#porcelain-engine

[lastarpeggios]

2, 20, 8, 30?

2. three last songs you listened to

The Streets of Whiterun from the Skyrim OSTPatti Smith - Because the Night The War on Drugs - Red Eyes

20. three songs that remind you of the person who sends this one

Definitely something from Bruce Springsteen. I’ll just say Badlands because it’s one of my favorites from him.PJ Harvey - Down by the WaterTori Amos - Blood Roses

8. three songs that remind you most of summer and vacation

The Twilight Singers - Teenage WristbandDon Henley - Boys of Summer (I mean… it’s a good song…)Slowdive - When the Sun Hits

These are songs I’ve mentioned a lot on my blog but I do always return to them every summer and choosing any other song wouldn’t feel legitimate. 

30. three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above)

I need 3 years to think about this question…I don’t want to send my followers down a negative spiral but most of the songs I like are really fucking sad…  

I think I’ll mention Radiohead - Bloom. Because the arrangement is just SO GOOD. I also love most of the alternative versions and remixes. I could listen to an entire album filled with different versions of Bloom. 

Secondly, and this one is a little surprising, but Oathbreaker - Second Son of R. It’s a black metal song that is not for everyone, but Oathbreaker to me has really left a mark on the (Belgian) metal scene and deserves more recognition. This song in particular is one of the most haunting songs I’ve ever heard. It’s a direct reflection of pain and raw anger and even though I’ve outgrown metal, I can’t help but to deeply appreciate and admire this song. 

Lastly, a song that has been essential to my late teen and early adult life, and that anyone who wants to know me, should know, is Wake by The Antlers. Though go easy on yourself and don’t listen to it too much because, at least to me, it’s heavy material.

[softkitten]

Being and nothing? No exit?

Being and Nothing : Are you a responsible person? It’s very important for me to feel like a responsible person. I wear a hat and have a job and get my bills paid on time and perform all the errands and financial interactions that are expected of a grown adult supporting himself in the world. I am faithful to the point of being neurotic about honouring workplace and social commitments. I’ve never been late to work barring disaster. It’s actually painful for me to jam out on plans with friends, even when I’d rather light my hair on fire than follow through. It’s my priority that the people in my life see me as solid and dependable.

That said, I am very wary of taking on more responsibility than what I’ve already got. I’ll never have children. It’ll be a long time before I feel like I can trust myself with the responsibility of having a dog. I want to sell my car this year and use transit exclusively in a different city, so as to cut myself loose from the responsibility of insurance payments, maintenance, and all the other little miseries of vehicle ownership. I resent being made responsible for things I didn’t ask for so very much and I will rebel when I end up put in that position. 

No Exit : Do you like other people? It would be nice to answer ‘yes’ uncomplicatedly, but I don’t think I’m there yet. Other people fascinate me. I learned very early on that another person is a completely self-contained world with a living history and an internal monologue and secrets and fantasies and regrets and aspirations and so many, many things all going on at once. I try so hard to keep that in mind in my interactions in public, but it’s difficult. Other people are messy. Other people can cause inconvenience, my least favourite, and sometimes they can cause real pain. People are responsible for war and genocide and bigotry and the forthcoming climate apocalypse. Trump and Pol Pot, the violent abuser everyone’s got in their family, the evil ex everyone has in their back pages, they’re all human. But I want to like the people I meet every day, to make their experience a tiny bit better, to learn from all of them, even when the contradictions inherent in that position overwhelm me and my behaviour runs contrary to those ideals. I’m always trying to get there. 

[hopelesschromantic]

Pluto, earth, Saturn, Jupiter?

I’ve been really enjoying your traveling adventures! I hope you’re having fun!

pluto: what do you love most about yourself? My insightfulness to people and situations. I could be said to have a bit of pattern recognition so to speak.

earth: what’s your ideal house/home? I’m a city person and I would never want to be a homeowner because I hate dull labor and I love the idea of packing up and leaving when it suits me. Ideally it would be a large flat with tons of natural light, high ceilings, central to a bustling city, with lots of places to go and things to see. 

saturn: what’s your aesthetic? I always say beach goth but all black, purple, or grey, lots of texture and dark florals. I like clean lean lines, minimalism, but also retro-futurism and cyberpunk aesthetics. I’m sure you’ve noticed from my blog it’s all over the bloody map.

jupiter: if you could choose your own name what would it be? Sheena is an anglicized version of Jane, so probably that. While we’re changing my first name, my mother’s maiden name is Munro so if after my mom got divorced I changed it back, I could rock Jane Munro, that’s a sexy name. :P

you’re kind to ask, ty. <3

[porcelain-engine]

I want all of it immediately right now      it’s like I am pounding on the machine like a doctor in a tv show:                                                            livedammit! livedammit!                      it is a lot to ask of any prosthetic                                                         cords keep pouring out electricity bit                  from a desperate blue                                       running down sparkling blue                                                                            down my arms           all over my machine                                                          hands                    a heat I am humming                          self-consciously in desire                       I am in front of a carousel                                                    only getting on the red horses -another excerpt of Getting Better Machine-

[power-chords]

porcelain-engine replied to your post “I’ve been going zone by zone in the apartment–first the linen closet,...”

My approach to decorating is always: curiosity shop! Constant stimulation. So it’s inherent messy to an extent. But everything has a consistent place as long as I can control the aesthetic. But now I live with someone who is a bit of a slob. And will, like, put dishes in different cupboards every time he does dishes. It’s...harrowing.

I don’t mind Stuff if it’s contained Stuff, clearly marked and designated Stuff, that gets taken out when needed and put away when done, and isn’t positively swallowing the place up. And I definitely appreciate a good curiosity shop in someone else’s home! But the whole “That Goes Where I Left It” ethos boils my blood! I want my bookcase to be a bookcase, not a repository for random shit! How hard is it to put the thing away! ARRGH! WHY IS THE SPOON IN THE FORK SLOT

[power-chords]

porcelain-engine replied to your post “A semi-related anecdote: years ago I was on a subway car with a fair...”

I love this story because I hate it when ppl bitch out parents or are particularly cruel when a kid is melting down. It’s. A. Baby.

I hate it, too! We are people existing in public as members of a civilized society and part of the deal is just sucking it up and dealing with it if a kid is throwing a tantrum. THAT’S LIFE. I guarantee you that no one is more dismayed about the experience than the mortified parent(s) in question. I try to offer a sympathetic smile. I think everyone should! I grew up with an absolute hellion of a little brother and despite his constant toddler screaming, he matured into an absolutely stellar human being. Kids gonna be kids, and kids are fundamentally ridiculous and unreasonable.

[power-chords]

porcelain-engine replied to your photoset “We watched the latest POTC movie (terrible, except for Javier Bardem,...”

When the first movie came out me and my dad loved it so much we saw it 9 times in theaters

Oh my god, I’m so proud, I think I made it to like five or six but you’ve got me beat. I miss being a universally hyper-enthusiastic and obsessive teenager; now I’m an intermittently hyper-enthusiastic and obsessive adult. It was so, thoroughly, unexpectedly good of a movie! The perfect summer blockbuster! Scene after delightfully gratifying scene, and line after line! I still get that thrill at the end of the film when Jack’s aboard the Black Pearl, and he says, “Now, bring me that horizon...” and starts to sing “A Pirate’s Life For Me”... and then it cuts to black and the “He’s A Pirate” theme kicks in for the credits fshafjashfkaj

[power-chords]

If you're still doing the tv show meme: The Leftovers!

Oh, you mean THE GREATEST TELEVISION SHOW OF THE DECADE??? I’d be delighted.

my all-time ultimate fave character: Matt Jamison, but John Murphy is a very, very close second. 

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: Laurie Garvey went from being a character I fumed at through most of S1 to someone I unequivocally adored.

a character I used to like but now don’t: I think one of the beautiful things about this show is that it made me love every one of them, or at least understand their pain. I never disliked Meg, but the amazing feat this show pulled was that I went from pitying her to being like “Holy fuck this bitch is TERRIFYING.”

a character I’m indifferent about: No one.

a character who deserved better: MATT. MAAAAAATT. Not, like, dramatically speaking, but he definitely had a rough go of things.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: Did people ship stuff for this show? That wasn’t narratively established? Boy, I’d have to think about this. 

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: Kevin/Nora, obviously.

a cute, low-key ship: There is no low-key. None. Zero.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: Uh. Kevin/John?

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: ...Probably what I just answered.

my favourite storyline/moment: I think some of my favorite moments within this show, legitimately, are just, like... the close-ups on Kevin Garvey’s face. Just that look of pure, helpless confusion. LMAO. Poor motherfucker; he’s all of us. And of course: literally any scene, ever, with Patti Levin; Kevin the assassin in dream/death/limbo being forced to sing karaoke ("No, because it’s fucking stupid”-- god, this series has the absolute, most flawless moments of paradoxical hilarity and despair); The Book of Nora; every Matt-centric episode, particularly in S3, where he reckons with his faith aboard the Debauchery Ferry, and talks to “god”; the scene where we witness Nora losing her family fucking broke me, as did the reprise, where the GR plants mannequin replicas in her home; the utter brilliance of simple punchlines like “I say ‘fuck,’ too,” and “That’s the guy I was telling you about” (FDASHJDFGASJDGAS); Erika and Nora go head-to-head across the table in a war of words and guilt and blame; the GR holding up the sign that reads “SAVE YOUR BREATH” and being charged by the residents of Mapleton; Laurie gets the phone call from her daughter; Laurie yells “JILL”; Kevin reveals how he found Nora and she invites him in for tea; the opening scene from the premiere of S3 of the Christian sect, awaiting the deferred and deferred apocalypse.

a storyline that never should have been written: Not sure we needed the Holy Wayne diversion, but otherwise there is nothing about this show that wasn’t perfect.

my first thoughts on the show: “I’m traumatized.”

my thoughts now: “I’M TRAUMATIZED AND FULL OF HOPE.”