December 2020

  • New Year Resolutions: Exercise in the Time of Covid

    Coming to you from the cyberpunk dystopia that will not end, a series of New Year’s Resolution-themed posts, because the only way out is through. My fellow apocalypse-sters, you and I both know the importance of exercise. It keeps your meat sack in working condition, helps you sleep better, gives you energy, and can even… Continue reading

  • New Years Resolution: Read More Books!

    Coming to you from the cyberpunk dystopia that really needs to end, pleasepleaseplease, a series of New Year’s Resolution themed posts because the only way out is through. So, you’ve decided to read more for your New Year’s resolution. Excellent choice! Books are good for you, can help you learn a new skill, and are… Continue reading

  • Goal Setting for 2021

    Throughout this past year and a half of _______?, I have realized one thing. This one short life we are given could be lost at any time. Time is so short! How does one even clarify how to make the best use of the time we have left? Illuminating this forced me to narrow my search.… Continue reading

  • It’s New Year’s – let’s make a booj!

    Coming to you from the cyberpunk dystopia that may some day in fact end, a series of New Year’s Resolution themed posts: because the only way out is through. For those not in the know, a bullet journal is basically an agenda/to do list/journal/tracker that you create yourself with, in its most no-frills form, just a… Continue reading

  • Romantic Christmas Movies

    Nothing says Christmas season to me more than cuddling up under a warm blanket with a mug of hot chocolate and watching a holiday romantic movie.  Unfortunately, I don’t have cable so I can’t binge-watch the Hallmark Channel.  But luckily for me, the library owns a lot of the movies.  To find the whole list… Continue reading

  • Christmas Horror!

    Ah, Christmas! A magical time filled with colored lights, falling snow, and visits from old St Nick. Yet colored lights can’t hide the fact that each day it gets darker earlier and stays dark longer. Falling snow is awfully good at making footprints look strangely shaped or just covering them up all together. And isn’t… Continue reading

  • Let’s bring back ghost stories for Xmas

    The night has come for ghosties and ghoulies to peer from the flickering shadows, while we gather round the firelight to tell tales of terror and grue! No, not Hallowe’en: Christmas Eve! A century and more ago, this was the night to share scary stories: “And not only do the ghosts themselves always walk on… Continue reading

  • What to Watch to Feel Hygge

    Hygge (pronounced hue-gah) is a Danish word that describes “coziness and contentment.” With winter beginning and the stress of COVID-19, this is the perfect time to try to foster some hygge. Here are a few films to help you attain your own coziness and contentment: Continue reading

  • Thirty Names of Night

    Come December’s shortest days, there are, amongst us, those who relish Burning the Midnight Oil, who revel in every blue-black hour’s saturating presence.  These Night Bloomers, Know the Night, The Long Night, Faithful and Virtuous Night understand that as each day’s darkness lengthens its translucent filaments entwine with time’s endless line.  This is the story,… Continue reading

  • Mixing History with Mystery

    Fellow readers, there are few things I love more than crossover titles – books with footing in multiple genres. I am a huge mystery reader, and I will follow mystery plots into many other genres. Today, let’s talk about some new mysteries that are also quite good historical fiction titles. The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne… Continue reading

  • The Romance of Reality TV

    One of my guilty pleasures is watching Romance reality TV. Specifically, lately, it has been 90 Day Fiance, including the spinoff show, The Other Way.  Since I am watching this on a streaming service, I am always a season or two behind. Unlike others, I started my obsession with reality TV by watching The Amazing… Continue reading

  • A Lovecraft Country Syllabus

    Matt Ruff might have a new book out this year – 88 Names – but the reason he is one of my favorite people of 2020 is due to the HBO series Lovecraft Country.  It is based on his book of the same name, but Misha Green the creator took it to a whole new… Continue reading

  • Rest and Retreat

    I know solitude seems like the opposite of what you want to do right now, but solitude with a purpose, such as rest, could be highly beneficial especially after this difficult year. There are also many forms of rest. Resting the mind for better sleep, retreating to rest and recharge, and finding solitude to create… Continue reading

  • The Inimitable P.G. Wodehouse

    P G Wodehouse was a prolific writer, with nearly all of his stories set among British aristocracy and/or in the proverbial ‘polite society’ of 1920s and 30s Britain. Knowingly or not, he somewhat reflected the naïve obliviousness of a few of his characters in his real life. After moving to France and being captured by… Continue reading

  • Queering Historical Fiction & Historical Fantasy

    Queer literature is booming right now, with more and better representation of LGBTQIA+ characters every year. Here are some recent historical novels and historical/alternate history fantasy to check out. First, some historical novels with queer protagonists: The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco is one gritty historical debut. It has a pretty fast-paced bent, introducing… Continue reading

  • Deep Dives: The Natural World

    Sometimes, when the world and news cycle seem really fragmented, I take great solace in diving deep on a particular topic. While this can be done on the internet, for me the most satisfying method is to sit down with a book and just let myself sink into the minutia. If you’re craving that same… Continue reading

  • Wintering Over: Art in Shades of Dark and Light

    Winter, like life, comes in shades of dark and light. Herein lies the drama of an indispensable duo meant to be seen, in multitudes of splendor, in paintings photographs and drawings. Let us go into the season with an Invocation of Beauty seeking not, its Genesis but Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico and Antonio Berni’s Juanito and… Continue reading