Pretty Terrible

September 22, 2017

Links Roundup 09/22/17

I’ve recently developed an interest in Islamic geometry, specifically the repeating pattern motifs. I’ve started trying to draw them, and while the precision required is challenging, it’s also very soothing. And it’s a practical application of math–the one kind of math I was really good at in school, too!

There’s a lot going on at work and after my trip last week, I’m feeling cautiously hopeful. I also learned that a nonstop flight between Philadelphia and Indianapolis is precisely the length of a single episode of Midsomer Murders.

September 8, 2017

Links Roundup 09/08/17

“Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps” by Kehinde Wiley

Hello! I have mostly regained my equilibrium and aplomb, huzzah! Things have been mostly quiet on the home front and things are at least manageable at work now that I’ve gotten religious about deciding on what three tasks I am going to work on each day. I’ve also started telling people no, which has been an interesting experiment.

I’ve also been doing a bit of reading, mostly Kate Elliott’s Jaran novels, which I’d never read before. They’re so great (and super-long). I’m also gearing up to get my backlog of short fiction reviews posted and made a list of a bunch of stories I’d like to read this month, including the third issue of Fiyah. There are also an awful lot of books that look really great coming this month: Fran Wilde’s Horizon, Ann Leckie’s Provenance, Kristen Cashore’s Jane, Unlimited, Kat Howard’s An Unkindness of Magicians, and J.Y. Yang’s two novellas, The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven. And all of them but Jane, Unlimited come out on the same day and I’m basically going to need a time turner. Oh and there’s also Hillary Clinton’s What Happened, Katy Tur’s Unbelievable, and Brené Brown’s Braving the Wilderness on the non-fiction front. Can I make a dent in my entirely ridiculous TBR pile and get these nine books read as well? Maybe!