Weeknote 26+27/2024
Time travelling Jews, the deep history of Chinese philosophers, dungeon-delving, and a disc on the back of five elephants on the back of a turtle flying through space.
By opening our eyes we do not necessarily see what confronts us. We are anxiety-ridden animals. Our minds are continually active, fabricating an anxious, usually self-preoccupied, often falsifying veil, which partially conceals the world. … It is a task to come to see the world as it is.
Verbs
Watching: Russian Doll
I missed this when it first came out but after enjoying Natasha Lyonne so much in Poker Face, and with Anja telling me how good it was, I was glad to finally watch both seasons of Russian Doll over the last week or two. I would have thought the ‘Groundhog Day’ loop and the time travel tropes had been done to death, but Russian Doll actually takes these ideas into new and fun directions. Lyonne’s performance is sharp and bitingly funny and her character Nadia emerges as an endearing mix of wise-ass and hot-mess. What makes the show a cut above, though, is just how crisp and propulsive the writing is. It was great to read that Lyonne was involved in various ways as a writer, director (of some episodes) and producer, too - and her voice is really allowed to come to the fore. I’m not sure where a show like this goes for a season 3, but if one lands on Netflix we’ll definitely be watching.
Playing: Dungeons and Dragons
After a prolonged hiatus due to work, life, and the vagaries of existence, the party are back together and our D&D campaign - started in January 2022 - is once more underway. It’s great to be back, to spend time with friends, to tit about telling stories together, and to have a chance to pour some creativity into concocting ridiculous quests, monstrous creatures, and frankly unhinged NPCs. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these kinds of games (especially TTRPGs) of all stripes are some of the most fun you can have with the sack of warm water and carbon that lives inside of your skull. There are approximately a gazillion different games out there, and if you even slightly, remotely, just maybe, like the idea you should absolutely give one a go.
Learning: The China History Podcast
As part of my ongoing plunge into Chinese philosophy, I’ve been listening to the series on Chinese philosophy that comes from the China History Podcast. The books I’ve been reading have really focused on the philosophy itself, with broader discussion where it’s important or relevant, so to have the China History Podcast round out the historical context has been incredibly valuable. There’s still an exploration of the philosophy itself, but it’s much more about the place those figures and those schools of thought held in the wider picture of Chinese history. Each episode is short, punchy, and really well told and I think I’ll be having a listen to some of the other series put out by the podcast once I’m through the philosophy stuff.
Reading: Discworld, by Terry Pratchett
For a little while now I’ve been re-reading the complete Discworld novels by Sir Terry Pratchett. Pratchett is someone I’ve read since my mid-teens and whose approach to the world has had a huge influence on my own way of thinking. His death was one I felt keenly and I count myself extraordinarily lucky to have briefly met Sir Terry, a little before his passing, at a festival he was speaking at. For me, Pratchett has always been the fantasy counterpart to the science fiction legend Douglas Adams. Every few books I’ve been dropping a Discworld novel into my reading and ticking it off of my big list of Discworld books and it’s never not a complete delight to read one of his novels. I’m pretty sure I’ve read them all before - certainly, I’ve read an easy 90%+ but revisiting his books feels like returning to old and brilliant friends whose company is both a balm and a joy.
My most recent reads have been Night Watch and Making Money and both are about as brilliant as any Discworld novel gets. I think every Discworld fan has their favourite characters, or sets of characters, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the silver-tongued Moist von Lipwig, tyrant of the city of Ankh Moporkh the great Havelock Vetinari, and (as with almost any Discworld reader) the incredible Commander of the City Watch Sam Vimes. If Discworld is something you’ve not dipped a toe into yet there are some great guides for neat places to start but, honestly, just grab one that sounds fun and give it a go. After all, there are 41 to choose from.
Words
The last two weeks have marked the full and blazing arrival of Serbian summer here in Novi Sad. We’ve had some pretty spicy temperatures - though only as the exception rather than the rule, thankfully, along with some hefty storms to clear all that heat and humidity. The pool has been resolutely deployed for essential cooling-off purposes, and Teddy the dog has even taken a dip - under significant duress, it should be added. We’ve also been spending time with friends, around pools or drinks or both, before everyone heads off on the array of summer holidays and trips that will be kicking off pretty soon.
Talking of trips, we’re currently prepping for a holiday that we’ll be taking to the Croatian coast starting with a road trip this Sunday. Making for the seaside will be me, Anja, Teddy the dog, and Anja’s parents who will, very kindly, be doing all of the driving. It’s not too far, and one of the great benefits of living in Europe is the ability to get in a car and, with maybe a day’s travel, end up somewhere entirely different and exciting. It’s particularly easy for us, too, as Serbia borders no less than eight different countries.
Teddy’s never been in the sea before and, judging from his complete abhorrence of the pool (see the paragraph above!) I’m really not sure how he’ll react. I’m hoping that, at the very least, he’ll enjoy the beach, the woodland, and the chance to nip in and out of the water once we’re there and things are hot and sunny. Just to be safe, he does have a little floaty jacket that looks like an orange and white clownfish to keep him afloat if he does venture in.
One of the real pleasures of summer, and especially summer holidays, is summer reading. Most years I keep track of what I’m reading via Goodreads as it integrates so easily with my Kindle. Anja insists I join the year’s reading challenge so that she can more easily see what I’m reading, and I set the challenge to 52 books in a year as it’s a nice number to make for roughly one book a week. I’m on track, so far, this year but I’m also looking forward to this trip, and our trip later in the summer, to bump that up a little and I have some reads I’m really looking forward to over the coming weeks including books by Bob Mortimer and Stuart Turton, and obviously some more Pratchett. What is the summer for, if not for immersing dogs unwillingly into the sea and reading books?
- Mitch.