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This nineteen seventies memoir by Barbara Gordon recalls her addiction to Valium and subsequent break with reality in a breezy second-wave feminist tone that, while not politically correct exactly, sets the stage for the kind of female confessional culture that I slid into. Itās a sad book, a funny book, a book you may want to read if only to understand where the upwardly mobile went to lunch in New York in the late nineteen seventies.
Jan 3, 2023
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Currently reading a third time because itās just so yummy. i read it the first time in a day granted I was in rehab. Eve babitz is the fucking goat and forever underrated. OG it girl and tortured artist literally female Ernest Hemingway With a dash of hunter Thompson heaping spoon of Joan didion. Fiction based in reality like a girl moveable feast. I think I like it so much bc the main character is me coded tbh but the way she says so much in so little is insane and itās hard to believe itās not written recently bc it feels so vivid
Nov 3, 2023
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would only recommend if youāre into punk culture or memoirs of any kind. very easy to read and honestly really inspiring to me, very patti smith reminiscent
Oct 29, 2024
i read this first the summer between highschool and college and it changed something for me. it's made up of little snippets into the lives of people, sometimes not all the loose ends were tied up but it felt real. it was reflective and I've passed it along to my younger cousins as they navigate the worlds of dating and sex and others perceptions of their personal lives. the reviews are absolutely polarizing but if you're willing to read that doesnt directly tell you how to feel but makes you linger with the emotions that come up this one might be for you
Apr 20, 2024
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I have (and have had) many pets since I was a wee girl- newts, bunnies, terriers, gerbils, frogs, iguanas, fish, hedgehogs, and Iāve loved each of them with all Iāve got. But over the last few years, Iāve found my truest passion is raising kittens (donāt tell my dogs, who seem 100% sure the cats are just disruptive indignities I must suffer to get back to them.) Kittens are natureās anti-depressant, the best reality show youāre not watching and a totally inspiring example of the mindfuck that is evolution. I mean, these little creeps have been designed by a Higher Power to look adorably lost, impossibly needyā¦ and then BAM theyāre opening all your doors and eating all your salad and looking down at you from the bookshelf like youāre the help in a Downton Abbey sequel. Plus, on a soppy note, a teensy rescue kitten is the example of tenacity we all need- they donāt give up as they go from fetal bird confusion to diabolical emperor. Any opportunity to foster, raise and/or unleash kittens on their next willing fin-dom arrangement is one of my higher callings. At the moment, two young āens are staring at me from a cactus shaped condo in the corner of our bedroom. Another eight year old adoptee/Garfield doppelganger is on a reduced calorie diet upstairs so that he can maintain his heart health and travel in something smaller than the laundry hamper. Look at us! Weāre a chic literary salon but Iām the only one who can read (I think. I have one cat who can probably read, she just does it at night when Iām not looking.)
Jan 3, 2023
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I met Russell Brown, the man behind LA acupuncture sensation Poke, at a party in WeHo in 2012. I thought we were flirting but I think he was just sizing up my myriad issues and how they could be addressed by Chinese medicine. Heās since become the kind of friend who is closer to family than actual family, the kind you can call in the night screaming āmy pee doesnāt feel right.ā His knowledge, calm and ability to discuss Real Housewivesā behavior using terms like Yang and Chi (while still respecting the concepts) makes him indispensable. If you canāt get to LA to see him, where he often works with clients in communities in need, then follow him on Instagram- and subscribe to his free SubstackĀ Diet Poke, where he does a great job of simplifying essential concepts in a funny, pop way thatās still totally healing. I particularly love how he grapples with the LA desire to be perfect and the ways in which certain new age goals are at odds with real healing. To put it simply, heās my Dr. Phil and my Ma Anand Sheela all rolled into one, only queer and without delusions of grandeur. He gets my vote for most likely to change the world.
Jan 3, 2023
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Recently a woman at a party came up to me and said : āI used to follow your Instagram but I stopped when your interior problems became a bit much for me.ā I guess she meant my health issues, but from now on theyāre just āinterior problems.ā Over the years, as Iāve gotten more used to living in this body (I have endometriosis, auto-immune arthritis and Ehler-Danlos Syndrome) and have learned more about sick girl/crip culture, Iāve grown simultaneously less noisy about my own struggles (there are a lot of people out there doing it better) and more confident about asking for what I need when I need it. One subtle form of support is the cane: it both allows me to hoof around comfortably when Iām in painĀ andĀ reminds people that we arenāt all walking around with ease and to handle each other with care. Youāve gotta be pretty heartless to body slam someone on a cane just to get to the simple syrup at Blue Bottle coffee, ya know? The cane has the potential, with a little *lol* legwork, be quite stylish- my most cherished is a womanās walking stick from the early 20th century with a carved parrotās head handle, its eyes made from gleaming amber glass- this (and many other wonderful walking stickszzzzz) can be procured at:Ā antiquecanes.com, the kind of business that would fail anywhere else but here in London, itās thriving. The other favorite source for canes isĀ zitomer.com, the eternally fancy pharmacy on the Upper East Side. These are some Liza Minelli, give em the ole razzle dazzle canes. Plus, you can pick up fancy bows and nice mini hand lotions at the same time.
Jan 3, 2023