Finally out of the box: my first TWSBI fountain pen; its stub nib; a writing sample in Diamine’s Glacier ink. (It is too full of sparkles – I had to clean out the pen afterward, when it started to clog.)
My writing hand is in a mood to write, so I unpacked my TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen in Iceberg Blue to start a new volume of my journals.
It’s lovely! It feels well made, is comfortable to hold, and the angle makes sense. I am switching to another Diamine ink (with fewer sparkles, so it will flow more evenly) for the rest of today’s writing.
Yes, every autumn I do gush about autumn. Yes, there are pages listing all the foods I love to eat. No, I don’t have to hold back – I’m writing for my own satisfaction, and there’s no such thing as too much gushy enthusiasm in a private journal.
I anticipate this pen will go into heavy rotation for letter writing, when I need a large pen I can hold comfortably for long letters.
The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press (ongoing, this is about Chapters 22-26) 2024 – present
I learned yesterday that the TSHD Volume 5tankōbon won’t come out until March 2025. But the chapters published in Japan and translated into English already go up to Chapter 30! I am not willing to wait, so I’m buying the available digital chapters individually (from the Apple Books app). I’ll reread the entire series once it is complete.
This horror series is one continuous story (NOT an episodic collection of standalone adventures!). You should start with Chapter 1. I highly recommend this series – it is an impressive, creepy, humid, summer night story of things that go bump in the forest above a cursed village with a debt to repay.
I’m trying not to post spoilers, but rather a map of the series, so I can find parts I want to emphasize to others when I talk them into reading this. :). But you should skip this review if you haven’t started reading.
Chapter 22 begins seconds after Chapter 21’s last slash. Yoshiki tries to save his dearest friend, and then… wakes in the hospital, with his worried mother telling him that the events at the house were all hushed up. Kurebayashi visits and assures Yoshiki of his friend’s… durability. The out of town ‘scholar’ (who resembles Hikaru) reveals to a local that his centuries-old employer has an interest in specific <beings> from the other side of the rift, but won’t disclose his personal agenda.
Chapter 23 continues in the hospital with an astute observation by concerned Kurebayashi. A classmate tells the boys local mines supplied abortifacients to get the village through times of scarcity, which led to the worship of the local mountain god, which also led a decrease in local epidemics?
There is a pencil sketch of Hikaru destabilizing in Chapter 23 that is SUPERB.
Chapter 24 continues that the destabilizing theme, and Yoshiki realizes that he isn’t purely human anymore… A visit to the Indou family shrine reveals what the village’s dire offerings to the mountain god were, and how they have been memorialized by Hikaru’s family. New Hikaru feels pangs of guilt about how original Hikaru’s friends miss him.
Chapter 25 introduces Yoshiki’s father, who was dear friends with Hikaru’s father. He tells Yoshiki exactly how the Indous brought calamity to their village and the curse upon themselves. New Hikaru goes to Kurebayashi while trying to figure out how to save his friend – from himself. And Yoshiki finds a sketch of the thing new Hikaru really is – from Europe in 1519. (Aren’t art books great?!)
Chapter 26 is summer vacation. No, really. The boys get to go to the beach! I love this cover – there is a nice panorama in the issue. It ends with a revelation or trick, it’s too early to say which.
A lovely, non-spooky cover!
I continue to love love love this series. So creepy. Action-packed, but with steady progress as the boys uncover so much dark local history. Their friendship and love for each other – indifferent to the fact that one of them isn’t human – is deep and sweet. The village landscapes, the details in the houses, the chirping of cicadas – it is all so atmospheric. This is a compelling, well executed story!
Mmmmmmm. It turns out that, even in hot weather, I want my espresso drinks hot. There are exceptions. (Lavender lattes are pretty pleasant iced…)
Other parts of the country are setting records for high numbers of consecutive days with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but here in SF, where people like me were raised under a friendly, fluffy blanket of fog, the health and safety warnings warn us about temperatures over 90.
I feel seen.
I stepped out of my house briefly this morning, only to discover that it is at least 8 degrees warmer out there, likely in the high 70s! I’ll be hiding from the sun all day, if I can help it.
This is the rare type of week where people who are allowed to work remotely go into the office – because offices have AIR CONDITIONING. (Finally, a good reason!)
…to you baby when I’m out of words you haven’t heard
This is (also) from Teddy Swim’s album, “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part 1,” appearing just before The Door. I like the speed/density of some of the lyrics, such as:
please don’t go got my heart rate up (real high) vocabulary (running low) out of breath I keep (going and going) oh no
I am exactly the sort of person who stands on the back of the boat, taking entirely too many photos of the colors reflected in the boat’s wake at dawn. But you knew that about me already.
It was 93 degrees Fahrenheit in San Francisco today, our hottest day of 2024 so far. (Any day when I’m in shorts at a bus stop at 6:30 AM is already too hot a day.)
I fear it won’t be our hottest day overall.
As a native San Franciscan, I’m only fully operational up until about 78 degrees, so this was a tough one. Yes, I remember that day when it got up to 106. No, I do not remember that fondly. Yes, the whining here could likely be heard from space.
I’ll be optimistically hoping for fog in the very near future.
The Tyrant Wants to Be Good by Ramguel, KAKON published by Webtoon (80 chapters so far, ongoing) 2023 – present
Dorothea Millanaire had a rough life, but once she murdered her sweet-but-hapless brother to become the empress, she was certain things would go her way.
Consistent with the rest of her sad life to that point, however, things did not go her way at all. When her most loyal supporter offered to save her at her execution, she turned him down – she was too heartbroken to continue living.
Dorothea doesn’t take it well when she wakes up AS A BABY VERSION OF HERSELF. A pissed off, world-weary baby. Oh, the indignity of being snuggled by the toddler version of her doting older brother (whom she had murdered in adulthood in her prior life!)!!
Yes, this is yet another second chance novel, but the first one I’ve read in which the protagonist TRULY has to start life over – all the way over – IN INFANCY. With the full guilt of her misdeeds weighing upon her memory-filled mind, there is a poignant mix of humor (a frustrated toddler isn’t strong enough to kill people whom she believes deserve it), frustration (she is a neglected and unloved daughter again), frivolity (classic younger sister chafing at her clingy older brother feelings), and sadness (six-year-old Dorothea looking at the child-version of her past-life-dead-husband with such profound, age-inappropriate despair that he is haunted by it).
Unlike other second-chance stories, Dorothea isn’t especially determined to survive this life. She feels she must make amends, but expects no rewards, and still doesn’t feel she belongs. Her father still treats her with contempt, she is still mocked in society for not having <the superficial sign of power that her family uses to justify its authority>, and she chooses to hold her prior-life’s love at a mournful, adult-arm’s-length distance, even though this version of him appears sincerely fond of her. The same society that punished Empress Dorothea for trying to end dangerous child labor is going to punish this younger, non-empress version of her for the same efforts, proving it is hard to be good in a society that is so bad.
The difference in this go-round is that she has a handful of people who love her. Including one who loves her so much, he would support her in violently taking the throne AGAIN.
I started reading on a lark to see a vengeful baby with adult memories, but am now 80 chapters in, and the characters have aged into legal adults. This is another tale of a neglected child attempting to break a cycle of violence in a cruel, feudal world of extreme poverty and lavish palaces, in which the power of chosen-family love might not be enough to save anyone.
Weblog by A. Elizabeth Graves. iPhone photography and links to science-y and foodie topics.
Oh, it’s been so lovely this week.
This week featured the soupiest, most dramatic fog.
The warmest, glowiest sunrise. (Yes, I may be making up words.)
Delightful conversations with people who are fun and talented at conversation, so that interacting with them felt so natural. The kinds of conversations that leave you smiling and feeling a little sunnier. (Sunnier a real word.)
My only regret is that I’ve been wreck on days when I’ve run live training for large groups. Interacting with so many people (and then continuing on to have a full day of meetings) just… EMPTIES me. And then I am mentally just pudding in human form, and can’t respond properly to others. I feel rude toward people who reasonably expect me to engage, but who don’t know that I’ve already given out all the communication I had in me.
I feel like I should wear a vest similar to the ones that service and police dogs wear that says “DO NOT PET.” I said similar – I’m not that size. (Also, I wouldn’t use that label, because there are people I know who might hassle me whenever I’m not wearing it.) The phrases I would use to both apologize and ask people to be gentle with me are all too long to put on a reasonably-sized patch, however.
If you know me: I appreciate your patience as I reboot.
I listen to a lot of web radio. The music of my niche downtempo stations washes over me, provides a soundtrack to my life, and tips me off to artists I might want to hear more of.
I am not always aware of how recently music was issued: there’s a mix of retro and current music blended seamlessly by talented DJs, so I haven’t actively pursued ‘keeping up’ with new releases or distinguishing new-to-me music from actually-new-music. But it turns out that I am keeping up a bit, thanks to web radio. (A new colleague recently recommended a station playing 1980s-1990s music, and I told him I’m trying to focus on music released after 2010 now, which just made him laugh.)
I went into my phone’s music app to look at what they deem new & popular (selling well). I was shocked that I recognize and enjoy some of the songs.
Here are three that I was surprised to recognize (and have purchased).
Hozier: Too Sweet (from the 2024 album, “Unheard”)
There is something about the simplicity of the guitar lines that hooks me. It’s a very satisfying song. (Also: do not date the protagonist of this song: he will always be hung over, will criticize your delicious green juice, and you’ll have to drive him to too many medical appointments later in life.)
Teddy Swims: the Door (from the 2023 album, “I’ve Tried Everything by Therapy, Pt. 1”)
Gospel-ly, danceable, singable in the shower. I could not have guessed his appearance (friendly neighborhood bear with even more tattoos). Lose Control from last year is also familiar to me.
Myles Smith: Stargazing (Take My Heart Don’t Break It) (2024)
Upbeat and cheerful.
It is so encouraging to listen to music that is enjoyable to me and succeeding – despite the fact that I like it!
