the yak occidental

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from A Complicated Kindness: A Novel by Miriam Toews. And then we just started talking about music because that was sort of the test of potential. Even a Menno sheltered from the world knows not to stick her tongue into the mouth of a boy who owns an Air Supply record. You might stick your tongue into the mouth go a boy who owned some Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but you would not date him on a regular basis, or openly. And then somehow Travis mentioned the name of Lou Reed without acting like a fawning dork about it and I knew then that I waned to be his girlfriend so I stopped talking for a while and tried to act demure by keeping my lips a certain way. p.23 A few weeks ago my uncle came over to borrow my dad’s socket set and when he asked my dad how he was my dad said oh, unexceptional. Living quietly with my disappointments. And how are you? I never know if he’s joking when he says things like that or not. He always signs off his Christmas card...

  It has been very well documented on this blog that Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith is by far one of my very favourite non fiction books of all time at this point. When I first heard Beyoncé's 16 Carriages I was immediately reminded of this passage from Shine Bright : I told Lamont, "If you f-ck with me on this job like you f-cked with me at Billboard , I'll leave you." It was the strongest and the nicest way I could say it. [...]  I was where I was supposed to be. I wanted to be cursed no more for staying out late at shows. I didn't want to be resented for getting assignments, or for needing time and peace to work. I didn't want to be paged and paged, being asked where I was and when I was coming home. I didn't want to scream and snot-cry and fight and be exhausted and depressed and embarrassed by antics. I didn't want to feel guilty for not cooking. I cooked well, and as often as I could, but I had a j...

  The Two Fridas c. 1939 by Frida Kahlo A few thoughts for if you're the F.O.D. (thank you, Shonda ). If you are a pioneer and outlier, there is no one to compare yourself to, and no one to compete with. So where do you position yourself if your work is singular, sui generis, even? A practitioner who has preceded a movement can find it difficult to either assimilate, or remain outside of it. from Sonic Seasonings: The Genius of Wendy Carlos by Sinéad Gleeson in This Woman's Work: Essays on Music edited by Sinéad Gleeson and Kim Gordon "If we know ourselves, we are always home, anywhere." That's what Horne's angelic Glinda the Good Witch says sings to Diana Ross's Dorothy in the film version of The Wiz. But what if we don't know ourselves? Or can't? What if our time in history doesn't allow it? from Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith In the early '40s, when Sun Ra was on trial for his conscientious ...

  Large Snowflakes c.1913 by Uemura Shōen It was about a week after the Setsubun holiday in early February when Mr. Nakano announced that the Nakano shop would close temporarily. It had been snowing on and off since the morning. It's called kazahana , when the snow is so fine like this, it seems as if it is drifted in on the wind, Masayo said. - from The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami