> I begin with love, hoping to end there
You're tuning into Cheers, a newsletter made by Tiffany Xie. This week: the Soupbone podcast, some movies and graphic memoirs, and duplexes.
Hello friend,
> Cooking: Not much, but one suggestion I have is to steam your sweet potatoes. Compared to roasted, I think they're fluffier, lighter, cozy packets that warm your hands. Consider following Carla Lalli Music's recipe, topped with tahini butter.
> Some news: My friend Genevieve and I have been working on a podcast project since summer and the first six episodes of the Soupbone podcast are out! It's about our gap years, about poetry and writing and being in the space right after college. We're very new at this so if you have any comments/advice please let me know!
> Some movies: Get Out (I know I'm late to the party, but wow). Also Paprika, an anime sci-fi movie, which is super surreal (maybe too much so, if you ask my partner). But I love Satoshi Kon, and I love movies that leave me with something to chew over. Kon once said (though I'm having trouble finding the original source):
Movies that you can watch once and understand entirely—that is the type of movie that I don't really like. However, if you are able to understand 70 to 80 percent of what's being relayed, and there's still some percentage left that would allow for your own interpretation…that's the type of movie that I do like. There might be a certain part that you don't quite understand, but there is a portion that rests in your heart.
> You should read this! It's a short story called "Goes to Town" by Michelle Finkler (an amazing writer and current grad student at IU). I got to hear Michelle read this story earlier this year and it's hilarious—I tried to explain it to some friends afterward but of course my explanation was terrible—thankfully now you can read it for yourself!
> I've been reading a lot of graphic memoirs this week. Went to the library and got Lynda Barry's What It Is and Syllabus. Also checked out Tillie Walden's memoir on growing up as a competitive figure skater, Spinning (also about coming out, and so much more—it reminded me of how intense it is to be in middle/high school), and Lucy Knisley's tribute to food, Relish.
> Reading: Jericho Brown's collection of poetry, The Tradition. Thinking a lot about his duplexes, a form he invented that merges the sonnet, the ghazal, and the blues—so intricate, so beautiful, so Möbius-like (the title of this post is a line from one of his duplexes).
> "Ganymede" by Jericho Brown:
A man trades his son for horses.
That's the version I prefer. I like
The safety of it, no one at fault,
Everyone rewarded. God gets
The boy. The boy becomes
Immortal. His father rides until
Grief sounds as good as the gallop
Of an animal born to carry those
Who patrol and protect our inherited
Kingdom. When we look at myth
This way, nobody bothers saying
Rape. I mean, don't you want God
To want you? Don't you dream
Of someone with wings taking you
Up? And when the master comes
For our children, he smells
Like the men who own stables
In Heaven, that far terrain
Between Promise and Apology.
No one has to convince us.
The people of my country believe
We can't be hurt if we can be bought.
> Space brought to you by Richard Serra.
Cheers,
Tiffany