culture consumed (June, 2025)
Jun. 30th, 2025 10:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hermionesviolinThe last few months (March, April, May) I keep just posting a draft private-locked because I get overwhelmed trying to write up something or other from the month. But I think I managed a publishable June one.
film
books
live music
tv
***
Currently Reading:
[bff book club] Saving Our Own Lives: A Liberatory Practice of Harm Reduction by Shira Hassan (with Foreword by adrienne maree brown & Introduction by Tourmaline) (2022)
Changelings: An Autistic Trans Anthology edited by Ryan Vale and Ocean Riley (2023) -- a trans-masc and non-binary anthology, though apparently Extraterrestrials, the trans-fem and non-binary anthology they worked on next, is in fact in progress (I reached out to Ryan over the weekend, and he said, "We are currently in the editing stages and are hoping to publish by the end of 2025.")
Reading Next:
As mentioned above, potentially more of the Amelia Temple books (the Beneath Strange Lights sequels).
This month I definitely leaned into some less brain-heavy reading, and I think that will continue. I got a bunch of queer YA and some trans memoirs from the library, since that was the closest I could figure out to what my brain was wanting.
I'm gonna be traveling for most of July and don't have much book club reading for that month. Though I also have a week until I travel, so I can't actually save all my library books for my travel -- plus I'm not in transit that much, so I shouldn't over-expect how much reading I'll get done in transit.
my one book club book for July:
[July 30 "June" DEI book club -- Pride Month] The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (2020) -- YA fiction, graphic novel, gay son of Vietnamese immigrants
and for August:
[Aug 10 feminist sff book club] Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (2023)
[Aug 14 local library rainbow book group] The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy (2024) -- my suggestion! (and The Transfeminine Review 2024 Reader's Choice Award winner for Outstanding Fantasy -- and shortlisted for TFR’s Best Transfeminine Fiction of 2024 Award)
[Aug 22 work book club] Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao (2025)
[edit: I have not actually asked if we wanna do DEI book club in August. June's meeting got pushed to late July because of people's vacation plans, so I'm imagining we'll punt August and just do September. It doesn't feel like it makes sense to try to discuss August plans when people's being-around overlaps so little, since it would then be a very long asynchronous conversation process.]
So I will definitely potentially try to do some book club reading during my travels since my August is front-loaded with book clubs (and the first two August book club books are both kinda long).
film
As mentioned [in the private-locked May entry], I got a virtual pass for NewFest Pride (May 29 - June 2).
- Heightened Scrutiny
A riveting documentary that sees ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, veteran journalists, and unwavering activists show strength and resistance in the face of an actively unfolding story around anti-trans legislation
I'm glad I managed to see this film before the Skrmetti decision dropped, because I think it would have felt a lot harder to watch it afterward.
From the intrepid filmmakers behind the groundbreaking DISCOLURE, this riveting documentary traces the arc of an epic legal battle alongside a revealing breakdown of anti-trans mainstream media bias. Follow Queens-based ACLU attorney, father, and cat lover Chase Strangio – the first out trans person to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court – as he strategizes to fight a 2023 Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, with a consequential decision expected in June 2025.
Resistance and logic are key as veteran journalists and activists – along with Strangio – lucidly dismantle distorted, panic-inducing rhetoric and collectively respond to the shocking complicity hard-won trans rights being rolled back. HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY compelling captures the timely fight against anti-trans legislation all the way to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court and provides a powerful call to action for bodily autonomy, civil rights, and truth. - I was bummed that Enigma didn't show up as available for me in the virtual pass, even though it was originally listed as included in that pass. I know the film fest indicated that due to licensing agreements, virtual screenings could also "sell out," so it's possible that happened? But I would have thought it would say that -- rather than just not showing up at all. I guess I could have tried to reach out at someone at the festival about it, but apparently I was not that invested.
books
- skim-read 4? picturebooks
- After the Dance: A Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti by Edwidge Danticat (2002)
- [June 11 climate change book club] The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton (2022, speculative fiction)
- read Abby 7 picturebooks -- many of which we were disappointed by
- We both really liked Abolition is Love (written by Syrus Marcus Ware and illustrated by Alannah Fricker, 2023), though.
- [June 12 local library LGBTQ+ Book Group] Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: a memoir by Curtis Chin (2023)
- Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens (2024) -- YA urban fantasy (from the "Most Anticipated Queer Young Adult Fiction: January-June 2024")
- [zine] Being Trans in Philosophy Issue #0
- Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline (2025)
- On Community by Casey Plett (2023)
- Beneath Strange Lights by Vivian Valentine (2023)
K.J. Charles' review says, in part: "Our Nancy Drew team, battling 1950s America as well as the SSOO and the tentacles, is made up of a young Black woman, a white lesbian, and a part-Lovecraftian-horror trans girl, which is what I call diversity."
Turns out there are 2 more books in the series so far (and the author says, "Don't worry, there will be a new book next year!"). So near the end of reading Book 1, I ordered Books 2 and 3 on Bookshop.org.
- The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation by Raquel Willis (2023) -- black trans woman memoir
live music
- Kinsey Scales Pride Concert 2025! at my local library with Abby
🏳️🌈 Come join us at the Medford Public Library for our free annual Pride Concert! 🏳️🌈
Yes, they legit did an a cappella arrangement of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name." (It was the last song before the intermission, and they warned people that they might wanna take their kids out to intermission early.)
Saturday, June 21st, at 4:30pm
The theme of this year's concert is POWER! We will be performing a cappella arrangements of music from artists like Rage Against the Machine, Diana Ross, and many more, centered around reclaiming power and celebrating strength in community.- Masking is strongly encouraged
- Be advised that some songs may not be appropriate for small children
See you there! 🌈🎶
A bunch of the songs are conversations, and I thought the acting was particularly good in "The Wedding Song" from Hadestown (though generally good overall).
tv
- Ironheart episodes 1-3 with Abby
It's the new Marvel mini-series -- starring the black woman MIT student who has a part in the second Black Panther movie. The first 3 episodes dropped last Tuesday, and we watched them over the weekend. The next 3 episodes drop tomorrow night, and we'll probably watch them separately (Abby left town tonight for some travel, and we won't see each other for over 2 weeks -- and we'll first see each other while visiting my family for a few days).
***
Currently Reading:
[bff book club] Saving Our Own Lives: A Liberatory Practice of Harm Reduction by Shira Hassan (with Foreword by adrienne maree brown & Introduction by Tourmaline) (2022)
Changelings: An Autistic Trans Anthology edited by Ryan Vale and Ocean Riley (2023) -- a trans-masc and non-binary anthology, though apparently Extraterrestrials, the trans-fem and non-binary anthology they worked on next, is in fact in progress (I reached out to Ryan over the weekend, and he said, "We are currently in the editing stages and are hoping to publish by the end of 2025.")
Reading Next:
As mentioned above, potentially more of the Amelia Temple books (the Beneath Strange Lights sequels).
This month I definitely leaned into some less brain-heavy reading, and I think that will continue. I got a bunch of queer YA and some trans memoirs from the library, since that was the closest I could figure out to what my brain was wanting.
I'm gonna be traveling for most of July and don't have much book club reading for that month. Though I also have a week until I travel, so I can't actually save all my library books for my travel -- plus I'm not in transit that much, so I shouldn't over-expect how much reading I'll get done in transit.
my one book club book for July:
[July 30 "June" DEI book club -- Pride Month] The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (2020) -- YA fiction, graphic novel, gay son of Vietnamese immigrants
and for August:
[Aug 10 feminist sff book club] Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (2023)
[Aug 14 local library rainbow book group] The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy (2024) -- my suggestion! (and The Transfeminine Review 2024 Reader's Choice Award winner for Outstanding Fantasy -- and shortlisted for TFR’s Best Transfeminine Fiction of 2024 Award)
[Aug 22 work book club] Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao (2025)
[edit: I have not actually asked if we wanna do DEI book club in August. June's meeting got pushed to late July because of people's vacation plans, so I'm imagining we'll punt August and just do September. It doesn't feel like it makes sense to try to discuss August plans when people's being-around overlaps so little, since it would then be a very long asynchronous conversation process.]
So I will definitely potentially try to do some book club reading during my travels since my August is front-loaded with book clubs (and the first two August book club books are both kinda long).
no subject
Date: 2025-07-01 12:33 pm (UTC)