Words are inadequate

I am not sure who it was who got me started on The Strange Case of the Starship Iris ... ah, of course, it was skygiants, with this review. Which review I can enthusiastically second all of except that my personal favourite character is not the laid-back trans linguist but the exceedingly uptight and stressed-out sharpshooter who doesn't show up until fairly late. It is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT that she sounds a lot like Peridot from Steven Universe, which makes me think of Sarah.

Anyway, while I adored the framing device and the way it slowly becomes central to the plot of season 1, and am enjoying S2 while not feeling quite as compelled about it (good thing too, since I am now almost caught up and the season's not over), I am so far most entranced by episode 2.05.25, "Cultural Enrichment," a filler ep devoted to four of the cast watching/rewatching an episode of their favourite alien soap opera, and frequently pausing to discuss translation issues and weird cultural things. It's just fun, is all. Turns out to be a way I enjoy watching/analysing things, and it's neat to see other people doing that too.

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In other news, I got my second shot on Saturday. This one was about as bad as a flu shot, maybe worse: I spent much of Sunday napping or dozing because doing anything at all was Just Too Much. But at least that's done, and maybe the Gathering etc will happen after all.

At this point I feel like I've plateaued, hard, on viola. It's possible that a round of actual lessons would help but I also may just be at the limit of my ability. Which is okay; I can keep up well enough with the fiddle group, and generally not embarrass myself too badly when other people are listening. But it does mean that I might be better served looking in another direction, musically.

Early last month I sold my bass and giant amp, so at least I won't have to move them again. Then I spent a week or two regretting that and bought a different bass when I was down in Vancouver a couple weekends ago. It's a 'short-scale,' which means it's closer to normal-human scale and I don't have to distort my left hand quite so far to play it, and it feels like my hand fits better around the neck in general. Will see whether I go anywhere with it.

Earlier today I had actual Inspiration for a story I want to write. I do not think I am at all the right person to write it but I don't think anyone else has bothered to, so maybe I will.

I dunno. May seems to have been a pretty bad month for me, for various reasons. Hoping the summer can turn that around.

"Hello, Jon."

OH HOLY FUUUUUUCK

I don't think I have ever been so ... activated ... by two words.

I am extremely impressed, on a craft level, how this show has gone seamlessly from "anthology of standalones with slight framing story" through "anthology of standalones with slight-to-moderate framing story and traces of interconnectedness through each story" to "anthology of standalones with deep mythic resonances and connections to the framing story" to "intense framing story around an anthology of nominally standalones."

And VERY interested to see how it all shakes out in the conclusion.

And also unsure whether, when I finish, I'll just start over from the beginning, or dive into Old Gods of Appalachia or some other such thing. Because I am dead certain that a relisten to the whole thing will be absolutely fascinating.

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for those of you who still haven’t listened to the Magnus Archives, one of the great things about it is that the writer really avoids using things like sexual violence and ~scary mentally ill people~ and awful racist tropes as fuel for horror, and instead makes very, very effective fuel for fear out of things like not being able to quit your job, one (1) very large pig, teaching an entry-level college class, 19th century british architecture, having a crush on your boss, community center art classes, having to move back in with your parents, package deliveries, men named Michael, reading, a metalhead who refuses to explain himself, going to a concert and the band is really shitty, the overall concept of doors, A Hole Full Of Meat, and poetry

--from tumblr via rydra_wong