Through the open door

[dolorosa_12]

This hinge-point is a strange time of year, and I have to admit it's not always a happy one. I tend to feel melancholy on New Year's Eve, and energised and hopeful on New Year's Day, and that was certainly the case this time around. However, Matthias and I saw off 2021 in a comfortable and cozy fashion: sparkling wine, snacks, and watching all three Thor films back-to-back. My opinion of all three hasn't shifted: the first one is cheesy but charming, the second is close to unwatchable, and the third one is glorious, and the best MCU film by some distance.

I've spent today doing what I love most: writing lists, and crossing things off them. I've set up my new bullet journal, I've tidied my workspace in advance of my return to work on Tuesday, and I've been working my way through my to-read list in Goodreads. The latter is something I hate: digital clutter. I prefer to use it as a way to track upcoming publication dates of books by authors whose authorship makes their books an insta-buy for me. What I don't like is having the same (already published) books linger on the to-read list for several years, and so I opened the library catalogue in one tab and worked through the list to see if any of the lingering items were in the public library system. Likewise, I checked if any of the long-term to-read books were available cheaply secondhand. I've dealt with six of the books on the list in this way so far, and I know that several others are in the public library system and I can request them later.

Other than that, Matthias and I have been for a walk, I've been replying to comments on my Yuletide assignment fic, pottering around Dreamwidth, and making a start on this year's snowflake_challenge. If you're interested in participating, it's not too late to do so.



For several years running, I hosted a 1st January post-reveals friending meme for Yuletide participants (and Dreamwidth people in general). I stopped doing this last year after another person who was more widely known in the Yuletide community started hosting their own friending memes. This year, they don't seem to have done so, so if there is interest, please let me know and I'll stick up a friending meme on my journal.

I hope 2022 is treating you all well so far. The daffodil bulbs in our garden are sprouting, and that promise of growth and spring is enough for me today.

Comments

[senmut]

Daffies!

Also, YAY for another person who sees the Thor trilogy the same way I do!

[dolorosa_12]

I'm really looking forward to all the flowers, that's for sure.

Is there any other way to see the Thor trilogy?

[lirazel]

Happy New Year! I hope this is a good one for you!

[dolorosa_12]

Happy new year, and the same to you!

[darkmarcy]

Ah, library websites! Mine has a list function and I have several lists, like a "Request sometime" and "Films by women directors". I have had a GoodReads account for a couple of years and I still find the site baffling :'D

[dolorosa_12]

I generally use Goodreads as a reading log so that I can track and have a record of every book I read, but I also use it to keep track of forthcoming books that I'm likely to want to buy. It sounds as if your library website fulfills all those sorts of functions for you, though.

[darkmarcy]

Yeah, my TBR lists are better off on the library site, but GoodReads is a handy log of books I have read. And I like the yearly data thingy :D!

[falena]

So, I'm not a superhero person and haven't watched most of the Marvel films but I did watch the first Thor one and enjoyed it a lot, you now made me want to suffer through the second just to watch the third, my husband would be happy if I suggested this. Thanks.

I've seen your daffodil pic on IG and love it. It's so full of promise. I hate digital clutter too and should go through my GR to read shelf too. I do it seniregularly to remind myself of what books I thought were worth checking out at certain points in time. I hate it when it's too overgrown, though. Thanks for the reminder.

Mmm, I'm half-tempted to join the Snowflake Challenge but the thing is I'm not an active fandom person ( I don't make anything fannish and I don't participate in fannish communities that much) so I always feel weird doing most of the prompts.Plus January is a busy time of year at work...the one year I tried to do it it was fun, though. Mmm. I'll think on it a while longer.

[dolorosa_12]

It sounds as if we definitely use Goodreads in a similar way — the digital clutter is so stressful.

This is my first time doing Snowflake Challenge, as like you January tends to be a busy time for me. My understanding is that you don't have to write something for every challenge, and it's more about forging a sense of community, so I guess if you feel up to it you shouldn't feel as if you have to produce fanworks or whatever.

I hope you enjoy the Thor films if you decide to watch them. (Or at least enjoy the third one, I can't imagine anyone enjoying the second!)

[merit]

I tend to have two minds about my Goodreads TBR list as I generally agree that having books linger for years is verging on clutter. But this year I did manage to read some books that had lingered there for years so that was a nice feeling to mark them 'read.' Unfortunately, there's so many books being published, I generally don't get around to them in the relevant year.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh indeed, and in fact I find the emphasis on novelty (i.e. that you must focus only on new releases, and a kind of unspoken attitude that reading books published more than two years ago is a signal that one isn't up to date with the bookish conversation) to be kind of annoying. The publication date isn't so important to me — the thing I find irritating is the number of years the books have been on the to-read list, whether they were published in 2021 or 1921!

[umadoshi]

My opinion of all three hasn't shifted: the first one is cheesy but charming, the second is close to unwatchable, and the third one is glorious, and the best MCU film by some distance.

Sounds right to me, yep. *^^* (I'm not 100% sure the third is my absolute favorite MCU film, but it's a top contender if not.)

[dolorosa_12]

It's such a good film!