baby I'm the whole damn meal
I am not very good at change. This is surely not news to you, a person who used to receive a newsletter every other week like clockwork and now gets one every few months or so, possibly, if you're lucky. Nevertheless it is the truth of the thing. Part of it is wrapped up in my anxiety (a coworker described my first week at my new job after I moved as "like when you put a cat in a new house"), but part of it is just who I am as a person.
I've done a lot of changing in the past year, by and large transitions which I had been slowly working my way towards for some time. I got there, in my own time. That's generally how I get places--in my own time. Managing the biggest one, the move, seems to have inoculated me a bit to the pain of smaller changes. This month alone, I chopped my hair off, shorter than it's been since college. I got BANGS. I changed my NAME. I should have led with the name thing, it's the biggest (I go by Door now, IRL in addition to online. Feels right, mostly.) I can feel myself inching towards yet more change, embracing transitions I've been talking about making for years. It's TERRIFYING. But I need them. I'll get there. I have one grand goal in mind, after all.
Dog Thing
Mixed Media
I have read and watched and played some good, good, good things since last we spoke. The big thing thus far in 2019 has been Carmen Sandiego. I was a computer kid in the 90s, so I cut my teeth on all of the great early educational PC games, but nothing grabbed me like Carmen Sandiego. I watched the show on PBS, my favourite mix CD featured the Rockapella theme song, and I played every successive game I could get my hands on, which was....a lot of them. And I gotta say, the new Carmen Sandiego animated show on Netflix delivers.
It creates an origin for Carmen that maintains her thief identity while also putting her at odds with both the true bad guys and the cops. Every character is delightful in design and execution, the animation is delicious, it’s funny and pretty gay. So, you know. Right up my alley. I’m so impressed with what they managed to get just right on the show, up to and including providing geographic information about each new place Carmen visits. I love it, and will be crossing my fingers for season 2.
A good movie: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. If you’ve somehow missed the hype surrounding Spider-Verse, I can assure you that it’s ABSOLUTELY deserved. I saw it twice in under a week, just to fully take in how fun and beautiful it is. Every comic movie that doesn’t look like this one from here on out will be a disappointment.
A good book: Bloom by Kevin Panetta & Savanna Ganucheau. Bloom is finally out this week, and I am so glad. It’s incredible: a beautiful story about love in all forms and figuring out what you want from life. Savi’s art is lush and lovely. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, and if you’re in the Washington, D.C. or Richmond, VA areas shoot me a message and I’ll tell you where you can see Kevin and Savi in person!
A good tv show: If you’ve fallen behind on Steven Universe, now is the time to catch up. The show isn’t done, but it has tied up every single one of its unanswered questions and done so in a way that is heartbreaking in its goodness. It’s also some of the best animation any show has pulled off. Just. Incredible.
A good game: After owning it for a year and a half, I finally sat down with Horizon Zero Dawn, and it promptly took over my entire life. I adored it. It walked a delicate line for me between Mass Effect and Breath of the Wild, which is a wonderful overlap. Incredible world-building, a protagonist who I adored, and a fun, fun game.
A good song: Juice by Lizzo. Am I still stuck on Lizzo? Yes. I likely will be through April, when her new album comes out, if the anticipation doesn’t kill me.
A good fic: rewrite the stars by astrid_fischer. A Haikyuu!! royalty AU which somehow manages to incorporate just about every pairing you might want from an hq fic without ever taking away from Kenma and Kuroo’s central story (which features some delicious pining). The world building in this is so good it’s jarring to remember as you read it that it’s grown out of an anime about volleyball. ALSO: Darling and the Cinderella Club by emilyenrose is an original novella that you can read right now, online, for free. And you should. If you love a simple, solid man who rolls with the punches all the way until he’s in a queer dance club with his best friend as much as I do, you will simply adore this.
Lastly
Take some joy in the little things. We’re nearly through January.