We should be lovers instead

[sovay]

Rabbit, rabbit! I realized that between recovering from my first vaccine shot, dealing with the cats' medical issues, dealing with my medical issues, and recovering from my second vaccine shot, March went fast and April is doing its best to hit the ground running, but spatch made steak and grits for dinner once I got off the phone and a purring Autolycus is doing his best to write this post for me with his chin. Have some links.

1. Courtesy of selkie: SVARA's Trans Halakha Project. As described by Rabbi Becky Silverstein and Laynie Soloman, the project "aims to curate existing resources that have been developed for trans Jews and by trans Jews, identify new areas of halakha that have yet to be developed, and finally to create opportunities for developing new halakhic literature and practice guides that speak directly to these areas of need. Are you a trans Jew?! Take our survey!"

2. Courtesy of rushthatspeaks: Ashnikko, "Deal with It (feat. Kelis)." He is correct that the lyrics of the song and the narrative of the video are not as congruent as they might be, but the sufficiency of barnacles and tentacles and deep-sea kraken-sirens nonetheless caused me to write back at once, "Thank you for sending me porn." Like, I knew that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007) went straight into my id, but it's always nice to see who else's, too.

3. Also courtesy of rushthatspeaks: Studio Killers, "Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship)." A cinnamon roll of an f/f romance with adorable interstitial commentary, in addition to being one of the cleverest conceits for a lyrics video I have encountered.

Lethe Press is doing a Kindle sale for April, which means that if you would like to pick up a copy of Forget the Sleepless Shores (2018) for super-cheap, it can be done.

I am determined to get a decent picture of the elm tree budding on our street.

Comments

[sovay]

Man, that Ashnikko video - the kraken-siren looks like something Dancy Flammarion would fight.

She does! rushthatspeaks called it a me/Gemma/Caitlín aesthetic and I don't disagree.

(I think Eustace is a lesbian; the cursor clicked back to the video without me touching the keyboard. Or I'm cohabiting with a Sapphic ghost. I hope she likes chai.)

If she hasn't knocked your mug off the table, odds are good.

I'm due a reread of Sleepless Shores! I hope this flies off the shelves (or whatever the Kindle-equivalent is). We need to keep you in waistcoats!

Thank you! I hope so, too. I could also live with a few more positive reviews. (You wrote a very fine one at the time, which I still appreciate.)

Please get a picture of the elm if you can?

I want to! It's been so rainy or heavily overcast the last few days. This morning there was sunshine, but I was trapped by work/phone/Zoom and couldn't get out before the light turned to crud.

I don't know if Dutch Elm Disease hit you as it did us. I'm just about old enough to remember them standing here before they went into the dreamtime.

We suffered a massive wipeout starting in the 1940's and peaking in the '70's. There's a ferociously protected grove on the National Mall in D.C., but otherwise I don't think I've seen an elm in the wild more than a couple of times in my life, which is why I was so excited when one was planted on our street. It's a Jefferson elm, which means it's a cutting from a DED-resistant tree of that name on the National Mall. What I really want is a blight-resistant chestnut somewhere I can take care of it. There have been breeding programs for years for those.

[ashlyme]

*rushthatspeaks called it a me/Gemma/Caitlín aesthetic and I don't disagree.*

I agree with him too. Must read much more Gemma (any recommendations?).

*If she hasn't knocked your mug off the table, odds are good.*

Hee. That's my job. I wasn't unhappy to rewatch Jenny anyway. I'll let you know if there are any other "signs"!

*(You wrote a very fine one at the time, which I still appreciate.)*

It was a pleasure to read - and write about. May there be more.

I'd hoped American elms had escaped the horror. Damn. It was only recently I'd heard how your chestnut populaion suffered. And now we're facing ash dieback. They're not so thick round here but not rare - and I do not want to see them go.

[sovay]

Must read much more Gemma (any recommendations?).

What have you read of hers? If not yet her novel Experimental Film (2015), I think you might like it very much—it's folk horror with early film. All of her short story collections are good; I am especially fond of Spectral Evidence (2018) and Drawn Up from Deep Places (2018) and some of my favorite characters of hers can be found in the mosaic novel We Will All Go Down Together (2014). I have not yet managed to get my hands on a physical copy of her most recent collection In that Endlessness, Our End (2021), but it's good.

It was a pleasure to read - and write about. May there be more.

Thank you. (Are you in league with selkie about this?)

And now we're facing ash dieback. They're not so thick round here but not rare - and I do not want to see them go.

Is this the ash borer where you are, or a different problem? I don't want to see them go, either. Trees are important.

[ashlyme]

*What have you read of hers?*

Only a very few short stories, scattered across anthologies I've borrowed, and I think maybe in Not One Of Us Too? Thanks for all your recommendations - she has some great titles. I'll see what I can track down!

*(Are you in league with Selkie about this?)*

I am now!

*Is this the ash borer where you are, or a different problem?*

It's a fungal disease that doesn't need an insect to spread it. "Epitaph for the Elm" was mentioned on your other entry. The niece of that book's author has written an equivalent for the ash tree. "Many occupants of this wood are passing into spirit form and, clamour as they may, nothing can save them."

[sovay]

Thanks for all your recommendations - she has some great titles. I'll see what I can track down!

You're welcome! Her stories are as good as her titles.

"Many occupants of this wood are passing into spirit form and, clamour as they may, nothing can save them."

Augh.