R/W/L/P

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these.

 
Reading
The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans, by Lawrence N. Powell. I’m reading this book very slowly. I want to cherish each and every chapter section. Every page is chock full of great characterizations, story-telling, and amazing details. I try to read a couple of pages every night, and at least once every 10 minutes, I catch myself stopping to really envision a scene Powell is describing. I highly recommend it if you’re at all interested in New Orleans or Louisiana history. Or even if you’re just a history nerd like me who enjoys watching a master historian perform his craft.

 
Watching
Last Tango in Halifax. The main premise is that Celia and Alan (center), were sweet on each other at 16 but were separated by a move and a other circumstances, and now, 60 years later, they have reconnected via Facebook. They agree to meet and their old passion is rekindled. Merging their two families together, though, is not nearly as easy. Which is why this show is so fantastic!

Every character is a whole and perfectly flawed person. How they go through the trials of life — and there are many — reveals their own growth (or lack thereof). Watching them sometimes feels like a kind of therapy. I can say that on at least three different occasions, interactions between characters has given me some new insight into things I’ve experienced in the past.

Plus, you know, yay for a realistic romance between old characters! Heck, even the 45 year old daughters Caroline and Gillian get to have realistic love lives.

Listening
Stevie Wonder. Wandered back into the archives, and have been enjoying the pure funkiness of his early-70s work. Something about the social unrest in my timelines is making me faux-nostalgic for the 70s. All those songs I listened to as a naive child have been making more and more sense the older I get and the more I witness the latest incarnation of the same old struggles.

 
Playing
Hohokum, among other things! I just love this game. I love the puzzles. I love the wild and strange landscape. I even love (ok, maybe that’s a bit strong) the music. It’s soothing and so easy to get sucked into exploring every corner and trying to figure out what needs to be done and how to do it. Honestly, I have to limit myself to only playing it once or twice a week. Otherwise, I’d never get anything else done.

What you you reading, watching, listening to, or playing these days? Anything fun?