In the first half of the first chapter of “How Lovely Are They Branches,†Carmela plans a party. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of depressionÂ
Before I get into a more heavier discussion of holidays and family, I wanted to open this with some silliness. I REALLY WOULD LOVE TO GO TO THE CROSSINGS. If any of you came to my events in Europe or the UK in 2015, you know how much fun I had getting to see shopping centers and grocery stores in other countries. Hell, that’s even the case for American. I’ve been fascinated by the things that are much more common here in the bodegas and markets of New York City when I compare them to what I’m used to in California. (The main difference: a lot of shit that comes from Central America is impossible to find. People love Goya products here a lot.) I think stores of all sorts speak towards the culture that surrounds them, and you can learn a lot but just walking the aisles and seeing what’s popular and available.
So the fact that there are amenities and factory stores in the Crossings makes me think that for all the weirdness, the Crossings are probably not all that different from what we’re used to. I bet there are a number of niche stores, a lot of stores that accommodate multiple species and cultures, and we already know the food area is huge. Oh my god, do aliens try human food? Is it gross and terrifying to them? I WANT TO KNOW.
Anyway, if you’ve been around the Mark Does Stuff community for any length of time, you’ve probably seen me write about the holidays and my complicated thoughts on them. I used to like Thansksgiving and Christmas until I was about 10, when things started to go south in my household. For many years – and in some ways, this is still the case – I could only associate holidays with those emotions of sadness and disappointment. By the time college rolled around and I was regularly spending holidays away from my family, a season depression would settle on me. That’s not to suggest that I only get depressed one time of the year. Trust me, I AM SAD ALL YEAR LONG LOL. But there’s a specific feeling I get as the world slips into cooler temperatures, as the storefronts and aisles begin to reflect the seasons, that reminds me that I didn’t get what most people do out of the holidays.
I’ve tried to reclaim these holidays in recent years, from hosting a Friendsgiving at my home (VERY SUCCESSFUL, my mac n’ cheese was the clear hit, BE JEALOUS) to doing cheesy things for Christmas, like going to Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena last year. I’m actually looking forward to my first winter here in New York City. The leaves will actually change color. There will be honest-to-god weather here. SNOW. I know everyone hates it or is annoyed by it, but I haven’t lived where it snowed in the winter since I was 8. I’ve been making tentative plans with friends for Thanksgiving, and I’m looking for it.
Sometimes, you make your own family, and you make your own happiness. I look forward to doing that this year! So that’s what I got out of the first half of this chapter. Nita has complicated feelings on Thanksgiving, and Carmela has given her something to look forward to. Maybe Carmela doesn’t realize what she’s doing, but the end result might be the same: she’s helping Nita re-define what the holiday season means to her.
Bless her for that. Well, and also bless her for the BILLION new things revealed about her thus far. She’s so wonderful. SHE HAS SO MANY PERKS OMG.
https://youtu.be/Otz5NYAlsGQ
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