Input/output

[halojedha]

(Post format shamelessly adapted from kaberett)

Reading: I've started a few books recently without finishing them. My attention span hasn't been favourable for new fiction lately. I do intermittently manage to finish some new fiction: recent faves (for certain values of "recent" ie October/November) include Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon, The Rising Flood by juliet Kemp, and The Galaxy and the Ground Within and A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. But mostly it's Locked Tomb fanfic and Gideon/Harrow re-reads.

Listening (Audiobooks): I finally finished A Promised Land by Barack Obama, which I got a lot out of, but lost interest just before the end and it took me ages to actually finish it. I've listened to the TLT audiobooks and am extremely glad I did, because Moira Quirk's performance is incredible and adds a lot to my enjoyment of the stories, including making it easier to write fic because I can hear the characters' voices more clearly. Continuing my self-directed nerdery in mental health and relationships, I took in Complex PTSD by Pete Walker recently which was extremely eye-opening and an excellent explanation of how the four "F" trauma responses work in practice, as well as containing lots of practical and grounded suggestions for managing flashbacks and approaching recovery. Since finishing that I've started Polysecure by Jessica Fern, which comes recommended by many and which so far I'm finding to be clear, compassionate and wise.

Listening (Music): A lot of Catriona MacDonald's 2000 album Bold on repeat. From there, the algorthm has recommended me Catriona McKay and Saltfishforty, both of which I've been enjoying. I've also been dipping into Tori Amos, Florence + the Machine, Kate Bush, Kathryn Tickell, Karine Polwart, and Kate Rusby, who I used to find a bit wet but now feel is the perfect vibe for putting on while I'm cooking, or driving Ember home in the car. According to Spotify I've also played Roundabout by Yes several times lately, which I am totally fine with. In fact I'm tempted to listen to it again now. 

Watching: Not much, but I did treat myself to a film the other night after Ember fell asleep, and watched the whole Paddington movie on my own on my laptop. It was very silly and I enjoyed it. It's always a treat finding a kids' movie with an extraordinarily famous cast, who are all playing daft bit parts apparently just because they like working together. The posh-vintageish-London aesthetics were beautiful, in a Potterverse sort of way, and I want every single one of Nicole Kidman's outfits.

Writing: I took part in my first fic exchange! I managed to finish a work by the deadline and I didn't hate it, which was very pleasing, and I was delighted with my gift. I don't link my AO3 username publicly so I'll post links separately. Other than that I have a bunch of WIPs, all TLT. I managed to do some work on the non-fiction book last week - currently revising chapter 7/12 - but all my work hours have been taken up by commercial stuff this week. I'm keen to get back to it as soon as I can. I've also started writing down some of the stories I make up for Ember, with the vague thought that they might work as kids' books, although I don't really want to do the illustrations myself so it's unlikely to happen.

Cooking: A lot of comfort food. Pasta with creamy vegan cashew cheeze sauce and roasted cauliflower with turmeric - a sort of cauliflower cheese/mac n cheese mashup. Lots of tuna and cheese melted sandwiches. Butternut squash, lentil and tofu coconut curry. Quinoa with spices, broccoli and beans, made extra decadent with soy cream, tamari and chopped herbs to garnish. Tonight I cooked sea bream in foil parcels in the oven with chopped fennel, green beans, garlic, herbs, olive oil and lemon, accompanied with brown rice and roast carrot. The bream was from frozen and even 40 mins at 220C wasn't enough: we had to finish it off in the pan, and the green veg came out crispy. Next time if I'm doing it from the freezer I'll either give it an hour, or open the foil after half an hour to let it finish. The carrots were incredible though: purple organic carrots from our Riverford box, which I chopped in half lengthwise and doused in olive oil, salt and pepper, with a splash of balsamic vinegar, to cook under foil until tender and then caramelise uncovered for a few minutes at the end. They were definitely the highlight of the meal. Breakfasts are usually either porridge with nut butter and fruit, granola and soy yoghurt, or toasted bagels with tofu bacon (the THIS isn't bacon brand, which I like a lot) and a fried egg.
 

Making: Not much; writing and care tasks are basically it. I spent an evening sculpting clay with L last week and made a cat-dragon, but it's not finished yet. Lots of drawing and colouring with Ember. Ember and I have done various fun activities together lately: making a ball pool out of ball pool balls and a cardboard box; building blanket forts for the stuffies and Duplo villages; dissolving corn packing peanuts in water; making towers and nests and slides out of cushions; giving each other washi tape manicures; sticking foam shapes to sticky-backed plastic. Leo and I are making gradual progress tidying and organising the house with the aim to create more beauty and harmony in our space. I hand-sewed curtain rings onto an old pair of curtains and found it highly satisfying, enough so that I'm considering taking up cross-stitch so I can have more things to sew.