We were very tired, we were very merry— We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry. It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable— But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table, We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon; And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry— We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry; And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear, From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere; And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold, And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
We were very tired, we were very merry, We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry. We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head, And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read; And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears, And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
I talk with my hands. This amuses A. to no end: She's the one who's part-Italian and yet I'm the one who can't talk without gesticulating. Whether I'm talking about sending an email (fingers typing on a keyboard), sending a fax (hands palm-down, fingertips guiding the paper into the machine), or chopping vegetables (left hand moving the knife up and down, right hand advancing the the vegetable toward it), I don't even think about it, but my hands accompany my words.
Yesterday, we got some small cucumbers and I was talking about using some of them to make oi muchim (a Korean cucumber salad with thinly sliced cucumbers in a gochugaru-seasoned dressing). I was talking about slicing the cucumbers, and she looked at my hands and asked "What's that?" I looked at my hands and saw that my right hand was flat, palm-up, while my left hand was palm-down, in a claw grip, moving back and forth over my right hand. And then it hit me: When I make oi muchim, I don't slice the cucumbers with a knife. I slice them with a mandoline. And without even thinking about it, my hands were doing to the correct motion for the action I would be doing.
I don't even notice that I'm doing this until she points it out, so I don't know if I could stop it if I tried.
I've seen two Boston Ballets in relatively quick succession over the past month, both combo programs featuring two pieces; the first was "The Rite of Spring" (Elo's, not Nijinsky's) paired with Pite's "The Seasons' Canon," and the second was a premiere, Stromile's "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window," paired with Ashton's "The [Midsummer Night's] Dream."
Breaking with the actual curation of the productions, I'm going to talk about "The Rite of Spring" and "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window" together because they both came first in their productions, they had kind of similar vibes, and I experienced similar feelings of mild disappointment about both of them that were not technically the fault of the productions. I was really excited about "The Rite of Spring" because I wanted to see some ballet dancers do a dramatic ritual sacrifice, and I was really excited about "The Leisurely Installation of a New Window" because I wanted to see some ballet dancers slowly install a window. Instead, both of these pieces were kind of abstract explorations through dance of the Relationship between the Individual and Society, and I think both would have been enjoyable for fifteen minutes but ran a bit long at half an hour.
The description for "Window" in the playbill reads:
Eighteen dancers inhabit the work through distinct but interdependent roles. The Seeker stands close to tradition, moving with discipline and clarity. The People operate within shared systems, attentive to both order and its quiet tensions. The Reformers introduce disruption, not as spectacle, but as pressure applied from within.
This did help me understand better what was going on in the dance, as the Seeker stalked around holding a book and then portentously passed it off to some dueting Reformers, but also made it feel a bit like a LARP that I was not participating in. On the other hand Reeves Gabriel of The Cure was There and Participating in Ballet Music (and every bit of marketing wanted you to know that Reeves Gabriel Of The Cure was There and Participating in Ballet Music) and occasionally the music would get very thrillingly electric guitar and you'd be like "Hello, Reeves Gabriel of The Cure!" So it's not that I didn't have a fine time, I just would have been okay with somewhat less of that time.
However, after these very mildly disappointing openers, I loved both "The Seasons' Canon" and "The Dream" very much! The Seasons' Canon is, justifiably, a known Boston Ballet showstopper -- a huge piece with a huge cast, and as you guys know I often have trouble with a piece that is not trying to tell me a story but this piece is truly just Humans Make Big Shapes and it's riveting. Could not take my eyes off it. The trailer here gives a bit of a sense but of course is not that much like seeing it Actually On Stage, but it does let you see one of the things I found most striking about the piece which is how extremely non-gendered it is -- everyone on that stage is dressed identically in pants and nude tank that makes them look topless, the whole corps looks like one and moves like one and there is nothing to distract you from that. Really, really cool experience.
And "The Dream" -- look, I'm a simple soul, and what I have discovered is that I love Ashton's silly panto-esque ballets. They are fun and they are funny and I love it when people get to be funny in dance! Dance jokes are good actually! Titania ballet-hopping her way towards Bottom in a way that manages to be simultaneously fairy-like and hilariously sultry, the arguing lovers constantly picking each other up and pirouetting a partner firmly Away from them Thank You, the rude mechanicals!! we wanted more rude mechanicals but I was so glad we got what we got. A+ Midsummer Night's Dream, would see again.
So, a while back S learned that there was a capybara cafe in our area. We always meant to go, but never got around to doing it for various reasons. Then, when she started making real steps toward moving, we decided to go when she got an interview for a job.
Well, that happened pretty damn quick. Then again, so did everything with her moving. She signs for a house at the end of the month.
Anyway, today is capybara day! :D We're going this afternoon and I'm so excited!
I might have pictures, but I'm not entirely sure on that. However, because I was thinking about images, I did get fresh tattoo pictures!
Just the other day I was tingling with excitement. I checked Ancestry, and it coughed up a border card for my long-lost great-grand aunt Katie. I've written about Katie here for ages--and it was a very hilarious series of mistakes to find anything out about her.
Was she called Kolya? Nope!
Was my cousin "Aunt" Daisy on the right track 20 years ago when she tracked Katie down to Chicago? Heck nope!
Was the family lore about Katie accurate in any way? Mostly nope!
But this...this is concrete proof that Katie existed! It's full of more facts about her than I ever knew before--she was 5'6", had brown eyes and hair, was single, and worked for a family as a domestic (one bit about family lore that turned out to be true).
I was so excited and bummed that I had to go into the office that day. It was so tempting to take a sick day, and a little searching had my imagination running wild--that is, until I realized I can't read the name of the family she was travelling with.
My initial searching revealed someone named Bernard J. Krussel, and funnily enough, one of his relatives married a Catherine Marie. Catherine Marie died at the age of 95 in 2014--which was conceivable given the long-livedness of my maternal relatives. As I have a cluster of relatives in Connecticut, I have to be broad-minded when making these connections.
ANYWAY I could not find a border crossing card for a Krussel in Ancestry, which has me looking at the card again. I could not find cards for Kreesel, Kruesel, Kriesel, Kreisel, which leads me to believe Bernard J.'s last name is not a K.
So my big ask is...can anyone please take a look at the border crossing card and tell me what the handwritten name under Stasko is?
Also, would American citizens have to fill out a border crossing card, or only non-Americans?
On a whim, I even asked ChatGPT to look at it, but it was not helpful.
At least this part checked out...the destination and name of the person they were visiting was easily verifiable. Frank F. Spring Sr. lived in Rossland, BC. He met his wife there, and they later moved to Cranbrook, BC, in 1952.
It was the second day of triple digit temperatures outside. It didn't get up to over 80 inside the previous night, but I couldn't sleep. Had to give up and turn on the A/C in the afternoon, yesterday. It didn't actually run for an hour or two. The house wasn't yet warm enough inside for that to happen. But it ran for the third time at sundown. The house is well insulated. Not having the house hold in heat during the evening helped a lot. I slept well. It's very early for these high temps outside. Running the A/C for a few extra weeks is expensive, but by the middle of April I'd need it anyway. I tell myself at least I won't be running the furnace much till next November.
""Why have we got six soppy men in a green haze hanging about?""
Tolkien and Disney, coffee and cotton, children and chattel, colonialism and capitalism, satire and sitcoms and sentimentality and as many jokes as can possibly fit in a three hundred page book.
NB: This episode touches on prisoner abuse and sexual assualt.
Transcript available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1edDFMD9LbdsdrgTIflJCwfynukFnrTw5/view
This brings us to the end of our nineties season, but we're planning couple bonus episodes over the next few months, so please stay tuned, and send any questions for our Q&A to eightdaysofdiana@gmail.com!
13 books new to me, and save for one mystery, all fantasy. Man, fantasy is just eating SF's lunch. Not that that will be reflected in what I actually review.
"Nicholas Brendon, best remembered as series regular Xander Harris from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died at the age of 54. His family revealed the news in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, which read:
“We are heartbroken to share the passing of our brother and son, Nicholas Brendon. He passed in his sleep of natural causes. Most people know Nicky for his work as an actor and for the characters he brought to life over the years. In recent years Nicky has found his passion in painting and art. Nicky loved to share his enthusiastic talent with his family, friends and fans. He was passionate, sensitive, and endlessly driven to create. Those who truly knew him understood that his art was one of the purest reflections of who he was. While it’s no secret that Nicholas had struggles in the past, he was on medications and treatment to manage his diagnosis and he was optimistic about the future at the time of his passing. Our family asks for privacy during this time as we grieve his loss and celebrate the life of a man who lived with intensity, imagination, and heart. Thank you to everyone who has shown love and support.”
Brendon’s film credits include Demon Island, Unholy, Psycho Beach Party, and Coherence. Beyond Buffy, he was a series regular on the short-lived Fox adaptation of Anthony Bourdain’s memoir Kitchen Confidential alongside Bradley Cooper, and had a recurring role on the series Criminal Minds."
SMG wrote on Instragram:
"They'll never know how tough it is to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight, and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes, because nobody's watching me. I saw you Nicky. I know you are at peace, in that big rocking chair in the sky."
I finished 11/12 on my last board. I didn't have a great time with BL but I still had a decent time overall. :)
Avatar:
Eroica Skill: Re-roll dice once
Roll #1:
A 3, prompt: Master/Servant relationship - Kuroshitsuji.
Roll #2:
A 3 again, prompt: otaku - Amattare wa Inu mo Kuwanai.
Roll #3:
A 4, prompt: highest rated on TBR. Oh, it's one I've been interested in for a while - Houseki no Kuni!
Roll #4:
A 1, costume on cover - Card Captor Sakura Clear Card. One of these days I need to make a list of these, I'm gonna run out of CSS eventually.
Roll #5:
A 2, prompt: generate from CR tile. #88 which is Tongari Boushi no Atelier!
Roll #6:
A 4, using skill, a 5 now. Prompt: historical - Brave 10 S.
Roll #7:
A 1, prompt: color in the title - Kishukusha no Kuroneko wa Yoru wo Shiranai.
Roll #8:
A 2, generate from TBR tile. #474. Well that was straightforward - Gin no Kaze Tooi Toki.
Roll #9:
A 5, prompt: oldest published. Pretty sure that's From Eroica with Love. Didn't like where I left off...
Roll #10:
A 6, prompt: reverse harem - Men of the Harem.
Roll #11:
A 5, generate from CR tile. #8 - Boku no Hero Academia.
Roll #12:
"I'll be done as long as I don't get a 1" ... *gets a 1* Prompt: lowest rated. I used MU for this because I could easily see the ratings on my list there - Chess Isle.
Roll #13:
A 3 and the end. I'm starting on series now in my physical BL TBR starting with Crimson Spell volume 1! Most looking forward to: Witch Hat Atelier Least looking forward to: From Eroica with Love
One of the most memorable scenes in the Iliad is when Zeus cries tears of blood once he accepts that his son Sarpedon is going to die. Sarpedon’s death is not necessarily crucial to the plot: Hektor could very easily kill Patroklos and thus redirect Achilles’ rage without Sarpedon’s presence at all. But this scene retains important thematic connections to the epic’s concern for heroism, human mortality, and widening the space between the worlds of gods and human beings.
Readers have identified internal and external tensions to this scene. Internally, Zeus predicted just in the last book that Sarpedon would die. Externally, there are scholarly traditions that see different kinds of inconsistency. One scholion suggests that “the poet” includes this passage to raise the profile of Sarpedon’s death (Schol. bT ad Il. 16.431-461) while another reports that Zenodotus questioned the entire conversation of Zeus and Hera (Schol. A) because it isn’t clear where or how this conversation is happening. A close reading of the scene can help us see its connections to larger epic and cosmic themes.
Iliad 16.431-438
“As the son of crooked-minded Kronos was watching them, he felt pity And he addressed Hera, his sister and wife: “Shit. Look, it is fate for the man most dear to me, Sarpedon, To be overcome by Patroklos, son of Menoitios. My hearts is split in two as I rush through my thoughts: Either I will snatch him up still alive from the lamentable battle And set him down in the rich deme of Lykia, Or I will overcome him already at the hands of Patroklos.”
Note the movement from the statement of fate that seems impersonal (in Greek, μοῖρ’ ὑπὸ Πατρόκλοιο Μενοιτιάδαο δαμῆναι) to the active statement I will with the somewhat interesting use of a temporal adverb pointing to now with a future verb (ἦ ἤδη ὑπὸ χερσὶ Μενοιτιάδαο δαμάσσω). Zeus expresses the very confusing overlap between his submission to fate and his status as an agency of it.
Patroclus (naked, on the right) kills Sarpedon (wearing Lycian clothes, on the left) with his spear, while Glaucus comes to the latter’s help. Protolucana red-figure hydria by the Policoro Painter, ca. 400 BC. From the so-called tomb of the Policoro Painter in Heraclaea. Stored in the Museo Nazionale Archaeologico of Policoro.
But any sensed contradiction here is understandable if we look at the metaphysical world the Iliad constructs itself: as Zeus says to Thetis in book 1, once he consents to a proposition, once he ‘nods’ to it, it moves from the unreal to a future fact. Part of Zeus’ power resides in the belief that his word in some way makes the cosmos what it is by guaranteeing its boundaries. Yet, here, as with Achilles in the epic, Zeus finds that the decisions he made to serve some larger plot have painful implications. There is a correlation of kinds between Zeus’ loss of Sarpedon and Achilles’ loss of Patroklos. The difference is that Zeus understands the promise he has made.
Schol. T ad Hom. Il. 16.433-8a1
“Don’t criticize the poet for this: for it is right to show the gods’ sympathy for men and that he speaks the following to her. In addition, Zeus’ mourning is didactic: the poet shows that even the gods submit to what is fated. It is therefore correct for human beings to bear fate nobly”
This exchange in the middle of book 16 has two additional ‘metaphysical’ or cosmic concerns. First, it establishes that mortality is an immutable fact of human life. Sarpedon is a good figure to explore this because he is in a way a refraction of Achilles as the hero son of a god who likely received cult worship. Indeed, his death scene is an important piece of repeated iconography in early Greek art and within the Iliad he is a figure who has spoken directly to the connection between being a noble/heroic figure and risking one’s life as a matter of obligation. In addition, Sarpedon’s death comes at a time when the death of Patroklos is anticipated, a death that in multiple ways serves within the Iliad as a surrogate death for Achilles.
Sarpedon’s body carried by Hypnos and Thanatos (Sleep and Death), while Hermes watches. Side A of the so-called “Euphronios krater”, Attic red-figured calyx-krater signed by Euxitheos (potter) and Euphronios (painter), ca. 515 BC.
The second cosmic effect of Zeus in this book is to emphasize the honors of the dead. As I discuss in an earlier post, the Theogony and the broader epic tradition positions Zeus’ stability in the universe as a feature of his ability to guarantee the social/religious positions of the gods. In a similar way, the Iliad may be seen to offer not just an etiology for human death, but also an explanation for how the dead should be honored and what kind of extra-mortality is available to the best. This is no minor issue for the Iliad which has offered and complicated kleos (immortal glory/fame) as compensation for an early death and which later shows how important it is to bury the dead and present them with the rituals that are necessary for the creation and perpetuation of kleos: funerary lament and, to get meta-poetic with it, perhaps epic itself.
Iliad 16. 439-461
“Then queen, ox-eyed Hera answered him Most shameful son of Kronos, what kind of a thing have you said. Do you really want to rescue from discordant death When it was long ago fated for this man because he is mortal? Do it. But the rest of the gods will not praise you for it. I’ll tell you something else, and keep this in your thoughts: If you send Sarpedon alive to his own home, Think about how one of the other gods won’t want To send their dear son free of the oppressive conflict. For around the great city of Priam there are many sons Of the immortals fighting, and you will incite rage in those gods. But if this is ear to you, and your heart does mourn, Let him stay in the oppressive battle indeed To be overcome by the hands of Patroklos, Menoitios’ son. Then when his soul and and his life leaves him, Have death and sweet sleep take him until They arrive at the land of broad Lykia. There, his relatives and friends will bury him With a tomb and a marker. This is the honor due to the dead.
“So she spoke, and the father of men and gods did not disobey her. He was shedding bloody teardrops to the ground, Honoring his dear son, the one Patroklos was about to destroy Far off from his fatherland in fertile Troy.”
In this speech, Hera occupies something of a gendered position: in archaic Greek culture, women are represented as having special associations with death and burials, both in the act of caring for bodies and in the performance of laments (as we see at the end of the Iliad). There is a symbolic/thematic connection between a gendered ability to give life and knowledge about life’s end that is likely connected to Greek mythology. Here, in one of the rare places that Hera provides advice Zeus heeds, it is directly related to clarifying human mortality and establishing ritual practices to honor it.
Later on in the same book, Zeus repeats part of Hera’s speech to confirm what Sarpedon will receive the rites due to the dead:
Iliad 16.666-676
“And then cloud-gathering Zeus addressed Apollo: ‘Come now, dear Phoebus, cleanse the dark blood From the wounds, once you get to Sarpedon, and then Bring him out and wash him much in the river’s flows And anoint him with ambrosia and put ambrosial clothes around him. Send him to be carried by those quick heralds, The twins sleep and death, and have them swiftly Place him in the rich land of wide Lykia. There, his relatives and friends will bury him With a tomb and a marker. This is the honor due to the dead.”
The final phrase in Zeus’ speech “This is the honor due to the dead” (τὸ γὰρ γέρας ἐστὶ θανόντων) occurs again at line 23.9 when Achilles inaugurates Patroklos’ burial before the games in his honor and its substance is central to the debate at the beginning of book 24 about returning Hektor’s body to his family.
Hypnos and Thanatos carrying the body of Sarpedon from the battlefield of Troy. Detail from an Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. 440 BC.
Zeus’ suffering for his son creates common ground between gods and mortals over the death’s inevitability for human beings. It foreshadows, or echoes, Thetis’ sorrow for Achilles’ death even as it brings humans and gods together into a cosmos ordered by the fact that Zeus keeps his word. All humans die, but in the universe stabilized by Zeus some rights remain untouchable even in death.
The death of Sarpedon both anticipates future deaths (Patroklos, Hektor and Achilles outside the epic) and also affirms the importance of burial rites for human beings and inscribes them as part of the same system of honors that stabilize the cosmic order. Implicit in this is burial as a universal human right: the Iliad both provides a framework for establishing such an extra-political belief and also anticipates the sense of umbrage that attends other mythical traditions like the failure to bury the dead of the Seven Against Thebes.
A short Bibliography on Sarpedon book 16
n.b this is not an exhaustive bibliography. If you’d like anything else included, please let me know.
Allen, Nick J.. “Dyaus and Bhīṣma, Zeus and Sarpedon: towards a history of the Indo-European sky god.” Gaia, vol. 8, 2004, pp. 29-36.
Barker, Elton T. E.. “The « Iliad »’s big swoon: a case of innovation within the epic tradition ?.” Trends in Classics, vol. 3, no. 1, 2011, pp. 1-17.
Barker, Elton T. E., and Joel P. Christensen. 2019. Homer’s Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts. Hellenic Studies Series 84. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.
Delattre, Charles. “Entre mortalité et immortalité: l’exemple de Sarpédon dans l’« Iliade ».” Revue de Philologie, de Littérature et d’Histoire Anciennes, 3e sér., vol. 80, no. 2, 2006, pp. 259-271.
Gartziou-Tatti, Ariadni. 2023. “Boreas, Hypnos, Thanatos, and the deaths of Sarpedon in the Iliad.” In “Γέρα: Studies in honor of Professor Menelaos Christopoulos,” ed. Athina Papachrysostomou, Andreas P. Antonopoulos, Alexandros-Fotios Mitsis, Fay Papadimitriou, and Panagiota Taktikou, special issue, Classics@ 25. https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HLNC.ESSAY:103900170.
Higbie, Carolyn. “Greeks and the forging of Homeric pasts.” Attitudes towards the past in antiquity : creating identities: proceedings of an international conference held at Stockholm University, 15-17 May 2009. Eds. Alroth, Brita and Scheffer, Charlotte. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm Studies in Classical Archaeology; 14. Stockholm: Stockholm University, 2014. 9-19.
Lateiner, Donald. “Pouring bloody drops (Iliad 16.459): the grief of Zeus.” Colby Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 1, 2002, pp. 42-61.
Marks, J. 2016. “Herding Cats: Zeus, the Other Gods, and the Plot of the Iliad.” In The Gods of Greek hexameter poetry: from the archaic age to late antiquity and beyond, ed. J. J. Clauss, M. Cuypers and A. Kahane, 60–75. Stuttgart.
Nagy, Gregory. “On the death of Sarpedon.” Approaches to Homer. Eds. Rubino, C. A. and Shelmerdine, Cynthia W.. Austin, TX: Univ. of Texas Pr., 1983. 189-217.
Pucci, Pietro. “Banter and banquets for heroic death.” Post-structuralist classics. Ed. Benjamin, Andrew. Warwick stud. in philos. & liter. – . London: Routledge, 1988; New York: 1988. 132-159.
Spivey, Nigel. The Sarpedon krater: the life and afterlife of a Greek vase. Landmark Library. London: Head of Zeus, 2018.
Tsingarida, Athéna. “The death of Sarpedon: workshops and pictorial experiments.” Hermeneutik der Bilder: Beiträge zur Ikonographie und Interpretation griechischer Vasenmalerei. Eds. Schmidt, Stefan and Oakley, John Howard. Beihefte zum Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum; 4. München: Beck, 2009. 135-142.
This time a week ago I was on the ice with fellow Cambridge alumni for "Alumni game 1", kicking off Varsity. Photos (from one of my Warbirds teammates!) that actually make me look good are over at my hockey insta but here's my personal favourite, capturing a moment in motion:
After about an hour on the ice (2 periods running clock, 4 lines), I had a quick shower, and then spent the next ten or so hours mostly on my feet, doing music and announcements for my Huskies teammates, and scoresheet and in-game announcements for Women's Blues and Men's Blues. Final scores were:
Alumni game 1: 1-1
Alumni game 2: not sure, but we won
Huskies: 3-8
Women's Blues: 0-1
Men's Blues: 5-1
The alumni games were a great vibe: we cared, but it wasn't that intense. A whole load of the women I played with in 2022-23 came back, and for me that was really joyful, plus I got to make some new friends. A couple of the older guys in game 1 had played with my old work colleague Brian Omotani back in the day. Although he didn't play, he was there to watch, and he made time to come and find me for a brief catchup later in the day.
The rest of the day though was a different gear. The Huskies game was especially tough to watch, and I felt every goal against my teammates. The Women's Blues game was incredible, the team worked so hard and it was probably the best I've seen them play. And the Men's Blues winning so decisively was delightful, especially as the first goal came from one of the two ex-Huskies (and they both got an assist each later). The whole day was incredibly intense. And then I took my kit home to hang it up, changed, met up with everyone at Mash, danced until the club closed, went to Maccies (and realised just how much my feet hurt) until that closed, and sat on a bench gossiping with two of my favourite people in the club while one of them finished his burger. Eventually we all cycled home. I didn't want the day to end, but I had things to do on Sunday.
That is, very nearly, the end of the season with just the Nationals weekends in Sheffield to go. We've finished the league games, we've had Varsity, we're shifting to "summer ice" open practices, and even had the very last "S&C" gym session on Thursday this week. Some people will graduate and leave soon, and I will miss them so much, but I am so grateful for this university season and the time I've had with these wonderful people.
Froggy finger puppet. He turned out a bit wonky. The pattern just had a single line for the mouth but I gave it an open mouth with a tongue. The pattern came from the finger puppet book I got recently. Lately I've been visiting reddit and checking out their crochet subreddits and finding all kinds of neat stuff that people have done, along with tips and tricks. Inspiring. I found a pattern for a chicken made from 2 granny squares that I want to make next.
Last night I had a prickly place on my neck. I thought that somehow the necklaces that I always wear must have been pinching me and didn't worry about it. Then this morning I see I had a tick drilling into me there. I got it off before it started to fill up. It seemed to be dead. Damn ticks.
A busy day today. OA, shopping, house cleaning and some cooking. Tomorrow we're going to have Sunday dinner here after having gone a month without. We had to cancel because of weather one weekend and then because of sickness another time.
I didn't realize that yesterday was the actual equinox. I usually think of it as always being on the 21st. Yay! Spring is officially here.
I mentioned in the previous post that I couldn't hear the bell post-strike vibrations on the new BTS album. Someone online suggested headphones. Yup, there it is, for more than a minute. My headphones are five years old and have some problems, but they worked for this.
The AHA tweeted that the song "Body to Body" is the right tempo for hands-only CPR. In my mind, "Staying Alive" is going to continue as the best choice. I re-upped my certification last year, but I hope I never actually need it.
I have been very lazy about posting here and regretful about it. I have been posting a little more often on tumblr, because the UI has been good to upload pictures of various things I did in the real world. I plan to eventually cross-post here, but it will take me a little time.
With tumblr's recent tomfoolery last week, it makes me aware that I do really want to be more active on this site and maybe to dust off trying to use pillowfort at least as a backup. I also am enchanted by the idea of having my own little webpage that is a bit more than my carrd, but I am not sure which platform I want to use. I did have a neocities account, but I feel like it's a little above my ability to envision what I want. I do know very basic stuff about HTML and CSS such that I can at least search my way through W3 School or whatever and figure out how to edit stuff, but I am not a designer without a base underneath. I have a carrd premium account because it's so cheap, but I'm not sure if it's too limited.
Thursday was the Closing Ceremony for my first full school year at the school where I currently teach. I'm proud of myself and my kids, and it's a bit bittersweet. Of course, it is a bit strange given that I will see a lot of them again in about three weeks. I have most days off between now and April 1, but I do have training on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
I've been mostly lying in bed too much today and eating, but I have spent a few little bursts of 15-20 minutes tidying things yesterday and today, so that has been good. I have an appointment to go get my hair worked on tomorrow, but I'm still a little nervous and less sure of what I want than some previous efforts.
Last year, after my participation in Dragon Age Big Bang, I kind of stopped writing much for a long time. I spent so much time trying to get it to work and be solid, despite stress and life transitions, and then it never really got any readership except for my challenge assigned beta and artist, and it was a real kick to morale. I knew it was a rare pair, so I didn't need a lot of interaction, but it just felt like it wasn't actually for anyone, such that I kind of stopped thinking about it at all afterward and got a sort of sour taste in my mouth.
I'm participating in DABB again, but I am doing something much more safe and less ambitious, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't largely because I've remained in the community for this whole time, and they're a good group of people to hang around.
I am working on my Death Note fic, but I slowed down for about a week and a half due to end of term documentation pressures, headaches, and general malaise, but any mental malaise was mostly secondary, temporary, hormonal.
I played the recent limited event on Genshin Impact that had a lot of Mondstadt early content nostalgia, plus some character development, and I really enjoyed doing that. I also have, frankly, so many years of content to cover in Genshin that I honestly worry sometimes if I will somehow end up not finishing it before End of Service at whatever undefined point in the future, though I imagine they won't have any reason to do that until a few years after the story is completely finished, which is coming but not immediately. Star Rail is newer but still kind of daunting. Less so, though.
So, in general, I feel no particular compulsion to ever get into new video games.
However.
Recently, something alarming happened. I shared this post with a friend. I was under the impression that maybe Leon, in this context, was a Dead by Daylight specific character, but I was very vaguely familiar with Leon Kennedy from internet osmosis and being shown this video a long time ago:
My friend confirmed that Leon DBD was a guest character but was, in fact, Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil). My friend is a cishet guy, but he does like Leon a lot and is delighted by how the internet won't stop thirsting for him. Conversations indulging that apparently he had more of an interest in Resident Evil than I ever knew about have infected me with a blorbo-in-law infection, so I am at least vaguely considering laying RE2 and RE4 remake eventually for Leon. The thing I bought today on the Steam sale is a bundle of the two earlier remake games, so I may or may not install RE3 and play it too if I get into it. I'm a little worried that it'll be too hard or fussy for me to play, since I'm not a very skilled gamer, but I am... compelled.
I also have just been picking through the AO3 tag.
And finally, I went to see Wicked: For Good in the theater yesterday since it is finally in Japanese theaters.
I enjoyed it a lot and cried during the titular song a fair bit. I actually am surprised at how there were things about the story I didn't actually know without having seen it performed even though I knew the original Broadway soundtrack since my teens by being a teen sometimes-theater / lefty / queer kid.
tw: mention of eating disorders -- I know that during the press tour I would see all these pictures of Ariana and Cynthia and saw a lot of concern about how thin they both are and how this felt kind of like a weird symptom of American conservative and fascist leanings in the zeitgeist. I still don't know what to say about that. However, I will say that after actually watching it that one of the new, original songs for the movie, "No Place Like Home" felt pleasantly political, especially when listening back after the movie without the dialogue and context dispersed in.
Also, I am usually an Elphaba type even though I like the character relationships a lot. I get most excited when Elphaba is the lead in any scene for the character, the vibe, and the fact that her vocal part is easier for me to follow, but I feel like Ariana really surprised me with how well she did in this particular scene. It's haunting me.
Though it is, I admit, the tiniest bit unlike I anticipated / But I couldn't be happier, simply couldn't be happier / Well, not simply, 'cause getting your dreams / It's strange, but it seems a little, well... complicated / There's a kind of a sort of cost / There's a couple of things get lost / There are bridges you cross / You didn't know you crossed until you crossed / And if that joy, that thrill / Doesn't thrill like you think it will / Still, with this perfect finale / The cheers and the bally-hoo / Who wouldn't be happier? / So, I couldn't be happier / Because happy is what happens / When all your dreams come true
Kills me.
I also adore how Fiyero obviously cares about Glinda to the point that "of course he would marry her if it makes her happy" even though he's miserable without their third and really just wants both of them to run away and go find their missing girlfriend. Thropple canon in my heart.
I also watched the first episode of Frieren yesterday. Best friend asked me to. I really liked it.
I wish there were more energy and hours in the day for my various enthusiasms.
* Where can you buy soup in bulk? The stock market. * What’s brown and sticky? A stick. * Why do bees have sticky hair? They use honeycombs. * Sea monsters have been known to eat what? Fish and ships. * What do you call a vicar who becomes a lawyer? A father-in-law. * What kind of cheese doesn't belong to you? Nacho cheese. * How did the phone propose to his girlfriend? He gave her a ring.
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