Back in 2021 Goddess Chaeryeong and her hair appeared as Choom's Artist of The Month and caused everyone to cry and die for her ❤️ It's a great performance.

I watch this a lot ... mainly because Chaeryeong generally never gets focus like this for her talent as a dancer. Like many idols who are part of a group, she doesn't get the spotlight often. Her semi-twin sister Chaeyeon is more well known but, IMO, has a harder, more rough style that doesn't appeal to me as much.

https://youtu.be/msSTlqos4fQ

In addition to #Platée, a rather wild looking production of Stravinsky's #TheRakesProgress is coming on November 22nd.

This is a production by director Vidar Magnussen of the Norwegian National Opera and it looks like it truly embraces the madness, the horror, the absurd, burlesque fantasy of the title.

I have only ever seen one other version of Rake and it didn't look like this ... it was a different vision. Not terrible, but not this. I really want to see this one. It looks epic ❤️

Exciting news for my fellow #opera fans!

#Platée is coming to the best place on the Internet, OperaVision ❤️ A first production for Garsington Opera, Platée is the chance to indulge in grand choruses and fabulous dances played out in a French Baroque world of glamour and deception.

You will be able to see this epic production for FREE thanks to OperaVision starting on November 15th!

I'll try to remind y'all when it starts.

https://youtu.be/gxknNu1HXgc

𝙀𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙃𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣: 𝙀𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 36 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨

𝘌𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 36 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 “𝘗𝘢𝘵” 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘌𝘖. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘌𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺.

https://publications.extension.uconn.edu/2020/11/24/ebony-horsewomen-empowering-hartford-for-over-36-years/

More info for you:

https://www.blackcowboymuseum.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/ng-interactive/2024/may/19/black-cowboys-cowgirls-rodeos

https://www.wittemuseum.org/exhibitions/black-cowboys-an-american-story-2/

https://www.mirrranchgroup.com/the-history-of-black-cowboys/

In fact, the day that my brother was visiting EHI, Jordan Peele's film crew had been there working on filming an upcoming documentary about Black cowboys

𝘑𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘬 “𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘣𝘰𝘺” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 2022 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘱𝘦

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jordan-peele-black-cowboy-series-1235888814/

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘫𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯 1875 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 1903, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘪𝘮 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 15 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 28 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘫𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴.

https://www.derbymuseum.org/blackheritage.html

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And in case you have no knowledge of the history of cowboys, specifically Black cowboys, here's some info:

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙧-𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣-𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙬𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨
One in four cowboys was black. So why aren’t they more present in popular culture?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-african-american-cowboys-180962144/

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He was so moved by the experience and the tour he received that he is planning to carve out time to try and get certified in equine therapy which I think would be a fascinating area to go into the provide unique services for those suffering from trauma.

He was most impressed by the founder and owner Patricia E. Kelly, a U.S. Marine Corp Vietnam-era veteran and African-American cowgirl.

https://www.cowgirl.net/portfolios/patricia-e-kelly/

https://ebonyhorsewomen.org/history

My brother and I don't talk much but he enthusiastically texted me about an experience he had after I shared with him how many farrier accounts I follow on Insta ❤️

He met the owner of #EbonyHorsewomen.

EHI is a one-of-a-kind, urban riding center in Hartford Connecticut. They provide equine-assisted psychotherapy services directly to clients and offer advanced, credited, professional development programs for therapists, horse specialists and college students.

https://ebonyhorsewomen.org/

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#BADVILLAIN has kicked off the countdown to their very first comeback! BADVILLAIN will be returning with the digital single “ZOOM” on November 19th. 👍🏾

https://youtu.be/xPrD_HzawqQ

If you're not watching the epicness that is Inspector #Eliis, I highly recommend it. Sharon D. Clarke is amazing to watch.

The fact that the series is only 3 episodes has more than a handful of loud fans online clamoring for more. We'll see what happens going forward. Fan focused campaigns sometimes have positive outcomes.

It absolutely deserves 3 SEASONS, not just 3 episodes.

https://youtu.be/sEYQIIwLr8w

#RecluseRecommends

#StarWars spinoff #Andor is finally coming back for its second and final season on Disney Plus April 22nd.

We’ll see some first-season characters return, including Luthen, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), and Saw Guerrera (Forest Whitaker). Alan Tudyk is expected to show up, reprising his role as the charming imperial droid, K-2SO, and Ben Mendelsohn will be there, playing his Rogue One villain, Orson Krennic.

The two greatest threats to my life were being HONEST and being AUTHENTIC. Those two things made my parents the most angry, made my teachers feel most threatened, made my peers hate me, and make insecure white people the most afraid.

You would think that honesty and authenticity would be celebrated, that individuality would be something valuable but that has never been the world we live in. Empire hates strong individuals. It wants collective weakness.

Be true to yourself.
Be your own light.

Embracing stoicism early in my childhood saved my life. Absolutely saved my life. It is what allowed me to survive horrible psychological and physical abuse not just from my parents, but from my peers, from strangers, from everyone I encountered in the world.

Whatever you need to survive your reality ... hold onto it, embrace it, commit it to your soul and make it who you are.

But most importantly ... have joy. Have fierce, powerful, and contagious joy.

Don't give up your light.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦.

Epictetus says: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭? 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

The wonderful @mistressticia reminded me of a journal quote from the summer after I finished middle school.

𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 (our high school was across the street from our middle school) 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

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When I emptied my room of everything that brought me joy and learned to live in a quiet kind of resistance, they lost the ability to control me psychologically and instead became more physical.

Why? Because joy and happiness are things that free you from oppression. They free your whole mind and spirit even if your body is not free due to enslavement by a person, a disease, a disability or something else.

Be joyful. Be happy.

It is defiance, it is freedom.

Let no one control you.

This is something I understood from an early age from my own abusive parents, whose actions and treatment of myself and my brother were just as oppressive, frightening, destructive, and purposeful as the world is today.

The goal was to keep me miserable and afraid ... they took things from me that brought me joy in order to control me. They withheld things that they knew brought me peace as punishments. The only way I won over them was to stop having attachments to things.

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Joy is an act of resistance.
I've heard this for as long as I can remember, even as a child I remember hearing it or reading it somewhere. This saying has been around forever and used by different groups.

It's not lost on me that joy being an act of resistance speaks to the fact that there are so many people in the world that do not what other people to have happiness.

Not just on high from the oppressive empire we live in but even just people around you including friends and family.

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