Book review: Poets Square

Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats

This is another book I saw in a display of new books at the library. This was published in 2025 and the condition of the book itself seemed very new. It is a memoir about a woman who lives in Tuscon and cares for feral cats that live in her yard, as well as others throughout the Tuscon area. It was a very quick read and I finished it within three days due to how much time I had for each reading session, but it likely could be finished in one or two days if you have enough time. 

The writing style is adept and serviceable but not highly literary or anything. It worked for what this book is. The book primarily covers the time in the author's life after moving to Tuscon and beginning to care for the cats, though there are a few brief parts about things from her past. There are parts of the book that are somewhat sad. 

There aren't a ton of contextual/explanatory details about some of the settings and situations she finds herself in when trying to help feral cats throughout Tuscon. I wished there had been more context in some parts because I like knowing lots of details about things, but I guess it wasn't the focus of the book. 

I was curious to know more real-life information about the neighborhood the woman lives in that serves as the title of the book. It's a real neighborhood in eastern Tuscon, slightly north of the Air Force base. Streetview shows that it consists primarily of mid-century ranch-style single-family homes, though some have been renovated or rebuilt to look different. The neighborhood is indeed a square shape on the map and about four streets are named after poets, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be much linking to its name. I'm not familiar with Tuscon at all, so I can't say how this neighborhood fits into the context of the city. 

Towards the end of the book, the author and her husband are able to buy the home they had previously been renting because the landlord wanted to sell it. She received donations for the down payment from social media followers, since she had built up a major following by posting about the feral cats (@poetssquarecats) during her time living there. 

Out of curiosity, I looked up housing prices in that zip code. They seem to be in the (mid-upper) $200k to $300k range, with a few in the $400k or $500k range. The vast majority of the listings are for houses like the aforementioned ranch-style homes. 

Book review: some more graphic novels

In this post: Junji Ito, Cousin Joseph, The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks. 

I have been checking out a lot of books from the library's graphic novels section. They use the term "graphic novel" to describe anything in comic form, whether it's fiction or nonfiction. They have a pretty good selection of Junji Ito's manga, so I've been reading some more of that. Although his work is described as horror, I would describe it more like being surreal and unsettling. Strange and unsettling events happen in his stories. 

Most recently, I checked out the following by Junji Ito: The Liminal Zone, Sensor, Black Paradox and Venus in the Blind Spot. I haven't finished all of these yet. 

Aside from this, I also read a nonfiction comic titled The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks. This consists of a variety of stories based on interviews with various residents in Ukraine talking about their experiences in the Soviet Union, particularly the famine in the 1930s. There's also a section talking about a Russian journalist (Anna Politkovskaya) who was killed due to the content of her work criticizing Putin. 

On the whole it's all pretty grim, especially the part about the Holodomor famine. There are parts containing descriptions of cannibalism that occurred during the famine. Although I found the content very interesting, in some ways I thought it was a little hard to follow. There are sometimes Ukrainian or Russian words used that don't have any translation/explanation about their meaning. There are also places where a page/panel would benefit from additional context to remind/inform the reader when the events shown are taking place. 

The art style was fine, but not particularly notable to me. I would like to read more about the history of the Soviet Union as well as the post-Soviet era in Russia and other former Soviet countries. This comic was originally published in Italian, then translated and published in English in 2016, which was before the current war in Ukraine, although there had been some things happening prior to that. 

I also read a fiction comic titled Cousin Joseph, by Jules Feiffer. This is the same illustrator who did some illustrations for the children's novel The Phantom Tollbooth. His style is pretty similar in this comic to what I remember about the illustrations in that book. It consists of loose, pencil drawings with somewhat stylized-looking people. I liked his art style in this comic and it was interesting to see it in a different context than the illustrations from the children's novel.

As for the plot, it was in the noir genre and was interesting enough, but I'm not sure if I would have been interested if it were some other artist I didn't know of. 

This library branch seems to have a pretty decent selection of graphic novels, so I might end up reading more in the future. 

Activity review: Billy Goat Trail section A

Recently I attempted to hike this trail with a friend. We had been wanting to do it for some time, and eventually there was a day that seemed amenable regarding the weather and our schedules. I will talk a little about some of the gear I used/wore too.  

Section A is the most strenuous part of the trail. Section B is closed indefinitely. Section C is open and apparently less strenuous, but we didn't do that part. The weather forecast showed a high temperature of about 76 degrees Fahrenheit, and the sky was partly sunny. I'm glad there was some cloud cover; it would have been worse if it were fully sunny. 

We got started on the trail (entrance to Section A) at 13:10 and it took us about two hours to complete the first half of that section. There were some places we stopped to observe the view, and others where we stopped to rest for a little bit.  

After finishing the first half, there is a short exit trail you can take so you don't have to do the final section of the main trail. We used the exit trail because I felt that I wasn't prepared correctly to continue on the main trail. Signs before the start of the trail recommend not hiking during 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the hottest part of the day.

I wore Teva Hurricane sandals, which was a less than ideal choice. It wasn't a catastrophic mistake, but in the future I would want to wear closed-toe shoes with a good amount of traction in the soles. Probably some kind of trail running or approach shoes, something like that. 

I do not recommend wearing original Teva sandals because they don't have as much traction on the soles compared to the Hurricane version. The Teva Hurricane sandals have been suitable for other short hikes, but this trail was considerably more strenuous than others and involves portions of rock scrambling where it's better to have closed shoes so you can jam your foot in places and not worry about getting scratched up.  

The rocks also have edges/points that you sometimes have to step on, so it's better to have a shoe with a stiffer sole so you won't feel a rock edge jabbing into your foot as much. The Teva Hurricane shoes are the absolute bare minimum type of shoes you should wear, but ideally wear something else (trail running or approach shoes, or even full hiking boots). I saw some people wearing regular sneakers or even canvas shoes (similar to Vans) but I personally would not wear shoes like that for this hike. 

Information online from the NPS suggests bringing 2 liters of water per person for this hike. I would heed this suggestion, as it's better to be prepared instead of getting dehydrated and needing to be rescued because you can't make it any further. There are water fountains near the closest parking area (admission to the park is $20 for vehicles, and $10 for pedestrians or cyclists), but otherwise there are no other places you can get drinking water. Another source recommends bringing twice much water as you usually drink (this is kind of vague) and consistently drinking the water every few minutes.  

Personally, I drank about 2 liters (possibly a little more) by the time we reached the turn for the exit trail, where there is a sign suggesting you take the exit trail if you're running low on water and/or feel tired. If we had completed the full main trail, I think I would have finished at least 3 liters of water. Keep hydration in mind and bring enough water so you don't run out, especially if it's a warm or hot day. I brought 5 liters of water in a water bag (in addition to a full 1 liter bottle), which was inside my backpack. I shared some of the water with my friend, but he didn't drink that much in total.    

Other things I would do differently are to use bug spray and sunscreen. I thought the trail would be relatively shaded, and while there are parts in the shade, the rock scrambling sections are pretty exposed to the sun. I got a number of itchy bug bites. I would also want to start the trail earlier, possibly around 9 a.m. or something like that. Additionally, going on a day when it isn't as warm could be better. I would also want to bring a brush to brush off the dirt from certain areas so you can get a better grip. Bringing a small (i.e. lightweight) pair of binoculars could also be interesting so that you can get a better view of some of the scenery in/across the river. 

There were numerous sections of the rock scrambling areas that I found difficult because of the distance between good foothold or places to step. To some extent, better shoes could have helped with this because it would increase the amount of locations that I could comfortably put my feet, but some of it was just due to me being short (5'0") and my legs weren't long enough to comfortably reach the next foothold in a stepping motion. The alternative was to do more of a jump or hop, which felt too treacherous especially with the shoes I was wearing, or to do a more complicated pivoting and/or crawling maneuver. 

It was good to do the trail on a day that wasn't very busy so we didn't have to worry about a lot of people waiting behind us on the trail during the scramble areas, or for us to have to wait behind other people. 

In the future, I might just want to take the exit trail inwards to the midway area, then resume the main trail from that point. 

Although my preparation for the hike was less-than-ideal, it wasn't so inadequate that it was catastrophic. However, apparently many people have to get rescued from the trail, so I wanted to be mindful about bringing more than enough water, and using the exit trail when I realized I should have prepared differently. It would be embarrassing and a hassle to have to be rescued from the trail. 

I could also be in better shape, weight and endurance wise. I wouldn't recommend this trail if you are too unhealthy and/or inexperienced with hiking, especially more complicated terrain with a lot of elevation and scrambling. 

The backpack I used was an Osprey Sirrus 24 (liter), which was a decent size to carry the 5 liter water bag plus a few other things (small pouch, 1 liter Nalgene in the side pocket, a bucket hat, a small sketchbook, a pee funnel that I did not need to use, but just in case...), and it felt pretty comfortable to wear. 

Although there were some people we saw on the trail who didn't bring substantial backpacks, I wanted to make sure I had enough water, plus get a chance to use this backpack. It has a frame and the back panel of the bag is suspended about an inch from a mesh panel that touches your back, so you can get some airflow there. It has a hip belt and sternum strap, both of which help to stabilize it. The hip belt is comfortable and helps distribute the weight. I found this backpack on sale at REI for about $50, but full price is $180.  

The Sirrus is a women's-specific design and I found it a good size for me at 5'0" (in terms of the backpack relative to my body). It is a little bulky due to the frame and hip straps so I don't think I'd necessary want to use this in an everyday (non-hiking) context, even though that was what I was looking for when I went to REI. At REI, they have a cabinet in the backpacks section with weight bags so you can test how a given amount of weight will feel in a certain backpack!! It's kind of dangerous to go to REI since there's so much stuff there that I'm tempted to buy.... 

I wore a new Columbia shirt (thin quick-dry fabric) and old, lightweight Under Armour running shorts that have pockets. I'm glad I didn't wear thick or warm clothing because the weather was rather warm. I brought a bucket hat but didn't wear it. I did wear a bandana to keep the sun off my hair though. This is a necessity for me in the summer if I'm going to be outside in the sun for awhile.   

In addition to the Billy Goat Trail section A, there are a few other things you can look at in this area. There is a Great Falls overlook right off the canal towpath near the parking area. There's also a boardwalk trail that goes on Olmstead Island and is pretty scenic. In the future, it might be nice to do the boardwalk Olmstead Island trail by itself and stop at the overlook to draw, but we were too tired to draw since we had already done part of the Billy Goat trail before going to this area. 

Book review: Craftfulness

I saw this book in a display at the library last month because apparently March is crafts month or something to that effect. The full title is "Craftfulness: Mend Yourself by Making Things." I expected the book to be different than what it ended up being like. It was okay, and I managed to finish it, though it was a drag to read and many times I'd read just a few pages, then stop. It was disappointing. 

It seemed to be aimed at a reader who is unfamiliar with and/or doesn't really understand the value of partaking in craft projects and making things. I am not that person, so I found the book bland and off-base and didn't think it offered much insight. It was a rather surface-level exploration of the subject matter -- I wish it had gone more into some kind of sociological/cultural analysis of crafting, its role/view/impact in society, that sort of thing. There were many brief excerpts of statements from various crafters where they talked about the crafts they pursue and what it means to them, etc. Many of these statements were not actually that interesting. 

At the end of the book, there are instructions for six beginner projects in different crafts (weaving, knitting in moss stitch, bookbinding, drawing, writing, clay, darning). I have no interest in darning (a form of mending) and the other things I already know how to do and/or could easily figure out (at a beginner level) without the use of this book's instructions. There's also an appendix section recommending further reading or resources, which was possibly the most useful part of the book. 

Although this book was rather boring and underwhelming, I guess it counts towards my reading challenge because it's written for an adult audience. It was pretty short, but felt like a slog to read. At least it was good for something to read in very short intervals when the circumstances weren't right to really dig into something with more substance.   

Book review: vintage Nancy Drew

I went to a little free library yesterday and there were two vintage copies of some Nancy Drew books. These copies mentioned a copyright date of 1940-something and 1950-something (the books were not directly subsequent parts of the series) so I was wondering if they were original editions. After looking it up online, I found out that these editions were published in the 1960s, so they're still pretty old. 

These books were further along in the series than I remember reading as a kid, so I was curious about what I'd think of them now. The editions from the 1960s contain only one illustration at the beginning and one on the cover, compared to more recent editions (from the 1980s to present-day) that contained a few illustrations interspersed throughout the book. 

This does not count towards my reading challenge, as these books are not primarily written for an adult audience. I remember reading books from this series in 3rd grade, possibly a little before or after that too.

This book, The Clue in the Jewel Box (#20 in the series), was a very quick read; I probably finished it within an hour or so. The general tone of the book was as I remembered it, and the primary recurring characters (Nancy's best friends, father, housekeeper, and boyfriend) were familiar. 

In the past, when reading them as a kid, I didn't pay much heed to trying to analyze the setting or that kind of thing. Apparently, the town that Nancy lives in (River Heights) is fictional, but I was wondering where it was supposed to be based on. 

If I had to guess, it might've been based on a town in upstate New York. It's mentioned that the town is on a river, and there's another town across the river, as well as ferry service on the river. The town isn't portrayed as extremely small. In this particular book, a building built during the revolutionary period is mentioned, which also implies that the location is somewhere that was part of the original 13 colonies. 

The books are still interesting and entertaining enough, albeit rather brief to read now. There's also a nostalgia element. I can't say whether children nowadays would be interested in this series, since maybe they can't even read well enough to even read a book in the first place.  

Book review: more graphic novels

I'm continuing to work away at the stack of library books from the graphic novels section. I was pleasantly surprised that this library branch has a decent selection of some slightly more obscure or indie comics, rather than just a bunch of manga and superhero stuff. I don't know how the selection in this library compares to other branches in the same library system, but I guess I could check the online catalog. 

Here, by Richard McGuire: I happen to be drawn to more experimental comics, such as this one. It consists of somewhat disjointed scenes of what happens in a specific location over the course of decades, hundreds, thousands and even millions of years. It doesn't have a super clear plot, but some of the characters are seen repeatedly at different parts in the book. 

The colors in this comic are somewhat muted and mostly monochromatic (rotating through different color schemes), but rich. I liked the art style. It seemed to have been drawn in maybe pencil or crayon, something like that. I'd like to own a copy of this book. Thematically, it's a little bit similar to the premise of "Sunday," which I saw at SPX last year but did not buy at that time because it was too expensive. Additionally, it's also reminiscent of the sound sculpture "forest (for a thousand years)" 

If you like experimental comics, this one is good, but if you don't like experimental comics, you probably won't like this one. 

Keeping Two, by Jordan Crane: This comic wasn't that experimental, but it was more indie (turns out it was published by Fantagraphics, an indie comics publisher that had a table at SPX). It depicts two different couples (who don't seem to know each other) as they undergo difficulties and arguments in their relationships. From the bright and cheery looking green cover, I assumed this would be a more upbeat and positive story than it actually was. The art style is done entirely in a monochromatic but bright green palette, and the characters are drawn in a more cute-cartoony way rather than ultra-realism.  

Part of the comic depicts events in the "present day" for each couple, but other parts are memories, flashbacks or imagined scenarios. The "present day" panels are outlined with a solid line border, but the panels depicting memories or imagined scenes are not outlined. It was a little hard to determine whether some of the panels were memories of things that actually happened, or imagined scenes -- these were not differentiated between in terms of style, at least not that I could tell. 

Overall, it's basically a reflection on relationships and the strains that can arise in them. The difficulties the couples face were presented in a very realistic way, in terms of plot and dialogue. It's kind of depressing and heavy despite the vibrant green colors (an interesting juxtaposition, perhaps?). I liked it decently, but not enough to really want my own copy unless I found it for free or very cheaply in a thrift store.      

Commute: an illustrated memoir of female shame, by Erin Williams: This was a memoir-type comic with a simplistic and slightly wonky art style. It was also hand lettered, and the letters were a bit wonky as well. 

It describes the experiences of a woman who was an alcoholic and had sex with a bunch of different men during that time. The recollections of all that are framed against the background of her commute (on a train) to and from work. 

It was a little bit experimental, I suppose? The tone of it was rather stark, with the recollections about traumatic experiences and alcoholism interspersed with mundane things observed during her commute.  

This comic deals with some rather mature themes, like alcoholism, sex, sexual assault, and contains some explicit imagery, so it's aimed at an adult reader. 

I couldn't really relate to some of the main themes in this comic (the alcoholism, having sex with lots of different men while being alcoholic, being sexually assaulted), but it was still interesting I guess. Come to think of it, I can relate to being on a train, but I usually think about different things than what the author thought about during her commute, and/or think about them from a different lens. 

Some parts of the comic were even a bit funny in like a darkly humorous way, such as a scene describing a sexual encounter with a professor she met at her grandfather's funeral: "His skin hung on his body like old plastic bags." Towards the end of the comic, she does start to describe her experiences post-alcoholism and getting sober, and eventually having a baby.    

This one was rather different from other comics I've read, but it was interesting enough, as the experiences described in it are mostly foreign to me. I was surprised that many of the goodreads reviews for this one were negative, since the criticisms they made were not things I really noticed or took issue with. I don't really put much stock in goodreads reviews anyways, but occasionally it can be interesting to see what people are saying on there. 

Book review: graphic novels

I recently was at the library and decided I should get a library card. This library has a selection of graphic novels/comics/manga, so I found a number of books there that seemed interesting. Comics are especially better to read in a physical book, so having a library card now means I can read the various comics they have available there. 

I'm unsure as to whether to count any of these graphic novels towards my reading challenge. I think I should probably keep them in a separate section since they aren't quite the same as regular text-only books. 

One of the comics was a manga recommended by my friend. This one was 'Uzumaki' by the famous horror manga artist Junji Ito. It was very surreal in that uniquely Japanese way that I don't really see in American media. The story just got more and more surreal as it progressed. I didn't find it scary exactly, but it was very intriguing, riveting and suspenseful. It was a relatively quick read even though it was a fairly thick book. It has to do with spirals wreaking havoc on the residents of a town in Japan. 

A minor yet interesting detail in this manga is that apparently hurricanes are described with numbers in Japan. There's a section of the manga where various hurricanes strike the town, and they're described in the news as "hurricane 1" or "hurricane 4" and so on. In the US, hurricanes are described by names, with each subsequent storm getting a name in alphabetical order. 

I also saw a graphic novel adaptation of a short story by the now-disgraced author Neil Gaiman. I'd never read any of his work before because it just didn't interest me, but this one looked short enough that I was willing to give it a try. I read this one in about 10 to 15 minutes while at the library. 

This story, titled 'How to Talk to Girls at Parties' was more of a magical realism type of thing, which is not a genre that interests me. I see magical realism as being different than surrealism, though perhaps it could be said that magical realism is a subset of surrealism. In any case, magical realism isn't a genre I like. I prefer surrealism that's more science-fiction based and/or dystopian and unsettling in some way. 

Something about the story seemed rather hollow to me. I'm not sure if all of his work is like that, or this was just one of his weaker works. The story was written by Neil Gaiman, but illustrated into a graphic novel by some other artists. The premise of the story, which is revealed gradually, is that the girls in question are not actually human. They're some kind of alien (insect?) creatures that are just inhabiting human-looking bodies. 

The art style wasn't really my favorite either, I just wasn't very impressed by it. Maybe it felt like it didn't fit the plot of the story? There were some other graphic novels with stories by Neil Gaiman but I'm not all that inclined to read more of his work. Not necessarily because he's a scumbag, but because it just doesn't interest me in terms of genre. 

The third graphic novel was called 'Upgrade Soul' by an author/cartoonist (Ezra Claytan Daniels) I hadn't heard of before. This one interested me because the premise had to do with people having a new version of themselves created that was physically and intellectually superior, but disfigured. The whole concept of having a new version of yourself is a theme/premise I find interesting (The Substance and Mickey 17 or Mickey7), so I wanted to see how this comic would approach it. 

I found this comic rather weak in its execution. The cover art was also done in a very different style than the actual comic. The execution of the plot wasn't great and I also didn't like the art style very much. The plot was too hard to follow, as there were various flashback scenes that didn't seem differentiated enough from whatever was happening in the "present day" of the comic. 

The characters, I don't know if they needed more development (i.e. making the comic longer) or if they just needed a better author to develop them over the same span of the existing comic. Between The Substance, Mickey 17 or Mickey7 and Upgrade Soul, I found Upgrade Soul to be the worst or most poorly executed. Although its premise is interesting, the author just wasn't able to present it in a way that felt well-done.  

I'm glad I didn't spend money on this book, but I wouldn't mind owning a copy of Uzumaki if I found one used at a good price. Some other reviews on Goodreads compared Upgrade Soul to Flowers for Algernon, and I guess I can vaguely see it, but Upgrade Soul is pretty underwhelming and mediocre, at best. 

In the future, I should be more picky about which graphic novels I choose to read and only choose ones with premises and art styles that I like. I'm still pretty happy about my SPX purchases even though I haven't fully read either of them... I better work on saving up money for the next SPX so I can buy more independent and experimental comics. 

I still have some more graphic novels to read, so I'll do another review of that batch later.       

Book review: If There Is Something to Desire; also a reading challenge update

I was sick during the beginning of February and felt very mentally lethargic, even more so than usual. So I got behind on my ideal schedule to accomplish my reading challenge for this year, which is to read at least one book per every letter of the alphabet. 

In order to complete the challenge within a year, I should read at least one book every two weeks, which works out to two books per month. Per the terms of the challenge, I decided that any book counts towards it as long as it's primarily text and written for an adult audience (so no picture books, like Goodnight Moon).

If There Is Something to Desire, by Vera Pavlova

I found out about this collection of poetry when I was looking for some contemporary Russian literature available in English translation. It was mentioned in the same list as The Hall of Singing Caryatids. I found this poetry overall very mediocre and didn't really want to finish the book, but I managed to push through because almost all of the 100 poems are very short (like 15 lines or fewer). 

I don't know if the mediocrity of the poetry is due to poor translation, or if they are similarly mediocre in the original Russian (if you can read and understand Russian). Apparently, this poet is pretty popular in Russia. The poetry was rather terse and bland. Sex was a recurring topic, and it wasn't done in an artful way. 

There was maybe about 20% (at most) of the poems or lines that I liked, but on the whole, I did not like this poetry. It mostly made me feel bored and a little exasperated because I didn't like it. Good poetry makes you feel intrigued and/or maybe emotionally moved in some (positive) way. And/or impressed by how good it is. 

In general, I prefer poetry that's more descriptive and involves more metaphor or other creative, unique use of language. Poetry that sets an interesting scene and layers it with some kind emotion. 

Progress of the reading challenge

So far, I've read 6 books this year, including the one I reviewed in this post. So actually, I'm back on schedule now due to recently finishing Mickey7 and If There Is Something to Desire. Both were pretty quick reads, so it still feels a little bit like I was slacking by not reading something more involved and dense. 

I've reviewed some of the books here, though there are others I did not end up posting a full review of. I might do brief reviews of those that do not warrant their own posts and compile it into a single post. Books I have read but not yet reviewed: Grapefruit, by Yoko Ono. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman. They Were Soldiers by Ann Jones.   

Actors, like James D'Arcy

In the last few years, I haven't really kept up with the recent (or not so recent) work of various actors I proclaim to like. It takes time to watch movies and TV series and most of the time, it feels like I'm not in the right mindset to sit down and commit to watching a given movie or series that some actor has been in. 

The most recent thing I watched starring an actor I like was "Memory," for Peter Sarsgaard. It is actually a significant time and effort commitment to try and watch all or most of a given actor's (or director's) filmography, and I have to say I've not accomplished that goal for any actor or director. 

Yes, I'm slacking on my duties as a so-called fan of these actors. Because I was impressed with Robert Pattinson's performance in Mickey 17, I might try and take a look at his past work to see if anything looks interesting enough to watch. 

Anyways, in my recent review of Mickey 17, I mentioned some actors I think might have been better to cast in the role of the primary villain, the spaceship's commander. One of them was Peter Sarsgaard, and another was James D'Arcy, a British actor who is probably (?) lesser known than Peter Sarsgaard. It's been awhile since I've watched anything with him in it, but I seem to have the recollection that he tends to play characters that are a bit cold and icy, or at least that's what's most memorable to me. 

Interestingly, I just found out that James D'Arcy had some smaller role in the major film "Oppenheimer."* He's had a small role in some Marvel stuff too, but I don't care about superhero garbage. I think he plays someone's assistant, or something. 

Anyways, I wanted to see what he has been in over the last few years that I haven't been keeping up with that, so I was going to look at a fan website (jamesdarcy.net) I remembered looking at in the olden days. Unfortunately, it appears that fan website no longer exists, and the Facebook page for it has not been updated since spring of 2022. There are some archives of the site on the Wayback Machine, showing the site itself was last updated in 2020 and went down sometime between 2022 and 2023. 

I have no idea what happened there and why the site ceased to exist. It's disappointing to me, so this blog may have to also take up the mantle of a part-time unofficial James D'Arcy fan site too. I hope Peter Sarsgaard doesn't get jealous (I'm being sarcastic. No one even reads my blog, much less these actors. It's okay though, I still like them. I think it might be kind of embarrassing for them to read it, in any case). 

It also made me think of Kaitlyn Tiffany's now-defunct Jake Gyllenhaal newsletter, which was titled "Our Bodies Are Controlled by the Moon," which apparently was drawn from something Jake Gyllenhaal had said. It was published via Tinyletter and I thought maybe the archives would still be up even though she stopped writing it some years back, but Tinyletter shut down too, so no dice there. 

A belated goodbye to these figments of the old internet...       

* He posts sporadically on Instagram. Back when Oppenheimer was going to premiere, he posted an image of the poster with the caption "I can't believe they forgot to put my name at the top. In theatres 7/21/23. Or 21/7/23 if you like your dates the right way round." My impression from interviews and such is that James D'Arcy has a dry sense of humor. Maybe because he's British? 

10 year blogaversary!!

I was looking at how a recent post looks on my blog (instead of just the post editor) and saw the sidebar with the blog archive widget (I <3 old school web design, which is why this blog looks so outdated. It will remain so. Pry this theme from my cold, dead hands.). Looking at that, I realized that it's my 10 year blogaversary! Or rather, was in January, but it's still relatively early in the year, so close enough. 

It feels satisfying in a small way to have maintained a blog continuously for so long, even though at times the posts were extremely sporadic. Still, I posted at least a few times every year of this blog's existence. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff in the archives that's rather cringeworthy, but I'm keeping that all up for the sake of posterity. I hope to continue to make posts about "a... unique topic." 

It's actually rather strange to think about, the more I think about it. There's random stuff from the past 10 years that at some point I thought about and decided to make blog posts about. Isn't it strange to think about, having a blog that's been around since 2015? It feels like almost an entirely different era by now, and honestly, it kind of was. But this blog has been around all this time, chronicling (some) things I've thought about over the course of that time period. I have grown up and changed in some ways since then, but in other ways I think I'm relatively the same. 

I am/can be an extremely verbose person, which this blog allows me to have an outlet for even if no one reads it. If you do read it, whoever you are, thanks, I guess? I'm honestly not sure what anyone might get out of reading this blog, but that's the reader's prerogative. 

I <3 blogs. I wish blogging would make a comeback, just people writing blogs about all sorts of stuff (like this one!). General personal blogs, blogs about a specific interest, all kinds of blogs. Blogging feels like the anti-Instagram, the anti-Tiktok in this day and age. No algorithms, no filters, just words and sometimes photos. A vestige of the old internet. Blog like it's 2005, or 2010, or 2015. It's what newsletters are supposed to be. GTFO of here with long-form "newsletters" in my "inbox." Just make a blog, cowards.  

And since it's now the 14th, happy pi day! 3.14.25    

Movie review: Mickey 17

This is also partially a book review because I read the book prior to seeing the movie. I saw a poster for this movie in a theater lobby, which intrigued me enough that I looked into more information about it. I found out that it was based on a book, Mickey7. This review contains some spoilers for Mickey 17 and The Substance.

Mickey7, book

The book was a relatively quick read. It was published within the last few years, so it's fairly recent. I thought the premise was pretty interesting, although the execution by this author wasn't my favorite. I would've found it more interesting if a different author had written something with this premise, such as Murakami. 

Additionally, the book had a rather young-adult fiction writing style, which isn't my favorite. I prefer books that are a bit more literary in style, or at the very least, are not written in the style of YA, even if they're not high literature either. 

Still, I found it interesting enough to finish and the concepts it involves are interesting to think about, even if the author could have approached them in a more artful and skilled manner. For some reason I don't feel like I can remember much detail about the book, even though I read it within the last week or two. I think that I wished it had addressed the premise/themes in a deeper way somehow, rather than being more surface level.

 

However, in some ways, the book did delve a bit deeper than the movie did. The ship of Theseus idea is specifically discussed in the book, and Mickey ends up using his spare time to read about what caused the success or failures of other space colonies, wondering what implications that might have for the planet he has traveled to. There's also some more depth in what's going on with the strange worm-like creatures inhabiting the planet. 

Mickey 17, movie

This movie was directed by Bong Joon Ho and starred Robert Pattinson as the eponymous character, Mickey 17. I was curious about what the adaptation would be like. I have not watched any other work by Bong Joon Ho, or Robert Pattinson (aside from maybe some of the Twilight series, years ago. I was somewhat interested in the series around the ages of 10 - 13, which is when it was really popular). 

The movie differs rather substantially from the book. Although there are similarities in some of the broader elements, much of the details were changed, including some of the plot. I was hoping that the movie would take a deeper approach to some of the ideas in the book, but this wasn't really the case. The movie went in a different direction than the book, and the themes and/or emphasis were changed. 

Thematically and tonally, the movie was somewhat disjointed. There were a lot of different elements that just didn't get explored too deeply. Robert Pattinson's acting was very superb and he really managed to embody the two versions of his character. There's a certain intensity (and depth?) to his performance that reminds me of Peter Sarsgaard a bit. 

I thought that Robert Pattinson didn't really look like I expected him to for some reason. My mental image of him is more like a vague recollection of what he looked like in the Twilight series, which is different enough than what he looks like in this movie and maybe in real life too. In this movie, his hair was darker and not as curly or tousled looking. In Twilight/etc, I think his hair was more coppery (lighter in color, I guess from highlights of some sort) and had a slightly curly texture. He also had vampire makeup for that series to make him appear very pale and sparkly. He was rather pale in Mickey 17 too, but not sparkly. He appeared very hairless (regarding body hair) in this movie, which I'm not sure if that's how he naturally is, or whether he was shaved and/or waxed to look like that. In any case, he's an attractive man. 

Pattinson played his character rather straight and seriously, which is in extreme contrast to the caricatured performance that Mark Ruffalo gave as the movie's primary villain, the commander/caption of the space expedition. I found this juxtaposition rather disjointed and Ruffalo's performance and character seemed out of place with how the rest of the characters were portrayed. 

I would have preferred to see a more subtle and sinister or ominous portrayal of the villain, instead of a bombastic, over-the-top demagogue. Although the movie was originally filmed a couple of years ago, Ruffalo's character is like a strange Trump-Musk amalgamation. I could actually see Peter Sarsgaard playing this role how I envision it, or maybe Jeff Goldblum? Perhaps even James D'Arcy. I'm not familiar with Ruffalo's other work so I can't really say whether he's generally a mediocre actor, or it's just this performance that wasn't great. 

I also possibly would have liked if the movie had a different director, someone who'd emphasize the more surreal and deeper ideas/elements rather than trying to incorporate a significant campy, satiri-comical tone. Maybe someone like Darren Aronofsky? 

The ending of the movie (which is a little similar to the book, but also has significant changes) was a bit contrived too. Ultimately, I don't think it necessarily benefited from the plot and other changes that were made in the adaptation, particularly the way the commander character was built into something rather different than the analogous character from the book, and the impact of that on the plot. 

In an interview I read prior to seeing the movie, Pattinson did mention that he was surprised about how the director adapted the source material. It might be more enjoyable to watch this movie without having read the book first, because it doesn't feel like a highly satisfying adaptation of the source material. In some ways, the source material is rather corrupted in the adaptation. 

I wish the movie had been more of a character study (of Mickey) since it would be an interesting way to explore the premise. It also would've benefited from more development of Mickey and Nasha's relationship, as well as the other woman that sort of almost gets involved in a love triangle. The book does this at least somewhat better, if I recall correctly. 

I would have liked to see more reflection from both/either Mickey and Nasha about the strange situation with there being two of him and what they thought about it. In the movie, Nasha is eager to have a threesome with the twin Mickeys (the threesome also occurs in the book) and does notice the difference in their personalities. She describes 17 as mild Mickey and 18 as habanero Mickey, but doesn't end up addressing these differences further. 

I thought it was interesting that there's a tenuous connection to the premise of The Substance, but Mickey 17 takes a very different approach to it. 

The common premise in these two movies is the idea of having two bodies, which are two versions of yourself that are both technically supposed to be you, but they're at odds with each other in some way, and are different from each other in some way(s). 

In Mickey 17, he ends up with two versions of himself unintentionally and is part of a larger crew of people in a space colony, whereas in The Substance, Elisabeth voluntarily takes a substance to create a better version of herself and is rather isolated personally. The Substance, overall, was much more expertly executed in terms of the direction and plot. I also enjoyed its allusions to Requiem for a Dream and some of Kubrick's work.  

In both, it was interesting to see how the different bodies/versions of the character were foils for each other. Since the context and premise of the movies are pretty different, this foil effect plays out in distinct ways. Both Mickeys are physically the same, but differ somewhat in personality. Mickey 18 is more diabolical than the hapless and nervous Mickey 17. 

Elisabeth is using the different, younger body of Sue to live vicariously, trying to relive Elisabeth's former glory. Her desire to continue living as Sue instead of Elisabeth ultimately leads to Elisabeth's destruction. Mickey 18 holds a bit of disdain and disregard for 17, and for some reason is more diabolical than his previous version. The reasons for him being more diabolical are never directly explained. Perhaps it's just a reaction to being confronted with a duplicate version of himself, putting them both at risk in the context of the ship's regulations?       

   

Overall, I did like the movie and would probably watch it again at some point, it's just that are there some aspects of it I have criticism of and think should have been done differently. It was somewhat underwhelming relative to what I think/wish it could have been. I like this review on Reddit that also discusses the differences between the movie and book.

I took a look at AO3 to see what fan fiction about the movie exists, though it seems like the majority of it involves clone sex because I guess people just wanted to get their freak on and write about that. Personally, I think that's one of the more uninteresting ideas that could be explored in fan fiction for this movie. 

Movie review: The Substance

I just now finished watching this movie [at the time of starting to write this review]. It is a newer movie that premiered in theaters in September 2024 [it was originally shown at Cannes Film Festival earlier that year] and I think it may be up for an Oscar in some category or other [it is nominated in five categories: Demi Moore for leading actress, Coralie Fargeat for director, makeup and hairstyling, Best Picture, and writing for original screenplay]. I don't remember hearing about this movie when it was originally in theaters, only within the last couple of days, which probably had something to do with the Oscars. 

I watched the trailer and was intrigued. In order to thoroughly discuss the movie, this review will contain spoilers. The premise involves an aging celebrity who is offered a chance to take a Substance that will create a better, more perfect version of herself. This movie is a drama with body horror. It's also somewhat meta, about fame and celebrity and the entertainment industry's focus on beauty and youth. 

The way the Substance works is that it creates a second body for the person who takes it. The new body contains the same mind/consciousness as the original body, just in a better exterior package. Each body can be inhabited for seven days in a row, and then they are supposed to be switched out. The person is reminded repeatedly that both bodies are still them, rather than two completely separate people. While one body is not being inhabited, it exists in some kind of stasis (eyes open) and is fed intravenously. 

The Substance is something that is injected and is a neon yellow liquid. This causes the new body, the Other Self, to emerge from an opening down the spine of the old body, as if the old body were a cocoon. While inhabiting the Other Self/new body, the person is supposed to inject themselves daily with a Stabilizer fluid that is withdrawn from the old body (while it is in stasis). 

Things begin to go wrong when the main character tries to extend her time in the Other Self body beyond the specified seven days at a time. 

This movie was pleasingly surreal in the way that I like, which I describe as light surrealism. To specify further, I like surrealism that has some dystopian or unsettling/darker element to it as well. 

I feel like there's possibly some Greek myth allusion here but I can't think of which one. In various different ways, the movie reminded me of the conceptual video artwork Safe Conduct, Cinderella, The Picture of Dorian Grey and Requiem for a Dream. (Requiem for a Dream and Safe Conduct are some of my favorite things). 

It has the surreal body horror elements like Safe Conduct, the changing states of Cinderella, a changing version of oneself that's kind of metaphorical like The Picture of Dorian Grey [please note I haven't actually read that, I just have a vague idea of its premise], and some cinematography that's similar to Requiem for a Dream (repeated motifs, closeups of eyes, injections, also a manic scene). Also, Demi Moore resembles Jennifer Connelly quite a bit. I would also say there are cinematographic similarities to some of Stanley Kubrick's work, like The Shining or A Clockwork Orange (in that some scenes in The Substance seem to allude to scenes in those Kubrick movies, and perhaps some more distant thematic similarities too). 

It was left vague as to when exactly the movie was supposed to take place. It has a bit of a 1980s aesthetic, including the fact that the main character Elisabeth and her younger version Sue are stars of a dance-exercise television show and wear 80s-inspired dance leotards and legwarmers. Additionally, the interiors of various buildings/rooms have a 1980s-esque look too. However, a smartphone is featured occasionally in the movie, as well as a modern-day flat screen TV and a flash drive. These are the only things that hint at it taking place in the 2010s, at least. 

I thought it was a very thought-provoking movie and I'm almost a little surprised that it was a more mainstream movie, since it seems a bit out there. I'm not really sure what the overall/prevailing opinion of it is (among professional movie critics as well as the general public), although it seems like the kind of thing that not everyone would find appealing or interesting.

It makes me ponder about whether I would choose to take the Substance that could create a more perfect version of myself. Whether I would take it right now in my life, or perhaps at some future point when I'm older (like Elisabeth's age in the movie). The idea of being able to intermittently inhabit a more perfect version of oneself is quite interesting to think about in the theoretical sense. 

In the movie, it seems that the Substance is primarily intended to create a more perfect physical version of the person, rather than substantially altering their inner personality and mind. However, Elisabeth-Sue behaves differently depending on which body she is inhabiting at a given time, even though it's emphasized that the person in each body is one and the same. But I'm not necessarily sure if this was the Substance creating a new/different personality for Sue's body, or if it was more like some sort of 'physical determinism' -- the fact that she was living in Sue's perfect body caused her to act differently than she did in Elisabeth's older, less perfect body, and vice versa. 

Personally, when I think of taking a Substance that creates a more perfect version of myself, there are a few physical things that would change to become more "perfect," but there are also a number of personality/mental changes that I also think of as being part of a "more perfect" version of myself. If anything, the personality/mental changes take precedence in my mind over the physical aspect of a Substance-induced better version of myself. I don't know if everyone else would think the same way in terms of what changes a more perfect version of themselves entails. 

If I were able to take a Substance that creates a "better" version of myself, would I begin to resent the original, inferior version of myself and/or the "better" version as well?

Some themes or concepts this movie addresses are vanity, beauty, self-esteem and body image, hedonism, and trade offs. What is beauty (and youth) worth? What would you do in order to become more beautiful, more perfect? What would you be willing to trade? 

If you were sapping life out of your old body (and making it increasingly more decrepit) in order to sustain the more perfect Other Self, would you find that an acceptable trade off to make? If you did take the Substance like in the movie, would you be able to stick to the schedule of seven days in each body, or would you become tempted to extend your time as the Other Self at the expense of your original body? 

A potential takeaway from this movie is that it's better to be happy or at peace with your existing body instead of trying to make loaded trade offs in exchange for a more perfect body. 

Further reading: an interview with the costume designer for the movie. The leotards and yellow coat were custom-made for the movie. 

Book review: The Hall of Singing Caryatids

I have made a goal of reading at least one book per each letter of the alphabet this year. It remains to be seen whether I'll accomplish this goal, but making it in the first place is the first step. The list of books already exists but I won't publish that in full, as it's more suspenseful to reveal it one by one as I finish and review a given book. 

The first book I'm reviewing here is a novella by Victor Pelevin, originally published in Russian. I wanted to see what contemporary Russian fiction (available in an English translation) existed out there and this is one of the first books I came across. The original Russian version was published in 2008, and the English version was published in 2011 (translated by Andrew Bromfield). 

Apparently the author is very popular in Russia. I had never heard of him before this week, so he isn't particularly well known in the US. In fact, I can only think of two contemporary authors (21st century, let's say) whose translated works became very popular in the US: Haruki Murakami (1Q84) and Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and subsequent books; originally published in Swedish with a different title). And even those aren't all that recent. 

I didn't know much about what I was getting into with this book at the start. I was aware of the basic premise: the main character, along with a number of other women, are recruited to become singing models ("caryatids") in a secret underground club for Russian oligarchs. It is about that, but it also has a surreal element that was a bit of a surprise to me. I don't think I realized it would be surreal until I read far enough into the book where the surreal things begin to appear. 

I don't want to spoil how it's surreal, but I did find the surrealism quite intriguing. I wasn't expecting it to have the type of surrealism I enjoy, but it did. It reminded me a bit of how Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 is surreal. It also reminded me a bit of the music video for the song Lights by the band Interpol.

It ends in a bit of an abrupt way, which isn't my favorite, but it does come to a neat climax with the ending. I'd be interested in reading more books like this one and/or by this author, if there are any others available in translation. Personally, I quite enjoyed this novella although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to everyone, since it is somewhat bizarre in its surreal elements. If you like surreal things, such as 1Q84, I would recommend this novella. 

On a mildly related and tangential note, I read something interesting the other day about the current state of the Russian publishing industry and censorship of authors who write about topics the Russian government doesn't approve of: ‘The number of words you can say keeps shrinking’ Meduza investigates how wartime censorship has (and hasn’t) reshaped Russia’s book industry