Tag Archives: life lessons

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

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

26 Things I’ve Learned Over 26 Years

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Ryn PB

I was going to post this on my actual birthday, but as I said in my last post, my computer broke and I was not in possession of my laptop in the days around my birthday. I won’t let technological … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era | Tagged adult, age, animals, anxiety, anxious, art, asexual, asexuality, bad art, best, birthday, carrots, cats, date, delicious, dogs, energy, food, forgiveness, gross, health, hobbies, hobby, integrity, labels, life, life lessons, mental health, money, nose, pace, questions, relationships, sexuality, sibling, sister, sniffle, snot, trust, wine, writing | 1 Comment

The Clairvoyant Cashier

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

Ernest Kowalski just wanted to pick up some potatoes for his pierogis, but Ziggy’s market was closed on Sundays. Two of his daughters and their kids were coming for dinner that night, so after Mass he’d ventured out to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged aging, anxiety, brain, cashier, clairvoyance, class, community, death, elderly, esp, family, family stories, fiancee, grief, groceries, grocery, LGBT, LGBT+, life lessons, marriage, mind, neighborhood, old man, polish, psychic, queer lit, shopping, store, sunday, voodoo, wife, writing | Leave a comment

“Doubt Comes In”: On Hadestown, Turning Around, and Living with Doubt*

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Ryn PB

The dog you really got to dread Is the one that howls inside your head It’s him whose howling drives men mad And a mind to its undoing… I’ll tell you where the real road lies Between your ears, behind … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, mental health, polysyllabic spree | Tagged anais mitchell, anxiety, broadway, change, city, crisis, doubt, emotion, eurydice, family, friendship, greek myth, greek mythology, hades, hadestown, hermes, hope, life changes, life lessons, lillias white, love, love story, mental health, moving, music, musical, mythology, new york, npr, nyc, orpheus, orpheus and eurydice, persephone, quarter life crisis, reeve carney, romance, stories, story, storytelling, tennis, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, trust, us open | 1 Comment

Pierre-Auguste Salvatici

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Ryn PB

His parents set him up for failure when they named him Pierre-Auguste Salvatici. Even if he hadn’t grown up with a persistent speech impediment and severe respiratory problems, Pierre-Auguste Salvatici could never live up to the grandiosity of the name. … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged adopted, adoption, anxiety, asthma, club, copd, death, driving, drowning, friends, great lakes, high school, lake, lakes, languages, life lessons, lung disease, lungs, names, neglect, neighbors, orphan, parental death, reading, ship, shipwreck, talent, talent show, tea, water, writing | 1 Comment

Addy Kraz and the Case of the Stolen Cookies

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Ryn PB

“Meet me at the Orange Julius” was the mantra of our junior high years. Before Dijon O’Reilly got a job at Juice Stop and Kiera Moore became a vegan, the three of us would come from our different middle schools—Dijon … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged auntie anne, bakery, bffs, bojack horseman, books, candy, cookies, crush, diane nguyen, fake books, fake fiction, food court, friends, hardy boys, hot dogs, indian food, ivy tran food court detective, junior high, kiosk, life lessons, mall, middle grade, middle school, mystery, nancy drew, nonbinary, nostalgia, orange julius, series, shopping mall, short story, stealing, suspects, thief, toy, toys, tweens, writing | 1 Comment