I’m still not quite sold on the utility of these weaknotes when my blog already pulls in tweets from the stream of consciousness of my daily life (of which I care to share) but I suppose there’s some worth in sitting down to take stock, and see what’s stuck from the previous days (or weeks). As for this past fortnight? Mostly depression about the awfulness of the UK general election. That and I’ve hardly seen the sun come out this month.
It’s not all bad, though. Getting Amazon Prime for the month meant free shipping on a cheap and nifty little gadget that converts my old Logitech iPod speaker dock into Bluetooth speakers I can use with my iPhone (or anything else that uses Bluetooth). Despite a few tiny quirks — it needs to be plugged into the mains, for one — it works a treat. Breathing new life into old tech with new tech; I’m all about that.
The other, bigger reason we got Amazon Prime was to watch the fourth and latest season of The Expanse, which did not disappoint. It’s got a different feel to the previous three, on first impression; more grounded — literally, seeing as much of it is set on a planet’s surface — and a bit more arc-y, in terms of being more of a ‘major A plot, with minor B plots’ approach. A chance to slow things down and focus on character — and this is a show with great characters defined by their relations to each other, over fitting predefined roles. It’s also big on the theme of what happens when people take advantage of great upheaval to go into business for themselves.
More recently, we’ve started watching The Witcher on Netflix. Two episodes in and it’s a pleasant surprise: Henry Cavill suits the lead role better than expected, the tone isn’t overwhelmingly self-serious, and the sword fight choreography in the first episode is something that sets it aside from the post-Game of Thrones TV fantasy pigeonhole. Here’s hoping the rest of the season brings more of that, please.
Last week we went to Dublin Zoo for free (thanks to my Tesco Clubcard points!) and I bonded with a turtle and got to pet a pygmy goat. Which was nice. It was a cold day before schools broke up and there was hardly anyone else there, which is of course the best time to go to the zoo. You think crowds are stressful for us? Imagine being a zoo animal…
As for the week ahead? Well, I’m working freelance shifts through Xmas but I’m not complaining — it’s not customer service, after all. There will hopefully be a new Enlarged Heart Radio for your Xmas listening pleasure, and on the day itself I’m looking forward to opening big boxes with exciting gadgets in them.
Hope it’s a good one for you; if not, it’s only fleeting, you’ll make it through.