Weekly reading/watching meme

[petronia]

Back on the wagon!

What are you reading/watching now?

Nothing much, actually? Really busy with work, not to mention backlogged on writing projects. Finishing the last story I had left in Unfinished Tales. I need to type up a few excerpts: I know I've talked about it, but I really cannot stop laughing at some of this stuff.

What did you just finish reading/watching?

Books/comics:
Forgot to make a note of Captain Marvel #1-6 the other week. It really is the loveliest book.

I took Kon-Tiki with me to Cuba for beach reading, which was an excellent choice. It turns out that my sister and I have different ideas of what to do on the beach -- she's one of those people who likes lying like a slab in the sun. XD I like to run along the edge of the surf and gather seashells, and stargaze at night -- there were so many stars I was unmoored; spring is my weakest season for pattern recognition, though Leo is easy to find. But I was waking my sister up with these stories about whale sharks and coral reefs. It was also a good follow-up to Beowulf, in the "Scandinavians with vastly underdeveloped senses of self-preservation" category. This year's theme!

Read a bunch of online short fiction and whatnot in the wake of the failed Clarion submission (which is only 1/2 failed, actually, since Clarion West acknowledged reception, which means I've had to worry about it. XD; They respond at the end of the month, so not being bounced yet means... I got the manuscript formatting right? This was by no means a sure thing.) Anyway:

The Heart of a Mouse, by K. J. Bishop (who will have a short story collection out soon; that ought to be worthwhile)
The Glass Essay, by Anne Carson
Annie, by Jehanne Jean-Charles
The Dust Enforcer, by Reza Negarestani
The Man Who Lost The Sea, by Theodore Sturgeon (a reread, due to reccing this story to Anthony Easton off TSJ, and now that I'm poking desultorily at Strange Horizons' archives I see they have it online in its entirety)
86, 87, 88, 89 by Genevieve Valentine (immediately followed her Tumblr, only to promptly forget who this person was)

There was a Cat Valente story in there somewhere. Darned if I can find it again.

Movies/TV:
Nothing, I think?

What will you read/watch next?

Several options here, ensuing on the Thor Heyerdahl.

1) Watch the movie? It was nominated for an Oscar. Not sure whether it's worth the bother of tracking down the Norwegian version, or if I should just wait for the NA theatre release.

2) Look up what the current research says about the topic. Dude was enamoured of his theory to the point that it came across as both compelling and dodgy -- this mysterious red-headed clan that taught astronomy to the Incas and monumental sculpture to the Polynesians. Did they originally sail across the Atlantic, then? Did they accidentally look like Vikings quite a bit? XD A cursory search says archaeologists are still debating how the Easter Island moai were transported, though Heyerdahl's hypothesis is as good as any.

3) Visit the Ancient Peru exhibit at the Fine Arts Museum? What a nice idea.

4) Watch VIKINGS???

BONUS QUESTION: what books/movies did you acquire?

None. We're on a roll. :P

Comments

[troisroyaumes]

Ooh, good luck on Clarion!

S. and I had the same activity split while we were at the beach on Bantayan: he waded out and swam in the waters, while I sat on a sandbar and read my Kindle.

[petronia]

Thank you! I reeeally do not expect anything to come of it, though. XD;

We both swam, and went walking. But I definitely ran around more, and didn't sleep any.

[ayalesca]

"Scandinavians with vastly underdeveloped senses of self-preservation"

This made me curious ... although it is the complete opposite of what you say here ... have you ever read any of the Lake Wobegone canon? XD

[petronia]

No, I have not, though I know of the Lake Woebegon Effect XD and now that I'm poking at the Wiki, I see that it is supposed to be quite close to St. Olaf, which town I'm familiar with from watching A LOT of Golden Girls growing up. XD;

Anyway, David Wondrich noted something about America in his cocktail history book: that there have always been and always will be two interpretations of its promise of freedom, and that in practice, they play out as opposites. The first is that if you work hard and do everything right, you'll achieve The Dream for you and your family. The second is that you can do whatever your heart tells you, and no one has the right to stand in your way or tie you down as you steamroll your way to self-actualization. On TSJ I was writing about The Knife, Bjork, these culturally Scandinavian acts that combine domesticity and wildness/strangeness in their art in a way you don't see elsewhere. My image of Midwestern Scandinavians sits somewhere in this nexus of associations also -- mostly small-town work harders, and then the ones that (as Joan Didion notes in Slouching Toward Bethlehem, which I am reading) chase the dream all the way West into the sea. But not necessary across the sea to Tahiti.

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'd wondered if the "general amnesty" meant your submission made it in after all. Good luck, I'm sure I'll see your name on the list. :)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I... don't actually know anything about a "general amnesty"? XD; Anyway, it may not be a good sign at this point anyway because it turns out they call on the phone for acceptances?

I really don't expect to get in, FTR. I'd give myself a decent chance if my story were the best I could do, but it still needs a couple of drafts to get anywhere close to that. XD; I've picked out a consolation prize to blow my vacation time on though so never fear.