black women center: Things I Love (Belatedly): August and September 2011

This is hella late because of my tendinitis, but don't you worry ~~there my honey, we might not have any money, but we've got our love to pay the bills~~ because Things I Love October will be (somewhat) more timely! (I hope!)

In August and September, I went from home to school, from having trouble gripping doorknobs to being able to floss my own teeth, and from Muggle to official Ravenclaw. It was awesome. So thanks, August and September, for bringing me this giant bundle of joy:

removing very long, very stubborn ingrown hairs
rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, especially for canon!Ron and smarmy!Lockheart (and Draco's sometimes witty insults)
Blue Valentine, which I somehow forgot to mention when I watched it in July, even though it was painful to watch, for Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, and "You and Me" by Penny and the Quarters

I've had a crush on Ryan Gosling since I first saw Remember the Titans (which I paid almost no attention to because I was completely thunderstruck by Ryan Gosling's charm and dumb hair and great smile). I was ten when Remember the Titans came out, so it's a bit strange to me that I still find him really attractive. I think it's that mixture of earnest and cheeky that I find completely irresistible.

gummy vitamins
Spicy Thai kettle chips
getting into Pottermore as StarMoonstone25
rereading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, for Cedric, Fleur, the Quidditch World Cup, and reading into the Draco/Pansy responsible for the Rita Skeeter articles
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, mainly for Aziraphale and Crowley, but also for Anathema Device and Newton Pulsifer, Adam Young, Death, Famine, Pollution, War, and the four other Riders of the Apocalypse (I was laughing so hard I had to spit my drink out when they were introduced)

OOH ER, MR. AZIRAPHALE
LET'S DO IT
AND I WILL LEAVE MY TARTAN STRAPS ON

rereading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, totally just for Draco
rereading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, for Sirius and how Harry loses him (and for Tonks before she and Lupin become a thing)
poached peaches
long-ass walks
Nature Valley granola thins (This is the second time they've shown up with their own captioned picture in a Things I Love post, but I refuse to apologize because they are the FOOD OF THE GODS.)

♪ I've never had a dream come true / until the day that I found you ♪

"Coda To An Epilogue: Twenty Years Later, Or The Kids Are All Right," the epilogue-compliant Harry Potter fanfiction by Maya. (Accept no substitutes!) If you never read any other piece of fanfiction in your life, this is the #1 short piece I recommend. (As for long pieces, Maya's "Quality of Mercy" is GREAT, and so is The Shoebox Project. Actually "Drop Dead Gorgeous" by Maya is really good too, but the premise is so crack-y it makes me nervous to recommend it.)

James’ Owl had begun: Dear Mum and Dad, You never listen to me even though I am always right. That little nit Al got himself Sorted into Slytherin.

“Oh, my God,” Harry’d said. He’d told Al there was nothing wrong with it, and of course there wasn’t, but he’d been counting on James to look after Al in Gryffindor and – and anyway, Al in Slytherin, it was ridiculous, how did they even do the Sorting these days?

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, for Brutha, religion, faith, Om, and turtles. (I suspect this might be my favorite Discworld novel so far, but I have to reread it to make sure I like it better than Night Watch.)
Archer, because WHY DIDN'T I KNOW THIS SHOW EXISTED? I love it for Sterling Archer, Cheryl, Archer/Lana, Archer and Mrs.Archer’s relationship, and STERLING ARCHER (the still for this video is completely representative of the show, actually)

rereading Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, mainly for Polly
60s girl group music, thanks to A Fluffy Blog
spicy eggplant
Sebastian, Tony, Jeffrey, Spenser, Lincoln, Jessie, Daniel, Jocelyn, Jess, Mark, Kamille, Shannell, Ash, Evelyn, Sam, Connie, Jason, Dustin, Jessica, Henry, Steven, and my cousins (boy, I'm sure I missed someone)
girls with body hair, which is ugh so sexy to me (well, hair to a certain extent, like Noomi Rapace's armpit hair in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo HNNGHHH)
that my week ends on Thursdays
Doctor Who, for Eleven, Amy, and "The God Complex" because I have so many feelings for Eleven/Amy's non-romantic relationship

Monopoly Deal, which is the only version of Monopoly I like (because it goes so much faster than the board game)
Ici for Muscat brandied-current ice cream, and something with candied cashews, and candied Meyer lemon, and handmade cones lined with chocolate
ginger ice cream
Chipotle steak burritos with corn salsa
Downton Abbey, for Theo Jones who played the sexy as fuck Turkish dude in Episode 3, Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, Lady Mary, Lady Edith, LADY SYBIL, Gwen, Anna, and the music and costumes. I'm sorry that there are like 30 images to follow.

I don't know why I like Daisy so much considering how much I wanted William x Daisy to happen, but I really do. (It may be my affection for her accent.)

Sometimes I look at Lady Mary and clutch my heart because she is so pretty, even right after she wakes up.

My weakness for turn-of-the-century newspaper boy attire is showing.

Downton Abbey is BEEEAUUUUTIFUL.

Lord Grantham and his flowers.

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

LOOK AT LADY EDITH'S AND LADY MARY'S DRESSES AND HAAAAIIIIR

Cora's bizarre British/American English pleases linguist!Sam.

DEAR GOD HER HAIR

HAHA LADY GRANTHAM'S FACE

THE DOWAGER COUNTESS IS FABULOUS

I am including this image solely for Gwen. (Well. Her, and the costumes and set are beautiful.)

Cora is judging you.

But not as much as Violet is.

DEM COSTUMES. I love the high neckline + ruffles + necklace on Lady Grantham.

LOOK AT THOSE BEAUTIFUL LADIES

omg Edith's hair and dress

OMG MARY'S FACE AND TOP. That collar and those sleeves and the bust darts and the little buttons!!!

SYBIL CRAWLEY, MY LOVE!

THE DRESS

Just including this because I like Mrs. Hughes.

WHY, GOD? WHY THAT FACE? WHY SUCH BEAUTY IN THIS PLACE?
Also, HER NECKLACE AND DRESS. UNF.

costumesssssssssss

Deeply enjoying Mary's hat. (And her face.) Side note: I didn't realize that most of my theater class didn't know what a milliner was. I live in a bubble.

Oh.

The Turkish diplomat as played by Theo Jones has an OBSCENE mouth. (Well, he's got nothing on Tom Hardy, but still. A guy like you should wear a warning.)

Anna (!) and LADY SYBIL, MY QUEEN

my brother
acupuncture
the Embarcadero Farmer’s Market, pancakes with orange butter and plum (?) compote, breakfast potatoes, fresh orange juice
texting Bella
Jess, especially for introducing me to popping boba, which I find completely gross, but which my presentation partner and I used as the "interactive" part of our presentation on ovarian cysts

We mixed lychee popping boba with strawberry sauce and a bit of chocolate syrup. My presentation partner Ashleyrose did the color mixing, and it turned out uncannily close to the color and consistency of menstrual fluids. If this hasn't totally ruined your appetite, Ashleyrose just started a food blog, and y'all should CHECK HER OUT.

my female sexuality class really hard
my costume lab
reading The Hunger Games, for Katniss, Gale, and Peeta, and for its entertainment value
fishtail braids
forgetting which room the Harry Potter class was going to be in, but not needing to look it up because "Hedwig's Theme" was blasting out of one of the doorways and it was like coming home (even though I had to drop the class ;__;)
coloring my SPACE VULVA

THE FINAL FRONTIER

The line drawing is from the Cunt Coloring Book, and our first assignment for my female sexuality class was to color a vulva. I decided to make mine all space-and-nebulae (so tumblr! so hipster!) because my view on my own sexuality is that it's simultaneously terrifying and beautiful. Also it is mysterious because it's mostly unexplored territory.

Catching Fire, for Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and Finnick (UNF)
a cropped sweater from H&M and a new Aerie bra (I highly recommend the Ella)
the smell of peppermint
tai chi
Stacks for amazing French toast and apple compote (and wow, really good waiters)
bathroom stalls with bag hooks
figs, cherries
rumble strips
Ratatouille

Worth watching if you have been living under a rock like me and still haven't seen it!

Asqew for blue cheese burgers, delicious mashed potatoes, and grilled zucchini
Yeats poems (Remus Lupin knows what I'm talkin' 'bout), which surprises me every time I read him. I think I just like his style a lot.
Suits, for Mike and Harvey's relationship, and especially for Mike/Rachel (which is apparently an unpopular opinion because people like Mike/Jenny more, but I just sympathize with Rachel so hard)

I blame Spenser for getting me into this show. The pilot didn't blow me away, but it was intriguing enough that I kept watching, and by the fourth or fifth episode, I was completely hooked.

my class about religion and spirituality
hummus
Across the Universe, because I've been meaning to see it since it first came out. To be honest, I found this movie surprisingly tedious for one that involves characters breaking into song. That might be because I was upset at how bad Jim Sturgess's mullet looked, or it might be because I get really bored by stories about relationships that fall apart because people are too self-centered. (See (500) Days of Summer. See Closer.)

I felt totally deceived by this trailer because this whole time, I've been under the impression that this was an epic romance (possibly because I was supposed to go on a date to watch this, but the theater was closed, so I always associated this with like romantic blue balls). This is the trailer that made me want to see it in the first place because it made it seem so... First Love. And then it was, but only for like five minutes.

Also the singing soldiers totally rubbed me the wrong way. It's funny because the more war-related film and television I watch, the more I like Full Metal Jacket, even though my initial reaction to it was distaste.

my mother for buying me a polka-dotted Bebe blouse, a floral velvet-slip-dress sort of Betsey Johnson number, and red satin Nine West platform heels, all from Goodwill
date bread from West Portal Bakery
jump roping with Carissa
“Boats and Birds” really hard because I can't help thinking about Eleven/Amy's relationship
Ann Taylor Loft for my very first and only office appropriate skirt
The Emperor’s New Groove, because this movie still makes me laugh like I'm ten years old.

FLAWLESS EMPEROR IS FLAWLESS.

Kuzco is the Master of Disguise.

I love the gross closeups of Izma's face because it reminds me of the gross closeups in Ren & Stimpy (but more funny than disgusting).

MY BB!!!

my brother for new headphones
my cousin for driving me back to school, and his Snoop Dogg GPS
my Doctor Who and Harry Potter posters, thanks to Spenser
delicious fluffy butter with sourdough toast
my MIACUP ARRIVING, because it led to the first time I have ever been excited for my period! (If you're curious about menstrual cups, there's a really good Livejournal community with information here, and I'm planning on doing a post on my experiences sometime.)
The Prince of Egypt

AAARGH, I LIKE THIS MOVIE A LOT. As someone who spent my youth learning the New Testament, it was really exciting for me to finally study the Old Testament in eighth grade (even though it wasn't part of the curriculum), and wow, did it change my perspective on Catholicism. (Maybe that's why they told us not to worry about it. I did end up denouncing my faith a few years later.) (Also, apologies - I should probably say Greek and Hebrew Bibles, but I feel like those phrases are unrecognizable to most people as the New and Old Testaments. Hey! There's the Christian privilege we talked about in class!)

my mom
my grandma
Trader Joe's triple ginger snaps
Thai Basil’s pineapple fried rice (delicious!!!)
chive dumplings
The Playboy Club, which I only watched the pilot of and which was totally cancelled. For Amber Heard, who kind of unfortunately reminds me of Kristen Stewart in that she is really good-looking but spends most of her screen-time looking either vacant or preoccupied with worry, and for the costumes.

edamame hummus (godly!)
celery with peanut butter
FINALLY GETTING MY POTTERMORE EMAIL, MINERVA MCGONAGALL, BADASS MCGOOGLES, and being sorted into Ravenclaw, (RRRRAAAAAVENCLAW! I called it when I was nine. I was always going to be a Ravenclaw, even if I had my Slytherin and Gryffindor doubts. Although to be honest I think the Sorting Hat wanted to put me into Hufflepuff and I can't imagine why.)
GORGEOUS PEOPLE (mostly women this month, which is strange because I thought I overdosed on gorgeous women when I marathoned Downton Abbey, but apparently not)