Seven Quick Takes

1

I had the following exchange with a librarian on Sunday: 

"I need to pay an outstanding library fine," I said while handing over my card.

"You sure do," she said looking at my information. "And you still have a title checked out that was due back in January."

"Oh no! I thought I'd turned in everything. What's the title?"

"The Art of Becoming Organized." 

                    

2 

This is why I'm worried about becoming a priest's wife. I think I need to hold a session with the other women and say look, I'm no good with kids, especially large groups of kids that I barely know; I'm useless at event coordinating; I am shy and introverted and have nightmares about being at a party that I can't leave; and I'm so disorganized and forgetful that it's a wonder my shoes match. Your expectations should be low, very low. If you wanted someone to organize pot lucks and teach children's Sunday school and host Sunday brunch - you need to find someone who's good at those things, cuz it ain't me. I just happen to married to the priest, that is all. 

3

My husband has finally convinced me to watch Game of Thrones, and like everyone else I'm addicted.

If you watch it, you know what I mean. It really was designed to be addictive for someone like me though: medieval costume and castles and the lot, political intrigue and plots, kings and queens and bastards and avengers. There is definitely gratuitous sex and gore, though my husband says there's less of that in the later seasons. Unfortunately, I've been warned that the good characters tend to die, and I just know that Ned's hour is coming. Of course it is, he's the most noble character in that universe. I think my favorite character is the Dwarf, though it's a close three-way tie between Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and Arya Stark. And I love the friendship that happens between Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly. (If something terrible happens to them, don't tell me. I wish to remain in denial as long as possible.)

4
One reason why I love Game of Thrones is that the tone reminds me of my favorite rendering of the Arthurian legend: Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave and its sequels. I'll post reviews soon because they're just so good. The outlook of the dwarf reminds me so much of Stewart's Merlin.

5
Because I'm a nerd, I'm fascinated by how binge-watching ala Netflix has radically changed the production of TV shows. I kind of miss the old-style shows because there was a ritual to it: sitting down every Thursday night to watch Friends and Frazier (which ended on the same night - my mom and cried together) or gathering as a group to watch a season ender, watching "Must See TV" - is that even a thing anymore? And then you actually had to wait for several months to know what would happen next! But I'm starting to sound like the grandpa who walked uphill both ways in the snow. I do enjoy binge-watching, but there is something lost now that we have more control over our entertainment.  Sometimes there's something gained too though, as this article points out. 

6

I've re-read The Lord of the Rings so much since the New Year that I am starting to memorize parts. I'll get some posts up with my thoughts soon, once I get them sorted out. For now let me just say that Treebeard is my new favorite character. I wish he were in more of the book. 

7
The only grocery store nearby is one of those fancy health-food type places - not Whole Foods, more like a smaller version of Trader Joe's. Not the best place to spend last-minute shopping before a storm. I kept wandering through the tiny aisles, running into people, wondering where they kept the easy-prep, high fat foods that you legitimately need for this sort of thing, when it dawned on me that the closest thing to easy prep was the box of quinoa hot breakfast cereal. I wanted to yell, "Snickers is the best candy bar in the world - who's with me?"

Happy Friday!