the yak occidental

An observation: over the summer, we saw a lot of brands, bloggers, companies, etc, state their solidarity and/or support for Black communities in North America. I'm seeing the holiday shopping guides come out from said bloggers, brands, etc, and I'm disappointed to say that many do not feature Black-owned businesses. Please consider this when you are making a list and checking it twice. I would also urge you to support small, local businesses this holiday season. Amazon, Apple, Nordstrom, Sephora, Wal-Mart, etc, do not need your help right now. Put your money back into your own community by shopping at small, independently-owned local businesses.  /rant. Now get shopping with our suggestions below! For the person who lives in athleisure: St. Lyon  Image above from St. Lyon I personally own clothing by St. Lyon. Excellent customer service and products, though I do feel sizing runs a bit small. I would further like to give props to St. Lyon for donating 10% of their profits to ...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from An Unofficial Rose by Iris Murdoch. Painting above: The Rose from Armida's Garden (c. 1894) by Marie Spartali Spillman  “Most of our love is shabby stuff,” said Douglas.  “But there is always a thin line of gold,  the bit of pure love on which all the rest depends— and which redeems all the rest.” p.110 I want to be lucky—or nothing. p.221 Real compassion is agnosticism;  and we must be compassionate to ourselves, too. p.280

As I mentioned last week, coping techniques abound. Here are seven things I actually do when the going gets tough. Digitally Paint a Room Above: Remember that time we painted Shirley's nursery?  Most paint companies/suppliers offer a free online mock-up tool where you can select a colour of your choice, and 'apply' it to a room so you can see how it looks. I find this soothing as I like to read the paint chip colours, and it's fun to imagine your dream house if you are unable to control the colour of your walls (renting life, amiright?)  It's also fun to imagine a theme - what shade of pink works best for each room so Barbie can feel at home? What if this were a haunted house? Pick a theme and give it a go! Try it: Benjamin Moore - Colour a Room Cloverdale Paint - Colour Visualizer Read a Recipe Book/Cookbook This one doesn't count if it's online or a blog -- you start jumping around and next thing you know you're just doomscrolling again. Get yourself ...

Above: me and KY Dec 2019 Here's a playlist dedicated to my darker, more terrible half (KY). With this playlist I have tried to capture the last decade in particular - the soaring, arguably manic highs, and the devastating lows of who we are, what we have done, our relationship with the rest of the family, etc. We are the same person, just two sides of the same coin. No, we are not identical. Yes, we are cursed. Bye Bye Bye by Plants and Animals The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing by The Decemberists Bitter Rivals by Sleigh Bells Black Sheep by Metric I'm Good, I'm Gone by Lykke Li Birth in Reverse by St. Vincent Hysterical by Sad13 In the Flowers by Animal Collective California Girls by The Magnetic Fields Sprawl 2 (Mountains beyond Mountains) by Arcade Fire Two Cousins by Slow Club No No No by Beirut You Are What You Love by Jenny Lewis Bad Blood (Cover by Kiana Grannis & Clara C) by CLARA Whatever  (Folk Song in C)  by Elliott Smith Sole Brother by Born Ruffians Twin...

This post about Pinterest (not sponsored, I swear) oddly starts with LinkedIn. Image above: Pioneering filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché, image credit The Mary Sue I'm unusually active on LinkedIn where I share articles about the entertainment and animation industry. I want to know and track what events and cultural shifts bring about more inclusive stories, diverse creative and production teams, and fair production practices. I have received a lot of positive feedback, curiosity, and general conversation about the articles I post to my feed.  Generally, I share things on the topic of screen or print-based media, though occasionally to touch upon art and STEM-related items as well. I think its important to be open to inspiration from work outside your own, otherwise we get tunnel vision/have no fresh ideas, no? For my own organization and growth, I’ve decided to try and use Pinterest to create an archive/directory of the articles I post here on LinkedIn. Here are the boards I’ve created t...

Painting above: Le paysage (Brittany landscape) by Emily Carr, 1911 Coping tactics and ideas for self care have been everywhere lately. What ails us now (elections! pandemic ! holidays approaching!) may be a a bit different from what our gals of old were stressing about, however, I have noticed a common coping technique in the writings of both Jane Austen and Anne Brontë . I'm just about done reading Emma by Jane Austen for the first time (I really enjoyed Autumn de Wilde 's recent adaptation) and there is a part near the end where our titular heroine needs a breather, so what does our gal do?: "[...] she lost no time in hurrying into the shrubbery." -from Emma by Jane Austen In Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall things are perhaps a bit more serious (I won't specify what happens to avoid spoilers of course),  causing our heroine to do much the same: "I flew to the shrubbery." - from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë If it's go...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from A Woman Speaks: Lectures, Seminars, Interviews of Anaïs Nin edited by Evelyn J. Ninz Painting above: Canna Red and Orange (c.1926) by Georgia O'Keeffe What I wanted to give you today was a new centre of gravity, because we have tried to live too much within the group and with the notion of the millions, with the sense of the too many, of the outer forces, the external world. Great pressures have been put on us, and some of us, not having something to equalize it in our inner life, collapsed under the weight and felt despair, depression, frustration, and therefore became angry people. And an angry and unhappy [person] is dangerous to society. p.1-2 So when we make this interior change we do affect the external world. Now everybody separated that and said: there is either rushing virtuously to live a collective life or else there is this selfish introspection and concern with your own development. But the two are completely ...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from Conversations with Anaïs Nin , edited by Wendy M. DuBow. Painting above: Provençal Conversation (c.1936) by Stella Bowen I was never deprived of the emotional experience of motherhood. There is plenty to mother in the world. I took Lawrence’s words: “Women should stop bringing children into the world. They should bring hope into the world.” I have had many children, really. Everyone who seeks to develop and grow needs a mother. Besides, three little girls have been named Anaïs. p.73-74 Q: In an important sense, you are a revolutionary. What have you learned about yourself and other women through your solitary courage? Anais: The importance of faith, the great importance of orientation and the inner life to withstand outer pressures. Also, the understanding that increased awareness will prevail and cause external changes. The importance of inner conviction. I had the love of my work and nothing could stop it. p.96 ...