Look how tiny they all are!
My two future precious little girls! More photos (plus names) coming soon, of course 😻😻😺😸🐈
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Love and Kittens
My family will be blessed with two kittens in two weeks time. Here are the pictures I could take today. We are adopting the black and white one eating from the bowl, and the smallest of the litter, a white and brown tiddler.
Look how tiny they all are!
My two future precious little girls! More photos (plus names) coming soon, of course 😻😻😺😸🐈
Look how tiny they all are!
My two future precious little girls! More photos (plus names) coming soon, of course 😻😻😺😸🐈
Saturday, 21 September 2019
Book Review - 'Fireweed' by Jill Paton Walsh
An interesting angle and look out of thousands to take towards the Second World War, set in 1940, mainly in London, during the Blitz. It is well written, if infodumpy and overly descriptive, particularly for a younger audience in the sixties.
But the main character's casual misogyny, huge entitlement issues, and black hole-sized lack of common sense and self-preservation skills kept me from liking 'Fireweed'.
Seriously, "Bill" (we never know his real name) demands of his female partner, Julie, also a homeless teenage runaway, whom he barely knows, to make him a cup of tea, after they've just arrived in his own house, where there is a fucking big unexploded bomb right in the kitchen they are in, right over the sink. Of course she relents, with no protest, literally risking her life to make him tea, just because he says so. I don't care that he sparingly acknowledges how monstrous his words and actions are - it is in his first person narration only, and it doesn't excuse him of anything. Who the fuck does this whiny, selfish kid think he is?
When Bill, in a single paragraph, casually mentions in passing that the bomb went off shortly after he and Julie left his house, it is practically played for laughs. I don't know what to think of this.
Bill's relationship with Julie is uncomfortable to read about. He's abusive, controlling, clingy, and has rage issues - how many times does he "snap" at Julie? His protecting her has resulted in him bruising her. She's a "strong independent spitfire" of a girl, who is actually a domesticated scaredy cat who cries a lot, doesn't do anything without Bill's permission, and later on stays put in shelters making tea and dinner while Bill goes outside into the danger. Julie is a damsel for him to rescue, in more ways than one, and blatantly a wife and mother in training. She's even sexualised by a shopkeeper boy who is much younger than she is. This is never commented on. Disgusting.
And I know Bill will grow up to be a wife beater, judging by, well, everything, but especially that ending.
So the stiff, stale 20th century gender roles and dynamics have not made 'Fireweed' age well for me. Suddenly the war and deaths are not the only horrifying things in it. The sexism, to put it extremely lightly, is creepy, and towards a girl so young.
'Fireweed' is also basically a WWII version of 'Ashfall' by Mike Mullin, only with less action.
I couldn't connect to the story or its characters at all. Sorry, I tried.
Final Score: 2/5
But the main character's casual misogyny, huge entitlement issues, and black hole-sized lack of common sense and self-preservation skills kept me from liking 'Fireweed'.
Seriously, "Bill" (we never know his real name) demands of his female partner, Julie, also a homeless teenage runaway, whom he barely knows, to make him a cup of tea, after they've just arrived in his own house, where there is a fucking big unexploded bomb right in the kitchen they are in, right over the sink. Of course she relents, with no protest, literally risking her life to make him tea, just because he says so. I don't care that he sparingly acknowledges how monstrous his words and actions are - it is in his first person narration only, and it doesn't excuse him of anything. Who the fuck does this whiny, selfish kid think he is?
When Bill, in a single paragraph, casually mentions in passing that the bomb went off shortly after he and Julie left his house, it is practically played for laughs. I don't know what to think of this.
Bill's relationship with Julie is uncomfortable to read about. He's abusive, controlling, clingy, and has rage issues - how many times does he "snap" at Julie? His protecting her has resulted in him bruising her. She's a "strong independent spitfire" of a girl, who is actually a domesticated scaredy cat who cries a lot, doesn't do anything without Bill's permission, and later on stays put in shelters making tea and dinner while Bill goes outside into the danger. Julie is a damsel for him to rescue, in more ways than one, and blatantly a wife and mother in training. She's even sexualised by a shopkeeper boy who is much younger than she is. This is never commented on. Disgusting.
And I know Bill will grow up to be a wife beater, judging by, well, everything, but especially that ending.
So the stiff, stale 20th century gender roles and dynamics have not made 'Fireweed' age well for me. Suddenly the war and deaths are not the only horrifying things in it. The sexism, to put it extremely lightly, is creepy, and towards a girl so young.
'Fireweed' is also basically a WWII version of 'Ashfall' by Mike Mullin, only with less action.
I couldn't connect to the story or its characters at all. Sorry, I tried.
Final Score: 2/5
Graphic Novel Review - 'The Tea Dragon Festival' by Kay O'Neill
Back in the world of Tea Dragons, and everything is as calm, comforting, charming, lush, lovely and magical as ever.
Kay O'Neill writes and draws enchantment. They have mastered colourful, diverse, egalitarian, and peaceful fantasy graphic novels for everyone. For a new, progressive generation.
In 'The Tea Dragon Festival', we have:
• A young POC, nonbinary protagonist - Rinn the herbalist and cook.
• A proud clan dragon who can change into a more human form, who is trying to find himself and make up for lost time - Aedhan, who kind of reminds me of Inuyasha.
• A deep, platonic friendship between Rinn and Aedhan.
• A deaf, POC side character - Lesa, also a cook. This book is big on sign language awareness and resources.
• A grandmother and a little sister. Female-led communities matter.
• The return of Erik and Hesekiel! They are younger here, and Erik is Rinn's travelling, cocky uncle with a sword. I love picturing Hesekiel as having an experienced wise man's voice with a twinkle in his eye.
• Humans and anthropomorphic people coexisting in peace. They are a thriving, wonderful community with a culture and heritage to be proud of, who love and care for each other. Once again, there are no antagonists.
• A message about home and belonging, where people love you and let you do what you love.
• A woman wearing a hijab in the background.
• Another background character who looks like Link from 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'.
• Creative magical creature designs in honour of Studio Ghibli. I want plushies of them!
• Speaking of, there is a lone train which comes once a week to this spiritual world full of dragons.
• Oh and of course, Tea Dragons (Dracona Domestica)! Wild, pesky, but lovable and adorable Tea Dragons!
There is more - oh so much more - but I don't wish to spoil the magic.
Except for one more thing which deserves to be spotlighted from the heavens: Aedhan's dragon race (Dracona Major) can shift from one sex to another whenever they want, if they work at it. Any dragon can be genderfluid. Rinn says how lovely that is.
You can practically smell and taste all the vibrant nature on every page in 'The Tea Dragon Festival', and hear the sweet music, and the humming and singing in the wind. It transcends graphic novel form: it is a gentle breeze blooming with all the colours and hues of the rainbow and other prisms. A relaxing time of having a cup of tea with the people you love and connect with.
Another triumph. How do you do it, Kay O'Neill?
Final Score: 5/5
Kay O'Neill writes and draws enchantment. They have mastered colourful, diverse, egalitarian, and peaceful fantasy graphic novels for everyone. For a new, progressive generation.
In 'The Tea Dragon Festival', we have:
• A young POC, nonbinary protagonist - Rinn the herbalist and cook.
• A proud clan dragon who can change into a more human form, who is trying to find himself and make up for lost time - Aedhan, who kind of reminds me of Inuyasha.
• A deep, platonic friendship between Rinn and Aedhan.
• A deaf, POC side character - Lesa, also a cook. This book is big on sign language awareness and resources.
• A grandmother and a little sister. Female-led communities matter.
• The return of Erik and Hesekiel! They are younger here, and Erik is Rinn's travelling, cocky uncle with a sword. I love picturing Hesekiel as having an experienced wise man's voice with a twinkle in his eye.
• Humans and anthropomorphic people coexisting in peace. They are a thriving, wonderful community with a culture and heritage to be proud of, who love and care for each other. Once again, there are no antagonists.
• A message about home and belonging, where people love you and let you do what you love.
• A woman wearing a hijab in the background.
• Another background character who looks like Link from 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'.
• Creative magical creature designs in honour of Studio Ghibli. I want plushies of them!
• Speaking of, there is a lone train which comes once a week to this spiritual world full of dragons.
• Oh and of course, Tea Dragons (Dracona Domestica)! Wild, pesky, but lovable and adorable Tea Dragons!
There is more - oh so much more - but I don't wish to spoil the magic.
Except for one more thing which deserves to be spotlighted from the heavens: Aedhan's dragon race (Dracona Major) can shift from one sex to another whenever they want, if they work at it. Any dragon can be genderfluid. Rinn says how lovely that is.
You can practically smell and taste all the vibrant nature on every page in 'The Tea Dragon Festival', and hear the sweet music, and the humming and singing in the wind. It transcends graphic novel form: it is a gentle breeze blooming with all the colours and hues of the rainbow and other prisms. A relaxing time of having a cup of tea with the people you love and connect with.
Another triumph. How do you do it, Kay O'Neill?
Final Score: 5/5
Scribble #97
Abuse is someone making someone else's life worse by being with them, but the abuser will insist that it is for the best, for the victim's "own good". Abusers find fault with everything about their victim's character, and will let them know in the most negative ways, to make them change to suit the abuser's own idealised, less-than image; to be mocked, dismissed, ignored, and insulted even more, to satisfy the abuser's fragile ego. Abusers drain their victims, suck the life out of them, beat the happiness out of them little by little, often subtly. Shifting the blame from oneself onto the victim about everything is a common red flag. Making excuses, time and time again, denial, lies, deception, gaslighting, twisting words, bringing up the victim's past mistakes, not listening, contradicting: these are also in the abuser's arsenal.
The victim's pain, misery, fear, low self-esteem, self-doubt and submissiveness nourishes the perpetrator. Via their twisted logic anyone made to feel weaker than them, by them, will also be made to need them to survive. Fear and codependence go hand in hand.
Because it's for the abuser's own sense of self-worth and validation in existence. If no one - better a unified community - will try to stop them, they will keep doing it.
Abusers feed their victims poison and will endlessly call it ambrosia. They will destroy them, mold them into their own fantasy images, kill the victim's independence, by any means.
This toxic power struggle - abuse, bullying caused by selfishness and self-validation - can exist anywhere, in any context. Not just in romantic and sexual relationships, but in families, in friendships, in schools, workplaces, and in politics.
When the day comes when a person can say, "I'm gay", to anyone and the universal response is, "And?", we have done our job.
The victim's pain, misery, fear, low self-esteem, self-doubt and submissiveness nourishes the perpetrator. Via their twisted logic anyone made to feel weaker than them, by them, will also be made to need them to survive. Fear and codependence go hand in hand.
Because it's for the abuser's own sense of self-worth and validation in existence. If no one - better a unified community - will try to stop them, they will keep doing it.
Abusers feed their victims poison and will endlessly call it ambrosia. They will destroy them, mold them into their own fantasy images, kill the victim's independence, by any means.
This toxic power struggle - abuse, bullying caused by selfishness and self-validation - can exist anywhere, in any context. Not just in romantic and sexual relationships, but in families, in friendships, in schools, workplaces, and in politics.
When the day comes when a person can say, "I'm gay", to anyone and the universal response is, "And?", we have done our job.
Graphic Novel Review - 'Woman World' by Aminder Dhaliwal
2023 EDIT:
Reread: An oddly charming and funny comic. There is a little more trans inclusivity than I remember, though it is perhaps too subtle, and it would have been better if someone turned out to be a trans man, and another nonbinary. More of that representation would have been great.
A comedy, and a thought-provoking, uplifting, hopeful "dystopia". Still a keeper.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
How will women cope if all men die out?
Just fine, as it turns out.
'Woman World' is an absolutely hilarious anecdotal feminist comic. There are no male characters at all after the first several pages, where, further in the future, we see the fallout of the extinction of men due to a genetic disorder - leading to a fairly utopian society of human women getting along splendidly and trying their best.
In a world where the patriarchy no longer exists for real, women can love and support one another freely. Have some laughs, spend time together however they want, say what's on their minds and talk long and express themselves to their fullest, and get work done; without men interrupting them, criticising them, demeaning them, patronising them, harassing them, threatening them, abusing them, dictating their lives, making them feel small, taking up their space, and turning them against each other; turning them into competition, into "bitches", and their own worst enemy.
In 'Woman World', we witness the benefits of allowing people to be selfless, kind and caring toward others. So, without the stifling, unhealthy micro-and-macroaggressions of the patriarchy, women will be good at building a society; they will be productive; they will work; they will prosper; to make life better for other people. No wars, no greed, no ego, no entitlement, no narcissism, no pettiness, no cruelty, no discrimination - women get shit done. Like simple, proper healthcare, and bodily and reproductive rights.
Looks certainly don't matter in this world.
It's also great to see a premise like this where sperm banks are acknowledged, and they are put to use.
The women and girls of Woman World - in their area of Beyonce's Thighs - are diverse and LBGTQ. Though the one issue I have is that transgender people are mentioned in only one story, and then it is never brought up again. This is problematic as well as highly noticeable since, when discussing gender and sex through the modern lens, the trans and nonbinary communities must be considered. Because we know now that there are more genders than the straight line binary of male and female, and that there are limitless ways to be male and female, or neither. Also the coded African doctor from another village has no name; she's called "Doctor".
The art is reminiscent of 'Adventure Time' and 'Steven Universe'. Soft, cartoony and lovely for a comedy graphic novel.
'Woman World' is very funny, clever, introspective, subversive, and adorable. One of my favourite recurring plots is with the grandmother, the last of her generation to have known men, and her little hyperactive granddaughter, who believes that mankind, nay all of 21st century culture, is represented in 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' (to be fair, she might not be wrong). Of course there is so much more featured in this package, but I won't dare spoil any more of the fun.
It's smashing. Prepare to laugh, and think.
Final Score: 4/5
Reread: An oddly charming and funny comic. There is a little more trans inclusivity than I remember, though it is perhaps too subtle, and it would have been better if someone turned out to be a trans man, and another nonbinary. More of that representation would have been great.
A comedy, and a thought-provoking, uplifting, hopeful "dystopia". Still a keeper.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
How will women cope if all men die out?
Just fine, as it turns out.
'Woman World' is an absolutely hilarious anecdotal feminist comic. There are no male characters at all after the first several pages, where, further in the future, we see the fallout of the extinction of men due to a genetic disorder - leading to a fairly utopian society of human women getting along splendidly and trying their best.
In a world where the patriarchy no longer exists for real, women can love and support one another freely. Have some laughs, spend time together however they want, say what's on their minds and talk long and express themselves to their fullest, and get work done; without men interrupting them, criticising them, demeaning them, patronising them, harassing them, threatening them, abusing them, dictating their lives, making them feel small, taking up their space, and turning them against each other; turning them into competition, into "bitches", and their own worst enemy.
In 'Woman World', we witness the benefits of allowing people to be selfless, kind and caring toward others. So, without the stifling, unhealthy micro-and-macroaggressions of the patriarchy, women will be good at building a society; they will be productive; they will work; they will prosper; to make life better for other people. No wars, no greed, no ego, no entitlement, no narcissism, no pettiness, no cruelty, no discrimination - women get shit done. Like simple, proper healthcare, and bodily and reproductive rights.
Looks certainly don't matter in this world.
It's also great to see a premise like this where sperm banks are acknowledged, and they are put to use.
The women and girls of Woman World - in their area of Beyonce's Thighs - are diverse and LBGTQ. Though the one issue I have is that transgender people are mentioned in only one story, and then it is never brought up again. This is problematic as well as highly noticeable since, when discussing gender and sex through the modern lens, the trans and nonbinary communities must be considered. Because we know now that there are more genders than the straight line binary of male and female, and that there are limitless ways to be male and female, or neither. Also the coded African doctor from another village has no name; she's called "Doctor".
The art is reminiscent of 'Adventure Time' and 'Steven Universe'. Soft, cartoony and lovely for a comedy graphic novel.
'Woman World' is very funny, clever, introspective, subversive, and adorable. One of my favourite recurring plots is with the grandmother, the last of her generation to have known men, and her little hyperactive granddaughter, who believes that mankind, nay all of 21st century culture, is represented in 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' (to be fair, she might not be wrong). Of course there is so much more featured in this package, but I won't dare spoil any more of the fun.
It's smashing. Prepare to laugh, and think.
Final Score: 4/5
Manga Review - 'I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up' by Naoko Kodama
"First comes marriage - then comes love!"
A surprisingly decent and sweet standalone yuri manga, that isn't trashy, het gazey or highly inappropriate concerning consent issues. I guess it helps that it's from 2018-19.
'I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up' is self-explanatory, yet its title is only the start of it. It is about the growth and confidence boost of Machi Morimoto, a young independent woman in Japan, who is just going through the motions of being smart and relatively successful in her office career at her male-dominated workplace. But since a woman without a man is a failure in society and at life, apparently, her male colleagues, but especially her demanding and controlling parents, keep pestering her to get married (in her colleagues' case, probably as an excuse to fire her, since they believe that career and family can't coexist for women, but never for men for some reason).
She's sick of it. Sick of failing to please everyone, no matter what she does.
The solution? Machi's friend, Hana Agaya, who has been in love with her since school, suggests that she marry her; in a civil partnership, so that Machi's parents will finally back off.
The introverted Machi, who used to live alone, can barely handle this sudden and unconventional change to her mundane life and routine. The happy, upbeat artist Hana is her exact opposite; how will "senpai" cope with living with her? But, slowly, surely, the sham marriage may bloom into something more meaningful, helpful, and enlightening, as Machi learns to come out of her shell... as well as the closet.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Take that, patriarchy!
'I Married My Best Friend' sounds like a bad rom com, or just a hideously tasteless and unfunny comedy. But it isn't. The manga tackles issues of sexism in the workplace, patriarchal ideas of marriage, academic pressure on children bordering on abuse, and homophobia. Small but vital details in an otherwise light, simple opposites-attract love story. For love and support - and consent - are very important values to live by.
Everything here, plus the positive, personal growth of the ordinary woman protagonist trapped in a patriarchal society, is worth highlighting and reading about. It is the 21st century, after all.
Yeah, there could have been a lot more, but oh well. It's nice, bold yet unpretentious throughout, and I'll praise standalone books any day.
Also included is the alternate universe story 'Anaerobic Love'.
'I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up' - I recommend it to anyone, including people who like 'Girl Friends' by Milk Morinaga, and who don't usually like yuri.
Final Score: 3.5/5
A surprisingly decent and sweet standalone yuri manga, that isn't trashy, het gazey or highly inappropriate concerning consent issues. I guess it helps that it's from 2018-19.
'I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up' is self-explanatory, yet its title is only the start of it. It is about the growth and confidence boost of Machi Morimoto, a young independent woman in Japan, who is just going through the motions of being smart and relatively successful in her office career at her male-dominated workplace. But since a woman without a man is a failure in society and at life, apparently, her male colleagues, but especially her demanding and controlling parents, keep pestering her to get married (in her colleagues' case, probably as an excuse to fire her, since they believe that career and family can't coexist for women, but never for men for some reason).
She's sick of it. Sick of failing to please everyone, no matter what she does.
The solution? Machi's friend, Hana Agaya, who has been in love with her since school, suggests that she marry her; in a civil partnership, so that Machi's parents will finally back off.
The introverted Machi, who used to live alone, can barely handle this sudden and unconventional change to her mundane life and routine. The happy, upbeat artist Hana is her exact opposite; how will "senpai" cope with living with her? But, slowly, surely, the sham marriage may bloom into something more meaningful, helpful, and enlightening, as Machi learns to come out of her shell... as well as the closet.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Take that, patriarchy!
'I Married My Best Friend' sounds like a bad rom com, or just a hideously tasteless and unfunny comedy. But it isn't. The manga tackles issues of sexism in the workplace, patriarchal ideas of marriage, academic pressure on children bordering on abuse, and homophobia. Small but vital details in an otherwise light, simple opposites-attract love story. For love and support - and consent - are very important values to live by.
Everything here, plus the positive, personal growth of the ordinary woman protagonist trapped in a patriarchal society, is worth highlighting and reading about. It is the 21st century, after all.
Yeah, there could have been a lot more, but oh well. It's nice, bold yet unpretentious throughout, and I'll praise standalone books any day.
Also included is the alternate universe story 'Anaerobic Love'.
'I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up' - I recommend it to anyone, including people who like 'Girl Friends' by Milk Morinaga, and who don't usually like yuri.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Book Review - 'Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul' by Nikita Gill
Fairy tales deconstructed, Disney Princesses deconstructed, fairy tale and Disney villains deconstructed, feminism, abuse, trauma, the meaning of wolves, LBGTQ content, race and misogynoir issues, eating disorders, advice, childhood, fancies, independence, inner strength, self-love, growth, life, the meaning of the universe. 'Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul' has it all; in lyrical, breathtaking poetry form.
HERE are tales to read to your children at bedtime.
Nikita Gill's best, most creative, clever, vibrant, stunning, articulate, and timeless poetry collection.
All stories contain a seed of truth. And transcendent beauty from within. And healing.
Nice little illustrations, too.
Love it, love it, love it.
Final Score: 5/5
HERE are tales to read to your children at bedtime.
Nikita Gill's best, most creative, clever, vibrant, stunning, articulate, and timeless poetry collection.
All stories contain a seed of truth. And transcendent beauty from within. And healing.
Nice little illustrations, too.
Love it, love it, love it.
Final Score: 5/5
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