The Marci Rating System

I have now finished BOOK 3 of Freya Marske's 'The Last Binding' trilogy!

(Okay, I really feel like I'm missing something, but I have no idea why the trilogy is called The Last Binding, and not 'The Last Contract'?)

ANYWAY despite my clear and obvious confusion about the trilogy name, I found these books Extremely Fun to listen to! Book 3 especially, because it was pretty much all the things I like:

*basically a growing group of friends who all support each other
*sometimes in the 'friends who commit crimes together, stick together' sort of way
*the houses are magic
*BEES (genuinely was not expecting the bees, but A+ work there, bees!)
*what if ALL the characters gathered together at a house party and CHAOS ENSUED

So, technically I finished listening on Friday, but I definitely fell asleep during the last bit and had no idea what happened. So on Saturday I went back and actually awake-finished!

In conclusion: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

(Great book!)

So, this is basically The Murderbot Diaries series so far:

BOOK 1: Murderbot makes some friends

BOOK 2: Murderbot makes some friends

BOOK 3: Murderbot makes some friends

BOOK 4: Murderbot rescues its friends from BOOK 1

BOOK 6 (the internet was definitely right about reading this one after 4): Murderbot thinks its BOOK 1 friends may need more rescuing, so it hangs around (and makes some friends)

BOOK 5: Murderbot rescues one of its BOOK 2 friends, and makes some friends, and gets rescued itself (it's the longest book; a lot happens!)

BOOK 7: ???????

(Note: I LOVE THIS. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO READ ABOUT. YES, PLEASE.)

I've been working my way through the Dianne Duvall's 'Immortal Guardians' audiobooks (after starting with her 'Aldebarian Alliance' SPACE ADVENTURE books, so I got kind of a backwards introduction, which I personally loved -- spoilers: yes, suspense: no thank you).

And I've been interspersing them with other stuff (still impressed at how easily the narrator of my current audiobook says 'marquess,' a word I can't seem to manage despite having now known the correct pronunciation for one (1) whole day).

Mostly this is just a post to appreciate how much fun I'm having listening to a story about people kissing in the rain (it rains a lot in England, I guess) in a book that uses the word 'marquess' a lot yet has a surprising lack of the actual marquess even now, more than 80% of the way through the book, while at the same time part of my brain is all 'BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VAMPIRES AND THE ALIENS.'

Still haven't decided what to listen to next, because I'm enjoying the anticipation so much. Ah, the delights!

Sometimes I go over to tumblr for a lil' distraction while I'm meandering through my morning routine, expecting a smattering of cute animal pictures and whatever random ad tumblr's decided to blast at me.

And sometimes instead I find a beautiful reflection on art: Permanence is not purpose, by luulapants

The vast majority of books written before the modern day are lost media. Countless artists poured their hearts into stories that were read by few and lasted only as long as the paper they were printed on. Most of the art ever made has been destroyed or thrown away. Most of the music ever written will never be heard again. The expectation of permanence in art is very new, and even now, there are millions of works of art that will never be recorded or posted or shared. Millions more that will never even be completed.

Creation, with few exceptions, is a mandala. A vulnerable song performed for dear friends by a campfire, but the singer soon forgets how it went. A poem shared in a coffee house that rattles the audiences' bones but will never be heard again. A sketch of a lover on hotel stationary that the maid will throw away tomorrow. Our current reality exists by the influence of art that no one remembers.

Permanence is not purpose.

And then I thought 'oh, I'll just keep scrolling a bit to find something to contrast with this for my post,' and what should I come across instead but THE EPIC OF FRODERICK, an absolutely fantastic video from take-a-dip-in-the-deadpool chronicling their journey from 'lemme build a lil' house for that cute frog' to 'I've somehow created a nature preserve.' SO GOOD.

Current November story title: AWESOME 2024 STORY

My computer has a program called Freeform which I assume came with some update or another; it seems to be an excellent program for my version of "planning." Which is basically just 'copy/paste a cool picture from the internet, jot down something on a sticky note, add some text, DONE.'

The only question I really try to answer before I start writing is 'what's the point of this story?' (aka 'why am I writing this?') Sometimes the answer is 'I want the characters to have a rollicking good time encountering Tropes In Space.' And why shouldn't they?

...along with a brief return of hot weather! ::shakes fist at sky::

Some great stuff today:

*I have TWO crochet projects I get to work on!

*It's Sunday, but tomorrow is basically ALSO Sunday! TWO Sundays!

*oh gosh, now I've started some kind of theme based around there being two of things...

*I got to change the calendar pages to September! (there were four of them? which is like TWO sets of TWO!)

*now I get to go to the grocery store and see if they have any fun fall knick-knacks! (lol maybe TWO of them!)

*It's Wednesday! As the great sages have always said: 'Tuesdays are hard; Wednesdays are better.' Bring on better!

*It's laundry day! Laundry is one of my favorite chores because the 'active time' is so short compared to the total time of the task.

*The sun is shining, the cat is snoozing, and I currently have ZERO work meetings scheduled for the day.

-excerpt from tumblr, "Let July be July" by Morgan Harper Nichols

-full text if you scroll down past the essay

In the House With No Doors
by Sarah Kay

we have given up on knocking.
Incoming! we say, with our eyes lowered for modesty,
or, Hello! or sometimes, Sorry, sorry!
You have to pass through everyone’s bedroom
to get to the kitchen. We only have two bathrooms.
As a courtesy, nobody will poop while you are showering,
but they might have to do their makeup or shave
if they are in a rush, if we have somewhere to be,
so you can recognize every person by their whistle
through a wet shower curtain, you haven’t seen your own face
on an unfogged mirror in weeks. It doesn’t matter,
self-consciousness has no currency here.
If you were nosy, I suppose the little bathroom trashcans
would spill their secrets to you, but why bother,
privacy is a language we don’t speak.
Someone is always awake before you,
the smell of coffee easing you into a today
they have already entered,
a bridge you will never need to cross first,
and no matter how latenight your owl,
there is always someone still awake
to eat popcorn with, to whisper your daily report to,
to compare notes on what good news you each caught in your nets.
In bed, you say, Goodnight! in one direction
and someone says it back, then turns and passes it,
so you fall asleep to the echo of goodnights down the long hallway
’til it donuts its way back around to your pillow.
Someone is doing a load of laundry,
if anyone wants to add some extra socks?
Someone is clearing the dishes,
someone has started singing Gershwin in the backyard
and you can’t help but harmonize,
and for a moment what you always hoped was true
finally is: loneliness has forgotten your address,
french toast browning on the stovetop,
the sound of everyone you love
clear as the sun giggling through the window,
not even a doorknob between you.

We are five weeks from the first 5K of the season! Surely that means that spring is on the way. In the meantime, some things I appreciate about the wintry season:

*No bugs

*Cozy sweatshirts

*Layers, so many layers

*Cozy socks

*Winter coat easily fits keys AND snacks

*More layers = more pockets