i have the complexion of a sickly victorian child, the disposable income of a 10th century serf, and the fashion sense and eccentric personality of a professor of the arts in the 1920s who does a lot of cocaine
if cannibalism in media has a million fans, im one of them
if metaphors using cannibalism has 5 fans, im one of them
if art of cannibalism has 1 fan, that one is me
if descriptions of cannibalism has no fans, i am no longer alive
if the world is against cannibalism i am against the world
“It is June. I am tired of being brave.”
– Anne Sexton, ‘The Truth the Dead Know’
ok so just to soothe my aching sickened soul id like to point out that catcher in the rye is about a boy dealing with intense depression and grief over losing his younger brother and this is why he fails out of school. he spends the book searching for deep human connections and grows increasingly frustrated that no one seems to understand him and everyone only seems to be surface level interacting. he just wants to feel seen and loved.
he also recalls, upon visiting his old teacher, the way that he was molested as a child. the entire point of this book is that holden caulfield is a boy struggling with depression and trauma and he wants to save other children from experiencing the harshness of the world that he had to experience when he was younger.
pls stop saying this book is pretentious and that he’s sociopathic. all that is doing is demonizing very common depression thought patterns and making people who suffer from trauma and mental illness seem like they are sociopaths. ty send post
waking up and being genuinely thrilled to go to class because today is THAT CLASS you love so much you’d like it to never end
coffee breaks with friends, chatting and joking about this particularly hard essay and the prof’s mannerism
coffee breaks on your own, as you absent-mindedly watch the people around you, while thinking about what you’re working on
finding this book you’ve been dying to read for so long, and borrowing it from the library
the feeling of excitement that goes through you whenever you remember The Book is in your backpack
understanding everything during demanding classes and being genuinely interested in the subject
buying a New Special Pen and taking colorful notes that look super pretty
not being able to shut up about your school projects (no your friends dont really care about the intricate details of what you’re working on, they don’t even have the same major as you, but they’re happy to hear you rant with such a burning passion)
actually doing the extra reading and having your curiosity so piqued by what you’re reading that you go on and on and suddenly its 1am and what happened
printing the project you’ve spent so much time and energy on and feeling the paper’s warmth
actually submitting that project without feeling awful about it because you know you did your best and aren’t responsible for what happens next
when you finally finish this Super Hard And Important Essay at like 3am, open the window and feel the cold night air on your burning cheeks and everything is dark and quiet and you can see the moon and you’re at peace with everything for a few minutes
when this professor you admire says you did a great job and/or that you’re talented!!!!
realizing two concepts that seemed so far away from each other and that you discovered in wildly different contexts are actually interlinked, then Realizing™ things and linking concepts/works/articles to each other at the speed of light & being super excited about it
being so deeply immersed in your work that you didn’t realize two hours have passed
finding the Perfect Spot at the library
that Pure Joy moment when you FINALLY understand that super obscure sentence/text
when you feel anxious because you’re not done with your homework & the deadline is super tight & your friend tells you they aren’t done yet either
same but with an even more intense relief feeling when you realize you both haven’t even started yet
when the professor starts a new reasoning and you can predict what the next idea/the final conclusion will be
when the professor mention your favorite novel/author/fictional character in class and you feel like your internal screech of joy could shatter glass
the Academic Salt™ that has you like 👀👀
when the professor tears apart an author or scholar you hate and you’re like YES I WANT BLOOD GIVE ME BLOOD
when you learn that Cool New Fact that makes you reconsider your whole life
leaving the library after a long productive day and feeling like nothing is real but experiencing everything more intensely
leaving the library at night after a long study session and everybody has left already and its just you and the long neon-lit corridors then stepping outside and smelling the crisp night wind
how can you even be a woman without going absolutely batshit insane
“I have always felt that mathematics is a language like music. To learn it systematically, it is necessary to master small pieces and gradually add another piece and then another. In a sense, mathematics is like the classical Chinese language—very polished and very elegant. Sitting in a good mathematics lecture is like sitting in good opera. Everything comes together.”
— Sun-Yung Alice Chang
The cat is wearing flowery clothes and black sunglasses outside. It’s very domineering.
shoutout to hedonism. get naked and eat cheese
Franny Choi, Soft Science