#ereborne

Reading: Just finished up Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage, which is a Ms. Marple novel, and which I’ve had fun with. Along with Platform Decay, though it’s on audiobook so I am going to struggle given how I have not read it yet.

It is May, which means I will be rereading Night Watch.

The fanfic reading will continue. I did come across two Leverage/Protector of the Small fics for an exchange that I have yet to read.

I have Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive by Eliot Stein on hold for book club reasons – but it’s also an audiobook. The struggle is real. At least Project Hail Mary has a text copy available on Libby! (Also on hold, I want to see how it differs from the movie since it had been on my interested to read list from last year now.)

Last TV series: It’s The Mysterious Lotus Casebook. It will continue to be MLC for a good long while, I think. It’s a rewatch, sure. But watching new things isn’t something that happens a lot anymore. (I should re-start the Elementary rewatch sometime in future since I do have it on DVD.) For online content, Drawtectives is always fun.

Last movie: Project Hail Mary. In which I asked how much money was paid for use of Beatles music, and my sibling wondered about how much Leica paid to have their products featured so much. Gorgeous visuals – the dark depths of space really lends itself to glowing lights. Plus visualizing how a primarily audio perceiving species would come across to a visually perceiving species must have been fun.

Last song: Had I gotten to this earlier, it would’ve been one of the tracks on the Sunless Skies album. Currently, it’s Elysium by Eta Persei as it was the weather on the newest Nightvale episode. Or Disparition, I suppose, who normally composes all their background music. It was very Noir of them.

I almost got to talk about Josh Groban’s Cinematic album, which is growing on me. The initial comparison of some songs did make me squint at his musical choices. It also seems like his onstage period has greatly influence his singing style? Though given his last album I know I listened to was Illuminations, there is a potential gap in my knowledge.

Coffee or tea: Both! Tea when I have the time, but coffee generally for work mornings. I decided to try something new this year, and signed on for a year-long commitment to a subscription box from a local tea maker. It’s been fun to expand my tea collection, but I also now know factually I cannot drink as much tea as I currently get.

Let’s be honest, my coffee is instant. Though I did recently go to a local bird event (May 9 was the spring World Migratory Bird Day) and they were promoting a Smithsonian bird friendly coffee? It was very black, though I don’t think it was too acidic. The coffee may literally be called Bird Friendly coffee.

Working on: I have two foddart pieces that have been languishing since last September. I will get them done. A crochet piece that is meant to be an afaghan – but with the amount of colour changes means I have a lot of loose tails to weave in – I am not letting myself progress too far without working in the ends, which is a stage I am currently at. Work has an upcoming platform change, which will be Fun as we will need to make sure information is being processed correctly, and that results have ported over. Validation of systems will hopefully be fast, and not full of unexpected bugs.

2: What movie have you watched most recently? What did you think of it?

Oh man okay I gotta shake up the brain basket a bit. we've (my gf and I) been on a movie kick again and if I remember right the most recent one was SUMMER WARS! Which, honestly, ruled - I'm a big sci-fi nut and I loved the take on "what if virtual reality was entwined with regular reality, and what happens when something fucks that up" that is present there. Also the animation and backgrounds are goooorgeous.

(Actually wait I'm thinking about it and I think we watched Porco Rosso last weekend so THAT'S the most recent movie, which I have seen before, but I still enjoyed it a lot - the same applies to the bgs being gorgeous!)

11: what kind of music is stuck in your head a lot lately?

8. What series has most pleased you?

Ooooh okay so it turns out I'm more of a standalone book person, but here's a few of the limited series I've read that I enjoyed for different reasons:

American Assassin by Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills.

I'll admit that I started the books because Dylan O'Brien signed on to do the movie based on the origin story of Mitch Rapp, a guy who loses his girlfriend in the Lockerbie crash and dedicates his life to avenging her death and eventually finds his way into becoming an assassin for the CIA. The originating author, Vince Flynn, died after the 13th book, and while I have love for the first half of the series, I actually like the books better after Kyle Mills took up the mantle. They're snappier, the writing is tighter, and they're action packed. Who doesn't like a story about a guy saving the day? And the more recent books are drawing from current events, which is both interesting and a little terrifying. Are they the greatest books I've ever read? No. Are they fun? Absolutely.

Rizzoli & Isles by Tess Gerritsen.

I love murder mysteries, I love smart women, I love stories centered around smart women. I was actually introduced to this by the TV series, and after I started reading them I was delighted to learn that the books and the series only have the main characters in common. The books are much darker, the relationship dynamics are different, and the medical scenes with Dr. Isles are fantastic because the author was once a practicing physician. I love this series and I can't wait for the next book.

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

This was a thing I didn't know I needed. I hadn't realized that my reading books with fat female rep was really limited until I dove into it, and by the end I cried. This book touched on a lot of things that I've thought about myself and navigating the world as a fat person who's never felt desired and I wasn't really prepared for that coming from a romance novel based around a girl in fandom. There's also a good amount of commentary on complicated relationships with parents and living up to unattainable expectations. I'll fully admit that sometimes these characters are kind of childish, but I let the fact that this was set in the world I've loved for so long overshadow that. Unlike the other two here, I believe this series is complete, so once I read Shipwrecked this one will be put to bed. Will I read more Olivia Dade? Definitely.

ahhh thanks for sending me this,, i had no idea. yes, I adore highlander! (though admittedly my love is mostly for the television show rather than the movies). I'm...intrigued by the casting decision haha. I try not judge before I see it because I find that usually what I anticipate and how I end up reacting are wildly different.

Would you mind sharing the potato show, though?

it’s called Grow Cook Eat and is available for free* on Amazon if you have Prime

it is adorable and very Irish. they go on a trip to a composting facility and visit a community garden. one of the leads complains vociferously about the popularity of sweet potatoes. at one point the potatoes they planted get blight and they look very seriously at the camera and say, “you know, like in the Famine” and then move on. the cook they hired is a Kiwi who makes a Norwegian potato dish. there is a severe overuse of the word “spud”.

(I crept back into the Reverb+ gdoc and read about Shay again just before 4am)

i’m shocked. really. 

Heyyy congratulations!!!!!! Vegan pie crusts can be tricky, I'm so happy for you!!