I was basically a big ole lump in October. Finding my art legs again (or just motivation in general) has been a real struggle. I did manage to get out of the house to see a production of Phantom of the Opera which was quite fun and brought back all sorts of high-school-theatre-kid memories. Plus, I finally set up my online shop, which I’m hoping will serve as an alternative to selling on Etsy (with their annoying new “offer free shipping OR ELSE” requirement).
MOVIES & TV
One Cut of the Dead
This Japanese indie film was recommended to me by a friend with the caveat that I go in knowing as little information as possible. Which is what I did and I was pleasantly surprised. This story about a bunch of people trying to film a zombie movie starts as one thing and then becomes something completely different. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Schitt’s Creek (Season 5)
Season 5 was added to Netflix. I laughed. I cried. Thumbs up.
BOOKS
Minor Mage (T. Kingfisher)
I have too many books left to read in 2019 to declare this my favorite of the year (looks anxiously at my to-read pile), but it will definitely be close to the top. I loved this book immensely. Minor Mage tells the story of Oliver, a 12-year old boy who has recently taken over as his small village’s resident mage. The problem is that he only knows three spells, none of which are big and impressive like lightning or invisibility. Instead he can do things like magically control his armadillo allergy, which is good since his animal familiar is an armadillo. When the villagers gets together in a mob-like fashion to demand Oliver voyage to the faraway mountains and find a solution to the drought, this very small boy and his equally small familiar are thrust into a quest he is totally not ready for. He has to be brave when he’s scared, creative when he’s outmatched, and hopeful when things gets dire. Despite having already purchased the e-book, I immediately bought a physical copy too, just so I can loan it to people.
Wayward Son (Rainbow Rowell)
Wayward Son continues the adventures of Simon Snow (the former Chosen One wizard from Rowell’s Carry On) and his vampire boyfriend Baz, who are struggling to figure out their post-school life and keep their relationship together (when neither one of is very good at talking about things). This series started as a very obvious riff on Harry Potter which Rowell used as a way to examine how damaging it would actually be to be The Chosen One. Book two continues the story by asking what happens AFTER you’ve spent your whole life preparing for one big battle and you win it. Well, in the case of Wayward Son what happens next is an impromptu and ill-planned road trip across America spearheaded by know-it-all best friend Penny. I basically inhaled this book; it’s a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed that Rowell set a large portion of the story in Nebraska (where both she and I live) and wrote such a messy and surprisingly honest romance (featuring a be-winged wizard and a vampire). Plus the book itself is gorgeous. I got the special Barnes and Noble version which includes cover art by Kevin Wada, front and back endpapers by Kris Anka, and interior illustrations by Jim Tierney. There are a bunch of other variations available as well, with different art and even some page edge printing. It looks very pretty on my shelf. Or it WILL, once my sister gets done borrowing it.
Middlegame (Seanan McGuire)
This was by far the most mentally-strenuous book I have read this year (to be fair I’ve mostly been reading comforting romances). Middlegame involves stories-within-stories, a malleable, non-linear plot with time shenanigans, and whole bunch of alchemy described through metaphor. It took me a while to finish. The MAIN story is about a man, created through alchemy, who is intent on gaining infinite power. His method for doing this is to break down the essence of the universe into two children - one who embodies math and one who embodies language. It takes a lot of tries to get his experiment right. Middlegame follows the lives of two of these “cuckoo” children, Roger (language) and Dodger (math), who grow up on separate sides of the country but share a telepathic-ish bond. They find and lose each other many times throughout their lives but can’t escape their destiny. If you can get on board with this slow-burn, abstractly-structured story, I would definitely recommend Middlegame.
ART
I love the #Inktober challenge that goes around social media in October but can’t quite commit to daily ink drawings (or daily drawings in general). But I did want to do something, so I decided to try and draw 31 Pokémon from memory. I play Pokémon Go every day but it is definitely challenging trying to remember these creatures well enough to draw them. I didn’t quite make it to 31 by the end of the month (still have 10 left to do) , but I will probably draw a few more in November since I’m having fun and it’s good digital drawing practice.
