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I'm running and I won't touch ground
Apr. 6th, 2024 03:29 pmI'm writing my usual weekend post today, instead of Sunday, because I'm likely to be too busy and tired to write anything substantial tomorrow, for reasons that will soon become apparent. This weekend is an unusually busy one for me, after an uncharacteristically tiring work week, and I feel as if I've barely had time to catch a breath.
Last night, Matthias and I went to an '80s silent disco in the cathedral. We'd done something similar nine months ago (that was a '90s music silent disco though), and enjoyed thing so much we were very happy to go again, and spent a delightful three hours dancing to (and screaming along with the lyrics of) three hours' worth of '80s cheese. As before, the headsets came with three channels, one per dj — broadly separated into rock, pop, and hip hop — and a good time was had by all. I always feel a bit weird about these events being held in a beautiful, massive medieval cathedral that is still a house of worship (they sell alcohol, etc), but since I'm not a Christian it's not really my call. There's going to be a follow-up event in September with '80s, '90s and noughties music, and I'll definitely go to that.
We were supposed to be heading into London today (via a very convoluted, time-consuming route due to trackwork on the railway line) for a gig — Swedish industrial electro singer Rein — but last night we were notified that the concert was postponed, which to be honest was a bit of a relief, since going from the silent disco one night to live music the next followed by a tiring Sunday is too much for me these days. We saw Rein live in the same venue five years ago — a tiny nightclub inside a former industrial warehouse in Islington — and hopefully we'll be able to see her again at a rescheduled event later in the year.
So instead my Saturday has been a bit more low-key: I cleaned the garden furniture and outdoor windowsills, I went into the market to shop for fruit and vegetables, and I lay around in bed finishing off a book. Now I'm cooking risotto and pottering around on Dreamwidth, and feel a bit more recharged.
Tomorrow, Matthias and I are heading off on another walk with our friends and their walking group, who generally do a hike in a different place once a month. We've only been to two walks with them so far, and have enjoyed it a lot. It's not particularly strenuous, since everything is local (and the landscape here is extremely flat) and the group tends to walk slowly and stop a lot, but it's nice to be outdoors and doing things with other people, and I always feel great afterwards.
I've finished one book so far this weekend: Scarlet (Genevieve Cogman), which was undemanding and silly. I admire the author's chutzpah in writing the vampire AU, Mary Sue Scarlet Pimpernel fanfic of her wildest dreams, and then getting Tor to publish it. That description really does sum the book up — the author is clearly having a great time, and as long as you're prepared to switch off your brain in relation to some of the more ludicrous elements (and to the fact that Cogman clearly thinks she's critiquing some of the issues inherent in the premise of her book's source material, when she really only does so in a halfhearted way), it's quite a lot of fun.
Finally, a couple of links:
As is often the case, Marie Le Conte's recent post about being an immigrant really spoke to me.
'Live your life so that the good folks at Bellingcat won't have cause to spend a lot of effort geolocating you through photos of the reflection of the back of your head in hospitality venues' social media posts' would seem to me to be a sensible admonition. I mean, on the one hand I admire the work Bellingcat does immensely ... and on the other, it's kind of terrifying.
And on that note, I will draw this post to a close, and go and check on my risotto.
Last night, Matthias and I went to an '80s silent disco in the cathedral. We'd done something similar nine months ago (that was a '90s music silent disco though), and enjoyed thing so much we were very happy to go again, and spent a delightful three hours dancing to (and screaming along with the lyrics of) three hours' worth of '80s cheese. As before, the headsets came with three channels, one per dj — broadly separated into rock, pop, and hip hop — and a good time was had by all. I always feel a bit weird about these events being held in a beautiful, massive medieval cathedral that is still a house of worship (they sell alcohol, etc), but since I'm not a Christian it's not really my call. There's going to be a follow-up event in September with '80s, '90s and noughties music, and I'll definitely go to that.
We were supposed to be heading into London today (via a very convoluted, time-consuming route due to trackwork on the railway line) for a gig — Swedish industrial electro singer Rein — but last night we were notified that the concert was postponed, which to be honest was a bit of a relief, since going from the silent disco one night to live music the next followed by a tiring Sunday is too much for me these days. We saw Rein live in the same venue five years ago — a tiny nightclub inside a former industrial warehouse in Islington — and hopefully we'll be able to see her again at a rescheduled event later in the year.
So instead my Saturday has been a bit more low-key: I cleaned the garden furniture and outdoor windowsills, I went into the market to shop for fruit and vegetables, and I lay around in bed finishing off a book. Now I'm cooking risotto and pottering around on Dreamwidth, and feel a bit more recharged.
Tomorrow, Matthias and I are heading off on another walk with our friends and their walking group, who generally do a hike in a different place once a month. We've only been to two walks with them so far, and have enjoyed it a lot. It's not particularly strenuous, since everything is local (and the landscape here is extremely flat) and the group tends to walk slowly and stop a lot, but it's nice to be outdoors and doing things with other people, and I always feel great afterwards.
I've finished one book so far this weekend: Scarlet (Genevieve Cogman), which was undemanding and silly. I admire the author's chutzpah in writing the vampire AU, Mary Sue Scarlet Pimpernel fanfic of her wildest dreams, and then getting Tor to publish it. That description really does sum the book up — the author is clearly having a great time, and as long as you're prepared to switch off your brain in relation to some of the more ludicrous elements (and to the fact that Cogman clearly thinks she's critiquing some of the issues inherent in the premise of her book's source material, when she really only does so in a halfhearted way), it's quite a lot of fun.
Finally, a couple of links:
As is often the case, Marie Le Conte's recent post about being an immigrant really spoke to me.
Perhaps most importantly, “roots” can mean different things to different people. Some trees will have few of them but they will burrow deep into the soil to find what they need. Others will stay near the surface but spread and spread. Everyone does what they can, and as they must, in order to keep going.
Insinuating that people who have moved around a lot have less interest in sincere human connection and the places they live in is both offensive and missing the mark entirely. I couldn’t pretend to speak for everyone whose life has been similar to mine, of course, but I’d argue it’s the opposite.
'Live your life so that the good folks at Bellingcat won't have cause to spend a lot of effort geolocating you through photos of the reflection of the back of your head in hospitality venues' social media posts' would seem to me to be a sensible admonition. I mean, on the one hand I admire the work Bellingcat does immensely ... and on the other, it's kind of terrifying.
And on that note, I will draw this post to a close, and go and check on my risotto.