Book Review

Nov. 8th, 2025 10:51 pm
kenjari: (St. Cecilia)
[personal profile] kenjari
The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera
Edited by David Charlton

This set of essays defines grand opera as a sub-genre that flourished in France in the middle of the 19th century. These works usually had five acts, included dance, and featured a plot that involved the characters' personal lives getting swept up in big historical events. Typical grand operas include most of Meyerbeer and Auber's works, plus Rossini's William Tell. Each chapter takes on an aspect of grand opera, a specific slice of the repertoire, or grand opera's influence and legacy outside of France and on later composers.
One of the things I liked best about this book is the way the specificity of its definition of grand opera allowed it to cover a wide range of topics. I especially enjoyed the first section, which delved into how grand opera was put together and produced and the ways it interacted with the state and literature. I also enjoyed the exploration of grand opera outside of France. I would have liked a chapter or two that examined the state of grand opera in the late 20th century and how more recent operas have interacted with its legacy.

Book Review

Nov. 7th, 2025 01:09 pm
kenjari: (Default)
[personal profile] kenjari
If It Bleeds
by Stephen King

This varied collection of one novella and three long stories was quite satisfying. The quality of the stories was consistently good. They were all mostly on the side of the eerie or unsettling rather than full horror. "Mr. Harrigan's Phone" was a creepy tale of a Craig, a kid who works for and befriends his very wealthy elderly neighbor. Craig introduces Mr. Harrigan to the world of smartphones, and after the latter's death, Craig is somehow still able to call his phone and leave messages. Messages that appear to have surprising results. "Life of Chuck" was a lovely story told mostly in reverse chronological order. It follows the life of the titular character and has a very cool ghostly twist. "If It Bleeds" is the novella, which is a sequel to The Outsider. It features Holly Gibney, who once again finds herself investigating a violent tragedy instigated by an unnatural being. "Rat" is the final story and concerns a struggling writer who goes up to his family cabin in the woods of Maine to work on his novel.
"Rat" was the story I liked the least. The plot of a struggling writer going to a remote place to work on a book and then encountering something uncanny and sinister is a concept King has used several times before. He does it well here as always, but it did feel a little too familiar. I really liked "Life of Chuck". King does some very clever things with the framing of the narrative and the twist, especially the apocalyptic opening and the way it ties into the rest of the story. "If It Bleeds" was not only the centerpiece of the book, but the best story in it. Holly is such a great character - I love her combination of fragility and badassery. I also loved the way this story elaborates on The Outsider without being a retread of it.

neurologist

Nov. 6th, 2025 02:16 pm
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird
I had my twice-a-year appointment with the neurologist. All the low-tech neurology stuff was fine, with little change from the previous exam. We are reducing my dose of gabapentin, which we talked about last time, and I told him I want to give that a try.

(no subject)

Nov. 5th, 2025 01:13 am
vvalkyri: (Default)
[personal profile] vvalkyri
I know this sounds kinda weird
But I just remembered eggs and cheese can be very quickly made into a meal

I've had a lot of trouble of late with what to eat. And a lack of Easy Food. It's hard to explain.

I also went through so many years of my life never encountering a rotten egg; if I left them too long in the fridge they'd just dehydrate. Making two eggs and cheese involved a surprising number of badd eggs. Knowing the eggs were unknown old (I decant them into a different container) meant I was smart enough to break into a separate container.

At some point I should talk about halloween and the weekend. There was a lot of lack of cope on halloween itself, born from no eating enough (see above) which meant I hung out with my local noisemakers and later saw 28 days later.

Y'know, I'm really tired. I think to sleep at this point. I wish we had a hot tub here, but toe warmers moved to my back really helped.

voted

Nov. 4th, 2025 10:01 pm
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird
The three of us voted this afternoon, then went to the supermarket, where we had to deal with a pushy person who wanted us to sign dodgy-looking petitions: he said they were for same-day voter registration, but I noticed that the page he wanted us to sign didn't say what we were signing for. There are dozens of possible state ballot questions for next year, so it could be almost anything. (The procedure in Massachusetts, as I understand it, is people or organizations say "I want to put this on the ballot," and then the attorney general vets the proposals, and either OKs them or explains why not. After that, they can collect signatures.)

The only thing on the ballot in Boston today was city council seats, after the incumbent mayor's main opponent formally withdrew after coming in a distant second in the primary. Happily, I had a choice of five or six good candidates for the four at-large city council seats.

Addendum: there are in fact forty-seven "petition initiatives" on the state website, including a few that are labeled as versions A, B, or even C of the same thing. The list is on the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments

(no subject)

Nov. 2nd, 2025 08:21 pm
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird
After several days in a row of being able to walk more than is now typical for me, and also doing PT, yesterday my ankle hurt enough that I stayed put as much as possible. I took a naproxen around lunchtime, which made no descernible difference.

I'm doing significantly better today, in terms of ankle and other joint pain. I didn't go for a walk, but did go outside to take out trash and spend a few minutes outdoors during daylight, and then started on what has turned out to be a lot of PT exercises. We're back on standard time as of this morning, meaning the sun set in Boston at 4:35 (we're near the eastern edge of this time zone).

Book Review

Nov. 2nd, 2025 03:43 pm
kenjari: (mt greylock)
[personal profile] kenjari
The Haunting of Maddy Clare
by Simone St. James

This horror mystery, with a bit of romance, is told from the point of view of Sarah Piper, a lonely young woman living in London in 1922. She is hired by Alastair Gellis, a ghost hunter, to help him deal with a ghost who is hostile to men. That ghost is the spirit of Maddy Clare, a 19 year old who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Even in life Maddy was something of a mystery, having shown up at the Clare's house 7 years ago, in rough shape and unable to speak. The Clares gave her a home but were never able to determine where she came from or who she was. Now in death, Maddy is angry and determined. Sarah, Alastair, and his assistant Matthew must figure out what is driving Maddy and how to bring her to a peaceful rest, even as she becomes increasingly dangerous.
I found this novel really compelling and very creepy, especially since the supernatural is not necessarily the principal horror of the story. Maddy's ghost is quite frightening, and the mystery surrounding her equally unsettling. Sarah, Alastair, and Matthew are also all dealing with their own traumas, and I really liked the way St. James handles it all. The ending is very satisfying, too.
dianec42: Cross stitch face (DecoLady)
[personal profile] dianec42
I got to start a new color!

Is white a colour?
Will I ever decided which spelling of "color" I prefer?
Should I be using 3 strands instead of 2?
Am I going to use glow-in-the-dark thread in this project? NO!

Anyway. That's all the trees finished on the right-hand side. And a noticeable start on the moon.
cross stitch WIP

Happy Halloween!

Oct. 31st, 2025 04:37 pm
mizkit: (Default)
[personal profile] mizkit
So all of my art time the past week has been taken up with costuming (maybe next year I'll remember that I basically lose a week of writing around Halloween every year), and this morning we sent Darkworld Kris from Deltarune off to school for costume day.

He's completely chuffed. So am I, tbh. I (we: he DID help, and also said thank you about ninety times) had never tried making foam armor before and my husband found some great, simple tutorials, and the result is, we feel, pretty damn cool. 😃





Based off this character: