SENTI S.

brooklyn // writer & advocate // stay sassy // twitter: @senti_narwal 

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Winona Ryder, c. 1998: “I’m strange, crazy, intelligent, wild, soft, coy, thrifty, boring, romantic, selfish, full of pride, mean, dark, sweet and most of all I’m through with this interview.”

[astro-hotline]

Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts … good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don’t hurt. They’re not painful. That’s not just with somebody you want to marry, but it’s with the friends that you choose. It’s with the people you surround yourselves with.

Michelle Obama

[magsbanes]

me: i’m gonna keep my opinionated mouth shut for once and stay out of it

me, 20 seconds later:

[senti-naro]

silver lake, los angeles // summer 2016

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“My favorite story out of this is Malia, when she was 4, she had a little dance thing. Well, Michelle was gone that weekend so I’m taking her to ballet. And I get her in her little leotard and her little stuff. I did her hair, put it in a little bun.

We get to the dance studio and one of the mothers there right away comes up to Malia – she thinks she’s out of earshot of me and she says, ‘Sweetie, do you want me to redo your hair?’ And Malia who she’s 4 says, ‘Yes please, this is a disaster’. You know, she didn’t want to hurt daddy’s feelings.”

[kellyelainesmith]

network get up early stay focused watch less tv read more books avoid time wasters invest in your health take calculated risks write down your goals work smarter, not harder do something you believe in foster meaningful relationships

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The Lake - Crystal Liu

2014

[nprfreshair]

I came to the United States [from Pakistan] in 2010 and [until now] have only lived in an America in which Barack Obama was the president. I think in some ways Trump’s victory has really shaken me, because of how invested I was in the idea that America is a special place, it’s a truly multicultural society. And I’m still trying to understand, I think like so many others, just exactly what happened. Especially as a writer and as a physician I’ve tried to separate myself from my identity as a Muslim. I’d rather be known as a physician/scientist/writer who happens to be Pakistani, rather than a young Pakistani Muslim immigrant who happens to be a doctor and a writer, but I don’t know. Given how things are changing, I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to set that narrative for myself. That’s a scary thought — to live an identity that is so politicized even when you wish for it to not be.

Dr. Haider Warraich, speaking with Terry Gross about immigrating to the US (via nprfreshair)

[rookiemag]

A Rookie Reading List

Curl up with some well-loved essays, galleries, and guides.

[senti-naro]

girls loving harder saying no louder kissing friends more not feeling guilty about five more minutes finishing the book even if it takes three more weeks than you thought calling mom just to say hi assuming the best in most people remembering that you rarely realize things are beautiful until they’re over doing things alone even if you don’t think you need it reading the news less or maybe more buying the lipstick even though you shouldn’t telling people you love them often and sincerely drinking champagne on a tuesday just because getting out of new york every once in a while writing down dreams if they’re weird or funny recognizing that you can be gentle & fierce all at once in 2017.

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Visit Original Link

[moominvalleytales]

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good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere

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SIXTEEN, SPARKS MOUTH

i know it’s weird but sometimes i think i will only remember being a teenager as an experience of profound delight

[senti-naro]

femmes are film stars

by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Femmes are film stars in the movies of our lives Instead of dishwater we choose danger grab belt buckles, smooth lip gloss and make eye contact we put Bollywood to shame

we’re the stars of our own danger-filled whirlwind there are dramatic plot twists and more edge-of-the-seat moments than you can believe and suspension of disbelief? girl, you know we suspend disbelief do shit ain’t nobody supposed to be able to pull off we’re our own romantic epic like Frida in Paris Audre in Mexico standing on two tree trunk thighs planted firm and swishing

when we were girls and someone said diva we breathed in that word and it turned into a glimpse of a woman we saw once on a multiplex screen a beautiful lady who shone in her skin and rose out of it maybe it was our favourite aunty or our mama when she was young maybe it was Frida or Rosario maybe we’ve never seen the one that could be us yet but we make her up we make her up outta thin air outta brilliance and ass

it’s not always so glamorous close up there’s a lot of shit in making movies you don’t see I mean sure there’s vintage slips booty shorts fabulous moments

but backstage sometimes it’s a little more complicated you’re the director and the producer you gotta figure out how to walk down the street how much skin you want to show how to fuck in the middle of the clubhow to feel it how to get a discount on the copiesget immigration status not get deported when the club is raided  not get kicked outta the organization

and even though this is a movie it’s the kind Hollywood will not make we’ll go to Josie and the Pussycats just to see Rosario Dawson sit through She Hate Me for five minutes of Sarita Choudhury but we want more than that for our children so we make our own movie as we walk down the street make revolutions with chipped turquoise nails spread thighs and hard cocks eight hours gooood sleep and dreams on satin wishbone pillows

and dreams? girl, when we dream we dream the cliffhanger ending where girl is never bruised spread thighs never despised where every girl can be the star of her own glitter-dusted revolution

we dream the place where our lives are what girls get to grow up to be

[caroldanvers]

[poreezayas]

Salomé by Pierre Bonnaud, c.1900

[jedavu]

THE DARK SIDE OF DREAMS 

In the late 1960’s, photographer Arthur Tress began a series of photographs that were inspired by the dreams of children. Tress had each child he approached tell him about a prominent dream of theirs which Tress would then artistically re-create and photograph with the child as the main subject.