Had to use the Wayhome Tarot for Lindsay Mack’s Coming Home to Ourselves spread, if course. I, um, had to draw a few extra cards for clarification.

I’m still/again grieving the dissertation I planned and will not get to carry out. Maybe I will do the missing pieces later. Maybe not. For now, all I know is I’m sad about it.

Becky Albertalli wrote this moving essay about her shifting understanding of her sexuality. The longer I live, the more I think we all gain a more nuanced understanding of our identity over time.

🔖📚 From Petra Mayer at NPR: Welcome To Story Hour: 100 Favorite Books For Young Readers

Well, that’s a help in choosing which books to share with my kid next. A nice mix of classics and newer stuff.

🔖📚 From Megan Mabee at Book Riot: How The Hunger Games Prequel Helped Me Realize I’ve Changed

I can relate to Mabee’s realization that being a mother has changed how she responds to books.

📚 I’m reading MEXICAN GOTHIC and it’s wonderful but every description of the house gets me sidetracked thinking about all the Gothic novels I haven’t read yet and how much I want to read them, too.

📽️ I am watching BLACK PANTHER for the first time. The fact that every single Wakandan is awesome is not a surprise, but it is a delight. I was like, “Okoye is the best! Wait, no, Shuri is the best!” but there need be no best, they’re all wonderful.

I could use less productivity advice or inspiration and more permission to just be.

I fell on the basement stairs yesterday and mildly sprained my right ankle. I sprained the left one falling on different stairs in January. I’m having one of those times when it’s hard to be friends with your body.

Pocketed to read later: People of color who craft are done being overlooked as customers and designers. “That’s the thing about navigating a white space — you’re OK until you start asserting your Blackness, and then that becomes a problem for some people.”

🎵 Do you think if I listen to Bauhaus for the rest of the day, that will magically make it be October?

My new glasses are the glasses of a woman who has no patience with BS.

Welp. My whole household hates my new glasses.

💻 If you’re wondering what the heck this IndieWeb thing is that I’ve been going on about for 3+ years, Ana Rodrigues has written a great article about it for Smashing Magazine.

My new glasses are a little over-the-top, but then, so am I.

Was just reading the Carolina Friends School Lower School page and saw they use “Ago!” “Ame!” as their attention signal and got a little teary. Honoring Chuck Davis in this way is peak Durham, y’all.

📺 M. and I are watching MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC and I am reminded of the extent to which I am Twilight Sparkle, who owns a reference book about slumber parties but has never had one.

I just read “sheltering in place” as “shattering in peace” so now you know how I’m doing today.

Still planning to post at kimberlyhirsh.com and auto-crosspost to Twitter and Tumblr, but not scrolling or checking notifications for a few days. See y’all later!

📚 I’ve got about 100 pages left in #LEGENDBORN & won’t write a full review til I’ve finished but I think the headline will be BLACK GIRL MAGIC + DARK ACADEMIA + ARTHURIANA ON MY CAMPUS! (Affiliate link goes to Bookshop.org.)

Reply to Another day in Hellsville:

It is a lot. Having caregiving responsibilities adds another level of difficulty to dealing with the pandemic. I’m sorry you’re having an exceptionally challenging time, and I’m glad you’re able to find a creative outlet through writing and to make time for exercise. Please take care and know you’re not alone.

Current professional goals: 1. Be a qualitative researcher. (I am now, but I think I would like to continue after I graduate.) 2. Talk with people about books. (Another thing I do now and want to continue doing.) 📓

How did it take me until just now to consciously verbalize the fact that THE SECRET GARDEN is a Gothic novel? In my heart I always knew, and it was a huge part of its appeal, but it only occurred to me when Alex Acks (@katsudonburi) was tweeting about the archetypes in MEXICAN GOTHIC. 📚

The internet has been full of productivity-in-a-pandemic advice for months and I’m over it. I tell myself: Do what you can, when you can, and let the rest go as much as possible.

I have become super enamored of the #darkacademia aesthetic, but being in actual academia, this is what I thought it meant at first. (Thanks @myfairesttreasure on Instagram for the visual inspiration!)