What I'm Doing Wednesday
Aug. 22nd, 2018 03:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sagedoh
Missing last week's WIDW post broke a two year streak, doh!
books
The Hollow of Fear (Lady Sherlock #3) by Sherry Thomas. Gah. Um. So. This was an arc. And I hated it. I hated the structure, the pacing, the country house mystery, the inconsistent characterization, the plot within the plot, and -- most of all -- that it's an arc so I feel like I can't post a bad review until it's actually published. I mean, for all I know, some of the bits I hated will get last minute rewrites, right? Also, tbf, it could be that I am being too hard on it. OTOH, this is an object lesson in why you get a plot beta before devoting 300 pages to a story.
The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder. Snyder is a historian and puts everything Putin's been doing in historical context, which is super helpful in terms of all the nations (not states) that claim decent from the Kievan (Kyivan?) Rus 1200 years ago. I'm really not on board with the academic wankery of the preface and first chapter, but it gets *good* when he breaks down the nuts and bolts of what *really* happened and how history and national myth have been coopted for contemporary propaganda and batshit crazy policy.
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells. I enjoyed this as much as book one, and I'm really impatient for book 4 to come out so I can go back and read them all as a whole. The understated multivalent horror of the escaped-slave-in-search-of-justice-while-fleeing-trauma conundrum appeals to me so much. And also the coping via sarcasm and mainlining All The Media.
Witchmark (Witchmark, #1) by C.L. Polk. Extremely original m/m fantasy mystery set in a sort of faux Edwardian 'verse with magical powers, imperial wars, lethal PTSD, and more. An abundance of interesting and empowered female characters, and just generally a pleasant surprise at every turn. Another that I'd like to see transferred to television.
next up: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett and/or Changeling by Molly Harper.
#Resist
It's been an exciting news cycle this week, hasn't it? :DDD I look forward to justice being served all the way up the food chain. đź—˝ & âš– = ♥
life
Friday was my birthday, which was very low-key this year. Mom sent me a thing *she* would love but which I have no use for, so that's a problem I have to resolve when they're here next week. Augh. Also, the vol gig people asked me to do a crafty workshop of some kind in November, but I have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. It would probably run about an hour and need to be open to anyone with any skill level, which rules out crochet. So much augh...
environment
I read an article several weeks ago on the zero-waste movement while I was in the midst of carting loads of bags to the trash & recycling dumpsters and loading my trunk with donation items, so it hit home pretty hard. There is no actual way I could produce no garbage at all, but it did make me rethink things like using kleenex over handkerchiefs (I now have handkerchiefs! They're gray cotton and spiffy). I've also been looking into things that are biodegradable and free of plastic/synthetic coatings. Refusing plastic instead of thinking "I'll recycle it", only to discover later that the bottle might be recyclable, but its label and cap aren't and will never decompose without constant exposure to direct sunlight. Basically it's a lot of standing in the grocery store asking, "Okay, but how would my grandma have done this back in the 1940s?" I was already trying to minimize plastics, but I know I could do more. I need to get a compost bin.
dirt
First, mgmt is getting a tree trimming quote this week -- hooray! -- even if it does mean strangers stomping around in my space. I don't know how we'll deal with moving the plants out of the chainsaw danger zone, but it will be lovely to have more sunlight and less scary overhang.
Apart from that it's mixed results as usual. I accidentally overwatered my black robusta snake plant and it lost the vast majority of its roots when it tipped over while I was repotting it into a drier mix. I've got it outside now, drinking up sunshine to produce new roots as quickly as possible. But one epazote cutting survived to produce roots and all 15 of the mint sprigs in the packet I bought in the produce dept have finally rooted. They're spearmint instead of peppermint, or a hybrid of some stripe, but I think they'll do fine in a window box.
The terrarium is now waiting for me to strip and recaulk the leaky corner. This is not rocket science, it's just I've never done it before so I'm procrastinating.
yarning
I made a thing!
More pics at Tumblr and Instagram
I'm also working on that long awaited bathmat, which I've redone too many times to count. Also a number of experimental cat toys as I figure out some fun patterns.
yuletide
Noms will be opening before we know it, so I'm trying to give some thought to that, too. It's another year where I've watched almost zero visual media while reading a TON. I need to figure out what 'verses I can write in and make sure they're nommed. Suggestions welcome! <3
Missing last week's WIDW post broke a two year streak, doh!
books
The Hollow of Fear (Lady Sherlock #3) by Sherry Thomas. Gah. Um. So. This was an arc. And I hated it. I hated the structure, the pacing, the country house mystery, the inconsistent characterization, the plot within the plot, and -- most of all -- that it's an arc so I feel like I can't post a bad review until it's actually published. I mean, for all I know, some of the bits I hated will get last minute rewrites, right? Also, tbf, it could be that I am being too hard on it. OTOH, this is an object lesson in why you get a plot beta before devoting 300 pages to a story.
The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder. Snyder is a historian and puts everything Putin's been doing in historical context, which is super helpful in terms of all the nations (not states) that claim decent from the Kievan (Kyivan?) Rus 1200 years ago. I'm really not on board with the academic wankery of the preface and first chapter, but it gets *good* when he breaks down the nuts and bolts of what *really* happened and how history and national myth have been coopted for contemporary propaganda and batshit crazy policy.
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells. I enjoyed this as much as book one, and I'm really impatient for book 4 to come out so I can go back and read them all as a whole. The understated multivalent horror of the escaped-slave-in-search-of-justice-while-fleeing-trauma conundrum appeals to me so much. And also the coping via sarcasm and mainlining All The Media.
Witchmark (Witchmark, #1) by C.L. Polk. Extremely original m/m fantasy mystery set in a sort of faux Edwardian 'verse with magical powers, imperial wars, lethal PTSD, and more. An abundance of interesting and empowered female characters, and just generally a pleasant surprise at every turn. Another that I'd like to see transferred to television.
next up: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett and/or Changeling by Molly Harper.
#Resist
It's been an exciting news cycle this week, hasn't it? :DDD I look forward to justice being served all the way up the food chain. đź—˝ & âš– = ♥
life
Friday was my birthday, which was very low-key this year. Mom sent me a thing *she* would love but which I have no use for, so that's a problem I have to resolve when they're here next week. Augh. Also, the vol gig people asked me to do a crafty workshop of some kind in November, but I have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. It would probably run about an hour and need to be open to anyone with any skill level, which rules out crochet. So much augh...
environment
I read an article several weeks ago on the zero-waste movement while I was in the midst of carting loads of bags to the trash & recycling dumpsters and loading my trunk with donation items, so it hit home pretty hard. There is no actual way I could produce no garbage at all, but it did make me rethink things like using kleenex over handkerchiefs (I now have handkerchiefs! They're gray cotton and spiffy). I've also been looking into things that are biodegradable and free of plastic/synthetic coatings. Refusing plastic instead of thinking "I'll recycle it", only to discover later that the bottle might be recyclable, but its label and cap aren't and will never decompose without constant exposure to direct sunlight. Basically it's a lot of standing in the grocery store asking, "Okay, but how would my grandma have done this back in the 1940s?" I was already trying to minimize plastics, but I know I could do more. I need to get a compost bin.
dirt
First, mgmt is getting a tree trimming quote this week -- hooray! -- even if it does mean strangers stomping around in my space. I don't know how we'll deal with moving the plants out of the chainsaw danger zone, but it will be lovely to have more sunlight and less scary overhang.
Apart from that it's mixed results as usual. I accidentally overwatered my black robusta snake plant and it lost the vast majority of its roots when it tipped over while I was repotting it into a drier mix. I've got it outside now, drinking up sunshine to produce new roots as quickly as possible. But one epazote cutting survived to produce roots and all 15 of the mint sprigs in the packet I bought in the produce dept have finally rooted. They're spearmint instead of peppermint, or a hybrid of some stripe, but I think they'll do fine in a window box.
The terrarium is now waiting for me to strip and recaulk the leaky corner. This is not rocket science, it's just I've never done it before so I'm procrastinating.
yarning
I made a thing!
More pics at Tumblr and Instagram
I'm also working on that long awaited bathmat, which I've redone too many times to count. Also a number of experimental cat toys as I figure out some fun patterns.
yuletide
Noms will be opening before we know it, so I'm trying to give some thought to that, too. It's another year where I've watched almost zero visual media while reading a TON. I need to figure out what 'verses I can write in and make sure they're nommed. Suggestions welcome! <3
(no subject)
Date: 2018-08-22 11:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-08-23 01:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-08-23 04:14 am (UTC)That is a very cool, lanky cat!
(no subject)
Date: 2018-08-25 07:12 pm (UTC)Thanks for the book recs (or unrecs), The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America sounds like something I want to check out.