Ancient Grains Archive

This Guy On An Old Harry Potter Forum Says Dumbledore Is A Time-Traveling Ron Weasley And I Want To Hear Him Out

I do not remember offhand what I was doing for the entirety of 2004; playing a bit of indifferent tennis on the William Fremd frosh/soph high school team, to be sure; carefully nursing a hallway crush that necessitated careful class-navigation strategizing; rollerblading to Subway with my friend Emily a lot, because we ...Read More

“Are You There God? It’s Me, MacGyver.”

The dawn stirred and so did MacGyver. His mullet gleamed in the soft light of dawn and he knew it.

“They say the morning is for birds and worms,” he said out loud, feeling for his trusty paperclip.

The cold winter air made his words look serious, like little clouds of gravitas. ...Read More

What Would Lorelai Gilmore Do?

[Please note that this essay consciously ignores certain events that transpired in season 7 because...ugh.]

When I was 15, I thought Lorelai Gilmore was perfect.

Not actually perfect, I wasn't so naive that I couldn't see her flaws, but she was my ideal, the person I most wanted to ...Read More

The Sliding Scale of Wolf Sentience and Morality in Disney Films

Previously: The Rise and Fall of Fox Civilization in Disney Films Generally it is possible to establish a sort of makeshift sliding scale of animal morality and sentience in most Disney films by sorting them into a carniverous/anthropomorphic matrix: animals that eat other animals are likeliest (though not always) to be villains, ...Read More

“I Love Your Hair!”: On Being a Model Scout

When I was 23, I moved to Portland, Oregon and started a job as an independent model scout for a local agency. When I first heard about the job it seemed perfect. It was glamorous, unusual, freelance, and I have to admit that I was attracted to the prospect of being able ...Read More

Watching Deadwood With My Dad

Deadwood saved my relationship with my dad. Then he died. Like so many of us in the “shows featuring Timothy Olyphant as an angry person with hats and really low-riding jeans” demographic, I love Deadwood. I love its harsh and beautiful language, its complicated female characters, its gut-punching violence, and its Olyphant. ...Read More

Today Is Our Birthday

Mallory: Today is our six-month birthday. The months are "rattling inside us like pennies in a tin Band-Aid box." Where has the time gone? (Into the past, presumably). Nicole, what were you doing last January 1st? Nicole: Before we go ANY further, I want to make it clear that I will be truly celebrating ...Read More

The Final New Year’s Resolutions of Nacho the Miniature Horse

Nacho, a beloved miniature horse, was so small he was able to walk underneath your table. This was almost unbearably cute. People fainted from the cuteness. They came from all around the world to faint from the cuteness. Sadly, Nacho was attacked, under cover of a ...Read More