Vacationing

I’ve been on vacation this week, and rather than writing a half-baked essay on a solid idea, so barely a month after the last time, I’m doing another one of those What Have I Been Doing Lately.

Is it a cop-out?

Maybe. But it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want.

Movie TV: Ms. Marvel

I’m sure I could write a whole lot about this wonderful wonderful show, but suffice to say it’s a warm show that channels all the fun parts of a teenage superhero story and wears its heart on its sleeve. Might just be my favorite of the Marvel shows.

Game: The New York Times Crossword

I’ve been consistently doing the NYT Crossword for a couple years now (and the daily Mini for years longer) and, gotta say, I see why it’s been around for so long.

Book: The Speaking Bones by Ken Liu (still)

I’m still reading The Speaking Bones, caught up in that tension of being unable to put a book down and not wanting the story to end. Amidst the engineering-as-wizardry of it all, the political conflict is really absorbing. Everyone’s trying to do the right thing and what’s right for the islands of Dara. But plans and machinations collide as everyone’s strengths become flaws. I’ve only a couple hundred pages left and I’ve no idea how it’s going to end and I’m terrified and excited to see how it ends.

Album: Left and Leaving by The Weakerthans

This band sounds like a Canadian Death Cab For Cutie in the best possible way. I dig the music (because of course I do) and the lyricism of it all is solid poetry.

TV: What We Do In The Shadows

This silly vampire show is a spin-off of the excellent 2014 film just started its fourth season and it’s still firing on all cylinders. Besides the brilliant absurdity of it all, I adore just how magnificently wasteful the show is with its jokes. What any other half-hour comedy would tease out to be an entire episode, What We Do In The Shadows channels it into B- C- plots or even a few throwaway gags. It’s constantly hilarious and always a delight.