I would like to post blogs more consistently but I am struggling to do that. There are things I see or hear or do that I think would be interesting to talk about and I think, "Hey, I should blog about that!" and then that thought never gets put into action. I think the key to me getting anything done is to have a schedule. So, I'm going to try doing weekly wrap-ups. If my brain knows that it will be called upon to post something every Sunday, then I might actually get some consistent content published! Or it could go into procrastination mode where the house will get really clean but I won't get anything posted. This could be a win, either way. We'll see!
Watching
I watch a lot of YouTube. It's one of the few subscriptions that I have. Today I came across someone whose videos I haven't watched before but the premise intrigued me. She was speaking with someone who grew up in Kowloon Walled City and she was having him compare his memories of the city with the layout of the city in the game Stray as they were playing it. I thought that was a unique way to explore a topic. It was really interesting hearing his memories of the city, the relationships that people formed and how the city and its environment drove those relationships. Video Link
I discovered another YouTube channel last week, I've become obsessed with it AND I DON'T KNOW WHY because it involves bugs and I don't have a huge appreciation for bugs in general. The title was kind of click-baity but boy did it sucker me in: I UNLEASHED A SWARM OF HUNTSMAN SPIDERS INTO MY GIANT RAINFOREST VIVARIUM. So this dude does indeed have a giant 10,000 gallon vivarium (according to American Heritage Dictionary, "a place, such as an enclosure or facility, used for keeping living animals for observation or research") in his house. It's a rainforest biome and he has all kinds of creatures living in it - different ant groups, termites, tree frogs, a skink, a rhino beetle, huntsman spiders, forest roaches, crickets, a praying mantis, carnivorous worms (those were not intended denizens but he says they probably came in unintentionally with the soil or plants). There's more but that's what I remember off the top of my head. The camera work is top notch and he makes it SO DRAMATIC. It's a little corny but I am hooked. So far we've had the release of the spiders, a praying mantis meet-cute gone horribly wrong (I mean, honestly, the dude praying mantises usually have a pretty final end to things but ... yeah ... this could have gone better) and some escapes due to the vivarium doors coming unlatched in the middle of the night. I can't wait til the next episode!
I'm not a huge movie-goer but in the last week I saw two movies.
I love heist movies and Drive-Away Dolls seemed like it would be a quirky heist movie that I would really like. It was quirky and kind of weird (one of the Coen brothers was involved so that should let you know what kind of movie you were in for). I knew before seeing it that the 2 main characters were lesbians. What I didn't realize was all the lesbian sex that was going to happen or what the heist object was. Had I known, I might have opted to see this movie by myself and NOT WITH MY SON. Now, he's in his 30s, I didn't subject a child to something scandalous. But still - it was a little uncomfortable. For me. He found it hilarious. Stylistically the movie had wonderful dialogue and great scenery. He said the main character's repartee reminded him of a Wes Anderson film and I agree. Good film. Don't see it with your grown kids.
The second movie we saw was the 1973 Westworld. The local university showcases films each semester as part of a series called History of the Future. From their site:
"experts from ASU faculty and abroad introduce films that have shaped the reality we know today. Connecting past depictions of the future to the present and seeing how the hopes and anxieties of the last five decades have influenced how we tackle the problems of tomorrow."
I hadn't seen this movie before. It was a very typical 70s movie although the pacing was faster than I would have expected for a film of that era. Interesting premise with the robots breaking down as if they had a computer virus since Google tells me that the first computer virus appeared almost a decade after this film was made.
Reading
I guess this is the week for me to branch out and do things out of my norm. I love to read and I read a lot. The vast majority of what I read tends to be fantasy. What can I say? I like to escape! But I read about this submarine book on Meta Filter and was intrigued enough to download it. Once again, it was the title of the post that got me: By Sound Alone: An open-source and free novel with cargo submarines. And a pigeon. Usually I'm leery of self-published books because, not to be snobby but, the quality is often lacking. This author paid for professional copy-editing and I think it really shows. This is set in an alternate-timeline mid-century future where territories are ruled by an Authority and international shipping is done largely by submarine. The author describes it as:
"Fundamentally, it’s a cross between 1970s trucker culture and 1960s submarine movies. It’s kind of a slurry of Das Boot, Road Warrior, Deadliest Catch, Patrick O'Brian, and Smokey and the Bandit."I've been reading it this week and even though subs are usually not my thing, I am enjoying this. This book is published under a Creative Commons license, it can be downloaded in a variety of formats and, if this sounds at all interesting to you, I think you should check it out!
Other Stuff
In cat news - Celine is doing fine. I wish she wasn't so picky about her cat food texture - it has to be pate and just the right consistency. So, I spend her mealtimes adding water to the pate to make it a little soupy, but not too soupy, in the hopes she'll finish it. And when she loses interest in that can, I'll usually open up at least one other tin/packet/can of food to try to get her to eat more. She doesn't seem like she's starving and she's not snubbing the food. She's just seems to be in a massive Goldilocks mode all the time.
This will be a short week at work because I'm taking some vacation days this week and next week. I don't have anything in particular planned. I'm taking time off mainly because I both have the time saved up and currently have enough staff to cover my vacation days so I feel like I should take it while I can. Also, one of the days I'm off is my birthday and I am one of those people who feel you shouldn't be working on your birthday!
So I think this wasn't too bad for an inaugural Weekly Wrap-Up! Until next week ...