Women Loving Women Wednesday

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 1 Comment

Avery Reviews –

If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird

Where do I even begin!? I can distinctly remember the first time I stumbled across Blythe’s poetry. Sitting on my bed back at my childhood home, probably at some ungodly hour, and down a rabbit hole of Button Poetry videos on YouTube. “The Kindest Thing She Almost Did” was the first poem I ever heard by her, and the rest is history. I would highly recommend listening to her perform any one of her slams. For me, it was earth shattering. This is one of those books that felt like it shifted my entire world. I have a signed copy (again, thanks Mom!) and it is one of my most prized possessions. It’s my answer to the question“What one object would you save if your house was burning?”.

Feminism, lesbianism, dealing with mental illness… What more could I possibly want out of a book? It’s the first and only book that has ever made me cry. I devoured it the moment I received it. Reading this book felt like coming home to myself. It felt like my very soul had been opened up. Even now when I revisit it, as I so often do, it makes me feel like Blythe and I are the only two people in the world. Like for those few moments, nothing else around me exists. It’s just me, and the words on those pages. It helps that I relate so strongly to the contents of the book. It resonates in the deepest parts of me. It has made me feel such a way that I don’t even think I have the language to adequately describe. If you haven’t already gathered, this is absolutely my favorite poetry book I’ve ever read. Or maybe just my favorite book in general.

Long story short, Blythe Baird is an absolute gift. The way she delivers her poetry in slams, and the way it translates on the pages both have such a profound effect. Seeing a young lesbian from my own neck of the woods bloom into such a successful poet fills me with my own confidence. I give Blythe full credit for giving me the courage to finally pick up a pen and put my poetry to paper. Now I’m writing regularly, and it has been so healing. I could never thank her enough for opening me up to that experience. I would not be this exact version of myself without this book. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, sarcastic, and just about everything in between. It’s an art form of its very own. It makes my heart break and feel so full all at once. I couldn’t possibly recommend it more. 

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Get to Know Me Monday – No. 3

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 4 Comments

My Hands

I’d like to talk to you today about my hands. My silly, curved, chubby little hands.

When I was born both of my pinkies were crooked. The doctor told my parents that they would straighten out as I grew up. The doctor was wrong. As it turns out, I have a form of Clinodactyly. (Clinodactyly is a medical term describing the curvature of a digit.) It’s a genetic condition, though I don’t know of anyone else with crooked fingers in my family.

It was embarrassing when I was younger. Children didn’t have the kindest reactions, and adults weren’t much better. I spent a lot of time tucking my fingers into my hand, not letting them show, and being hyper-aware of their strangeness.

Now, I rarely think of them. They do get sore when I type because they don’t reach the keys the way normal pinkies would. If anything, I’m a little proud of my quirky digits.

Those of you of a certain age might have learned how to print and write in cursive in the D’Nealian method. I remember a very official handwriting teacher coming to my elementary school. He walked up and down the rows of desks correcting or praising our handwriting.

I was a little full of myself, quite sure I had the most beautiful penmanship in my class. Imagine my dismay when this gentleman stopped at my desk to tell me that I was holding my pencil wrong! There’s nothing that a child loves more than being singled out for being different. He made such a fuss, and his face showed such confusion. He manipulated my hand into the “correct” grip. I tried to maintain his correction, but it was impossible.

In doing research I’ve learned that there are more than a few different pencil grips, and that none of them cause legibility or speed problems (according to a 2001 study). Thanks a lot, D’Nealian guy! I still use the dynamic quadrupod grip, so sue me.

Now, I’m not supposed to talk about my latest hand drama stemming from the fractured humerus I suffered in October of 2019. It pains me to be silent about it because one of the most effective ways for me to work through something is to write/talk about it. Alas!

I can tell you that I ordered a few silicone rings from Enso because they fit comfortably on a hand that is far from comfortable.

A few fast facts about my hands:

  1. I love manicures but haven’t had one since the accident I mentioned above
  2. My fingers are short and chubby
  3. I have a small brown birthmark on the inside of one of my wrists. A babysitter once tried to scrub it off because she thought it was dirt
  4. My fingernails are brittle and pitiful
  5. My (latest) favorite hand lotion is Hempz. Oh no, I just saw that they have a limited edition pumpkin spice & vanilla chai scent…

That’s it for this Get to Know Me Monday. I hope some of you will play along. I’d like to get to know you better!