{"id":1453,"date":"2020-07-29T20:40:52","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T03:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=1453"},"modified":"2020-07-29T20:40:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T03:40:52","slug":"some-amount-of-time-in-the-life-july-29-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalmanticore.com\/?p=1453","title":{"rendered":"Some Amount of Time in the Life: July 29, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the shitty things about pandemic life is that every malady seems to augur impending doom. Kirk has had a bit of a cough, which we are both highly suspicious of. Yesterday, I woke up so dizzy that I couldn’t get out of bed at all. The worst of it passed after sleeping more but, despite having vertigo, it was the most profound dizziness I’ve experienced. Of course, my first act was to search “coronavirus vertigo” online because I guess I hate myself. I don’t have a fever or any other symptoms but … is it coronavirus? Who the fuck knows. Fortunately, I’m feeling better today but we’re being very cautious and not going out at all right now, lest we accidentally spread plague. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consuming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These are some things I read, watched, or bought recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I’ve noticed I’m reading quite a lot of science fiction set in the future where humans are a space-faring people. It’s not all I’m reading, but there is definitely a trend here. I would rather think about a time when the human race isn’t trying to murder itself through stupidity and when we’ve become a better species. We sure as hell aren’t there today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Closed and Common Orbit<\/a> by Becky Chambers is the second book the series that starts with A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. At first I was disappointed because I wanted to follow the characters from the first book, but this book follows two characters who you meet briefly in the first book. However, my disappointment soon vanished because this is a great book in its own right. It deals with what it means to be human in a really thoughtful way through the lens of artificially intelligent beings and genetically engineered people. I loved it so much that I read it in a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goldilocks <\/a>by Laura Lam deals with a nearish-future in which humans have made the planet pretty much uninhabitable, patriarchy is taking hold, and everyone but the rich are god damn miserable. The book focuses on the all-woman crew that steals a spaceship and heads for an extra-solar planet where they can start a new civilization. The story tracks the space journey alternating with chapters about the protagonist’s backstory. I don’t really know how to describe the story without giving too much away, so I will simply say that I thought it was a good read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl<\/a> by Theodora Goss is the third and last installment in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club trilogy. This book wraps up this fun, metafictional series with an adventure for kitchen girl\/mesmerist Alice, who isn’t quite sure how she feels about all this adventure stuff yet. Hooray for escapism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n