“When you give a shit, sometimes, it’s flung back at you.” –Jessica Jones But that golden nugget of wisdom doesn’t stop her from doing right by her family and the world despite her grumbling and eye-rolling. She just pulls on those shit-raking boots of hers and leather-jacket/shit-repellent super hero’s cape and gets to it, never mind the bruisings she gets along the way. Continue reading Philosophy 101-Jessica Jones
In some stories, dragons exist for the sole sake of a quest. In these cases, I find myself rooting for the dragons. There they are, sleeping peacefully, at the ends of civilization. As far as possible from the world of humans and their fuck-upery. And then a hobbit, magician, or knight comes along and disturbs that slumber. The questers never seem to remember the old … Continue reading Dragons and the Apocalypse: From Ancient Iranian Myths to Game of Thrones
Of Gods, Angels, and Humans: The Neil Gaiman Turn in Peak Television, part 1 (Spoiler Alert! For those who have not read the novel, American Gods, this post contains possible spoilers for the show) Old gods, scattered across this vast country, live among us. You might know them as your neighborhood’s Nubian undertakers, the elderly Eastern European family in the apartment next door, the South … Continue reading Mad Sweeney: The Hero We Need
In other words…NSFW/NSFK Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but this little gem of a moment from the fabulous season 4 of Luifer had me cracking up and texting my girlfriends the moment I saw it. #orgypants *image: https://www.dccomics.com/tv/lucifer Continue reading “Party in the Back”
Meryl Streep* channels her inner Middle Eastern mother-in-law who thinks her son is God’s gift! 😂 A friend pointed out to me that I had a typo here in her name, I had had it at Meryl Street! But apparently that was ok because, as my friend informed me, the divine Ms. M herself used to wish that was her name. Check out this funny … Continue reading Meryl Streep’s Primal Scream
Like almost everyone else out there, I am utterly delighted by and delighting in Keanu’s cameo appearance in Ali Wong’s smart and funny, Always Be My Maybe, and the internet’s hilarious takes on it! Enjoy Continue reading Sublime Cameo
An instant classic, Home Alone is a Christmas family movie that was produced and released at a time of prosperity and relative social stability. It is about well-to-do parents (gorgeous house, big family, nice neighborhood, holiday vacation to Paris) who forget their youngest child, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), at home as they head out for the family vacation. The movie ends up being a lighthearted, hi-jinks … Continue reading Christmas as a Site of Childhood Trauma Then and Now: Home Alone, Happy!, and Nos4a2
Sticky post
I am a medievalist who specializes in Near Eastern late antique and medieval tales. The first part of this blog’s name, the reed, comes from the beloved opening lines of Rumi’s thirteenth century masterpiece, the Spiritual Tales (masn’avi ma’navi). In the opening line, a reed has been cut and fashioned into a flute. The forlorn flute beckons the listener to hear its tales of love, … Continue reading About This Blog
The Reed & The Weed 