such infinite musical potential in anyone.”

Robert Plant: “I was playing with Jimmy in the mid-90’s, working with an Egyptian ensemble and we played at a festival in Switzerland. Jeff Buckley was playing and we went to see him, and it was mind altering – his voice. Spectacular singing. And, so much conviction.”

Jeff Buckley’s stripped back approach could be deemed a gamble at the time, and his untimely death meant he never really got to see the influence of his music first hand. Yet for a young man to ditch his grunge group for a raw residency at a cafe, Buckley clearly wasn’t doing it for the accolades.

 TRACKLISTING

Just Like A Woman (Bob Dylan cover)

Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone cover)

Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Cryin’ (First recorded by Louis Jordan)

Grace (original)

Calling You (Jevetta Steele cover)

Dream Of You And I (original)

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (The Smiths cover)

Poor Boy Long Way From Home (traditional blues song, Bukka White cover)

Night Flight (Led Zeppelin cover)

I Know It’s Over (The Smiths cover)

[bwevip]

Separação de Selena com The Weeknd continua a dar o que falar

Separação de Selena Gomez com o rapper The Weeknd continua a dar o que falar.

Alguns fãs dizem que Selena Gomez mandou algumas indirectas para o seu ex.

[Tweet “Fãs dizem que Selena Gomez mandaou indirectas a The Weeknd”]

Após The Weekend ter eliminado as fotografias com Selena no intagram, pensa-se que Selena não deixou ficar para trás e ofereceu resposta.

“All apologies”

(Todas as desculpas)

Na…

[a-2-z-news]

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[calmevetlgreen-blog]

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Used to love that game.   Completely logic based, but not so overwhelming like chess that you can't play it over a beer. Nice cinematography BTW.

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[pulsdmedia]

The Week Ahead 9/25-10/1

How is it already the end of September? We don’t know about you, but the pumpkins are out and we’re ready for all the coziness that follows. This week, we have our eyes on this weekend’s big brew fest, not to mention open bar parties, rooftop shindigs, and chic happenings. We’ll see you there...

$19 Ticket To An Oktoberfest Themed Brew Fest With 150+ Seasonal Beers

Cozy autumnal vibes with a splash of warming sunshine will give you all the feels at The 2022 Long Island Craft Brew Festival! Snap up your souvenir tasting glass and fill it endlessly as you hit up station after station - 150+ to be exact! You'll swig exceptional beers & tasty ciders at this rollicking bacchanal, with local & international swigs from Catskill Brewery, Duclaw Brewing, Lost Farm Brewing, Threes Brewing, and then some. Signature brews, new concoctions, and seasonal sensations will showcase the ingenuity of these breweries & cideries. Wear your finest lederhosen, or slip into a sweater, devouring a variety of tasty eats when hunger makes an entrance...

Work Up A Sweat And Have A Drink After

Join the Chelsea Piers Fitness and Outsiders community for a weekly run club around Chelsea, and along the West Side Highway! Chelsea Piers Fitness top trainer, Marino Isolani, and 17x marathon runner, Darshan Rangnath will lead the group on a 3-5 mile run that will end with a social hour at a local restaurant or bar. Whether you're training for your first marathon, or just want to get some exercise and meet new people, this is the group for you.

$59 Rooftop Moroccan Nights Experience For Two With Food & Drinks

Unearth a hidden world atop the city streets at Elsie Rooftop - a stylish, sophisticated, and oh so sexy jewel praised by Time Out & Travel + Liesure. Their Moroccan Nights Experience will showcase sultry revelry, all within a gorgeous, art deco-style locale beloved for its exceptional cuisine, inventive drinks, and jaw-dropping entertainment. Amidst glimmering candles and lush greenery, picture a Moroccan oasis, with scents of Onion, Sun-dried Tomato, & Feta Flatbread drifting through the air, getting you amped for the indulgent fare that is on its way to your table. All the while, talented belly dancers, singers, and the like will blow you away with their alluring acts. When Elsie invites you into her abode, don't think twice - we'll see you there...

Sarah King Performs At Coffee & Cocktails In MePa

Sarah King is Champagne. A charming, flirtatious clown, Sarah delights her audiences with an effortless voice that tickles notes, time traveling from the 1920s-40s. She has sung and danced her way from crowded subway platforms and smokey speakeasies to secret parades and abandoned water towers, from the hilltops of France, to the beaches of Brazil, from The Boom Boom Room to Lincoln Center. Join C+C for Apéro + Live Jazz featuring specialty cocktails and curated bar snack specials.

$29 Open Bar Ticket To The Immersive Copacabana Disco Party

Get transported to another world at The Immersive Copacabana Party at Casa 51, where you'll get lost in groovy feels as the venue brings back to life the sounds, sights, and rhythms of the iconic Copacabana. A 2 Hour Open Bar awaits, in addition to a complimentary Ola Tropical Welcome Shot. While the DJ’s play the hits, you'll marvel at a midnight “Copa Girls” Samba performance sure to make you want to boogie. And when all that dancing works up an appetite, bite into flaky, buttery empanadas to fuel the remainder of your evening. As the song goes, "Music and passion were always in fashion, at the Copa, Copacabana!"

Andrew Kotchen & Matt Berman Present Workshop/APD Homes

Since its founding by Andrew Kotchen and Matt Berman, Workshop/APD has perfected a unique amalgam of traditional warmth and contemporary simplicity. All of their projects, whether a modern yet cozy Manhattan pied-à-terre or a surprisingly streamlined Shingle Style compound in Nantucket, strike an exquisite balance between architectural brilliance and decorative expressiveness. The architecture and interior design Workshop/APD represent a cleanly tailored and brightly hued modernity, with all the embellishments of refined and luxurious decoration. 

[ofcloudsandstars]

Tbh the real issue here isn’t cause you were following ‘full time witches’ it’s cause you were on witchtok and witchstigram.

Both of those platforms have algorithms that if you don’t post nearly daily you’ll get swallowed up by other content getting pushed out and forgotten. Both platforms are also heavily visual and about aesthetics so to be memorable people are going to amp up their presentations as much as possible. It’s an exhausting game for recognition.

There are full time witches that may have a day or two not doing any ‘magic’. I put magic in quotations cause as someone that experiences magic daily in my life it’s the little things that make it a daily experience, not the grandeous rituals on certain astrological events or spell crafting. Like the latter more presentable magic is like a few times a month cause it’s about the timing. The daily stuff just seems so mundane on the outside that there’s little way to really sell it on Instagram or tiktok cause most of it isn’t visible, or it’s abstract energy work and a lot can be working with synchronicities which is just an in the moment type of thing. You can’t capture something like that for Instagram.

I know a lot of witches in real life that the internet would consider ‘legit’ cause they have the whole lifestyle. They each have their unique style and some have it as a job and others don’t but the thing is even they are unable to keep up with the algorithms of tiktok and Instagram. They have their quotidian spiritual and magical moments but it’s just nothing to post on the internet about.

Just be aware that certain platforms can come off misleading and exhausting cause they were designed to be that way and content creators have no choice but to try and keep up with its pace but it doesn’t reflect reality. Especially tiktok. It really makes it into a theatrical performance when everyday it’s not really like that when you’re like.. for example doing a weekly clean and clearing the energy of your space or putting on a glamour before going out, or dream oracling in the morning. So much of the craft isn’t a performance (nor is it even visible).

Advice for the Beginner: You don't have to become a full-time witch

When I resumed my path last year, it felt a little bit like witchcraft needed to take over my life. It felt like every single aspect of my life that could be witchy had to be witchy, even if it wasn't super practical since in many ways I'm still in the broom closet. But based on the practitioners I saw on witchtok and witchgram, witchcraft seemed to be an all-day everyday kind of deal.

If that's what makes sense to you, go for it. But if, for whatever reason, it's just not logical or practical for you, you don't have to be in witch-mode 24/7.

For me, witchcraft has kind of settled into a part-time practice. I have my meditation time, I light the candles on my altar before I start my workday, and in general I devote something like 2-5 hours every week doing research, planning and preparing for rituals, working on this blog, or practicing divination. But it's not my whole life.

I think part of the problem I had in the beginning was that a lot of the practitioners I was following were full-time witches, in the sense that they had made a career out of their practice. They had etsy stores or websites where they sold spell kits or candles or soaps or whatever. But that's not practical for me. I'm not going to be making a career out of my craft, just like I'm not going to be making a career out of my knitting. They are both things that I enjoy doing, that enrich my life, but they're not how I'm putting bread on the table, so they don't need my constant focus. Not even my job needs my constant focus. It's taken a lot of work, but at the end of the day, my life is balanced in a way that makes sense to me at this point. There may be a time when more of my life is devoted to witchy pursuits, but for right now, I'm content with the amount of time I spend on it on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis.

Don't get me wrong, I love incorporating magic into as many areas of my life as possible. There's a reason I've done a lot of posts about Kitchen Witchery and Mundane Magic. But I've learned through a lot of trial and error what works best for me, and I would encourage anyone that's just beginning on their witchcraft/magical practitioner journey to find what works best for them, whether that's an all-day everyday practice, or just a small dose of daily witchy mindfulness.

And don't forget to take breaks when you need to. In my opinion, if your practice is adding more stress to you life, it might be time to take a step back and reassess what you truly want and need from it, and adjust accordingly.