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Sunday Update 31/07
Reading
Finished Wilding by Isabella Tree. It filled me with a mixture of optimism, for how much they have achieved in so little time, and great sadness, for how little we as a nation have done with this possibility. I've found myself paying attention to how much is going on in the green spaces I visit (and noticing how little life I encounter in my day-to-day in the heart of the city).
Started The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm coming into this with very little in the way of preconceptions (except that I've read the other Hainish Cycle books that go before it). I heard that some people read it as being about a utopia, but so far I haven't worked out which of the two civilisations the supposed utopia is meant to be. I'm probably not going to look anything up to find out; I'll let it stand on its own legs.
Film
When we went into lockdown in 2020, I turned to film to keep myself occupied, racking up around 100 films a year in both 2020 and 2021 (...including stuff I'd seen before, of course, a lot of this was comfort rewatches). With the rest of my life opening up a bit more in 2022, I'm nowhere near hitting that record again this year, but I have still been watching a lot (mostly reruns and older films, catching up on a century of cinema, almost). This week I saw the Black & Chrome Edition of Mad Max: Fury Road for the first time, and it was incredible. I've always thought that the colour is a key part of this film, and it does add a lot, but the black & white edit is up on the same level, and really highlights the excellent contrast and composition of the shots. Hats off to Margaret Sixel and John Seale!
Writing
Couch-to-80K Week 2 Day 3! So far I've managed to keep up the daily schedule recommended by the podcast's structure, no gaps, and I'm feeling pretty good about making space for writing in my everyday routine again. I'm thinking about how to keep that daily habit going when I get to the end, and sketching little "writing session agendas" for myself to try out. I'm also seeking out new spaces to write in - today, I am taking advantage of one of the many free public arts spaces I'm fortunate to have available to me, and it's nice to see so many other people with laptops and snacks hanging out here.
In terms of my current project (which is one of those I've had sitting in the back of my mind for years - let's call it Sword in a Stone), I have finally found an angle which seems to give my MC the opportunity to actively need something, where she has always ended up a little too passive in the past. Wilding has given me ideas about how to fill out the fantasy setting with life, and differentiate it from the real-life spaces that inspired it. I'm not sure yet what I might take from The Dispossessed into it. The rest of my reading list currently covers some fantasy novels, some European history, and some material on collective organisation approaches.
Social
I have two cousins, and I don't know either of them especially well (on account of them having grown up half a planet away). In the last week I've gone for coffee with each of them, and had a great time catching up. Hooray!
About a month ago, someone on Lex started a writing group, and this week the stars aligned such that I could attend for a second time. It's a "write together" group rather than a "peer feedback" group (exactly what I need at the moment), but there's time for chatting as well as for working. I've already had a "six degrees of separation" moment as one of the regulars turned out to know an acquaintance of mine. (It's weird how often this happens, in a city of around ten million people...)
Yesterday I visited some friends in the suburbs for board games and a BBQ, and that was both fun and a nice change from the usual social events near home.
Finished Wilding by Isabella Tree. It filled me with a mixture of optimism, for how much they have achieved in so little time, and great sadness, for how little we as a nation have done with this possibility. I've found myself paying attention to how much is going on in the green spaces I visit (and noticing how little life I encounter in my day-to-day in the heart of the city).
Started The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm coming into this with very little in the way of preconceptions (except that I've read the other Hainish Cycle books that go before it). I heard that some people read it as being about a utopia, but so far I haven't worked out which of the two civilisations the supposed utopia is meant to be. I'm probably not going to look anything up to find out; I'll let it stand on its own legs.
Film
When we went into lockdown in 2020, I turned to film to keep myself occupied, racking up around 100 films a year in both 2020 and 2021 (...including stuff I'd seen before, of course, a lot of this was comfort rewatches). With the rest of my life opening up a bit more in 2022, I'm nowhere near hitting that record again this year, but I have still been watching a lot (mostly reruns and older films, catching up on a century of cinema, almost). This week I saw the Black & Chrome Edition of Mad Max: Fury Road for the first time, and it was incredible. I've always thought that the colour is a key part of this film, and it does add a lot, but the black & white edit is up on the same level, and really highlights the excellent contrast and composition of the shots. Hats off to Margaret Sixel and John Seale!
Writing
Couch-to-80K Week 2 Day 3! So far I've managed to keep up the daily schedule recommended by the podcast's structure, no gaps, and I'm feeling pretty good about making space for writing in my everyday routine again. I'm thinking about how to keep that daily habit going when I get to the end, and sketching little "writing session agendas" for myself to try out. I'm also seeking out new spaces to write in - today, I am taking advantage of one of the many free public arts spaces I'm fortunate to have available to me, and it's nice to see so many other people with laptops and snacks hanging out here.
In terms of my current project (which is one of those I've had sitting in the back of my mind for years - let's call it Sword in a Stone), I have finally found an angle which seems to give my MC the opportunity to actively need something, where she has always ended up a little too passive in the past. Wilding has given me ideas about how to fill out the fantasy setting with life, and differentiate it from the real-life spaces that inspired it. I'm not sure yet what I might take from The Dispossessed into it. The rest of my reading list currently covers some fantasy novels, some European history, and some material on collective organisation approaches.
Social
I have two cousins, and I don't know either of them especially well (on account of them having grown up half a planet away). In the last week I've gone for coffee with each of them, and had a great time catching up. Hooray!
About a month ago, someone on Lex started a writing group, and this week the stars aligned such that I could attend for a second time. It's a "write together" group rather than a "peer feedback" group (exactly what I need at the moment), but there's time for chatting as well as for working. I've already had a "six degrees of separation" moment as one of the regulars turned out to know an acquaintance of mine. (It's weird how often this happens, in a city of around ten million people...)
Yesterday I visited some friends in the suburbs for board games and a BBQ, and that was both fun and a nice change from the usual social events near home.