Valarie Smith
@valarie.bsky.social
Welcome, book lovers! 💙📚
Probably rereading Woolf’s The Waves or listening to the Backlisted podcast. Also a fan of Sam Shepard, Kerouac, Dickens, Steinbeck, Willy Vlautin, Donna Tartt, film noir, Twin Peaks, Elliott Smith, Grimm & folklore. Portland, OR
Probably rereading Woolf’s The Waves or listening to the Backlisted podcast. Also a fan of Sam Shepard, Kerouac, Dickens, Steinbeck, Willy Vlautin, Donna Tartt, film noir, Twin Peaks, Elliott Smith, Grimm & folklore. Portland, OR
Excited to welcome this into my extensive Twin Peaks/Lynch collection. Thanks @thetaooftwinpeaks.bsky.social!
November 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Excited to welcome this into my extensive Twin Peaks/Lynch collection. Thanks @thetaooftwinpeaks.bsky.social!
Damn it, where’s the new Donna Tartt?
a judge is sitting at a desk in front of an american flag and pointing .
Alt: a judge is sitting at a desk in front of an american flag and impatiently slapping her desk and pointing at her wrist to indicate time is being wasted.
media.tenor.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Damn it, where’s the new Donna Tartt?
Reposted by Valarie Smith
Li Bai, tr. Arthur Cooper
November 22, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Li Bai, tr. Arthur Cooper
MTG is resigning and Trump is crushing on Mamdani and I don’t really understand anything that’s happened today.
November 22, 2025 at 2:02 AM
MTG is resigning and Trump is crushing on Mamdani and I don’t really understand anything that’s happened today.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
All is never quite well when Grace Zabriskie turns up in a movie, but the nature of the unease is deliciously unpredictable. Those eyes have seen everything, believe in nothing, have cast a thousand spells.
“Remember the number—10.” - Juana
#WildAtHeart
#WildAtHeart
November 20, 2025 at 9:17 PM
All is never quite well when Grace Zabriskie turns up in a movie, but the nature of the unease is deliciously unpredictable. Those eyes have seen everything, believe in nothing, have cast a thousand spells.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
Yes Mamdani is charming but the reason someone like Trump can walk away feeling good about him after a conversation is because you can tell his politics is rooted in a deep love for the people and when communicated effectively, that’s disarming even for those who disagree. Sincerity is irreplaceable
November 21, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Yes Mamdani is charming but the reason someone like Trump can walk away feeling good about him after a conversation is because you can tell his politics is rooted in a deep love for the people and when communicated effectively, that’s disarming even for those who disagree. Sincerity is irreplaceable
Reposted by Valarie Smith
Alex Cox, adapting Gogol as a Spaghetti Western, with himself playing the guy buying the souls? Sure, why not! Bring it on!
November 21, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Alex Cox, adapting Gogol as a Spaghetti Western, with himself playing the guy buying the souls? Sure, why not! Bring it on!
Reposted by Valarie Smith
Everyone - EVERYONE - should see this movie. Even if you don't like noir, even if you don't like classic movies, even if you don't want to see something made 75 years ago, GUN CRAZY is a wild, impossible masterpiece of the crime genre. It's suspenseful, thrilling, sad, dramatic, and hot as fuck.
November 21, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Everyone - EVERYONE - should see this movie. Even if you don't like noir, even if you don't like classic movies, even if you don't want to see something made 75 years ago, GUN CRAZY is a wild, impossible masterpiece of the crime genre. It's suspenseful, thrilling, sad, dramatic, and hot as fuck.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
LMH doing fantastic work there 😆
I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
November 21, 2025 at 6:28 PM
LMH doing fantastic work there 😆
Swiss writer Isabelle Eberhardt moved to Algeria in 1897, when she was 20. She dressed exclusively as a man, converted to Islam, survived an assassination attempt and died in a flash flood in the Sahara when she was just 27.
Her short book The Oblivion Seekers, trans by Paul Bowles, is fantastic.
Her short book The Oblivion Seekers, trans by Paul Bowles, is fantastic.
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Swiss writer Isabelle Eberhardt moved to Algeria in 1897, when she was 20. She dressed exclusively as a man, converted to Islam, survived an assassination attempt and died in a flash flood in the Sahara when she was just 27.
Her short book The Oblivion Seekers, trans by Paul Bowles, is fantastic.
Her short book The Oblivion Seekers, trans by Paul Bowles, is fantastic.
Beat poet Lew Welch, who once drove cross country with Kerouac, was Huey Lewis' stepdad.
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Beat poet Lew Welch, who once drove cross country with Kerouac, was Huey Lewis' stepdad.
What I dream of all summer long
November 21, 2025 at 4:26 AM
What I dream of all summer long
Reposted by Valarie Smith
The 1803 Fund was born of the George Floyd protests. When it feels like we're going backwards and you want to despair, remember that great things are still growing out of that moment. That's why conservatives are working so hard - still! - to shut it down. Feeling grateful for everyone who persists.
Huge news. It's so great how Albina Vision and the 1803 Fund are transforming and re-birthing what was once and may again be the hear of Portland's Black community. www.oregonlive.com/realestate/2...
1803 Fund acquires Portland grain silos in $70 million investment for Black community
The Phil Knight-backed organization expects to generate hundreds of jobs and nearly $700 million in economic impact through redevelopment of historic Albina properties.
www.oregonlive.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:58 PM
The 1803 Fund was born of the George Floyd protests. When it feels like we're going backwards and you want to despair, remember that great things are still growing out of that moment. That's why conservatives are working so hard - still! - to shut it down. Feeling grateful for everyone who persists.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
I have always imagined this #1920s Callot Soeurs gown as some beautiful ornament or a piece of stained glass, the jewelled colours framed in gold feel like a precious stone rather than a woven garment @drexeluniversity.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡
November 20, 2025 at 10:37 PM
I have always imagined this #1920s Callot Soeurs gown as some beautiful ornament or a piece of stained glass, the jewelled colours framed in gold feel like a precious stone rather than a woven garment @drexeluniversity.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡
Reposted by Valarie Smith
Just took fresh photos of this awfully attractive Steller's jay for #ThursJay and am very excited they aren't through terrible window glass for once.
📷🌿🪶
📷🌿🪶
November 20, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Just took fresh photos of this awfully attractive Steller's jay for #ThursJay and am very excited they aren't through terrible window glass for once.
📷🌿🪶
📷🌿🪶
All is never quite well when Grace Zabriskie turns up in a movie, but the nature of the unease is deliciously unpredictable. Those eyes have seen everything, believe in nothing, have cast a thousand spells.
“Remember the number—10.” - Juana
#WildAtHeart
#WildAtHeart
November 20, 2025 at 9:17 PM
All is never quite well when Grace Zabriskie turns up in a movie, but the nature of the unease is deliciously unpredictable. Those eyes have seen everything, believe in nothing, have cast a thousand spells.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
here’s another by Silvia Dobson. think a lot of this poetry is pretty fine. someone could do worse than finding out who is the executor of these writers’ estates (i know at least Oswell must have someone, he’s had stories reprinted recently) and republishing some of their poetry.
November 20, 2025 at 5:38 PM
here’s another by Silvia Dobson. think a lot of this poetry is pretty fine. someone could do worse than finding out who is the executor of these writers’ estates (i know at least Oswell must have someone, he’s had stories reprinted recently) and republishing some of their poetry.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
WONG KAR WAI'S CINEMA ✨Coming to Criterion channel in December!
November 18, 2025 at 7:43 PM
WONG KAR WAI'S CINEMA ✨Coming to Criterion channel in December!
Brilliant!
“There’s a sign-on bonus of 50 grand/ They’re in need of you needing to feel like a man/ Join ICE.”
“There’s a sign-on bonus of 50 grand/ They’re in need of you needing to feel like a man/ Join ICE.”
November 20, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Brilliant!
“There’s a sign-on bonus of 50 grand/ They’re in need of you needing to feel like a man/ Join ICE.”
“There’s a sign-on bonus of 50 grand/ They’re in need of you needing to feel like a man/ Join ICE.”
I’m not saying I married @brianlibby.bsky.social for his homemade pesto sauce, but I’m not *not* saying that.
November 20, 2025 at 2:57 AM
I’m not saying I married @brianlibby.bsky.social for his homemade pesto sauce, but I’m not *not* saying that.
Reposted by Valarie Smith
By the time James Hamilton Hay painted 'The Falling Star,' (1909) many European artists had popularised the idea a painting could function as a visual poem, something to be felt rather than read literally - a falling star was a common device in Victorian and Edwardian art.
November 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
By the time James Hamilton Hay painted 'The Falling Star,' (1909) many European artists had popularised the idea a painting could function as a visual poem, something to be felt rather than read literally - a falling star was a common device in Victorian and Edwardian art.
It’s so heartening to see Portland’s stunning new libraries bringing our community values to the fore. This one has a recording studio available!
Gresham's new East County Library is incredible! It's no branch library, but a flagship like Central Library downtown. It's credited to Portland's Holst Architecture, but the design came equally (or more) from Ghanaian-Brit starchitect David Adjaye (who was dropped before construction). WOW.
November 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
It’s so heartening to see Portland’s stunning new libraries bringing our community values to the fore. This one has a recording studio available!
Reposted by Valarie Smith
When I arrive at the party
November 19, 2025 at 5:53 AM
When I arrive at the party
These journals of Dorothy Wordsworth’s start in 1800, when she’s 29. She spends much time gardening, cooking, baking and doing laundry. She also walks great distances, day and night, around the Lake District with her brother William, Coleridge and other neighbors, who also often come to tea. 🧵
November 19, 2025 at 4:46 AM
These journals of Dorothy Wordsworth’s start in 1800, when she’s 29. She spends much time gardening, cooking, baking and doing laundry. She also walks great distances, day and night, around the Lake District with her brother William, Coleridge and other neighbors, who also often come to tea. 🧵