HOT – Bisexuality. Your inner world. Looking up the weather. Optimism!
NOT – Applying for jobs. Old habits. Dry eyes. Finding a spider on your neck.
No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard Schwartz
In March 2023, I started Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy. I wanted something more than talk therapy, and I wanted to connect and strengthen my sense of self. Richard Schwartz created the IFS model, and this book basically breaks it down. I thought it was time I read directly about what I’m doing.
Minami’s Lover by Shungiku Uchida
Honestly, I first picked this up because I liked the way it looked, the cover, and the art. But I thought the premise was intriguing. It’s about a high school romance where one of them shrinks down to six inches tall. The story seems weird and slightly erotic, and I’m interested to see how they explore gender dynamics.
Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki
I love so many Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films, so when I found this, I knew I wanted to read it. I am excited to engage with his storytelling through a different format. It’s about a prince seeking a golden grain to save his land.
Black Sesame Shortbread by Molly Baz
I think you should make these cookies. I got the recipe from Molly Baz’s cookbook, Cook This Book, but I found it online! They were easy to make because they didn’t require an electric mixer or too much patience. They were flakey, buttery, snappy, and nutty. I brought them to a picnic, and they disappeared. I will definitely make them again.
Side note: I guess I really like Molly Baz. I find her social media presence very fun and light. She recently did a campaign with Swehl that was entertaining to follow. I suggest checking it out if you like “big titties.”
My friend Nat joined me for an episode of the Friend Zone. We talked about Mary Kate & Ashley, situational pleasantness, Seventeen Magazine, curiosity, grammar, and other things from the February 1st newsletter.
Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:
“It's funny because I think unfriendliness is negative, but I think friendliness is neutral.”
“You will be inconvenienced and over-trusted and over-befriended and overconsulted and half-adopted, and you will have no leisure. And to me that sort of mandatory friendliness is that. It's this requirement to be outwardly pleasant.”
“I think that curiosity is maybe a requisite for authentic friendliness.”
“Sending something that is done or finished, that's friendly to me. That's genuine friendliness because it's giving something your full attention.”
This is a photo from 2017 of Nat and me at a tiny bar.
