Coffee & Blogs No. 22

I went back to school last week. The week beforehand was full of preparations- squeezing in last minute summer celebrations and spending time setting up my classroom. I'm feeling overwhelmed and scratchy-voiced (from days of teaching procedures and chatting with my students), as well as in love with these new kids, and excited to be back in a solid routine.

I miss my writing and I miss my reading. I miss the hobbies that made naptime so glorious all summer long. I have tons of half-started articles and projects. I am wildly overdue for a library trip. I miss sharing ideas with you all  here. Balance is illusive for all of us, and I'm sorting out a new season of it. Stay tuned, lovelies.

One thing I do have figured out: links! The world is full of things waiting to be learned, deconstructed, and laughed at. I made you a playlist, too. You're welcome!

This has made me consistently happy for several weeks. I will leave it right here:

Step 386: With tragically few exceptions, you don’t get to tell other people what to do I love Kelly's advice blog, Adulting, and this step is SO important for me to remember as I'm meeting a whole classroom full of families who live different lives than I do. It's basically none of my business if their priorities, parenting decisions, or lifestyles are not what I'd choose. This is something I think teachers struggle with in general.

I have not seen Girl Meets World or anything that Rowan Blanchard has done, but I am completely blown away by this thirteen-year-old and her Instagram essay on intersectional feminism. I mean, this is a THESIS, quoting scholars and current events in a composed way. At thirteen I'm pretty sure I was saving quarters from my allowance to buy a tube of mascara; at thirty, I can't articulate myself in this manner. Rowan is incredibly impressive, and gives me hope for the future.

These images are completely lovely. The blog post that shares them calls them "real love," which my mind immediately rejected, because I'd say these images show one very tiny corner of what love will look like in life, but oh MY, is it a pleasant corner. The artist, Puuung, is one of my newest follows on Facebook.

Discussions about gender identity and how people label themselves are much more prominent in mainstream culture right now than even a year ago. I really appreciated this perspective from a woman who identifies as a butch lesbian.  "So why have I, a female-bodied person who wears men's clothing, decided to stick with the increasingly old-fashioned “butch lesbian woman”? In part, it's because the language of gender identity has always been a bit bewildering to me—I've felt hungry, happy, gassy, and anxious, but never male or female." More food for thought about how none of this is anyone else's business. I don't need to understand they way you interpret your own gender in order to respect you and treat you like a person.

I CANNOT STOP WITH THIS SERIES FROM THE TOAST. I was waiting and waiting for If Chris Pratt Were Your Boyfriend, but there was maybe too much hype in my Andy/Star Lord loving little head, and I didn't end up liking it as much as the Daniel Radcliffe one. I'm not much of a Radcliffe fan, but he's a terrific imaginary boyfriend. Do yourself a favor and enjoy some of these.  The Gwyenth Paltrow one made me laugh out loud. Twice. Looking up the links for these means I just fell down a beautiful rabbit hole of these. I can't stop. I cannot stop.

Nimona was one of my favorite books of the summer- I'm really into the hero/villian gay love story lately (CAN'T WAIT FOR CARRY ON by RAINBOW ROWELL!) and Noelle Stevenson nails it with such extreme sweetness. Blackheart totally woos me, not in the least because his complicated emotions seem so effortless. This article appreciating Stevenson's work got me all excited to check out Lumberjanes.

This article from The Mary Sue highlights a Twitter exchange between a fan, JK Rowling, and Tom Felton about whether Draco is a suitable boyfriend. I'm not totally sold on the importance of the article (JK Rowling is not someone I look to for advice on how to interpret literature, even her own), but the comments section here is GOLD. Lots of fan theories about different pairings and Snape's true motivations/worthiness. Maybe I'm just hankering for some good academic Potter talk.

Everyday Feminism is a blog I've just discovered that writes very composedly about feminist issues, focusing on intersectionality with race, class, and disability. I've been impressed with most of the articles I've read so far, and I was SO excited to find this article (Your Fitbit Is Bad For You) that is well written and reasonable and I still completely disagree with. I've been struggling with a habit of shooting down or even demonizing and ideas that don't click with me, and it's a problem. Recognizing that this article doesn't begin to represent my experience with my Fitbit but  might be very helpful for some people  was important.

I may or may not have made a playlist called girls singing softly and it may or may not be my absolute favorite thing right now. Spotify totally has me hooked, and I've been trawling through their personalized Discover Weekly playlist for some good ones. Helplessly by Tatiana Manaois and Lost Boy by Ruth B- don't skip.

I'm on media overload right now: I'm stalled in the middle of season seven of Buffy and have fallen HARD for the reboot of Doctor Who- we've already switched doctors once and I'm handling it just okay. I'm also reading seven million things: Fake ID by Lamar Giles, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Iron Trial (Harry Potter much?) by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, Ms. Marvel 1,  and Lumberjanes 1. I finished Lois Lane: Fallout for Be Your Own Book Club and need to type up my review, but overall I found it pleasant and surfacey- a quick, enjoyable read. I think I wanted more depth, but I'm holding out for the sequel, out next year. I know it's already a bit into September, but I haven't found my pick for the month yet- I'm considering All The Light We Cannot See or something by Neil Gaiman. Let me know what you think!

That's what I've got this week. I'm off to watch my sister get married and spend some overdue time with my far-flung family. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!