#michelle belcourt

[loveisbraveandwild]

2023 books (check out my storygraph for reviews)

january

unbought and unbossed, shirley chisholm

true biz, sara nović

yerba buena, nina lacour

the racism of people who love you, samira mehta

night, elie wiesel

seven says in june, tia williams

the reading list, sara nisha adams

finna, nino cipri

ace, angela chen

nightcrawling, leila mottley

the light we carry, michelle obama

how to resist amazon and why, danny caine

the daughter of auschwitz, tova friedman

kaikeyi, vaishnsvi patel

just as you are, camille kellogg

hijab butch blues, lamya h

february

a guide to just being friends, sophie sullivan

mean baby, selma blair

lavender house, lev ac rosen

loveless, alice oseman

the department of rare books and special collections, eva jurczyk

small game, blair braverman

wash day diaries, jamila rowser

the heartstopper yearbook, alice oseman

yellowface, r.f. kuang

stay true, hua hsu

the school for good mothers, jassamine chan

elatsoe, darcie little badger

under the udala tree, chinelo okparanta

there there, tommy orange

making a scene, constance wu

happy place, emily henry

i have a question for you, rebecca makkai

finding me, viola davis

wow, no thank you, samantha irby

march

lark and kasim start a revolution, kacen callender

mooncakes, suzanne walker

lies we sing to the sea, sarah underwood

the family outing, jessi hempel

dead collections, isaac fellman

ace voices, eris young

the anthropocene review, john green

mad honey, jennifer finney boylan & jody picoult

all my rage, sabaa tahir

hello, molly, molly shannon

fine, rhea ewing

nevada, imogen binnie

super late bloomer, julia kaye

love & other disasters, anita kelly

the boy with a bird in his chest, emme lund

the honeys, ryan lansala

the 57 bus, dashka slater

making love with the land, joshua whitehead

a history of my brief body, billy-ray belcourt

there are trans people here, h. melt

patricia wants to cuddle, samantha allen

babel, r.f. kuang

april

lessons in chemistry, bonnie garmus

ace of spaces, faridah abike-,ymide

the things we do to our friends, heather darwent

deaf utopia, nyle dimarco

black cake, charmaine wilkerson

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda, becky albertalli

the things we couldn't say, jay cole

long black veil, jennifer finney boylan

good talk, mira jacobs

remarkably bright creatures, shelby van pelt

[bookclub4m]

15 Gardening & Plants Non-fiction Books by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter Who Saved Japan's Cherry Blossoms by Naoko Abe

The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities by Will Allen

Medicines to Help Us: Traditional Metis Plant Use by Christi Belcourt

The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming by Natasha Bowens

Wild at Home: How to Style and Care for Beautiful Plants by Hilton Carter

Luschiim’s Plants: A Hul′q′umi′num′ (Cowichan) Ethnobotany by Luschiim Arvid Charlie

The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family by Darryl Cheng

The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquillity by E. Barrie Kavasch

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham

Lessons from Plants by Beronda L Montgomery

American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama

Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

Grow: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them by Riz Reyes

Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Monica M. White

[brandonshimoda]

THE BOOKS I READ IN 2022, in the order in which I read them (*books I read before, that I was reading again):

Alexandra Chang, Days of Distraction 

Elizabeth Miki Brina, Speak, Okinawa 

Cynthia Dewi Oka, Fire Is Not a Country 

Hanif Abdurraqib, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest 

*Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings 

Victoria Chang, Dear Memory 

*Etel Adnan, Of Cities & Women (Letters to Fawwaz)

Sun Yung Shin, The Wet Hex 

traci kato-kiriyama, Navigating With(out) Instruments 

Raquel Gutiérrez, Brown Neon

Solmaz Sharif, Customs 

*Etel Adnan, Journey to Mount Tamalpais 

Lucille Clifton, Generations: A Memoir 

Emerson Whitney, Heaven 

Kim Thúy, em, tr. Sheila Fischman 

Angel Dominguez, Desgraciado (the collected letters) 

Janice Lee, Separation Anxiety 

*Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Dictee

*Cathy Park Hong, Translating Mo’um 

Kyoko Hayashi, From Trinity to Trinity, tr. Eiko Otake 

Lao Yang, Pee Poems, tr. Joshua Edwards & Lynn Xu 

Yuri Herrera, A Silent Fury: The El Bordo Mine Fire, tr. Lisa Dillman (

Mai Der Vang, Yellow Rain

Chuang Hua, Crossings 

José Watanabe, Natural History, tr. Michelle Har Kim

Walter Lew, Excerpts from: ∆IKTH 딕테/딕티 DIKTE, for DICTEE (1982) 

*Bhanu Kapil, The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers 

Vasily Grossman, An Armenian Sketchbook, tr. Robert & Elizabeth Chandler

Hiromi Kawakami, Parade, tr. Allison Markin Powell 

Lynn Xu, And Those Ashen Heaps That Cantilevered Vase of Moonlight 

*Etel Adnan, Sitt Marie Rose, tr. Georgina Kleege 

Jennifer Soong, Suede Mantis/Soft Rage 

*James Baldwin, No Name in the Street 

*Hilton Als, The Women

Dot Devota, >She 

V.S. Naipaul, The Return of Eva Perón 

Yasushi Inoue, The Hunting Gun, tr. Sadamichi Yokoo and Sanford Goldstein

Molly Murakami, Tide goes out 

Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings 

Hisham Matar, A Month in Siena 

Leia Penina Wilson, Call the Necromancer 

Gabriel García Márquez, News of a Kidnapping, tr. Edith Grossman 

Amitava Kumar, Bombay-London-New York 

Elizabeth Alexander, The Trayvon Generation 

Ryan Nakano, I Am Minor 

Constance Debré, Love Me Tender, tr. Holly James 

Hilton Als, My Pin-up 

Victoria Chang, The Trees Witness Everything 

Leslie Kitashima-Gray, The Pink Dress: A Story from the Japanese American Internment 

Emmanuel Carrère, Yoga, tr. John Lambert 

Ronald Tanaka, The Shino Suite: Sansei Poetry 

Patricia Y. Ikeda, House of Wood, House of Salt

Soichi Furuta, to breathe 

Kiki Petrosino, Bright 

Sueyeun Juliette Lee, Aerial Concave Without Cloud 

Nanao Sakaki, Real Play

Esmé Weijun Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias 

Francis Naohiko Oka, Poems 

Geraldine Kudaka, Numerous Avalanches at the Point of Intersection 

Steve Fujimura, Sad Asian Music 

Augusto Higa Oshiro, The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu, tr. Jennifer Shyue 

Julie Otsuka, The Swimmers 

Salman Rushdie, The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey 

Margo Jefferson, Constructing a Nervous System 

Hua Hsu, Stay True 

Barbara Browning, The Miniaturists 

Kate Zambreno, Drifts 

*Julie Otsuka, When The Emperor Was Divine 

Louise Akers, Elizabeth/The Story of Drone

Wong May, In the Same Light: 200 Poems for Our Century from the Migrants & Exiles of the Tang Dynasty 

Gabrielle Octavia Rucker, Dereliction 

Trung Le Nguyen, The Magic Fish 

Jessica Au, Cold Enough for Snow 

Tongo Eisen-Martin, Blood on the Fog 

Lucas de Lima, Tropical Sacrifice 

*Like a New Sun: New Indigenous Mexican Poetry, ed. Víctor Terán & David Shook 

Billy-Ray Belcourt, A Minor Chorus 

Kazim Ali, Silver Road 

*Sadako Kurihara, When We Say Hiroshima, tr. Richard Minear 

Simone White, or, on being the other woman

*James Baldwin, The Devil Finds Work 

Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes 

*Raquel Gutiérrez, Brown Neon 

Marguerite Duras, The Man Sitting in the Corridor 

Gayl Jones, Corregidora 

*Bhanu Kapil, The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers 

*Etel Adnan, Seasons 

Gwendolyn Brooks, to disembark 

Cristina Rivera Garza, The Taiga Syndrome, tr. Suzanne Jill Levine and Aviva Kana

Gwendolyn Brooks, In the Mecca 

Nona Fernández, The Twilight Zone, tr. Natasha Wimmer

Selva Almada, Dead Girls, tr. Annie McDermott

*Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Dictee

Valerie Hsiung, To Love an Artist

*Theresa Hak  Cha, Exilée and Temps Morts

Dao Strom, We Were Meant To Be a Gentle People

Randa Jarrar, Love Is An Ex-Country

*Dao Strom, Instrument

Osamu Dazai, Early Light, tr. Ralph McCarthy and Donald Keene

Osamu Dazai, The Setting Sun, tr. Donald Keene

Rachel Aviv, Strangers To Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us

Mahmoud Darwish, Journal of an Ordinary Grief, tr. Ibrahim Muhawi

[yegarts]

Michelle Sound’s Forthcoming Public Artwork in Amiskwaciwâskahikan

As the Edmonton Arts Council implements the new public art policy, “Public Art to Enhance Edmonton’s Public Realm” (C458D), processes based on the policy’s principles of public visibility and accessibility, diversity and inclusion, public art appreciation, and city-wide impact are being put in place. These processes have already begun to shift the way public art is procured and the way that artists engage with the public. For Telus Transit Station, the EAC worked with three local Indigenous artists/curators to select an artist for the project. The artist then worked with local knowledge holders to identify the imagery to be used in the artwork. The renewed policy enables these types of flexible, responsive, and curatorially-driven approaches that will help grow and develop a public art collection that is high quality, accessible, relevant, and representational of Edmonton’s diverse communities.

We asked one of the curators of Telus Transit Station, Emily Riddle, to reflect on the process and the significance of the public artwork by Michelle Sound (to be installed December 2022), in a guest article for the YEGArts blog. Read her thoughts below…

"Sipikiskisiw" (Remembers Far Back) by Michelle Sound. Archival photo and map on paper, embroidery thread, rick rack, vintage beads, bugle beads, glass seed beads, caribou tufting, porcupine quills.

Amiskwaciwâskahikan is lucky to soon be home to one of Michelle Sound’s public artworks at the Telus Bus Station on Jasper Avenue and 100 St. This installation is part of an ongoing series by Michelle Sound that takes torn copies of black and white historical photographs and records and stitches them back together with colourful beads, moose hair tufts, and threads. I remember being in awe when I first saw the first image of this project. What does it mean for an auntie to take the archives and lovingly fill in its cracks, adorn it with her meticulous work?

Michelle Sound is a Cree and Métis artist, educator, and mother. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts, and a Master of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University Art + Design. She is a member of the Wapsewsipi Swan River Cree Nation in Treaty 8 Territory. Her mother is Cree from Kinuso, Alberta and her father’s family is Métis from the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement.

Her extended family has lived throughout Treaty 6 and 8 Territory. Michelle was born and raised on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations where she currently lives, but her family has relationship to the lands Edmonton was built on and she visits frequently. Michelle Sound’s Kokum lived in Edmonton, as many families from Treaty 8 completed this migration to a large urban centre. Michelle Sound’s art practice is multifaceted from fur drums, to murals, to the archives and back. Her work is luscious, layered, smart, incisive, but always with an auntie snicker for those who know. So many of us leave nuggets within our work for our own people to discover.

I know that Michelle Sound’s work honours the complexities, messiness, and beauty of kinship. I see it in her teaching people to make drums, in the care of her work in dyeing rabbit fur for her art, and in the way she speaks about her extended family and their relationship to land. I already know the care in which Michelle is approaching this project, in visiting with people and spending time in the Archives of Alberta, positioning herself as Billy-Ray Belcourt has said as an “emotional historian of the future”.

When the jury met, Michelle Sound was at the top of each of our lists of artists whose work we wanted to see in Edmonton. Michelle has been very busy for the past few years, with residencies, shows, and expanding her practice to different mediums and projects. Recently, she had a show at the Art Gallery of St. Albert called kanawêyimêw (She takes care of them) which features a series of 14 dyed fur drums (Chapan Snares Rabbits) and a photographic series called nimama hates fish but worked in the cannery that speaks to her family’s migration to the west coast. Both of these works are about maternal matriarchal love, of caring for your family and finding home in a new place. Her current show at the Burrard Arts Centre is called Aunties Holding it Together. The jury spoke excitedly about her most recent projects and how this site was calling for something exciting, incisive, and created with care for the land that it will rest on.

This bus station across the road from the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, on a site that was an important outlook to Indigenous peoples prior to the construction of downtown. One of my core memories of this hotel was taking a break from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada hearings at the Edmonton Convention Centre with my mom. We had lunch in the harvest room with a painting of the fathers of confederation looking at us. Before the construction of this hotel began in 1912, this site was also at one point deemed ‘The Galacian Hotel,’ a makeshift village of marginalized Ukrainian immigrants who were unable to find housing. [1] People continue to live in the river valley in mutually supportive but unsupported communities, a recent example of this being Camp Pekiwewin in Rossdale down the road from this bus station.

Transit connects us and many people who commute in and out of downtown or who are residents of the core will visit the art Michelle Sound’s work at this site. Michelle visited Edmonton this summer and we met up at Matthew Cardinal’s performance at the Ociciwan Contemporary Arts Centre, which naturally evolved into a group hang of Nehiyaw artists at Earls. We talked about the time she spent in the Archives of Alberta and how she had found many images of encampments on the Rossdale Flats and of Papaschase historical documents. In “Talking with My Daughter About Archives: Métis Researchers and Genealogy,” Jessie and Darrell Loyer write about how Indigenous people working in the archives “have to note the ways that primarily white people in positions of power (like Indian Agents, census-takers, and hospital staff) recorded official documents by mishearing or misidentifying Indigenous life”. [2] There is supreme beauty in using the colonizer’s records to create beautiful art reflective of Nehiyaw aesthetic and brilliance. 

Michelle’s piece is a collage of historic images of an encampment on the Rossdale flats, of both tipis and wall tents, most likely Nehiyaw and Métis people given the way they are dressed. There are a few figures in the foreground looking at the photographers and others in the background living their lives seemingly unaware that this moment is being captured. This camp includes horses, which were at one point the most populous animal on the continent and are spiritually significant to Nehiyawak.

The other component of the collage is a surveyed map dated 1899 of Chief Papaschase’s reserve, the reserve that was dubiously and illegally ‘surrendered’ after pressure from Frank Oliver who believed this reserve was too close to the burgeoning settler towns of Edmonton and Strathcona. Much of this former reserve land ended up in the ownership of his son-in-law and we know the Papaschase are still fighting to be recognized as a First Nation who is owed a reserve as Treaty signatories.

In stitching together these two archival records with threads, beads, rick rack and tufts, Michelle Sound asks us to imagine a restitched present while we are in transit. On the hill above the site of both these photos, we are very much embedded in this history and in the forever now of a Nehiyaw present. I am so pleased this site will be home to auntie ethic and brilliance that honours impeccably dressed Nehiyawak, Treaty history, and Indigenous materiality.

Emily Riddle is Nehiyaw and a member of the Alexander First Nation (Kipohtakaw). A writer, editor, policy analyst, language learner and visual artist, she lives in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton). She is the senior advisor of Indigenous relations at the Edmonton Public Library. Her writing has been published in The Globe and Mail, Teen Vogue, The Malahat Review and Room Magazine, among others. In 2021 she was awarded the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Award. Emily Riddle is a semi-dedicated Oilers fan and a dedicated Treaty Six descendant who believes deeply in the brilliance of the Prairies and their people.

[1] Galician Hotel. Edmonton Heritage Council Blog.

[2] Jessie Loyer & Darrell Loyer. “Talking with My Daughter About Archives: Métis Researchers and Genealogy.” Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies. 22 June 2021.

[readyallthecanons]

michelle things

moves to Maryland (from France) in 2005 for her father’s work purposes

she eventually attends Clarion Ladies Academy with her step-sister

is definitely not a fighter; will not choose violence as much as possible. she is a great healer tho! prefers to stay in the medic tent

that being said, she does not get squemish with blood and gore. she will walk through a bloody battlefield to pick a wounded person up and drag their ass to medic tent/area to be healed

does a year of med school before dropping out to start her bakery. she is very proud of herself for that decision; it was one of those times when she “chose her happiness” or did something purely for herself. she’s very happy about it…after she got over the guilt of not doing what her dad wanted her to do (think rapunzel when she first left her tower)

i feel like she called up johnny one time when she was feeling it and johnny was like “but you’re doing something you’re happy about/love and that’s good and it’s gonna turn out great bc the food you make tastes so good….” and michelle felt better

if she stayed in med school, she would have become a trauma surgeon

her type is buff women. that’s it

at camp, she wears her hair in a lot of hairstyles (ponytail, braids, etc.). most of it are updos which involve sometimes intricate braids

she stress cooks/bakes

loves horror and thriller movies. her favorites are the psychological or cult-y or supernatural ones. gory movies like saw don’t really do much for her; she’s okay with them

[rexhc]

kai: damp! damnit! everybody - bathroom now!

landry: what's up dad?

buzz: what kai?

kai: is someone playing a trick on me? honestly! why is my towel still damp?

buzz: because it's not your towel. it's my towel, kai.

kai: no it's not your towel. your towel's the red one.

buzz: i'll tell you this, pal - i've never used that. i do use that one every single day.

kai: oh, god.

michelle: this towel's so warm and fluffy it's like it's been in the sun forever.

lotus: this means you two have been drying your junk with the same towel.

lazuli: intimate.

kai: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!

buzz: what do you mean am i-

kai: HOW DO YOU THINK THIS IS YOUR TOWEL?! Do you even wash it?

buzz: no i don't wash the towel, the towel washes me. who washes a towel?

lotus: you never wash...?

buzz: you wash your towel?

kai: YOU NEVER WASH THE TOWEL?!

buzz: what am i gonna do? wash the shower next? wash a bar of soap? you gotta think here pal!

kai: i'm FURIOUS right now.

buzz: i get out the damn shower! i'm clean as a baby! and i use the towel!

kai: let me ask you this - have you been wearing my underpants?

buzz: sometimes, yeah. who cares?

kai: *gagging*

buzz: you guys don't wear each other's underpants?

landry: nooooo

buzz: you're lying. we all wear each other's underwear.

[itskindofareallyniceday]

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, and due to the requests I've received over the years, I've compiled a list of great books written by indigenous authors from all over the Americas.

Part 1, North America:

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Magical Realism/Mythology/Dystopia: “Elatsoe” by Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache) “Moon of the Crusted Snow” by Waubgeshig Rice (Anishinaabe) "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline (Georgian Bay Métis) "Son of a Trickster" by Eden Robinson (Haisla and Heiltsuk) “The Removed” by Brandon Hobson (Cherokee)

Nonfiction/Memoir/Essays: “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi) "A History of My Brief Body" by Billy-Ray Belcourt (Driftpile Cree) “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” by Alicia Elliott (Haudenosaunee) "An American Sunrise" by Joy Harjo (Muscogee) “Dog Flowers: A Memoir” by Danielle Geller "Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City" by Tanya Talaga (Anishinaabe) "The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth" by The Red Nation “Heart Berries” by Terese Marie Mailhot (Nlaka'pamux)

Contemporary/Fiction/Historical Fiction: “Indian Horse” and “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe) “Jonny Appleseed” by Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree, Peguis First Nation) “There There” by Tommy Orange (Cheyanne and Arapho) “The Break” by Katherena Vermette (Red River Métis) “Five Little Indians” by Michelle Good (Red Pheasant Cree Nation) “The Seed Keeper” by Diane Wilson (Mdewakanton Oyate, Rosebud Sioux) “Birdie” by Tracey Lindberg (Cree-Métis, As'in'i'wa'chi Ni'yaw Nation Rocky Mountain Cree)

Mystery/Thriller/Horror/Paranormal: “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet) “Winter Counts” by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Sicangu Lakota) “Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley (Chippewa) "Empire of Wild" by Cherie Dimaline (Georgian Bay Métis Nation)

Poetry Collections: "Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories and Songs" and "This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories" by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Mississauga Nishnaabeg) "Split Tooth" by Tanya Tagaq (Inuk) “Postcolonial Love Poem” by Natalie Díaz (Akimel O'odham) "Nature Poem" by Tommy Pico (Kumeyaay, Viejas Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians) "Disintegrate/Dissociate" by Arielle Twist (Cree, George Gordon First Nation)

Anthologies: “Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction”, contributed to by Joshua Whitehead, David Alexander Robertson, Darcie Little Badger, Nathan Adler, Gwen Benaway, Nazbah Tom, Gabriel Castilloux Calderón, and Kai Minosh Pyle "This Place: 150 Years Retold" (comic, nonfiction), contributed to by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Chelsea Vowel, Katherena Vermette, Jen Storm, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, David Alexander Robertson, Richard Van Camp, Brandon Mitchell, Sonny Assu, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Alicia Elliott, and illustrated by G.M.B. Chomichuk, Scott B. Henderson, Tara Audibert, Natasha Donovan, Kyle Charles, Scott A. Ford, Donovan Yaciuk, Andrew Lodwick, Ryan Howe “Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 1”, contributed to by Hope Nicholson, Michael Sheyahshe, David W. Mack, David Alexander Robertson, Haiwei Hou, Dayton Edmonds, Micah Farritor, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Menton3, Arigon Starr, David Cutler, Elizabeth LaPensée, G.M.B. Chomichuk, George Freeman, Tony Romito, Jeremy D. Mohler, Ian Ross, Lovern Kindzierski, Adam Gorham, Richard Van Camp, Nicholas Burns, Todd Houseman, Ben Shannon, Jay Odjick, Joel Odjick, Claude St. Aubin, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Andy Stanleigh

More: New books that I haven't read/heard enough about to recommend yet

Part 2: Central & South America

[mysymmetry]

2021 Reading List Updated Jan 31 March 30 April 12 July 6 November 1

Happy Hour, Marlowe Granados (oh, how affecting)

Pew, Catherine Lacey

Brown Album, Porochista Khakpour

You Were Born for This, Chani Nicholas

Indelicacy, Amina Cain

Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney

Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado (HO LY FUCK)

Dog Flowers, Danielle Geller (FUCK)

Rest and be thankful, Emma Glass

Hunger, Lan Samantha Chang

Best American Essays 2020, ed. Andre Aciman

Monogamy, Sue Miller

Stray, Stephanie Danler

Severance, Ling Ma

Currently Reading:

A Return to Love, Marianne Williamson

Eat the Buddha, Barbara Demick

Embers, Richard Wagamese

Keep Moving, Maggie Smith

After, Jane Hirschfield

all about love, bell hooks

Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer

On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

How to Carry Water, Lucille Clifton

The Power of Breathwork, Jennifer Patterson

The Practice is the Path, Tias Little

Yoga of the Subtle Body, Tias Little

Skill in Action, Michelle Cassandra Johnson

Embrace Yoga’s Roots, Susanna Barkataki

Anatomy of Spirit

Want to Read:

Fight Night, Miriam Toews

Three Little Indians

When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron

Everywhere You Don't Belong, Gabriel Bump

The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown (library)

The Factory, Hiroko Oyamada

We Have Always Been Here, Samra Habib (libary)

You Exist Too Much, Zaina Arafat

Sand Book, Ariana Reines

Night Sky with Exit Wound, Ocean Vuong

Sacred Contracts, Caroline Myss

Policing Black Lives, (Canada) Robyn Maynard

Q The Letters, ed. Sarah Moon (queer writers on their younger selves)

MILK, BLOOD, HEAT,

Bone Map, Sara Eliza Johnson (poems)

Fantasia or the Man in Black, Tommye Blount (gabrielle bates)

The Thing That Brought the Shadow Here, Alison Stagner (gbates)

Pricks in the Tapestry, Jameson Fitzpatrick (gbates and ayden)

Sister Outsider, Audre Lorde (allymaz) (kobo library)

emergent strategy

A Girl’s Story, Annie Ernaux (catherine lacey) (avail at library)

All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost, Lan Samantha Chang (ayden)

The Archive of Alternate Endings, Lindsey Drager (ayden+++)

Fantasy, Kim-Anh Schrieber

Yoga Where You Are, Dianne Bondy &

Your Body, Your Yoga, Bernie Clark

Aligator and Other Stories, Dima Alzayat

A History of My Brief Body, Billy-Ray Belcourt (library kobo, yess!!!)

Lady Romeo, Tana Wojczuk

Milk Fed, Melissa Broder

Burnt Sugar, Avni Doshi (yes indigo)

Minor Detail, Adania Shibli (library kobo - looks heavy)

We Run the Tides, Vendela Vida (library kobo)

Like Love, Michele Morano (yes indigo)

radiant voices, carla bergman (library kobo)

Will I Ever Finish Them?

Small Game Hunting, Megan Gail Coles

Everything Under, Daisy Johnson

The Mother of All Questions, Rebecca Solnit

I Become a Delight to My Enemies, Sara Peters

Why Did I Ever, Mary Robison

How to Do Nothing, Jenny Oddell

[kattra]

What I’m Reading

BOOKS OF AUGUST Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid All Adults Here by Emma Straub The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes From the Field by Billy-Ray Belcourt (P) The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen The Faithless Hawk by Margaret Owen ** The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason Seeing Stars by Simon Armitage (P)

Graphic Novels: Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang **

(120 books read / 150 books goal)

Currently Reading: Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories From Turtle Island edited by McCall/Reder/Gaertner/Hill (NF/SS) Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation by Mat Auryn (NF) Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose (NF) Crying H Mart by Michelle Zauner (NF) Our Numbered Days by Neil Hilborn (P) Albatross by Terry Fallis

* - re-read / ** - 4+ star rating on my goodreads GN - graphic novel // NF - non-fiction // P - poetry SS - short story/anthology / AB - audiobook

TBR: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell All the Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay (NF) This Wound is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt (P)

[bookclub4m]

Episode 159 - Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart

This episode we’re talking about Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart! We discuss how much science a book needs to be to count as “pop science,” content warnings for books, BDSM, MRIs, and other acronyms! Plus: How many hot sauces we own!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

The Book We Talked About

Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose by Leigh Cowart

Other Media We Mentioned

Nerve - Adventures in the Science of Fear by Eva Holland

Secretary (2002 film) (Wikipedia)

Turning by Jessica J. Lee

Valley Girl by Moon Unit and Frank Zappa

The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry 

Links, Articles, and Things

Episode 154 - Battle of the Books 2022

Don't Be Afraid Of The Clowns

Mary Roach (Wikipedia)

Frank's RedHot (Wikipedia)

Gochujang (Wikipedia)

South Asian pickle (Wikipedia)

Carolina Reaper (Wikipedia)

Ultramarathon (Wikipedia)

Play piercing (Wikipedia)

Polar bear plunge (Wikipedia)

Wim Hof (Wikipedia)

Camino de Santiago (Wikipedia)

Pain scale (Wikipedia)

Temperature play (Wikipedia)

Ocu-less || CheckPoint 407

K/DA (Wikipedia)

More (YouTube)

Hate-watching (Wikipedia)

Erotic humiliation (Wikipedia)

Leather Archives & Museum on Instagram

15 Gardening & Plants Non-fiction Books by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter Who Saved Japan's Cherry Blossoms by Naoko Abe

The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities by Will Allen

Medicines to Help Us: Traditional Metis Plant Use by Christi Belcourt

The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming by Natasha Bowens

Wild at Home: How to Style and Care for Beautiful Plants by Hilton Carter

Luschiim’s Plants: A Hul′q′umi′num′ (Cowichan) Ethnobotany by Luschiim Arvid Charlie

The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family by Darryl Cheng

The Medicine Wheel Garden: Creating Sacred Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquillity by E. Barrie Kavasch

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham

Lessons from Plants by Beronda L Montgomery

American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michelle Obama

Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

Grow: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them by Riz Reyes

Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Monica M. White

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, October 4th we’ll be talking about the genre of Fictional Biographies/Biographical Fiction!

Then on Tuesday, October 18th we’ll be talking about the concept of Hate Reads!

[salvatxreschool]

                                                 Election Fair

Han pasado ya unas semanas del inicio de clases en Salvatore, y es normal que los alumnos estén estresados y hasta un poco hartos. Por eso merecen un pequeño descanso. Con motivo de las elecciones para los clubes y el consejo de ha montado una pequeña feria en los límites del bosque del colegio. Aquí pueden encontrar desde comida típica como hot dogs, nachos, piernas de pavo, churros, hasta unos cuantos postres (cortesía del club de cocina). Y los puestos de juegos de feria: rueda de la fortuna, cabina de besos, juegos de azar. Un poco de todo. Atendido por los alumnos y demás miembros del colegio claramente por turnos para que todos puedan disfrutar de este día, ademas de que puedan votar por los nuevos miembros del congreso escolar y los lideres de los grupos faltantes

¿De qué trata este evento?

Los alumnos tienen un día libre de clases para poder participar en las elecciones de representante de grupo así como lideres de club. Acompañado de una feria con los puestos típicos que son atendidos por turnos por los mismos alumnos y supervisados por los profesores.

Puestos

Tiro de dardos

Profesores encargados: Edward Jackson y Lucinda Montgomery. 

Alumnos: Celestia Morgenstern, Kell Maresh, Theodore Bones, Zoe Hobart, Juliette Blackthorn, Luke Grace

Tiro al blanco

Profesora encargada: Evelyn Gallagher. 

Alumnos: Lizzie Saltzman, Josette Saltzman, Sebastian Belcourt, Jade Mcnally,  Lilith Abbot, Trevor Dune.

Tiro de Herraduras

Profesores encargados: Vasile Anatoile y Johann Greenstone. 

Alumnos: Eros Hageback, Perseo Castellan, Declan Zeitchik, Robbie Bennet, Artemis Henderson, Zade Hoskins

Derriba las botellas

Profesores encargados: Anthony Tyler y Elena Michaels. 

Alumnos: Sabrina Spellman, Nicholas Scratch, Cameron Chase, Blue Sargent, Ian Reay, Michelle Keller

Cabina de besos

Profesor encargado: Victor Hale. 

Alumnos: Kelly Jensen, Carter McClain, Colin Savoryt, Alistair Elbridge, Danielle Flynn, Penelope Park

Carreras de caballos impulsadas con agua

Profesores encargados: Nadia Skorzeny y Elijah Amell. 

Alumnos: Hannah Shumway, Evan Kleinman, Kalen Salvatore, Emmeline Nutter, Colleen Smith, William Crowley

Mini Baloncesto

Profesores encargados: Beau Velásquez y Eleastar Kohl. 

Alumnos: Stefanie Salvatore, Connor Hobart, Samir Lockwood, Delphi Diggory, Sage Marie Larson

Whack a Mole

Profesor encargado: Viktor Grabner. 

Alumnos: Lydia Martin, Allison Argent, Isaac Lahey, Aiden Steiner, Ethan Steiner, Ina Mai

Mini Boliche

Profesor Encargado: Morgan Emyrs. 

Alumnos: Masumi Fukioka, Lane Tandy, Greta Westfall, Kitty Soung, Patrick Duchannes, Samwell Pemberton

Pesca de Manzanas

Profesores encargados: Alexandra Morgan y Zaid Malouf.

Alumnos: Hope Mikaelson, Frederick Mikaelson, Elijah Gerard, Hayley Mikaelson, Sophie de Martel, Angelo Cassano.

Aclaraciones

Es MUY importante que en en todas sus roles coloquen el tag #salvatoreverse, con esto tendremos control de la actividad de los personajes. Si no lo colocan, no se tomará como actividad porque es probable que no lo veamos.

Pueden abrir starters, utilizando el tag #salvatoreschoolstarter .

Pueden abrir los starters que quieran pero tomen en cuenta que son más de 70 personajes, por lo que les permitiremos cerrar starters. ¿Qué quiere decir esto? Si ya no quieres más replies a tu starter, enviarás un ask al main pidiendo que se cierre.

La actividad se cuenta a partir de dos starters respondidos por personaje.

Por favor, traten de contestar todos o la mayoría de los starters con todos sus personajes.

Podrán abrir starters privados pero darle prioridad a los starters abiertos generales. Si solo respondes estos no te contará como actividad.

Puede continuar respondiendo lo pasado y convertirlos en privados pero les pedimos que por favor le den prioridad al evento.

Se hará un pequeño anuncio minutos antes del inicio de la trama para indicar la apertura de starters.

Recuerden colocar en el título del starter: “Election Fair”.

Si tienen alguna duda, pueden comunicarse al ask o chat con alguna admin.

Regla más importante: DIVERTIRSE.

                     Evento iniciado el día 28 de febrero al 13 de marzo.

[yegarts]

Artist Feature: MJ Belcourt

MJ Belcourt is the City of Edmonton's current Indigenous Artist-in-Residence, a partnership between the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton’s Indigenous Relations Office. Her show "Feeding My Spirit" has been turned into an online exhibit which you can view here. 

 MJ will also be doing a Q&A session online at 12pm today with EPL, which you can view here. We are honoured to share her words about her time in residence and a few photos of her work (photos by Brad Crowfoot).

Photo: MJ Belcourt, the City of Edmonton’s current Indigenous Artist-in-Residence, photo supplied. 

“My name is Melissa-Jo Belcourt, known as MJ, my mixed Métis heritage is Mohawk, Cree and French. 

My family’s ties are to the Michel Band and the Lac St Anne Métis community. This land, this territory is my home. I was born here Amiskwaciy-wâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton), but we moved frequently, keeping within the boundaries of Alberta. 

I always knew I was Métis, just felt like there was more to know about my bloodline, so in my 20’s my creative journey began.

I believe we are drawn to something through our blood memory which is the genetic connection to the teachings of our ancestors. It’s the idea that we carry ancient memories in our DNA, so naturally I was drawn to traditional arts of my ancestors.

amiskwaciy-wâskahikan, (Edmonton) 2020, by MJ Belcourt. Red willow, elk rawhide, natural smoked moose hide, beaver furGlass, semi-precious, and wood beads. Photo by Brad Crowfoot. 

In 1989/90 I was introduced to a program that offered everything I needed to get started in learning the art of the Nehiyawak. I learned to appreciate and honor the natural laws of this land. And through the teachings, I gained the appreciation that art is spirit, because as we are born in the creators’ image, we too are creators and as an elder once told me, “we are all walking pieces of art” ... an honor indeed.

I met my mentor and teacher, late Elsie Quintal of Square Lake, from northern AB. I spent each fall at her home for four years learning the art of tanning hides the old Cree way. This truly is where my gratitude and respect for traditional art forms stem from. 

To me, hide tanning is the authentic foundation that holds all other natural art forms.  Such as porcupine quill work, moose hair embroidery, caribou hair tufting, fish scale art, and bead work. These art forms adorn bags, moccasins, dresses, shirts, leggings, and much more. 

Clockwise, left-right: âhpin (rawhide) bag 1, 2018; mispon, (It is snowing) 2018; Haudenosaunee Roots, 2015; osâwi-mîkis, (yellow bead) 2019. Photo by Brad Crowfoot.

We become educators through our art, because every piece communicates knowledge of our land, our language, our beliefs, our stories and ways of being. It’s been a privilege to learn and teach these traditional skills. By passing on the knowledge and teachings we mentor our youth to ensure this knowledge isn’t lost to antiquity.

Thankfully I had the opportunity to work at the Royal Alberta Museum for a number of years working in the education department delivering school programs to children.  Being in the Indigenous gallery was a great inspiration, but more so was being able to visit the collections where our ancestors' works can be viewed and studied. 

I gained such an appreciation for the work the curators do and for giving me opportunity to investigate. I was always being amazed by the intricate and beautiful workmanship of exquisite pieces in the collection being preserved for future generations. Hands that make are the hands that love.

An artist’s work can be very solitary and sometimes lonely, but it can also be a calming form of meditation and therapy. 

As for most of us, we love what we do, and it is our passion that pushes us onward. And as ‘Art Creators’ and ‘Art Lovers’ we find in our humility the encouragement and support to keep doing what we love.

Often, we are motivated to create so we can sell our artwork to pay bills and we are very thankful to those who appreciate what we do by purchasing our work. 

As the Indigenous Artist-in-Residence for the City of Edmonton, I am thankful for the opportunities such as this one and many others that have broadened my horizons in furthering my art experience. It’s been my pleasure.

And to every artist:

Keep creating. Keep telling your stories. Keep educating. Keep shining. 

AiyHiy, MJ

[headcanonseverywhere]

Cabins list - PJO OCs

I thought I’d make a list of all of our pjo ocs in their respective cabins (kind of like how it used to be back in rise), just so that we can know which of our ocs are siblings/cabin mates and make headcanons with them! :D

I will be doing the same for our HoO OCs and HP OCs ^u^

If I missed anyone, or if I got your OC’s godly parent wrong, please let me know!

Canon characters aren’t included

Cabin 1: Zeus

Clark O’Niel - Nessa

Cabin 2: Hera (Honorary)

Cabin 3: Posideon

Samara Hawke - Ericka

Zara Ye - Raven

Cabin 4: Demeter

Kai Kaeo - Alison

Lotus Itami - Logan

Michelle Belcourt - Max

Logan McKay - Ericka

Buzz Goldman - Rex

Landry Qualls - Emily

Gustavo Ferreira - Nessa

Cabin 5: Ares

Amelia Johnson - Nessa

Ella Cate Milligan - Ann

Cabin 6: Athena

Rui Saito - Nessa

Liam Trow - Erica

Andrew Webber - Max

Quinn Phillips - Emily

Céleste Rousseau - Raven

Rosa Santiago - Rex

Phaedra August - Manda

Parker Narváez - Logan

Calhoun O’Reilly - Manda

Cabin 7: Apollo

Rodrigue Roux - Nessa

Marcie Bouchard - Erica

Jasper Salvador - Max

Addy Streb - Alison

March Porter - Raven

Dalia Vega - Emily

Sunny Washington - Rex

Magnolia Herveaux - Ericka

Dylan Sanchez - Logan

Cabin 8: Artemis (Honorary/Hunters of Artemis)

Sabel delos Santos (Apollo) - Max

María Guadalupe Fernández (Dionysus) - Nessa

Azra Qazi (Ares) - Logan

Cabin 9: Hephaestus

Trent Baker - Erica

Robbie Lerner - Emily

Molly Dufour - Manda

Blaise Washington - Rex

Shiloh Young - Logan

Rene Cosineau - Ann

Cabin 10: Aphrodite

Ava Torres - Nessa

Perrin Beaumont - Shannyn

Dakota Summers - Alison

Leia Ka’uhane - Max

Brianna Moore - Emily

Cabin 11: Hermes

Mallory Bachmeier - Nessa

Jamie Mendoza - Nessa

Michael Costa - Nessa

Miguel Costa - Nessa

Jess Kowalski - Rex

Micah Reed - Emily

Emma Kowalski - Rex

Ella Hakim - Emily

Bailey Kowalski - Rex

Danny Noble - Ericka

Cabin 12: Dionysus

Jean Cordova - Ericka

Heath Hudson - Shannyn

Johnny Hayes - Ann

Rhyder Vogel - Logan

Cabin 13: Hades

Yvette Desroches - Erica

Michael Valentino - Rex

Cabin 14: Iris

Sterling O’Connell - Nessa

Cabin 15: Hypnos

Marshall Lewis - Shannyn

Cabin 16: Nemesis

Elenore Tovani - Logan

Daniel Davenport - Raven

Jude Keawe - Manda

Cabin 17: Nike

Thomas Lee - Max

Connie Kravitz - Logan

Jules Guzman - Emily

Cabin 18: Hebe

Cabin 19: Tyche

Myra Harris - Shannyn

Felicity Standing Bear - Logan

Cabin 20: Hecate

Atsa Sandoval - Raven

JJ Vasquez - Logan

Harper Vasquez - Logan

Cabin #: Morpheus

Haruka Masaomi - Nessa

James Howell - Nessa

Barney Bachhmeier - Max

Xander Huang - Logan

Teddy Zhao - Emily

Cabin #: Thalia (muse of comedy)

Maria Socorro do Nascimento - Nessa

Ivy Nkosi - Erica

Phillip Parker - Max

Cheryl Parker - Max

Cabin #: Phobos

Charlotte Perks - Erica

Cabin #: Khione

Fintan Whittaker - Shannyn

Cabin #: Eros

Gloria Armstrong - Romy

Cabin #: Eris

Stella Corleone - Romy

Jorlief Nielsen - Ann

Cabin #: Thanatos

Orion Mors - Manda

Cabin #: Oizys

Ivan Molotov - Ann

Cabin #: Euthenia

Oscar Martinez - Ann

[readyallthecanons]

three short things

some short things i wrote featuring some demigods. my only rule was that it should start and finish with someone saying a thing~

“Michelle, Michelle! Look! I got a new tattoo! Wanna see?” Johnny, not even waiting for a reply, pulls his shirt halfway up to show the brand new tattoo on his back. Michelle plops one more strawberry into her basket before admiring it.  “It looks cool, right!”

“Oh wow!” Michelle’s eyes widen.  “It looks painful!”

“But, it wasn’t. It was fine!”

“Still! You have to deal with needles and things.” She squints for bit. “Oh no.”

“Oh no?”

“Johnny, I’m so sorry but...but,” Her voice wavers. “I-I think it’s misspelled. I’msosorryforpointingitoutpleasedon’tbehurt.”

“What? Really?” Johnny cranes his head, trying to see the tattoo. He tries a couple of more times after failing...and he does not look like he would stop trying. 

“Oh no, please don’t do that. There’s a mirror in my cabin. I’ll show you.”

“No, it’s fine!” Johnny pulls his shirt down and beams up at her. “It’s okay. It still looks pretty cool!”

“It does, actually.”

----------

“So, can you...drink this entire bottle of vodka?”

Rodrigue takes a step back when he sees the glare Sofia gives him. He hugs the bottle of vodka close to his chest. Sofia is still glaring at him.

“What kind of stupid question is that?”

“It’s not stupid. It’s valid.”

“Is it because I’m Russian?”

Rodrigue takes another step back. “Y-yes…?”

“That is a stereotype.” She is still glaring at him.

“Okay, whatever. So...can you...do it??”

Sofia pauses for a second then grabs the bottle and twists it open. “Of course, I can. I’m Russian.”

----------

“Just one more episode, babe.” “That’s what you said 45 minutes ago!” 

Ava wraps her arms around Jasper and pouts at him. But all she gets is a quick kiss on her forehead.

“It just got interesting! I promise; just one more episode.”

She groans as she sits up and pushes the blankets off the both of them. Unfortunately, Jasper still does not budge. “I wanna do something else.” 

“Okay,” he says without looking at her. “What do you want to do?” 

Ava pouts at him again but she grins at an idea. Her hand slides down his torso, a bit lower, under the waistband of his pants. Finally, Jasper sets his phone down.  Ava smiles sweetly back at him.

Jasper’s mouth quirks at the corners as he puts his phone away. “Yeah, we could do that.”

[rafaelmartinez67]

Argelia en las Entrañas.

El país era así, cruel para vivir en él, aun sin los hombres que, por otra parte, no arreglaban nada. Pero Daru había nacido allí. En cualquier otro sitio se sentía exiliado.

—Albert Camus, El huésped

No había agua corriente en su casa, tenía que compartir el baño hediondo, estilo turco, con sus vecinos, la cama con su hermano y la recámara con su madre, fámula, cuyos sordera, mutismo y amorosa parquedad eran la contraparte de los gritos y los golpes de su abuela. Salía a jugar futbol a la calle, o corría y nadaba en una playa del mediterráneo africano. Sus amigos de infancia eran niños malteses, griegos, italianos, portugueses, españoles y franceses, todos pobres en una tierra que asumían como propia y a la que sentían pertenecer. Estaban, asimismo, los bereberes y los árabes, compartiendo la pobreza, y el sol. La lengua que oyó en los arrullos de su madre, la que se hablaba en casa y balbuceó antes de emitir su primera palabra, en la que leyó sus primeros libros y luego todos los demás, la de las bromas y las peleas con los amigos, es decir, su lengua, era el francés. Más tarde llegaron la escuela y los libros con algunas palabras que le parecían extrañas: cumbres nevadas de los Alpes, reyes, île de la Cité, pues nada tenían que ver con una cotidianidad hecha de calor abrasante, chiquillos persiguiendo una pelota y mar. Sin embargo, había también otras palabras que hicieron camino en su cabeza: igualdad, justicia, rectitud, libertad. La escuela que Diderot había concebido y propuesto a mediados del XVIII y que Jules Ferry puso en marcha en el último tercio del XIX, era su escuela. Pero, ¿cuál era su país? ¿Francia? Sí y no. En todo caso no lo era el Hexágono europeo, sino esta Francia que en 1830 Carlos X —tratando de distraer y evitar una fronda que al final lo derribó— creó en el norte de África, en un territorio hasta entonces dominado, desde largo tiempo atrás, por los turcos. ¿Cómo asimiló el niño todas esas diferencias? Era vecino de los árabes, Belcourt, el barrio en donde vivía, estaba habitado por europeos pobres. Los barrios aledaños eran también pobres, pero ahí vivía gente que hablaba otra lengua y no departía con ellos. Muy pocos niños árabes seguían los cursos de la instrucción primaria. La instauración de la escuela laica, obligatoria y gratuita, emblema de la Tercera República, extendió sus beneficios a los territorios colonizados, Argelia e Indochina entre ellos. Pero era una escuela para los europeos y, mayoritariamente, para los franceses. Los ancestros de Albert no gozaron de tal ventura, fueron parte de los primeros colonos llegados a este país durante el reinado de Luis Felipe de Orleans. Claude, su bisabuelo, había nacido en Burdeos en 1809 y probado fortuna en estos lares. Era un hombre pobre. Su hijo Baptiste había seguido los pasos campesinos del padre y cuando se casó no firmó el acta que daba fe de su unión pues no sabía escribir. Tuvo cinco hijos y murió cuando Lucien, el último, padre del escritor, tenía un año. Lucien creció entonces sin progenitor ni escuela, se convirtió en tonelero y en 1914 se fue a pelear y a morir a un país que no conocía, con su llamativo traje de zuavo, blanco perfecto de las ametralladoras alemanas en la batalla del Marne. Su hijo menor, Albert, tenía 11 meses. Las dos orfandades fueron marcadas por una diferencia elocuente: la escuela.

Albert Camus tenía casi 24 años cuando cruzó el Mediterráneo y pisó por primera vez suelo francés. Su pensamiento y su personalidad estaban formados, tenía una identidad compleja. Pasó unas cuantas semanas en Marsella, Lyon y París, sin que estas ciudades le provocasen gran entusiasmo. Cuando llegó por segunda vez a la capital francesa, en la primavera de 1940, convertido en secretario de redacción de Paris-Soir, calificó de mediocres “las almas y los rostros” que cruzaba en la ciudad y evocó su tierra como “un paraíso perdido”. Antes de ello, en cambio, había dado pruebas del entrañable apego a este paraíso en el que había visto la luz y crecido, en donde había estudiado y se había casado a los 20 años, el lugar que lo vio nacer como periodista y escritor, pues ahí escribió y publicó su primer libro. En 1936, en su Mémoire para obtener la Agrégation —un diploma que permite al titular dar clases en las preparatorias o en las universidades— dos fueron los criterios primordiales para determinar el tema: la metafísica cristiana y el neoplatonismo. Por una parte, su profunda convicción de que, querámoslo o no, en Occidente, somos griegos y cristianos; por otra, el lugar de nacimiento de dos de los autores que nos ayudan a entenderlo, el bereber san Agustín y el egipcio Plotino: el África septentrional. Tres años después, en 1939, el diario Alger républicain publicó por entregas un reportaje del periodista en ciernes sobre las terribles condiciones en las que vivían los habitantes de Kabilia, en el norte del país. En “La miseria de Kabilia”, Camus documentó el sufrimiento de las poblaciones autóctonas y denunció las exacciones, la indiferencia y la omisión de las autoridades coloniales. Fue quizá la primera vez que manifestó públicamente y por escrito un deseo que mantuvo a lo largo de su vida y que más tarde le costaría enemistades, acusaciones y desencuentros: una Argelia republicana y francesa en la que las diferentes poblaciones tuvieran los mismos derechos y las mismas obligaciones. Era una postura que correspondía a una pregunta que se hizo siempre y que siempre también le produjo la misma angustia: ¿cómo se elige una conducta cuando no se tiene fe en un Ser supremo ni confianza en los sistemas filosóficos que se pretenden perfectos? Había que vivir, actuar y escribir. Ser fiel a sus orígenes, buscar la justicia y la verdad, rechazar la violencia.  

La fidelidad a sus orígenes era ante todo, pero no sólo, física: a los paisajes solares, a esta tierra que encomió en Nupcias, y El verano, cuyo esplendor es un “goce desmesurado” y donde la pobreza no excluyó nunca la sensualidad y los deleites, del viento, del mar, de las mujeres, de la amistad, de los libros. Pero fidelidad también a los que vivieron como él, el autor de El extranjero subraya su “intolerancia casi orgánica” a la injusticia y su postura al lado de los humildes, de manera visceral, como un niño que recuerda las humillaciones e injusticias de las que fue objeto, tiene conciencia de ello y no permite que se repitan. Su fidelidad es además reconocimiento a sus mentores, a los que le hicieron descubrir las palabras y las ideas: el discurso que escribió para la ceremonia de entrega del Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1957 lo dedicó a Louis Germain, su maestro de primaria. Y fidelidad, por supuesto, a su madre, su hermano, sus tíos, todos nacidos en Argelia, todos incapaces de imaginar su vida en otra parte.

La búsqueda de la verdad y la justicia en un contexto cuyas palabras clave eran ideología y maniqueísmo se reveló no sólo más difícil, sino más incierta. Camus no transigió, convencido de valores que en otros son sólo palabras, trató de actuar en consonancia con lo que pensaba, con modestia, humildad y responsabilidad. Había supuesto posible una federalización del territorio argelino, con leyes republicanas para todo el país de los dos lados del Mediterráneo, más tarde propuso la asociación, coincidendo con De Gaulle, pero la independencia era ya inevitable. Cuando Jean Daniel se lo dijo, se encolerizó, pues para él la unión de voluntades, el entendimiento, las acciones de buena fe, la renuncia a la violencia, posibilidades humanas todas, hacían viables los acuerdos y evitarían la separación. La escritora y abogada argelina Wazyla Tamzali lo considera ingenuo y su discurso político vacío, abstracto, idealista, sin asideros en la realidad, negándose a ver que eran dos pueblos, dos culturas, dos formas diferentes de ver el mundo. Según ella, dado el prestigio del escritor y su peso en ambas sociedades, hubiera podido empujar una independencia antes de que llegaran las atrocidades y los horrores de la guerra.

Para Sartre, el gran adversario parisino, que pensaba la libertad como un absoluto, para Althusser (nacido en Argelia) que pasó del fervor católico al marxista, para Daniel (otro nacido en Argelia) que fundaría más tarde un semanario de izquierda emblemático e influyente, para Henri-Lévy (también nacido en Argelia pero educado en Francia) otro normalien, como Sartre y Althusser, profundo conocedor de la obra de Camus, resultó mucho más fácil tomar partido por una independencia total e inmediata. Lo fue menos para Derrida —quien, como consecuencia de las leyes antijudías practicadas por el régimen de Vichy fue despojado de la nacionalidad francesa entre 1940 y 1942—, partidario de una independencia sin ruptura, sin guerra, basada en la colaboración y el mutuo entendimiento. Para Camus, en cambio, la violenta separación constituyó un terrible desgarramiento. Nunca estuvo de acuerdo con la independencia, sin que esto significara un apoyo al statu quo, a los abusos y las desigualdades del régimen colonial. Su postura lo convirtió en el blanco de unos y otros y en el centro de vivas polémicas, que persisten. Dos ejemplos: durante la visita de François Hollande a Argelia, en diciembre de 2012, cuando el presidente francés mencionó algunos nombres importantes en la lucha del pueblo argelino, hubo aplausos, no los hubo cuando pronunció el de Camus. Benjamin Stora, historiador de origen francés nacido en Argelia, especialista en la guerra franco-argelina, había sido designado curador de la exposición Albert Camus: el extranjero que se parece a nosotros prevista para noviembre de este año y que contaba con el apoyo de la alcaldía de Aix-en-Provence, sede de la exposición, y del Ministerio de Cultura. Ante la oposición de muchos franceses de Argelia que viven ahora en la región y la negativa de Catherine Camus, hija del escritor, a trabajar con Stora, éste es separado del proyecto. Michel Onfray toma el relevo y la exposición cambia de nombre: Albert Camus: el hombre rebelde, sin embargo, el Ministerio de Cultura se retira del proyecto y niega todo tipo de financiamiento. Asqueado de tantos dimes y diretes y de la “atmósfera intelectual de guerra civil”, Onfray decide a su vez retirarse.

En el capítulo “Oscuro para sí mismo”, de El primer hombre, leemos:

…sí, ese movimiento oscuro de todos estos años estaba de acuerdo con aquel inmenso país que lo rodeaba, cuyo peso, siendo niño, había sentido, con el inmenso mar delante, y detrás ese espacio interminable de montañas, mesetas y desierto que llamaban el interior, y entre ambos, el peligro permanente del que nadie hablaba porque parecía natural, pero que Jacques percibía cuando, en la pequeña finca de Birmandreis, con sus habitaciones abovedadas y sus paredes encaladas, la tía recorría los cuartos en el momento de acostarse para ver si estaban bien corridos los cerrojos de los postigos de gruesa madera maciza, país que se sentía como si allí lo hubieran arrojado, como si fuera el primer habitante o el primer conquistador, desembarcando allí donde todavía reinaba la ley de la fuerza y la justicia estaba hecha para castigar implacablemente lo que las costumbres no habían podido evitar, y alrededor aquellos hombres atrayentes e inquietantes, cercanos y alejados, con los que uno se codeaba a lo largo del día, y a veces nacía la amistad o la camaradería, pero al caer la noche se retiraban a sus casas desconocidas, donde no se entraba nunca, parapetados con sus mujeres, a las que jamás se veía, o si se las veía en la calle, no se sabía quiénes eran, con el velo cubriendo la mitad del rostro y los hermosos ojos sensuales y dulces por encima de la tela blanca…

En Lourmarin, la tumba austera reina en medio de cipreses, rodeada por lavanda, tomillo y otra hierbas provenzales, tiene una piedra tosca grabada con su nombre y las fechas de nacimiento y muerte; su sobriedad conmueve.

[ao3feed-stucky]

by DaynaDeadly1510, MyLittleCaptainAmerica

Tony Stark had known it had been idea to get out of bed that morning, it had been over a year since Steve had left and he just wanted to curl up and forget the world. However fate is a bitch and despite Tony's uncertainty's there is a lot more out there. Will he and Steve be able to work out their differences, or will the Avengers truly fall apart once more. Safe to say, it wasn't going to be easy.

Words: 7336, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Supernatural, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Beauty and the Beast (2017), Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Friday (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Bruce Banner, Phil Coulson, Nick Fury, Red Skull, Stephen Strange, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Magnus Bane, Agramon - Character, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood, Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago, Luke Garroway, Lydia Branwell (mentioned), Maryse Lightwood (mentioned), Robert Lightwood (Mentioned), Max Lightwood, Camille Belcourt, Rebecca Lewis (mentioned), Hodge Starkweather (mentioned), Valentine Morgenstern (mentioned), Silent Brothers (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Jocelyn Fairchild (mentioned), Belle (Disney), Adam (Disney), Gaston (Disney), LeFou (Disney), Lumiere (Disney), Plumette (Disney), Cogsworth (Disney), Madame de Garderobe (Disney), Cadenza (Disney), Maurice (Disney), Agatha, Mrs. Potts (Disney), Chip Potts, Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast), Philippe the Horse (Disney), Lucifer (Supernatural), Crowley (Supernatural), Bobby Singer, Rowena MacLeod (mentioned), Jody Mills, Donna Hanscum, Jack (Supernatrual), Chuck Shurley, Amara (Supernatural) (mentioned), Gabriel (Supernatural) (mentioned), Charlie Bradbury, Claire Novak, Alex Jones (Supernatural), Patience Turner, Kelly Kline (mentioned) - Character, Grant Ward, Thanos (Marvel), Gamora (Marvel), Peter Quill, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot (Marvel), Mantis (Marvel), Nebula (Marvel), Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Luis (Ant-Man movies), Kurt (Ant-Man movies), Dave (Ant-Man movies), Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Wade Wilson, Peter Parker, Thor (Marvel), Loki (Marvel), Clint Barton, Laura Barton, Weasel, Dopinder (Marvel), James "Rhodey" Rhodes, T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri (Marvel), Vision (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Okoye (Marvel), Wong (Marvel), Ned Leeds, Michelle (Marvel), Aunt May (Marvel), Yondu (mentioned), Mary Winchester (mentioned), John Winchester (mentioned), Howard Stark (mentioned), Sarah Rogers (mentioned), joseph rogers (mentioned), Ellen Harvelle (mentioned), Jo Harvelle (mentioned), Meg Masters (mentioned), Balthazar (mentioned) - Character, Ash (mentioned), Death (Mentioned), Garth Fitzgerald IV, Jessica Moore (mentioned), Becky Rosen (mentioned), Maia, Chapeau (Disney: Beauty and the Beast), Froufrou (Disney: Beauty and the Beast)

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Lucifer/Sam Winchester, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Gaston/LeFou (Disney), Adam/Belle (Disney), Cadenza/Madame de Garderobe (Disney), Peter Parker/Wade Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, Lumiere/Plumette (Disney), Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster/Thor, Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Gamora/Peter Quill, Hank Pym/Janet Van Dyne

Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Drunk Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Jealous Tony Stark, Jealous Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide Attempt, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Sam Wilson Likes Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Has PTSD, Injured Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Doctor Strange Is A Cockblock, Doctor Strange Is A Douche, Mpreg, Post Tony Stark/Pepper Potts Relationship, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Past Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Past Relationship(s), Red Skull Is a Douchebag, Tony Stark Has A Drinking Problem, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Has Nightmares, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Likes Maid's Outfits, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Steve Rogers Is Good WIth Kids, Steve Rogers is Not a Virgin, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Superfamily, Peter Parker Has a Family, Luis Is A Fanboy, Magnus Bane Flirts, Tony Stark Likes Shania Twain, Thanos Might Be A Good Guy