jazzybabe56

Blurb:

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

I checked out this book from the library based on the author's name alone!

The book is a great examination of first love between two teenagers. When holding hands feels monumental and daring. How sharing music leads to falling in love.

TW warning though: the book is searing indictment of the poor choices facing divorced women with children when the father doesn't fulfill his responsibilities. Abusive men. Predatory men, although he doesn't succeed - Eleanor gets away from him.

It was most likely banned because of its exploration of the burgeoning sexual awakening between two teenagers and its unfavorable opinion of abusive men.

DNF Note: I started In God We Trust (All Others Pay Cash), which is the series of essays that A Christmas Storywas based on. I had no patience for the misogyny and casual ageism in the first few pages.

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: The Format - Holy Roller

denise posting in

dw_maintenance

I keep forgetting to post about this: we've been troubleshooting the "missing notifications" problem for the past few days. (Well, I say "we", really I mean Mark and Robby; I'm just the amanuensis.) It's been one of those annoying loops of "find a logical explanation for what could be causing the problem, fix that thing, observe that the problem gets better for some people but doesn't go away completely, go back to step one and start again", sigh.

Mark is hauling out the heavy debugging ordinance to try to find the root cause. Once he's done building all the extra logging tools he needs, he'll comment to this entry. After he does, if you find a comment that should have gone to your inbox and sent an email notification but didn't, leave him a link to the comment that should have sent the notification, as long as the comment itself was made after Mark says he's collecting them. (I'd wait and post this after he gets the debug code in but I need to go to sleep and he's not sure how long it will take!)

We're sorry about the hassle! Irregular/sporadic issues like this are really hard to troubleshoot because it's impossible to know if they're fixed or if they're just not happening while you're looking. With luck, this will give us enough information to figure out the root cause for real this time.

siria

Saw My Colours
The Pitt | ~1500 words | Duke, Gen | Episode fic for 2.14.

(Also on AO3)

( Time was, Duke had a lot of firsts on Fourth of July weekends. )

elayna

I'm watching a show where a man in a position of some authority blames a man with greater power for the death of his son. He kidnaps the guy and takes him out to the middle of the desert, leaving him to die. He is emotionally upset by what he has done, but feels it was necessary. His wife is distraught when she founds out, upset that her husband has done this horrible act, despoiling the memory of their son with murder, not even sharing his burden with her.

And it makes me think of this other show where a man in a position of some authority blames a man with greater power for the death of his son. And he schemes with mercenaries on a plan that kills a significant number of people and is intended to kill thousands more, but gets prevented. He doesn't seem to be particularly traumatized by what he has done, but fairly self-righteous about being driven to it. His wife is not distraught when she finds out. She is in fact delighted that her husband has killed a bunch of people to find vengeance for their son's death and encourages him on.

Do I even need to say which couple is Native American and which is white?

And now that I've set that up, I'm not sure where I want to go with it. Multiple paths pull me. But mainly it's been interesting to think about, how very culturally different people can be, and how my own cultural background has helped create my reactions of what is wrong and right and what people 'ought' to do. Also, it is good to watch different types of media.

siria

( The Pitt, 2.14, 8:00P.M. )

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

siria

Withholding
ER | Carter, Anna | ~1500 words | Episode tag for 4.13, "Carter's Choice." Thanks to

sheafrotherdon for audiencing.

(Also on AO3)

( 'I mean, was it wrong? Anna, are you sure?' )

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

siria

This is a Gift
The Red Line | Daniel/Liam | ~1100 words | Further adventuring in the Noah Wyle is Good at Crying Cinematic Universe.

(Also on AO3)

( 'God, you need gloves.' Liam and Daniel, three weeks later. )

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

siria

A Covenant Will I Establish
The Pitt/ER | Jack/Robby, Carter | ~21,000 words | Thanks to

sheafrotherdon and

melroseee for betaing, and to

trinityofone for supplying baseball terms, and to the Discord chat for the thing they'll recognise when they get to it.

(Also on AO3)

( Robby and Jack figure out what they want to build together. )

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

siria

Focal Point
The Pitt | Samira, Gen | ~1600 words | Episode fic for 2.13. Thanks to

sheafrotherdon for betaing.

(Also on AO3)

( The stupid thing was that Samira kept thinking about the bag. )

james

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

siria

( The Pitt, 2.13, 7:00P.M. )

goneahead

Of all the stars, moons, and planets, Of all I can see or imagine, This is the most beautiful;

All the colors of the universe Focused on one small globe; And it is our home, our refuge.

Now I know why I'm here: Not for a closer look at the moon, But to look back At our home The earth.

~~Alfred Worden

goneahead

Please, let him be happy

Please, let him be soft.

I know you made him

with gunmetal bones

and wolf's teeth.

I know you made him to be

a warrior

a soldier

a hero.

But even gunmetal can warp

and even wolf's teeth can dull

and I do not want to see him break

the way old and worn and overused things do.

I do not want to see him go up in flames

the way all heroes end up martyrs.

I know that you will tell me

that the world needs him.

The world needs his heart

and his faith

and his courage

and his strength

and his bones and his teeth and his blood and his voice and his--

The world needs anything he will give them.

Damn the world,

and damn you too.

Damn anyone that ever asked anything of him,

damn anyone that ever took anything from him,

damn anyone that ever prayed to his name.

You know that he will give them everything

until there is nothing left of him

but the imprint of dust

where his feet once trod.

You know that he will bear the world like Atlas

until his shoulders collapse

and his knees buckle

and he is crushed by all he used to carry.

Dear God,

you have already made an Atlas.

You have already made an Achilles and an Icarus and a Hercules.

You have already made so many heroes,

and you can make another again.

You can have your pick of heroes.

So please, I beg you--

he is all that I have,

and you have so many heroes

and the world has so many more.

Let him be soft,

and let him be mine.

~~Pencap link

goneahead

how to love a demigod

Remember that he is not a god.

Remember that he bleeds.

Remember that his tears are not stars

and his bones are not bedrock

and his blood is not liquid gold.

Remember that he suffers and hurts and sorrows.

Be gentle with him,

because the world will not remember to be kind.

Remember too that he is not human.

Remember that he is fated for the legends.

Remember that he is not yours to keep.

Remember that there are those stronger and greater than you

who have already claimed his flesh as their sacrifice.

Remember that when he stands before his destiny,

you may be nothing but a voice in the back of his mind

you may be nothing but a ghost of a touch across his skin.

Love him anyway.

And when they write that book about him,

read it.

They will lie and forget and get everything wrong.

Read every book they ever write anyway.

When the poets sing his name

and the historians dig his grave,

clutch close the truth that you held and felt and loved.

Clutch close the boy who taught you to dance

and spent the nights lying on a fire escape counting stars.

You will want to keep that boy for yourself

and keep his memory safe from the greedy fingers of the world.

Do not.

Remember again that he is not yours to keep.

Tell the world about the boy.

Tell the world how he loved sunrises but hated waking up for them.

Tell the world how he built pillow forts and curled up with blankets.

Tell the world how he wanted nothing more than

to enjoy what is good and pure and beautiful in the world

to protect it from harm.

The world will not listen.

The world will not believe you

but tell them anyway.

Tell them anyway.

It is the only thing left you can give to him.

~~Pencap link

goneahead

Mazel Tov

Circular breather, our dog can whine

without ceasing, his tail thumping the wall

beside the bed to call me up and out to the yard

instead. In moonlight, the hydrangeas’

white blossoms are a zodiac of branch-bound

constellations. Once, God called Abraham

out from his tent to the open field to count

the uncountable lights in the sky, promising

offspring bountiful as dust, numerous

as the stars. Like Abraham, I too left

my land, my birthplace, my father’s house.

But the closest I have to offspring

is lifting his leg at the azalea, nose busy

with the news the night air brings.

Mazel tov! we say at births and other

joyous occasions, the Jewish go-to

for Congratulations! Yet טוֹב tov means “good”

and מַזָּל mazel, “constellation” or “destiny,”

and sometimes, like Abraham, you must

leave the place that grew you to grow

toward better stars. In the house, my wife

is sleeping. Along the fence-top, a procession

of possums reminds that even in darkness

there are those who can see. Above,

trees, thick with summer, frame a porthole

of sky. Maybe, though, it’s not always the stars

that matter but the space between them,

the lines we draw to shape the absence,

the lives we forge around what goes missing.

From the deck, the cool breeze makes a festival

of the silver-lit leaves. Under my palm,

there’s the warmth of his fur, the rise

of his ribs. He doesn’t suspect his kidneys

are failing, that his muzzle is white

as the winter our vet has said he will

not live to see. Like all of us, he is

dying; like most of us, he doesn’t

know it. His chin on my leg, he trusts me

with the weight of his head. So, if I wish

you, mazel tov, know what I mean is,

May you find a reason to open

your door to the dark. I’ll mean,

May you live beneath good stars,

and take the time to notice.

~~Jessica Jacobs

seleneheart

A Scandal in Mayfair by Katharine Schellman

Blurb:

Sometimes danger lurks in plain sight, and in the cutthroat London Season socialite Lily Adler must race against time to catch a killer. Fans of Bridgerton will delight in this Regency-era mystery featuring an intrepid sleuth, plenty of intrigue, and a touch of romance. London, 1817. The London Season is beginning once more, and Lily Adler’s return to her home on Half Moon Street feels different this year. No longer a recent widow, she has a life and friends waiting for her. Lily also has new responsibilities in the form of her protégée Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend Jack Hartley, who is escaping her own brush with scandal and murder. It doesn’t take long for Lily’s growing reputation as a lady of quality who can discreetly find what is missing or solve what is puzzling to bring a desperate young woman to her doorstep. But helping her means unraveling a tangled web of family secrets. Soon, a missing will, a dead body, and the threat of blackmail leave Lily facing danger every way she turns. The glittering society of Mayfair conceals many secrets, and the back alleys of London hide even more. Lily Adler will need to find the connection between them quickly if she wants to stop a killer before it’s too late.

This book rounds out the series of five books. I think that the series ends in a really good place, with Lily and her friends are accepting of Lily's detecting adventures. She has finished grieving for her husband. The murder was decently intriguing. I hope the author leaves it alone. However, these books are such a fun time and a relaxing read that if she writes more, I'll probably read them.

With this book, I've completed my second bingo:

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: Aerosmith - Dream On

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jazzybabe56

November 2012

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Reading

Book Bingo: N5 | Banned Book | Eleanor & Park

The case of the missing notifications

2612 / Fic - The Pitt

Fannish 50 2026 #15: different attitudes

2611 / The Pitt, 2.14

Yestuhday

2610 / Fic - ER

Reading, Yarning, Ice Cream

2609 / Fic - The Red Line

A toast!

2608 / Fic - The Pitt/ER

Ttttttttttttttireddddddddddddd

2607 / Fic - The Pitt

Fictional dying

2606 / The Pitt, 2.13

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Book Bingo: I3 | Crime/Mystery | A Scandal in Mayfair

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November 2012

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