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[halojedha]

Reading: A lot of T Kingfisher; having finished the Saint of Steel books I went back to her earlier work in the same universe and hoovered up Swordheart and the Clockwork Boys duology, both of which I enjoyed a lot, although her romance formula of "savvy smart woman, tortured sword-wielding man who thinks he's not good enough" gets a bit stale after the umpteenth repetition. (At least one of the Saint of Steel books is m/m, but there's still a savvy smart skinny man and a tortured sword-wielding muscular man who thinks he's not good enough).) I also read The Hollow Places, which totally fucked me up and reminded me why I don't normally read horror (but which was good enough that I still made myself finish it, although I refused to read it after 9pm).
Since then I've devoured A Glimmer of Silver by juliet - a thoughtful and moreish novella about humans dwelling on an ecoplanet with a sentient Ocean which wants something different than the official liaisons have been claiming it does. It's got a charmingly flawed protagonist who comes through satisfyingly in the end, and some tantalising worldbuilding which I'd love to see more of. For a short book it packs in some big themes, exploring the tension between social and individual autonomy versus harmony with nature, and the question of when and how it's morally acceptable to eat animals. Very enjoyable.

I've just started A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and am finding it extremely entertaining, especially El's narrative voice. She is just so Done.

Watching: I finished Getting Curious with Jonathan van Ness (loved it, delightful, adore them even more now), blasted through season 2 of Bridgerton (highly aesthetic trash which I found very watchable despite the terrible writing and bizarre lack of queerness), considered watching something a bit more substantial (I'm halfway through episode 2 of Picard but am much more in the mood for mindless fluff at the moment) so ended up on Queer Eye: Germany. Looove!

Initial impression: way more grungy, alternative and real than the high-glamour US version. The Fab Fünf are more heavily pierced and tattooed, especially David Jakobs, who I am obsessed with - she deserves every bit of stardom that has come JVN's way and I hope she gets it. Ayan, Leni and Alyosha are immediately warm and charming. Jan-Henrik I was slower to warm up to - there's still something a bit stilted and tense about him in contrast to the relaxed warmth of the others - but he does produce the occasional self-deprecating joke, and his relationships with the heros are just as good as everyone else's. J-H may be less charismatic than Tan France, but he's also more humble, interested in helping each individual develop their own aesthetic and giving it a final polish, rather than making choices for them. The format is improved too: Aljosha is Health rather than just food and wine, and Leni is Life rather than Culture, and her choices of activities are kind, gentle, empathetic and creative. The German heros all seemed less comfortable being on TV and less emotionally demonstrative than their US counterparts, so there's less Dramah, but it feels more real. I did a big old cry during episode four, and if they make more, I will watch it.

Writing: I'm off work on plague leave, so no progress on The Big Non-Fiction Book, but I have tentatively started a novella that's been churning around on the back burner for a few years. I've managed an average of 400 words a day three days running, but only by writing extra one day and then skipping the next. I did some planning, started the story, felt really happy, then came back to it this morning, wrote more, started second-guessing some of my choices and feel like I'm probably going to throw away everything I've written so far and start again. It's all part of the process! Thank you to Covid I guess for giving me a work-free week and the space to write something other than fic. According to my master spreadsheet I've written 57k words of fiction over the last two years, almost all of it fanfic or original erotica, so it feels good to finally break the seal on starting an original project that's a bit more ambitious.

Growing: The beans are poking their heads up and seem to be doing well indoors. The rest of the seed trays remain quiet, so either it's been too cold for them to germinate or they're biding their time. I've been potting up various things I brought home from the garden center - house plants and succulents which were Baby and therefore cheap, and immediately needed more space, got done a couple of weeks ago, and the rest got neglected until today. The rocket, pak choi and mint were all suffering from not having enough space, and may not make it, but I repotted them all today along with the parsley, which was doing fine. We'll see what happens. It was a push energy-wise - I hope I didn't overdo it, but all those plants would have died if I didn't, so I made my choices. 

Cooking: Really basic stuff due to low energy levels. Omelettes. Vegan meat substitute with rice and steamed veg. Some poached salmon fillets. A baked polenta thing. Oh, I made a large batch of soy mince thing with puy lentils, mushrooms, carrots, onions, leeks and pinto beans. It was meant to be sort of bolognesey, but was a bit weird without the tomatoes. Still tasty though.