DISCUSS. What tattoos are you considering? I’m thinking '“I told you I didn’t want to go to this dinner” in Garamond wrapping around my ribcage.
(Also I am hugely upset about the mass shooting in Nova Scotia and started to have a panic attack yesterday which I basically never do so I thought I was having a heart attack and took a Klonopin and it did kick in and I’m okay now but still very upset.)
Other topics:
“The Last Dance” and what the FUCK is wrong with Jerry Krause.
“Underwater” and how it was better than I thought but also the ending offended me, I will say no more because spoilers but basically single people are humans too.
“The Staircase” and how now I honestly think he probably DID kill his wife but I’m not sure and also the prosecution did not hit the bar of reasonable doubt and they were right to overturn the first trial.
“Emma” and why I will not pay $20 to RENT IT, I refuse on PRINCIPLE. I would buy it for $20.
“Ford V Ferrari” is just Prestige Talledega Nights and that’s Fine and It Was Very Enjoyable.
I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but have always been too chicken to get one. My son’s favorite thing is dragons and my daughter’s favorite thing is unicorns, and I’ve always loved fantasy stuff so I always thought there could be something there...but my wife just laughed in my face before saying “not a chance”.
On a way shittier note, we lost my dad to covid-19 on Sunday. Talked to him last week and didn’t even know he was sick. I know everyone thinks their dad is larger than life, but my dad really was. He had the absolute biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known (Nicole could give him a run for his money I guess), and it’s just extra doubly tough that we can’t even do the “normal” things in this situation. Just want to sit down with my brother and have a beer and hug and laugh and cry. My kids (6 and 8) put together the sweetest memorial. My daughter made a little remembrance wall with all of the things in the house that reminded her of him, and my son had the idea that we could all write letters and burn them in the fireplace so he’d get them. Anyway, thanks to anyone who took the time to read - I know I’m a stranger but my experience has been that the kind of folks who hang out here are Good People, so I wanted to share.
Roger, what kind children you have. I know your dad is proud of them and of you for raising them. I'm so profoundly sorry for your loss, and so glad you have such a great dad. My love to you!
I'm so sorry. You also sound like the kind of dad who is larger than life to his own kids, and had a wonderful example, and that's a truly meaningful legacy. Sending positive thoughts to you and your family.
So many hugs to you and your family. I lost my mom a long time ago, but I’ve found that remembering the things that she loved, the little things that brought her joy and made her laugh, helps to sustain me when everything else seems so dark. I hope you all can find comfort in your memories and each other.
Oh roger. A tiny sliver of silver lining - having to be creative with the way you memorialise your beloved dad will create such strong, heartfelt and loving memories for your kids as they grow.
Oh, Roger, I'm so sorry. The memorials your family is putting together is very sweet and full of love. You and your family will be in my thoughts: I'm sending love and strength and restful vibes to you all.
Condolences Roger that is one of life's biggest gut punches. sounds like you have some great kids to all get through it together. best of luck connecting and doing what "normal" things you can with all this.
Also, wow, had never thought I would masturbate to a fictional Lee Iacocca, but Jon Bernthal was extremely hot in that movie. And that was the Reverend from Deadwood playing Phil the Mechanic and it took me half an hour to place him, I refused to cheat and look it up.
As soon as the credits started rolling in the theater I whipped out my phone to google “Lee Iacocca hot” because he looked SO HOT the whole time and I needed to know if it had ANY basis in reality.
MY name is Emma, and I've just had my work hours reduced from 40 hrs down to 16 hours a week. Anyone and everyone, please feel free to rent me and I will act out the movie for you at a much better rate!
(Completely unrelated but my post-COVID tattoo will be a pig wearing a flower crown, fat and happy as me.)
I had planned a date to see EMMA at a local theater with the girl I've been seeing right before my city entered lock-down. We rented it and watched it over Zoom while day drinking wine in our PJs and it was perfect, you guys. The single best date I've ever been on. I can't wait for it to be safe enough for me to see this girl again and hold her hand.
I had a dream several years ago (when I was taking a medieval literature course in university) that I got 'and all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well' from Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love in bright red uncials right over my heart and I need it SO BAD.
Even if right now it feels a little....... not true? Ahahaha.
Obviously it's a lot for a rental, but not so much for going to see the movie in the theater, which I was planning to do (well, hoping, really, since my ability to see it in theaters depended on my local one playing Emma for it's "Bring your own baby" weekly screening). I've been trying to support art I love as much as I can, and it never really got the theater opening it should have, so I'm going to do it and not categorize it as a rental in my head. Maybe try to make a date night of it when the baby is in bed...
I had to have emergency laparoscopic surgery (Emergency surgery during a pandemic? In this economy?) on Friday night to remove my right fallopian tube/ovary (and good riddance! She has been nothing but a problem for years due to what turned out to be CHRONIC TORSION!), and I'm keeping myself distracted from impending hospital bills/potential COVID-exposure worries by planning my next tattoo. Maybe something small next to the incision scar that just says "Bye, Felicia".
Yesterday I fully burst into tears (I’m in Nova Scotia), and I’m self-isolating with my parents and I touched my dad’s hand and he said, “oh, you know we can’t touch! Go wash your hands!” It’s been a hard time here. Thank you for mentioning it. ❤️
I’m in Toronto by myself but I went to school in Enfield and up until a few years ago my parents lived in Portapique on the same road as the shooter and some of the victims. Because I’ve been largely spending my time trying to fast forward through the days by taking naps, I was only half-awake on Sunday afternoon when news started coming out. I briefly forgot that my parents are no longer living there and I am heartbroken for the people that had that reaction but couldn’t then wake up fully to the news that their friends and families were safe.
Thank you. I know people always say “this doesn’t happen here,” but this REALLY doesn’t happen here. And it happened 20 minutes away from me. Luckily my loved ones and I are all safe. There’s just already a lot going on, and this is a lot ON TOP of a lot.
Warning: the beginning of this story is a little bougie. I was making a Tarte Tatin from a French patisserie book given to me by my French roomie and when I took the tarte out of the oven to add more liquor glaze to it, I forgot that the cast iron skillet was extremely hot and gave myself a very fancy new U-shaped scar. So when this whole madness ends, I plan on working this new scar into a new tattoo. Something beautiful and kind of ugly to commemorate this year with.
I have a two-part roasting pan burn scar on the inside of my left arm (long story) that is shaped like a jellyfish on one side of the inside of my elbow and a hamburger on the other side. Not sure these are optimum choices.
Either "I don't know if I'm coming across, but I'm really trying" or "I spread like strawberries, I climb like peas and beans" has to somehow find its way onto my body.
Several years ago, my sister got me a pack of Austen-themed temporary tattoos, including one that said, “Obstinate, headstrong girl.” If I ever get a tattoo, that will be it, in whatever font my copy of the book is in. Relatedly, I did pay $20 to rent Emma because I was going to take my kid to see it in the theater, but we had other stuff going on (what a concept!) and missed our chance. We watched it on our big tv and made that her English class for the day, even though our discussion was mostly about costumes and set design.
That's what my tattoo is! I got it two months ago, on my forearm, in a pretty old-fashioned script, inside the outline of a head (kind of like a cameo). I am delighted and feel so much like myself every time I look at it, which is often, as it is almost always visible.
It's not just you, Nicole. I feel like I'm starting to panic too. I was doing pretty well, but then these anti-lockdown bullshit, and now this immigration stuff! My wonderful, big nerd of boyfriend who have many kerfuffles defied his parents to be with me is from India and his visa is up next year! He has a postdoc lined up but I have no no idea if he's going to be able to make it. We're hoping to get married and in a panic I looked to see if you could put on masks and go to the courthouse but ofc all marriages have been suspended here as I suspected.
I don't know what to do. I feel like we need to talk to an imm lawyer, NOW, something we had tried to pursue but we don't have that kind of money. It feels like everything is just ending.
We're in the Midwest but we have family around Seattle and I also feel like I'm starting to wonder if maybe we should pull out all the stops to go live with them? I don't even know if they would take us, but it seems like its all going to depend on your governor/situation. We have a dem governor but I don't know.
It just seems like every day gets worse and worse! And every good thing will slowly be taken away from us as we live in a failed state which is what I had said to begin with and hoped I would be wrong. I don't know.
Okay sorry for rant I've missed these newsletters! Anyway, I meant to be in solidarity that it is definitely not just you, Nicole. But I don't know. Everything's so personal nowadays.
Oh, how stressful. Are there any immigration rights related groups near you? They might have info on lower cost legal advice; maybe you can find someone who'll do an initial consult for cheap or free.
Re: the lawyer, you may want to check with any law schools near you- sometimes they'll have a clinic where law students can get experience (and supervised by a licensed lawyer!) to help people who otherwise couldn't afford legal services. And if none can help, they may be able to point you towards pro bono/low cost legal aid services. I hope everything works out for you and your family!
I've been thinking I might just get a set of boltcutters tattooed on the outside of my forearm. previously I'd planned on getting a paper bag in the shape of a bird as my "fiona tattoo" but I love this new album and that song in particular. as Fiona said "It’s about breaking out of whatever prison you’ve allowed yourself to live in, whether you built that prison for yourself or whether it was built around you and you just accepted it."
I tweeted when it came out that Ford v Ferrari was like "beep beep vroom vroom crash crash cry cry vroom vroom" and BOY did some MEN get MAD ABOUT IT on the INTERNET. It wasn't even meant as a critique!!
I’ve been a Never Tatooer and honestly this last week I am thinking a LOT about the tattoo I’m going to get. I’ve no inspiration other than I now know I want one. It will definitely be words. Maybe “did you wash your hands?” On my inner thigh. Taking suggestions. I’m 58 married mom of three retired lawyer lover of naps, books, music, bourbon.
I'm from and live in Nova Scotia and we've almost reached the point there isn't some fresh horror every hour. Listening to Fetch the Bolt Cutters on repeat is truly a balm for the soul right now.
I *did* pay $20 to rent Emma, and I have to be honest, it is ... not worth it? This may be my most unpopular opinion but I was really underwhelmed.
I feel very raw and exposed saying this here, but it did not catch fire for me AT ALL. Like Johnny Flynn is great, and I love ATJ, but it's like they are not even in the same movie, they are pitched at two completely different frequencies at all times. Also - and I admit this is always going to be the case when you attempt to condense Austen into a 2 hour screenplay but in my opinion she took too many shortcuts to get to the emotional crux. Why adapt Emma if you are only going to give Jane Fairfax and Miss Bates like 5 lines each? It is basically a violation of the Geneva Convention to cast Miranda Hart as Miss Bates and then only give her 3-5 minutes of screen time??? Badly done Miss de Wilde ... very badly done.
My fav Austen is Persuasion, and I do like the BBC version, but my ultimate fav tv/film adaptation is the 6hr A&E/BBC P&P. I just feel that miniseries on balance do more justice to the novels' plots and complexity.
I have a story about Matt Smith from a friend of his ex and it prevents me taking him seriously in most acting roles but it does not prevent me from accepting him as Mr Collins. Also Charlotte Lucas is gay and that is the hill upon which I will die.
Also 100% Charlotte is gay. No two ways about it...
Sometimes written that novel, right? Charlotte having a thrilling affair with lady Catherine's daughter and then taking over the fee burgh estate once Collins and lady C have an aneurysm or something and turn it into a fancy lesbian retreat?
Yes, thank you, I thought the same! Also incredible that Eleanor Catton (Booker prize winner, author of two EXCELLENT and not at all short novels) wrote the screenplay. I wouldn't have equated that script with her work at all. I thought it was perhaps 3 movies in one: arthouse period flick, landlord and tenant rural drama, and whatever you would describe the Emma/Harriet plot as... My poor boyfriend hadn't a clue what was going on. Back to the Romola Garai version, I think.
I've wanted this one for ages, and it is admittedly pretentious as all fuck, but the Time of the Coronavirus has cemented it: Fortitudine Vincimus (by endurance we conquer), which was Ernest Shackleton's family motto. Not sure where to put it. Probably somewhere small and hidden, where I can't see it/others can't see it.
I live with chronic pain, and those words capture its reality better than any cutesy saying or well-meaning platitude.
My problems are very small compared to many (I am not supposed to compare, I know, my therapist and I are working on it), but my brain is an absolutely shit show right now (depression is fun) and the fifth week of working from home has been very hard. I feel so isolated here (I live alone with my dog in a one bedroom apartment) and all my coping skills don't feel like they're helping anymore because they're things I'm just doing to fill the time now. I want us all to stay home for as long as is necessary to help combat the spread of covid-19, but I also deeply want to leave my home. It feels like a prison.
Among others, the sentiment "And I listened because I hadn't found my own voice yet/so all I could hear was the noise that people make when they don't know shit" absolutely floored me. Not sure if it would make the best tattoo, but I feel like I need to post so many FTBC excerpts in strategic places around my house for motivational purposes.
I was given notice last Thursday that my current contract won't be renewed (because there is not funding, not because of performance issues). I am a little anxious but they gave me lots of time (contract ends in December) so hopefully I find something new and maybe even that I will be happier at. The stangest part of it was that the HR rep, who opened the door to my director's office and said "It's fine. Don't worry. Everything is fine." And then stayed silent as my director explained the situation pretty straightforwardly before breaking back in for apologizing for being late to the meeting and me having to see her go by into the office. What kind of HR person opens a meeting to give someone notice by saying everything is fine?
She also stared at me pretty intensely for most of the meeting and I felt like she was waiting for a bigger reaction. I am not an expressive person generally but also there is a lot happening right now. In addition to living on my own with few non-virtual social interactions, my godfather died last week and I can't go to the funeral in the US and my Mom's 70th birthday was the day before and I could only wish it to her over Skype so I just didn't have a lot of immediate feelings about Yet Another Thing. (I have cried several times as Nova Scotia news has come in though). I also suspected that the meeting would not be good news given that they requested it be in-person, at a hospital, in the middle of a pandemic. So, after two days of anxiety, it felt like a relief to know.
All of FTBC is a wonderful work of art that I can't stop dancing too but Relay really strikes a chord with me. I have a bad habit of writing people off for being "too privileged". I grew up broke with an absent father and ever since going to a private liberal arts school for college I've had a real chip on my shoulder - "I resent you for being raised right" really hit me. I've been singing "Evil is a relay sport when the one who's burned turns to pass the torch" a lot. Its such a powerful line and that she wrote it at 15 is mindbogglingly.
I think he was on Scottie's side at the time! There's an anecdote in "Playing for Keeps" (my favorite Jordan book) where he is joking around on the bus and jokingly (but not) re-did everyone's salaries and gave Pippen like a $40m raise.
What I like about Ford v Ferrari is that there are approximately 50 scenes of Bale pulling up alongside his opponents, saying something like “sorry… but I’ve got somewhere to be” and then zooming past them, which is the height of cinema
I went back and forth on Peterson himself but I did appreciate "The Staircase" because it shows how terrible the system is even if you are quite wealthy and get a good lawyer, so it really drives home how many innocent people without money must have been screwed over by overzealous prosecutions but never had the power to get a documentary made about it.
It’s also a great example that Prison Is Bad For Humans: after the eight year jump his legal team looked basically the same and he looked three hundred years older.
I've been planning a magpie as part of my 35th Birthday tattoo for years, but not yet lighted on the elements around it. (25th was Captain Vimes Watch badge; 30th was I ATEN'T DEAD, bracketed by the Guarding Dark).
My dear M was only vaguely familiar with Our Lady of Fiona ("oh I've heard you play this song before!") and told me, very seriously, after listening to FTBC that "I think this album is for you but maybe not for me?" it was sweet.
V into Self Made, v not into making video art lessons for my students.
Not seriously considering any tattoos, but I do love the idea of Jean Cocteau's sun and moon drawing.
TWO tattoos, one on each inner forearm, each with flowers that remind me of one of my grandmothers. Pussy willow, lilac and tulips on the right, and peony buds, geraniums and bearded iris on the left. Blackwork, i think. I haven't really decided tho
Those sound beautiful and classic. I had an appointment on April 18 for the first of four or five sittings for a full floral sleeve, doh. With a Rowan branch at the top for my kiddo Rowan. It will be a good post-pandemic commemoration.
I did rent Emma for $20 on my birthday (because my original plan was to get my 35-year-old nose pierced but that won't be happening any time soon.) It was delightful and I don't even care that I screwed up two rows of the sweater I'm working on while watching it and will have to tink back 440 stitches to fix my mistake.
No, but I did just look that up on Ravelry and she’s a doozy, isn’t she? I do have some mohair on the needles now though (As If tee). I am to the all mohair part and just the teensiest bit terrified. At least it’s all knit, no shenanigans.
I have not yet heard the album but my girlfriend (who believes it will change, and perhaps fix, the world) has been walking around the house declaiming this for days. It's just LADIES LADIES LADIES LADIES all the time rn.
Re: boltcutters - I've only listened once and it was great but also I think FA will never be more my avatar than when she screams I'VE RUN OUT OF WHITE DOVE FEATHERS TO SOAK UP THE HOT PISS THAT RUNS FROM YOUR MOUTH EVERY TIME YOU ADDRESS ME and I just cannot imagine a tattoo of white feathers covered in piss
I binged all of "The Staircase" because my partner sold it to me as "he claims an owl killed his wife by assaulting her and she fell down the stairs" and I HELD ON for talk about that owl and not once, NOT ONCE was it mentioned. Not since Hellier have I been so excited, and held out so long, only to be disappointed.
We watched the Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers movie the other night. Was the perfect movie to watch right about now..
I'm in a GC with people who I used to write at a small sports website with, we all still talk sports even though the website shuttered a while ago. "The Last Dance" was a godsend. Now we're bored again and ranking underrated/overrated events in American history
I find it sohard to get past how biphobia that trial was! Re: The Staircase. But also blood spatter evidence is pretty much junk science, so if that's the only evidence they have I'm not inclined to believe it.
Yes, at times I felt like I was watching a weird mockumentary with caricatures of prejudiced stereotypes and kept having to remind myself "these people are real, not overdone characters" and then feeling sad about how awful they were
Re The Staircase, I agree - the guy seems sketchy as fuck but I really truly don’t know if he did it. Not enough evidence plus his kids all adore him despite how he comes across to the rest of us.
The news out of NS shocked me too (I'm in TO) - but I'd still rather be in Canada then anywhere else (execept maybe New Zealand). Sending Canadian flavored hugs. Glad you're ok.
I have an overwhelming desire for multiple tattoos that I was already considering but now want more, I just can't figure out where to put them (I currently only have one tat, on my wrist, and I dithered for years about what I wanted before committing. It is a pair of koi in a watercolour style). Advise and design contacts more than welcome...
1) 'Courage' - somewhere I can see it and be reminded by it.
2) 'Hope' - as 1, or a symbol of hope (is there a plant or an animal that means hope? I'm wary of getting it in a language I don't read. And 'Espère' or 'Espoir' don't really have the same ring. I was also considering 'where there's life, there's hope and a little plant shoot or something).
I’ve always wanted a tattoo, but have always been too chicken to get one. My son’s favorite thing is dragons and my daughter’s favorite thing is unicorns, and I’ve always loved fantasy stuff so I always thought there could be something there...but my wife just laughed in my face before saying “not a chance”.
On a way shittier note, we lost my dad to covid-19 on Sunday. Talked to him last week and didn’t even know he was sick. I know everyone thinks their dad is larger than life, but my dad really was. He had the absolute biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known (Nicole could give him a run for his money I guess), and it’s just extra doubly tough that we can’t even do the “normal” things in this situation. Just want to sit down with my brother and have a beer and hug and laugh and cry. My kids (6 and 8) put together the sweetest memorial. My daughter made a little remembrance wall with all of the things in the house that reminded her of him, and my son had the idea that we could all write letters and burn them in the fireplace so he’d get them. Anyway, thanks to anyone who took the time to read - I know I’m a stranger but my experience has been that the kind of folks who hang out here are Good People, so I wanted to share.
Oh, Roger. Sending so much love.
I'm so sorry to hear that. Sending hugs.
also, I think a unicorn/dragon tat would be cool.
Roger, what kind children you have. I know your dad is proud of them and of you for raising them. I'm so profoundly sorry for your loss, and so glad you have such a great dad. My love to you!
I'm so sorry. You also sound like the kind of dad who is larger than life to his own kids, and had a wonderful example, and that's a truly meaningful legacy. Sending positive thoughts to you and your family.
So many hugs to you and your family. I lost my mom a long time ago, but I’ve found that remembering the things that she loved, the little things that brought her joy and made her laugh, helps to sustain me when everything else seems so dark. I hope you all can find comfort in your memories and each other.
Oh roger. A tiny sliver of silver lining - having to be creative with the way you memorialise your beloved dad will create such strong, heartfelt and loving memories for your kids as they grow.
And you should definitely get that tattoo.
Oh, Roger, I'm so sorry. The memorials your family is putting together is very sweet and full of love. You and your family will be in my thoughts: I'm sending love and strength and restful vibes to you all.
I'm so, so sorry. You and your family are in my thoughts.
Condolences Roger that is one of life's biggest gut punches. sounds like you have some great kids to all get through it together. best of luck connecting and doing what "normal" things you can with all this.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I love the way your kids are remembering him.
I am so sorry for your loss. <3
I am so, so sorry.
May his memory be a blessing!! <3 <3
I'm so very sorry <3
(((Hugs)))
I'm so sorry, Roger--you and your family seem like you all have big hearts. Like others, sending love your way.
Also, wow, had never thought I would masturbate to a fictional Lee Iacocca, but Jon Bernthal was extremely hot in that movie. And that was the Reverend from Deadwood playing Phil the Mechanic and it took me half an hour to place him, I refused to cheat and look it up.
Jon Bernthal tho ... matters not the role. Hot like burning
As soon as the credits started rolling in the theater I whipped out my phone to google “Lee Iacocca hot” because he looked SO HOT the whole time and I needed to know if it had ANY basis in reality.
I have had 'kick me under the table all you want, I won't shut up' running through my head since Friday.....so I think that's the tattoo for me.
I can't stop singing this line over and over
One of my favorite lines.
MY name is Emma, and I've just had my work hours reduced from 40 hrs down to 16 hours a week. Anyone and everyone, please feel free to rent me and I will act out the movie for you at a much better rate!
(Completely unrelated but my post-COVID tattoo will be a pig wearing a flower crown, fat and happy as me.)
This is so excellent as a tattoo. I was thinking of getting a pig flying tattoo before all this
really struck by the growth between idler wheel and boltcutters, eg:
"i'm a tulip in a cup, i stand no chance of growing up" -> "i spread like strawberries, i climb like peas and beans"
"that's all i'll do 'cause i'm not free, a fugitive too dull to flee" -> "fetch the boltcutters, i've been in here too long"
"how can i ask anyone to love me" -> "i want you to love me"
That last one just casually annihilates me.
This is such a great observation, thank you! So true!
I had planned a date to see EMMA at a local theater with the girl I've been seeing right before my city entered lock-down. We rented it and watched it over Zoom while day drinking wine in our PJs and it was perfect, you guys. The single best date I've ever been on. I can't wait for it to be safe enough for me to see this girl again and hold her hand.
*THE CHEERING SECTION GOES WILD*
🎶 I'D BEG TO DISAGREE BUT BEGGING DISAGREES WITH ME 🎶
THIS!
I had a dream several years ago (when I was taking a medieval literature course in university) that I got 'and all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well' from Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love in bright red uncials right over my heart and I need it SO BAD.
Even if right now it feels a little....... not true? Ahahaha.
I literally repeat that like a mantra. I have a bracelet with it. 100% support this tat
That's gorgeous! That text is absolutely stunning, and very fitting to keep close to the heart.
The only tattoo I've ever considered also came to me in a dream. A half back tattoo of swirls that kind of form an angel wing.
I refuse to rent Emma, too, so now every time I start considering it I watch Crimson Peak again.
TWENTY DOLLARS FOR A RENTAL, MONICA!
HIGHWAY ROBBERY!
I REFUSE ON PRINCIPLE (I keep checking to see if it's gone down)
So much solidarity here. And we are basically the target audience for Emma, SO I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY THINK THEY ARE GOING TO GET TO PAY $20???
There is never a bad time to watch Crimson Peak again
I logged both of my sisters in different states into my Amazon account so we could get our money's worth on the rental, lol.
I spent the $20 on The Invisible Man, so that fam and I could simulwatch it; and *then* figured out the One Screen rule. bugger.
I get SO ANGRY! Of course I would buy it for 20!!! But to rent it?! The GALL
Obviously it's a lot for a rental, but not so much for going to see the movie in the theater, which I was planning to do (well, hoping, really, since my ability to see it in theaters depended on my local one playing Emma for it's "Bring your own baby" weekly screening). I've been trying to support art I love as much as I can, and it never really got the theater opening it should have, so I'm going to do it and not categorize it as a rental in my head. Maybe try to make a date night of it when the baby is in bed...
The local nonprofit theater was showing it for $10 here and I've never paid more than that for any movie so I think it is a bit much.
It’s seven bucks in Utah! $10 for IMAX 3D!
It's $14 for a regular movie and $20 for an IMAX in Alaska :/
If you have someone to watch it with it does even out, though.
Okay I don't watch horror movies so I read the Underwater wikipedia, and my takeaway is WHY IS TJ MILLER STILL IN MOVIES???
oh my gosh, thank you!
if it’s zero comfort he plays exactly the same person he always plays with no attempt to adjust to the role whatsoever!
I had to have emergency laparoscopic surgery (Emergency surgery during a pandemic? In this economy?) on Friday night to remove my right fallopian tube/ovary (and good riddance! She has been nothing but a problem for years due to what turned out to be CHRONIC TORSION!), and I'm keeping myself distracted from impending hospital bills/potential COVID-exposure worries by planning my next tattoo. Maybe something small next to the incision scar that just says "Bye, Felicia".
Yesterday I fully burst into tears (I’m in Nova Scotia), and I’m self-isolating with my parents and I touched my dad’s hand and he said, “oh, you know we can’t touch! Go wash your hands!” It’s been a hard time here. Thank you for mentioning it. ❤️
I’m in Toronto by myself but I went to school in Enfield and up until a few years ago my parents lived in Portapique on the same road as the shooter and some of the victims. Because I’ve been largely spending my time trying to fast forward through the days by taking naps, I was only half-awake on Sunday afternoon when news started coming out. I briefly forgot that my parents are no longer living there and I am heartbroken for the people that had that reaction but couldn’t then wake up fully to the news that their friends and families were safe.
Oh god I'm so sorry that's so scary. I'm not close (in TO), but let me know if there's anything at all I can do.
That's very sweet. Just having a community to talk about it with is nice.
I'm so sorry.
Thank you. I know people always say “this doesn’t happen here,” but this REALLY doesn’t happen here. And it happened 20 minutes away from me. Luckily my loved ones and I are all safe. There’s just already a lot going on, and this is a lot ON TOP of a lot.
Oh my goodness, of course you can touch your parents if you're self-isolating with them...
I'm so sorry, in any case. It was such a shock even in the states.
Warning: the beginning of this story is a little bougie. I was making a Tarte Tatin from a French patisserie book given to me by my French roomie and when I took the tarte out of the oven to add more liquor glaze to it, I forgot that the cast iron skillet was extremely hot and gave myself a very fancy new U-shaped scar. So when this whole madness ends, I plan on working this new scar into a new tattoo. Something beautiful and kind of ugly to commemorate this year with.
Perfect.
I have a two-part roasting pan burn scar on the inside of my left arm (long story) that is shaped like a jellyfish on one side of the inside of my elbow and a hamburger on the other side. Not sure these are optimum choices.
A jellyfish and a hamburger sound like the start of an amazing story.
Either "I don't know if I'm coming across, but I'm really trying" or "I spread like strawberries, I climb like peas and beans" has to somehow find its way onto my body.
A climbing pea and bean plant sounds gorgeous
"your face ignites a fuse to my patience" is such a damn good line
Several years ago, my sister got me a pack of Austen-themed temporary tattoos, including one that said, “Obstinate, headstrong girl.” If I ever get a tattoo, that will be it, in whatever font my copy of the book is in. Relatedly, I did pay $20 to rent Emma because I was going to take my kid to see it in the theater, but we had other stuff going on (what a concept!) and missed our chance. We watched it on our big tv and made that her English class for the day, even though our discussion was mostly about costumes and set design.
OBSTINATE, HEADSTRONG GIRL FTW
That's what my tattoo is! I got it two months ago, on my forearm, in a pretty old-fashioned script, inside the outline of a head (kind of like a cameo). I am delighted and feel so much like myself every time I look at it, which is often, as it is almost always visible.
What a fun design! I only ever pictured the words on my arm or shoulder, but I might have another think.
It's not just you, Nicole. I feel like I'm starting to panic too. I was doing pretty well, but then these anti-lockdown bullshit, and now this immigration stuff! My wonderful, big nerd of boyfriend who have many kerfuffles defied his parents to be with me is from India and his visa is up next year! He has a postdoc lined up but I have no no idea if he's going to be able to make it. We're hoping to get married and in a panic I looked to see if you could put on masks and go to the courthouse but ofc all marriages have been suspended here as I suspected.
I don't know what to do. I feel like we need to talk to an imm lawyer, NOW, something we had tried to pursue but we don't have that kind of money. It feels like everything is just ending.
We're in the Midwest but we have family around Seattle and I also feel like I'm starting to wonder if maybe we should pull out all the stops to go live with them? I don't even know if they would take us, but it seems like its all going to depend on your governor/situation. We have a dem governor but I don't know.
It just seems like every day gets worse and worse! And every good thing will slowly be taken away from us as we live in a failed state which is what I had said to begin with and hoped I would be wrong. I don't know.
Okay sorry for rant I've missed these newsletters! Anyway, I meant to be in solidarity that it is definitely not just you, Nicole. But I don't know. Everything's so personal nowadays.
I'm so sorry! That's scary and awful.
I am so sorry! I'm in a similar (if less urgent) situation and it suxxx
Oh, how stressful. Are there any immigration rights related groups near you? They might have info on lower cost legal advice; maybe you can find someone who'll do an initial consult for cheap or free.
Re: the lawyer, you may want to check with any law schools near you- sometimes they'll have a clinic where law students can get experience (and supervised by a licensed lawyer!) to help people who otherwise couldn't afford legal services. And if none can help, they may be able to point you towards pro bono/low cost legal aid services. I hope everything works out for you and your family!
I've been thinking I might just get a set of boltcutters tattooed on the outside of my forearm. previously I'd planned on getting a paper bag in the shape of a bird as my "fiona tattoo" but I love this new album and that song in particular. as Fiona said "It’s about breaking out of whatever prison you’ve allowed yourself to live in, whether you built that prison for yourself or whether it was built around you and you just accepted it."
I've wanted to get a Bolt Cutter tattoo since Mad Max, this may be what tips it for me.
Paper Bag was my favorite Fiona! It might still be, but I’m reconsidering. Drumset really speaks to me too
I tweeted when it came out that Ford v Ferrari was like "beep beep vroom vroom crash crash cry cry vroom vroom" and BOY did some MEN get MAD ABOUT IT on the INTERNET. It wasn't even meant as a critique!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHA
As soon as I heard it, I knew I wanted "Kick me under the table all you want. I won't shut up. I won't shut up."
I have ZERO tattoos and needles make me faint but this song has so altered my brain that I kind of want to go for it.
I’ve been a Never Tatooer and honestly this last week I am thinking a LOT about the tattoo I’m going to get. I’ve no inspiration other than I now know I want one. It will definitely be words. Maybe “did you wash your hands?” On my inner thigh. Taking suggestions. I’m 58 married mom of three retired lawyer lover of naps, books, music, bourbon.
There's a website of literary tattoos called Contrariwise which is well worth checking out!
Thank you!
I vote for whatever you enjoy that maybe also shocks your children
Definitely part of my plan!
I love it!
I'm from and live in Nova Scotia and we've almost reached the point there isn't some fresh horror every hour. Listening to Fetch the Bolt Cutters on repeat is truly a balm for the soul right now.
I'm so sorry. Sending hugs. Let me know if there's anything I can do.
I just...I'm so grateful that Fiona made it, and I made it, and we all made it, because it was really hard there for a bit. For all of us.
I *did* pay $20 to rent Emma, and I have to be honest, it is ... not worth it? This may be my most unpopular opinion but I was really underwhelmed.
I feel very raw and exposed saying this here, but it did not catch fire for me AT ALL. Like Johnny Flynn is great, and I love ATJ, but it's like they are not even in the same movie, they are pitched at two completely different frequencies at all times. Also - and I admit this is always going to be the case when you attempt to condense Austen into a 2 hour screenplay but in my opinion she took too many shortcuts to get to the emotional crux. Why adapt Emma if you are only going to give Jane Fairfax and Miss Bates like 5 lines each? It is basically a violation of the Geneva Convention to cast Miranda Hart as Miss Bates and then only give her 3-5 minutes of screen time??? Badly done Miss de Wilde ... very badly done.
*feeling validated in my snap judgment of the trailer*
...I will probably watch it eventually when it is a reasonable price, but for now I'll just go back and watch the Romola Garai version again.
(And despite my name, it is not my favorite Austen; I'm a S&S stan.)
Yesss the miniseries is so good.
My fav Austen is Persuasion, and I do like the BBC version, but my ultimate fav tv/film adaptation is the 6hr A&E/BBC P&P. I just feel that miniseries on balance do more justice to the novels' plots and complexity.
However, P&P&Zombies does have the best Mr Collins in Matt Smith, and is a very tidy film. Matt Smith as Collins eating - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcmxgJctvBc
I have a story about Matt Smith from a friend of his ex and it prevents me taking him seriously in most acting roles but it does not prevent me from accepting him as Mr Collins. Also Charlotte Lucas is gay and that is the hill upon which I will die.
Also 100% Charlotte is gay. No two ways about it...
Sometimes written that novel, right? Charlotte having a thrilling affair with lady Catherine's daughter and then taking over the fee burgh estate once Collins and lady C have an aneurysm or something and turn it into a fancy lesbian retreat?
^Someone's
*dying on that hill with you, it's a good hill* *that or Charlotte Is Ace, which is not-mutually-exclusive*
Also this
I'm so relieved. I was afraid it would be a tj miller type revelation.
I am in such strong agreement on both counts. Persuasion is the best novel, and the 1995 P&P is the best adaptation.
I have not seen Zombies, so I'll be adding that to my list (which only ever grows longer).
You will not be sorry. It is great, and the choice they make with lady Catherine is unexpected perfection.
Yes, thank you, I thought the same! Also incredible that Eleanor Catton (Booker prize winner, author of two EXCELLENT and not at all short novels) wrote the screenplay. I wouldn't have equated that script with her work at all. I thought it was perhaps 3 movies in one: arthouse period flick, landlord and tenant rural drama, and whatever you would describe the Emma/Harriet plot as... My poor boyfriend hadn't a clue what was going on. Back to the Romola Garai version, I think.
Changed my twitter display name to include "Pissed off, Funny & Warm," idk about tattoos yet
this is a great twitter display name
cosign
I've wanted this one for ages, and it is admittedly pretentious as all fuck, but the Time of the Coronavirus has cemented it: Fortitudine Vincimus (by endurance we conquer), which was Ernest Shackleton's family motto. Not sure where to put it. Probably somewhere small and hidden, where I can't see it/others can't see it.
I live with chronic pain, and those words capture its reality better than any cutesy saying or well-meaning platitude.
I love this
Love that
My problems are very small compared to many (I am not supposed to compare, I know, my therapist and I are working on it), but my brain is an absolutely shit show right now (depression is fun) and the fifth week of working from home has been very hard. I feel so isolated here (I live alone with my dog in a one bedroom apartment) and all my coping skills don't feel like they're helping anymore because they're things I'm just doing to fill the time now. I want us all to stay home for as long as is necessary to help combat the spread of covid-19, but I also deeply want to leave my home. It feels like a prison.
Hugs to brains that haven't listened to therapists, yet. Filling the time is enough. I'm sorry things are so hard.
Among others, the sentiment "And I listened because I hadn't found my own voice yet/so all I could hear was the noise that people make when they don't know shit" absolutely floored me. Not sure if it would make the best tattoo, but I feel like I need to post so many FTBC excerpts in strategic places around my house for motivational purposes.
I was given notice last Thursday that my current contract won't be renewed (because there is not funding, not because of performance issues). I am a little anxious but they gave me lots of time (contract ends in December) so hopefully I find something new and maybe even that I will be happier at. The stangest part of it was that the HR rep, who opened the door to my director's office and said "It's fine. Don't worry. Everything is fine." And then stayed silent as my director explained the situation pretty straightforwardly before breaking back in for apologizing for being late to the meeting and me having to see her go by into the office. What kind of HR person opens a meeting to give someone notice by saying everything is fine?
She also stared at me pretty intensely for most of the meeting and I felt like she was waiting for a bigger reaction. I am not an expressive person generally but also there is a lot happening right now. In addition to living on my own with few non-virtual social interactions, my godfather died last week and I can't go to the funeral in the US and my Mom's 70th birthday was the day before and I could only wish it to her over Skype so I just didn't have a lot of immediate feelings about Yet Another Thing. (I have cried several times as Nova Scotia news has come in though). I also suspected that the meeting would not be good news given that they requested it be in-person, at a hospital, in the middle of a pandemic. So, after two days of anxiety, it felt like a relief to know.
What a lot to grieve. I'm so sorry about your godfather and the distance from your mom. My love to you!
This is an awful chain of events, I'm sorry it's happened to you. And yes, that sounds weird AF!
All of FTBC is a wonderful work of art that I can't stop dancing too but Relay really strikes a chord with me. I have a bad habit of writing people off for being "too privileged". I grew up broke with an absent father and ever since going to a private liberal arts school for college I've had a real chip on my shoulder - "I resent you for being raised right" really hit me. I've been singing "Evil is a relay sport when the one who's burned turns to pass the torch" a lot. Its such a powerful line and that she wrote it at 15 is mindbogglingly.
for real why wasnt michael jordan just like "hey......pay scottie pippen!!" absolute loser behavior to not stand with ur teammate!!
I think he was on Scottie's side at the time! There's an anecdote in "Playing for Keeps" (my favorite Jordan book) where he is joking around on the bus and jokingly (but not) re-did everyone's salaries and gave Pippen like a $40m raise.
What I like about Ford v Ferrari is that there are approximately 50 scenes of Bale pulling up alongside his opponents, saying something like “sorry… but I’ve got somewhere to be” and then zooming past them, which is the height of cinema
Ford v Ferrari is the daddest dad movie that ever dadded. Emma was the last movie I saw in a theater before this all started and I adored it.
I went back and forth on Peterson himself but I did appreciate "The Staircase" because it shows how terrible the system is even if you are quite wealthy and get a good lawyer, so it really drives home how many innocent people without money must have been screwed over by overzealous prosecutions but never had the power to get a documentary made about it.
It’s also a great example that Prison Is Bad For Humans: after the eight year jump his legal team looked basically the same and he looked three hundred years older.
I've been planning a magpie as part of my 35th Birthday tattoo for years, but not yet lighted on the elements around it. (25th was Captain Vimes Watch badge; 30th was I ATEN'T DEAD, bracketed by the Guarding Dark).
FETCH THE BOLT CUTTERS
My dear M was only vaguely familiar with Our Lady of Fiona ("oh I've heard you play this song before!") and told me, very seriously, after listening to FTBC that "I think this album is for you but maybe not for me?" it was sweet.
V into Self Made, v not into making video art lessons for my students.
Not seriously considering any tattoos, but I do love the idea of Jean Cocteau's sun and moon drawing.
“Ford V Ferrari” is just Prestige Talledega Nights and that’s Fine and It Was Very Enjoyable. - this killed me. I'm dead. Ghost-posting. LOL
TWO tattoos, one on each inner forearm, each with flowers that remind me of one of my grandmothers. Pussy willow, lilac and tulips on the right, and peony buds, geraniums and bearded iris on the left. Blackwork, i think. I haven't really decided tho
Those sound beautiful and classic. I had an appointment on April 18 for the first of four or five sittings for a full floral sleeve, doh. With a Rowan branch at the top for my kiddo Rowan. It will be a good post-pandemic commemoration.
I think maybe a band of NS tartan.
I did rent Emma for $20 on my birthday (because my original plan was to get my 35-year-old nose pierced but that won't be happening any time soon.) It was delightful and I don't even care that I screwed up two rows of the sweater I'm working on while watching it and will have to tink back 440 stitches to fix my mistake.
I'm so sorry about your sweater.
It could be worse. It could be mohair. Mistakes made in wool can be unmade.
That is a good line for a tattoo
This is true. Did you knit birch a few years back when everyone was? 299 stitch cast on in kidsilk haze.
No, but I did just look that up on Ravelry and she’s a doozy, isn’t she? I do have some mohair on the needles now though (As If tee). I am to the all mohair part and just the teensiest bit terrified. At least it’s all knit, no shenanigans.
Unrelated to your prompts, but Matt Yglesias just tweeted that everyone he has dated was awesome (I’ll skip the context). https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1252672986433421316
I AM awesome and he was a really good boyfriend to me. Also we dated for like three months and he was graduating and I was a sophomore.
Ladies
Ladies
Ladies
Ladies
Back of my upper arm? Front of my upper thigh? Ribs? Block print or scrawling script?
How about each one in a different font?
Seems dangerously close to a live laugh love decal but I thank you for thinking about it
lmao sorry!
Also as someone with half a sleeve, I'm always partial to arm tats
I have not yet heard the album but my girlfriend (who believes it will change, and perhaps fix, the world) has been walking around the house declaiming this for days. It's just LADIES LADIES LADIES LADIES all the time rn.
Re: boltcutters - I've only listened once and it was great but also I think FA will never be more my avatar than when she screams I'VE RUN OUT OF WHITE DOVE FEATHERS TO SOAK UP THE HOT PISS THAT RUNS FROM YOUR MOUTH EVERY TIME YOU ADDRESS ME and I just cannot imagine a tattoo of white feathers covered in piss
I binged all of "The Staircase" because my partner sold it to me as "he claims an owl killed his wife by assaulting her and she fell down the stairs" and I HELD ON for talk about that owl and not once, NOT ONCE was it mentioned. Not since Hellier have I been so excited, and held out so long, only to be disappointed.
Also I want a giant thigh tattoo if the bear from Annihilation in the style of Durer. I will settle for no less.
We watched the Tom Hanks Mr. Rogers movie the other night. Was the perfect movie to watch right about now..
I'm in a GC with people who I used to write at a small sports website with, we all still talk sports even though the website shuttered a while ago. "The Last Dance" was a godsend. Now we're bored again and ranking underrated/overrated events in American history
I find it sohard to get past how biphobia that trial was! Re: The Staircase. But also blood spatter evidence is pretty much junk science, so if that's the only evidence they have I'm not inclined to believe it.
Yes, the biphobia!!
Yes, at times I felt like I was watching a weird mockumentary with caricatures of prejudiced stereotypes and kept having to remind myself "these people are real, not overdone characters" and then feeling sad about how awful they were
The only tattoo I routinely think of getting is The Death of Rats from the Discworld series, saying the only thing he ever says, which is "SQUEAK."
Since all forms of Death always speak in all caps.
Re The Staircase, I agree - the guy seems sketchy as fuck but I really truly don’t know if he did it. Not enough evidence plus his kids all adore him despite how he comes across to the rest of us.
Agreed. There is a non-zero part of me who believes the Owl Theory
Same! The owl theory is my favorite bizarre theory of a crime.
I went in like “don’t you tell me a goddamn thing about owls” and then googled around and was like “damn those lacerations and the feather, though.”
I have a long list of forthcoming tattoos, but I think the first will be “Hi baby” in a pretty script on my forearm.
It’s the first phrase that my toddler picked up and every morning when I open his bedroom door he squeals “HIIIIIIII BEEEBEEEE”
It just makes me so happy. The best way to start the day and I never want to forget it
The news out of NS shocked me too (I'm in TO) - but I'd still rather be in Canada then anywhere else (execept maybe New Zealand). Sending Canadian flavored hugs. Glad you're ok.
I have an overwhelming desire for multiple tattoos that I was already considering but now want more, I just can't figure out where to put them (I currently only have one tat, on my wrist, and I dithered for years about what I wanted before committing. It is a pair of koi in a watercolour style). Advise and design contacts more than welcome...
1) 'Courage' - somewhere I can see it and be reminded by it.
2) 'Hope' - as 1, or a symbol of hope (is there a plant or an animal that means hope? I'm wary of getting it in a language I don't read. And 'Espère' or 'Espoir' don't really have the same ring. I was also considering 'where there's life, there's hope and a little plant shoot or something).
3) A wolf of some kind...