September has come and gone, and fall came with it. For me it also brought (somewhat stereotypically) a lot of reading, reflection and learning.
chofas punto org
The most interesting thing I did this month was buying chofas.org, which is now home to my website and my small corner of the internet. This is not my first website but I am really proud of what is coming from this new iteration of the site. I am definitely still in the moving in and remodelling phase of the site and a lot of things will continue to change, which is really exciting.
I want to touch a Papyrus NOW
Halfway through the month I began reading El infinito en un junco by philologist Irene Vallejo, a book about the history of books that my mom recommended to me. My mom generally just recommends me books very casually but this time she went out of her way to deliver it to me directly in my room, a sign that it was really important for her for me to read this.
I'm not very far into it (approximately 1/5th as of writing) but I am enjoying a lot. It would be very boring if this was just a super-meticulously written history of books with no grace, but Irene tells the story while mixing together her own perosnal experience with books throughout her life (with a lot of detail, clearly) and this makes all that historical meticulousness super interesting and valuable. I wouldn't have thought to read a book on this topic but I am really glad I did. I'll report back when I eventually finish it.
The Well Of Loneliness
My novel of the month has been The Well Of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall, which I've been reading since August. Taking place between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, the novel tells the story of Stephen Gordon, a lesbian (or "invert" following the terminology of the times) and the turbulence in her life as a result, as well as her interaction with historically significant events like the First World War.
Radclyffe Hall herself (who published this novel in 1928 to heavy backlash) was gay and this novel is a not-so-subtle projection of her own life. The detail in which Radclyffe expresses the indignation of Stephen (and her own, of course) to a society that doesn't accept women like her, her very complex bond with her mother, the romantic passion she expresses for other women and the love she feels from the few people in her life that actually accept her for who she is has so much sentimentality that I've cried more reading this novel than nearly any other I've read, I think. Of course it hits me on a personal level, as I see a lot of me reflected on Stephen, even living in an environment that's so different, which Stephen and Ms. Hall fought so hard for.
I am comparing Stephen with Radclyffe Hall a lot here because it's nearly impossible to not see her as a self-insert from her creator, and that's why I think it hits me as hard as it does. I don;t feel like I am reading fiction here: I am reading an autobiography, of a woman whose life reflects those of countless other men and women who lived and died in the shadow. A mandatory reading for anyone who considers themselves part of the LGBT community, and an enormous achievement in literature.
The Wyoming Sessions and more music
I've also heard a lot of new music this month, more so than in others.
My first honorable mention goes to K.T.S.E by Teyana Taylor. This album is a part of the famous Wyoming Sessions, one of five albums that were released in succession in the summer of 2018, either by or with executive production from Kanye West. I only heard this album just a couple minutes ago as of writing but it is just so G.O.O.D. Kanye is my favorite producer ever but I don't think I've ever heard this side of him: the love ballads in this album are so well crafted, they reminded me a lot of Slow Jamz, and if you add Taylor's beautiful voice and writing you get some truly truly special stuff. There is also a Paris Is Burning sample in the last track, which feels like a phrase that came out of a fever dream, and it is absolutely incredible. I cannot recommend this album enough.
I've been kind of obsessed with the Wyoming Sessions this month: I've been re-listening to ye, KIDS SEE GHOSTS and DAYTONA a lot in September, and all of these albums are just so well made from front to back.
My second honorable mention goes to Angel, the new LP from Lizzy McAlpine. I discover her music a few years back with her album five seconds flat which I love coming back to because it is very well written. I wasn't particularly excited for Angel because her last album, Older, was kind of mediocre in my opinion but Angel is a considerable improvement. Lizzy returned to her high quality of writing that she achieved in five seconds flat and even surpasses herself in some cases. My favorite songs were The light in the painting, Peach, A car wash and a new pair of pants, Anybody's Fool, Our Strange Ways, The moon, The crowd and Two elevens.
Other albums I heard in September are:
- Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa, a boring album by an artist that can only make singles and not full albums.
- SEPT 5th by dvsn, a very well-produced album that I've unfortunately not returned to that much this month.
- Take Care by Drake, the first album I hear from him since October of 2023 (and only the second in general). It has some good songs but it also has a lot of filler, and it suffers from the classic Drake-ism of having bars so atrocious that it ruins the entire song for you.
- Computerwelt by Kraftwerk, the second album I hear from this band. These guys really influenced Daft Punk and it really shows, I love these songs as background music for work.
Paris is almost as beautiful as Vienna
This month I saw Before Sunset, the sequel to Before Sunrise by Richard Linklater. I saw Before Sunrise nearly 6 months ago and it automatically became one of my favorite movies I've seen this year.
Before Sunset is a very necessary and ephemeral sequel, it has the same beautiful details and dialogues that Before Sunrise had, now taking place in Celine's natal Paris. These movies convince you that love is the scariest, most painful, most beautiful and most necessary force in the world.
Mulholland Drive
The other movie I saw this month was Mulholland Drive by David Lynch, a movie that never left my radar no matter what I did.
After it ented I spent around 90 minutes doing the best I could to digest it, and I think I succeeded, and I think it is pretty incredible. I did the best thing I could've done and saw this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it, and I will stop talking because I want to give you a chance to do the same if you haven't seen it yet, if you want to talk about the movie with me just let me know 🫡.
9/11
This month was the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, an event that I am kind of always thinking about. I'll take this opportunity to share some articles I read this month related to the attacks, the twin towers and everything that came after they fell.
- "No Bigger Failure" by Josh Nathan-Kazis, on the international catastrophe from the supposed "War on Terror".
- The America That 9/11 Made by Jill Lepore, on the consequences of the attack here in America (the continent) and Asia.
- For a Photographer, the Towers Were an Ever-Present Focal Point by Keith Meyers, on the towers and their eminence.
- U.S. ATTACKED; HIJACKED JETS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS AND HIT PENTAGON IN DAY OF TERROR by N.R. Kleinfield, The New York Times's front-cover the next day. It is a time capsule of New York in the attack's immediate aftermath.
more reading
I finish this piece with other articles I read this month that I recommend a lot (🟢 means the article is completely free to read, 🔴 indicates ther's some kind of paywall):
- 🔴 The Dream House by Mary Neely for Byline. An ode to the weird dreams we sometimes have as kids (and as adults too).
- 🔴 Gloria Steinem's obituary, who passed away this month, in The New York Times.
- 🔴 Taking in The Scene at Daisy Chain Fields, The Zoomer Lilith Fair by Lauren Michele Jackson for The New Yorker. On Olivia Rodrigo's beautiful music festival in August.
- 🔴 The Mentor by Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark, also for The New Yorker. In case you were curious as to why Donald Trump is so detestable.
- 🔴 The Death of Shame Is Tearing Us apart by Jay Caspian King, also for The New Yorker. I also agree in that one of the biggest problems in society is that people are no longer ashamed of being absolutely insufferable, and, on the opposite hand, people are no longer ashamed of receiving unacceptable behaviour. Both of these should me shameful, even if for different reasons.
- 🟢 How Alberta Eradicated Rats by Deena Mousa for Works In Progress.
- 🟢 On the origin of continents by Elizabeth van Nostrand, also for Works In Progress. A valuable lesson in the importance of multidisciplinary work.
- 🔴 Forgetting is a Slow Burn by Rebecca Skinulis for Byline. A common element of a lot of what I read on Byline is relating two seemingly separate things together under the same umbrella or concept, and this essay is a great example of that.
- 🟢 Big AI to Humanity: Drop Dead by Matthew Butterick for his personal blog, Chron. On all the paranoia that suddenly surged this month related to advances in AI research.
- 🔴 The Quest For A Hangover Cure by Shayla Love for The New Yorker. It convinced me that hangovers are the biggest representation of the necessary shame in society, and the heavy consequences that keep us within the bounds of respectable conduct that should be enforced more elsewhere.
- 🟢 Why We Like Things by the brilliant Celine Nguyen for Asterisk Magazine. On "taste", our taste and how irreplacable it is.
future
October will probably be a veeeery busy month because I will really begin grinding for my job interviews at the end of the year. A lot of people I really love also have October birthdays, which is very beautiful too.
This will probably also ve a very busy month for Apple!! There are rumors of a new event to announce new hardware, possibly more Mac related, which is always exciting.