Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

I've been so wrapped up in the neverending "must be done"s and "ought to get done"s that I've long since written off the "enjoy doing"s... and that's not right.

So I'm making an effort to spend not just a little time doing the things I enjoy, but putting them on the schedule as a high priority. There is little in my life that HAS HAS HAS to be done on a schedule anymore - there's no cosmic difference in my life if, say, I set up the new laptop today, tomorrow, or Wednesday. I need to do it soon, yes (this one is dying of cat hair and entropy at a high rate) but I don't actually need to do it *now.*

So I'm making a point that on the weekends I take the time to:
- read a chapter of a book. A whole chapter, all at once... and that this feels dangerous and slothful is, frankly, appalling.
- Spend significant time crafting. This can be knitting, sewing, quilting (even mending will count, I think, just to get the mending done) but Accomplish Something With My Hands
- Listen to a podcast or Big Finish. I'm about 3 behind on my Big Finishes and my podcast backlog is in the hundreds (recs at the end of this post)

The other day one of my actual chores was to sew a Jane Austen logo onto a second-hand purse so I'd have something appropriate for the upcoming Janeite convention, and I was sitting there, podcast and sewing machine running, thinking "I'm happy. I like this. Whyyyyyyyyyy did I ever stop?"

So... I won't stop. There's no damn reason on the face of this earth why I can't give myself the same happy time at least once a week.

So, podcasts. My backlog is in the hundreds because I'm now listening to quite a few. If you have an iphone, I recommend PodCruncher as opposed to the native bullshit app, but there is a learning curve and they haven't updated it to properly fit the size of the screen past iphone 5. Still, once I got the hang of it, I really enjoy using it.

Podcasts I listen to always:
- Staggering Stories (fannish news & chatter. ~1 hour to 90 minutes; Doctor Who predominates)
- Welcome to Night Vale (fiction. 30 minutes; NPR from the Twilight Zone)
- Stuff You Missed in History Class (history all eras. ~30 minutes; The vast bulk of my backlog is downloads of the last 3 years of this one)
- Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited (nonfiction. ~30 minutes; a must-listen for theater, history, and Shakespeare nerds)
- Within the Wires (fiction. ~30 minutes; the Night Vale folks break out into relaxation tapes for medical prisoners)

Stuff I listen to if I like the topic(s) du jour:
- BBC Comedy of the Week (exactly what it says on the tin. ~30 minutes)
- BBC Drama of the Week (see above)
- Big Finish Podcast (Advertising for BF. ~30 minutes)
- the Holmesian trio: Baker Street Babes, Three Patch Podcast, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (all ~1 hour)
- Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast (nonfiction. ~20-40 minutes; theater interviews and Reduced Shakes news)

I'm off Great Detectives of Old Time Radio at the moment simply because Adam isn't running any of the shows I'm interested in. There are still some Ellery Queens and Philip Marlowes in my backlog, though.

And I'm waiting to catch up in Zombies, Run! before I start listening to Podcast Detected, although I know it's out there.

I'm about to test-listen to some food-related podcasts, such as The Salt, A Taste of the Past, Gastropod, Gravy, and Dinner Party Download (episode 356 of which apparently has Doyle at the dinner party).

Archiving two newspaper links


Ruth Bader Ginsburg Presides Over the Divorce Proceedings of Claudio and Hero. (check my Shakespeare tag; I was there for that one.)

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Presides Over Shylock's Appeal In Venice, yet!



The takeaway quote: After about two hours of arguments and about 20 minutes of deliberations, the judges issued a unanimous ruling: To remove the question of the pound of flesh — “We agreed it was a merry sport, and no court would enforce it,” Justice Ginsburg said — to restore Shylock’s property, to restore the 3,000 ducats that he had lent to Antonio, and to nullify the demand of his conversion.


“The conversion was sought by Antonio,” Justice Ginsburg said. “The defendant in the case was decreeing the sanction. I never heard of a defendant in any system turning into a judge as Antonio did.” She added, to laughter, “And finally, after four centuries of delay in seeking payment, we think that Shylock is out of time in asking for interest.”


The court was not unanimous in what to do with Portia. The judges ruled that because Portia was “an impostor,” a “hypocrite” and “a trickster,” she would be sanctioned by having to attend law school at the University of Padua, where one of the judges, Laura Picchio Forlati, taught. Then she would have to pursue a master of laws degree at Wake Forest University, where another of the judges, Richard Schneider, is a professor and dean.

(end quote)

Apparently this production of Merchant (complete with law case) is being held actually in the Jewish ghetto of Venice and once RGB found out about it they more or less would need crosses, garlic, and possibly a small, heavily armed army to keep her from participating. The director's response was basically "Of course, and you say your grandson is an actor? Let's audition him."


In related news, at an otherwise hellacious release party for Cursed Child, I also picked up a book about RGB and Sandra Day O'Connor called Sisters In Law.

So I started to take a survey about Sherlock Holmes fans. By someone who claims to be in touch with the culture and who claims to be doing this under the aegis of a school for academic reasons.

I say "started" because halfway through, with no assurance that I'd get to speak my piece at any point, I quit in outrage. If there is any academic overlooking this project, they need to put down the crack pipe right this minute.

So. Sherlock Holmes survey. No distinguishing between versions of Sherlock Holmes, just "Sherlock Holmes." That's quite the range, considering the books, movies, TV adaptations, radio plays, cartoons, parodies, etc. No, I most certainly do not "feel what the characters are feeling" when I read the Victorian-era stories. In many cases, I feel several of the characters need a clue bat upside the head, is what I feel.

No distinguishing between passively consuming whatever media and fannish participation. I am not a different person because I read Sherlock Holmes or watch Doctor Who. I am a different person because I participate in fan culture overall and that's a MAJOR difference. The actual media drawing me into the culture is negligible and changeable.

No option for "I read the stories because they are entertaining." Seriously, not even an option. Nope, I was asked to choose between the stories making me think, making me meditate upon society, making me reflect on myself as a person and other gobsmacking bullshit. The. Man. Wrote. Potboilers. For. Money. In other bad news for the literary academic, Shakespeare *also* wrote for money and stuffed his work full of dick jokes. Including the tragedies.

When I reached the page that asked me how in touch I was with my feelings, how important I felt it was for me to be in touch with my feelings, whether I thought people in general would be better off in touch with their feelings... well, I thought it was long past time to bail on the bullshit and come vent my feelings instead.

M found termites in a stump and one of her raised plant beds. A stump and raised bed equidistant between the (wooden) house and the (wooden) garage.

So, my doctor put me on a hypertension diet. Actually, she put me on "let's manage this with lifestyle changes" so now I'm also trying to exercise much more regularly (I'm woefully behind on both virtual races and Zombies, Run! missions), meditate and eat better.

Thing is, after lowering salt and adding more fresh fruit and greens, I've basically been sitting around going "Ummmm." And looking at my scary cookbook collection and going "Errrrr."

So I decided to join Blue Apron and have them throw food at me. This is in addition to being part of the Rancho Gordo bean club and halfsies in the farm share M has. As most of the Blue Apron recipes are far too high sodium for me to follow completely, expect a Blue Apron Hack tag to start showing up here.

I'm still going "um" a lot, but less so when my choices are being mostly made for me. When anything can be done, it's too much to focus on. When there's a specific set of food, then it's an interesting challenge to see what I can do.

In all the "figure out what to cook," and "figure out what to do with my career" (suffice it to say that I need to retrain ASAP), I wanted a nice, no stress surprise too.

So I signed up for a year of the Fandom of the Month Club. It's a small consortium of independent artists with gloriously nerdy names (Half Blood Prints; Geeky Cauldron) which provides a magnet, a drawstring baggie, and some jewelry/wearables for a random fandom per month. (They pick, not you)

Because they pick and not you, I was a little worried that I'd get something uninteresting and while statistically that is inevitable, my very first box was my very first fandom - Narnia! The bag had Reepicheep on it (my favorite character), and inside it was a lion magnet, lion earrings, a bracelet with details of each of the book covers (in Narnian chronological order) and a stunning bronze locket of the wardrobe door. When you open it, there's a tiny portrait of a lamppost in a snowy wood.

I couldn't be more delighted, especially as everything except the Reepicheep bag is subtle enough that I could wear it to work if I chose (and I do choose to wear the bracelet; you have to be very close to recognize what it is). It's perhaps 44 years too late for maximum over-the-moon squee, but overall an excellent omen for my relationship with the little cardboard box printed with an owl.

The teaser for next month's box is a black and white brocade headband with a bright yellow smiley face scrawled on it. I can't wait.

WHY is it so hard just to get a list of foods recommended for the DASH diet? I can find plenty of fnur fnur fnur about how it's the Bestest Diet EVAR and also plenty of "here, eat from this rigid menu of premade choices you'd rather starve than eat" and even tons of "this recipe is totes DASH-friendly, I promise" but Not! One! Friggin! Word! about what foods I can make my own menus and recipes from.

Thanks, but I don't do artificial sweetner artificial flavored shit, and is olive oil on the okay list or not? Because I don't fucking roast my vegetables in salad dressing for fuck's sake, yet THAT is the fat I keep being reassured I can eat in small amounts. (What in buggery fuck is premade salad dressing even doing on a hypertension diet, has anyone writing the advice LOOKED at the sodium content?)

Bullshit like this is why my blood pressure is rocketing, I swear.

The theme for the new year appears to be "surprise me." Or possibly I just want some nice surprises counterbalancing some not-so-nice ones.

This started with M joining one of those farm co-ops, which took me instantly from "yeah, yeah, I'll get around to cooking new things eventually" to "you gotta do something with that stuff before it goes bad."

The one I may or may not regret is joining The Fandom of the Month Club, which packages up a magnet, silkscreened bag, postcard, and some jewelry for, well, the fandom of the month. Which is a surprise. I missed the Snape memorial box, but am very curious to see what I'll get.

I hope I don't end up with a bunch of things I need to find new homes for...

In the rest of the state of the Nea, still doing virtual races, getting sucked into Zombies, Run!, and wondering how to balance taking it easy on myself with getting things done with the fact that some chores really must happen on a regular schedule.

Here's one for the hive mind to ponder: is there any reason why I should not start eating peanut butter and banana on whole grain sandwiches washed down with milk for breakfast? It's got grains, protein, potassium (twice), calcium, and making it requires no prep, no cooking, no reheating.

Last night there was a fire at the Book Thing. Russell, the owner, estimated that there had been 200,000 books in stock; now an unknown number have been either burned, scorched, or soaked. Part of the warehouse has collapsed.

And damn if this weekend he isn't planning on hauling all of the still readable books out into the parking lot so people can have them. For free.

PLEASE DONATE IF YOU CAN The website bookthing.org has a "Donate" link. (It has not been updated for the fire, but local papers have picked up the story.

I feel bereft and a little lost. I know that Russell has pledged to rebuild, and I will do everything in my power to help. But... there are 3 boxes and 4 bags of books in my trunk right now because I'd planned on going on Saturday.

If you want to make popcorn and watch the crazy, Malheur is the gift that keeps on giving. I just finished listening to all of both live feeds today (and those are some brain cells I will never get back.) I think the part that impressed me most was how often their paranoid fantasies of persecution went so far they freaked *each other* out and someone would have to stop and talk the others down. As soon as one martyrbation fantasy was shot down, it was off to the next one without a break in step. They're gonna shoot us in the dark! They're gonna shoot us when we surrender! They're gonna grab my wife by the hair and beat the shit out of her just 'cause!

And then we find out that their shitting all over what's actually important while they act out their delusions of significance wasn't just metaphorical.

Now, this, where the govt is being sued for 666 billion by someone who thinks that all the courts, the government, and everybody and their dog is colluding against her and her part in the occupation. The linked article links in turn to the 8-page filing and wow. Juuuuuuuuuuust... wow.

In accordance with the rules of professional conduct, the code of judicial ethics and the laws that prevent judges from sitting on cases that they have a direct interest in, I am objecting to each and every judge who is a state or federal Bar Association member from presiding over my case. I am lawfully entitled to have a fair and impartial judge, and effective council and I will settle for no less. I am reserving my right to have assistance from my "Next Friends"