It’s been a bit of a strange week. Mercury’s in retrograde; miscommunications and crosstalk land with more heaviness and consequence than usual; delays drag on. I’ve felt very up and down, and thought I’d just have a week of recommending stuff to your attention that’s been moving me and bringing me a lot of joy and catharsis, and ask you to do the same if you feel moved to do so. So here goes!
Music
Stu introduced me to Rina Sawayama’s music this week, and I’m obsessed with it. He made me listen to “STFU!”, and both the growly, love-letter-to-Limp-Bizkit-in-shitpost-form version and the acoustic version make me feel a particularly vicious sort of happiness. I preferred listening to it to watching the video — having listened to it first, I wanted, er, more violence from the video than it engages in — but it’s been mashing the buttons of my feelings for the last few days. Highly recommended if you want to burst into tears in the wake of an intense cardio workout.
Games
I was recently introduced to Dialect and it’s blowing me away.
Jeeyon Shim and Shing Yin Khor’s Field Guide to Memory has been tilling my emotional soil on a daily basis, and I’m going to write about it at more length soon, but meantime, you should absolutely follow the links for each of their Patreon accounts, because they’re wonderful.
Comics and Cartoons
I often speak of how I watch cartoons medicinally: in times of sadness and high stress, cartoons ground me in colour and joy. They often make me cry when I need that release, or fill me up with warmth when I feel hollow and numb. I’m still hoarding the final season of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and consuming the latest Craig of the Creek episodes in small, careful sips.
Lately Stu’s been a champion of curating comics for me that produce a similar effect — comics that I can read right before bed knowing they’ll help calm my brain down enough to let me sleep, comics that bring me a very specific kind of comforting joy.
Here are a few of them, and some things I’ve said about them.
I’ve decided to keep these in a running Bedtime Reading list on Bookshop.org; I have an affiliate account with them, because (quoting from their Author Brochure) authors “earn 10% of every purchase made from their Bookshop sales--and a matching 10% will go to support independent bookstores.” So, full disclosure, buying these books (or anything else from my shopfront) through this link benefits me, but you should absolutely buy them wherever is most convenient for you, or seek them out at your local library.
Is there art you turn towards with reliable regularity for an easing of the heart? A book, a poem, a piece of music, a film, a comic? I’d love to know.
Wishing you all the best for an easeful and nourishing weekend,
The shift from college to grad school had me missing the feeling of working adjacent to friends who worked on their own things, but all of us bonding over engaging with our work with similar intensity and enthusiasm.
The Dragon Age and Mass Effect video game series' have very well written and voiced characters who accompany the main player, so I replay or watch scenes from those games regularly to feel a bit of that camaraderie. The Mummy series works the same way for me but I don't return to it quite as frequently.
A piece of music for you; the middle movement of Beethoven’s Quartet op. 132. He wrote it after recovering from an illness and called it the “Heiliger Dankgesang.” It moves from the sublime stillness of stunned thankfulness to the first clumsy, halting, steps of health, and oscillates between these two states until you reach a place far beyond them and deep within them. It’s one of the most extraordinary works of art I know in any medium, and I really do have a feeling that you would be a good friend to it.
I just listened to this, and it's like the perfect song for right now. I'm in Texas, and the snow is starting to melt, and we're in less danger of our power grid collapsing, and it feels like the return of - not HOPE per se, but that general sense of "okay, MAYBE we can cope with the mess."
For me, my go to is to play a monotonous game that you can grind, and then usually play a podcast in the background. The game preoccupies my hands, while the podcast preoccupies my mind.
Over the years, the games change, but the methodology stays the same.
(Mostly this is my coping mechanism because I'm not the type of person to re-read books or re-watch movies.)
And I guess this is also the time to plug Madoka, since this was a series I was hoping you'd eventually get to watch as there's lots of complex emotions involved (including female friendship, sacrifice, etc.)
It's just that FMA: Brotherhood seems like a show you'll watch the entire year (64 episodes), while Madoka is one you can watch over the weekend (12 episodes).
Holy cow, Rina Sawayama is incredible! I had no idea she was out there, but now I know she'll be in heavy rotation on my playlists. After "STFU!", I listened to seven other songs on her YouTube channel. Every one is unique and subverts the genre(s) it draws from. The videos are amazing, too! While I share your impression that the video for "STFU!" is perhaps too reserved, I think most of her other videos are just about perfectly balanced.
I don't know what's been going on in the past month, other than general pandemic fatigue, but it takes only the gentlest nudge to push me into tears. BAND-MAID, the all-woman Japanese hard rock group that have held me in their grip for the past few years, just released a song about COVID separation, "about Us," that absolutely wiped me out. Their usual fare has lately ranged between roots exploration--blues, grunge, stadium rock--and art rock, prog rock, and metal with all the dials cranked until they snap. This is so different. I don't even want to call it "restrained", since that gives an impression of energy held under tension. Instead, maybe I'd say it's like laying down under a weighted blanket and crying. The lyrics are so personal, and the vibe so comforting. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
(but, y'know, if you want the hard stuff, I'd also recommend "Warning!" and "Giovanni", or "Black Hole" if you can go without breathing for three minutes straight)
I am not much of a rewatcher or a rereader. But there are exceptions. Gaiman's Stardust is one. For music, I've been listening to a LOT of BlackPink in the past year. The energy is uplifting. And I think I'm gonna do a rewatch of WandaVision after the season's done.
WandaVision is SO GREAT. I'm loving what a weekly ritual it's become for Stu & me -- not just take-out & sitting to watch it together after fluttering expectation, but also wholescale ignoring of the internet throughout the day in order to not get spoiled.
I have a shelf of books I've dubbed my comfort / absorb-their-greatness-by-osmosis reads, which includes the Murderbot Diaries, The Song of Achilles, The Likeness, and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (and, of course, This is How You Lose the Time War :) ).
I LOVE Kay Leyh’s work!! Snapdragons has been on my shelf for ages—I’ve been saving it for the right time, whatever that means in my head. Sometimes I get that thing where the more I’m anticipating something the harder it is to start it (see also: every time a new season of The Expanse comes out).
My biggest comfort tv the past few years has been Deep Space Nine, idk what I’m going to do if they ever take it off Netflix.
When I'm in need of comfort, I rewatch some lovely character-driven movies. Lincoln and The King's Speech are two. I guess I go sepia when I need bolstering.
I like to re-watch favorite films. Lincoln, The King's Speech - I guess I go sepia whenever I need strength of spirit.
And this feels too easy, but Seamus Heaney's "The Cure at Troy." (That's like the poetry version of saying the Beatles are really cool, have you ever heard them?)
One of my lifelong favorite musicians and DJs, Rich Mowatt aka Solarstone, started streaming sets weekday mornings on Twitch and it has been an unbelievable lifeline. Music, a little bit of banter and general silliness, answering a question here and there from the listeners. Of course, "weekday mornings" are in Wales real-time, but the internet is magic so I just end up making part of my own morning routines.
Happy Friday, and wow, so many recommendations! Thank you!!
I turn to graphic novels to ease the heart. Tintin on the lighter side, and Alison Bechdel's novels Funhome and Are You My Mother on the (much heavier, but still emotionally cathartic!) side.
Apparently, this week I needed to go back to childhood favorites and therefore dove headfirst into listening to old INXS, Bad Brains, Depeche Mode, and Prince. And sobbing at them. <3 I have a playlist I call "All of Me" which is all the music I found comforting during every era of my life, and it's been a boon these days.
I also turn to Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, and Ntozake Shange for poems that help. I don't know why but Adrienne Rich's "Power," an ode to Marie Curie and the interdependency of help vs harm, is constantly on my mind. Shange's "I live in music" is a boon.
Great recommendations (oh, and was it Friday?! what a week!) Snapdragon and A Map to the Sun are both fantastic. Of recent graphic novel reads: Flamer (Mike Curato), City Monster (Reza Farazmand) and Moms (Yeong-shin Ma) are also great (though they are more on the heart wrenching, hard, and gritty end of the spectrum; City Monster is hilarious). Kid Cosmic (TV) is quirky and fun. NYICFF (https://nyicff.org/) is on soon, with wonderful children's films and short programs, and due to the pandemic almost all on demand/remote, so you don't have to be in NYC to attend. I have been going to the festival for over a decade now. The line up is always fantastic and magical. (Now I'll go through and check out all these wonderful recs from everyone! Thank you!!!)
If I’m looking for something to soothe me, I’ll often put on any of Taylor Swift’s concert films. Familiar & wholesome, and as anyone who knows me knows, I’m sort of an obsessed fan. Also, kiki’s delivery service and spirited away... and during one difficult point last year I found solace in rillakkuma and kaoru on Netflix. I’m with you re the soothing nature of cartoons.
My comfort music for the last year or two has been The Hut People. They're an entirely instrumental folky-worldy music duo who met while they were both working on making music-making accessible to people who would often miss out on it. They are one person with an accordion and one with a massive selection of percussion instruments, and they calm my brain and heart in a wonderful way.
Musically, currently The Hu ( Mongolian metal) and always Zorba’s Theme. Blue Danube I find incredibly joyous
I love the Hu!! They're in my workout music rotation!
My son and I went to Mongolia in 2019. Mongolian music is just so good
The shift from college to grad school had me missing the feeling of working adjacent to friends who worked on their own things, but all of us bonding over engaging with our work with similar intensity and enthusiasm.
The Dragon Age and Mass Effect video game series' have very well written and voiced characters who accompany the main player, so I replay or watch scenes from those games regularly to feel a bit of that camaraderie. The Mummy series works the same way for me but I don't return to it quite as frequently.
A piece of music for you; the middle movement of Beethoven’s Quartet op. 132. He wrote it after recovering from an illness and called it the “Heiliger Dankgesang.” It moves from the sublime stillness of stunned thankfulness to the first clumsy, halting, steps of health, and oscillates between these two states until you reach a place far beyond them and deep within them. It’s one of the most extraordinary works of art I know in any medium, and I really do have a feeling that you would be a good friend to it.
I just listened to this, and it's like the perfect song for right now. I'm in Texas, and the snow is starting to melt, and we're in less danger of our power grid collapsing, and it feels like the return of - not HOPE per se, but that general sense of "okay, MAYBE we can cope with the mess."
Hi Amal,
Sending hugs.
For me, my go to is to play a monotonous game that you can grind, and then usually play a podcast in the background. The game preoccupies my hands, while the podcast preoccupies my mind.
Over the years, the games change, but the methodology stays the same.
(Mostly this is my coping mechanism because I'm not the type of person to re-read books or re-watch movies.)
And I guess this is also the time to plug Madoka, since this was a series I was hoping you'd eventually get to watch as there's lots of complex emotions involved (including female friendship, sacrifice, etc.)
Also wanted to mention there's now a trailer for the 2nd season of Mythic Quest.
SHRIEK!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!! OMGOMGOASDMFKJAHSDFJLKAHSDF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHVknNT_Bmw
Madoka!!! yes! Thank you for the reminder! We might watch FMA: Brotherhood first because Stu's quite keen on it but thereafter!
It's just that FMA: Brotherhood seems like a show you'll watch the entire year (64 episodes), while Madoka is one you can watch over the weekend (12 episodes).
I think you'll love it. And also possibly be devastated by it.
Holy cow, Rina Sawayama is incredible! I had no idea she was out there, but now I know she'll be in heavy rotation on my playlists. After "STFU!", I listened to seven other songs on her YouTube channel. Every one is unique and subverts the genre(s) it draws from. The videos are amazing, too! While I share your impression that the video for "STFU!" is perhaps too reserved, I think most of her other videos are just about perfectly balanced.
I don't know what's been going on in the past month, other than general pandemic fatigue, but it takes only the gentlest nudge to push me into tears. BAND-MAID, the all-woman Japanese hard rock group that have held me in their grip for the past few years, just released a song about COVID separation, "about Us," that absolutely wiped me out. Their usual fare has lately ranged between roots exploration--blues, grunge, stadium rock--and art rock, prog rock, and metal with all the dials cranked until they snap. This is so different. I don't even want to call it "restrained", since that gives an impression of energy held under tension. Instead, maybe I'd say it's like laying down under a weighted blanket and crying. The lyrics are so personal, and the vibe so comforting. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
(but, y'know, if you want the hard stuff, I'd also recommend "Warning!" and "Giovanni", or "Black Hole" if you can go without breathing for three minutes straight)
I am not much of a rewatcher or a rereader. But there are exceptions. Gaiman's Stardust is one. For music, I've been listening to a LOT of BlackPink in the past year. The energy is uplifting. And I think I'm gonna do a rewatch of WandaVision after the season's done.
WandaVision is SO GREAT. I'm loving what a weekly ritual it's become for Stu & me -- not just take-out & sitting to watch it together after fluttering expectation, but also wholescale ignoring of the internet throughout the day in order to not get spoiled.
I have a shelf of books I've dubbed my comfort / absorb-their-greatness-by-osmosis reads, which includes the Murderbot Diaries, The Song of Achilles, The Likeness, and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (and, of course, This is How You Lose the Time War :) ).
I LOVE Kay Leyh’s work!! Snapdragons has been on my shelf for ages—I’ve been saving it for the right time, whatever that means in my head. Sometimes I get that thing where the more I’m anticipating something the harder it is to start it (see also: every time a new season of The Expanse comes out).
My biggest comfort tv the past few years has been Deep Space Nine, idk what I’m going to do if they ever take it off Netflix.
*Kat Leyh, typos, why
When I'm in need of comfort, I rewatch some lovely character-driven movies. Lincoln and The King's Speech are two. I guess I go sepia when I need bolstering.
I like to re-watch favorite films. Lincoln, The King's Speech - I guess I go sepia whenever I need strength of spirit.
And this feels too easy, but Seamus Heaney's "The Cure at Troy." (That's like the poetry version of saying the Beatles are really cool, have you ever heard them?)
One of my lifelong favorite musicians and DJs, Rich Mowatt aka Solarstone, started streaming sets weekday mornings on Twitch and it has been an unbelievable lifeline. Music, a little bit of banter and general silliness, answering a question here and there from the listeners. Of course, "weekday mornings" are in Wales real-time, but the internet is magic so I just end up making part of my own morning routines.
Happy Friday, and wow, so many recommendations! Thank you!!
I turn to graphic novels to ease the heart. Tintin on the lighter side, and Alison Bechdel's novels Funhome and Are You My Mother on the (much heavier, but still emotionally cathartic!) side.
Apparently, this week I needed to go back to childhood favorites and therefore dove headfirst into listening to old INXS, Bad Brains, Depeche Mode, and Prince. And sobbing at them. <3 I have a playlist I call "All of Me" which is all the music I found comforting during every era of my life, and it's been a boon these days.
I also turn to Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, and Ntozake Shange for poems that help. I don't know why but Adrienne Rich's "Power," an ode to Marie Curie and the interdependency of help vs harm, is constantly on my mind. Shange's "I live in music" is a boon.
Great recommendations (oh, and was it Friday?! what a week!) Snapdragon and A Map to the Sun are both fantastic. Of recent graphic novel reads: Flamer (Mike Curato), City Monster (Reza Farazmand) and Moms (Yeong-shin Ma) are also great (though they are more on the heart wrenching, hard, and gritty end of the spectrum; City Monster is hilarious). Kid Cosmic (TV) is quirky and fun. NYICFF (https://nyicff.org/) is on soon, with wonderful children's films and short programs, and due to the pandemic almost all on demand/remote, so you don't have to be in NYC to attend. I have been going to the festival for over a decade now. The line up is always fantastic and magical. (Now I'll go through and check out all these wonderful recs from everyone! Thank you!!!)
If I’m looking for something to soothe me, I’ll often put on any of Taylor Swift’s concert films. Familiar & wholesome, and as anyone who knows me knows, I’m sort of an obsessed fan. Also, kiki’s delivery service and spirited away... and during one difficult point last year I found solace in rillakkuma and kaoru on Netflix. I’m with you re the soothing nature of cartoons.
My comfort music for the last year or two has been The Hut People. They're an entirely instrumental folky-worldy music duo who met while they were both working on making music-making accessible to people who would often miss out on it. They are one person with an accordion and one with a massive selection of percussion instruments, and they calm my brain and heart in a wonderful way.