The Aviary

Also, I may have talked my manager into watching Farscape - she has recently tried to watch Star Trek Enterprise and felt extremely disappointed by it, so I decided to help by recommending my favorite basically contemporaneous sci-fi show.

Or, rather, my favorite sci-fi show, period.

Now I am sorely tempted to rewatch all of Farscape again. It's been a couple of years, after all - I'm probably due.

Things:

- A while ago, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the native flora and fauna of my home. Because that seems like an interesting thing to know and useful in the case of an apocalypse*. Also, I find it very satisfying to know the names of things. And then, last week, while on a walk at the Poulsbo waterfront, I discovered that Liberty Bay is part of the Great Washington State Birding Trail. Which led to me decided that I'll start by learning to identify all the commonly-seen birds in Kitsap County. And that, friends, is how I accidentally started birding.

- Birding is pretty exciting, though, in that it involves several things I like: birds, outdoor activities that don't require a lot of athletic prowess, making lists, knowing the names of things, and, more especially, knowing about things with silly names. By which I mean that today I saw an American wigeon. I really like saying "wigeon". (I also saw a bald eagle and a belted kingfisher, but those names aren't funny.) Apparently, Point No Point beach (aka Sara's favorite place) is really good for winter birding, so I'll have to check that out soon.

- In other, non bird-related news! I have spent the last couple of days thinking about New Gods. Do you ever have that one fandom that you have a lot of thoughts about but you're aware that your fannish obsession is so ridiculous that it's hard to talk to people about and also they probably don't care? That is what my love for New Gods is like. I mean, I love Fourth World a lot and I think a lot of the things Jack Kirby was trying to do with it are really interesting, but after a while I realize that I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about something that has a guy on skis as the god of death and contains places names like the Armaghetto. I'm not kidding - that is an actual thing.

- It is also one of those fandoms where I have a lot of fanfic stories that I deeply desire but that after I think about them for a few minutes, I realize are just a desire for more and better worldbuilding. I have a lot of worldbuilding questions about New Gods and no one who has ever written comics about those characters cares about those questions at all. (Farscape is another one of those fandoms for me. Some of the stories I want for Farscape are actual stories but a lot of them are things like "What is the actual experience of using translator microbes like, especially as regards reading?" and "What is a typical day aboard a command carrier?" and "Tell me more about what Peacekeepers eat" and "Why don't Sebacean names sound like they would derive from the spoken Sebacean we hear on the show?")

- Basically, I want someone to write a version of Always Coming Home for every fictional world I've ever loved.







*Whenever I start a new hobby, I tend to think about how useful it will be in the event of an apocalypse. This probably says something about me. Still, when civilization collapses, I will be able to make new socks and (hopefully soon) find edible plants, so there.

Dear the people who made Farscape,

I realize that I am years too late in saying this but, y'know, when you have a dramatic or emotionally affecting scene about aliens, in which hardly anyone at all speaks English or any other language from Earth, and the music in the background is full of chanting in Latin, it kinda throws me out of the scene somewhat. And by "somewhat" I mean "a lot".

They're aliens! Why the hell is there a Dies Irae in the background?

Due to an odd set of circumstances that I no longer fully recall, I did not end up watching the Infinite Possibilities two-parter on any of my previous times watching Farscape. I finally got to those two episodes on the current watch-through tonight and watched them.

I am going to look at pictures of kittens or something now, until I stop crying.

So, I am starting my rewatch of Farscape again. I stopped about a year ago near the end of season 2 because things had gotten depressing. The original plan was to take a break for a week or so and then come back and keep going.

Now it is 14 months later. Heh.

But the convenient thing is that my stopping place fits exactly with the way I always seem to want to watch Farscape after a long break. Because every time I out of the blue want to watch Farscape, the thing my brain does is say, "Y'know what we should do? We should watch Season of Death!" I am aware that is a ridiculous thing because a) it's a good episode but not what you could call a great one and it's by no means a standalone, b) it is pretty much exactly half way through the series and why the hell would you start there, and c) what the hell, brain? It's like the thing where every time I start rereading Sherlock Holmes, I start with Norwood Builder, except that Sherlock Holmes wasn't necessarily meant to be read in order every time.

But! Since I was nearly at Season of Death anyway, being two episodes into Liars Guns and Money, both my random "start the series in the middle" urge and my completist rewatching plans will be satisfied. Hurrah.

So, tonight in my Farscape rewatch, I got to Won't Get Fooled Again.

OMG, you guys, this show, I love this crazy frelled-up amazing show.

This has been your squee of the evening.

Things:

- I have been rewatching Farscape. You guys, Farscape is pretty much totally awesome. I mean, I don't have to tell you that but it bears restating. Even the first couple episodes. Even without Scorpius. I am sort of in full-on reobsession mode over here. The bouncy babbly OMG, you guys, this show kind. Whee!

- My mom has been doing a clothing purge of late and has given me things. So now I have a new skirt (ankle length, black, feather patterns in brown) and a rusty colored short-sleeved linen dress and a shawl. The shawl is brown and green and blue and kinda looks like camouflage, but I like it. I am wearing it today. It's exciting.

- Relatedly, the last time I wore my jeans, I noticed that they had a hole in them. So Monday, I went out to get new jeans. As I was trying them on, I thought to myself, "Self, you were only wearing jeans because it was laundry day. You don't wear jeans. You wear cargo pants or corduroy pants or skirts. Mostly skirts. Why are you buying new jeans?" So I didn't buy them. I always kinda expected my taste in clothing to eventually evolve out of the jeans + t-shirt = dressed mode*, but I didn't really expect them to evolve into long skirt + button-down shirt + necktie and vest = dressed. Huh.

- Staff meeting today. Blah. But still, maybe I will get to go home early because of it.

- And then I can watch more Farscape!




*Though, admittedly, some days are still cargo pants + t-shirt = dressed because crawling around on the floor of the children's library is not really that good for skirts.