What I’ve Been Thinking
This past week has been Trans Awareness Week, so as a trans woman I have felt obligated to talk about it. For some reason, I really have been struggling with what I should say. Ultimately, I instead have a few notes for everyone else as this week concludes.
Firstly, trans people exist after this week. I will wake up tomorrow and still be living as a trans woman, with all the good and bad that comes with it. Just because our designated week has ended doesn’t mean you should stop thinking about our existence.
Second, trans people are more than the trauma that virtually all media portrays them as. There is nothing different from the media coverage during this week than any coverage of trans people in the other 51 weeks of the year, it is focused on our struggles. Which isn’t to say that isn’t important, it just isn’t everything. My transness brings me lots of joy in my life, ask anybody who knows me. Being trans has been one of the greatest sources of happiness for me, and this joy is something that can be found in the rest of the trans community.
Now, on to other things.
What I’ve Been Watching
I finally made it into theaters this week to go see The Eternals. This was a movie that I had originally been excited for but had less hope in after initial impressions had come out.
I went in with low expectations and was dreading the 2h37m runtime. However, when I emerged from the theater, I found that I had greatly enjoyed the movie.
Overall I found that though the movie had some flaws and could have fleshed out some characters more (poor Makkari was woefully underused), I still had a good time. Despite a lessened emphasis on big battles, Eternals ends up having the biggest spectacle in any Marvel movie.
To me, the movie felt fresh and different. Most Marvel movies in recent years have conformed to a general structure and forced use of Guardians-esque humor no matter the character. Eternals was relaxed, somber, and when humorous it was due to the believable familiarity the characters had with each other.
Another note was that it had none of the military propaganda Marvel is sadly all too comfortable with. As this Polygon article points out, it stems from a shift in the underlying theme of the movie. Eternals is a movie with an environmentalist message through and through. So go see it if you haven’t, it’s just a good time!
What I’ve Been Reading
This week has been filled with a lot of late nights. I have tended to stay up past my usual bedtime (I have a regularly scheduled bedtime because I am in fact baby) and doom-scroll trying to entertain myself.
Much of this time has been spent on Webtoons, looking for something that strikes my fancy and I can binge read late into the night. This week I found What are the Chances by Chantsky.
It is very cute and very gay. It follows a college student, Tricia, who falls in love with a mysterious woman named Elise who frequents the bookstore Tricia works at. There is a lot of humor and gay panic, with a small supernatural element thrown in for intrigue.
The episodes are just the right length for either late-night binging or normal person consumption. The only issue is that I read everything in one night and now have to wait every week for a new episode… which will only lead to more doom-scrolling.
What I’ve Been Playing
In the past several weeks I have had little free time to devote to playing games, despite my catalog of games I want to be playing. Oh, how I long to do some duty roulettes in FFXIV with my friends as I wait for Endwalker to release.
The most time I have for playing games is on the train in the morning and evening, so I have joined my partner in doing the New York Times Crossword.
We both have different commutes and schedules in the morning, but we do it on the same NYT account which leads to us piecing together puzzles over the course of the day.
I’ll open the daily puzzle at 8:00 am to find a collection of random letters and some answers filled in and then go from there. Sometimes if I am lucky she hasn’t opened the mini by the time I leave and I get the little serotonin boost of completing a full (be it tiny) puzzle.
What I’ve Been Cooking / Eating
This week has been a lot of misses in the recipes I tried out. The one shining moment was this recipe for Pork and Green Chile Tacos from the New York Times.
Like most good recipes it took minimal active cooking on my part and filled the apartment with incredible smells long past when I had finished cooking.
Something I always do and highly recommend is to soak some tortillas in the meat juice and then cook them on a skillet a little bit to get some extra flavor. I think they turned out pretty well, and my stomach was pleased.
In addition, the leftover meat from the recipe made for a delicious quesadilla the next day. Big fan of easy leftover meals.
That’s it for this week. Next week is Thanksgiving so I’ll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Have a nice break and see you next time!