(Apart from my meds, ah ha ha)
In no particular order:
- Lord Of The Rings. I started rereading last year since I haven’t read in 20 years and picked away slowly at what I’d forgotten to be a story deeply permeated by grief, in a time in my life already saturated by grief, hence the slow picking. But then suddenly the boy child is 13? And then the family was away for a weekend without me and I was craving Cast Commentary, so my sister dropped off her extended edition dvds (I thought we had them – I KNOW I’ve watched the cast commentaries before!! – but alack) and then suddenly I watched the entire extended trilogy with said boy child? And now I’m working my way through the cast commentaries (Denethor is sending Faramir back to Osgiliath as I type this, which means one of my favourite scenes in the history of cinema is approaching: Merry’s song as Faramir gallops across the plain and Denethor gnashes teeth symbolically over tomatoes and wine) and am sorely tempted to turn around and watch the director, writer and production commentaries after because WHY NOT and NO ONE CAN STOP ME. The joys and perils of endless unscripted time in my life right now.
- Kiddo applauded when the Ents flooded Isengard, so that was immensely satisfying. And asked why Denethor was eating so messily – is that symbolic? YES, MY CHILD, IT IS! – and honestly it was just such a satisfying ‘show the offspring a story that shaped you’ moment, yes, yes, hurrah.
- Also hilarious, though, is that he had more questions about what was going on than he did when watching his first Shakespeare play last year :’D
- LangTime Studio, which most of you will be life Amy, seriously, what? and also why? and are you okay? But YES my language nerd is VERY HAPPY watching endless hours of the world’s top professional conlangers create languages for cute animals.
- Tea, which I am allowed to drink again, unlike a few months ago. I have no particular flavour to recommend; I’m enjoying rotating my way randomly through them all.
- Home-grown garden produce, of which there is not actually that much, and certainly not as much as I planned, but OMG YOU GUYS I GREW WATERMELONS I AM OFFICIALLY A REAL GARDENER. They are adorable miniature ones, weighing in at just under 700g each, with thin yellow skins and abundant big black seeds but the juiciest, sweetest flesh, omg, so worth it. YUM.
What about you? What’s something you’re grateful for or that’s getting you through this week? <3