Latest Posts by shelikesaestheticniches - Page 3
Adut Akech by Renell Medrano 2021
Ph. Renell Madrano for Elle US
Serena Williams & Venus Williams in Harper’s Bazaar magazine March 2022 issue photographed by Renell Medrano
irish princess ayo on the cover vanity fair
📸 renell medrano 🧊
Please help us escape death from Rafah .. my friend posted here and I'm forever indebted to all of you for your generosity.. we started to lose hope. please help and share .
Men have no idea how good gentleness looks on them.
DONNA SUMMER | American Bandstand (1976)
Donna Summer, 1977
laces and silks collection by mirror palais.
Brilliant
Classified X... declassified
Classified X opens with Black people being presented in early American film. You’ll be surprised to find that the Black people in these films are presented as stupid, dancing, comedic relief characters. And if that’s true, you’ll also be surprised to find out that the sky is blue.
Melvin Van Peebles recounts coming of age at the end of the Second World War. When America realized that the Allied Powers could not win the war without the help of the people that they enslaved, lynched, and mocked for a couple of hundred years, they decided to instill in African Americans a source of patriotism. “The New Negro” was represented in film. Van Peebles points to Birth of a Nation as a movie that many people identify as the first example of racism in film. Of course, why would a country already embroiled in racism leave such ideals out of the entertainment?
The “New Negro” was, a Van Peeble pointed out, nothing without the white hero. White people were even playing light skinned Black people in cinema. The truth was, racism hadn’t disappeared in movies, it was just dressed up.
In the segregated south, African American film houses presented their own films, popular for their positive portrayals of Black people. However, Van Peeble states that white supremacy was so ingrained in American culture that even Black people bought into it. Antagonists were oftentimes darker than the hero; of course, in today’s society, light skinned people are seen as softer, more delicate as compared to the rougher, more abrasive dark skinned still…just listen to rap music.
However, Black people were so desperate for positive portrayals in white films that Casablanca became such a hit in Black neighborhoods because people loved Sam so much.
Of course, Black people are innovators, inventors. And just as in other facets of history, white people stole our ideas, routines, and looks. In an attempt to appease us (i.e, as Van Peebles reveals, to get our money), Black people returned to film. Of course, we were pushed to the background, stereotypes being forced upon us once again. Racism truly never disappears, it is just dressed up in a different fashion. Van Peeble describes how instead of settling for second class work given to him and other Black directors during the Civil Rights movement, he went to pioneer a new genre of film- the blaxploitation. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song became required viewing for America’s public enemy number 1- the Black Panther Party… so of course that means Sweetback has been added to my watchlist. Blaxploitation proved that Black people could pop that bubble that white people had put us in. The problem now, as revealed by Classified X, isn’t the lack of Black films, it’s the lack of white cinemas that will play them. I know I’ve said it multiple different times in this blog post already- but racism dressed up in different clothing. Hopefully the work of visionaries inspired by the work of people like the Black Panther Party, civil rights leaders, and cultural visionaries like Van Peebles can inspire more Black people to take control of the entertainment, money, and representations coming into and out of the community.
Palestinian lady collects gas bombs fired by Israeli army. She grows flowers in these bombs.
Advice for Young Girls
1. Take care of yourself.
Hair, body, face, everything. Use a hair mask once a week.
Try a clay mask for your face.
Moisturise regularly.
Use sunscreen.
Use a body scrub twice a month.
Make sure your nails are clean, and your toenails too.
If you choose to get rid of your body hair, shave. Use eyebrow razors for your face. Waxing with pre-waxed facial strips or even hot wax (be careful tho) is a lot less painful than threading; I like to do that for my upper lip, chin and sideburns.
2. Take care of yourself internally.
Try drinking at least 1.5 litres of water a day.
Drink a green juice.
Calcium and probiotics are important- eat yogurt.
Listen to your body - stop eating when you’re full.
Drink your fruits.
3. Have a hobby.
You don’t necessarily need money for that and you don’t have to excel at it. It’s for YOURSELF.
Draw. Paint. Sing. Embroider. Raise plants. Pottery. A sport. Do something.
4. Don’t get too affected by boys.
It’s okay to go out there and date and have fun. But don’t completely commit to him without committing to yourself first.
Make sure you have a job independent from him - finances are very important.
Have goals.
Make sure you’re not settling for someone when you can do much better. If your values and belief systems don’t match - he’s not the one.
5. Remember to make time for your friends and family.
Tell your mum you love her.
Ask your dad how his day was.
Stop fighting with your sibling so much.
Sometimes, your friends needs someone who will listen and not say anything. Listen more.
Be empathetic and kind, but remember to have strong boundaries.
She even kills a bob🫂
How to Wake Up Early
I always wanted to be one of those girls who would wake up early, go for a run and be super productive with their mornings. The issue is - i really love sleep. Every time i would start a routine, i would eventually fail. I would wake up to turn the alarm off, think to myself “5 mins more” and boom- it’s suddenly 8:30 am and i need to leave for work in less than 1 hour.
Two videos on YouTube really changed my mind. One was Andrew Huberman’s, and the other was Jihyo, a k-pop star.
I came across Andrew Huberman’s video about dopamine, and somehow, it helped me to understand why the difficulty waking up early is so important. Now I’m no expert of neuroscience, but let me explain to the best of my abilities.
Dopamine is essentially the build up to the reward; it is not the reward. It is the satisfaction and happiness you feel (when your body releases), after you have achieved something that was painful/ required you to struggle a bit. In order to receive this reward, you have to feel pain, because pain and satisfaction are directly related to each other. Satisfaction without pain is useless and does nothing for you essentially.
That got me wondering: for me, waking up early is difficult. It’s painful. I dont want to do it. But if I do it, its my first win of the day. It’s the first challenge I have overcome of that day, and I always do feel amazing after. The dopamine release after the struggle of waking up and winning the battle of not going back to sleep is definitely there. I feel more confident because a) I have done the “right” thing b) selfishly, i can do something so simple that a lot of people struggle with c) it weirdly makes me feel more confident and like I’m doing the first step of being an adult right.
Jihyo’s video was quite random - she did some show where it shows her daily life when she’s not working. Parts of it made me feel like she’s unable to just relax with herself (probably because her body and mind are so used to chaos, performing, her girl group living together for so many years) so she busies herself a lot. I took the positives from the video; she’s extremely disciplined which I admired, she gets her chores done, she’s good at ensuring that her space is truly her space.
So I decided to build a relatively foolproof routine; but mind you, it does require quite a bit of willpower.
I’ve developed a habit of waking of waking up at 5 am. I head straight for a 30-45 minute meditation and then at least an hour long workout. I stack my habits that way; right after meditation, I put on my running shoes. I used to really struggle with waking up, even if I had to wake up late. This is the strategy that worked me, see if it works for you.
1. Reset your space the night before
This makes you feel less stressed in the morning and also genuinely makes you feel like you have your shit together. Put your clothes away, keep your bag in its place, clean up your desk, reorganise your make up and skin care products. You’re going to go to sleep and wake up to a clean space.
Make sure you define both your bedtime and wake up time. My bedtime is 9:30 pm - so i manage my chores, reading, dinner, everything around that.
2. Early dinner
I’ve noticed that early dinners help me sleep better. I’ve built the habit of casually walking for 25-30 minutes post dinner (not right after eating, after about 15 mins). I’m not walking fast to a point where I’m sweating and puffing, I’m casually strolling outside. During this time, I don’t listen to music, interact with anyone or my phone. I use this time to connect with myself and think about whatever I feel like.
3. No devices before sleeping
I don’t want to stimulate myself before sleeping, so I prefer reading before bed. If you don’t like reading, you can instead do your skincare, maybe revise some physical study notes, etc.
4. Using Alarmy app
This app is torture and I swear by it. This little thing makes you a solve a challenge of your choice in order to make the alarm stop, like math problems, puzzles, etc. I chose 5 math problems.
5. Keep your phone across the room
Don’t charge it near your reach. Keep it as away from you as possible.
6. Stand for two minutes after shutting off the alarm
Don’t allow yourself to snooze, or go back to bed. This is the part that really requires you to tell yourself: “i am not going back to sleep. I’m going to wake up and do the things I have to do for my own benefit.” Remember - the states of heaven and hell are not outside of you, they’re inside you. They are mental states. You have to fight with your lazy demon and tell him/her/whoever that NO; we are NOT going back to bed.
I charge my phone across the room so that forces me to walk first thing in the morning. To stop myself from going back to sleep, after i have shut the alarm off, i just stand for 2 minutes. I dont sit, or go back to bed. I stand and tell myself, we’re doing this. We’re going to wake up and have an amazing day.
Your mind is like a child with tantrums and mood swings. Your rational self has to discipline your mind the way a parent would to a child.
7. Turn a small light on
Not something that is jarring or overwhelming, but enough to help you start waking up. I turn my phone’s flashlight on and keep it on my desk.
8. Be consistent, even on weekends
The biggest mistake you can make is not being consistent. Your body doesnt recognise weekends, your mind does. Your body doesn’t know that tomorrow is Monday, so its time to wake up early. By staying consistent (yes, I wake up at 5 am on weekends too), it allows my body to develop its own body clock and not wrecking the system I’ve kept in place.
What do I do if I have a late night?
It really depends. Let’s say I come home relatively early (+2 hours around my bedtime) around 11 pm, and im in bed by 11:30. I’ll wake up somewhere close to 5 am, like 6 am instead. The next day I ensure I’m in bed by the bedtime I’ve kept for myself and wake up at 5 am again.
If I come home really late, like 3 am - i keep my alarm exactly 8 hours from that time. I need to get sleep, but oversleeping is an issue and that wont allow me to wake up early the next day. I want to get enough sleep where im rested for the day, but not excessively. Unfortunately, sleeping so late would definitely mean that i wont be able to fall asleep at my dot 9:30 pm bedtime, but i turn the lights off and get ready to sleep by then anyway, and mentally prepare for my 5 am wake up call.
Mowalola spring 2024
I'm so obsessed with her work🖐🏾😭
Mowalola x Beats By Dre shot by Hugo Comte
Lawrence know he wrong as hell for doing Tasha like that. Wish we could've seen her happy and being treated right with somebody at the end of the series
Our PRESIDENT BARBIE, Issa Rae at the “BARBIE” Movie premiere.
Totally worth the read!
I’m honestly shocked that The Idol (Sam Levinson, 2023-) is seen as so shocking considering how bland and tepid it is. It feels like someone wanted to remake Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1998) but got lost along the way and ended up with 50 Shades of Hannah Montana, in the same way, that not only are its touted sex/kink scenes shockingly chaste and bland but also feels as substantive as a gormless sitcom meant to sell you a soundtrack (the Weekend interjects has a few self-insert needle drops throughout). The show’s most obnoxious sin, like a bad children’s show, is that it frequently has characters deliver exposition that in turn informs important characterization, often indicating that they should’ve been depicted as part of the narrative proper, or announcing what commentary they are attempting. Characters try to sell us on the depth of the material, and why we should care, often in a cynical way as to say “this is what you should be talking about,” like a rather crass evocation of Brittney Spears in the first episode.
Like the paparazzi with Spears, there is a lecherous survey of Joss’ (Depp) body present in almost every sequence she is on screen, but only in as much as it is being sold to us as sexy or broken. When it is not a temple for heroin chic fetishism, there are some decent attempts to show the damage her endless physical labor does to her, as emphasized by a sequence where we see the bleeding callouses and bandages on her feet. Yet frequently, her body is meant to be a sight for erotic titillation, her personality vacuous beyond unironic “cool girl” talking points that there is little else to focus on according to the series but her physique. It is almost as comically puritanical as some of its most vocal detractors, as any real depiction of sex is off-screen or so tepid that you imagine these are the fantasies of men who only know sex from the pornos they watched when they were teens in the nineties. Campion, Lynch, Cronenberg, and the Wachowskis were doing wilder erotic depictions decades ago.
What The Idol appears to be most substantively about are petty grievances against those who have slighted Sam Levinson in the past, i.e. an intimacy coordinator and women with authority. In the much-touted intimacy coordinator scene, wherein they are seen as obstructing Joss’ bodily autonomy (it’s conservatively clever, you almost have to applaud it), they are locked up in a bathroom by her manager Chaim (Azaria). This unintentionally sets up a throughline in the series where Joss keeps going against prior legal agreements. In this case, the intimacy rider for what she does and does not want to do, which the coordinator even states that they can redo and begin work again the next day. This paints Joss as indecisive and unprofessional, which the show seems to agree with, but also believes that what she needs is strong (patriarchal) guidance after her mother’s death. Her older woman manager Nikki (Jane Adams) is seen as a cruel taskmaster who wants to drop her at the earliest opportunity, and several women with power over Joss are seen as temperamental and unprofessional (like the director at the music video shoot). Whenever Joss needs comforting she either finds it in the arms of a man (usually Chaim, sometimes Tedros (a charisma-leaching Weeknd) away from a woman who was stressing her out. When it is not a man, it is a black woman (Destiny (Randolph)) effectively acting as her mammy.
Speaking of race, there are some off dynamics at work. A brief torture scene in the second episode feature Tedros electroshocking Izaak (Sumney) when he fails to perform to his liking. Izaak is surrounded by white women, watching him gyrating above them, as Tedros continually hurts him. In effect, it is a scene of a light-skinned black man brutalizing a dark-skinned black man, seemingly for his own amusement and that of the white women. Further demonstrating this colorism, shots with Izaak are frequently so underlit that they obscure his features. True the show’s look is that of a low-rent neo-noir pastiche, but certainly some creative lighting could have mitigated the problem while also giving the series a better visual identity than what it has.
The fact it is so dour while unintentionally hilarious makes the series perversely entertaining, but exclusively in terms of ironic aesthetic enjoyment, divorced from its repressible messaging and politics. The style is likewise nothing to write home about, functional without much expressiveness. It seems at points most of the more expressive stylistic techniques like quick cutting and panning shots are used to obscure poor dancing quality from Depp. Otherwise, the bare minimum in terms of composition and structure is just around barely subpar.
Seeing as the series is intended as a limited run, I do not think it will overcome these hurdles in the long run. However, I do believe in at least seeing where the series goes from this point. Odder situations have happened than a series becoming good after the first third, so we shall see.
Reel blondes
BIG MOOD
rico snxusjnsuxnwmz
I'm so excited!!!
Zendaya as Tashi Duncan Challengers (2023) dir. Luca Guadagnino
“I’m gonna say something crazy… Wanna marry me instead?”
– San Junipero (2016) dir. Owen Harris
The Best Man premiere (1999)
This is fire🧎🏾♀️
TOP BOYS by @QUEERGARDEN
Beautiful.
Seigfried
Seigfried is easily one of my most favourite songs on Blonde. I believe that it is the most underrated song. After having listened to it thousands of times over and over again, there’s just so many thoughts swirling in my head trying to piece together and connect the dots as to what message Frank is trying to send in this song and in his lyrics. There are so many elements that are contributed to this song and each one builds the interior and exterior foundation of the track. It has a cinematic and minimalistic vibe that sets the tone for the whole song.
The lyrics are so abstract, so lost in themselves. I don’t believe that anyone could really depict the meaning of the lyrics to this song. Frank made it so that we take what we can get and nothing more and I think I love that about this song. If you listen to it, you can relate and feel the emotion that he’s trying to show us, but everyone perceives and connects with those emotions in their own way, no two the same. Being able to connect with Frank on your own personal level on this track is, in my opinion, truly a magical thing. To be able to create a song so abstract, so up for interpretation that it allows listeners to create their own narrative of it and to create new and raw emotions to connect to in their own way is unreal and I believe something not a lot of artists can achieve. That’s just the way art is, it is all about interpretation.
I think that Frank serenades us with the building blocks that make up his mindset and the way he observes his life and the world he is surrounded with. I think he’s trying to tell us a story where it starts with him talking about a broken relationship to ending with him realizing that he is in the midst of an existential crisis. No one really understands what you go through the best except you and to be able to depict that in art is a unique talent.
The beginning of the song, Frank sings
The markings on your surface
Your speckled face
Flawed crystals hang from your ears
I couldn’t gauge your fears
I believe that he is speaking about someone in specific in this introduction. Perhaps, he is talking about a failed relationship. He describes the person that he may have had relations with and he then says “I couldn’t gauge your fears” giving me the understanding that he didn’t fully understand this person in the way that he may have wanted to. Starting the song like this is a good way to introduce the idea of existentialism that I think he uses as his main overall thematic element in this song.
He proceeds to go on, exclaiming
“I can’t relate to my peers
I’d rather live outside
I’d rather chip my pride than lose my mind out here
Maybe I’m a fool
Maybe I should move and settle
Two kids and a swimming pool
I’m not brave
I’m living over city
And taking in the homeless sometimes
Been living in an idea
An Idea from another man’s mind
Maybe I’m a fool
To settle for a place with some nice views
Maybe I should move, settle down
Two kids and a swimming pool
I’m not brave
I’d rather live outside
I’d rather live outside
I’d rather go to jail
I believe that Frank is trying express how he feels trapped, living his life having to conform to standards and expectations that he has no say in. We’re all expected to go to school because we need to, get a job because we need to, have a family because we need to, but no one asks what we really want. He talks about it as if he feels like he’s living his life in a different body, how he’s part of what the norm is, but he feels like an alien. How he’s living a life he doesn’t feel like he belongs in. There could be numerous explanations as to where this came from on his end, but I’m only trying to scratch the surface.
He begins by explaining how he can’t relate to the people he is surrounded by. How he’d rather live on the outskirts and be an outsider, which may take a toll on his pride and ego, but nonetheless, is something he’d rather do than lose his mind living in a world where he feels he doesn’t belong. I get the feeling that these thoughts are raw and not really fully understood, even by him since the following lyrics are him questioning his feelings and some may think is him invalidating himself. He goes on talking about how maybe he’s just a fool to be thinking like this, and maybe he should just suck it up, and live the life that everyone expects him to live. To settle down and have kids. He concludes this with saying that he isn’t brave. I feel that deeming yourself cowardly is quiet the statement. I believe that the message he’s trying to portray here is that regardless of the fact that he feels this way, it doesn’t really matter because he knows he is too much of a coward to live the life he really wants to live. The life where he may not necessarily meet society’s expectations.
He continues by kind of explaining the situation in which he is living in now, but that he’s living in someone else’s idea. Like the dissatisfaction that he is experiencing from his life is due to the fact that he feels like he is living someone else’s idea of what a good life is. He reiterates how he feels foolish, again invalidating his own feelings and deeming himself cowardly. He then mentions again how he’d rather live on the outskirts and outside the norm, how he’d even rather to go to jail than live the life he is currently living, or the life he is expected to live.
The proceeding lyrics go as follows
I’ve tried hell (it’s a loop)
What would you recommend I do?
(The other side of the loop is a loop)
This is not my life
It’s just a fond farewell to a friend
It’s just a fond farewell to a friend
This is not my life
It’s just a fond farewell to a friend
It’s not what I’m like
It’s just a fond farewell
(brave)
In this part of the song, Frank references the song “A Fond Farewell” by Elliott Smith which was released in his last album before his death, called “From A Basement On the Hill” which he released in 2004. The song, “A Fond Farewell” talks about a heroin addiction in which Smith struggled with during his career. Smith passed away on October 21, 2003, from what was ruled as a suicide, but has suspicion to be a homicide, all exactly one week before Frank’s 16th birthday. Many people used that song as an encouraging beacon for hope to help with their own struggles with addiction. The specific lyrics Frank takes from this song are “It’s a fond farewell to a friend, it’s not what I’m like, this is not my life”. In the song, I believe Smith is saying goodbye to the person that he was as an addict. I feel that Frank is also using these lyrics to perhaps say goodbye to a part of himself. I couldn’t say what part exactly, but my predictions are that he is saying goodbye to the part of himself that continues to live the life that he feels alienated in as he goes on to live the life that may not fit society’s standards, but is the life he’d like to live. Contrarily, he is saying goodbye to the part of himself that wants to live the life outside of all the standards set by society, but instead he continues to live the life doing what everyone expects him to do.
He continues,
Speaking of nirvana, it was there
Rare as the feathers on my dash from a phoenix
There with my crooked teeth and companion sleeping, yeah
Dreaming a thought that could dream about a thought
That could think of the dreamer that thought
That could think of dreaming and getting a glimmer of God
I be dreaming a dream in a thought
That could dream about a thought
That could think of dreaming a dream
Where I can not, where I can not
Less morose and more present
Dwell on my gifts for a second
A moment one solar flare would consume, so why not
Spin this flammable paper on the film that’s my life
High flights, inhale the vapour, exhale once and think twice
Eat some shrooms, maybe have a good cry, about you
See some colours, light hang glide off the moon
This part of the song is my favourite. The lyrics hold me in a trance, lost in thought and completely lost for words. The poetry that he lays down in this part of the song enthrals me like nothing else. When I listen and try to understand these lyrics, I feel as though I am an astronaut completely lost in space, trying to understand and piece together my way back to earth even though I’m floating away in the nothingness that is our solar system, not knowing where to start. The emotions that arise when this part of the song is played are intense and imaginative. Only a few sentences that he gives us, but a whole imagination and world beyond our understanding. This is why I love it. It makes me feel grounded, yet I’m floating. Secure, yet so free.
He ends off the song with
I’d do anything for you
(In the dark)
I’d do anything for you
(In the dark)
I’d do anything for you
(In the dark)
I’d do anything for you(In the dark)
I’d do anything for you, anything for you
(In the dark)
I’d do anything for you, anything for you
This part of the song I feel is as though he is referencing the person he was referencing in the beginning of the song. I think that this is a good way to give a full wrap around to the song. To really finish it off and leave no cliffhangers. I guess you could say ending the song off like this is a full circle moment. I like how he delivers this song so neat and put together, leaving no crumbs behind. However, the thoughts that encompass this song so complex and so ethereal that you don’t even know where to begin in understanding it.
Frank drags out the idea that he is looking at his life from an outside perspective and questions what it really means to be here, experiencing life in this moment in time. He recapitulates the theme of existentialism that he ensures he drags on all throughout the song. He delves into the layers of existentialism by questioning why and how people live, especially how he lives, and why he wants it to be completely based on the way he thinks and feels regardless if that fits societal norms. He lays the foundation for the experience of a lifetime, being a listener of this song, and he is able to make it all wrapped up in five minutes, 35 seconds and 388 words.
I fucling SCREAMEDDDD😩😩😩
Seigfried by @frankocean x Moonlight (2016) by Berry Jenkins