My Rec League Starter Pack

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  happy hour by marlowe granados

  a sardonic diary of a youthful 2010’s summer in nyc well lived. I adored this novel, living vicariously through the misadventures of two best friends in their 20’s as they try to explore creative pursuits and make rent by their own resourceful means. it was a nostalgic catalogue of chaotic memories that called me back to my own, especially hearing it through the lens of a woman of colour. I feel like I learned dozens of new words, leafing through the pages, highlighting and noting the definitions of each one in an attempt to commit it to memory. her storytelling is captivating and humorous with gorgeous, ambient detail that swallows you up in their lives, constantly turning the pages to see what happens next.

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  Yashica EZS Zoom 70

  found this gem on Depop for $70 when I was looking to commit to 35mm point and shoot photography and it has been my go-to ever since. I fell in love with the nostalgic texture and colour of its output and its performance in outdoor lighting as well as nighttime flash. this camera helped me collect memories that will be in photo album family heirlooms. best for everyday low risk, low pressure casual shooting since the power button is a little finicky and the focus takes a while in low light situations or when the subject is harder to determine. it’s a sturdy body though, I can toss it around in my bag without worrying & it’s so worth the caveats when I receive my scans and prints back, this little camera shoots like a dream ♥️

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  The Odyssey

  yes, I know. everyone is talking about this film already. do I care? no, I’m giving my take and agreeing with the masses that this is another masterful release by nolan. I know there will always be people who may perhaps say it is mid, but I will say this: no matter how anyone feels about it, the cultural effects this movie had were immense and you can’t really go anywhere atm without it coming up in conversation, and that’s something I respect about any piece of media that has a global impact. we don’t have to be contrarians about everything and it’s okay to admit that something popular deserves that popularity. also I tried not to spoil too much but if you haven’t seen it yet, SPOILER ALERT just in case, maybe circle back to this after you see it pls. I honestly never read homer’s the odyssey, never studied it in school, and I genuinely thought the trojan horse was a real event in ancient history LMAO. I went into the movie theatre completely blind with my man who is an avid movie theatre enjoyer, so ofc I joined in to see what everyone’s been talking about. do you ever watch a youtube video, tiktok or ig reel that is so high production with great storytelling that you check the comments to see if someone else was thinking, “did I just log into instagram/tiktok premium?” that’s how I felt about this movie. idk how else to explain it other than it feels like MOVIE PREMIUM. everything from the practical effects to the sound design (there were moments where the sheer shock of the sonic effects alone sent me into orbit), to the stunning visuals, the scale of the production was colossal and immersive. I had no clue where this plot was going at the start (again, knew nothing of the epic poem) but as soon as the characters came face to face with their first greek mythological encounter, I locked in and became all consumed by terror, disgust and anticipation. that’s all I will say on the plot, but every step of the anti-hero’s journey had me on the edge of my seat and led to a finale that I was very impressed with. at first, I wasn’t sure if matt daemon had the aura required to execute odysseus but he has since grown on me and nolan’s choices for the casting came across very intentional, which I do respect. with a cast this stacked, there was bound to be high expectations, so it was very illuminating to see so many “main character” actors embrace their supporting roles with such precision and restraint, making their parts in the complex tale more memorable while not taking away from the heart of the story (zendaya, tom holland, mia goth, lupita nyong’o). himesh patel, playing odysseus’ second in command, skillfully channeled the frustration and confusion of all his soldiers, elliot page in his hurt and betrayal, and of course, robert pattinson in his dedication to playing comedically pathetic men. I also enjoyed seeing will yun lee take on his role after being obsessed with altered carbon, his arc kind of made me laugh because it just seems so him (iykyk). jon bernthal also killed me because he seems to play himself in everything. I was also impressed to see travis scott take on this project within the movie and collaborating on the music production side with james blake (already such an atmospheric, identifiable artist) for an original track. I enjoy seeing the versatility of artists as they expand into different industries and explore beyond the confines of their predetermined “lane.” I think another aspect of this movie that I liked the most, happening outside the movie, is the cultural conversation that followed on social media. as people saw the film and began posting their youtube in depth film reviews and lore commentary, to the memes exploding on x, tiktok and ig, this movie created a hype that people wanted to be a part of in order to be in the know, to understand the jokes, to participate in debates online and at parties. it is a moment in media history where I don’t think something of this scale has been released in a long time. and I have a wealth of memes I get to laugh about for the next few weeks or months until it dies down, but tbh that’s one of the parts I really love the most. I know this is all high praise, but for the men who can’t stop thinking of the roman empire and for the greek mythological baddies, it is a movie to watch as a timeless analogy to the destruction of war and questions of morality, injustice, karmic debt, and being at the whim of merciless gods.

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  you are eating an orange. you are naked. by sheung-king

  after years of brainrot, I attempted to get back into reading books again in 2024 like a baby deer learning how to walk. I picked up this book because the title and synopsis intrigued me, and it’s safe to say I got thrown off the deep end. the novel is about 2 financially well off lovers in their 20’s, frequent flyers from toronto to asia to europe, spanning years of what I can only describe as the type of on-and-off situationship that makes you physically ill with confusion and longing. this novel is labyrinthine in that it is filled with folk tales the couple exchanges throughout their travels and encounters, and personal anecdotes of the main character that seamlessly overlay each other to a point where I wasn’t sure at times where reality and myth started and ended. the liminal spaces of the airports, cities and time zones they temporarily stay in reflect directly on the liminality of their relationship and the absurdity of avoiding words they say only with their eyes. as someone not as well travelled or financially comfortable, I loved peeking into the lifestyle that seems so perfect on the screens I use to scroll. but in doing so, I experienced so much sonder and loneliness with the atmosphere sheung-king painted. while it is a novel, I knew it was written from a place of truth, excavating the political and societal tensions that define identity. a person whose home exists in multiple places that are thousands of miles apart, and searching for home in people who may be just as far, or right in front of you, and just as impossible to reach. it was lowkey gut wrenching, and while the book was beautiful, it was bittersweet when I turned the last page and realized it was over. if you like surrealist storytelling, dreamy reflective prose, folk tales, and travel, I think this novel is a poetic merging of it all, and by an asian canadian author!!