sarakingdom Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 I don't wanna do more things. I wanna be done doing things. Especially things involving the kitchen sink, because those are the most annoying things. I will do things till dinner is cooked. That seems fair. That's a good time for a break. 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 49 minutes ago, sarakingdom said: I will do things till dinner is cooked. That seems fair. That's a good time for a break. So probably I needed a meal break before this one. I chomped through half that chocolate bar at high speed before chilling out. Also, no regrets about a dinner I'm not really cooking tonight. I've been doing all the things, and need sustenance. I would not have made any more for myself. 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 3 hours ago, sarakingdom said: probably I needed a meal break before this one. It occurs to me that this is exactly what Janeway would do. This reminds of the person who said, "When I said I wanted to be like Vimes, I wasn't thinking of the chronic sleep deprivation and crushing bureaucracy." 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 8 hours ago, sarakingdom said: It occurs to me that this is exactly what Janeway would do. What I should have done to be more Janeway was make a huge thermos of coffee and drink it through the day. I was probably being over-optimistic counting a ton of soup towards my hydration. (I had soup all morning! I had at least, uh, six cups of water in there or more! It was four huge bowls of soup. It's gotta count. It was deliberately for hydration. But, uh... my body does not agree.) 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 Week 3 Day 1 Challenge tasks: Spend an hour doing something fun: Make something pretty, fun, or festive: made things pretty, made a huge vat of stew Bonus making: a few rows of a bigger pepeppermint-swirl crochet project Drink 4 liters with electrolytes: 3/4 Exercise breaks: 1 Meditation breaks: 1 Support tasks: Make a warm nest Wear extra warm clothes Fix evening routine timers Winter goals: Hibernate (in progress) Break out the coziest clothes (in progress) Sled with a yeti 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 16 Author Report Share Posted January 16 1 hour ago, sarakingdom said: Make something pretty, fun, or festive Can I claim credit for making it snow? That's all me, right? 5 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Harriet Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 1 minute ago, sarakingdom said: Can I claim credit for making it snow? That's all me, right? I certainly can't think of a way to disprove it, so yes, must be. 1 1 Quote Let cheese and oxen and mead crowd out our secret desires for power and domination - Harriet the Viking Just be bold, fluid and unapologetic, not small, hairy and indecisive - Harriet the Artist You can absorb me! - Harriet the Contextless Guru Link to comment
Jean Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 9 hours ago, sarakingdom said: What I should have done to be more Janeway was make a huge thermos of coffee and drink it through the day. I was probably being over-optimistic counting a ton of soup towards my hydration. Maybe it's my coffee and how my body reacts to it but coffee seems to tend to dehydrate me more than the opposite. Strangely enough, herbal tea works on me as a mean of hydration. That's not to say that's not what Janeway would have done, nor that huge thermos of coffee aren't awesome, because they are, but still, I support the soup experiment. Also, thanks for the snow. First time this winter that we are having some real quantity of it of appropriate quality that should hopefully last a few days. Incidentally, those days will be this weekend and we should have nice weather to pair with it so you've done very well. Quote Legally bound to hug people in need. Living life as a Druid is about walking with the beasts. It's about being scared, looking your fears in the eyes and going on anyway. Dread doesn't go away, you just learn to know it. It's still a beast, it still has fangs, but you walk among it. Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 17 Author Report Share Posted January 17 1 hour ago, Jean said: Maybe it's my coffee and how my body reacts to it but coffee seems to tend to dehydrate me more than the opposite. Strangely enough, herbal tea works on me as a mean of hydration. That's not to say that's not what Janeway would have done, nor that huge thermos of coffee aren't awesome, because they are, but still, I support the soup experiment. It used to be the folk wisdom that coffee (any caffeine, really) was dehydrating and didn't count towards your daily hydration, maybe even needed more, though that's been walked back a bit. (The current version is that it is a bit, but much less than the liquid in the mug, so people can count some of it to their water total.) I'm okay with calling tea and coffee "water" for my purposes. But I also react less to caffeine than most, so people who react more to caffeine than average likely have a very different experience, and it may be very dehydrating for them. The soup was tasty, but the experiment was a bit biased, because it was salty and because I had soup before noon, then ate all the rest of my food at 9pm as mostly carbs, and carbs need extra water. (It's something to do with storing glycogen, and it's why people lose a chunk of water weight when they go low carb.) So I had a lowish hydration day, mixed with an increased need for hydration to replace what I usually don't store glycogen with. 1 hour ago, Jean said: Also, thanks for the snow. First time this winter that we are having some real quantity of it of appropriate quality that should hopefully last a few days. Incidentally, those days will be this weekend and we should have nice weather to pair with it so you've done very well. You're very welcome! I'm glad it's falling on people who appreciate it as I do. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Harriet Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 12 hours ago, Jean said: Also, thanks for the snow. Did you ask for First Snow? Spoiler Quote Let cheese and oxen and mead crowd out our secret desires for power and domination - Harriet the Viking Just be bold, fluid and unapologetic, not small, hairy and indecisive - Harriet the Artist You can absorb me! - Harriet the Contextless Guru Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 Week 3 Day 3 I need to do something fun. I'm low on fun ideas. Fun is cancelled. I also need some way to absolutely make sure I'm in bed before my brain get tired. Tired brain goes off the rails. I'm not okay with open-ended projects today, which is like all the projects. I'm not really okay with well-defined projects, either. Or people. I'm not okay with anything today. Spoiler Part of the extra cognitive load going on right now is that someone has brought the plague home. They were probably past the infectious stage, over 10 days from the onset of symptoms, but the tests are still coming out positive. It's not unheard of for that to happen after the end of an infection, and that seems to be the current guidance. But it's also not unheard of for infections to go on longer than normal. This person is making a vague but half-assed effort to mask around me, but only around me. (No one else is at risk, just me. They're going about their other business in the house unmasked, is what I'm saying.) It's winter, so there's poor ventilation in the house. They had very minimal symptoms when infected, and are still having a mild version of those symptoms, but that could easily stem from jet lag as much as any active infection and they did seem better before flying. It's not likely they still have an active infection, but the door hasn't closed yet, if you get me. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, they're probably doing a bit better than conventional guidance. On the other hand, the conventional guidance is not great, and I think it's not generally aimed at the constant exposure of living in the same household. I need to reconsider what I want to do until those tests come out negative. There is some work I can take outside the house. There are ways to minimise the times per day we cross paths (though, again, poor ventilation in general). I just have no damn idea how to estimate the risk. It's probably safe enough, for completely unknown values of "probably" and "safe enough". I cannot even. I wish I had a stack of chocolate to angrily chomp through. Maybe this is a heavy hibernation day, and I should prioritise hibernation over productivity. That might lead to better productivity outcomes. Also, I should probably eat something, and thus hate the world less. Challenge tasks: Spend an hour doing something fun: ? Make something pretty, fun, or festive: ? Bonus making: a few rows of a bigger pepeppermint-swirl crochet project Drink 4 liters with electrolytes: 1/4 Exercise breaks: 0 Meditation breaks: 0 Support tasks: Wear extra warm clothes Fix evening routine timers Winter goals: Hibernate (in progress) Break out the coziest clothes (in progress) Sled with a yeti 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 Spoiler I can sympathize. Back when the plague first came, one of my neighbors in our enclosed 3-unit apartment just would not. Stop. Bringing one-night paramours around, and nobody wore a freaking mask. It's really hard to find kindness for people like that, so I absolutely get where you're coming from. So, my sympathies. I'm sure it's gonna suck the entire time, but I'm confident this will pass soon; just take care of yourself 'til then. 2 Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 I make the curry. I eat the curry. I make the soup. I take the soup to bed.** I pour the water. I drink the water. I go to bed. I refuse to be getting sick. **Not in a weird sexy way. 2 5 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Mistr Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 2 hours ago, sarakingdom said: I also need some way to absolutely make sure I'm in bed before my brain get tired. Tired brain goes off the rails. That suggests something fun to do in bed, that you can put down when you get tired. Would crocheting fill that niche? It has to be fun enough to attract you to bed, but not so absorbing that it will keep you up when you are tired. Hmmm, that's a challenging one. 2 hours ago, sarakingdom said: I'm not okay with open-ended projects today, which is like all the projects. I'm not really okay with well-defined projects, either. Or people. I'm not okay with anything today. Hide contents Part of the extra cognitive load going on right now is that someone has brought the plague home. They were probably past the infectious stage, over 10 days from the onset of symptoms, but the tests are still coming out positive. It's not unheard of for that to happen after the end of an infection, and that seems to be the current guidance. But it's also not unheard of for infections to go on longer than normal. This person is making a vague but half-assed effort to mask around me, but only around me. (No one else is at risk, just me. They're going about their other business in the house unmasked, is what I'm saying.) It's winter, so there's poor ventilation in the house. They had very minimal symptoms when infected, and are still having a mild version of those symptoms, but that could easily stem from jet lag as much as any active infection and they did seem better before flying. It's not likely they still have an active infection, but the door hasn't closed yet, if you get me. Spoiler That is supremely inconsiderate of your housemate. You mention that were just flying. They may well be over the initial plague, but chances are high that they were exposed to other viruses while travelling. On the plus side, your exposure will be low if they are not currently having respiratory symptoms. You can minimize your risk further by wiping down common surfaces with disinfectant wipes. If you are very concerned, wearing a mask will prevent you from accidentally touching your nose or mouth. It is not fair that you have to take steps to protect yourself from your household, but it may be better than the alternative. 1 Quote Level 68 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted January 19 Report Share Posted January 19 I just finished Small Gods on my Discworld read through, and forgot how much I love it. I'm curious what you think about it. Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
Harriet Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Spoiler I'm sorry you have a plague bearer at home. I didn't know you were a high risk category, but that must be stressful. Thumbs pressed for viral defeat without further transfer. 1 Quote Let cheese and oxen and mead crowd out our secret desires for power and domination - Harriet the Viking Just be bold, fluid and unapologetic, not small, hairy and indecisive - Harriet the Artist You can absorb me! - Harriet the Contextless Guru Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 I hope the plague has left you alone. Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 14 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: I hope the plague has left you alone. The plague has been banished. 6 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 On 1/18/2023 at 5:49 PM, Mistr said: That suggests something fun to do in bed, that you can put down when you get tired. Would crocheting fill that niche? It has to be fun enough to attract you to bed, but not so absorbing that it will keep you up when you are tired. Hmmm, that's a challenging one. Sadly, crochet is sort of 85% chore, and needs more light than is available in bed. It is a challenging balance to hit. Positive peer pressure would be useful, but, well, going to bed at a sensible hour is not a group activity. On 1/18/2023 at 8:21 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said: I just finished Small Gods on my Discworld read through, and forgot how much I love it. I'm curious what you think about it. I liked it, but did not love it as deeply as I know it is loved. When reading it, I got the odd sense that I was codeswitching to take part in a very male sort of conversation about (a)theism and belief. I can't really explain why that is, but it sort of kept my enjoyment on a very intellectual level rather than a visceral level. Now that I think about it, I think perhaps it really was a fundamentally very male story about religion being misused and being set right again, and didn't speak much to the female experience of religion or grappling with belief. And I see this now because when I thought about what women's historic relationship with religion is, I realized Monstrous Regiment is a very similar story regarding the impact of a religion being misused in the wake of a fading god and needing reform, but told from the female point of view. Most of the situations in which religion is explored in Small Gods are situations that historically, and even today, women are excluded from - prophets wandering in deserts, powerful bishops influencing nations, that sort of thing. It can be a good and insightful story, but not a story that a female reader is included in, not the experiences that shaped women's relationship with belief or were shaped by them. Monstrous Regiment, on the other hand, is made up of those experiences - Magdalene laundries for fallen girls, restrictions over how you dress and what you can inherit, the Joan of Arc archetype, the controversial popular semi-deification of Mother Mary counter to orthodoxy, the knowledge that power is closing ranks to exclude you and protect its own interests, the pious elderly women who enforce the rules that hurt women because it gives them a little power in the system that's deprived them of it. Brutha's experience of being a lowly, humble monastic who will never have a voice or seat at the table is fundamentally different to Wozzer's experience, because she would never be allowed into as respected a position in the religious structure as Brutha was in at the start of Small Gods - it's a very different sort of not having a seat at the table or a voice that she experiences. When the voice of the god she believes in speaks to her and tells her that the church is tainted and the geopolitical ship needs to be turned around before it's too late, she has a very different set of obstacles to being heard. Brutha's sort of powerlessness and Wozzer's don't really compare. It's also the case that Brutha's reforms, while earth-shaking in many respects, are unlikely to significantly reform a lot for women in Omnia, because the book doesn't recognise what Monstrous Regiment does: how different the misuse of religion looks to women, and how much of it is experienced in small daily perversions of power and covered up, rather than happening in big, open power moves. Brutha's reformation isn't the sort that ends residential reform schools for bad girls or their hidden abuse, or changes inheritance laws, or customs about head scarfs. A church organization that is not corrupt is always better than a church that is, and everyone is safer for it. Authoritarian power is always a danger, and to everyone. But those reforms are not going to trickle down equally. Monstrous Regiment takes the similar message of "the church should not throw the country's young men into the geopolitical meat grinder and power struggles", but it does that in the context of seeing the broader implications of what kind of society does that, and what that does to a society, including how the power struggles and exertion of control and influence needed to do that trickle down into people's daily lives. So I guess I think that it's a clever satire on the political history of various theocratic moments. But it's not a book that's trying to address the relationship women have with religion and religious authority, and that's the sort of oversight that's sort of at the heart of women's relationship with religion, so it's hard for the book to feel personal or deep to me. But I recognize that it is for other people. I hope I'm not harshing your buzz! It is a good book, and you've just raised some very interesting thoughts for me, in comparing two books telling thematically similar stories from very different points of view. I never saw that similarity before, but Wozzer and Brutha are having a very similar sort of experience, played out through different archetypes. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 Week 3 Day 6 I wish to point out that I am not eating a stack of chocolate. That's really all I want in life, and I'm not doing it. However, I did have hot cocoa yesterday and it was great, so I may do that again today. I will do something fun. Fun is required. Challenge tasks: Spend an hour doing something fun: Make something pretty, fun, or festive: Bonus making: a few rows of a bigger pepeppermint-swirl crochet project Drink 4 liters with electrolytes: 1/4 Exercise breaks: 0 Meditation breaks: 0 Support tasks: Make a warm nest Wear extra warm clothes Fix evening routine timers Winter goals: Hibernate (in progress) Break out the coziest clothes (in progress) Sled with a yeti 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 27 minutes ago, sarakingdom said: Sadly, crochet is sort of 85% chore, and needs more light than is available in bed. It is a challenging balance to hit. Positive peer pressure would be useful, but, well, going to bed at a sensible hour is not a group activity. I liked it, but did not love it as deeply as I know it is loved. When reading it, I got the odd sense that I was codeswitching to take part in a very male sort of conversation about (a)theism and belief. I can't really explain why that is, but it sort of kept my enjoyment on a very intellectual level rather than a visceral level. Now that I think about it, I think perhaps it really was a fundamentally very male story about religion being misused and being set right again, and didn't speak much to the female experience of religion or grappling with belief. And I see this now because when I thought about what women's historic relationship with religion is, I realized Monstrous Regiment is a very similar story regarding the impact of a religion being misused in the wake of a fading god and needing reform, but told from the female point of view. Most of the situations in which religion is explored in Small Gods are situations that historically, and even today, women are excluded from - prophets wandering in deserts, powerful bishops influencing nations, that sort of thing. It can be a good and insightful story, but not a story that a female reader is included in, not the experiences that shaped women's relationship with belief or were shaped by them. Monstrous Regiment, on the other hand, is made up of those experiences - Magdalene laundries for fallen girls, restrictions over how you dress and what you can inherit, the Joan of Arc archetype, the controversial popular semi-deification of Mother Mary counter to orthodoxy, the knowledge that power is closing ranks to exclude you and protect its own interests, the pious elderly women who enforce the rules that hurt women because it gives them a little power in the system that's deprived them of it. Brutha's experience of being a lowly, humble monastic who will never have a voice or seat at the table is fundamentally different to Wozzer's experience, because she would never be allowed into as respected a position in the religious structure as Brutha was in at the start of Small Gods - it's a very different sort of not having a seat at the table or a voice that she experiences. When the voice of the god she believes in speaks to her and tells her that the church is tainted and the geopolitical ship needs to be turned around before it's too late, she has a very different set of obstacles to being heard. Brutha's sort of powerlessness and Wozzer's don't really compare. It's also the case that Brutha's reforms, while earth-shaking in many respects, are unlikely to significantly reform a lot for women in Omnia, because the book doesn't recognise what Monstrous Regiment does: how different the misuse of religion looks to women, and how much of it is experienced in small daily perversions of power and covered up, rather than happening in big, open power moves. Brutha's reformation isn't the sort that ends residential reform schools for bad girls or their hidden abuse, or changes inheritance laws, or customs about head scarfs. A church organization that is not corrupt is always better than a church that is, and everyone is safer for it. Authoritarian power is always a danger, and to everyone. But those reforms are not going to trickle down equally. Monstrous Regiment takes the similar message of "the church should not throw the country's young men into the geopolitical meat grinder and power struggles", but it does that in the context of seeing the broader implications of what kind of society does that, and what that does to a society, including how the power struggles and exertion of control and influence needed to do that trickle down into people's daily lives. So I guess I think that it's a clever satire on the political history of various theocratic moments. But it's not a book that's trying to address the relationship women have with religion and religious authority, and that's the sort of oversight that's sort of at the heart of women's relationship with religion, so it's hard for the book to feel personal or deep to me. But I recognize that it is for other people. I hope I'm not harshing your buzz! It is a good book, and you've just raised some very interesting thoughts for me, in comparing two books telling thematically similar stories from very different points of view. I never saw that similarity before, but Wozzer and Brutha are having a very similar sort of experience, played out through different archetypes. Thank you for such a thoughtful response. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I asked your opinion, and this was super interesting to read. As you might imagine, both as a male and as a member of the clergy, Small Gods did resonate with me a lot. I first read it in my early 20s in college when I was in the early days of the first time I was the pastor of a church. At the time my denomination was winding down a 2 decade power struggle, and the bit about people caring more about the structures of the church than the actual belief was very poignant. Ever since, I've kept the lessons I've learned from my first read through in mind, or at least tried. I would never have thought to compare Small Gods to Monstrous Regiment as distaff counterparts of each other, but now that you mention it, it's totally there. I think Mrs. Cake is a good example of "the pious elderly women who enforce the rules that hurt women because it gives them a little power in the system that's deprived them of it" though she featured more prominently in Reaper man. 1 Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 49 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: Thank you for such a thoughtful response. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I asked your opinion, and this was super interesting to read. As you might imagine, both as a male and as a member of the clergy, Small Gods did resonate with me a lot. I first read it in my early 20s in college This, I think, is the peak time to read it. The thing that started tipping me off to the idea that I was code-switching was that it reminded me of late night conversations I'd have when I was 20, in a mostly male college, which I only years later started realizing was partly code-switching to a male POV to fit in better culturally. I can't name why, but I can identify the feeling. 1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: when I was in the early days of the first time I was the pastor of a church. At the time my denomination was winding down a 2 decade power struggle, and the bit about people caring more about the structures of the church than the actual belief was very poignant. Ever since, I've kept the lessons I've learned from my first read through in mind, or at least tried. Yes, I think that would add a lot to the resonance it'd have, because you're not a generalist - you're embedded in a profession where those discussions of church structure and power and belief are very relevant to your daily concerns. I suspect it's sort of a timeless allegory, because people are the same, and it likely happens over and over. I can definitely see it saying a lot more about the responsibilities of the clergy that it doesn't say as clearly to the layperson. I think Brutha would be a much more poignant figure for a member of the clergy. Not that he isn't in general, but it's much more personal and relevant. 1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: I would never have thought to compare Small Gods to Monstrous Regiment as distaff counterparts of each other, but now that you mention it, it's totally there. I never saw it before, either. It's partly obscured by the fact that you don't realize till the end that the book is written so that everyone is a minor character in Wozzer's big epic Joan of Arc quest; she's the main character as far as the world is concerned, but we're following the side characters much more closely, and they have sort of a different story, while the big epic things are elsewhere. She's mostly busy being the counterpart to Brutha offscreen. But it's also that their struggle against a twisted religion looks different, and it's easy to miss how many elements are similar. 1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: I think Mrs. Cake is a good example of "the pious elderly women who enforce the rules that hurt women because it gives them a little power in the system that's deprived them of it" though she featured more prominently in Reaper man. I think she is, definitely in Reaper Man. It's in how she treats her daughter. I think she evolves by the time Angua moves to the city; she's practically a social justice warrior for the (undead) counter culture by then, and much more likeable. She definitely starts out that type. (When it comes to daughters in law, and only there, so is Nanny Ogg, and she knows better, I suspect.) 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 We are about to test how close to sleep meditation is. I have just spent six hours lying awake in bed doing all the right things to sleep. My alarm is in 1.5 hours. I have a full day. This will not be fun. My fitness tracker does think I've been sleeping, and that that good. It means I've genuinely been still enough to sleep. However, judging by how much audiobook I've heard and how many pillows I've swapped onto my bed to change my head elevation and so on, it is extremely wrong. One cumulative hour of microsleeps, tops. 4 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 Week 4 Day 1 I'm still stalled on fun. But I am not stalled on work, so that is good. I did not sleep enough last night. (Despite some really good hibernation skills, guys.) That will hit me later. I didn't eat enough yesterday. That's hitting me now. But I don't have time for food yet. I have learned that time spent wrapped in warm things pays off in both mental health and productivity. So I will try to do more of that. Challenge tasks: Spend an hour doing something fun: I had hot cocoa Make something pretty, fun, or festive: made it snow Bonus making: a few rows of a bigger pepeppermint-swirl crochet project Drink 4 liters with electrolytes: 2/4 Exercise breaks: 1 Meditation breaks: 1 Support tasks: Make a warm nest Wear extra warm clothes Fix evening routine timers Winter goals: Hibernate (in progress) Break out the coziest clothes (in progress) Sled with a yeti I don't know how to accomplish sledding with a yeti. 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 1 hour ago, sarakingdom said: I did not sleep enough last night. (Despite some really good hibernation skills, guys.) That will hit me later. Okay, I think it's hitting. I did pretty good, I got through the bulk of my morning schedule with only an extra ten minutes uses of rest. It was a pretty serious morning schedule, too. But I've just had to go back and redo a section three times, so I officially don't have enough focus to keep going. I'll have to use my lunch break for some actual rest. I'm still not eating a pile of chocolate. 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
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