Thanks George! It was fun reading yours, and I love doing these.
Get to Know Me Uncomfortably Well I got tagged by @saccharine-phantasm Rules: Tag 10 followers you’d like to get to know better
Name: Autumn
Nicknames: "Taish,” “Tish,” “Auti.”
Birthday: umm sorry no
Sun Sign: judging from saccharine-phantasm’s answer this is the zodiac. Leo
Sexual Orientation: I looked up “demisexual” after seeing it on saccharine-phantasm’s post, and actually that’s a pretty perfect descriptor. And i’m really not sure what my sexuality is regarding gender and sex. I guess we’ll see, maybe. I’d be happy to be pan.
Height: 5'4″
Favorite Colors: It really depends on the context, I like pretty much all colors very much. Cliche-ily enough, I like autumn-toned colors best.
Where you live: Eastern Pennsylvania, suburbia
Place you wish you were at: i’m gradually getting more and more fine with living in “the city” (i have to put it in quotes bc ppl say it’s silly to call where I live “the city.” But it’s not the country, so what is it?). More access to woods and fields would however be nice.
Time Right Now: 17:15
Average Hours of Sleep: 7
Number of Siblings: three younger brothers
Lucky Numbers: I like 7 the best and don’t mind whether it’s lucky or not Tell me about the last movie you watched:
I watched the first twenty minutes of the Netflix The Little Prince. It was very cute, and I loved the animation with unusual fervor (for me). And I have read and loved the book. But I still stopped. I was feeling more and more like…. unsettled. And I think it’s because the absolute either-or of completely controlling, unhealthy, industrialized and ultra-modern grownuphood vs kind, gentle, nature-y, old-timey, laid-back childhood didn’t sit right. I feel like it goes too far. Like, you can be responsible and live in the city, be aware of injustice etc, and also be a kind, gentle, loving person. I’m sensitive to this partly because there are lots of kid’s books that perpetuate this dichotomy and I totally bought into them when I was younger. I seriously thought that growing up, living in the city, having a lot of responsibility etc was going to kill my soul. And that’s not it at all. We are pressured into many soul-killing things as we grow up (and being given too much responsibility too early is not good for children), but modernity and consciousness and responsibility are not soul-killing. If anything, trying to preserve one’s innocence and whimsy at the cost of denying the awfulness of the world keeps people from doing a lot of good and damages their integrity. I don’t mean you can’t take breaks in escapism, but recognize that’s what it is, and don’t stay there forever.
Tell me about the last book you’ve read:
The most recent one I’ve finished was Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, and it was amazing. Basically: revolutionary leaders must be in true, loving dialogue with the people, and the people must have ownership of their own liberation. That’s extremely boiled down, the book itself is already super concise. I could feel my brain stretching as I read it, and every idea in the book that I could understand, I thought seemed both realistic and true. This person, Paulo Freire, was the real deal too: he put these ideas into action and got exiled for it and all the rest of it. People still get in trouble (like ‘thought crime’ trouble) for reading this book. I want everybody to read it, even if only to be exposed to the ideas. It’s not terribly long either, 183 pages in the edition I read. And the PDF is free, a direct link comes up if you search it on Google. That’s how I read it, because libraries don’t have it and the hard copy tends to be expensive.
Tell me about the last song you listened to: “Miracles will start to happen,” by Jonathan Richman. I’m just getting into listening to him again. So much love for people comes through his songs and is unashamed. It’s beautiful. Favorite Bands: Fleet Foxes, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Yes, The Beatles, The Killers, Simon and Garfunkel. (I also love Led Zeppelin, but haven’t listened to them much lately. The whole plagiarizing thing, I’m trying to figure out whether or not to just quit them).
Favorite Type of Music: I like songs from pretty much all genres except for death metal-type ones. It sounds grating to me, and I feel bad for their poor throats. My hesitance in picking a genre also comes from the fact that there are lots of songs and artists I dislike in the same genres as my favorite songs and artists.
Favorite school subject: French, Spanish, German, Latin. I grew to super enjoy organic chemistry too. I love books but didn’t really like English class except as an opportunity to show off, unfortunately. I think I would have liked other languages, and also women’s and gender studies if I had been in school post-radicalization.
Do you play an instrument? I played the piano for about six years, but was never much good tbh. It was fun though, and my teacher was (is) a wonderful person. I practice singing regularly, and have been in a chorus, which should maybe count? and i play tin whistle a little, lol. (it’s funny because I’m terrible, not because tin whistles are inherently laughable).
Languages you can speak: English, French. I’m trying to get there on Spanish and German, I took a a few years of both in high school but am definitely not fluent. I especially want to learn Spanish and also ASL so I can communicate directly with more of my future patients.
What song do you want to be played at your funeral? I would go for a Vaughan Williams piece bc they really move me, but this will be targeted at the survivors, so i feel like I should make a last effort to make them squirm :) Ooh maybe a Jonathan Richman song. Maybe also another song that’s some kind of provocative to make certain people politically uncomfortable, that would be fun.
Just Five:
• Books-. I can do this, but I can’t possibly rank them. That’s going too far.
- The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
-The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
-Collected Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay
-Nejma and Salt by Nayyirah Waheed (i can’t pick one. nope)
- A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle
• Movies- -The Fall, by Tarsem Singh -Cinderella Man, by Ron Howard -The Sasquatch Gang, by Tim Skousen -Juliette ou la clef des songes, by Marcel Carné 1. Bright Star, by Jane Campion (I don’t know all these directors really. It just started with Tarsem Singh and Jane Campion and then I didn’t want to leave any others out) • TV Series- -Supernatural. (In spite of a lot but also because of a lot). -Stranger Things (!! I just finished it and it was amazing!!) -Doctor Who… mostly Rose and 9. and Rose and 10. But I also like 11 a lot -Luke Cage (YAAAAAAAS) -My Cat from Hell. omg. i love this show enough for it to make this list
• Songs-
-”I Wanna Be Yours” by the Arctic Monkeys -”Starship Trooper” by Yes. -"All Night,” by Beyoncé (not on youtube as far as i can see) -”Mykonos” by Fleet Foxes -”Peace Train” by Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens)
• Games- I am, as my friend S. informs me, a grandma. I don’t really play or know about video games. I used to like Myst a lot, even though I never figured it out. and I really loved Pandemonium!, another mid-90′s game. I’m terrible at most video games, the feeling of being chased or stalked is real and really scary and then I mess up and die.
• Anime- I liked Clannad even though I ended up pretty much bawling. and I loved My Neighbor Totoro. but that’s pretty much all I’ve seen. • Food- Those popsicles that are made with real strawberries, bananas foster, nutella, eggs cooked in salsa and served in a sandwich with half a beefsteak tomato and mayonnaise and salt and pepper and garlic powder and basil. • Musician- Jonathan Richman, Paul McCartney, Frank Ocean, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Beyoncé, Angel Haze. This is as short as the list can get. • Role Models-
-Audre Lorde, because of her bravery and integrity and realness
-Paulo Freire, because he believed in the People and found actual ways to empower them for their own liberation
-Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, because they use their straight white privilege to make space for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and religious minorities to represent themselves in art
What You’re Wearing Right Now: jiu jitsu tshirt, men’s sweatpants, and bathrobe
Top Sites You Visit: Google, Tumblr, both my email sites, aamc.org, youtube
Apps You Use The Most: Podcasts, Music, Marvin 3, google chrome, tumblr
Current Number of Followers: Um nah
What Made You Decide To Have A Tumblr Blog: In 2013 I was searching desperately for an escape from what i think was a mental health crisis. i found blogs about The Lord of the Rings, which I very much loved as a tween. I fell back into it easily, and found theycannotconquerforever (now bronweathanharthad)’ s blog, which I read back for I don’t even know how many pages. I creeped her out, unfortunately. I started a blog so I could post about Frodo too. I still love him but I’m more into other things now. I am also in a much better place mentally. The love I got from people on this site, and the de-stigmatization-of-mental-illness efforts made by them and others, helped me survive in a big way. That’s not hyperbole either. Y’all were more there for me than my own folks. And I chickened out of telling my close friends, at the time. I’m in therapy now (or I will be again as soon as I get insurance again) and taking escitalopram, and those two things have been immensely helpful too.
Mobile Phone: ?.....No comment
Number of Pets: I don’t have ANY since Oliver (collie) died last year (he was 14). I loved him very much. I also left the farm, so I don’t have all those animals I can claim as pets either. Feeling a little deprived of animal company.
City or Countryside: I mean, it’s a little complicated. People in the country tend to be racist and homophobic and islamophobic as shit. Nature is beautiful, and the woods and fields and animals were a balm for my soul in some hard times, but if I lived in the country now I would basically be ostracized. (that is definitely a thing, I’ve seen it). I would be fine with being a hermit, but I can’t not help with the horrid mess that the world is... and I feel like I would be most effective in a city, just because there are more like-minded people there who i could work with. But the country needs to grow and change too.
Tea or Coffee: tea (black)
Dog-person or Cat-person: I really love both, for different reasons. I am also a rabbit person, a horse person, a mouse person, a pygmy goat person, a chicken person, a quail person, a robin person, a killdeer person, a groundhog person, a cow person, a donkey person, and a deer person. I wish I could persuade deer to think of me as a deer person. I’m not much of a pheasant person or a possum person though. And I actively dislike red-winged blackbirds. Assholes. (Dogs and cats are my favorite mostly because they return my affections the most. shoutout to Oliver, the most lovingest and best dog.).
Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert. more than i really realized before, because I used to think it meant i didn’t like people.
Favorite swear word: well I say “shit” the most, in different inflections. I save “fuck” for special occasions, mostly as an adjective: “fuckin’ _____(insert noun)” or in the phrase, “fucked up.” “Bitch” is the most fun to say, but I am careful to at least not use it on people.
What qualities are you looking for an ideal partner: 1. Kindness. 2. Integrity. 3. love for people. 4. Respect for people, including themselves and me. 5. This is kind of a reiteration of 2, but valuing praxis, and doing it in their life, because they want to.
Major turn-offs: When people are polite and faux-understanding to their boss and their clients, and then unsympathetic jerks to people with no power over them. When people talk about how society is going soft because “we’re trying to save everybody, and it was better back when it was all about survival of the fittest.” When people talk like there are deserving and undeserving patients. When people are racist. When people are mean to people in service jobs. Also, when people treat me like a girl instead of like a person. I get angry and stay angry about these things.
Famous last words:
even if you are a small forest surviving off of moon alone, your light is extraordinary.
-Nayyirah Waheed
Tagging: fusae12500, sunflowersandseagulls, schlampermaeppchen, elegies, liliaenbaggins, pocketsterling, illumiru, theflightlessfly, kayla-bird, bronweathanharthad
