i take things off to clear my head
Work is still stupidly busy but I can pretend I'm writing minutes while I type this since everyone who would be interrupting me is currently in a meeting.
I have to say, I did not expect to feel so profoundly moved at Hillary 'officially' becoming the presumptive nominee. I don't think I ever believed I'd see a woman even get to that point (let alone become president, which, dear god, please don't let the American people be as stupid as I think they might be in re: the short-fingered vulgarian) and the fact that she has makes me feel both pleased and relieved and also a little bit annoyed that it's taken us this long.
Now let's gird our loins because I have a feeling our long national nightmare is just beginning to reach its slogging middle.
Anyway!
Books! Let's talk about books!
what I've just finished
I don't believe I've finished anything new since last week, which is kind of embarrassing! I sent Wheels Stop: The Tragedies and Triumphs of the Space Shuttle Program, 1986-2011 back to the library unfinished because it was due, and I don't feel any real need to renew it so I can finish it. *hands*
I did read this month's Darth Vader #21. I don't understand why people keep underestimating him. It's not just knowing extratextually that he has to survive through the OT timeline, but the fact that he's relentless (having no compunction about slaughtering anyone who gets in his way, and not a whole lot of concern about his own well-being, probably helps) and he rarely loses. There's a lot of Terminator in Vader (or really, given the timing, a lot of Vader in the Terminator), and that's what makes him so terrifying. I also really like how Gillen writes him so you can see the continuity, that he's still Anakin Skywalker in there, tactically brilliant if not so much a big picture thinker (which is why he works so well with Obi-Wan, Padme, and Palpatine - they provide that necessary strategic component; I imagine Ahsoka might have played that role with him too if things had gone differently), and also distinctly contemptuous of those he thinks are incompetent or wrong-headed.
And once again, Gillen makes it so that the threat against him is existentially horrifying enough that you root for him to win out, despite the fact that he's, you know, Darth Vader and you should be rooting against him. #i hate that i have feelings about darth vader
What I'm reading now
D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor, which is good reading so far. Even with as much reading as I've now done on the subject of WWII, and even knowing what a meat-grinder the battle for Normandy was, there are still new horrors to be found here. Sigh. I do want to do a BoB rewatch now, though. (Also, unrelated to D-Day but related to great teevee: now I also want to rewatch FNL since someone on tumblr mentioned to me they were watching it for the first time [are you reading this? do you care if I mention you by name?] and I could always use some Coach and Mrs. Coach in my life. And of course, some gross sobbing on the couch, which that show was always good at producing.)
I sent The Island of Lost Maps back to the library after reading the first chapter or so, because I knew I wasn't going to get back to it with having a deadline on finishing D-Day, and I just didn't check out Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring because again, I doubt I would have been able to finish it within the time allotted. I can always borrow them again when I don't have other absurdly long library books to read.
What I'm reading next
Like I said, I might borrow one of the two I just had to send back/not check out, or I also just got a bunch of books in a Humble Bundle deal (thanks again,
isis!) so I might read one of those, since a few of them have been on my to-read list for a while! Or something else could come through from my library hold list. Generally I don't like uncertainty, but this is one area where I find it kind of refreshing.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/847679.html.
people have commented there.
I have to say, I did not expect to feel so profoundly moved at Hillary 'officially' becoming the presumptive nominee. I don't think I ever believed I'd see a woman even get to that point (let alone become president, which, dear god, please don't let the American people be as stupid as I think they might be in re: the short-fingered vulgarian) and the fact that she has makes me feel both pleased and relieved and also a little bit annoyed that it's taken us this long.
Now let's gird our loins because I have a feeling our long national nightmare is just beginning to reach its slogging middle.
Anyway!
Books! Let's talk about books!
what I've just finished
I don't believe I've finished anything new since last week, which is kind of embarrassing! I sent Wheels Stop: The Tragedies and Triumphs of the Space Shuttle Program, 1986-2011 back to the library unfinished because it was due, and I don't feel any real need to renew it so I can finish it. *hands*
I did read this month's Darth Vader #21. I don't understand why people keep underestimating him. It's not just knowing extratextually that he has to survive through the OT timeline, but the fact that he's relentless (having no compunction about slaughtering anyone who gets in his way, and not a whole lot of concern about his own well-being, probably helps) and he rarely loses. There's a lot of Terminator in Vader (or really, given the timing, a lot of Vader in the Terminator), and that's what makes him so terrifying. I also really like how Gillen writes him so you can see the continuity, that he's still Anakin Skywalker in there, tactically brilliant if not so much a big picture thinker (which is why he works so well with Obi-Wan, Padme, and Palpatine - they provide that necessary strategic component; I imagine Ahsoka might have played that role with him too if things had gone differently), and also distinctly contemptuous of those he thinks are incompetent or wrong-headed.
And once again, Gillen makes it so that the threat against him is existentially horrifying enough that you root for him to win out, despite the fact that he's, you know, Darth Vader and you should be rooting against him. #i hate that i have feelings about darth vader
What I'm reading now
D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor, which is good reading so far. Even with as much reading as I've now done on the subject of WWII, and even knowing what a meat-grinder the battle for Normandy was, there are still new horrors to be found here. Sigh. I do want to do a BoB rewatch now, though. (Also, unrelated to D-Day but related to great teevee: now I also want to rewatch FNL since someone on tumblr mentioned to me they were watching it for the first time [are you reading this? do you care if I mention you by name?] and I could always use some Coach and Mrs. Coach in my life. And of course, some gross sobbing on the couch, which that show was always good at producing.)
I sent The Island of Lost Maps back to the library after reading the first chapter or so, because I knew I wasn't going to get back to it with having a deadline on finishing D-Day, and I just didn't check out Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring because again, I doubt I would have been able to finish it within the time allotted. I can always borrow them again when I don't have other absurdly long library books to read.
What I'm reading next
Like I said, I might borrow one of the two I just had to send back/not check out, or I also just got a bunch of books in a Humble Bundle deal (thanks again,
isis!) so I might read one of those, since a few of them have been on my to-read list for a while! Or something else could come through from my library hold list. Generally I don't like uncertainty, but this is one area where I find it kind of refreshing.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/847679.html.
people have commented there.