Extremely quick life update, in bullet point form

[dolorosa_12]

Matthias and I went to London to see Cirque du Soleil's show Ovo. I'm glad we went - I had a wonderful time, and there were a couple of great acts - but overall it was not their best work. I've been watching Cirque shows since I was three years old, so I possibly have overly high standards. It was kind of fun to watch it while sitting near lots of families with small children, because seeing the acts through the children's astonished eyes reminded me of how wonderful it was to see Cirque shows for the very first time.

I've been reading my way through Frances Hardinge's body of work: so far I've read A Face Like Glass, Gullstruck Island, The Lie Tree, A Skinful of Shadows, and Cuckoo Song, and I've been absolutely blown away. They're such intricate, clever books, and so hopeful and healing, all concerned with the dispossessed and powerless, giving them their power back.

Never someone to say no to excessively rules-based stationery, I've gone completely overboard with bullet journalling. I used a bullet journal last year, but in the most basic way (the method outlined in the video on the bullet journal website). This year, I've gone beyond that with complicated habit tracking spreads, a set-up requiring multiple coloured pencils, glue, old origami paper, and a lot of fiddling around. I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it (when I was in high school I had a system of organisation for my exercise books that required different coloured underlining for each day of the week, a complicated way of ruling up every page, and stern opinions as to which kinds of pens I could use for note-taking, so it was probably inevitable that I fell into the post-school iteration in the form of bullet journalling), but I do sometimes dip into the wild world of bullet journal vlogging/blogging and boggle at the excessive, overpriced stationery and the immense amount of work it seems to involve.

I found these two articles about the Salem witch hunt (and also The Crucible, and the modern twisting of the term 'witch hunt') really interesting to read in parallel. The first, by Sarah Monette, is here. The second, by Maria Dahvana Headley, is here, and I came across it via umadoshi.

Comments

[lilysea]

I LOVED A Face Like Glass! ^_^

[kayim]

Ooh, thanks for the links on Salem!

[frayadjacent]

Ah, I read Gullstruck Island a few years ago and loved it. I haven’t read any of her other works but I downloaded a bunch from the library recently. Any standouts for you?

[pax_athena]

I felt the same about Ovo - the pattern I see, for myself, that I like their darker, sadder shows quiet a bit more. Even though my surprising favorite so far, Kurios, wasn't really on the sad side - but also not on the funny the way Ovo was,
And I, too, was sitting next to kids - twin girls of a about 6 or 7, who were there with their grandma and incredibly excited. And seeing them enjoying the show was a joy that also reminded me that maybe I was setting my expectations a bit high.

If you ever feel like talking more about your bullet journalling or making photos, I'd be super curious! Mine is very basic (it does not even fully follow the rules?), but it works for me and I love the flexibility of finding just the right level of elaboration that works for oneself.

[eglantiere]

hardinge is absolutely phenomenal. i have to make breaks between her books because they're very, uh, intense, but each one was a delight.

[scripsi]

I love Hardinge too! Especially A Face Like Glass and A Skinful of Shadows.

I started doing a very basic bullet journal in November and I find the concept very practical. But pretty it ain't.

[luzula]

I loved Cuckoo Song so much! But was not as into Fly By Night, where I thought the writing style distracted me from the story. I do plan to read more of her work, though.