rcntly 01

I enjoy reading monthly updates from people I follow (via RSS), they’re always so interesting. So I figured I’d try writing my own. It’ll be good to 1) get me into a regular writing cadence (I want to write more, here and elsewhere, this year), and 2) maybe someone will find mine interesting (jk I don’t think people read this blog). Anyways, let’s give it a try!

general

It’s been a cold, cold start to the year. I’m writing this in the midst of a polar vortex, the past couple of mornings have been sub-zero before wind chill. Brr 🥶. We’ve got a trip to London coming up, which will be great for a variety of reasons, but one of which is warmer weather (I’ll take 30-40s at this point!).

using

I picked up a Uni Jetstream Lite Touch at the end of last year and have been really impressed with it. I like the original Jetstreams, but sometimes the line they put down didn’t feel dark enough. The Jetstream Lite Touch is significantly darker, while being just as smooth. It’s a considerable upgrade to an already great ink.

reading

Decent start to year w.r.t reading. I finished Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Hirada, and The Ferryman and his Wife by Frode Grytten. Both were ok - they were short - which isn’t a bad thing - but both felt a little scattered and maybe trying to do too much within their page counts? Some of the ideas felt crammed in there, not fully fleshed out.

I’m continuing my goal from last year to read more internationally. Last year I read exactly 50% of my books from international (i.e. not American or English/Scottish/Irish) authors. It was a nice challenge¹! It did get me off to a good start reading widely though - the year starts off with a notch for Japan and another for Norway. I’ve read a lot of Japanese lit recently, but Ferryman was my first Norwegian novel since 2020!

watching

We’ve been working our way through some cozy mysteries that have some new episodes - Shakespeare & Hathaway is fast becoming a top favorite, Shetland (though not quite so cozy), and a new series Bookish.

We’re working our way through the Taskmaster backlog now that it’s on youtube - we’re through Series 3, 4, 5, and working on 6. For the most part it’s getting better and better every series. Neat to kind of see it evolve into what it is now.

This is a really interesting talk around AI generated content in Wikipedia. It’s a bleak world out there, but it’s heartening to see such dedicated people working with Wikimedia.

listening

This month has been a lot of the same as before - lots of Dry Cleaning and of course Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Dry Cleaning put out Secret Love this month, but I haven’t given it enough of a listen yet. I’m still stuck on New Long Leg, it’s so good.

And I can’t stop listening to Godspeed, it’s just too good. I’ve spent a lot of time going through recordings on the internet archive, and am particularly fascinated by their 2+ hour long sets around the time of Yanqui U.X.O. Also been watching this (semi-?) pro recording of a 2.45 hour long set in France, in the same era. 40 minute long motherfucker=redeemer, and East Hastings is particularly intense.

Our Side has to Win, the final track on G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! is so hauntingly beautiful. It’s also led me into A Winged Victory for the Sullen, which also create beautiful ambient/drone-y sounds.

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I guess that’s it for now, let’s see if I can keep this up all year long!

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