Spent little to no time on my personal creative projects this month. The job that earns my keep entered a busy season that required significantly more effort and focus (and hours). It was hard for me to give myself permission to prioritize rest. The fear of falling behind was strong. But it was the right decision.
Thankfully, the busy period is behind me and I can pick up those projects I put on hold.
This month’s playlist:
Severance
Tweets gushing over this show wore my patience thin. Regrettably, the praise was warranted. I’ll live to be contrarian another day.
It’s an ingenious blend of weird office culture and the sinister. The office architecture instantly reminded me of another favorite, Control. Probably the best season finale I’ve witnessed in recent memory.
Wasn’t a fan of the Waffle Party sequence. Felt incongruent with the tone of the rest of the show.
Memoria
The way to experience this film is to lean back and float away on its aural ocean. I was astonished how the visuals mainly serve the soundscapes of each scene. The narrative is minimal and slow. But the emotion and presence are dense, if you are able to let yourself be immersed in the experience.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s other works are on my watchlist.
Vinland Saga
Still got The Northman on the brain so I jumped into this manga series that’s been on my list for a while.
One scene sold me. The young protagonist is furious with his pacifist father who will not give him a sword. When asked why he wants one, the boy says, “To fight our enemies.” The father follows with another question, “Who are your enemies?” His son cannot answer. What the father says next I find poignant and devastating.
“You have no enemies.”
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
I’ve been playing this game for 25 years and have yet to beat it. The first game console I had access to was a Game Boy. We had two cartridges: Tetris and Zelda. I was good at neither as a child. But I would play Zelda until I got stuck, then delete the save and start over.
This cycle persisted through the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and various emulators over the years. My current attempt is on a hacked PlayStation Portable (my other beloved handheld). I’ve finally awoken the Wind Fish. One final boss awaits.
This month I worked my fingers to the bone, then went on vacation.