Culture consumed
May. 6th, 2020 06:46 pmA 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:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
historium because I've been way too inactive there lately and people should know about this.
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.
