life, news and books
Jul. 20th, 2020 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
howsmyenglishHi! Did you miss me? (don't answer that, that's just a private favorite quote, not a question)
I haven't posted in a while, and it's not that I really feel like posting right now, but I hope that if I start, it might help me get out of this stupor.
The semester was long and hard. But so it was for everyone I know, I'm not alone. Still, in spite of that, it also was very good for me, very productive, insightful, good in terms of my believing in myself as well as other people learning about my strengths. So, all in all, it was really good. But I got so tired in the end that for the first weeks after it ended, I couldn't even think of doing anything. (I still do have a dissertation to finish.) But, you know, now... the semester has been over for two and a half weeks... and yes, I did work during this time: we had exams, which had to be written, sat in on, checked, then everything had to be graded - it did take time, a week in all, probably... But still... I dread mornings, because when I wake up, I need to decide what I will do today, and on the one hand, the decision to laze around is very tempting, on the other, I do need to finally decide to start work again and... well, today I postponed making the decision in favor of writing a post. It is good for me, this writing. I had no idea what I would write about before I began. And look where it got me. Let's see, what else needs to be taken off my chest.
I'm so tired of the news. Those of you who post newsy posts, forgive me for scrolling past them for the most part. You've no idea what my life is like. I live with a news consuming maniac, who never keeps anything to himself. He follows me morning, day and evening, and sometimes late at night, when I read a book in an almost darkness and drink my late night tea, he creeps up behind me and says - all over again! - that he is so angry with our government, because they have no idea what they do, and see, there is another row now, and he just never stops! When I can not take it any longer and say that we have talked about this for about four billion times already and that while he thinks that he's screaming at them, he's actually screaming at me, he calms down a bit, but adds: "sure, I know, but I'm just so angry with our government, they have no idea what they do, and see, there is now another row, because they randomly decide to close things or leave them open while the CoVid numbers keep rising..." and this literally happens every day. Several times a day. And I completely agree, he's right, our government is complete shit and does have no idea, and very much deserves to be protested against, but I'm just absolutely sick of it all. This can not be the only thing I think about day in day out.No. No, it can't. It can't I'm telling you. Aaah! Stop following me! Sorry, let myself go there...
I read a few books! I mean... I read lots of books, but I wanted to share thoughts on a few. Did I mention that I started reading like crazy since the start of lockdown? I actually don't know why it is, but I do read much more than I used to (even though I used to read daily), and this does present a slight problem, because choosing a new book once in a few weeks is much easier than choosing a new book every other day. Still, I manage - this far. When the semester was just over, we went to see some friends and I shared my book-choosing-dilemma with them, so they gave me a book to read.
It was "The Rosie Project" by an author whose name I can't pronounce... wait... here he is: Graeme Simsion. Unbelievably light reading. A really nice choice, if you just need to relax and feel good. Finished it in two days. And it's a bit about the academia. And the best part is - it's a classic "chick flick", written by a man about a man, and the person who loaned it me is a man, too. And I must say, it was so sweet by the end that I needed to read something dark and disturbing afterwards, because I felt sugary and sticky all over.
And so I did: I picked up a book called "Christine Falls" by Benjamin Black. They said it was noir on the cover. I knew it would probably be darker and more disturbing than I am prepared to bear, and... well... so it was. And I really wonder why he had to add that rape scene towards the end. It had no bearing on the story. I felt as if he just - well, wanted to write a rape scene. So he did. Completely unnecessary. I felt traumatized when I finished it. But to be fair, I only turned this way four and something years ago, when my mother died and I found I couldn't bear dark reading or watching any more. I probably wouldn't have felt this bad before March 2016...
But since I did, I was looking for something soothing to read next. And I first tried reading "The Wind in the Willows", which I never read, only watched (yes, I like children's books and films), but it didn't work for me somehow, and it then drew me towards "Smilla and her Sense of Snow". I realized it was another piece of detective fiction (as was "Christine Falls") only after I started and already liked the first-person narrator and the pace of the book, so I cautiously keep reading... in the hope it won't traumatize me more...
PS: guess what, the world must have felt that I got out of hiding - while I've been writing this, several colleagues wrote with some work-related stuff, including our head of section asking me whether I'd agree for them to ask for a special permission for me to teach on campus next semester. I commute. It takes me three hours to get to campus, using three different public buses, one of which passes through an area densely populated with a population group that's most affected by CoVid in this country. Did they really think I'd agree to that?
PPS: let me now remind you that my username is not just there for decoration. Please feel free to point me towards mistakes or incongruities, should you see some.
Thanks for reading. How have you been?
I haven't posted in a while, and it's not that I really feel like posting right now, but I hope that if I start, it might help me get out of this stupor.
The semester was long and hard. But so it was for everyone I know, I'm not alone. Still, in spite of that, it also was very good for me, very productive, insightful, good in terms of my believing in myself as well as other people learning about my strengths. So, all in all, it was really good. But I got so tired in the end that for the first weeks after it ended, I couldn't even think of doing anything. (I still do have a dissertation to finish.) But, you know, now... the semester has been over for two and a half weeks... and yes, I did work during this time: we had exams, which had to be written, sat in on, checked, then everything had to be graded - it did take time, a week in all, probably... But still... I dread mornings, because when I wake up, I need to decide what I will do today, and on the one hand, the decision to laze around is very tempting, on the other, I do need to finally decide to start work again and... well, today I postponed making the decision in favor of writing a post. It is good for me, this writing. I had no idea what I would write about before I began. And look where it got me. Let's see, what else needs to be taken off my chest.
I'm so tired of the news. Those of you who post newsy posts, forgive me for scrolling past them for the most part. You've no idea what my life is like. I live with a news consuming maniac, who never keeps anything to himself. He follows me morning, day and evening, and sometimes late at night, when I read a book in an almost darkness and drink my late night tea, he creeps up behind me and says - all over again! - that he is so angry with our government, because they have no idea what they do, and see, there is another row now, and he just never stops! When I can not take it any longer and say that we have talked about this for about four billion times already and that while he thinks that he's screaming at them, he's actually screaming at me, he calms down a bit, but adds: "sure, I know, but I'm just so angry with our government, they have no idea what they do, and see, there is now another row, because they randomly decide to close things or leave them open while the CoVid numbers keep rising..." and this literally happens every day. Several times a day. And I completely agree, he's right, our government is complete shit and does have no idea, and very much deserves to be protested against, but I'm just absolutely sick of it all. This can not be the only thing I think about day in day out.
I read a few books! I mean... I read lots of books, but I wanted to share thoughts on a few. Did I mention that I started reading like crazy since the start of lockdown? I actually don't know why it is, but I do read much more than I used to (even though I used to read daily), and this does present a slight problem, because choosing a new book once in a few weeks is much easier than choosing a new book every other day. Still, I manage - this far. When the semester was just over, we went to see some friends and I shared my book-choosing-dilemma with them, so they gave me a book to read.
It was "The Rosie Project" by an author whose name I can't pronounce... wait... here he is: Graeme Simsion. Unbelievably light reading. A really nice choice, if you just need to relax and feel good. Finished it in two days. And it's a bit about the academia. And the best part is - it's a classic "chick flick", written by a man about a man, and the person who loaned it me is a man, too. And I must say, it was so sweet by the end that I needed to read something dark and disturbing afterwards, because I felt sugary and sticky all over.
And so I did: I picked up a book called "Christine Falls" by Benjamin Black. They said it was noir on the cover. I knew it would probably be darker and more disturbing than I am prepared to bear, and... well... so it was. And I really wonder why he had to add that rape scene towards the end. It had no bearing on the story. I felt as if he just - well, wanted to write a rape scene. So he did. Completely unnecessary. I felt traumatized when I finished it. But to be fair, I only turned this way four and something years ago, when my mother died and I found I couldn't bear dark reading or watching any more. I probably wouldn't have felt this bad before March 2016...
But since I did, I was looking for something soothing to read next. And I first tried reading "The Wind in the Willows", which I never read, only watched (yes, I like children's books and films), but it didn't work for me somehow, and it then drew me towards "Smilla and her Sense of Snow". I realized it was another piece of detective fiction (as was "Christine Falls") only after I started and already liked the first-person narrator and the pace of the book, so I cautiously keep reading... in the hope it won't traumatize me more...
PS: guess what, the world must have felt that I got out of hiding - while I've been writing this, several colleagues wrote with some work-related stuff, including our head of section asking me whether I'd agree for them to ask for a special permission for me to teach on campus next semester. I commute. It takes me three hours to get to campus, using three different public buses, one of which passes through an area densely populated with a population group that's most affected by CoVid in this country. Did they really think I'd agree to that?
PPS: let me now remind you that my username is not just there for decoration. Please feel free to point me towards mistakes or incongruities, should you see some.
Thanks for reading. How have you been?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 12:59 pm (UTC)This year I've been reading some detective fiction by Ovidia Yu. Her books are set in Singapore and the ones I've been enjoying are set around 1936 so have a large historical input as well as the main crime. I'm part way through the third of the series, really enjoying all the local colour. I might have recommended them before, but clearly I'm still enjoying them ;)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 01:23 pm (UTC)Yes, you did recommend Oviia Yu and I definitely will try her! Thank you. It's good to know you're still enjoying her books.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 02:21 pm (UTC)I read "Wind in the Willows" when I was 11 or so and it was very, very dear to my heart, but since then I've had trouble rereading it. I think it may be one of those books that really only speaks to children. Or maybe I just have trouble with talking animals now — as an adult, the only talking-animals-type books I can get through are Moomins.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 02:34 pm (UTC)Husband. He's great and we're the best of friends, but he's driving me crazy when he recites the news at me :/
I love all Roald Dahl books, including the talking animal ones! But you might be right about Wind in the Willows only speaking to children...
And thanks! :D I'm happy to be posting again, too :D
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 02:39 pm (UTC)I'll keep my eyes peeled for mistakes, but I just want you to know you're doing really well! :)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 09:14 pm (UTC)And thanks! It means a lot!
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 09:57 pm (UTC)Yes! Family burnout is definitely a thing. They were discussing it on the news the other day, so I think it's pretty widespread. :/
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 04:55 pm (UTC)My mother (who I currently live with) also watches a lot of news. (I used to but am burnt out by it now, so I only watch weather and sports news now and check BBC News a couple of times a day). I've insisted that we avoid it during dinner because I can't deal with it. :P
As for mistakes, the only (very small!) one in this post is 'the academia;' academia functions like a place name, so you'd just 'about academia' or 'in academia.' Everything else is great! :)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 09:12 pm (UTC)Burnout, yes, that's it. Unfortunately, giving it a name only makes it worse. Makes me feel I'm entitled to do nothing for a month now... Still, it really feels good to be actively back here!
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 09:15 pm (UTC)Once you're done with the dissertation you can have a nice, long rest (hopefully). :)
Still, it really feels good to be actively back here!
Good! Writing here can help you get back to working on other stuff too. :)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-20 11:03 pm (UTC)The only book you mention that I've read is, in fact... The Wind in the Willows! I can never decide how I feel about it. I quite like the story, and I quite like the characters, but I'm not sure whether I like the way it's put together. I actually prefer AA Milne's stage adaptation, Toad of Toad Hall.
I tried hard to help with your PPS, but your English is so good! Let me see... well, it's not really a mistake, and if this is just your personal preference then no worries, but it's more usual to get something off your chest than to take it off your chest.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-21 12:13 pm (UTC)sure, you're right! it was actually the first time I ever used that expression actively, I felt there was something wrong with it))) but I love that I can choose to say it the way I did! I always liked playing with language.
I'm not familiar with Milne's adaptation, thanks! I'll keep it in mind.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-21 05:00 pm (UTC)The USA is now a shithole third world country. We are now Sweden.
No, I don't think I'd agree to teach on-campus with a three hour commute like that! Ridiculous!
We've been reasonably okay. Looks like my first MRSA sinus infection cleaned up quite well after three weeks on cipro. So naturally I had to mess up something else: massively screwed up my back Sunday morning. It's slightly better now. But all in all, we're doing okay and remain COVID-free.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 12:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 03:48 pm (UTC)Let's look at some recent facts. Our cases are out of control, states are now renting refrigerated morgue trucks because mortuary/cemetery systems can't handle the number of people dying - I believe the number of states with increasing case counts or death rates is 30-40 out of 50, and Our Beloved Leader has created a secret police force that is kidnapping people off the street to terrorize them off the street without them identifying themselves, putting them in unmarked vans, holding them in undisclosed locations, then releasing them an hour or so later without charges. He's aggressively trying to destroy the post office, just in time for national elections when the post office is needed for people to vote by mail during a pandemic. He's still withholding vital medical supplies, I haven't seen any recent stories about his agencies sweeping in and stealing them from states and hospitals trying to order them privately, but it wouldn't surprise me. Pretty much all of our COVID deaths can be laid directly at his feet because the federal government could not come out with a sane and coherent plan and still won't listen to science. Everything is still trading lives for money. The interesting bit is that the states that didn't do what he said to do are doing better than the ones who did. And the ones that did are "his base".
He's the one who coined the phrase 'shithole countries'. He's the one trying to turn the USA into an autocracy, and he's slowly succeeding. If somehow he gets back in to office for another four years, that's the end of the United States. There are ten states in the USA that have more cases than the rest of the WORLD. New Mexico is not among them, but our neighbors, Texas and Arizona, are. We're getting worse, I'm hoping the governor will shut the state down soon, but without government aid I don't know if she can, if she can afford to. I don't know how the state's "rainy day fund" is holding out. The head of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is of the opinion that if states are ruined because of the virus, it's their own damned fault and the gov't shouldn't bail them out. 'The gov't can't afford it, it's too busy giving tax breaks to big businesses and rich people.' Yes, my statement is a bit hyperbolic, but it's how a lot of people feel about our situation that our government has put us in. And it's going to get a lot worse since our government continues to ignore science and math.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 04:53 pm (UTC)Sorry, I guess I did. I know Sweden is being treated as a bit of a pariah within the EU, and I know the USA is being also treated as such with travel restrictions throughout the world, as well is should.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-27 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 12:45 pm (UTC)Did you also read the other two Rosies? The effect and the result? (I believe)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 12:59 pm (UTC)