Lucky Thirteen

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Meg

You guys, are you watching the Thirteenth Doctor? So good.

I knew I was going to like it because, you know, friends going on space adventures, but honestly whenever I saw some fanboy moaning about too many ladies having too much screentime, or why science fiction “suddenly” turned political, I knew it was going to be extra good.

A few years ago, I used to fall asleep watching old Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, and drift off thinking about the space friends. If you’re ever in a toxic workplace, the fantasy of common goals, competent coworkers, time for hobbies and friends is pretty good.  Even when everything’s fine, I just really like space, adventures and optimism.

Anyway, I like the newest Doctor Who TV show so much that Harold got me some of the Thirteenth Doctor comics, BUT it’s the stupid serial format with cliffhangers and weeks between them, which is not at all how I like to read comics. I think I’m going to wait for the trade, instead, so I can bingeread my comics like an adult.

I bought one of the spinoff novels, Molten Heart. It reads like a longer ep, with more internal monologue, especially from Yaz. There’s more space for character growth, too. Or, in certain cases, some spot-on character stagnancy, like when Ryan just switches to past tense for Ash’s missing dad, because he’s Ryan and he has gigantic father issues.  The characters are so good that I hear their dialogue in the actors’ voices — also can we talk about how this season’s companions are actually very good at taking direction and not needing rescue every 10 minutes? Yes.

The author is a creative writing prof at Anglia Ruskin, which makes me want to immediately go sign up for a creative writing PhD (Wait, didn’t I just finish my MFA about 5 minutes ago? Didn’t I just drag myself to the academic finish line?) so I can learn how to do that, too.

Molten Heart has the same optimism, risk, friendships and danger that I love in the TV season (and that sucked me into the Ninth Doctor, too). I’m really enjoying the complete lack of Daleks, Cybermen or the Master this season. Classic Who is fine, but I feel like all of those classic enemies has been taken just about as far as those storylines can go. I don’t want to find just one more final Dalek, again. Molten Heart has a new enemy, which can be read as an allegory for climate change denial, but also works as another beautiful, dangerous planet, in need of the Doctor and friends. So good, you guys.

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Please Don’t Say “Lyrical Prose” To Me Ever Again

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Meg

Just sold all my craft and crit textbooks to buy genre novels, so this is basically my graduation picture.

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Reflectly: Mindful Journaling App

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Meg


 

How you are feeling on a daily basis matters. Reflectly is a personal journal and diary driven by artificial intelligence to enable you to deal with negative thoughts, make positivity louder and to teach you about the science of well-being.

Journaling can create positive change, because when we keep a diary, we reflect privately  on our experiences and emotions. We can cement our positive experiences, by recording them in detail and reliving the memories, but we can also use journaling to reflect on setbacks, and then let go of them. If you don’t already have dozens of handwritten moleskins already, you can still join in and receive the benefits of journaling with Reflectly.

I was delighted to check out and write about Reflectly because keeping my journal is one of my most rewarding hobbies. Seriously, I’ve been keeping a private, paper diary since I recounted middle-school crushes and tween fashion, and it’s always been a really helpful, fun activity for me. Not to mention, I’ve been blogging here for 12 or so years. So I was already sold on the value of journaling for mental health, clarity and happiness, but I did enjoy trying Reflectly and answering the app’s journal questions.

Daily questions will help spark meaningful responses and prevent that awkward feeling of looking at a blank page, wondering if anything worth recording has happened recently.   Reflectly’s thought-provoking prompts encourage reflective, meaningful writing. The questions are designed to maximize positivity and help users handle negative thoughts and experiences.

As you use the app, the questions are more tailored to your experiences, for a more meaningful, relevant journal time. Prompts can help diarists see areas where they’re struggling or reflect on their strengths. I particularly liked the Dreams sections, which encourages writers to think openly and broadly. Reflectly has a free 7-day trial, and then there’s a subscription to get the really personalized daily prompts.

The app is simple and pretty, reminding me a little of those stylish bullet journaling Instagrams I secretly follow, but without all the pen-shopping and pretty procrastination. Users can briefly reflect on their day,  recording their emotions with a emoji and briefly recording what made them feel that way, There’s option to go more in depth, but I felt lucky because I spent time with friends, or I felt stressed because of schoolwork are enough.

Your personal Reflectly journal can hold unlimited words and posts, so you can write as much as you want (or as little — Reflectly doesn’t judge!), and then you can review and reread your journal entries on your phone at any time. Sometimes the most telling part of journaling is reviewing entries later, and spotting patterns we couldn’t see at the time. Your Reflectly journal is secure and secret on your phone, ready to be updated whenever you have a spare moment, or ready to make mindful journaling part of your evening routine. 

Get Reflectly here!

 

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Restocking

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Meg

Stopped by The Book and Board yesterday to restock Takeout! They’re our first physical retail location, and they’ve sold out twice, and now doubled the order. This time, they sold out because a customer bought several boxes to take on an overseas trip — I think as small, portable gifts for their hosts. It’s so lovely that my game about expat adventures is going to be part of someone else’s travel adventure!

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I’m fine with women in power, just not this one specific woman currently in power – WaPo

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Meg

It’s not WOMEN IN POWER, it’s just, like, every woman who’s ever run for office, you know?

What I want is not impossible! I want someone who is not tainted by polarizing choices in the past, but who also has experience, who is knowledgeable but doesn’t sound like she is lecturing, someone vibrant but not green, someone dignified but not dowdy, passionate but not a yeller, precise but not mechanical, someone lacking in off-putting ambition but capable of asking for what she wants, not accompanied but not alone, in a day but not in a month or a year, when the moon is neither waxing nor waning, carrying a sieve full of water and a hen’s tooth. Easy.

Source: I’m fine with women in power, just not this one specific woman currently in power – another genius parody-not-parody from Alexandra Petri at The Washington Post

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Seasonally Appropriate Dumpsters

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Meg

I had a friend over the other day who hasn’t come over in a while, and he was having a little trouble finding my place. Our apartment is behind a restaurant, which is usually a good landmark for guests, but not now when they’re undergoing construction.

Eric: I think I’m here… is there a massive dumpster in front of your house?

Me: Yes! It’s, um, decorative?

Eric: Ah yes. Seasonally appropriate decor for the time of dumpster fire politics.

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The Question Mark (and Martian Ballerinas)

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Meg

This Ask Polly about writing a book is pretty much how I feel about releasing Takeout. Ok, yes, that day when a new coworker had already played my game, without me telling him about it, is still possibly the best day in my entire life.

But mostly, after really, really believing that finishing my game was a real massive milestone, the question mark is still there.

…Once you’re published, you think the question mark will be removed. But, SURPRISE! It’s still there. It’s there when you compare yourself to other writers or count the number of people at your reading or grind your teeth over a bad review….

When people say, “Oh my god, a book, you must feel great!” most writers get a little half-smile that tells you books are hard to hug close. …  With a first book, you also tend to care too much about reviews (if you get reviewed at all) or about how many people show up for events. You might think having a book in the world will finally make you feel LIKE AN AUTHOR, but eventually you discover that feeling like an author amounts to making bad small talk at cramped bookstores filled with indifferent strangers, all the while wishing you were drunk and stoned and young and gorgeous and a ballerina who lives on Mars instead.

Source: Ask Polly: ‘Should I Quit My Day Job to Write a Book?’

 

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白穷美 Reading List

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Meg

Yeah, so I requested all of the books Corinna Ko-Tung tells Kitty Pong to read (in China Rich Girlfriend) from the library.

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Boston to the Nth Power

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Meg

Impounded scooters. (Pic from the WBUR article)

Bird Refuses To Back Down, As Somerville Seizes Electric Scooters

This is probably the most Boston story I’ve read in a while, containing both local government steadfastly refusing to alleviate the problems of overburdened public transit, and entitled tech bros turning up to DISRUPT!!! without communicating. No one looks good in this story, man.

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Crazy Rich Asians

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Meg

I went to a screening of Crazy Rich Asians last night. It was so fun, so gorgeous, and although it was quite different from the books, it kept most of the beats and the reveals of the novel, in a very condensed form.  Basically, the books are OTT manners novels with romcom elements, the movie is an OTT romcom with hints of a manners novel.

Some of my favorite characters, scenes, and subplots were cut, probably because it would have been a 4-hour movie. (Actually, that would have been fine by me.) I was a little disappointed that the movie abbreviated the new rich-old money contrast between the Gohs and the Young-Shang-Tsiens. I sort of saw Auntie Neenah as a Singaporean Beetelle Fabrikant, but in the movie the Gohs are all very much comic relief. I didn’t love every change but making Rachel a game theory teacher was an A+ decision.

Also, this song, 我要你的爱, has things I like in my dad’s big band kinda music and things I like in mandopop songs, and somehow the combination makes it pretty much impossible not to sing.

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