Sorry to have missed the Micro.blog analog meetup! My sense of timing is a bit discombobulated due to conference travel and changes to it. See y’all next month!
Want to read: Grove Hollow Metamorphosis: A 1980s Gothic Paranormal Romance Novel by Shelby Nicole McFadden 📚
Probably going to buy this one but I’ve told myself I have to finish one of the books I own before I may.
Finished reading: In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae 📚
Highest of recommendations here. This book is a cute romance but it’s also healing to read.
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You are not a burden… You are a blessing.
Just Courtney Kae still wrecking me with In the Case of Heartbreak, that’s all.
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Your feelings are valid and important no matter how they make me feel… you aren’t responsible for my response.
Read this in Courtney Kae’s In the Case of Heartbreak last night and then wept uncontrollably for a while. Is this what a trauma response feels like?
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Get a group of people around you that you love, and that love you… Give them an idea that has enough empty space in it that they can make it their own. When you get it back, it’ll be better than you ever thought possible.
Jim Henson, quoted in this article about Miss Piggy’s creator’s home
Ah hiding in the bathroom to get a little quiet, my old friend.
🗒️ Week Notes, 2024 Week 2: Zelda II is skippable
It’s time for another round of Week Notes!
Monday morning I had my usual coffee work date with my friend C. I worked on my session for LibLearnX, which is the last bit of work related to my postdoc besides reviewing document drafts as my colleagues finish them.
Tuesday I took M to the dentist for a cleaning. It was a super rainy day, with high winds, so I ended up picking him up early. But we came through the storm okay.
Wednesday, I planned with my LibLearnX co-presenters and as so often happens, we came up with something way better together than anything I could’ve created on my own.
M had musical theater dance class on Thursday and I went to a nearby cafe and puttered in Scrivener with a romance novel spark sheet. Just sitting down and typing really moved me forward, so now I have two characters, each with their own self-doubt, to put in a situation where they can fall in love, build each other up, and help each other grow.
Friday and Saturday we’re very chill days at home, and on Sunday W and I went for lunch at an old favorite diner and ambled around one of our many local independent bookstores before picking up a cookbook I’d ordered online and returning home.
I read two forthcoming releases last week, The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond and Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield. I actually Internet-know both of these authors, Gwenda Bond from way back in our kidlitosphere days circa 2007 and Ravynn because she taught a workshop I took on creative nonfiction for academics. Both books made me happy and I’m reading at a pace of 2 books a week, which is twice as fast as a typical fast reading pace for me. We’ll see how my reading pace changes throughout the year.
By myself I watched It’s Complicated, The Intern, and Heartburn. This is because the main character in Timothy Janovsky’s Never Been Kissed is a film guy who wore a G is for Gerwig shirt from Super Yaki. I decided I wanted to know film better and that just going through the oeuvres of auteurs featured on Super Yaki would be a great way to do it, so I’m starting with Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron.
W and I have been watching Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty together. It’s his third time watching and my first. It’s a lot of fun. John C. Reilly is incredibly winning.
I tried playing Zelda II: The Adventure of Link but I didn’t find it fun. After reading this article in Escapist Magazine, which said
If you’re anything like me, you’re going to die in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. A lot. And chances are you won’t have a great time doing it.
And
If you’re intent on trying it out in 2023, I recommend either playing the SP version on Nintendo Switch that starts you off fully powered up, watching a playthrough on YouTube, or just skipping it…
I decided first to try the SP version, then when that still wasn’t fun, to watch someone else play on YouTube. Even that wasn’t fun, so I skipped ahead and just watched the last couple of fights.
Having done that, I started playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and I’m having a blast with that.
That’s it for this Week Note!
Kinda sad today’s idea gardens post from Austin Kleon is one of the paid ones because I want everyone to be able to check it out. For similar vibes, try his blog’s gardening tag and Mo Willems’s idea gardens Instagram post.
Finished reading: Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield 📚
Full review coming later, but I loved this confection of a YA romance from Ravynn K. Stringfield, my creative nonfiction for academics teacher. A Francophile Black American girl falling in love with Paris and a cute Parisian. Highly recommend.