Culture consumed

[auroracloud]

A note: sorry I'm taking quite a while replying to all the character meme prompts - I will get to them! Just turns out I'm a bit slow at doing it, and lately I've had a lot of RL things going on. Not in a bad way, just in the "have a lot to do" kind of way.

But let's try to do the culture consumed thingie now! On a Wednesday, too, so it sort of replaces the Reading Wednesday thing which I almost never managed to do on Wednesdays anyway!

Books

Good news - I'm starting to be able to read again! Still slower than I'm used to - or rather, for shorter periods of time, which makes my speed slower overall - but it's not a hardship and doesn't make me tense like mad and I'm able to enjoy it and even lose myself into it for bits of time! This is such a relief, though I still feel vague sense of inferiority when I see other people speed through tons of books or rejoice about the prospect of libraries reopening (I've finished only a few out of the literally dozens of books I have checked out from the library). I know it makes no sense whatsoever to feel bad about it, we all deal with stress and upheaval in different ways, but reading's been tied to my identity and sense of self for so long that this is seriously weird.

I haven't finished anything new yet since the last post, but that's partly because most of my reading time has gone to The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, which is a 700-800-900 page brick of a book depending on the edition. (I have it on e-book, which makes it less literally heavy reading.) I've been really loving it. It took me some time to get properly into it - it really got me rolling some time after the 30 % mark - but I don't know if that has anything to do with the book itself or if it's only because I was trying to read too many books with return-by deadlines at the same time, and then my reading crisis started.

But anyway, I'm really loving this chance to read a sweeping epic fantasy that's really female-centric and also super queer. And I just read a positively swoon-worthy chapter...

I'm also reading the Finnish YA fantasy book I probably mentioned in my last post. It's been going okay, though I feel like I'm not in as much of a YA reading mindset as I used to be. Enjoying the chance to read well-written fiction in my own language, though. I've also been reading some non-fiction about space, For Reasons.

Podcasts

In drama podcasts, the most attention-consuming has been Wolf 359. I first finished listening to the mid-S3 minisodes - one of which gave me a terrible trash ship, meep. Then I went rather quickly through the second half of S3, which was hella intense and, at certain points, devastating. And of course once again ended on a note that makes me want to know WTF is going on, but I am going to need a breather before I proceed to the fourth (and final) season. But I'm pretty solidly a fan of the show by now, even if it sometimes likes trampling on the pieces of my tiny fragile heart.

On more comforting note, I've sped through my re-listen of S1 of The Strange Case of the Starship Iris. Am in the middle of listening to episode 7. I've been re-listening to the Far Meridian more slowly, because this part (early S2) is pretty intense stuff emotionally. On the first time around I went through the first half of S2 really quickly because I needed to see if Peri got reunited with (*SPOILER REDACTED*) but now that I know what's going to happen anyway, I've been taking the time with the relationships she's going going on in this point.

With the Penumbra Podcast, I've started on Juno Steel and the Monster's Reflection, but it's not the lightest of episodes, so I'm taking care not to go through it too fast. Really intense and good so far, though.

In non-fiction podcasts, my steady weekly ones continue: hrj's Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast, Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay, and whichever of Be the Serpent or Worldbuilding for Masochists is releasing each week. Though I haven't yet listened to this week's Be the Serpent, because I'm currently, excitingly, Actually Not At Home. Saving it for when I am and need to listen to chatter by familiar-sounding people. I've also enjoyed the recent episodes of a Finnish musical theatre podcast I listen to; because theatres are closed for this spring, the hosts decided to spread cheer by asking listeners to send in good things they want to say to people involved in theatre/musicals, whether it's actors, directors, translators, costume and set designers, other fans, etc. And a selection of those things have been read out loud on the show, and it's been super nice and feel-good.

Also, though I've otherwise had to stay away from Doctor Who podcasts for Complicated Feelings About the Finale reasons, I listened to the recent Verity! episode about Doctor Who quarantine houses, and that was very fun and cheerful.

TV & Other media

I've continued watching Gentleman Jack and enjoying it. Though I'm awfully slow - one of the reasons I don't often pay for streaming services. It's generally cheaper for me to buy a DVD, but an occasional streaming service for a bit helps me check out new shows. I haven't yet got back to watching His Dark Materials, because I'm not sure how well I'll handle the darkness, but I do want to continue at some point.

I feel kinda bad sometimes that despite the outpouring of free streamings of culture content that has been coming from everywhere, I've barely been able to get myself to watch any of them, other than a couple of brief impro livestreams involving an actor I like. But recently I managed to listen to most of the Finnish National Opera's Great Choir Gala that became available on their video service on the eve of the May Day (I stopped when they reached depressing Finnish opera choir songs - other operas may also have depressing songs, but I understand the Finnish lyrics better even when operatically sung...). And I watched the first act of Mozart - l'Opéra Rock, a French musical about Mozart, which I've seen once before but now have my own copy of the DVD. I meant to watch the whole thing, but started too late and haven't yet got around to continuing. It's very glittery and fabulous, and when I'm done watching I'll have to try to do a fandom promo thing on historium because I've been way too inactive there lately and people should know about this.

Comments

[smallhobbit]

I was really excited at all the free cultural stuff, but then discovered that there wasn't the time for it, because I don't really have that much extra time available, so I've had to be restrictive and just enjoy certain things rather than try to do everything.

[auroracloud]

Now that you say it, yeah, that's a part of my thing, too. My everyday life hasn't changed drastically, I'm just spending less time travelling to places for my hobbies and instead doing them in my living room, and I'm spending more time online / on social media because that's the only way to get interaction with people I know. And I already started out having less bandwidth for cultural performances and such than I used to have, because of reasons. Add to that the fact that I've been more anxious than normal and suffering from the lack of social interaction and have to spend more time and energy keeping my health and sanity intact, it's probably not surprising I'm not getting to enjoy the free cultural stuff much.

[trobadora]

Good news - I'm starting to be able to read again!

Yay! That's excellent news. :D

I feel kinda bad sometimes that despite the outpouring of free streamings of culture content that has been coming from everywhere, I've barely been able to get myself to watch any of them, other than a couple of brief impro livestreams involving an actor I like.

Heh. I haven't had time to look at any of it - I can't even find the time to continue with the show I was already watching ... I want some of that extra time everyone's talking about, too, dammit. *grumbles*

[auroracloud]

Yes, it's definitely good to be able to read and enjoy it again! :-)

I want some of that extra time everyone's talking about, too, dammit. *grumbles*

Yeah, that's one thing with this situation, too - the general discussion is as if everyone's suddenly got tons of extra free time, but many people who still have to work are even more busy in the current situation. Another group that also doesn't have extra free time is parents of young children who also have to work from home - doing that and trying to homeschool the kids (because I can't imagine really young children are able to learn remotely that well, they're bound to need extra parental support when the teachers aren't in the same space) or just make sure they've got something to do... Bound to be super stressful.

[trobadora]

100% agreed. And that's not even getting into the professions where both work and risk really amped up - I can't imagine how they feel about these assumptions.

[auroracloud]

Yeah, I can't imagine either...

[thisbluespirit]

Aww. *sends hugs for feeling bad about reading* (I thought at one point I might never read properly again and as a librarian and lifelong bookworm, I know exactly what you mean about it also erasing a part of your identity. Not funny! But it happens. I'm glad it's beginning to unhappen for you. ♥)

Speaking of which, The Priory of the Orange Tree sounds lovely and I have now put it on my ever-growing wishlist.

[auroracloud]

*hugshugs* Thank you. And yeah, it's really distressing when you've always been a reader and then suddenly you... aren't. I'm glad that you also got over your phase of reading difficulties. *hugs* ♥

I definitely recommend giving The Priory of the Orange Tree a try! Can't promise it's everyone's cup of tea - I've seen very varied responses to it - but if you're not deterred by the page count and the epic fantasy genre, that's already a good sign. :-) It originally came to my attention from lists of "upcoming fantasy books with f/f content" but that's just one aspect of it, it's good for anyone who'd like their epic fantasy to be centred around women and also have amazing worldbuilding. I feel like you'd also appreciate the worldbuilding as a history geek - I get the impression that the author must have read widely into cultural and social history of different times and places, not like she's necessarily taking things straight from our history, but knows enough about how things have been done in different times to be able to create credible culture and everyday details in her book's world.

[thisbluespirit]

It sounds like it could be my kind of thing! Weirdly, really long books have had a better track record for playing well with my concentration than many shorter ones. (I suppose, once you've made the effort of adjusting to it, there's a lot of rewards to that to come, if it's good? Idk.)

*hugshugs* Thank you. And yeah, it's really distressing when you've always been a reader and then suddenly you... aren't. I'm glad that you also got over your phase of reading difficulties.

It's not over yet, but it's definitely more workable, and for that I am grateful!

[merit]

I've also moved away from YA - I love some of the ideas explored! just... I only read so much about teenagers. There's also authors who do it 'better' in my mind so I tend to restrict my YA reading these days are getting burned a few times.

[auroracloud]

Yeah, that's probably partly it - I'm getting a bit tired of reading about teenagers, the older I get. Not that it can't be relevant to older audiences, but I'd like to see more often that also people older than 25 and especially older than 30 (let alone more) are worth telling stories about as well, and those stories are starting to resonate more with me. I don't want to be one of those people who think YA books are only for teenagers and adults can't find anything worthy of them, but at the same time, it makes sense that even if I was super into YA in my twenties, in my late thirties I'm ten years farther removed from my own teenage years, and different ways of looking at and being in the world are starting to resonate more.

♥

[foreverdawning]

In drama podcasts, the most attention-consuming has been Wolf 359.
I don't even really listen to podcasts (I tend to just read transcripts) but I love Wolf 359. I'm still on the first season since I have the attention span of a dying goldfish but I'm steadily working through it.

I really enjoyed Gentleman Jack a lot. She's such an abrasive person, it was nice to see it play out on the screen. I could tell they really read her diaries and used that as a blueprint for the show.

Re: ♥

[auroracloud]

Ah, first season, oh that cheerful time of innocence... mostly. Though one of the fascinating things has been to see how the story has been built from the start, even if in the beginning the tone was a lot lighter than it will be later. But it's consistently really, really good. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have! And it's probably a good one for short attention spans, since things keep moving, and the episodes aren't super-long even if they're long enough to develop whatever story's in them, and there's always something entertaining - if nothing else then at least Eiffel quipping and making weird pop culture references. How far into S1 are you?

I really love that Gentleman Jack portrays Anne Lister as such an abrasive, imperfect person while also someone we want to keep following. Women aren't often allowed to be so flawed and at times frustrating when they're leading characters on TV.

Re: ♥

[foreverdawning]

Wolf 359 I'm only on episode 7. And that took me several months to get there lol so it'll be awhile before I get to the heavy stuff I've been promised so many times.

And I'm so glad you agree with me about Anne Lister. She really is an interesting character and her being so unappealing and abrasive on the surface level makes the audience dig a bit more into her personality and find a bit more satisfaction when we see her softer side.

[tinny]

I feel the same about a lot of people going "oh whatever should we do to pass the time" - I have way too much to do. Or too little concentration to accomplish the things I have to do, who knows. Just saying: you're not alone.

It's definitely nothing to feel bad about.