Even More Days Of The Pandemic (August 2020)

Okay. So, COVID-19 is still around. If any curves were flattened, they wound up ballooning back up in the last few months. A vaccine may or may not be possible soon, who knows? As records and milestones continue to be shattered, it seems like it's all getting worse before it gets better.

From June onward, the order to stay at home had concluded and I had to resume work on a week-on week-off schedule. Which is fine and all--things have to be done. I do find it rather head-scratching that isolation and curve-flattening was pounded to the ground so hard in March and April, but now that the numbers have risen so much we're more focused on reopening all the things and returning to normal. Chances are it could all take a step back in the coming weeks. I have a feeling that summer holidays, nation-wide protests, and school reopenings might catalyze a surge in cases. There's no telling what will happen.

All that being said, I don't begrudge or fear going to work or going outside. If cases manage to go down and everybody reports in full-time again, I will be looking forward to actually accomplishing my goals and talking to teammates again. I just question if this is the right time.

 

Between June and now, I had a larger concern over my dad's health. He had gone to the hospital for an pancreatic attack. After ten days there, he was discharged, but with no immediate answers for what caused it. It wasn't until a few weeks later, and after more tests, that the cause was found: a gallstone attack. After even more tests and such, he finally had surgery to remove his gallbladder. This had taken up much of my time and energy for the last couple of months. It was worrying and anxious for a time, but now that he's recovering, there is a sense of relief and some semblance of normalcy was restored.

While I still have an on/off schedule, there are still some things I've managed to accomplish that I might not have made time for in the past. I haven't done a lot of cleaning like I did before, and my efforts to organize my collections fell to the wayside. However, here are the few things I managed to do.

• With July's Camp National Novel Writing Month, I started an effort to rewrite/edit an eight-year-old manuscript I had (originally titled Gods Among Men, this was a sci-fi novel about a utopic city policed by superheroes). Though I managed to redo a few chapters (probably 10,000 words), my motivation ran dry. Video games sucked up all my attention, sadly. As old as the project is, I question if it's a good enough premise to continue working with and if it deserves to be rewritten and finalized.
  
• Lately, I figured out that I'm less in the mood for writing and more in the mood for editing. So I looked back on Heathen, fixed the first couple of chapters, and I have them ready to pass through critique groups (I'll probably start using Scribophile more for this, in addition to a Utah-based group I'm in). This novel came together well, but the second act needs work. The coming weeks will be a good time to try and straighten it all out.
• My foray into video games, as well as things related to video game history (mostly Youtube essays, watching folks play games, watching The Wizard), has given me the notion to attempt a story one day centered around gaming. I'm still in the brainstorming phase--what I have in mind would probably be like Ready Player One crossed with 1984.
  
• I've played a lot of video games.
• Played and finished the story for The Last of Us Part II. This became kind of a big deal since I saw so much outrage over story leaks and such--it actually had the bizarre effect of making me play while judging it critically. By the game's end, I felt it was a bold story told well--it could be better in some ways, sure, but I'm not nearly as enraged by it as other folks are, and I admire many aspects of it. I've already cleaned up collectables and such--it'll only be a matter of time before I platinum it.
• I started Ghosts of Tsushima. Hot dang, this game's beautiful and the combat is satisfying. I can see myself engrossed in this for a good long time.
• I picked up a game called Ancestor: The Humankind Odyssey--since I already played games that put me in the place of sharks and goats, I figure why not apes now? First attempt playing, I didn't even know what I was doing and took way too long figuring out how to progress. I started a second playthrough, but since I didn't know how to switch between apes, I wound up killing most of my tribe (intentionally and unintentionally) and the next generation only had three apes left. I plan on starting a third playthrough now to build a proper tribe and keep them all alive.
• I bought, downloaded, and started Subnautica. I was sold on its concept, and it's the kind of thing I wish I could have thought of for a novel idea. The game was so addicting and immersive that I couldn't put it down for a whole week, until I platinumed it.
  
• I finished Saints Row: The Third with a platinum. Pretty juvenile, but it was colorful, funny, and fairly addicting. Not sure I'd want to pick it back up with the remastered edition--I'll have to think about it.
• Played and finished Maneater. Took all of three days to achieve a platinum. I enjoyed it though.
• Played Bad North in full a few times (including a hard playthrough), and I found it surprisingly engaging. After a few weeks, I completed all the trophies.
  
• Of all the games I can play on the PS4, I wound up playing Solitaire for quite a few hours. Woo!
  
• Played a bit more of Doom Eternal. A few online matches, started the extra lives playthrough, and mopped up a couple more trophies.
  
• Played the original Far Cry on the PC. I don't think it aged well, but it might fare better on a console.
• I've spent three hours playing Escape Rosecliff Island. It's pretty relaxing to focus on simple puzzles.
  
• Started a playthrough of Phantasmagoria on the PC. This is one of those games from the 90s I had always heard about but couldn't play. Might as well try it out now.
• Started a playthrough on Disco Elysium, after hearing about its rave reviews and such. I am genuinely floored by it.
• Started a game called Factorio. This could become obsessive.
  
• Played some rounds of Post Void. It's a pretty nutty game, but it's good in short bursts.
  
• After seeing some videos and such on older games, I decided to dust off my SNES Mini. I finally got around to modding it with more games, and I've been exploring a bunch of them. I seem to always go back to playing Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars--those are the SNES titles I always coveted the most.
• I also managed to hook up a spare PS4 controller to my PC to facilitate more gaming. It works pretty well on some Steam games I have (like Doom). I can't really do the mouse and keyboard with shooter games anymore, it just feels too weird now.
• My parents revealed that they were considering a PS3 to purchase for games (simple ones like Peggle, Pain, Tetris, etc), on top of being a movie and music player. I decided to part with a spare PS3 slim model I had, which meant taking time to install the right games on it and set it up for them. They're making good use out of it--probably better than me, since I was only using it as a movie player beforehand.
• Plenty of movies seen.
• Watched Koyaanisqatsi again.
  
• I did start a Christopher Nolan marathon in anticipation of Tenet, and with the intention of blogging deeper thoughts about his filmography. My efforts fell to the wayside unfortunately, and I stopped after The Dark Knight trilogy. Picked it up again only recently with Inception, and there's only a few more after that.
  
• Revisited an old favorite on a new UHD--Lawrence of Arabia. The movie remains a personal favorite, and in 4K the film is the sharpest and cleanest I've seen it. The scenery and scale was always jaw-dropping, and now it's even better than ever.
• Marathoned the three Star Trek films from the Kelvin timeline (in 4K!). I know these films probably sideline the deeper sci-fi roots in favor of spectacle, but I still think they're awesome.
• Revisited Baby Driver. I believe it holds up fine and I'm still enamored by the characters and the film's style.
  
• Watched most of the Mission Impossible movies--numbers 3 - 6, which are the best ones anyway imo. It's a dang good run of movies, all in good quality with jaw-dropping stunts.
• Watched War of the Worlds, the 1953 and 2005 adaptations. I had forgotten how intense both of these are.
• One film that I never understood the love for was Come and See. With the Criterion release, I decided to give it another shot. Holy cow, this movie is a bleak, gut-wrenching trip. I found it far more engaging and vivid on this viewing.
• Also revisited 1917 and found it much more engaging than the first viewing. It could become a new favorite over time.
  
• Revisited 1979's Zombie on UHD. I wasn't sure if I liked this movie that much, but on a rewatch it came off as campy, gory schlock and I enjoyed it that way. In 4K, this film is surprisingly sharp and vibrant.
• Had a Jaws marathon (first one in 4K). The first two hold up fine (in fact, my appreciation for the original keeps going up), the last two not so much. 
• Saw the first two Transporter movies again. The first one was always a fair, unassuming flick with some way cool fighting, and I still like it. The second one is such a mixed bag--few good scenes mixed with a lot of stupid stuff, but it's still enjoyable.
• Caught up on the older Alfred Hitchcock movies I own and haven't seen yet: Murder!, The Ring, Champagne, The Manxman, and Jamaica Inn. Some of these are fair and have good photography, others are rather droll. I think Hitchcock hit his stride the best between the 40s and 60s. In fact, after all of these I revisited North By Northwest and enjoyed it just as much as the first few times I've seen it--that one remains my favorite of his.
• I received a collection of films by Shinya Tsukamoto, and I viewed all the films I hadn't seen before. Not sure what to think of many of them--Tokyo Fist and Bullet Ballet are alright, found Vital and Kotoko a little boring, but I did enjoy A Snake of June, Haze, and The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo.
  
• Hot Rod is funny.
• Revisited Payback. I'm pretty sure I saw the theatrical version years ago and didn't care for it. I seemed to like it better this time around with the "Straight Up" cut. Doubt I'll want to see it a third time though.
• I bought a copy of Sleepaway Camp while I could and gave it a spin. Wow, that ending can't be unseen. 
• Cobra, with Sylvester Stallone, is pretty rad.
  
• Earth vs the Spider--it's so bad, it's good! 
• There is a movie from the 70s called Mr. No Legs. It's about a hitman in a wheelchair. I can't make this stuff up.
  
• For whatever odd reason, I wound up renting Freedom Writers and Dangerous Minds within the same week. It's a good double-feature.
  
• Caught up on some outstanding 2019 films I missed last year. The Lighthouse is a trip. Frozen II, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Ma, and Uncut Gems are all decent. Cats is awful.
• I'm starting to look at what 2020 films are actually available and working on staying on top of them. Was impressed by The Invisible Man and Swallow. Couple of good documentaries: Have a Good Trip and You Don't Nomi. Bad Boys For Life is decent. The Wrong Missy is a little agitating. The Old Guard sucks. And, if you'll excuse the absurdity of this--a movie called Butt Boy exists. It's not as raunchy and tasteless as it sounds, it's more of a surreal detective story and it'll probably be the weirdest film I'll see this year.
  
• Seen my fair share of short films, including a bunch of early Scorsese ones.
  
• Found time to listen to some music albums.
  
• Thievery Corporation's Symphonik is as beautiful as they come.
• Geogaddi by Boards of Canada is solid. I always approached this one with caution since "Gyroscope" is such an unsettling and discordant track (I blame the film Sinister for that). But as experimental as the album sounds, there is good harmony to it and most of the album sounds smooth to the ears in its own way. I might like Tomorrow's Harvest a grade better though.
• I finally sat down and listened to Groove Armada's Black Light and White Light attentively. These are often cited as the band's best, but I wasn't seeing it for the longest time. The vocals put me off for the longest time, and honestly, I still find them garish. But, I do appreciate the instrumentation and the New Wave style they aimed for. Some of the tracks work for me, some don't. If I listen to it enough, it just sinks in as a fair listen, but I still vastly prefer Vertigo, Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub), and Lovebox over these. I am looking forward to their upcoming album though--"Get Out On The Dancefloor" is good!
  
• Anathema's Serenades is a heck of a lot darker and louder than I expected. It's fine for what it is, but I do like their later albums more.
• In an effort to stay current, I did listen to a few 2020 albums on Amazon Unlimited. Did enjoy Lady Gaga's Chromatica. Eminem's Music to be Murdered By is pretty vulgar, but I appreciate the beats and the speed of the rap is often impressive. Where The Light Is by Surfaces is good, but I'm not sure I liked it enough to hear again.
  
• Gave the greatest hits of 3 Doors Down a spin. Turns out I have heard most of their songs before, but I never knew it was them. As heavy as they are, a lot of their tunes are rather melodramatic and "emo," but I actually don't mind their songs that much--the instrumentations are good.
• One of many albums I had for years that I never listened to was Vertigo by a band (maybe a Christian one?) called RingsEnd. The cover art always put me off because it looked cheap. I think I only bought it because I mistook them for a different band: Ringside. I gotta say though, RingsEnd's Vertigo is solid. More of a jazz fusion thing I guess, but I appreciate the style and sound of it. Was surprised to hear a cover of The Turtles' "Happy Together," but I actually think it was the low point of the album.
• I started dabbling in some bizarre subgenres. One is chap-hop, which is like hip-hip done by very polite English gentlemen. I primarily listened to songs by Professor Elemental, and they're a hoot. For the one story idea I've mulled over, I also dipped into some chiptune music. A band called she has made some good albums, but I'm also quite smitten by the remixes people do for video game themes found all over Youtube.
• What is it with bardcore these days? It seems like all of the suddenly in 2020, medieval and old-world covers are popping up all over Youtube for a wide variety of old hits. Somebody did the Doom theme this way and it sounds perfect. Ditto for Linkin Park's "Numb," and some songs by Nirvana and Metallica. Heck, even a song like "Stayin' Alive" is pretty fresh coming from a lute. I might have to make a playlist of these songs for regular listening--they're all pretty smooth.
• Few books finished.
• I completed the first two deluxe volumes of the manga Alita: Battle Angel. The anime and live-action movie had me sold on this franchise already, but the original comic doesn't disappoint. It's a fast, smooth read with a lovable heroine, lots of action, and amazing artwork.
• Read and finished Delia Owens' Where The Crawdads Sing. It's not the kind of book that's in my comfort zone, but positive reviews compelled me to give it a try, and I figured I needed to read something with more literary value. While I don't think the book is perfect or anything, I did find it more engaging than I expected, and it's pretty touching in a way.
• Finished The Liminal War by Ayize Jama-Everett. Didn't realize it was part two in a series, so I'm probably missing out on a lot of details and setups. Still, I wasn't a fan of the book. I found the characters rather unlikable, and I lost interest in the plot.
• Finished Stephen Baxter's Ultima. Once again, I didn't realize this was part two of something. I thought Romans in space could be a fascinating enough premise. Even though Baxter has a lot of unique ideas (and I assume good research) stuffed into this tome, the characters fell flat for me, the story is long and moved too slowly, and I didn't even really understand what it was supposed to be about. I found it disappointing, but I also hear that its predecessor is better.
• Read Mike Mignola's The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects. It's pretty short and shallow, but strangely endearing and amusing. I actually like it.
• Read an Aliens comic: More Human Than Human. Despite a few cool ideas and such, it was just alright.
• Read four volumes of the graphic novel adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? While I felt the first volume of this was over-written in a bad way, the second, third, and fourth were pretty awesome and faithful to the source. Will be interested to read the last two volumes.
• Speaking of PKD, I cracked open a book of short stories and read "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which is the basis for the movie Total Recall. The story solely focuses on the guy going in for a virtual vacation. It's not nearly as action-packed and big-scale as the movie is, but in a usual PKD fashion, the story remains interesting in the way it twists reality around and such. It's pretty decent, and I really ought to read the other stories (maybe "Minority Report" next?).
  
• Started HG Wells' War of the Worlds, since I saw the two movies. The book is rather old-fashioned, but it doesn't hold back on the grim details--I can see why it's a classic.
• Been reading a book on the artwork of Salvador Dali. That guy was a trip.

Work schedules being what they are, I find myself facing nearly three weeks of leave, lasting until mid-September. Some of that was already spent editing the novel I drafted last April, and that task could go on for a long. I have other plans in mind (primarily dropping stuff off with Goodwill, washing the car, and maybe finding a good local place to take photos), but I keep pushing them off. It's hard to find motivation when most days are rainy, I keep waking up late, and the pandemic continues to batter our region.

Times have been troubling. Other than a few work weeks and some writing, I've been passing time with my media collection, often times finding something enriching or interesting. I have wondered about the future often, but it depends on many factors that may be out of my control--for now, I am content and will find ways to keep improving my well-being.

A few ways to pass time in 2020.

Book Review: Where The Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)

No matter how civilized a society can become, human behavior remains rooted in biological codes that are naturally embedded in all of us. We like to think that we're all above nature in a way as we splurge on technology, dress ourselves up, and pave over forests to build cities. When you take all of that away from a person, we might see a savage. In the setting of the deep south, you might even say a savage would be nothing more than a crawdad scurrying in the mud.

Delia Owens' Where The Crawdads Sings paints a somber portrait of such a character. Kya Clark, age six, is abandoned by her family, which had suffered for years under the abuse of a drunken, violent father. Left on her own, Kya has no choice but to fend for herself, slowly learning how to find and cook her own food, find money, and survive in the marsh. As the years go on, a boy named Tate befriends her and teaches her to read, which empowers her to eventually learn science and poetry. However, a romantic connection falls apart when Tate runs off to college and doesn't return when promised. Kya inevitably falls for the local bad boy, Chase, who winds up dead some time later. As you might guess, Kya is the prime suspect, but did she really commit murder?

What's most admirable about this book is its dedication to building up its main character and showing us the full scope of her heart and soul. Considering that we follow her from childhood to adulthood, we see for ourselves how she learns, copes, and evolves with the times. One can't help but to feel sorry for the girl when she's constantly abandoned and shunned (maybe that's a cheap trick for sympathy, but hot dang, it works). But I eventually grew to appreciate the adult Kya as her introspection frequently draws insightful connections in nature--both actual nature and human nature. Themes concerning human love, hate, life, and the coming of age elevates this narrative into a more artistic sphere. The prose bears a light, heartfelt touch, especially when it divulges into random poems. However, the story is not afraid to bluntly dive into darker territory.

This book is at its best when it follows Kya on her day-to-day struggles and shows her growth. Of course, when you stitch a book together with all these slices of life, narrative momentum comes off as a slow burn. It flares up only when the emotions do, at those key moments where Kya is abandoned or scorned--in-between, it's a little dry. Beyond that, the book also weaves a mystery throughout the whole length, until the timelines align and we have a back-and-forth between an ongoing trial and flashbacks. The trial read fine, but the investigation leading up to it fell way flat for me. The sheriff struck me as a flat stereotype whose sole interest was lunch (in fact, you can't go ten pages in this book without a mention of grits, butter beans, biscuits, or some other kind of down home cooking). And honestly, most other side character came off as one-dimensional, and most dialogue that occurs feels less authentic and more like a movie script.

One minor problem kept popping up, which many readers may dismiss, but to me it makes the work feel undercooked. There's an awful lot of headhopping--instances in which the prose flips from one character's POV to another's without a break or indication. It really stands out to me when Kya thinks one thing on one sentence then Chase or somebody else thinks something in the next. Some of the introspection given doesn't even add that much (for example, there is a huge paragraph from a lawyer's POV, which is probably generates tension, but this is the only moment in the story where he has any thoughts revealed and I question why even). The way different thoughts invade the narrative comes off as clunky, but it's not nearly as clunky as the moments in which Kya may reflect on other characters and flashbacks on the fly, so we're told about the townsfolk and their connection to her only during certain moments (like the trial) instead of having them planted, foreshadowed, or having their interaction shown to us. The drama between Tate and his father seemed tacked-on at the last minute, and if it was cut, nothing would really change. It feels as though a lot of small details could have been fleshed out in a more organic way, but instead we have scattered paragraphs that flatly tell us things, not show.

Fortunately, these issues are diluted to the point where it never confused or upset me, I just find it bewildering at times. The majority of the book read smoothly, with ample amounts of detail, but not so much that I got bored. I actually found myself looking forward to reading each section every night, to see more of the Marsh Girl and read what happens next. Hardly a perfect book, but the heart and soul of the story and character makes it a decent read anyway. I admire the book the most for the way it handles the main character, her scientific musings, and a few good metaphors.

8/10