Fountain pen
So far so good, I guess? It has a weird brown tint in person, but still pretty nice. (And like. Is it just me, or do all low-end pens look pretty bad? And I don't mean just material, I mean the design... either I'm a snob or they're trying to get people to get the pricier models.)
I got the EF nib and it writes almost as fine as my preferred kind of ballpoint pens, so I'm pretty happy with that. We'll see how I like to write with it longer text.
Fountain pen
My #fountainpen arrived. 🤔
Not the Kaweco I mentioned before though... I spent so long agonizing over the choice, and then it turns out that not only is it out of stock, but the shop's supplier for the brand is going out of business 🤣
So I bought the Lamy Safari because fuck it, it looked cool. 🤷
writing (is the Thing Not Happening Today, apparently)
I'm at the point when I need to let go of the outline and actually put words after each other into coherent sentences, and I'm not having a great time fighting the fear.
Oh well. There's still tomorrow. And the day after.
writing (is the Thing Not Happening Today, apparently)
"I've done all this plotting, I really want to get some words written today!"
*procrastinates*
*procrastinates*
*does chores*
*procrastinates*
"Ugh, I'm opening the document, I WILL write... wait. No. Noooo."
*spends the evening fixing a cascade of errors caused by a world-building error*
Music, sea shanties minutia
Status: mildly obsessed with a NatGeo album of sea shanties released in 1973 that contains my favorite rendition of "Bonny Ship the Diamond".
Someone uploaded a DIY rip of it on YouTube, and that's IT, the recording doesn't EXIST anywhere else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMaUzlVIZMk&list=PLc9pyF4axhf6RVzBuZv2YUxiKBF-FhOMf&index=12
(Like. If I were to recommend a version to someone else, I'd say The Longest Johns or Nelson's Shanty men are better. But this one just has SOMETHING.)
book recs, Harrowhark the Ninth (hopefully non-spoilery)
I just finished "Harrowhark the Ninth"! I liked it as much as "Gideon the Ninth", although maybe in a different way - in the first book I loved Gideon's narration and got invested in the characters; in the second book I went all in on the mystery (what the FUCK) and enjoyed Muir's writing skills.
Actually: "Harrowhark the Ninth" reminds me of Holdstock, just less exhaustingly depressing.
Reading
Reading
Book 9:
[censored]
Dammit, if I named this book I would pretty much doxx myself 🤣 It's about the modern architectural history of my city.
I thought I would read it cover to cover, but you know what, no. That's dumb. This ought to be a browsing book. Good job me, one TBR shelf book down!
Reading
Book 8:
Atlantic: A Vast Ocean of a Million Stories
The "bookmark at the start" book, but I really wanted to give it those 15 minutes. It's not a "proper" non-fiction, rather the kind of story someone tells about something they love. I got 10 pages in and I'm already hooked.
Reading
Book 7:
Breakfast at Sotheby's. An A-Z of the Art World. (Philip Hook)
Not what I expected from the blurb, so it's a bit of a struggle. Could be named What I Think About Art, and I'm not vibing with the author, as the Youths say.
It does have some juicy tidbits between all those Opinions, though.
Reading
Book 6:
[Weather Encyclopedia: How to Understand the Weather and Meteorologic Predictions (Günther D. Roth)] - Czech translation from German (English title translation mine)
What it says on the tin. Picked it up because I think weather is neat, and wouldn't it be cool if I could predict it a bit from observation?
Yes, it would. If only I could goddamn remember a single thing I read about it. It haven't put me off trying yet, though. Maybe if I finish this one...
Reading
Book 5:
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) - Czech translation
Past Me got interested in stoicism but the modern approach weirded me out. I thought primary text would be the thing.
It's... hm. Not the prescriptivist "orthopraxy" of the modern books, so that's good. I like how it makes me think, whether I agree on a point or not.
It's also a goddamn brick. The letter format isn't good for continuous reading, either. I'm never gonna finish this am I. 😬
Reading
Book 4:
[Serialized Worlds: Analysis of the Possibilities in Serialized Narration (Radomír D. Kokeš)] - book is in Czech, title translation mine
This is an academic publication. At least it READS like one. Interesting ideas and I'm sure there are people in fandom who would love this, but it's so chock-full of academese that it sucks all my enthusiasm right out.
I wish it was in English so I could rec it to someone more interested than me, and then forget it exists.
Reading
Book 3:
The Silmarillion (J. R. R. Tolkien)
Yes, still, ugh. Fingon rescued Maedhros (aww) and uhh people did things?
SO MANY NAMES. Alas, my family is tiny and my friend groups were too, so I never learned how to keep track of people's names in a convoluted story about grand-aunt Hilda's son's second bypass or whatever. I feel like I need a stalker map to get through this. 😂
Reading
Book 2:
How to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy and Sonorous Guide to Verse (Thomas C. Foster)
I'm cheating! I already read this book, but I'm going over it again and making notes.
It's such a good book. I wish I could download it into my brain. It rekindled my interest in poetry, but I feel I need to make sure the advice stuck, hence the notes. (My brain is a sieve, sadly.)
Reading
Anyway. Book 1:
The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Judaism
It's an anthology of primary texts with historical and cultural context. Other volumes cover Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity and Islam.
HIGHLY recommended. If not for the commentary, then as an amazing source of primary texts. I bet the other volumes are just as good.
I got stuck in the intro essays - they're great, but my attention span isn't. 😅
Covid-19 (local, very negative)
We have a 7-day average of 1,618 new cases per million people because people in this fucking country apparently want to die 🙃🙃🙃
(highest number in the whole world, btw)
And while this is happening, everyone is STILL whinging about lockdown and having to wear masks. What will it take people, having someone famous die of it or what? FFS.
she/her, European, tech person, artsy, uncool.
I use Masto because I have too short attention span for regular blogging.
(Art in avatar & header is mine.)