March Update
Squeezing in under the line here in my resolution to post at least once a month. Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and for those who don’t, enjoy your time off!
I write from Oliver IV, my new iPad. Mum’s old iPad finally reached the point where her games weren’t running on it anymore and she reluctantly decided to get a new one. Hers was ten years old, which is like a thousand in electronic years, so kudos to her for her loyalty. My old iPad got knocked on the floor a few months back and the screen cracked, just a hairline crack that was hardly noticeable and not worth replacing it over, but my Apple Pencil kept getting stuck in the crack when I was trying to do art. I got a screen protector, but then the Pencil didn’t glide properly, so Mum and I agreed mine was in good working order and she’d take mine and I’d get a new one for myself. I splurged and got the Magic Keyboard Folio, which turns it into a laptop, essentially, and it was totally worth it. I love being able to write wherever I am and it’s much easier to plug my microphone in for singing, instead of having to take the whole thing out of the case for my dongle to work.
I was hoping it would inspire some creativity in me, but I’m still really struggling in all aspects of it. I’ve long suspected I have some form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and I am just toast at the moment. My body aches and I’m exhausted no matter how much I sleep and my brain is foggy. Mum thinks it’s a sort of good thing, that I was too sick before to realize how sick I was. I was in just ‘one foot in front of the other’ mode, and now I’m well enough to want to do things, but not well enough to actually do them. It’s very frustrating. On the bright side, the stones have been pretty good lately, which is probably the reason I’m so tired. All my adrenaline is gone and now I’m beat.
I have been managing to do a sign language course online, though. The Oklahoma School for the Deaf is offering ASL I and II online for free until June, video lessons you can do at your own pace. I did ASL I many years ago, so I signed up for ASL II and I seem to remember most of what I already knew. The lessons are fun, but my only complaint is how much vocabulary they introduce per unit. I swear they teach you thirty new signs each lesson, all in a row, and then you’ve forgotten it by the time you’re onto the next part. I’ve managed to pick up the grammar with relative ease, but when I’m trying to do the sentence exercises, I stumble over remembering which one of the thirty signs they just shoved at me I need to use. I know I can go back and review the older lessons to cram, but I don’t think that’s the way my brain works. I prefer to learn the vocab in context rather than just a list. In any case, I’m enjoying it and it makes me feel like I’m succeeding at something, even if my creative brain is lacking at the moment.
I’m also rewatching due South. I’m about halfway through Season 2 now. It’s probably been over a decade since I last watched it and I’d forgotten just how incredibly good a show it is. So far, it’s holding up really well for a show that’s nearly thirty years old. There are a few jokes that are a little iffy now, but Fraser is usually correcting whoever says them to point out they aren’t appropriate anyway. So much time has passed now and TV has changed so much, it’s making me appreciate even more how great a protagonist he is. I feel like every hero you get now has to be a snarky, dark asshole struggling his way through the world fighting his own demons, where Fraser is positive example of non-toxic masculinity. He’s respectful of those around them, he’s kind, he’s gentle, he only uses violence as a last resort. He has trauma and flaws and vulnerabilities, but most of the struggles come from his interactions with world. I also just like that the show itself isn’t dark and gritty, it’s fun and silly with undertones of drama that develop the characters. It’s lacking in diversity and the female characters aren’t always the best, but for its time, I feel like it holds up pretty well. I’d also forgotten how many car chases are in it. I swear half their budget must have gone into car chases. It’s delightful to rewatch it and remember all the good things about it. And spot baby actors, like, hello impossibly young Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Phillippe, what the hell are you doing here?
That’s all for now. Hope everyone is doing well!