Author Archives: Ryn PB

Big Booty Judy: A Vehicular Ode

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Ryn PB

Early last month, I replaced my and my sister’s first car, a 2007 Toyota Camry, with a newer car because the cost of the many repairs she needed done was too high. Big Booty Judy, named for her spacious trunk, … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, original writing | Tagged anxiety, car, cars, driving, emotions, high school, license, life, life lessons, memories, mental health, sedan, toyota | Leave a comment

Hooked on Books: An Oral History

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

Hello and welcome to my blog, Poor Unfortunate Stories! My name is Ursula, and I will be your captain on this voyage into reading. Today, however, I have some co-navigators—my arch-nemesis Terry and his grandkid LJ. Every week, we will … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories, LGBT+ | Tagged age, ages, blog, book, book blogs, books, booktube, fish puns, generation, generation gap, generational gap, generations, grandkid, grandparents, LGBT+, librarian, library, life lessons, nemesis, nonbinary, old, oral history, podcast, puns, reading, student, the little mermaid, transcript, writing, young | Leave a comment

TBR Playlist: Pride Edition

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Ryn PB

Hello, hello! I had grand plans for my blog this month. I was going to post a fun story about library arch-nemeses and an ode to my old car that I had to sell, but alas, a Summer Cold caught … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, LGBT+, TBR Playlist | Tagged against me, baby queen, books, contemporary, dodie, ezra williams, frankie cosmos, gay, gilmore girls, girl in red, graphic novels, green day, hozier, ice cream, kehlani, kesha, king, lesbian, lesbians, leslie feinberg, LGBT, LGBT+, lgbtq, lgbtq+, lgbtqia, meet me @ the altar, miley cyrus, music, pansy division, pink panther, playlist, princess, princess diana, queer, queer artists, queer lit, reading, scene queen, sci fi, science fiction, take me to church, tbr, trans, trans lit, trans stories, transsexual, virginity, wrecking ball, YA, young adult | Leave a comment

Boy Band Music Critic 9: When Facing the Things We Turn Away From by Luke Hemmings

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Ryn PB

Introduction Last month, Luke Hemmings—of the Australian pop rock boy band 5 Seconds of Summer—released his second album, boy, so I figured now would be a good time to get started on his solo music! When Facing the Things We … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Boy Band Music Critic | Tagged 5 seconds of summer, 5os, 5sos, album, art, australiab, australian, ballad, book, books, boy band, boy bands, corona, covid, covid 19, critic, critique, debut, guitar, life lessons, luke hemmings, lyrics, mental health, music, musician, pandemic, pop, pop singer, singer, songwriter | Leave a comment

My Second Favorite Bridge: A Life in Three Bridges

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Ryn PB

Introduction Recently, while flipping through a book of writing prompts, I came across one that asked, “What is your second favorite bridge?” Surprisingly, I had an easy answer to this one. I have my second favorite bridge tattooed on my … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, mental health, original writing | Tagged abuse, anxiety, architecture, bad boss, bad job, bookstore, bridge, bridges, car, cartrip, childhood, concrete, construction, emotional abuse, employment, fired, history, jobs, john cheever, memory, mormon, nebraska, nostalgia, omaha, phobia, roads, roadtrip, short stories, short story, streets, tappan zee, tattoo, tattoos, travel, trip | 1 Comment

Consequences of a Con

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Ryn PB

Cornhusker Cons: Psychics, Clairvoyants, and Mystics in the Heartland. Fran had never actually read the book in which their father’s scams had been made public. An entire chapter had been dedicated to him and his two partners. “Just put that … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged anxiety, barn, blog, book, books, bookstore, camera, cat, cats, cemetery, clairvoyant, con, crime, family, fiction, ghost, graveyard, ice cream, illegal, jail, LGBT+, life lessons, mental health, photography, psychic, seance, spirit, spirits, statue, stories, supernatural, writing | Leave a comment

TBR Playlist: K-Pop Edition

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Ryn PB

A couple years ago, I randomly clicked on this recommended YouTube video and subsequently fell into the endless abyss that is K-pop. Well, it’s more like falling into a black hole that turns out to be a wormhole to another … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, TBR Playlist | Tagged (g)-idle, aapi, agust d, asian artists, asian lit, asian music, bangtan, bangtan sonyeondon, book tag, books, bts, chinese lit, g-idle, gidle, graphic novel, hybe, idol, j-hope, jung kook, jyp, k-pop, korea, korean, korean lit, korean music, kpop, lgbt lit, life lessons, manga, music, new-music, newjeans, playlist, pop, queencard, queer lit, reading, rm, spotify, stray kids, suga, tag, tbr, txt, v, xdinary heroes, yuri | Leave a comment

My First Encounter with the Word “Queer”: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Ryn PB

I don’t have a great memory, but one that has stuck with me is the first time I consciously encountered the word “queer.” Young Ryn was under their floral covers, propped up on two pillows, and talking to their dad … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, LGBT+ | Tagged books, burnett, children's lit, classic, classic lit, classic literature, classics, etymology, found family, history, LGBT+, lgbtq, life lessons, mistress mary, oscar wilde, owlcrate, queer, queer history, queer lit, quite contrary, reading, the secret garden | Leave a comment

Dead Birds and Pharmacies

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Ryn PB

CW: Big Pharma, dead animals, mental illness I’m still half asleep. I just dragged myself away from my cat, who inevitably started acting cute right as I grabbed my keys, and now I’m preparing my customer service brain for work. … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, mental health | Tagged anxiety, apology, bad omen, big pharma, dead bird, hadestown, LGBT+, life lessons, meds, mental health, mental illness, omen, pharmacies, sorry, writing | Leave a comment

TBR Playlist: Fall Out Boy Edition

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Ryn PB

Just a few days ago, my sister, dad, and I went to see Fall Out Boy in concert (which was AMAZING), so of course I had to do a FOB edition of TBR Playlist to commemorate the day. Please enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree, TBR Playlist | Tagged act your age, akemi dawn bowman, ali novak, altamont, anna carey, book series, books, cale dietrich, chloe gong, concert, eve brown, fall out boy, fiction, FOB, hafsah faizal, if this gets out, kerri strug, LGBT+, live music, memoir, mental health, micah nemerever, music, music history, my life with the walter boys, novels, pop punk, queer lit, r.f. kuang, reading, rf kuang, rock, rock history, rock music, romance, series, sibling, sister, sophie gonzales, starfish, talia hibbert, tempest of tea, the poppy war, these violent delights, this is not the jess show, trilogy, we didnt start the fire, YA, young adult | Leave a comment