Xismosa Xit

Oh good, you made it!

Hello all,

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by me forgetting my iPad one day, so I finally had to face the page and write. Also, I’m a slut for Valentine’s Day.

Poetry of the Week

Love Is

Written after a friend asked me what love is, and they did so at the exact right time because I’d been thinking about it anyway. Regardless, I think about it often.

Jackalope Burrows

Things I’ve learned, laughed about, and/or obsessed over

• License plates… I’ve been collecting them since my commute to my first adult job in 2018. Here are my top nine of the month:

• We cater to cowards

• What day is it? One of them probably

• A middle school teacher asked their students what they think people in their 30’s need:

• Mini Agua Fresca

• I have never seen a Game of Thrones episode; hence, I do nothing for the culture.

• I am so chronically offline that I now have friends who send me things through text instead

• tell Schrodinger I survived

• Apparently all I need is a porch for mental stability. And lamotrigine.

• How lamotrigine works in my brain
• Poetry… All of it. Primarily by women of color.
• Rocks! Put them in your pockets

• Dancing Hello Kitty

• Oh to have a large leaf poncho

• Micro – and I cannot stress this enough – Frog
• And Finally: Frosting Frog

Book Búho

What I’ve been reading/listening to bc audiobooks let me do both. Yes, comics count.

• Already Knew You Were Coming by Nnenna Loveth Umelo Uzoma Nwafor
  • this person was a friend in college. We’ve lost touch, but their words have touched my heart, inspiring me to write my own story in poems. I was mesmerized while reading this poetry book. Please view their website here!
• No Matter The Wreckage by Sarah Kay
  • poetry book bought at a friends yard sale/swap over five years ago, moved about six times with me, finally got around to it and she inspired me to write about family
• The Gospel of Matthew, Contemporary English Version
  • trying to get a better sense of Jesus’s words and interpret them from myself, what it’s supposed to be like as a Christian and if I want to continue calling myself one
• Pluto Manga Series by
  • gave me a little more context than the show. Primarily about the trauma of hatred because of imperialism.
• The Gospel of Mark, Contemporary English Version
  • same as the gospel of Matthew. This one is believed to have been the first one written, simpler than Matthew.
• The In-between
  • my God, this was beautiful. I have studied to become a death doula, and still plan to get that certificate, and this just reinforced that desire. Death is scary, but there’s also a lot of comfort from dead relatives from many in the end. Death is more fluid than we believe it to be, and can scientifically explain.
• Beastiary by Donika Kelly
  • gorgeous. Saw myself in the stanzas. Cannot recommend enough. My copy is quite dog eared from how many I loved.
• You Just Need to Lose Weight
  • love it. don’t be afraid to use the word “fat” bc it’s not a bad word, it’s a descriptor. Although I still usually preface that for anyone, especially non-fat people when talking about fat friends of mine.
• The Gospel of Luke, Contemporary English Version
  • is more “Gentile-friendly” because it takes more time to explain Jewish customs from Jesus’ times.
• The United States of Cryptids
  • love studying Cryptids, yet there were even some stories in here that I could not listen to while it was dark outside!
• How to Keep House While Drowning
  • pretty good, mostly liked it’s definition of rest
• The Declassification Engine
  • yes the government is keeping secrets from you. they are both worse and better than you think they are.
• The Gospel of Thomas: New Perspectives on Jesus’ Message by Elaine Pagels
  • short lecture, gave me a little more context than her previous book Beyond Belief which was also supposed to be about the Gospel of Thomas

Quotes Quail

I’m always listening 😈 y’all are funny

• “My emotional support water bottle” – my friend about carrying an open plastic water bottle for half a party because she was so high off half an edible and didn’t throw it out until she got home after holding it through an entire Uber ride
• “You are VERY talented” – my brother about my driving, before saying he wouldn’t buy a used car for me because I drive them hard
• “It takes courage to be happy” – Tina Fay’s character in the movie Maggie Moore (2023). It is not as much a comedy as you might think.
• “We are arguing about a perceived invasion of our self-worth” – a youtube comment (@44jimcordell31) about how arguing with his partner is never about the thing they’re supposedly arguing about
• “Ha ha! Waffél!” – my beloved, in a French accent about how Le Pain should get an air fryer (their beloved)
• “City of Mexico, versus Oaxaca” – the drink server at our local diner, explaining to Holland, the difference between Mexico City and Oaxaca
• Thank you daddy Holland

• The Artist’s Role

• “Civilizations fall because they get so prosperous they get complacent” – Licensed Therapist™️ Jonathan Decker on Cinema Therapy, WALL-E Episode at 13:00 min 
• “This balance between accepting one another and growing for one another. And that balance looks different for everyone, but we have to find it. And if it’s all growth and change, then there’s no safety or belonging.” – Licensed Therapist™️ Jonathan Decker on Cinema Therapy, Shrek and Fiona Episode at 9:16 min
• Holland, about me:

• “After many years of marriage, I’ve decided that my wife and I are never arguing about what we’re arguing about. We are arguing about a perceived invasion of our self-worth.” – @44jimcordell31 YouTube comment
• “Who you calling IKEA? I’m a Walmart” – barista at a Starbucks, to no one in particular
• “In DF, you keep your hands in your pocket with your wallet and soon you’ll say ‘where’d my wallet go?’ In Oaxaca, you drop your wallet three weeks later you’ll still find it. There will be no money but you still found your wallet” – server at our local diner
• “I must not like having peace in my life” – a friend about all the astrological fire sign people in their life
• “You guys have studied the proper words I’m just a citizen of this universe” – guy ordering at a coffee shop when the baristas are trying to ask him how he likes his coffee
• “I hope this email finds you before I do” – my cousin. It’s not a threat it’s a promise.
• “It’s been perfect since the beginning and I should know bc I UNLOCKED IT” – Me about my nephew’s pout; he was in my arms and facing me the first time he pouted. It’s the most cartoonishly perfect pout you’ll ever see in your life.
• “You’re losing me to a life of my own” – Priscilla (2023)

(O)ppossum Playlists of the Quarter

Here, we scream. And, “apparently,” I listen to my short playlists for a “wildly long time”

• Tongues and Teeth
• Little Frog In A Rocking Chair Listening To LoFi Beats On Their Porch While It’s Raining
• Toxic Femininity
• Supermodel
• You Slowly Realize You Weren’t Meant To Save The World, You Were Meant To Destroy It
  • perfect for our villain era

Cuervos Chismoses

chisme = gossip

”e” ending instead of “o/a” in Spanish for more gender inclusion 

• ¡Lala’s Quinceañera!
• I let out THE WITCHYEST CACKLE EVER WHEN I SAW LALA IN HER BOW

• Speech to text technology is finally good enough for me to trust it, and or I finally learned how to use it correctly
• Steal Starbucks Wi-Fi. They can’t stop you.
• Y’all:

• I MADE A ~WEBSITE~ AND WORKING ON A LOT ELSE AROUND IT PLZ CLICK AROUND (which you might be finding yourself on now…)
  • I especially worked hard on photo albums about toxic femininity, art, and anti-capitalism, so I would highly appreciate it if you checked those out 💜

The Void Shouts Back

If you would like to respond but don’t know what to say, answer the question below. If you don’t want to, just respond with keysmashing or send me a hug with your thoughts. If you don’t want to do that either, that’s okay too.

• I’ve been trying to tell my clients that everyone is weird. How are you weird? And/or what aspects of you do you wish society accepted more?

Thank you for reading! Here’s to a new year of hopefully surviving! If you want to stay entertained, please check out MY NEW XISMOSA XIT WEBSITE!!!!!! If you want some cheap retail therapy to go along with it, please check out my stickers.

Abrazos and/or high fives,

Ariana