Life Stuff and a Rec

[kelly_chambliss]

Wow, dears, it's been eons! Eons, I tell you. I have much to whine about report.

Let's start on a high note: Podficcer Wilfriede has made a simply marvelous podfic of my Wilhelmina/Aberforth story, "Flying Dutchman". I'm really chuffed about this because a) it is beautifully read and illustrated, and b) this fic (with its marginal-characters rare pair) receives very little notice as a rule. (I think it got all of two comments when I first posted it to Daily Deviant back in the day, and it still has only 139 hits after more than ten years on AO3.) I'm very glad Wilfriede enjoyed it enough to record it.

Go listen! Only ten minutes.

Life has been bitchy lately, both personally and nationally/globally, so I've been rather demoralized and unable to get up to much beyond mindless doom-scrolling. Reading books, which used to be one of my greatest pleasures in life, has become oddly difficult for me the last couple of years; I can barely manage a chapter or two at a time. So I'm creeping my way through a biography of George Eliot that I have been reading since before Christmas.

Personal stuff -- We've been dealing with medical issues. That's as much as I have the energy to say on this topic.

As for the world -- omg, the world and the US are galloping full-tilt into fascism. I mean GALLOPING. There have been some big-headline positive events here in the US, like the Trump sexual-assault verdict and the arrest of crooked Congressman George Santos, but huge amounts of scary stuff -- increasing censorship in schools and libraries; rampant book banning; dangerously restrictive laws against women, transpeople, queer people; endless right-wing lies and propaganda, more and more restrictions on elections and voting -- is happening under the news radar, in local and state school boards and legislatures, where the far-right is quietly consolidating its power. And don't even get me started on the relentless gun violence. It's all terrifying, and I see no way to stop it.

However, all is not totally bleak. For instance, Partner and I have been watching some fun television lately. We really enjoyed the new Netflix series The Diplomat. It's a well-done (if implausible), tightly-written show that we have as much fun picking apart as watching. The dialogue is great.

We also watched one of the best detective series I've seen in years, called Sherwood. A smart, well-acted show featuring, among others, the always-excellent Lesley Manville, plus Mr Molesly from Downton Abbey (aka Kevin Doyle).

(We tried to watch Amazon's new big thing, Citadel, but we made it through only one episode. A mindless, cliche-ridden, pedestrian "spy thriller" with characters you don't give a shit about, along with tedious gun battles and fist-fights. Not even the presence of Stanley Tucci and the aforementioned Lesley Manville could redeem this sad mess for us.)

And we have a grand trip planned soon (details still in the works). Since the pandemic, we've gone virtually nowhere besides the occasional back-and-forth between New York and Rural Hamlet. So I'm really looking forward to some travel.

So that's the current state of me. Hope you are all well!

Comments

[torino10154]

Certainly with you on the bad. UGH It's so depressing/infuriating. I feel so helpless (and hopeless) at times. Then I think of the wonderful young people I know--assuming they don't get shot, we'll be in good hands.

Congrats on the podfic! It's always nice to get some appreciation for our lesser known pieces.

[kelly_chambliss]

If there's any hope, it's going to come from the young people. I want a skinny hero kid who will come along with a wand and knock of the baddies so that the world can go back to something like normal. Lightning scar optional.

It was really fun to revisit that old story!

[phantomtomato]

Oh, a podfic of a beloved story is so nice! I also didn’t know you’d written this one, which is another great side effect of new attention on an old thing—I adore Abe, so this is going on my list for the afternoon.

I’m so sorry to hear that things have been difficult for you recently. I certainly missed seeing your posts around, but DW will be here whenever you’re up to it. And congratulations on the trip! This is similarly my first year since quarantine with any substantive travel, and it’s just… nice to look forward to events like that again. I hope your trip is wonderful.

[kelly_chambliss]

Aberforth is such a fun character to write; I can always just hear him in my head.

Thanks for the good trip wishes! With the trip and summer weather to look forward to, I'm hopeful for the future.

[dreamy_dragon73]

I'm sorry to hear that things have not been easy for you recently. Fingers crossed that the medical issues will improve.

A grand trip? How exciting. Where do you plan to go?

[kelly_chambliss]

Thanks! There's a lot to be grateful for, in terms of the medical stuff -- we're among the lucky ones who have health insurance, and treatments are available, but truly, I'll be very glad to put it all behind us.

We're going to Paris! I'm really pleased.

[mina_harker]

Ooh, I loved Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread, I'll make sure to check out Sherwood.

[kelly_chambliss]

Unlike so many formulaic crime shows these days, Sherwood was nicely complex and intelligent. (Not perfect, of course, but what is?)

I also saw Manville recently in Magpie Murders, which was great fun (at least until the silly and disappointing final episode). Interestingly, Manville and Claire Rushbrook play sisters in both Magpie and Sherwood.

[therealsnape]

I'll check out The Diplomat as soon as I've finished Queen Charlotte. Always nice to have a good series going.

And that Aberforth story was such a delight. I'm glad it got some recognition.

Yay for travel plans!

!!! Thank you!

[wilfriede0815]

Oh, what a wonderful surprise to find this while poking around Dreamwidth. It really means a lot to me that you recced the podfic <3