Sunday 31 December 2017

Welcome to Disaster Area 20-17

Wow. This year. 

   The bar was set so low you would think it's impossible to fuck it up, wouldn't ya? 

   I love how Hollywood suddenly realised that the greater majority of people on this planet is neither white, nor in fact male. Funny, huh? Somehow the realisation that diverse films earn more money than whitewashed crap came as a shock to them. Like... seriously?!

   It's infuriating to realise just how much the powerful men of Hollywood can keep quiet about when it's 99,5% women who end up the victims of these predators in their midst. They knew Harvey Weinstein was abusing and assaulting women and did nothing... until we found out.
   And for anyone calling this a witch-hunt; yes, we're witches and we're finally hunting the predators down. This is something we should have done ages ago with the likes of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen too. Make rapists afraid again.
Put them out of their jobs.
Don't trivialise their actions.
Or our experiences. #metoo

   I mourn the deaths of both of my grandfathers, as well as my paternal grandmother, while the rest of you can join me in mourning of Bill Paxton, John Hurt, Gösta Ekman, Nelsan Ellis, Rikard Wolff, Chester Bennington, Tom Petty, Harry Dean Stanton...
   Moreover:
  • I entered singledom again.
  • I went to a The Rocky Horror Picture Show audience participation showing and IT WAS SO AWESOME.
  • I went to Budapest with my sister for a spa weekend in April. Not only was I told by my massage therapist that I had to work on my anger issues (I do, but what the hell...) but I also caught a severe cold that lasted me for a fortnight and stole my voice.
  • I celebrated Towel Day hobbit style.
  • After waiting for over a year and a half after buying the ticket I finally got to experience Russell Howard!
  • I had one helluva midsummer. Magical. Just wow. I still can't believe how much fun I had.
  • I got to try and be the boss-woman at work for two weeks. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong for me to try and fix. But as it turned out I learnt a lot in the process.
  • After a brief hiatus of one year I went back to the Medieval Week on Gotland, with new silks no less! I had a blast. And got home with ulcers, a hangover and a fever.
  • I lost three out of four grandparents in a span of four months. Rough as fuck.
  • My asshole roomie Sengir moved in. Soon all of my possessions were covered in a fine layer of his ginger hair and everything is as it should be. I am become a Crazy Cat Lady.
  • I had Ben and Jerry's Non-Dairy Ice-Cream and for a moment all existence was awesome.
  • I made sure to make my intentions clear at a huge demonstration against Nazism here in my city. We won this round. Lets keep fighting.
  • I finalised the process of getting myself sterilised. There are no critters ever crawling out of this uterus. #notyourincubator
  • I celebrated Halloween decadently, with gusto.
  • I got myself that tattoo I've wanted since I was thirteen years old.
  • I've been to see movies at the cinema no less than ten times this year.

   If you feel like this Year Review is getting you a bit down, I'm terribly sorry since that wasn't my intention at all, but it's been a shit year hasn't it? Good thing it was over quicker than it takes to pull a band-aid. We'll simply have to end the review on a lighter note!

Favourite Picks of 2017

Movies: Moonlight, Logan, Get Out, The Handmaiden, Trainspotting 2, Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, and did I mention Logan? 


Books: Isaac Asimov didn't disappoint with his 'Caves of Steel'. 'Revolution' by Russel Brand (!!!) turned out to be much better than I expected. 'The Fall of the House of Cabal' by Jonathan L. Howard left me pleasantly bewildered. 'Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes was a thrill-ride over too quickly. 'Redshirts' by John Scalzi grew on me. 'The Day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham was good ol' classical scifi at it's very best! The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was emotional as hell, especially with everything that's going on politically at the moment. The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling. For a closer look on what I've read this year there's my Goodreads profile.
TV shows: I added this category because we need to talk about 'Westworld'. Like, we really do. Because Thandie Newton . Also: 'Dear White People'. I thought I enjoyed the movie but hoo boy, how I must have been mistaken because I loved every second of the show to the point that I never wanted it to end (there will be a second season, some champagne please!). Speaking of things that never end; the thirteenth Doctor is a woman! THE DEFENDERS, FUCK YEAH. I finished the Defenders in two binges and want more. More Daredevil. More Jessica Jones. More Luke Cage. More Claire Temple. MORE! The 2nd season of Stranger Things was way too short and I need more, STAT.
Events: Moonlight winning Best Picture at the Oscars the way it did (OH MY GODS!!), Wonder Woman made a killing at the box office once again proving that we're truly starving for both female heroes and female creators. THE BEES ARE COMING BACK! HIV/AIDS is no longer the number one cause of death on the African continent. We outed so many predators in Hollywood. Good job. Scientists have come up with a way to regrow the Great Barrier Reef. My new buddy Sengir moved in with me.


Just like last I year I will not be making any resolutions for the new year but instead wish, and hope, for more kitty snuggles, more human touch, and more tasty food and drinks.
And remember:
"It's Chaos. Be Kind."

Monday 11 December 2017

It's the little things

   Ever since I was thirteen I've wanted some sort of X-Men tattoo in general and the classic X-logo on my hip in particular. At the end of last year I made a promise to myself to not get another tattoo until I'd made a rather life-altering decision that would probably lead to a bit of scarring on my belly. As I didn't know just how much scar tissue it would  involve I figured it would be no more than logical to wait with the tattoo until I knew for sure.
   Now I know (very little scarring) and now I have my tattoo.
   Time to move on to bigger projects.

Thursday 23 November 2017

Thor: Ragnarok - first thoughts

   I've just come home from the cinema after having seen Thor: Ragnarok and now ALL I can think of is Tom Hiddleston's gorgeous ass. Bless that ass.

Monday 13 November 2017

My nerd beginnings - LotR

Oh my dudes, The Lord of the Rings.
Peter Jackson. The nerd that set it all in motion for me.
   A nerd friend of mine, my best friend as a matter of fact, tend to tell me once in a while that she was 110% destined to become a nerd. She never had another option really, being surrounded by comic book nerd uncles and an older brother crazy about Star Wars. With me it was an entirely different story because I had to discover the lovely world of nerdiness all on my own. Don't get me wrong, my family has its fair share of book worms but their reading material tended to be rooted in reality and not in far off fictional worlds or alternate universes.

   When I say books were my gateway into fantasy and scifi I'm not being entirely honest to myself because when I really get to dig into it, it was movies. Specifically those my mum didn't want me watching. I was about seven when I watched Jurassic Park (and had nightmares for a week), about ten-ish when I saw Aliens, and Tim Burton's Batman movies (with better results dream-wise). Then came the news that Peter Jackson was adapting The Lord of the Rings for the big screen and I was obsessed. By then my mum couldn't possibly ignore the fact that I was way more into fiction than her history nerd ass had ever been and that it was probably a better idea to introduce me to more age appropriate media than forbidding me to watch that which wasn't age appropriate. She gifted me the LotR books, for Xmas 2000 I believe, and those motherfuckers are heavy to get through when you're twelve years old, I can tell ya! but she wished to be proactive and I, in return, was thrilled. However, though I love the story I never really took to the books (sorry J.R.R.) and although I finished The Fellowship of the Ring it took me well over a year to do so (the Two Towers and the Return of the King didn't take as long). Turned out there was a trick to it; after only a few heavy pages I decided to make a list of every single name mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring and thus made reading into both a hunt for new names as well as the completion of the story. It helped getting me through the book. But it also made loving the movies significantly easier; they were heavenly in comparison (because FYI, there are well over 200 different character names in The Fellowship of the Ring only). However, reading Tolkien and then experiencing Jackson's adaption launched me like a exuberant rocket into the fantasy genre and made me choosy as it comes to universe construction. Say what you will about J.R.R. (prolix, racist, sexist etc) but he started something unique with Middle Earth that has grown, branched out and blossomed.

   As a part of the Ringer cult fandom I didn't just find my place among my immediate weirdo friends, but also grew to be a part of a world-wide weirdo community that I, surprisingly enough, felt really connected to (thank you Internet). Speaking from the perspective of an oddball and somewhat of an outcast, it was pure awesomeness to find so many other people not only sharing my passions but also my experiences when my family didn't.
   The importance of this can't be lost on anyone.

   Peter Jackson didn't just drop my very first real fandom in my lap but also gave me adult nerds to look up to - the cast of the LotR trilogy is littered with different kinds of nerds that influenced what kind of nerd I myself was going to become one day. Unapologetic (thank you Elijah Wood), enthusiastic (thank you Dominic Monaghan), happily and lovingly sarcastic (thank you Billy Boyd), fiercely queer (thank you so much Ian McKellen) and childishly passionate (thank you Peter Jackson). I can only ever aspire to be as nerdily refined, curious and awe-inspiring as the great LotR nerd Christopher Lee (as the only one of the production to actually have met J.R.R. Tolkien, Lee was the ultimate LotR fanboy).
   The Lord of the Rings holds a very special place in my heart and always will.

   My best friend and I are at the time of writing this planning our journey to New Zealand. It's nerve wracking and exhilarating and absolutely wonderful to somehow be able to complete the circle by travelling to the place where my love for hobbits began and in many ways my inner nerd awoke.
   Thank you Peter Jackson, I look forward to Going There, and Back Again.
   "The Road goed ever on and on,
down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
and I must follow if I can.
Pursuing it with eager feet,
until it joins some larger way
where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."

Monday 6 November 2017

Halloween funsies

   This weekend it was finally the time to get my spook on and let my inner forest sprite out at a Halloween party. I went dressed as a huldra - managed to finish the dress and everything! But I did give up on making it any more complicated than necessary. 
   I had so much fun guys.


Tuesday 24 October 2017

Lungs, please stahp

   It really sucks to be down with the worst case of the flu I've had since ... well, I can't remember having a worse case. I'm coughing. Hard. That's the worst part of it. Going to bed is a chore because you need to take all the right medicines in the right order and sit in the bed just the right way to dampen the coughing fits just enough to fall asleep. After that I might get somewhere between 5 and 6 hours before I can't breathe. If I'm lucky. Oh, the phlegm. In short, I can't do shit. Halloween is around the corner and I wanted to dazzle in a new outfit. Now I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it.

Wednesday 18 October 2017

Who's with me?

I don't usually look at trailers because I don't like having my fun spoiled beforehand but goddammit, I couldn't keep away from this one.

My face the entire time:


Sooo....


 Basically.

Saturday 7 October 2017

With my head in a bag

It's one of those days when one does what one has to do to bring back order to the chaos of life. Or at least organise your chaos in a way more fitting to your life...
   Returning to work yesterday after surgery was tough but seeing as I'm about as hard to kill as a pissed off badger, I did fine.
   Yeah, I know. Surgery was minimally invasive, went really well and has already done wonders to my mental state. "Pleased" doesn't even begin to cover it.
   Today I'm dyeing my hair, drinking my new Earl Gay tea (yes, gay), giving in to my sweet tooth and avoiding folding all the clothes I've washed this morning. It's raining.


EDIT:
It turned out ok.

Sunday 24 September 2017

Another short word on running

I'm keeping it up. For the simple, yet insanely important, reasons. Still hate it though.


Tuesday 5 September 2017

Lets talk about ice-cream

   I can't eat dairy product in any greater amounts, not even lactose free stuff works that well anymore though they used to. In the last couple of months I've gradually worked my way from lactose free dairy products to soy and oat products instead. I rarely miss having milk in my coffee. Sometimes I miss heavy cream. I do miss butter. And holy hell, do I miss ice-cream! When Ben & Jerry's let us know that they were planning on launching a series of dairy free tubs I was thrilled, but it took a whole friggin' year before they launched them in Sweden! (Final launch was almost a month ago.) So like... can we please talk about these ice-creams?!
   Today I bought Chunky Monkey which used to be one of my favourites back when I could still eat dairy stuff with a little help of pills containing the enzymes I myself lack. However, I couldn't settle with just trying one so I bought Peanut Butter & Cookies as well. I remember back when I could eat a whole tub by myself in one sitting but these non-dairy ones are heavy. Very filling. Also very expensive. One tub is like 10$. But yum-yum in my tum-tum.

Saturday 2 September 2017

Adorkable misogyny

THIS.
WHY PEOPLE NO SEE WHY CREEPY NERD STILL BE CREEPY.



ME FOREVER MAD.

   This video is by the same people who did the equally enlightening Born Sexy Yesterday video that I also recommend you watch.

Wednesday 30 August 2017

Puttin' the face on


   Went to see Logan Lucky with the boys. I put makeup on my face and everything.
   Logan Lucky was a Soderbergh alright. A sort of hillbilly Ocean's Eleven (their words), but not quite as good. Seeing as I'm not a fan of neither Adam Driver nor Daniel Craig, I was only attracted to the Soderbergh heist movie description and Channing Tatum. Tatum was good. Soderbergh was ok. On the whole, it was ok.
   The company was excellent.

Tuesday 29 August 2017

Like, really good

Just when I started to relax, lay back, breathe deep and easier, I realised that I'm going back to work next Tuesday. A week from now. I've got a week to just do what I feel at the moment I feel it. Been to the gym (first times since May) two days straight and it felt good. Like, really good. To be going because I feel like it and not because I feel guilty for not going is a treat.
Vacation time soon to be over.
Autumn's approach.
I can do this. (Though I don't want to.)

Monday 21 August 2017

The Hutt (kind of) Recommends: Black City Saint

Black City Saint by Richard A. Knaak

I've played Diablo since I was fourteen years old. For a very long time it was also the ONLY thing I played. If the legends and history of Sanctuary, and Tristram, hadn't intrigued me so I wouldn't have discovered Richard A. Knaak's stories at all. The legends of the Sin War and the stories about Zayl the necromancer all have special places in my bookshelves.
   Obviously, I needed to know whether Knaak had written anything else relevant to my interests and that, my friends, is how I stumbled upon Black City Saint - an urban fantasy tale featuring true 1920's flappers, bootleggers, shapeshifters, dragons, Feirie and saints.


   In Prohibition time Chicago there are worse things than getting mixed up in bootlegger wars to worry about, something Nick Medea is trying his very best to not let people find out about. He's been the immortal guardian set to guard The Gate between this world and the world of the Wyld - the dark Feiriefolk  - these past 600 years, ever since... Well, suffice it to say it's been a bumpy road from once being called Saint George to where Nick finds himself now.
   Ever since The Night the Dragon Breathed and set Chicago ablaze some 50 years ago, more and more of the Wyld have been found on the wrong side of The Gate. The more of the Wyld that gathers the larger the problem it gathers around. Like moths to a flame they gather.
   Nick has to look inward to a part of himself he deeply mistrusts to solve this riddle, at the same time as people from his troubled past resurrects and resurfaces.

   Black City Saint has a lot of the elements I like about Knaak: the somewhat sombre but relatable main character, a sarcastic familiar, plenty of dry wit and a lot of action. Unfortunately, it also has all of the things I don't like about Knaak: too many small characters, a lack of female characters* and a way of getting stuck somewhere in the middle of the story and drone on about something rather insignificant before throwing the final boss fight in your face.
   However, it was well worth it for the sarcasm! But honestly I'd rather read 'Kingdom of Shadow' and 'Moon of the Spider' again if I had to reread anything Knaak. Humbart Wessel brings the best disembodied quips to the party.

 * Black City Saint doesn't even pass the Bechdel test;
the only conversation between two named female characters happen
off screen and is only mentioned to have happened. It's absurd.

So this is August, huh?


  I've been back from the Medieval Week a full week and all according to tradition I've been down with the post-Middle Ages plague - normally 'just' a severe cold starting at the end of The Week, but new for me this year were some nasty ulcers adding to my misery.
   In short I've been busy.

  Just going from the bed to the computer's been a strain on me. My favourite hobby eating has been hard work. Holy shit, I hate not being able to eat, 'cause FOOD motherfucker! And don't even get me started on not being able to drink my normal three buckets of coffee in the morning! The RAGE. I am not a good person without coffee.
  This Medieval Week I haven't done all that much but sitting around, laughing, talking, singing and drinking until 3 in the morning. A lot of hugs. It might have been one of those hugs that gave me the plague but if that's the case, it was well worth it. It's been good. My new red dress and liripipe hood were very useful.

And then yesterday this lanky ginger asshole moved in with me.


Sunday 13 August 2017

The Hutt Recommends: The Day of the Triffids

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Now this is classic scifi!
   More than slightly sexist, but not to the point where you want to high five a man's face with a chair (like I frequently find myself wanting with Heinlein). It's a classic, published in the early 50's, suffering of all the brain damage I expect male scifi writers from that time to suffer.

   A plague of blindness came down upon human kind after a spectacular meteorite shower and in the aftermath a certain kind of intelligent and carnivorous plant takes full advantage of the ensuing panic. Our main man, Bill Mason, is one of the few lucky people to have come out with his eye sight intact after the meteorite shower. It's chaos and the rest of the book is spent trying to make heads and tails of life after the Apocalypse.
   One of the most frequently voiced criticisms against The Day of the Triffids is that there isn't nearly enough Triffids. I disagree. I think it's more interesting to hear about how humans react to disaster/apocalypse/alien invasion. That was the appeal of the movies Jaw and Alien - we dealt more with people's reactions than with the actual monster and that's what made it great. Just how do you rebuild society again when 80% of the population is blind and most of the men who still have their eyesight suddenly turn into arrogant harem-building dictator wannabes? If you can distance yourself from the sexism, which is more telling about the author than anything else, it's interesting.

   I enjoyed it.

Thursday 3 August 2017

This dress has killed me

This damned dress.

   It took me ages to muster up the energy to fit everything together once I'd assembled both layers of the dress because hand stitching is death... so I redid a few things I'd made a mess of with an older dress. By hand. I'm stupid that way but refitting the arms by hand seemed easier than doing it by machine, especially since I just got a hang of how to refit them.



   It's not entirely historically correct to fit the layers together like I do with my dresses, but with a little help it is quite simple. All historical sources I've consulted point to there being linen undergarments and then a separate outer layer (and then another one after that), normally of wool with silk lining, except in some cases depending on wool fabric quality, but heeeeeeey! So what. I'm really not that strict on the details. This is more of an experimental hobby and even though the amount of money it costs is sometimes beyond absurd it remains only a hobby to me. I'm letting having fun be my first priority and money-worries my second. And I'm planning on having fun in my outfits. Also, I caught on to the idea to fit the layers together in an effort to have a way of not needing to use my modern bra underneath my medieval dresses (makes for a more historically correct silhouette). But that should obviously be something I solve with my linen underwear. It's much simpler (see: cheaper) to redo a linen garment than a wool one. I've done two dresses this way already but it's not quite working the way I want it to (in other words: I still need to wear a bra).

   Just like the people of the late 14th century I have a thing for buttons, and so I'm making my own buttons for the arms; nineteen on each arm in this case just up to my elbows.

   I took a short course on how to weave edges back in 2015 and have been wanting to try it since which of course is also an excellent excuse for buttons this time around. On the other hand this meant I needed a tape loom, something I don't own as of yet, so some improvising was at hand (it ended with me slaughtering a deck of cards, gluing cards together and then carving appropriate windows and holes in them). The books and history nerds I've consulted says the woven edge should be silk (or wool) so I invested in some real silk thread (I've used polyester thread on my previous dresses and didn't want to use wool this time).

   But before I could get to that I picked up on another project; a buttoned and lined liripipe hood. I don't have one and want one since there's nothing better to protect one's neck from the cold.
   My fingers hurt but as my mantra goes; "it'll look beautiful when it's done". So I picked up some old dresses that needed some loving and switched between projects as to not bore my restless mind with the hand sewing.








   And it did turn out beautiful! The hood looks much better than I expected, which is always a bonus (and deserves a friggin' gold star).

  Right! Back to the cotehardie! Weave edges. Yes. Good. Since I had already tried my simplified little tape loom on the liripipe hood (with worsted yarn) I had some idea of how to do it. I also knew that it was fiddly work but oh so worth it. At first I thought I'd use mixed colours but then decided against it (and regret nothing).

   IT LOOKS FUCKING FANTASTIC.
   Next step was to make lacing holes. Again, slow and tedious work, but it's the last piece of the dress I can fiddle together on my own. Just me, my bone needle, needle and silk thread. And then, THEN, turning up the skirt hemline and presto
    - a dress.
And I'm dead. Well, my fingers are.

Tuesday 1 August 2017

Three days left...

Three work days left...
   ...and I have to go over references this week and go through the last check points before hiring our new colleague. I am very ready for my vacation.



...and the dress is almost done. Which is good because I'm leaving on Sunday morning.


Tuesday 25 July 2017

Seven left...

   Seven work days left (three days as the omniscient ruler of the shop) and I'm in the middle of preparing to recruit a new member of staff. I wasn't actually aware that I was going to do this before my boss handed me the info... the day before she left for two weeks of vacation.
    At first I felt anxious, not to mention uneasy with my newly found pool of power, but then I just figured "ok, fuck it, lets jump straight into it then".

   So I have.
   And here's a little piece of advice for you nerds out there applying for jobs right now: if you want to get hired by someone you don't open your interview with telling your prospective boss you just applied for the job because you "had to". It won't win you any points. Nobody's impressed by that. Trust me.
   Do read up on the company with which you're interviewing. Even the tiniest bit would be good, thank you. Don't show up uninformed.
   Also don't mention how much you dislike your current employment if you have one. Will not win you any points either.
   Oh, and don't act like a total jerk if you happen to visit the company with which you're scheduled for an interview. Especially not when the person you'll be interviewed by can hear you being a total jerk. Will not win you any points.

   I suppose I should look at this whole experience as a way of learning more about what not to do when I apply for jobs myself.
   But I'm certainly a sensitive bundle of nerves at the moment and about 110% ready for my upcoming four weeks of doing nothing but whatever I feel like doing.
    Sleeping is something you can do for four weeks straight, right?

Wednesday 19 July 2017

That feeling when...

...you've just attended the second funeral for a close relative in two months and know that a third is very much likely to happen within the next two.



EDIT 2017-08-27: She's gone. Funeral's next month. I can't wait for this year to be over.

Monday 17 July 2017

Spoilers about DW

   The thirteenth Doctor is a woman! Jodie Whittaker is taking over the mantle from Peter Capaldi and we're finally rid of Moffat!


   Sadly, I can't help but feel like it's too little, too late. Nothing bad said about Capaldi (because I haven't seen a single one of his episodes), but the twelfth Doctor should have been female. Or non-binary. Just to really rock the boat and make whiny "Whovian" pissbabies show their true colours before it was cool to be all "representation actually matters and we've known for ages and ages that Time Lords can become any gender when they regenerate".
   But I will probably be returning to watching Doctor Who again, and that feels good.

Twelve left...

Only twelve workdays left until I leave for a marvellous four weeks of vacation.
   I. Can't. Fucking. Wait.
   My boss is on vacation. And all my other unofficial superiors. I've been left in charge. So obviously everything had to go to shit.
   Nine more workdays of playing boss-woman and then three more workdays and then... then...
   FREEDOM.

Sunday 9 July 2017

RIP Nelsan Ellis

   Goddammit. How many black men in the prime of their lives and careers are gonna have to die before they pour more money into researching heart failure? TOO MANY is how many.
   Lafayette may be the character I will remember most fondly but his portrayal of Shinwell Johnson in Elementary is going to stick with me for quite a while...

Friday 7 July 2017

I got distracted

   I've been working on and off with that new dress for The Medieval Week and honestly it's going really well but, as always, I got derailed somewhere along the process and just "had to" finish a few other projects...


   Two surcĂ´tes in dire need of some finishing touches, my new red cotehardie at the right and a new liripipe hood in hand. I'm trying to jump from project to project to keep myself from getting too tired of the hand sewing. 

Tuesday 4 July 2017

Celebrating Medieval Days

Along the Swedish west coast is Varberg and Varberg Fortress and just recently they had their Medieval Days. Starving for some "medieval" fun I donned my outfit and jumped on a train to meet up with some friends. Before reaching my destination I received more than a few giggling stares and I guess I can understand them... but you know me. "Smile and wave" is the proper way to deal with people. Once I arrived at the fortress I made the most of it.


One month until The Medieval Week.

Saturday 1 July 2017

I don't wanna adult anymore


NOPE. Don't wanna.

"It's bullshit"

She's a huge fucking cynic but she's amazing. "We're living in this crazy period of superficiality" she says and slams plastic surgery and the world's obsession with youth ("All these bullshit doctors..."). "I'm 88, well I mean, really 87 but I make myself one year older. I don't want to be... look younger or be younger. I like to be one year ahead." Why be scared of ageing?
"I feel beautiful inside."


In other news:
   I had a lovely midsummer with all I hoped for and as good as everything I wished for. Kind words, laughs, hugs and other forms of closeness were to be found in every direction throughout the midsummer weekend. My energy reserves were filled to the brim as I floated home on itty bitty pink clouds. All through this week I've been riding on a tall wave of yummy endorphins. However, I feared it wouldn't last and yesterday I finally crashed in a wicked way and now I'm utterly and totally exhausted. To experience that kind of intense association with beautiful people one day and then go back to my normal lonely existence the next was... not all that good. It only goes to prove once and for all that I need to hang out with people more. Socialise. I need other people. But not just that, I need physical closeness. Not necessarily sexual, mind you (you pervs). Well. Better get on with that then...
   I've been reading Redshirts by John Scalzi. At first I wasn't all that impressed but it's grown on me and n ow it's really amusing.

Tuesday 20 June 2017

The Hutt Recommends: Revolution

Revolution by Russell Brand
(Politics is cool, yo.)

Let me start by saying that I've never really taken to Russell Brand as a comedian, with the specific exception of when he appears working in tandem with Noel Fielding, but despite my aversion to his stand-ups I have observed that he has on occasion put forth a few thought-provoking sentiments in interviews and that had me curious.
   I stumbled upon Revolution on audio, read by Brand himself, as I anchored in a well-known bay in the depths of the internet. Having listened to a lot of books of varying quality in the last few years I figured that Brand's particular kind of insanity compacted into 9 hours of audio files wouldn't infuriate me more than some of Heinlein's more sexist scifi (of which I haven't bothered to finish a few because of said sexism). Normally, I just listen to books on my way to and from work and I rarely find myself trying to find excuses to go for a walk or take a detour in order to keep listening for "just a few more minutes...".
   I can happily announce to you that with Revolution, I did just this.



   I studied Politics at university and am familiar with most of the ideas Brand brings forth, anarcho-syndicalism seemingly being at the forefront, which certainly makes it easier to take in and understand what basis of ideas Brand works from. This book requires more reading, obviously, as Brand's grand ideas are all snippets of other people's grand ideas. It lacks depth in ideology but as I read it, it's supposed to - you're meant to finish the book and go "hey, here's a great idea to read more about and possibly incorporate in my everyday life". Revolution starts with individuals and ends with societies; it starts with civil disobedience at the face of inequality and ends with the subversion of an unjust system.
   What Brand lacks is what most leftist ideologies lack these days - a grand theory. A utopia and a way of reaching it (but please do tell me when you find a comprehensive handbook to building coherent alternative societies). On the left we cry for equality and justice but have no viable ideas of how we could practically build that kind of society. We say we want to include everyone, but say nothing of how we are to do that or proceed from there. I think this is why right-wing parties have gained so many followers lately - they have an idea of how to hands-on "solve" our societal problems and even though their ideas are terribly short-sighted, fear-mongering and is kicking the wrong people in the face, people can see solutions. Scared and desperate people are easy to manipulate with populist propaganda hiding a more sinister ideology.

   Corporations is who we should be kicking in the face.
   Capitalism is what we should oust from our lives.
   We should be building community instead of undermining it.
   Brand gives us the choice between Capitalism or the Planet, and he's right.

   All in all, yes, Revolution has that Hollywood yoga pants vibe; a celebrity with a history of living it big trying to convince others less fortunate that changing the societies in which we live is as easy as pie even though we might not have the monetary funds that makes it so easy for Brand himself to make his ideas heard.
   However, Brand is in his own way very charming and rather funny and Revolution is well worth a read. If you like that sort of thing.

Saturday 10 June 2017

You funny little man

Oh, Mr Howard đź’š
Russell was amazing (except for a poorly performed fat joke) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Friday 9 June 2017

Happy about this

Tonight I've gone so far out of my comfort zone it's ridiculous.
   This weekend is Pride weekend in my city and I've taken time off to be a part of it. (I didn't last year and regretted it deeply.)
   Tonight I was at a pub meet with a bi/pan group. After that I went to a party arranged with the dress code = underwear. And I went. I actually went. And I had fun. I didn't know anyone.
   It's a strange time to be alive.

Wednesday 7 June 2017

Not happy about this

That feeling when I made a whole pitcher of iced coffee yesterday while it was all warm, sunny and nice just to wake up this morning to windy, cold and rainy. Not amused.


Tuesday 6 June 2017

I want to forget about the Dragon

   Well. That's a whole lot of hours of my life I can never get back.
   I speak of course about Iron Fist. Fucking hell, what a load of garbage.
   Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are all shows I could get behind and enjoy (especially Jessica Jones). Despite the criticism I've read against Iron Fist some of my friends liked it so I had to give it a chance. I was hoping it might be easier for me to wrap my head around all of the characters once The Defenders premiere. Again; what a load of garbage, so in retrospect I would rather not have.
   I have never fully understood martial arts films with white dudes in the lead, so it should come as no surprise this was incomprehensible to my sad little brain. There is no larger motive. No grand plan. No great principles of life governing our lead man.
   It's slow and tedious.
   Claire Temple is the only 'pro' in a long list of 'con's.

Monday 29 May 2017

Thursday 25 May 2017

I hear there's a parade in town

Happy Towel Day and a wish for you to have a Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May.

I've started my preparations for the day and hope to see plenty a nerd slinging around towels and lilacs. (Do also remember to support Alzheimer research as well as research into battling cardiovascular deceases.) This hobbit is going to a parade!

Step 1: Puttin' my ears on is a good start.
Step 2: I'll be using my own not-so-hobbit green hair
bc fuck wearing a wig in this heat.
Stage 3: Hobbit at the ready!

Thursday 4 May 2017

Sunday 30 April 2017

Slow but steady...

It's slow work but I'm starting to see how this could become a wearable piece of clothing...

Friday 28 April 2017

'tis I, your upstairs weirdo

If I just offered to dog-sit for my downstairs neighbour? The neighbour that I have only exchanged words with on maybe three previous occasions? Yes. Yes, I did.
You should see the dog though.
A disastrously cute little loaf of a pupper; smaller than your average book.

Monday 17 April 2017

Carrie Fisher as told by Mark Hamill

First watch from where I've marked until 17:05. Then watch the whole thing.
I'm not crying, you are.
R.I.P. Carrie Fisher

Wednesday 29 March 2017

Girl got yarns


I went to pick up my yarns yesterday. Worsted yarn (a fine wool yarn) and silk yarn (more like thread, because it's embroidery silk). I am so psyched to get started with these, just look at them! So pretty...!

Tuesday 28 March 2017

There's no party like a fancy dress party

I love, love, love fancy dress parties!
   I don't have enough positive words for how much I love them. I never say no to going to one but am personally absolute shit at arranging them. I've tried in the past to enthuse my fellow nerds but to no avail, some of them just can't be bothered. Thus, I have had to accept the fact that other people do not in fact share my love for fancy dress parties.
   BUT COME ON! How can you not like dressing up in weird clothes?? With a little bit of imagination there's no stopping the fun.

Who wants to play with Wednesday Addams...?
   So I was (FINALLY) invited to a fancy dress party this Saturday and since I'm a huge nerd I had a costume lying around just waiting to be worn. No joke. I had so much fun it's almost indecent. Met a lot of new people which is also great, but... playing dress-up! Yay!

Thursday 23 March 2017

In need of new silks

I decided to go to The Medieval Week again this year. And, lo and behold, also managed to score vacation time over that week. Unexpected, in that surprisingly wonderful way.
   Subsequently, I want to create something new for my medieval wardrobe. A new dress. Lacing in front, buttons in arms. Edge weave by the button holes for more durable edges... ideas that are like music to my ears.
   I've ordered both wool and silk yarns. Last I heard they've shipped and are on their way. I've missed working with these materials and the methods required will keep my hands busy. I will probably complain and moan about the world of hurt my hands will be in, but it will be sooooo worth it.
   So lets get started.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Here, have a laugh

This cracked me up and made me want to share. Ryan Reynolds is a treasure.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

In other news: Fuck you YouTube


In other words: YouTube has deemed all things LGBT+ unsuitable material to anyone under the age of eighteen all the while leaving pure pornographic, violent, racist, and misogynist material to be seen by anyone. How is this still an issue? I don't understand. How can it be seen as worse for trans* (and other gender non-conforming) kids to find support and role models on YouTube than them killing themselves in lack of same support
(Psst. Go support Chase on Patreon.)

Sunday 19 March 2017

Participating with the TRHPS gang

I don't remember exactly when it was that I first experienced the madness of The Rocky Horror Picture Show but I know very well how much I loved it, because it stuck with me and never failed to bring a smile to my face at any point of recollection. It was about ten years ago that I discovered this audience participation business going on with cult musicals as I saw a Swedish film critic go to a The Sound of Music Audience Participation dressed up as a nun. The dude in question is over six feet tall, is a total metal head with the long hair and HUGE sideburns but he looked as if he had a blast and a half singing along with "The Hills are Alive".
   It was inspiring.
   Also funny as fuck.
   And I wanted to do it too.
   Never were a huge fan of The Sound of Music though.
   Which brings us back to that cult hit Rocky Horror.
   Last week I did my first (but I hope not the last) The Rocky Horror Picture Show Audience Participation. Dressed in a fancy vest and jacket, extravagant bow tie, silver shoes, and flamboyant (and extremely cheap) pink feather boa I nervously entered the theatre with a friend on my arm and was welcomed by what I can only describe as our 'Fellow Transylvanians'. A whole horde of them. Now it was our turn to have a blast and a half through the film and then disperse to our separate homes. That whole thrilling experience only to be left staring off into space in longing for the next time we can meet up and do the Time Warp together.
   Just wow. Highly recommended.


Thursday 16 March 2017

The Hutt Recommends: the Caves of Steel

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
The first of the Robot novels (of which I, Robot is number 0.1).

Simply put, it's a murder mystery set a few thousand years in the future.
   A more roundabout way of describing it would be to say that humans have colonised space and created artificial intelligence. On Earth this means everything from overpopulation, ever imminent starvation and extreme pollution to robots obviously robotic-looking taking over simpler duties in workplaces. Discord is growing. In Spacer colonies it means bureaucracy is king and empathy is dead - humans with any gene defect are euthanised as to avoid the troubles so rampant on Earth - and advanced humanoid robots are the latest secret project.
   Then: murder.
   A Spacer is murdered on Earth and Detective Elijah Baley is called to the scene to solve the murder before the partner he's forced to take on does. I present to you: humanoid robot R. Daneel Olivaw, the latest of Spacer technology. In fact, so recently out of production that nearly no one knows he's a robot (indicated by the 'R' before his name which Baley conveniently leaves out whenever introducing him to anyone seeing as no one likes/trusts robots).
   They set forth on a journey together not only solving the case but also a much deeper political plot.

   This is classic scifi at its best! We're presented to big questions on existence, the fear of tomorrow, what it means to be human, and what makes a good society. It's philosophical and deep yet easy to take in without getting lost along the way or sacrificing the plot only to present some strange view on the human condition.
   Caves of Steel is also obviously a child of its time and being first published in 1954 means that I had a hard time finding any female characters, even more of a hard time finding women with any sort of agency. There's Baley's wife, but she's not of much use to the story. After that the list of female characters abruptly ends and yes, of course that sad fact makes me grumble but I have to admit to preferring this kind of representation in classic scifi (which is barely any at all) instead of the kind I've found to be rampant in a lot of Heinlein's scifi where women are either vapid and useless or manipulative whores (Door into Summer (publ. 1957) and Time Enough For Love (publ. 1973), being the worst of what I've read so far, jeez... I couldn't even finish Time Enough it was so bad). Then on the other hand, I expect so much more out of anything written after the 1980's (thank the gods for Carl Sagan) than I do out of what came before (e.g. the Robot novels). I desperately need people of my generation to be better than their predecessors and write better (ie MORE INCLUSIVE) fiction but that does not mean that I'll excuse bad representation in classic scifi.

Tuesday 28 February 2017

MOONLIGHT

I laughed for fifteen years when I woke up yesterday to find this video in my Tumblr feed. Look at all of their reactions. It's beautiful. Moonlight is the rightful winner, there was never any question about it. Mahershala Ali got his Oscar and so did Viola Davis. 


   And by the by, the Academy can go suck a big bag of dicks for giving both abusive creep Casey Affleck and racist human waste Mel Gibson awards all the while spouting anti-Trump rhetoric. Like, really? And how the hell could the Oscar for Best Make-Up go to the mess that was Suicide Squad? Eugh.

Thursday 23 February 2017

BOKREA

Again it's that lovely time of year: the Great Book Sale.
Or simply "Bokrea" as we say in Sweden.
   I constantly tell myself I have to restrict my book purchases to the Great Book Sale and maybe a comic book now and then, but then I go on to fail miserably because I find a book that I simply "must have" or step foot in a second-hand shop that stock some poor old forsaken books in some dusty corner (I'm saving them, I swear).
   This year is no exception; I had set aside some money for the Sale and was thrilled to see that what was left after I had filled my bags was enough to buy food to last for the remainder of the month before pay day. A nice surprise as I was prepared to live on tea. I love it when I surprise myself.

The catch of the 2017 Great Book Sale.
   I rarely read anything not scifi or fantasy so my obvious store of choice was Science Fiction Bokhandeln (it's like the Swedish equivalent of Forbidden Planet) not only because of the books but also because of all the other nerds I get to share a limited space with.
   It would seem I now need new bookcases.

Sunday 19 February 2017

I (kinda) stand corrected

Remember a few weeks ago when I was complaining about award shows not being diverse enough when it comes to their nominees? I think I ought to correct my statement. At least a little. Nominations are still mostly male and white but the winners I've heard most about so far...
   Hidden Figures and Moonlight have been taking audiences by storm and have rightfully started walking off with prize after prize after prize. I have yet to see Hidden Figures but anything with Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe and Taraji P. Henson just got to be good. Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe appears in both movies mentioned above and Janelle won the Breakout Performance award from AAFCA  for her performances while Mahershala won a SAG Award not long ago for Moonlight. Hidden Figures won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
   This is a good thing. I like this.

Tuesday 14 February 2017

Monday 13 February 2017

Getting shit done

   In the last week I've been strangely productive and got a lot of shit done. I've ironed clothes, mended some other clothes, made modification to some additional clothes so they would suit me better (you know, so I'd actually wear them). I've cleaned up the clutter and trash that has silently accumulated around me while I've been less than enthusiastic about life in general or cleaning in particular. I've hoovered. I've cooked. This just goes to show that there's nothing like housework to put some bothersome thoughts out of one's mind. Procrastination has always been a favourite occupation of mine and I've found housework to be super effective for putting off tough phone calls, messy feelings and gym visits. As a result I haven't made any of the rather important calls I set out to make, I haven't quite processed becoming single again and I haven't been to the gym in three weeks.
   But hey, at least there's no Vogon poetry. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

Saturday 4 February 2017

Category: 'dafuq just happened?'

The strangest thing happened during work today and I can't get it unstuck from the grey goop that is my mind.
   I work in a shop and inevitably end up having checkout duty. So far, so good. I've had some very interesting discussions right there at the checkout desk but I have to say... I didn't wake up this morning expecting to FUCKING SMELL A CUSTOMER today. I swear, sometimes my job... hands me the weirdest situations to deal with.
   A dude is going through checkout, he's just payed for his stuff when he suddenly goes "this is an odd question but do I smell good?" No shit Sherlock, it's odd but I can't be arsed to feel embarrassed in these situations so without hesitation I leaned in to smell him. He smelled good. I asked him if he had a new perfume on. "Yes!" he beams (and it's a very nice smile) "It's pine!" I'm enjoying the moment we're sharing and the golden opportunity to take the piss out of him that has presented itself when I realise that the other 10 or so customers (try 20, it was a Friday afternoon) standing within earshot of us are all giggling (and are also waiting to pay for their shit and leave), but again: I really can't be arsed to feel embarrassed. Besides, I'm having too much fun. I wish him a very nice weekend and he leaves, still smiling.
   I fucking live off of these moments. People are generally just a bunch of bastards but there are still individuals that spin shit into gold. They make up for all the other crap I have to go through.
   GOLD I'm telling you.