I have been neglecting this little blog, and I am going to from here on out make an effort to do enough so that I have something to actually write a blog post about. My life for a little while was fully focused on doing my last-minute graduate school applications (most of which were completed before the deadline, rather than directly on the deadline - I consider this a large accomplishment, as a lifelong procrastinator), and now it is focused on job hunting (slim pickings in the late winter, but things are looking up). Winter is, unfortunately, still around. The sun peeks out occasionally, only to be wrestled back into place by a sprinkling of snow. (I saw a job posting recently that said "Located in sunny Pittsburgh!", and I said aloud, On what planet?!) In 2016, I was the fortunate recipient of a fellowship that enabled me to attend a two-week artists' residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. While I was there, I think I'd become stuck on a piece, or something like that - I was talking to another artist that was in residence, and she said, "That's how it is. In the swamp, out of the swamp." So I have been in the swamp, and out of the swamp, and then back in. (Today I am definitely IN the swamp.) Since I am in the swamp, I am going to kind of turn this into a catchall of things I have been into recently, rather than just focusing on one or two things. BOOKS Here's what I have read recently and enjoyed: Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson. My friend from divinity school, Heather, sent this to me around Christmas. (Heather is really wonderful - here's a lovely sermon she wrote and gave at div school, if you're interested.) What I have been doing lately is just plunging straight into things without reading anything about them in advance. Then, when people ask me about them, I hesitate to give away the whole story, because I want them to be surprised, too. Nothing to See Here is a story of two friends. It takes place in an entirely realistic world, with one exception: there are children who catch on fire. (I don't even want to tell people that much.) It's very funny, and I read it very quickly. I've passed it along to friends, as well. I wound up taking it with me on the bus ride to see Carmen Maria Machado give a talk, since I was cranky that day and needed something to cheer me up, and this definitely did the job. Someone I'm close to recommended The Starless Sea, by Erin Morganstern. I've been telling everyone I know to get into it, even though no one listens to me. It was just wonderful, clever, fantastic. It is almost five hundred pages long, and I finished it in one night. I even got up after attempting to go to sleep and just read the last hundred pages. In keeping with my minimal discussion of what this book is actually about, the first two chapters are different stories. Then the third chapter is the person in the second story reading about themselves. The adventure begins there. And it's a wonderful adventure. I just went to the library and picked up the entire Pax Arcana series by Elliott James. I recommend these to everyone I know that likes urban fantasy, with two caveats in place: the first being that this series is very action-heavy and Manly, but in a good way, and the second is that if they do not like these books to please not tell me, because I like them so much that if someone did not like them it would hurt my feelins. This is one of the few books out there that I would love to see a movie or TV show come out of it, but honestly movies and TV shows of books are almost always extremely disappointing (I am looking at you, the new It movies, I have never been so let down), so maybe it's for the best that I can just re-read these & not have to be disappointed in some casting director's choices (looking at you, casting director for Doctor Sleep). MOVIES I honestly hate and despise movies for the most part. I do. I don't know why. I do not have the attention span for them, most of them suck, and even if they don't suck, I am still sitting in the theater checking my watch and wondering when I will be released 98% of the time. This was true even for Parasite, which I thought was well-deserving of its Best Picture win and very heavy to sit with afterwards. It is an important film, and obviously my lack of attention span is a reflection on me and my brain, not a reflection on anything else. What I'm saying is that movies are Not For Me, except these movies: I will preface this section by stating that my male celebrity crush is Anthony Hopkins. Oh, honey. HOOOOONNNEEEYYYYY. More on this later. One of my truest friends recommended I therefore watch Thor: Ragnarok, and he found me a link where I could watch it online. The site is one of those sites that is laden with hidden links and tons of ads, so I could not even pause this movie, because clicking near or on the player window opened a new link in a new window. Reader, I did not care. I watched all of Thor: Ragnarok without pausing, and hollered to everyone who would listen to me about how great Thor: Ragnarok was, and then I watched it again the next day on Disney + with my roommate and her boyfriend, who actually listened to me when I told them about how good Thor: Ragnarok was. (This is a rare occurrence.) I loved every moment of it. It's funny, it's action-packed, there is no unnecessary romance garbage, Anthony Hopkins gets to play Tom Hiddleston playing Loki playing Odin. Anthony Hopkins is still hot btw. I didn't realize how old this movie was when I started watching it, so I was taken by surprise at the Stan Lee cameo - this was filmed before he passed away, and it was nice to see him. Apparently this movie is funny and none of the other Thor films are, which is a bummer. Thor! Ragnarok! Get into it! SPEAKING of Anthony Hopkins, I recently had a girls' night in with my roommate to re-watch Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's so good. It has always been good and it will always be good. There are very few things about it that I dislike. Possibly nothing. The costume design is phenomenal, Francis Ford Coppola brought in Diamanda Galás just to make unearthly shrieks, and there is only one computer generated special effect in the whole movie. Anthony Hopkins is hot. Oh honey. When I was a teenager I had a book of this movie that I got for free from the bookstore because it was damaged, and I made a collage of Anthony Hopkins for my bedroom wall. I think it involved glow in the dark glitter puffy paint. This is probably more than anyone needs to know. Anyway, I'm going to ease on down the road, and hope that I come out of the swamp soon. Here's to more blog posts in the future.
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AuthorArtist, essayist, divinity school dropout. Here for a good time, not for a long time. Archives
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