lunabee34 | Much to report

1. Fiona turned six on Monday. I can't believe she's that old. It is such a surreal feeling watching your kids grow up, and by surreal, I mean guaranteed to make you feel extremely old. LOL

2. We are going through a re-org at my university, and our chair has been promoted, leaving that position vacant. I am really gratified that multiple colleagues have suggested that I apply or assumed I was throwing my hat in the ring and expressed support for my candidacy. I have worked extremely hard to build my professional reputation, and that vote of confidence feels really good. I'm not going to apply for two reasons. I'm not ready to give up my flexible schedule. I actually wouldn't mind the 12 month contract part; you all know I get really antsy and bored over the summer when I'm not working, so that part of it would probably be good for me. It's the 40+ hours a week part that I'm not interested in (and it would be + because the job would involve a fair amount of travel among campuses). I would have to exercise either before or after work, which is a problem for me in either direction. I also want to be flexible while Fiona's still so young. I want to be able to attend her events and pick her up from school and etc. The second reason is that I just don't feel ready yet; I have gotten a good foundation in how the upper echelons work by serving on Senate for many years and chairing and serving on university-wide committees. I could do the job at this point, but it would have more of a learning curve than I'd like. Ideally, I'd like to be Assistant Chair for awhile first and get experience that way. If the Assistant Chair position ever comes open, I will 100% apply for that position, but I will probably wait until later in my career to try for Chair.

3. Josh is away for an out-of-state conference, so Emma and I started watching Stranger Things on Sunday night. We have one episode left. LOL I haven't blown through a TV show like this in a long time. I actually watched the first four episodes when it first came out, and I just stopped for some reason. I am boggling at myself now because it's so good and so gripping, I don't know why I did that. All I can think is that I must have been overwhelmed by how much TV we were trying to keep up with at the time and anxious about all the child harm/trauma.

It's such a good show! Emma is really, really digging it, too, which makes it fun for me; we had such a good bonding experience watching Guardian, but that got kinda ruined by the way the show ends. I'm glad she's as into ST as I am.

Damn, are David Kenneth Harbour and Winona Ryder knocking it out of the park! And the kids! The acting is so freaking good on this show. I am blown away. It's been hard for me to watch Joyce's fresh, acute grief and Hopper's older, no less acute grief at times; they make it feel so horrifically real.

My favorite kid is Dustin. In the last couple of episodes, he has become the voice of reason, all emotionally mature and self-aware in an adorable kid way, and I just want to smish him. I love the scene where he explains to Mike why Lucas is really mad at him, and then Mike insists that he has two best friends. I also love the scene where Mike literally takes the fall for Dustin and the scene where El and Lucas make up.

One of the things that makes the kids' performances so good are that they seem really natural. There are all these little moments, like when Dustin stands up in one scene and lifts his arms and knocks his hat off, that seem like the camera just caught some kids hanging out. They have the body language and mannerisms of kids--the way that kids actually move and hold their bodies, and etc. I wonder how much of that is scripted and how much of it is just the kids accidentally doing stuff and how much of it is just that they ARE kids and so of course are acting like kids. LOL

And El just breaks my heart all to pieces. Every single time she comes more and more alive because of a small kindness, either from the kids or from Joyce, my heart shatters. And every time we see a flashback to her life in the lab, my desire for the Demigorgon to eat that asshole scientist increases.

I also want the monster to eat that asshole couple; I mean, it wouldn't be an 80s horror movie if the promiscuous, hard-drinking, jerk couple don't get eaten. I did want the monster to eat Steve, but Steve is apparently redeemable, goddamnit, so he may live. Begrudgingly, I allow it.

I don't like Nancy much although I am sympathetic to her existential plight. I do like Jonathon although I wish he hadn't taken the pictures of the party which is creepy and weird and pervy.

I cannot tell how it's going to end. I suspect all the kids live, but I fear that Hopper might die. :(

We watch the final episode of season one at lunch!

Don't spoil me for the season one finale or season two please!

4.

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first four stories in this collection are each solid 4s, typical fairy stories that contain a few atypical elements I've come to expect from fairy tales written by women (a tailor who doesn't feel entitled to marry the princess he wakes with a kiss, a princess who chooses to commandeer and change the expected trajectory of her narrative, and the same kind of worm--wyrm--that makes an appearance in "The Thing in the Forest"). I think "Dragon's Breath" is probably the most atypical/subversive because it contains no hero, no treacherous villain--just implacable, utterly alien destruction that takes a very long time to accomplish.

The final story, "The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye," is novella length and a 5. Byatt's protagonists are frequently older women who have reached a new stage in their lives--widows, divorcees, empty nesters, or as in "The Stone Woman," women who have just been released from care giving. These are women who are at a point when what forms their identities is over and they must find another way to define themselves. Here, the protagonist is given a unique opportunity to remake herself.

Excellent, excellent read.

View all my reviews

5. Lucifer

Episode 8

Winter is coming! *snort*

I really like the subplot with Maze trying to make friends/date. Josh and I disagree about the first person she's talking to in the bar. I think it's a fellow demon that Maze already knows; Josh thinks it's a human she's never met before. Thoughts? I really like Maze becoming friends with Eve and slowly falling for her.

I enjoy Lucifer's attempts to break up with Eve and the way that Eve is having none of it. That subplot is quite funny until it isn't anymore, and then I just feel very sorry for them both.

Love Linda and Eve bonding in therapy. Eve's superpower seems to be her charm and her likability. She is able to connect with everyone. I feel so sorry for her. She was made to be what Adam wants, and she can't seem to help trying to do that with Lucifer and to a lesser extent the other people around her. That must be so exhausting.

And then the show gets real in a way it hasn't done before, and damn. The scene where Amenadiel doesn't understand why the police are being so aggressive and he doesn't understand why they won't listen to him speaking rationally and asking questions is so well done. He's come from a world where race doesn't exist, and now he realizes that his child will be a black man in a world where it's often dangerous to be a black man, and he's scared. And then the kid dies. I mean, I saw it coming from a mile away. I spent the last twenty minutes of the show flinching and expecting him to die. :( I realize that humanity has to fall from the pedestal for Amenadiel, but :(.

I take grim satisfaction in Lucifer's, "I'll drive."

Episode 9

Lucifer hates himself, and this makes him revert uncontrollably into his devil form. Dan hates himself, and this makes him behave unethically and look for fights and drink too much and be an ass to Lucifer. I really like that their struggles are paralleled throughout the season, both in this instance and in the idea that actions have cascading consequences.

We get a little info-dump about demons who come from hell being able to possess human bodies but Lucifer forbidding the practice, so clearly that will be a plot point.

And now Maze's feelings for Eve are breaking my heart. She's hurting herself trying to be a good friend to Eve. That kiss! :( That song! Maze making herself vulnerable and then Eve completely misunderstanding is so hard to watch.

I do like that even though he doesn't want to date her any longer, Lucifer genuinely likes Eve and wants her to be happy.

I'm surprised that Ella is protecting Dan. He clearly didn't expect her to. "Why does everybody let me get away with stuff?" What he says he hates about Lucifer is clearly what he hates about himself.

Chloe gets to perform the what do you desire whammy. Nice.

Wow. The makers of this show have clearly never ever seen a maternity ward. That's not how any of that works at all. I love that Maze and Amenadiel are there for Linda. Charlie is such a lovely choice of name for the baby.

Episode 10

Lucifer's musical montage that opens the show is amazing. And even though we don't get a real reconciliation between Dan and Lucifer in the show, we do get the promise of one when imaginary!Dan jumps into Lucy's arms. And then Ella and Dan rap. Nicely done, show.

I hadn't realized Maze and Linda took the Father to Linda's house. Eeeep.

I love that Lucifer gives Linda Freud's journal.

Chloe still seems afraid of Lucifer's devil side; they walk that back at the end and make out like what she's really afraid of is him leaving, but I don't buy it. She acts and looks afraid and unaccepting all season.

Ella finds her faith again.

Eve isn't evil! She apologizes. She keeps Charlie safe. She stands up to the forces of evil even though she's just an adorable human. I'm so relieved. As much as I really want Maze/Eve now, Eve does need to figure herself out and how to be just herself before she has a relationship with anyone.

Chloe is his first love! Oh, my heart.

And then Lucifer leaves to protect humanity. *sniffles* I thought the Iron Throne looks uncomfortable, but damn at that last shot of his royal seat.

I am extremely satisfied with this season, and I really hope we get another. Does anybody know if there will be another season?

6. Jessica Jones

Coming off my Good Omens high, it is fun to see Tennant reprising his role as Kilgrave. He is such a good villain. I think he's one of the scariest villains in anything, and Jessica's hallucinations of him are so chilling.

I don't know how this season is going to end, but Jessica's mom is just too dangerous to be on the loose. Her new guard is kind to her, even breaks rules for her, and she kills her anyway in anger she can't control. As much as I have sympathy for her, she will always be a threat. She can't control herself. I sincerely hope that Jess doesn't have to kill her mom. That seems a road too far even for this show and how dark it can be.

Trish is just pissing me off. I think it's clear she'll survive, but it's unclear to me whether she'll actually have superpowers. I think she does have them at some point in the comics, so maybe Carl's treatment will have worked. If it does, I suspect she will discover that being a superhero doesn't make any of the problems she was having go away, especially her addiction.

I just have a hard time seeing how Jess, Trish and Malcolm are going to reconcile, but I really want them to.

Does anybody know where The Defenders fits into the Jessica Jones timeline?

Please don't spoil me for JJ season 3. :)