then there are blackbirds

My goodness. I never thought I'd have the energy or the chance to revisit my linkspam days at this stage of grad school but here we are... here we are. I went to grab some books from my office and then couldn't get off of Twitter afterward because there was too much going on and all of it was Too Much, in many ways and on many levels. Also I managed to listen to a podcast ep - a true rarity! Malcolm Nance dishing on security & the insurrection was illuminating, if heavy. Here are some gems to (hopefully?) balance it out:

1. Whoever wrote this headline deserves ALL THE AWARDS. "Coup Klux Klan" definitely got the biggest belly laugh out of anything I've seen today.

2. The best metaphor to get the point of IMPEACHING THAT MOFO across? WHO KNOWS, but the whole thread is gold. Especially good was how many people apparently missed it was a metaphor.

3. American Teacher's Federation on Devos's resignation - truly, an epic 'nuff said moment. xD

4. RUDY GIULIANI CALLING THE WRONG PERSON TRYING TO PREVENT CERTIFICATION.

1. Leaving this up top for anyone who, like me, is in danger of disappearing into a political news vortex: How to #StayOutraged Without Losing Your Mind

2. The65 has a list of issues and weekly calls to action, which are likely to be super helpful.

3. An incomplete list of shit going down as seen on fb, from 4 days in: ( It's Tuesday y'all )

4. Verso's Fuck Trump Reading List

5. Poem: From the Encyclopedia of Alternative Facts

6. Indivisible Guide: a practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda

♣ The only (AWESOME) Yuletide story I've read so far this year: Our Voices Raised in Song by jibrailis! AHHHH ARCHANDROID-VERSE CROSSOVER ♥ ♥ ♥ :D

♣ Via angry asian man: Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie, by Arthur Chu

♣ Gorgeous pic of the Grand Canyon after a New Year's snowstorm *___*

♣ Really cool Papaoutai remix by Pentatonix & Lindsey Stirling!

Un-hermit? Whatever. Trying to stay more in touch, anyway.

♣ Quick booklog! It's been a while since I've bothered to play catch-up, but here's what I've read in the past couple of weeks:
+ Shadows Return, Lynn Flewelling
+ The White Road, Lynn Flewelling
+ Casket of Souls, Lynn Flewelling: basically I picked up these three because I was rereading the Nightrunner series at the beginning of last month and realized there were more books! Definitely not the most intriguing in terms of plot or worldbuilding, but I wasn't in a state to process more complicated things at the time.
+ Claymore, v.1-4: I started the first volume and was like, monsters and monster-killing ladies, this is awesome in theory but idk why people love it so much? Then suddenly I hit the third one and went TERESAAAAAAAAAAA A:SDLKSJDF:LSDKFJ ♥ ♥ ♥ and okay, yes, now I get it. xD
+ Uraboku, v.6: This required that I backtrack through v.5 to remember character threads, lol. Cracktastic fluff remains fluffy and (so, so, so) cracktastic.
+ Kamisama Kiss, v.14: I love that Nanami never gives up. Also, aw, more backstory! ♥

(If you want to see what else I've been reading you can check out my 2014 shelf, but I leave almost no commentary on Goodreads.)

♣ A friend recently reminded me of the awesomeness that is Penn Masala via this video, and then I accidentally a not-so-mini vortex.

♣ Zouk earworm throwback! I hadn't realized that the singer was such eye-candy, heh. ( Gage- Pense à moi )

(because this is what I do when the flail/scream is OVERWHELMING okay)

♣ Via angryasianman: Experiences of Asian-American Women survey. One of the things that caught my eye about this research study blurb is that the sponsor is Derald Wing Sue, who is one of my heroes for his academic publications about racial microaggressions! Not that that means that this study is necessarily related, but still. *geeks*

♣ Via littlebutfierce: Bao Phi, Yellowbrown Babies for the Revolution. There are many punch-in-the-gut lines, but for me what hit hardest was this:

I will never ask you to change your name
I will never ask you to change your name
your name is at home on my tongue

do you hear me

♣ deepad and amazeface compatriots ♥: Nice White Lady Authors Take a Hike: 'Vacations from Hell' made me laugh and laugh.

♣ Via vi: Taymiya Zaman: Not Talking About Pakistan - another glorious gut-punch. For some reason it made me think of Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai's line about kindness over genius.

+ Via vi: The Name and the Face by Juliana Qian

+ Via happydork: ( adorable basketball rivalry video! )

+ Via angry asian man: ( Jeremy Lin in Taipei )

+ And because I'm super belated about most things fandom these days: prompt post at kuroko_no_basket (which I've only been ogling since, er, it first went up >.>)!

» eta; Don't forget to sign up for Kaleidoscope!

Wow, this is the first time I have actually had a class canceled! In celebration I had a glorious two-person dumpling party and, er, started inhaling notes for Monday's midterm. Which I need to get back to, actually! Therefore, some randoms:

» I'm not sure I made it clear in my last post that yes, I have watched (and rewatched and rewatched) the first Korra ep! Proper discussion will have to come post-midterm, though. In the meantime: ( CAPSLOCK SPOILERS )

» Check out ( Janelle covering Jimi Hendrix! )

» a number of recipes I am planning to try:
- the single lady pancake
- eggs in bell peppers or onion rings
- eggs in avocado slices
- guac omelette

» I am SPOILED by DW A:TLA fandom, you guys. Someone made me an APPA HAT! State Dinner is the OTGaang ficlet of my heart!

Other reasons to love white_lotus's Lunar New Year Exchange:
+ a deep delight of the blood- wow, I find bloodbending practice an extremely believable basis for Katara/Zuko now.
+ Ephemera from the Avatar Collection at Republic City University with notes and commentary by the archivists!
+ Primary Sources, aka Sokka and Suki vs. Wan Shi Tong, THE FACEOFF! xD
+ Spa Day is awesome lovely Katara/Toph (with OTGaang in the background ♥)!

» Love meme at dingsi's! Thanks for my thread. ♥

» Check out terajk's Heroes Arrive Last fest!

» The Boy Who Only Lived Twice- I haven't read HP fic in a really long time & I've never read much Harry/Draco, but OMG SERIOUSLY, the way this story plays with all the levels of fucked-up those two are is fantastic.

+ Workin' It Out- dudes, I am not the biggest fan of Adam Lambert, but Adam Lambert + Tumbling earnestfaces = yes please, apparently! Also KIYAMA/MIZUSAWA, BRB STILL FLAILING EVERYWHERE. (Spoilers, obvs.)

-- because of course I am flailing about offline while everybody is being thinky and brilliant on the internets. :P

A few #YesGayYA links, more for my reference at this point than anyone else's:
» oyceter: Diversity in YA. I particularly love this post because I sort of... don't see the point of people arguing over a single "best" or "winning" solution for a thorny multi-level problem, when really what is needed is to tackle it at every level, community and individual, in whatever ways are possible.
» deepad: In which I am derailing and contrary and also unsupportive of the Market, because (among her many other points) while having/establishing a baseline of identity representation is important, I also don't believe it is enough. (I remember being grateful for Memoirs of a Geisha the first time I read it; I wouldn't wish such a feeling- for such a book!- on any East Asian immigrant child arriving and growing up here after me.)
» colorblue goes further into hierarchy dissection here.
» ephemere: Just business, because- well. Yes. *is incoherent*

Since I am likely to continue flailing about offline and being sporadic on the internets, have a signal-boost while I'm here: ephemere is taking pre-orders for Kandila, a calligraphy poembook! If you have not seen her calligraphy or art, GO AND OGLE FORTHWITH BECAUSE IT IS MADE OF MUCH GLORIOUS.

homg this heat I cannot take it! I feel so weaksauce this year; I could withstand last summer after China/Taiwan, but it seems that going to parts Scandinavian had the opposite effect. ;________;

Instead of whining about how much I feel like a useless puddle at the moment, here are some things you guys might be interested in:

» 观音山/Buddha Mountain, which is about three friends who move in with a retired Chinese opera singer. I don't really know how to explain or describe this movie, but I watched it on the flight home and found it pretty touching (if a little slow-moving). I really like things that explore friendships and chosen-family themes, and I also have more appreciation for slice-of-life stuff these days. You can watch the trailer on youtube here, and Film Asia has a longer/more spoilery synopsis here; I would also say that the movie may be triggering for ( spoilerish territory? )

» How She Move, which- nota bene- I only caught the second half of, and it's a dance movie, but it stars Rutina Wesley! And it's an all-POC cast! And it's step dancing, which I loooooove to watch. (Well, okay, I will watch pretty much any type of dance with a *_____* face, but still- step! It's awesome guys.)

» ephemere: Schoolbook. This gave me such shivers. &hearts &hearts

» Stop Trying to 'Save' Africa, an awesome essay by Uzodinma Iweala (special note for those of you whom I owe certain items of post! ;D This was actually reprinted in the ARS 11 exhibition book, alas that I couldn't justify 38 euros for its purchase).

» One quick signal-boost, via la_vie_noire: Panic on the streets of London

Also, I watched Center Stage (or most of it, I think I missed about 15 minutes somewhere towards the end?) during an extended brain-lapse phase last night and basically, ZOE SALDANA I HEART YOU WHY ARE YOU NOT THE PROTAGONIST. Also also, catching up on the beginning of SYTYCD S6 was one of the best TV decisions I've made recently. *sparkly hearts*