BRITTICISMS

"Cultural heroes help solidify one’s work and purpose. It is not that they provide vocal assurance...."

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:04:06 -0500

“Cultural heroes help solidify one’s work and purpose. It is not that they provide vocal assurance. Rather, it is their pursuit of their own endeavors that gives rise to one’s own sense of security. You begin to think, “If they can do that, then I can do this.” Our projects may not be as grand, but it is in the creation of them – the birth of a core idea, the making, and the final product – that we find meaning.”

- I wrote about the purpose and importance of cultural heroes for WBEZ. In the essay, I mentioned three of mine: Theaster Gates, Zadie Smith, and Lorna Simpson. I work as a non-fiction writer (though I always harbor dreams of playwriting and screenwriting), and yet their ability to work influences much of what I do. I’ve been thinking a lot about this, about what it means to rely on someone else’s work to fuel your own. It’s not about what they’ve done specifically. Rather, it is about the fact that they are doing it all. Action inspires creativity. Doing fuels making.

Really loving this series of photographs from Carrie...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:57:00 -0500

Really loving this series of photographs from Carrie Schneider’s “Reading Women” series. Above:

Sarah reading Zora Neale Hurston, Vicky reading Gloria Fuertes
Vanessa reading Nathalie Sarraute, Nuiko reading Henriette Renié
Alyssa reading Patti Smith, Yala reading Susan Sontag

Geoff Dyer in the essay “Of Course”

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:12:52 -0500

Geoff Dyer in the essay “Of Course”

How'd you get you're blog started? Did you have to increasingly get the word out for people to follow you? Or did you simply just continue posting until people followed themselves? Thanks! (:

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:52:33 -0500

More of the latter. I began this blog in December 2007. At the time, I was a junior in college working in my campus’ housing department. I started it because I wanted more outlets for my rampant thoughts and interests and curiosities and I wanted this space to be different than the blog of essays and Livejournal I already maintained. I wanted to talk about music and fashion and art and beauty and not do it with other people so much as do it for myself. In my head, this would be my ideal magazine: witty, enthusiastic, contemplative, and fun. I don’t know if I’ve accomplished this yet. This tumblr is constantly a work in progress. I’ve developed projects and let them go. I didn’t write very much in the beginning. Now I do it all the time, more confident in what I want to say as a writer (but not entirely confident. Does that ever happen?) What is the secret to a successful tumblr? I don’t know. I don’t think my tumblr is successful, not in the way I want it to be. I’ve had this for a long time. It has been the longest project I’ve ever worked on. It is, I think, because of that reality that I still keep going, adapting based on life circumstance and age and a desire to share in different ways.

I stayed at Four Tet’s DJ set at Smart Bar until the end...

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:44:28 -0500

I stayed at Four Tet’s DJ set at Smart Bar until the end last Thursday and Friday. It felt right and necessary. I can confidently say it was the best set I’ve heard at Smart Bar in my years of going there (there are not many years, but there is more than one).

The most perfect moment, I think: The lights were glowing. Faces were distinguishable. And the disco ball was spinning, the room illuminated and lovely.

Sylvester played. I thought about all of the times I’ve listened to Sylvester over a glass of red wine. His music is redemptive, but I like his more depressing moments, the “down disco” as I call it.

Great disco is more than just the joy. Through and through, it should be about the transcendence of the dance floor, of dance, of the body in motion. We dance when we are glad. We dance when the world feels like too much.

I spent the evening with friends and then I didn’t. I do not know if it would have been better with people I knew. It was more than who was there. It was about what was there, the perfect synchronicity of sound and bodies and lights. To experience it with strangers was maybe better because it showed how the moment was greater than the individual.

The crowd began to clap their hands and snap their fingers and I thought, “This is the film I’ve always felt deep in my soul, the one I’ve articulated through long walks home, the one I’ve recognized after long conversations with dear friends.” It is not a desire to live cinematically, but the acknowledgement that living cinematically is about a beginning, a middle, and an end. Life is not that precise. The older one gets, the more one recognizes that.

NOTED: In a report on a series of “flash mobs” downtown yesterday night, a police...

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:21:34 -0500

NOTED: In a report on a series of “flash mobs” downtown yesterday night, a police officer said, “Chicago is closed. Time to go home.” There are two kinds of flash mobs; the Chicago kind are never pleasant. Summer arrives and so too does the “terror.” Chicago and State becomes not just a train stop, but a means of confrontation, a clashing of the two cities. There is public Chicago and everywhere else, the parts of the city in which people live, but are rarely acknowledged. This of course is more than city structure. It is the further divide of a city of divisions. The “haves” and the “have nots” does not seem accurate enough. “Chicago is closed” he said, as if this part of the city is only open for a few, as if this part of the city is a store, a box, a secret that is locked away for those who are worthy of knowing it. Every year they ask, “Why do they do this? Cause trouble, cause noise, cause presence?” It seems like a subconscious occupation of space, a desire to swoop in fiercely, to stand out with righteous deviancy and angst. Occupy Chicago. They are “doing something.” It is not good or safe or pleasant or welcome, but it is something.

“Hold On” by Romanthony R.I.P. Romanthony. You were...

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:22:13 -0500

“Hold On” by Romanthony

R.I.P. Romanthony. You were truly one of the greatest. I could listen to this one forever, as I’m sure many of you could too. Thinking of all of the perfect moments framed with his music, how he truly defined the purity of the nightlife experience. My heart is heavy.

“Love Strong” by Moon Boots It is just my luck that...

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:25:13 -0500

“Love Strong” by Moon Boots

It is just my luck that I discover Moon Boots the night he leaves Chicago for good and moves to Berlin. Still, I’m glad I’ve heard him at all. “Love Strong” is easily one of the best dance tracks of the year. Very straightforward samples, a perfect house beat, and yet something light and bright shines through, making it easily digestible for multiple spins.

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RECENTLY: Out and about. At the PUBLIC Hotel, homes in...

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:19:38 -0500

RECENTLY: Out and about. At the PUBLIC Hotel, homes in Streeterville, Navy Pier, the MCA for Theaster Gates, Chicago Ave. and Ashland aka my hood, Antique Taco’s fish taco aka the best in the city, Lula Cafe. You should follow me on instagram.

The kindness of strangers is never given its proper due on this blog. You all are amazing and a...

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:32:46 -0500

The kindness of strangers is never given its proper due on this blog. You all are amazing and a reflection of the beauty and heart that exists in this world, but is often ignored. Thank you.

I wrote about the culture of domestic violence and why Kelly...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:04:33 -0500

I wrote about the culture of domestic violence and why Kelly Rowland’s “Dirty Laundry” is probably one of the most important songs of the year. It is. It truly is.

(via kafka-on-the-shore) “Lose Yourself To Dance”...

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:10:25 -0500

(via kafka-on-the-shore)

“Lose Yourself To Dance” by Daft Punk

OK. Whoever created this understands some of the motivation behind Daft Punk’s new record, which is why it’s such a perfect visual-audio mashup. A part of me feels like Daft Punk would approve of this. It’s so simple, yet on point.

To recap:

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:52:53 -0500

Anonymous asked: Is it really that difficult being a young Black woman? Aren’t you exaggerating just a bit?
Anonymous asked: stop acting as if you’re oppressed… it’s the 21st century. time to stop living like it’s a segregated society and time to start realizing that opportunities are available to you regardless of your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.
Anonymous asked: Not EVERYTHING has to be about race. #sitdown

Not EVERYTHING has to be about race. #sitdown

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:49:39 -0500

LOL. Someone sends me an anonymous message telling ME to #sitdown because I sometimes write about race on my OWN blog. It’s amazing how people come into YOUR space and demand you cater to THEIR desires because certain issues make THEM uncomfortable. It’s not that everything is about race. It’s that breaking down the ways in which race can intersect with other facets of culture makes YOU feel like you can’t escape it. I don’t believe in brushing things under the rug. I don’t believe in wishing things away or pretending they are not there. That’s a tactic for the weak-minded. I am not weak.

New Disclosure! “F for You” by Disclosure I feel...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:05:47 -0500

New Disclosure!

“F for You” by Disclosure

I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for this. There was a poorly shot version of the duo performing this in concert circling around a few months ago. But to hear it so clear and lovely is such a welcome gift! I love that they’ve stepped up to the plate and are singing now on their own tracks. It was inevitable, right? And listen, they’re no Sam Smith (but who is?), but I love the rawness of their vocals. And when Disclosure touches on the house road, the results are always nothing short of perfect.

“Warm Water” by Banks I’ve been back and...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:55:19 -0500

“Warm Water” by Banks

I’ve been back and forth regarding Banks’ music. She shows promise, but I’ve yet to hear a melody that is particularly striking. “Warm Water” thankfully negates that feeling. It is easily her best work yet, all soft, sensual, and slightly off. One of the things I like about Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ production work (for himself and for others) is that each work sounds so effortless. His work is built on layers, but the final product sounds so accessible and comforting, as if you’ve been listening to the song for years. That feeling arises here, too.

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Who are your favorite writers?

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:56:04 -0500

I love Zadie Smith because of her wit and humor and attention to detail.

I love Djuna Barnes for her vivid descriptions. I love her for her underlying terror and tension.

I love Nella Larsen because her little was a lot.

I love Francoise Sagan because of the ease of her prose.

I love Ernest Hemingway because I am comfortable liking problematic things.

I love Jamaica Kincaid because her sentences are the way we often think: not in succinct statements but in long bursts of energy.

I love Toni Morrison because her words demand strength, because she saw quickly in herself greatness and demanded that recognition with each line.

I love Marguerite Duras because she understands sensuality and exploits it for her gain.

I love Junot Diaz because the hyper-masculine and the hyper-vulnerable are rarely seen together.

I love Sloane Crosley because she is the writer I’ve always wanted to be, eventually, hopefully.

I love James Baldwin because no one saw the world more clearly.

I love D.H. Lawrence even though I feel like I probably shouldn’t.

I love Jane Austen because I was one of those girls who lived vicariously through her favorite novels.

I love Kathy Acker because rawness is realness.

"We in turn cling to what we have come to understand as our own: certain corners and bars, little..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:38:40 -0500

“We in turn cling to what we have come to understand as our own: certain corners and bars, little pockets of nearby parks, restaurants for special occasions, and other people who look and act and perhaps even think like us, too.”

- Last week I wrote about the ways in which a city’s structure can affect social interactions for WBEZ. I thought about it in reference to an article from The Atlantic by Emily Farber and also in reaction to a conversation I inserted myself into last year. Someone once said to me that I am obsessed with divisions. Perhaps that is true. To me, this obsession feels correct. It is better to question than to blindly accept.

Brand Spanking New - MIXICISMS for the week of 5/13/13 Starting...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:15:02 -0500

Brand Spanking New - MIXICISMS for the week of 5/13/13

Starting right now, I’m implementing something new: WEEKLY MIXICISMS. This will be a collection of all of the new music I am listening to and loving. A new one will begin on the Monday of each week and will be updated throughout the week as new perfect jams are unveiled. The mix will stream on Soundcloud (sorry, no downloads). Thus far, I’ve got 8 tracks, including new music from Mount Kimbie, Banks’ best track yet (produced by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), and the debut release from a new group called Badlands. My regular themed MIXICISMS will still be happening under its current pace. Click the play button above to sample what’s up now.

Please stop telling me I don't have to "dress up" for work

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:37:13 -0500

Please stop telling me I don't have to "dress up" for work:

I love that people assume that you dress for them, as if your choices are informed by their opinions. This is not just about men versus women. This is about everyone believing the world acts according to what makes people comfortable.

I’ve written about this in the past, but it is my firm belief that this mindset is born out of others’ lack of comfort in themselves. Because this only “matters” (and only warrants comment) when you notice. And to notice is to compare, to see the differences, to be fascinated by them.

Underneath all of this is the fact that what one person finds comfortable another person does not. I do not wear a lot of jeans. Never have, never really will. I’ve been the same height and (more or less) around the same size since I was in the 6th grade. Imagine that feeling of trying to look like everyone else and not physically being able to wear their clothes. Imagine trying to wear girls clothes and realizing your shape was not meant for these cuts.

For some, it’s a moment of defeat. For myself, it was a challenge. What do I really love? What can I call my own? I cannot fit into what they say is right, so I will fit into what is right for me. It’s a hidden sort of freedom, a forced radical individuality. Style by circumstance. I was eleven in the 6th grade. 15 years later, what I wear is a reflection of those feelings, that acceptance. I would not have it any other way.