ReaderWriterVille

A lost week, for the most part. Although I did get to read a bit and watch movies and sports when I was awake.

Felled by the flu

No “Work” category this week because I didn’t do any. I woke up Monday morning with a sore and swollen throat which turned into a full-blown case of the flu. Yes I had my flu shot, and I’d avoided even a cold to this point. But this isn’t the longest flu season in years for nothing. I kept seeing news reports on TV about how the flu was persisting into spring. No, being one of many did not make me feel better.

On the plus side, I’m almost completely off the cold meds and I’m only coughing myself awake about once a night now. And I did manage to get some email and writing done yesterday. So the trajectory is positive!

We won’t talk about allergy season, though.

Reading/Watching

In between bouts of napping and full-on sleeping I managed to read a bit. I’m now in the middle of three extremely long books: Red or Dead, In the Night of Time, and now Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. I pulled the last off my shelf because I wanted something that was engaging but not too demanding, and Gaskell fits the bill perfectly. Although I read a couple of her other novels ages ago, I’ve never read this one. It’s a real Condition of England novel, pitting Hampshire- and London-raised Margaret Hale against powerful mill owner John Thornton in Milton (Manchester), Darkshire (Lancashire). Margaret befriends a consumptive girl, Bessy , and her father, who joins a strike against Thornton and the other mill owners. And that’s as far as I’ve read. It’s got drama, romance, social commentary, and lots of Mancunian dialect.

I also managed to finish my TBR Challenge book and somehow cobble together a review, which is posted here. I also read a lovely Hugo-nominated novelette by Zen Cho and a newly released lit fic about white and Japanese Californians in World War 2 through the 1980s, and I DNF’d another new release. That writeup is here.

In the watching department I revisited a favorite series and a favorite movie: the Johnny Warricker trilogy, starring Bill Nighy, and Pride (also featuring Nighy) respectively. The Warricker trilogy comprises three 90-minute episodes about a civil servant who stumbles on a coverup related to post-9/11 anti-terrorist activities by the US and UK, and the coverup goes all the way to 10 Downing Street. Ralph Fiennes chews all kinds of scenery as the Prime Minister and Rupert Graves shows up in one of his patented sexy-and-appealing-but-ethically-challenged roles. Christopher Walken plays Christopher Walken and he and Nighy are fabulous together. Rachel Weisz, Winona Ryder, and Helena Bonham Carter add gender balance, along with Olivia Williams, Saskia Reeves, and more scenery chewing by Judy Davis. Luckily Davis and Fiennes don’t appear together or there would be nothing left to sit on. And there are more highly talented British actors, too many to name.

Pride, if you haven’t seen it, recounts the partnership between a London LGBT Pride group and a Welsh mining village during the 1984-1985 miner’s strike. It’s broadly done in the My Full Monty/Brassed Off vein of UK hinterland feel-good movies, but it’s very enjoyable and once again, well acted. Dominic West, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine, Andrew Scott, and others do justice to the topic and if a hall full of Welsh people singing Bread and Roses doesn’t make you sniffle, well then, it’s probably best to stop there and go watch something else.

Footie continues apace, with Liverpool and Manchester City both winning all their games in the run-in to the end of the season. Liverpool could score 97 points in the Premier League and finish second. Which is unheard of. And the NHL and NBA are in playoff mode, with lots of excitement. The Sharks, Blues, and Warriors did a good job of getting me to 9pm once I could stay awake for longer than a couple of hours.

Productivity

Hahahaha. Flu. No time-logging, no lists, no nothing.

Next Week

I have a couple of appointments and a trip to SF to break up the work schedule. At least I can have a work schedule again!

Exercise, some day I will do some. Right now I’m working on eating three meals a day and staying awake and upright.

Enjoy your week, everyone!

ETA: Hey look! Natalie is doing these too. Go read!