I had notions of doing something more intellectual with this post but life is what it is and as such I have delayed my effortpost about The Indigenously Produced Unmagnified Gunsights of Cuba once again. I’m going to talk about music again this time.
Oceanlab was a side project of Above & Beyond and vocalist Justine Suissa, who was also the primary songwriter. Sirens of the Sea was their sole album and it is very, very important to me.
Ok so it’s EDM okay? To be precise it’s some particular style of vocal trance but its singer-songwriter vocal trance. Above & Beyond does this really cool thing where they tend to actually collaborate with their vocalists by getting them involved with the creative process, writing lyrics, production and all that. Now, the lyrics aren’t particularly complex and they won’t impress any pretentious nerds but they resonate with me and that's what it's about yeah? Oh yeah and they do acoustic versions sometimes???? which is wild??
I was lucky enough to discover this group twice, the first time was on some lonely night when I was a teen. I came across Clear Blue Water (a single) on Grooveshark (rip), checked out the rest of their discography, thought it was pretty, and proceeded to forget about it for a decade and a half.
I am almost embarrassed to admit just how much Sirens of the Sea affected me when I rediscovered it in the autumn of ‘23. It was like a hug, a cup of coffee, and a sit-down with the Jungian archetype of the kind of woman I admired the most and wanted so dearly to become. The kind of woman who carried empathy, knew failure, was capable of struggle, yet always embraced the love and joy of life. I can’t really articulate how, but this album helped me lay down my grieving for the years I spent otherwise.
My favorite track is “On a Good Day”, and I consider it to be the theme song of my post-transition life. I just cried listening to it, like actually right now, as I write this I still got a little bit of tears drying on my cheek. “If I Could Fly” is a total bop and they did something to the rhythms towards the end of that one and it does really good shit to my brain. “Miracle” is about climate change, it slaughters me HARD because it came out over two decades ago and nothing has changed.
Under this spoiler there are the lyrics of “On a Good Day” because I thought I should include them.
a little bit lost and
a little bit lonely
little bit cold here
a little bit of fear
but I hold on and I feel strong
and I know that I can
I'm getting used to it
lit the fuse to it
like to know who I am
I've been talking to myself forever
and how I wish I knew me better
still sitting on a shelf and never
never seen the sun shine brighter
and it feels like me on a good day
I'm a little bit hemmed in
a little bit isolated
a little bit hopeful
a little bit calm
but I hold on and I feel strong
and I know that I can
I'm getting used to it
lit the fuse to it
like to know who I am
I've been talking to myself forever,
and how I wish I knew me better,
still sitting on a shelf and never
never seen the sun shine brighter
and it feels like me
on a good day
This is the end of this post. Take care of yourselves. Tomorrow needs you, as does the next day, and every day after.
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Is there like a super simple haircare/styling for dummies I can do to make my hair look better that doesn’t require a lot of products tools or steps?
I’ve been grabbing a handful while it’s wet, scrunching it up to my scalp, repeat as desired, and when it drys I get really nice waves/curls. So nice that I think a queer coworker clocked me despite doing nothing but hair and skincare so far.
That plus some expensive conditioner I got as a gift and I’m set
Do you know your hairtype? If its straight hair idk anything. But if its wavy or curly, id recommend a good curly friendly conditioner (i use ouidad conditioner), and a hair oil. For the oil, if your hair is thicker or more bouncy/bouyant you can go for a heavier or normal one, if your hair is lighter go for a lightweight one (i like verb ghost oil).
This next bit will sound like a lot but it goes very fast!
When showering, shower with your head as upside down as you can get it. I just lean forward as far as i can. Wet your hair upside down, then scrunch in the conditioner. Then comb it up/forward (away from your head) with a wide tooth comb. This distributes the conditioner and gets out dead hairs and tangles, plus it moves the hair to be standing upwards relative to your head, giving more volume on the top of your head. Once youve combed, scrunch your hair up on top of your head and wash your body so the conditioner has time to sit. Then rinse your hair upside down again while scrunching water up into it. Dont flip your hair back after this, but keep it down and turn off the water. Scrunch your hair again to get most of the water out. Then put hair oil in your hands and scrunch it into your hair, all while its upside down or hanging forward. You might have to use more hair oil than you think, the one i use says two pumps, but i use 10-20 lol. Now grab a clean long sleeved t-shirt and place the neck part at your forhead. Let your hair fall forward into the towel, and fold it back up over your head, keeping the hair on top of your head. Wrap the arms around and tie them. Let that sit for 20-40 minutes, then undo and let air dry.