So, it’s my first time writing one of these articles. And it came at a very strange time because I’m having a bit of a hectic week, partly because I recently went back to study so I’m busier than I used to be.
Let’s see what I’m doing this week…
What am I listening to?
My choices of music have been pretty much the same this week. Jean-Michel Jarre and Perturbator. Funnily enough, I featured both on Tracks of the Day but I have my reasons for listening to them.
This Monday I went to Dublin to a Jean-Michel Jarre gig. As soon as the tickets went on sale I knew I had to get one. I saw him live for the first time six years ago, back when I lived in Spain, and I knew I had to repeat the experience, and even though the year’s not over yet I’m thinking of this as the best gig of the year. You can check part of it in this video I took. The camera is shaky, I was just very excited.
For more or less the same reason I’m listening to Perturbator. This Sunday he’s playing a gig in Dublin, I found out a bit late but I managed to get a ticket. I mean… seeing two of my favourite musicians live?! On the same week?! I just had to do it.
What am I reading?
I read a lot, but last year I realised that most of the authors I read were men. Last year I read 101 books but of those only 15 were written by women. So this year I decided to start reading more women writers, mostly to let go of any unconscious bias but also because I assumed I’d be reading more interesting stuff. For now out of 72 books I’ve read, 20 were written by women, better than last year but it could still be better.
And this long-winded explanation leads to the book I’m currently reading. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
I had heard of her before, but for some reason I never got down to reading her. This June I went to a Saul Williams gig and at some point his projections said “Read Octavia Butler,” and when I saw this book on sale for Kindle I took it as a sign. It’s set in a dystopic future (in the 2020s) where society has pretty much collapsed and it keeps getting worse. It follows the journey of a girl with hyperempathy called Lauren, as she develops her own religion (called Earthseed).
I’m about halfway through and so far I like it. My main issue is wondering about what to read next, I have several options like Louise O’Neill‘s Asking for It, Virginia Woolf‘s Orlando or whatever else is lying in a pile around my room. That question gets worse when we consider the books loaded in my Kindle.
What am I playing?
I’m playing two different games this week. I already wrote about one of them so I’ll focus on the second.
That game is Her Story. Her Story was developed by Sam Barlow (he was the designer of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories). In Her Story you watch a series of interviews from a murder investigation from 1994 in order to find out what happened back then.
The interesting thing is that you can only watch very short clips and only the ones involving the interviewee (you never see or hear the police side of it). The way it works is simple. You have a database where you input words and it shows you clips where she says that word in particular.
However, you have to refine your searches as you go on. Some searches will yield too many results and the game will only show you the first few, requiring you to think of alternate ways in which to get to that information.
Her Story is an interesting experience. I played it for the first time back when it came out, but this time I have to play it as an assignment for college. Think about it, playing a video game as homework, that’s awesome!
Is that it?! No TV or movies?!
And I guess this is pretty much it. I haven’t really been watching many films or shows this week because I’m busy with other things. Getting back into studying has been a bit of a challenge, but worth it in the end.
So, how are you doing this week? Are you well? If you’re doing cool stuff this week or have any recommendations hit the comments. Have a nice day
Angry Spaniard, adoptive Irishman. Writer, reader, tea drinker and video game player/designer.
