Currently (Dec 2014)
tap.tap. is this thing on? Forgive the absence. I have been to Amman and back. A city where I saw a refugee camp, a hotel room and very little else. Immense place, still figuring it out. My cultural consumption has been stunted due to extreme experiences of the real life kind, but it’s almost Christmas and I’m looking forward to filling my well full of quality stuff.
Watching: The Newsroom has ended. Disappointing finale, and season as a whole. But still, I know I’ll re-watch it purely for the density of Sorkin’s work. It’s an odd relationship I have to it - to love it’s ambition, but be disturbed by the actuality of it. I’m wary of panning it just because everyone else does. It’s vastly imperfect, but imperfect things are worthwhile too.
The Affair - it caught my attention this year though the finale was a bit of a side-swipe. I’ll be watching Season 2.
Homeland ended on such a dull note, but there were a few great episodes this season.
Film-wise, I enjoyed both ‘Men, Women & Children’ (the effect of technology on relationships) & ‘Gone Girl’ which is dark (oh so dark!). I watched ‘The Words’ on Netflix - in a word, it was forgettable.
Reading: Too much stuff. I’m in that gross place of reading a half-dozen things, or rather not reading any of them but feeling like I ought to be. Time to simplify and focus. The first is ‘Bird by Bird’ which is wonderful, though it’s a little upsetting to read about the craft of writing without the headspace to really practice it. (It’s not time I need, it’s headspace.) I’ve dabbled in Adrienne Eisen’s ‘Making Scenes’ which is good, but also a little too dark for my current temperament.
Also, I must say that I got an email from Pocket stating that I was among the top 1% of readers and it.made.my.day. I remember a teacher describing 5-year-old me as a “good reader” and it remains one of my favourite, all time compliments.
Listening: I finished Serial and am relieved that it’s over. The ethics of the thing really started to get to me. Adnan is a real person, whose life was turned upside down for our entertainment. Longform has been great of late too, especially Meghan Daum, Emma Carmichael & Hanna Rosin. Looking forward to Dear Sugar too.
Making: Very little really. I’ve let my work infect my brain too much and am missing a sense of interiority, personal projects, private creation/exploration just for me. I’ll get back to that over my Christmas break. The more I do this job, the more I realise that it can’t possibly be my whole life. It’s just too much/not enough.
Feeling: verklempt. Last minute travel, highly intense work, full velocity achievement in an arena that’s not familiar to me. Makes one feel verklempt and missing a sense of groundedness. Lots of time on my couch will help.
Planning: To join a gym, because I am the kind of person who enjoys gyms & structured exercise and statistical battles with myself.
Loving: The feeling that my apartment is an oasis from the chaos of Christmas that exists in the outside world. While I’m very keen for a break in my routine, I’m not a big fan of the season. So, it’s not happening within the four walls of my house and that’s amazing.
