February 2019 Journal
The title's a bit misleading, as we're not going to cover recent events in my life. Instead we're going to look at media I've been creating and ingesting. Let's look at my work from this month first. It's from all on Eruditorum Press, so you're unlikely to be particularly surprised by anything here, but it's been a productive month.
L'Amour Looks Something Like You - not one of the highlights of The Kick Inside, so I mostly used this one to talk Bush's heavily gendered perception from the press and her interactions with gender politics. Will likely be heavily revised for the eventual Dreams of Orgonon book.
James and the Cold Gun - "welp, this is the big showpiece, so let's talk about Genesis."
An Angry Gay's Overdue Screed on Bohemian Rhapsody - probably my best work this year. I wrote this as a Medium post in a fit of rage immediately after watching this trashfire of a film. Not sure I'd change a word of it. I didn't when I reposted it on Eruditorum Press.
Room for the Life - a discussion of Kate Bush's relationship with feminism. Also bound for revision on the page, with more discussions of Seventies gender discourse and feminist literature.
Them Heavy People - Kate Bush and G. I. Gurdjieff. Your argument is invalid.
I've been branching out more with my writing, trying my hand at fiction, poetry, and some other essays. In the coming months I'll try to post some more of that. For now, let's look at what I've been reading lately.
October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Mieville. Need to get back to this one. It's an excellent journey through the zeitgeist of Russia 1917. Less a hagiography of Lenin or Trotsky than a procedural thriller, attempting to navigate the question of what happened in early 20th century Russia. Recommended.
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders. One of my favorite authors working today. Her sublime character and dialogue writing are on display as ever, complemented by interesting systematic components. Anders remains fascinated by dichotomies, as all trans people are to some extent. Can't wait for her next book.
Another Green World by Geeta Dayal. Been blowing through this one. It's a real delight, taking great pleasure in the workings of Brian Eno while also using his work as a platform to discuss art, process, creativity, and the mid-20th century avant-garde. A gem.
Recently acquired Chris O'Leary's Ashes to Ashes, and looking forward to starting that. Also this Verge article on how awful Facebook moderation is behind the scenes is worth reading.
This month I finally got about to watching Queer as Folk. Holds up very well for the most part - it's easy to see why it was such a huge deal at the time. The English TV show I've been binging which holds up less well, unfortunately, is Monty Python's Flying Circus. Used to love this stuff in adolescence but on rewatch half of it is dud jokes and privileged airbags shooting down at marginalized people. That said, the good parts are genuinely delightful and things pick up at the beginning of Series 1. So maybe there's hope for it.
Also marathoned the Matrix trilogy recently, from which I'd previously only seen the first film. The Matrix is dumb fun: eager to please and show off its cleverness while forgetting to actually be clever. But it's hard to begrudge a movie that's so hellbent on throwing Jean Baudrillard and Ghost in the Shell at you every other minute. I found myself having less patience for The Matrix Reloaded, which has good bits but in the end just exhausted me. I refuse to give The Matrix Revolutions the dignity of analysis, which would imply it's worth discussing in some way.
While the American government is preparing to destroy Venezuela, my girlfriend and I watched one of that country's bits of queer cinema, Pelo Malo ("Bad Hair"). The movie explores what happens when bigoted family figure out a child is gay before they do, and is fittingly depressing to watch. I also watched Peter Brook's Meetings with Remarkable Men in preparation for this week's Dreams of Orgonon, and it was indeed worth seeing.
Think that's all I have for you today. These journal posts probably be a monthly affair, although I may start doing them on a biweekly basis. What would y'all like to see? Lemme know. Take care.