06/23/22: Oops, it's been two months
TLDR
Update: You know, I don’t have a schedule, really
E/C/B: Fondue
Listening: Vox Conversations
Playing: Near & Far, Werewolves, 13th Age
Reading: The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein
Watching: Lots of stuff
End Notes: You can contact me at jadettman@gmail.com
THE UPDATE
I’ve been thinking a lot about expectations and obligations recently. I get into this mindset that I owe you words (I don’t) and that I am behind on an imaginary schedule (I’m not) because I haven’t shared with you all of the great media that I’m experiencing. This leads to anxiety because I am behind schedule which is, of course nonsense. There is no schedule. I’m doing this because I enjoy sharing things I like and, sometimes, I need to take a break.
That all leads, I my mind at least, to a big discussion about productivity which I honestly believe is one of the impulses that makes life terrible. But I don’t want to spend a huge amount of time writing about negative things and would rather focus on that sharing enjoyable things that I like doing.
Also, I hope you are watching the Jan 6 Select Committee hearings, if you are up to it. I’ve been watching them on Youtube after the fact so that I can go at my own pace.
EATING / COOKING / BAKING
Our anniversary was Sunday and we played 13th Age then had deep dish with friends. On Monday, we celebrated with fondue because we have decided that we’re making up our own anniversary milestones and this year was Cheese. The fondue was lovely and reminded me of our trip to Switzerland. Instead of moving to Switzerland, we’ve decided to make fondue and crepes more often.
LISTENING
Are you listening to Vox Conversations? I generally find it interesting and informative. Initially, I was going to recommend one of the episodes but there have been several goods ones lately so it was hard to pick.
For example, yesterday I listened to an episode about the racist origins of fat phobia and a couple weeks ago I listened to an interesting conversation with Cornell West.
The Gray Area - Vox
Resist certainty, embrace ambiguity. The Gray Area is a philosophical take on culture, politics, and everything in between with host Sean Illing. We don’t pretend to have the answers, but we do offer a space for real dialogue. Get some cool takes on a very hot world. New episodes drop every Monday. Transcripts of the show are available here. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Megaphone
The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Cornel West on Apple Podcasts
Show The Gray Area with Sean Illing, Ep The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Cornel West - May 23, 2022
The Gray Area with Sean Illing: The racist origins of fat phobia on Apple Podcasts
Show The Gray Area with Sean Illing, Ep The racist origins of fat phobia - Jun 16, 2022
PLAYING
So many things. In video games, Britt and I are playing through the latest community expedition of No Man’s Sky which has gone rogue-like (I hear), forcing us to restart each time we die but in an interesting way. There have been several updates lately making the game more dangerous, which has been fine, but we still refer to it as doing our “space job” which says something interesting.
Tabletop, we’ve been playing through a campaign of Near & Far, which is a board game with sort of choose your own adventure story elements. We’ve been talking about doing this for a while and now we are. So far, I don’t how much the campaign version adds to our enjoyment of the game but it is nice to have some different story adventures.
Fridays, I continue to run my game of folklorish horror in which the players are werewolves. I have come to the conclusion that FFG’s Genesys system was the wrong choice for the game and I’m in the process of (slowly) creating a Blades in the Dark hack that I think will work better.
And Sundays, I continue to run the mostly dwarves 13th Age game. The game is still mainly taking place under a mountain but the wider world is starting to rear its ugly head with various dragons and a Raven Queen. Yay.
READING
I feel like I’ve talked about The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein here but, looking through the archives, I don’t see where. So, maybe this is a rerun.
The Steerswoman is the first book in a series. It’s about a woman in a fantasy world who, as you may have guessed, is a Steerswoman. Steerswomen, as a group, in this world travel around to learn about the world and, as one of their rules, they must always truthfully answer any question asked of them. That is, unless you refuse to answer a steerswoman’s question. If you’re dumb enough to do that then you are put under a ban and no steerswoman will answer questions for you ever again. It’s a very interesting idea.
A lot of the story of these books is focused around a mystery that one of the steerswomen is trying to solve which leads to adventure and a lot of world exploration. As you can maybe tell, I’m dancing around a lot because the mystery is so central to the story and I think that discovering things through reading the book is a lot of the enjoyment of them.
Anyway, maybe read the first one so I have more folks to talk about it with.
https://www.rosemarykirstein.com
WATCHING
Where do I even start?
The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray on Apple TV+ is so good. Tough but so good. Samuel L. Jackson as Ptolemy Gray is fabulous. I wanted more.
We started watching Hacks on HBO Max. It’s good but I don’t know who to root for and there is just enough cringe that I need time in between episodes.
We are in the home stretch of The Mentalist. This is one of my problematic coppaganda procedurals which I find very calming even as I see and understand just how problematic they are. The show has just wrapped up the very serious thread that it kept going for five seasons and now it’s just having fun.
Just started season three of For All Mankind on Apple TV+. Still good; hoping it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
About half way through The Good Fight on Paramount+. Still fabulous and bonkers.
Enjoying Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+. Episodic Trek can still be good as this proves.
And, of course, lots more.
END NOTES
If you'd like to send me some feedback or discuss one of the topics I've talked about here (or even a different topic), email me at jadettman@gmail.com
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