hold tight

there was no dance, no holy place from which we were absent. brigid alexandra carney. assistant professor of classical studies. northside dubliner. passionate about latin and really old books. caffeine fiend.

[brigidcarney-blog]

keira-marx:

“And my hair does not look like Ariel when I flip it after being in the water. I think that was the worst for me. I still don’t know how she does it.” Keira laughed and nodded. “I luckily don’t work with those ones. I don’t think I can handle that.”

“I don’t think anyone’s hair does that. I mean, we’ve been led to believe all women have magical hair that does whatever we want it to do, but that’s so far away from truth,” Brigid pointed out with a soft burst of laughter. “Me neither. It would be nice to have the chance of being a positive influence to someone, but I don’t know if I could really do that much to anyone.” 

[beholdingslut]

translations of sappho // anne carson & mary barnard

[brigidcarney-blog]

sophiestarr:

“You know, you could take a page out of drag queen’s books and cover your eyebrows with glue and a ton of make-up and draw a whole new one so you get all that real estate back,” she laughed quietly before shaking her head. “People expect a lot from beauty standards, don’t they?” Her tone was less lighthearted, almost somber, but she still wore a soft smile, as usual automatic response as she looked away from the other woman.

“I’ve heard of that trick. The idea of putting glue anywhere near my eyebrows genuinely terrifies me, even if it’s impossible to accidentally remove any hair that way. People are so creative, aren’t they?” While she wouldn’t be using a glue stick for anything but a bit of paper, Brigid could admire the fantastical ways people went about doing their makeup. “They do. It’s always been like that, trust me, but it’s not like we’ve managed to get rid of all these unhealthy beauty standards, even if we no longer expect women to wear corsets or hoop skirts.” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

@prairiekovac

Brigid wasn’t entirely sure what she could realistically expect from her visit to the studio of one Prairie Kovac. She wasn’t even entirely certain whether she should go ahead and do it. Perhaps it was inappropriate and sort of irresponsible of her, a grown woman, but she couldn’t help herself. That was new; she had always been on the hesitant side of things, often too scared to do anything even remotely drastic. However, she also happened to be curious and stubborn. 

Chewing her lower lip, Brigid remained still for a good while. She had checked the address several times and knew she had arrived to her destination, now she simply needed to knock - was she supposed to knock - and wait. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered almost inaudibly and took a step towards the door, allowing herself few seconds of quiet before knocking carefully. 

[brigidcarney-blog]

cassidyxmichealis:

“It does, but I’m not going to let a couple prank phone calls stop me from working.” she said with a determined nod. “Thanks-and that sounds fun!” Automatically, she pulled out a legal pad so she could take down some notes. “We can do that, and let’s just start with how many people’s gonna be in this get together, and work on the details from there.”

Brigid nodded, smiling. The woman certainly seemed to take her job seriously, something she admired and respected in anyone. The club was certainly nice enough for it to be someone’s pride and joy. “That sounds good. Shouldn’t be too big, perhaps around twenty or so people. Again, I’m not entirely sure what they had in mind just yet, but I do have the date. And I can always call you when I get more information.” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

thesimonclare:

“But it’s all about the eyebrows, these days. You’d never make it far in the word of beauty guru-ism without them.” Simon placed a hand over his heart, like he too was deeply affected by this. “We’ve practically been set up to fail, when you think about it.”

“People definitely seem to be into their eyebrows at the moment. I suppose I’m fortunate I already have these two caterpillars just sitting above my eyes since there’s no way I would have the patience to fill them in properly.” Brigid rolled her eyes as if driving a point home. “Life’s so tough when you don’t have space for eleventy different shades of brown on your bleedin’ eyelids.” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

elifxster:

“I mean, you’re definitely talking to the wrong person about makeup but I’ve seen those makeup tutorial videos and that shit is crazy. The precision and everything? It’s actually modern day art with the shit they can do. If they ever needed to touch up the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, just rally up a bunch of those girls from YouTube. They’ll take care of it.”

“It definitely is art. I don’t get it. All these teenagers are turning their faces into absolute masterpieces whereas my generation thought those generally gross roller-ball lip glosses and bright orange face makeup made us look fabulous,” Brigid muttered and grimaced as she took a quick trip down memory lane. “I’m glad the girls nowadays don’t go through all that. The messy ‘90s side ponytail was truly tragic.” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

ceciliasking:

Cecilia wasn’t one to talk too much. Especially when babbling, she had been told, was a sign of nervousness, and since this woman had been to the studio a couple of times ‘window shopping’. Maybe, the more she knew about the brunette, the easiest it would be to do something nice for her, after all, it was her first tattoo… those usually have more meaning than the others. “You know–I love art and some people say that make-up is a form of art, but I really don’t like spending hours covering my face with products that were made to hide people’s distinct features. Or maybe I’m just lazy… who knows?”

Brigid tilted her head slightly and remained quiet for a moment. “I reckon most people use makeup to draw attention to their good features, too. I don’t really know a whole lot about the world of cosmetics, but surely it’s an art in itself. And besides, what would we do without a bit of concealer? Sometimes I just really want to pretend like I get enough sleep,” she laughed softly, brushing fingers through her hair absentmindedly. “It’s definitely sad some of these young girls - and boys, too - feel like they absolutely need to wear piles of makeup to be pretty, or accepted. But I don’t think everyone feels like that, some just like a bit of colour.” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

angelalcott:

“- so I walked in the door, and Seraph was quite literally sitting in a pool of her own vomit - a pool that was in the middle of my couch, I might add. And after all that, really, didn’t I deserve a drink?”

Brigid shuddered as her neutral expression was replaced by one of disgust. “God, you deserve several drinks. And perhaps a four course dinner with extra dessert. I hope everything’s alright now. Is it an expensive couch?” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

reese-hh:

“Honestly, I don’t know much about wine either, but I was told that this is expensive. It’s some sort of cabernet. Hope you like red?” Reese asked, a returning smile on her face. “Not awful at all. Trader Joe’s wine? Like four dollars a bottle, and totally amazing.” 

“Huh. Well, I wouldn’t want you to drink the whole thing by yourself. I have some brand new wine glasses as well, so they need to be broken in.” Brigid ushered the other woman in and made her way to the small living room. “See, that’s the type of wine I usually go for. I don’t really taste the differences so it would be ridiculous of me to pay fifty bucks for a bottle when I think the cheap stuff is just fine, you know?” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

jaccb:

“There’s even that whole phenomenon about how a lot of species have generally ‘cute’ offspring because it discourages humans and some predators from attacking them. They look less assuming that way, y’know? And I guess the same thing applies to our babies how they usually have bigger eyes as kids and then grow into them.” Jacob paused with a shrug. “That’s freaky, definitely. It makes sense on a certain level that we’d be able to detect and eliminate the genetics for disease, but it’s inevitable that it’ll be taken to a much more… extreme and frivolous level when it comes to looks.”

“Yes! Although I do find it funny how so many people find the offspring of other species far cuter than actual human babies. Surely that’s weird. I can’t imagine a giraffe being more fond of baby hippos than, well, other giraffes. We’re weird,” Brigid huffed, mostly entertained by the way most humans tended to act around puppies and kittens, even if they had no real love for human children. “Yeah, yeah, I do understand the desire to make sure everything’s alright and your child will have the best life possible, but I fear some parents might take it too far. I knew a couple who were concerned when their three-year-old didn’t show any signs of athleticism. Maybe it’s because your child is a literal toddler?” 

[opal-aurora]

“Quietly forceful, original, and sensitive. Tend to stick to things until they are done. Extremely intuitive about people, and concerned for their feelings. Well-developed value systems which they strictly adhere to. Well-respected for their perseverance in doing the right thing. Likely to be individualistic, rather than leading or following.”

[brigidcarney-blog]

fallon-ross:

“I have to say, I’ve never really gave much thought to the amount of eyelid space someone had. Even if they don’t have large eyes or eyelids, I’m sure there are plenty of tricks for them to learn on instagram to make us all think they do.”

“You might be right. I don’t understand how those people manage to give themselves these super high cheekbones and slim noses just with a bit of makeup. I’m not sure that was a thing when I was growing up. These folks just skip the whole awkward phase where you reckon unblended blue eyeshadow makes you look all cool and grownup.” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

matthewtate:

“That’s her job. You were a teenage girl once, I’m sure you could imagine.” Just in the way he was once a teenage boy - and he saw a lot of himself in his own son. Kids lived to drive their parents nuts, it was just one of those things that happened. “You have kids?” He asked, curiously and maybe a little nosy, but kids were always his favorite subject. He was certainly one of those parents; he liked to talk about his own kids and hear about someone else’s. “Eh, it’s alright. People are curious. The worst thing is when people just stare.” While he said it, he made the sign for staring before waving his hands a bit. He didn’t mind questions, but he definitely minded people looking at him like some type of zoo exhibit. “You got me there, I don’t understand it either. The only sex life I want to be part of is mine. Right? When I hear people argue it always feels like I’m in the middle of it.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s better to do all that stuff when you’re still young. Being teenager is generally awful so I’m not surprised she feels like letting all of that out.” Pleased her teenage years were long gone, Brigid smiled out of sheer relief. “Oh, no. Not yet, anyway. Been busy, I guess,” she replied, sliding in some sort of a justification as if it was desperately needed, as if not having children at 34 was somehow unheard of. “I can imagine. It’s one of those things where parents tell their children not to ask questions but then be real weird about it. Surely it’s better to ask questions than to, I don’t know, stare and whisper,” she pointed out with a slightly turned up nose as she shook her head. “Yeah, exactly. I know some people get a kick out of that, hearing someone else being intimate or whatever, but no, that’s definitely not for me.” 

[chilledoutvibes]

I’m not sure which is worse: intense feeling, or the absence of it.

Margaret Atwood (via chilledoutvibes)

[brigidcarney-blog]

andrewxmillfield:

“You’re fine. No one ever knows how to act around the opposite gender. If you’re still unsure about that, well, think of it as an advice from someone from the opposite gender.” Andrew said with a smile. “Exactly.” Andrew nodded. “I’ve never been a religious person. I don’t like the idea of old headed people putting restrictions on other people because of simple things. Making people feel ashamed of really simple, silly stuff is no different than bullying — and in no world bullying is fine.” Andrew shook his head. He’d always been a blunt person who’d always state what was on his mind — whether or not Brigid liked the experience she gained in an all catholic school or not. “And what did you learn? That sex was a sin?”

“I don’t think it’s much of a problem anymore. I’m nearing thirty-five and I should be able to interact with men, right?” Brigid laughed with a roll of her eyes as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Mmhm. Organised religion just doesn’t suit me. If anything, the whole idea of it makes me hugely uncomfortable. And that’s not to say that every single religious person is somehow terrible and dogmatic, not at all,” she hurried to add the last part almost out of habit more than anything else. Religion as a subject was both a hugely interesting yet touchy subject for her and she didn’t always know how to go about discussing it in relation to herself. “Oh dear, not at all. You’re free to have all the sex in the world as long as you’re in a heterosexual marriage. Isn’t that fun altogether?” 

[brigidcarney-blog]

thesimonclare:

“Oh, yes. The pressure we have on us to have maximum eyelid space is almost crippling, really. All these expectations…I feel as though I’m suffocating. How can I possibly pull off a smokey eye when I’ve got the eyelids of a newborn child?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure you could achieve some impressive looks with the space you do have. I reckon I would have to get rid of half of my eyebrows to really do anything fun and exciting.” Brigid shrugged, pretending to be deeply affected by the realisation.