2023

2023 category

Started reading: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I read Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell years ago and enjoyed it, so am really excited for this one. πŸ“š

Finished reading: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. Nihilistic, weird, brutal, and well observed. I really liked it. πŸ“š

Started reading: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. One of those books I never read. This is one of those books I probably wouldn’t have appreciated when they were required reading, but am loving now. πŸ“š

Finished reading: Sourcery: A Discworld Novel. As with any Discworld novel, its total escapist fun, with the problems of the real world layered in. Some of the probably-progressive-seeming-at-the-time characterizations of Conina could be left back in 1988, but overall really enjoyable. πŸ“š

Started reading: Sourcery: A Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett.

Finished reading: Bea Wolf, by Zach Weinersmith and illustrated by Boulet. An adaptation of Beowulf for children, and absolutely delightful.

Sometimes, all I really want is to flip everyone off and disappear to rock music.

I have a problem with perfectionism. One effect of that is I don’t post here as much as I’d like. To address, I’m changing my posting strategy. I’m going from, “Is this good enough?” to “Is this not harmful?”

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’” β€”Issac Asimov

Lita Ford, Question Mark?

In my notes, I found some fairly sparse thoughts on listening to Lita Ford’s solo career for the first time. I don’t know why I was listening to it, or what I had in mind when I was taking … Read more

The trick is, how do I bring how I’m naturally funny and myself to an unusual situation, aka on stage. β€”Heavily paraphrased from Conan O’Brian

I have a note from years ago reminding me that a stylized illustrated collage I saw in an art gallery was very cool. The piece was called Kabuki fox and the night mice…, it seems to have won the Harriet Tannin Award, and I can’t find it anywhere online.

Finished reading: But now am found, by Patricia Horvath. Beautiful short story collection, each a compact gut punch.

Black and white photo of 9 improvisers in various striking poses on a small black box theater stage

I got to perform the rare Cat’s Cradle improvisation form in front of a sold-out audience Friday night. It was a thrill to play with such an extremely talented ensemble, and the crowed loved it. Can’t wait to do it again.

I limited all my blog’s RSS/JSON feeds to 50 items, after realizing Hugo defaults to no limit. Hopefully that will be kinder to parsers.

I haven’t worn dress shoes in a while. Inside the pair I was about to put on, I found a packet of Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. Truly deranged.

The Years of My Movie Watch List

I did a little analysis of my Letterboxd watch list, to see if there were any interesting patterns. Since the data export only includes the date I added it to the list, the title of the movie, and the … Read more

Started reading: But Now Am Found by Patricia Horvath πŸ“š.

Finished reading: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. Breezy fun for people who like to think πŸ“š.

Started reading: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi.

Finished reading: A Subversive’s Guide to Improvisation by David Razowsky. It took me about a month. I found the biography section pretentious and long winded, but found the improv philosophy and practices inspiring πŸ“š.

I spent the day alone walking around New York City. I got a burger at a diner, bought a bunch of books at the The Strand, and saw Scream VI. Everything was glorious.

I just learned that I’ve seen 17 Cate Blanchett movies, which is 18% of the amount of films she’s made. I don’t know what to do with that, but there it is. 🍿

I saw Cocaine Bear last week in theaters, and it was joyous, grind-house, B-movie fun. I see so many reviews miss the point: it’s not Citizen Kane, it’s Citizen Toxie. 🍿

As an exorcise, I’ve been trying to curse less. This morning, out of nowhere, our cat Rocco sunk his nails into my ass. There goes that exorcise.