There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.

— Ursula K. Le Guin

Latest Posts


  • Fanfiction, Part 2: The Current Landscape

    When we left off in Fanfiction, Part 1: A Brief History, we’d just discovered the wonders of a centralized fanfiction hub: FanFiction.Net. While a great boon to the fanfiction internet landscape, it invited many more eyes– and more scrutiny. Copyright… Continue reading

    Fanfiction, Part 2: The Current Landscape
  • Anxious People: Reflection

    There was a funny moment last year when, in the introduction for March’s Book of the Month Conversations With Friends, I rallied against judging a book by its cover. Determined to get over my own prejudices, I’d chosen Sally Rooney’s… Continue reading

    Anxious People: Reflection
  • Fanfiction, Part 1: A Brief History

    All writing is dialogue. Not dialogue as in he-said-she-said, but as in referencing and relating to other ideas. Choosing to write about vampires, for example, puts you in dialogue with works like Dracula, The Vampire Chronicles, and Twilight. Writing a… Continue reading

    Fanfiction, Part 1: A Brief History
  • Somebody’s Daughter: Reflection

    Typically, when reading for the Book of the Month Club, I finish before my partner. I have a strict timeline for finishing. My partner, not so much. Sometimes, if he’s unsure about a genre or author, he’ll wait for me… Continue reading

    Somebody’s Daughter: Reflection
  • Making Sakura Tea

    As I mentioned in my post Reflecting On a Year of Tea, I’ve been learning Japanese for about a year. My accent is awful, and my handwriting is atrocious, but I make the effort regardless. Still, there’s one area I… Continue reading

    Making Sakura Tea
  • The City We Became: Reflection

    “Don’t sleep on the city that never sleeps, son, and don’t fucking bring your squamous eldritch bullshit here.” N.K. Jemisin I’ve lived within train distance of Chicago my whole life. None of the towns qualified as suburbs (the people who… Continue reading

    The City We Became: Reflection
  • Tea Reflection: Nepal Teas

    One dollar.  I’d like you to think of the last time you bought something for a dollar. It might be hard to do. As you wrack your brain, you might think of the last time you went to a vending… Continue reading

    Tea Reflection: Nepal Teas
  • A Year of Tea Reads & Looking Towards the Future

    Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. As I prepped this piece, I went back to read my first-ever post. It’s optimistic, funny, and riddled with silly little errors that wouldn’t get past my editing process nowadays. The year-past… Continue reading

    A Year of Tea Reads & Looking Towards the Future
  • How to Do Nothing: Reflection

    Hello all, and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! If you were a little surprised to see a notification pop up today, I can understand. Christmas festivities often involve pushed-back obligations and a weekend full of festivities. Many log off,… Continue reading

    How to Do Nothing: Reflection
  • Reflecting on a Year of Writing

    If I were to describe my writing schedule before starting this blog, I’d pick the word “sporadic”. The writing folder on my computer, sorted by year, alternates between years with forty-plus documents and years that are completely barren. An entire… Continue reading

    Reflecting on a Year of Writing