My Hero: Hari Nef

My Hero is going to be a segment where I talk about people who are very important to me, whether they be celebrities, people I know, or characters. 

I first saw Hari Nef in the video for He, She, Me. I didn’t know her name at the time, I didn’t know a thing about her, and I never could have even imagined how important she would become to me.

 

Hari Nef is a 23 year old woman raised in Massachusetts, who now lives in NYC. She is an actress, a model, and a writer. Hari is probably best known for her role in the second season of Transparent as Gettel, a trans woman living in Nazi Germany.

These past few months Hari has been increasingly important to me, as I’ve been acting on the feelings I’ve had about my own gender. Being someone who came out as a gay male a few years ago, and having been part of that community since, it’s been almost impossible to go without exploring my own gender at some point. Through all of this I’ve looked to her as someone who I can relate to in this way, someone who I can understand, and through that understanding maybe begin to understand myself.

I’m not sure why Hari’s own experience resonates with me so strongly, but she’s someone I highly look up to, and someone I aspire to be like in many ways. I think her work as an actress is brilliant and touching. I think her writing is intelligent and well thought out. But I respect her most as a woman, who stands her ground and demands to be seen.

 

Check out Hari’s twitter, instagram, and tumblr. Hopefully you’ll love her just as much as I do.

Music Monday: Essential Songs

Music Monday is going to be a segment where I share a little playlist and maybe talk about music.

Hey! So to start things off, I made a mix of some songs that are really really important to me. Like, these are songs I will never get tired of, and these are songs that almost define who I am as a person. Enjoy!

Month in Review: January 2016

2016 still sounds like a year far in the future. Even thirty-one days in, it still feels like I’m living in 2014 or something. Time is outrunning me by a long shot, and it’s actually pretty scary!
But even still, a whole lot has happened in 2016. I know it’s so cheesy to say “new year, new me”, but that’s honestly how I feel! So far this year I feel like the reality I’ve built around myself and my self-image are changing rapidly. My goals, my emotions and everything are constantly changing, and I’m already light-years away from where I was at the end of last year.

Something that’s definitely different is my relationship with my family. On my side, I haven’t felt particularly close to my parents since I came out to them as gay. I really closed off after that, and there hasn’t been a whole lot of communication between us ever since. But so far this year, I’ve learned how to spend quality time with my mother, and I’ve started  to not butt heads with my father as much (I think!)

All this month I’ve been binge watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians on Hulu, and it’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Starting with Episode one, and watching even the spin-offs (such as Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami) all in chronological order has seriously made me feel like a long-lost Kardashian sibling. So far I’m already at the end of Season 6, where Kim has her “Fairytale Wedding.”

Plus, this month I was really moved by a celebrity death for the first time ever. David Bowie passed, and right before he died he left us with a beautiful album, Blackstar. It’s definitely one of my favorite albums of January, and probably going to be one of my favorites of the year.

In more music news, both the bands Hinds and Wet released their respective debut albums! I’ve been following Hinds since their early singles from 2014, and I only just discovered Wet when they dropped their album last week. They’re both really great and worth checking out!

So, to sum things up,

My Favorite Albums of the Month, In Order:

1. David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar
2. Wet’s debut album, Don’t You
3. Chairlift‘s amazing indie pop album, Moth
4. Hinds’ debut album, Leave Me Alone

 

My Favorite Song this Month:

This one was so easy. Chairlift’s AWESOME disco-inspired track, Show U Off is definitely a song I will be listening to well into 2017 and beyond. I can’t sit still whenever I hear it!

 

and finally,
My Favorite Part of January:

My favorite part of this month was definitely growing closer to my mom, and seeing my younger brother start to really mature! It’s really great growing closer as a family, especially when I haven’t felt close to them for almost four years now.

(P.S. I totally stole the little January header from Rookie! I’m trying to give credit where it’s due here!)

 

A Start

Hello and welcome! I’ve been really inspired by Chris’ blog, so I thought I’d start my own! I’m probably gonna just talk about my interests, my friends, and myself. I’ll start posting for real tomorrow, so just consider this a test post. Thanks for checking it out, and I hope you keep checking in every once and awhile!