autumn and lurking - posts and thoughts
Leaves on the road looking like stars
I haven't been posting much but I have been keeping up with my rss reader, so I wanted to talk about some of the posts I've read.
I've enjoyed Frances's recent posts on hobbies, especially the microhobbies post, which was exciting to me because it was what I was trying to get in in my active v passive hobbies post, and it's turns out others have written about it better! Truly no thought is original. The things I list in the post as "passive" hobbies are microhobbies, I think.
It reminded me I really want to do a post on cryptic crosswords, which is maybe my favourite microhobby. I usually just print crosswords out from online (I like the Guardian newspaper's selection) but I'm working my way through Unch at the moment.
It's nice to carry a cute little magazine around
I've found it's a bit of a marmite thing - people either really get into them or hate them. And I want to learn how to introduce them in a way that doesn't turn people off! If you are a cryptic fan / have ever been victimised by them, please get in touch.
I also liked the idea of bringing back party pieces - this inspired me to remember the three poems I could recite as child and see if I could still do them. Reader, I could not :( I definitely am planning on practicing these, as they are poems I still appreciate:
- The Owl and The Pussycat, Edward Lear - full of whimsy, fun to say. Maybe my least favourite of these three now, so I have less to write about it. Runcible spoon still hits though.
- Jabberwocky, Edward Lear - as above - possibly more fun to say with the sound effects (snicker-snack!). However, it's got a darker tone - I always picture the borogroves and the wabe as gloomy and full of fog, and has some violence which a child of the right nature might appreciate.
- The Tyger, William Blake - I'm not religious but I've always had something for William Blake's poetry. I feel like his reverence comes through the text to you. The way he describes the awe and the terror of the Tyger still gets me! And they were my favourite animal when I was 11.
Crazy times reading Laura Michet's post on Throne toilets but I appreciate their posting on these things with a political lens (also cannot believe it opens automatically after ten minutes 💀). I haven't seen these in the UK at all, but the erosion of public toilets is certainly happening, and it has a real impact on the most vulnerable in society.
I like reading posts from ghoulnoise on photo developing (another micro hobby of mine because I am too lazy to dive into the intricacies of film shooting). This post about tracking down someone to develop an old roll of film is very interesting, and makes me think of another benefit of hobbies - making connections with people.
Finally, I'm still going out and doing stuff. I actually attended two party events this weekend which feels like it has desiccated me and left me a husk of myself (I'm 34 years old ok).
POV you're me at the Kylie Berghain club night that was full of leather harnesses
Decorative Cher tweets from a themed screening of Moonstruck I went to