Mar. 27th, 2015

juushika: Drawing of a sleeping orange cat (Default)
The very great catch-up post.

March, 7: Saw the Twilight Sad in concert
at the Doug Fir. Most of the bands I see with Dee are ones I don't much listen to or only listen to live; I have never yet been disappointed by a performance. This is in part because Dee has great taste, and in part because live music is its own energy and sound—and this show was a great example. The energy flow between musicians and audience was joyful and near palpable; the band was so obviously happy to be there, with us, and I felt somewhat responsible for that—a phenomenal experience.

March 8: Made trip to Corvallis
A brief one, as it was right before finals week for Devon. The very first thing that happened as I walked in the door: Devon's mom asked, "oh, how is Mamakitty doing?" and Devon went "WELP it seems I forgot to tell you something." A weird trip, not entirely in a bad way; I missed seeing my sister but did see my parents.

Family Stuff under the cut. )

March 13: Traveled back to Portland, got sick
Started with a tolerable cough; remained a tolerable cough until directly after:

March 21: Saw The Decemberists in concert
I can't remember how many times I've seen them, now. Many! At least four, if you count Meloy's solo show. I occasionally listen to them, but not often; Meloy's twang sounds raw on record. But I adore them live, and this concert was no exception. It was in the Keller Auditorium, which is quite stately, but they still got everyone on their feet. Their concerts are performance art, despite the minimal performance (whale excepted): presence, energy, vivid dark humor, self-awareness, an appetite for the absurd, a proactive engagement with content and audience.

Then was really sick
Polite of it to wait until I had free time to be miserable. Complaining about a cold feels trite, because no one enjoys them. But post-Mama, still unsure how I've recovered; post-travel, which is exhausting even if positive; post-two big, beautiful, but energetic concerts: I'm already bereft of energy and cluttered with unexamined feelings, and being ill and nigh unable to sleep didn't help.

My saving grace is that I've been consuming a lot of engaging, enjoyable media—and while I don't have the energy to spend time in my own life, escaping into another is welcome. The problem is that I should be reviewing, or at least making note of, all I've consumed, but I feel disorganized and feeble, and can't set my thoughts to order. So, I thought, writing some of that down may help, and I wrote.
juushika: Screen capture of the Farplane from Final Fantasy X: a surreal landscape of waterfalls and flowers. (Anime/Game)
Title: A Tree of Bones (Hexslinger Book 3)
Author: Gemma Files
Published: Toronto: ChiZine Publications, 2012
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 447
Total Page Count: 155,900
Text Number: 455
Read Because: continuing the series, borrowed from [personal profile] century_eyes
Review: A Rope of Thorns was a middle book, cluttered and unbalanced. But the payout is worth it; A Tree of Bones is fantastic. It takes the established, diverse world to satisfying conclusion, and the highlight is the characters. If A Book of Tongues is about the fact that someone hurt whom they claim to love, A Tree of Bones is about the beloved's equally complex relationship with their betrayer. Chess's development remains a touch heavy-handed, but that Files gives him and the vast majority of the cast such depth and sympathy without erasing their sins is remarkable; there's no single character I didn't learn to love (even Songbird, even Oona). This saga was great fun, unique in premise and voice, satisfying in scale and execution; but I didn't expect it to be resonant, and that's the quality I admire most in the end.

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