The people, they are peopling

Weekly Roundup #20

I’m what the internet calls an ambivert. Are you an ambivert? I’m neither an extrovert nor an introvert: I’m somewhere along the spectrum. It’s often called extroverted introvert or introverted extrovert. I prefer the term ambivert.¹ I can gain energy from being around people and it can bring me a lot of joy! However, the minute my social battery dies, you better hope I’m somewhere quiet where I can recuperate, because I turn into the absolute WORST version of myself. There’s a reason I own all those blankets and mugs and candles.

My MFA program was mostly remote, but we did have weekly residencies twice a year on campus. At our first one, the women who would become my friends noticed I’d just…disappear after lunch and before our afternoon lectures. They soon realized I did this to recharge, and it that had nothing to do with them. Otherwise, I’d be miserable to anyone around me.

Why bring this up? Oh, the people this week. The people this week, they have been peopling. I have had so many last minute surgeries, flight issues, and illnesses that have been used as reasons my students cannot turn in papers. I think they forget that I, too, was in their shoes not that long ago, and that I am wise to their tricks.

Working in academia has taught me that even describing simple concepts can be utterly foreign to people. And yet here I am, explaining to people how to use the backspace button on their keyboards and spellcheck on their computers. It’s like the bartender in LAX who once told me that he didn’t know what a Rum & Coke was. Baffled, I responded, “I don’t know how to make this more simple for you.” It’s in the name!!!

A doggie I got to cuddle. And yes, that is ACOTAR and yes, I regret nothing.

I did not get much of a break from the people peopling, sadly. I could use some more couch potato and blanket burrito time. Some of my students might be afraid of me now, and I did get to cuddle with some very good pets, and I did see a few rabbits out and about, so things could be a lot worse. But as I hole up on my couch before driving out to the Wilds of Western Mass for Easter, here’s what got me through the week of people peopling.

What I’m reading:

The French version I'm reading (on the left) and the English language version.

Em, by Kim Thúy. I brought this book on vacation with me, and I did not read it. So I’m reading it now. (En français, of course.) Kim Thúy is a Vietnamese writer who lives in Quebec. She was born in Vietnam during the middle of the Vietnam War (the American one, not the French) and became one of the ‘boat people’ who escaped.

You’re probably aware that Vietnam is a former French colony, but if not, this is why Thúy speaks, reads, and writes French. Her first book, Ru, was very successful, and when I saw that she had more work out, I had to get it.

With regards to the title, the epigraph at the beginning of the book says this:

The word em exists firstly to designate the younger brother or sister in a family; or the youngest of two friends, or the woman in a couple.

I like to believe that the word em is the homonym of the verb “aimer” (to love) in French in the imperative tense.²

To me, this gets at the heart of why I read books in their original language. The French even have a concept for this: en v.o. (en version originale) That’s because there are some things that cannot be translated - like the sound of a syllable in Vietnamese that relates to a verb in French. Reading the above passage in English does not have nearly as much impact as reading it in French.

The book itself is about a young girl, Tâm, as she grows up in Vietnam during the war. She ends up living in My Lai for a bit, which you can already guess where that’s going.³ The chapters are short, and often focus on a different character in Tâm’s life. Rarely do we focus directly on her; it’s more her relationships with other people, places and things. Like many of the war narratives I have read, the psychic distance is pretty far from the characters, giving the narrative a very detached feeling to it. I am enjoying it thus far, and anticipate finishing it this weekend before Easter ham.

• Great for: people who are interested in Vietnam narratives, stories about young women surviving wartime, fans of international literature

• Bad for: eternal refrain here, say it with me, now: people who can’t speak French

What I’m writing:

Journaling. So much journaling. Remember that whole ‘people are peopling’ thing? It’s got me in my feelings and my frustrations and I’ve been journaling about them.

But! There is a bright side here. I have been reading lots of faerie smut,⁴ and just being back in a fantasy world is enough to make me miss my own. I’m waiting for a few things to sort themselves out in my life, but when they do, it’s on, baby.

• Great for: healthy emotional processing

• Bad for: my intense desire to wallow in self-pity and frustration

What I’m listening to:

Still on a vacation high, I’ve been listening to the closing number from Six. If you’re not a Tudor girlie, move right along, but Six The Musical is based on Henry VIII’s wives having a singing competition. The aim? They each sing a song detailing how much of a rough go they had of it with Henry, and the winner gets to lead the band. It’s cute, it has an all female cast, and there’s some catchy bops. Like this one!

• Great for: the Tudor girlies, musical theater fans

• Bad for: people who have no interest in history, musicals, or musicals about history

Emilie and I at Six.

No New Books™️ Challenge:

As promised, I am holding strong and have purchased no new books. I cannot say the same of mugs. (More on that shortly) I did, though, pick a few books to donate from my own extensive collection. Woo! Baby steps.

• Streak to Beat: 50 days (January 1st - February 19th)

• Last streak: 15 days (February 27th-March 12th)

• Current streak: 14 days (March 16th-present)

Mug Moment of the Week:

Because I made it to and from London without buying a mug, that means I get to buy a new one, right? Right.⁵

Say hello to my new pronoun mug. I got it from Hauswitch, a cute little witchy home store in Witch City, USA. (Aka Salem, Massachusetts.) They were having a sale. And this mug was extra on sale. In the words of Anne Boleyn in Six: “What was I supposed to do?!”

I love me a good tumbler, and this one is even called a ‘vase’ which tickles me even more. This was handmade in Brooklyn, NY by Ceramics and Theory. I did eventually have tea in it, specifically the Pukka Night Time tea which I can no longer find in the US and so had to bring it home from the UK. It’s hard to see in this photo, but the black paint borders on a very dark blue, and the colors together remind me of the ocean. Very atmospheric.

If you’re celebrating Easter this weekend, or are like me and are culturally Catholic and at this point just show up for family dinners, I hope you have a lovely holiday and may you see some buns out there hopping around.

1. Because I’m ~special~.

2. I translated this from the French. I’m not a professional translator. Don’t come for me.

3. Spoiler alert: nowhere good.

4. IYKYK

5. It’s the law - I don’t make the rules.