"Place is an interesting word because it allows for a distinct overlap between the tangible, physical, and knowable, with ideas, attitudes, cultures, and communities."
"Place is an interesting word because it allows for a distinct overlap between the tangible, physical, and knowable, with ideas, attitudes, cultures, and communities."
This right here is the definitive, totally not arbitrary, ranking of my top 10 dietary proteins….. of 2016.
My view of Kpop hasn’t really shifted from 2015, the year I made contact, when everything was shiny and new and more than a little morbid. I stick with it because it’s like nothing else on earth, and because it continues to surprise. Anything where people like Dahyun and Yerin can be a star is something worth keeping tabs on.
Wesley Morris has been a spring for piercing, relevant prose for some time now. In “Last Taboo”, he begins by summarizing the year in male genitalia on screen…
"We've decided that it is a requirement of an online publication such as ourselves to publish year-end lists."
"I had my father’s witches seal my heart long ago. They wrapped it in stone, sealed it in amber, and gave it to back to me in an urn of black stone. One of them had put a ‘Break in Case of Emergency’ sticker on the back, which I thought was a nice touch. I remember how light the urn felt, and the cold aura that radiated from it. I remember placing it on my mother’s shelf in the vault, fully intending to never retrieve it, and walking out into the sunlight. I remember how cool the sun felt against my skin."
"The ideal team in our socialist basketball era would do the 3-man weave every play until someone just happens to be under the basket for a layup. Actually, the ideal team would just play defense the entire time. God, they love defense."
"Even as fans get more and more movies based on the things they love and that love is actively, fervently courted by the powers that be, fans have come to demand and expect more influence over what shows up on screen."
"He’s a white dot, soon a white line, which will dash east before north before east again. It’s thrilling."
"At first, we searched for, and found, exemplary human beings. We held them up for all to see. They were intelligent, hard working, beautiful, and kind. They did not question our project and, for a time, we were united in our goal of saving lives."
"I turn to ask Sarah if she knows what’s going on. Before she can answer, though, I see out of the corner of my eye that the door appears to be melting. That’s new. Beats an explosion, I guess."
The problem with having heroes who are too human is that you inevitably realize that you will also never escape your humanity. But I think there’s part of me that loves my dad more for knowing about the battles he’s fought and probably still fights.
"You worked, went to church and prayed for a better life. Now we work, go to church and pray for a better season."
"As part of this human life, you get to shatter, build up, and shatter again. Over and over."
"I lay these bitter poems at the feet of my most worshiped idol THE DIVINE FEMININE without whom I would still care what people thought of me"
"Turnips taste of my grandmother/of dirt and tough love and /some bite/of summer gardens"
"Just as I was sitting down to write, my radio spouted off about the latest product line to hit the shelves, Brisk Mate, an exotic energy-enhancing iced tea that lets the consumer tap into “the power of the tribe.”
"Rocky roads that point to whipped creamed Colorado Peaks"
"Three surf waves fought to rise above/They peaked to thirty feet/But their heroics weren’t enough"
"Remember that the person that sees you for all of you is the best person to love"