Marta's Mathoms

I'm curious... has anyone been following news of Amazon's "Rings of Power" series? Vanity Fair has an article out about it with enough spoilers to give any hard-core Tolkien fan a bad case of the heebie-jeebies, I think, but also a frisson of excitement that this could be very cool. Or at least very big.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/amazon-the-rings-of-power-series-first-look

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The long-promised snow finally hit New York. The view from my window is under the cut, but suffice it to say: brrrrrr; and *boing* (worse than the cold it looks slippery).

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They're promising up to two feet here but I got groceries delivered earlier so I'm well set to stay inside for a day or two. The Kid is up in Boston which is forecast to get hit even worse. But she also has her own Instacart order so shouldn't have to venture out even to the cafeteria if she doesn't want to. It's a good weekend to stay in and chill out. There's the only rub: it's costing me a weekend, and I was looking forward to getting out and having a bit of fun, even if just a movie or a sit-down meal at a restaurant. That doesn't seem in the cards. But I'm mentally a bit worn out anyway (nothing horrible, just too much work and stress and not enough fun and sleep), so maybe being compelled to stay in isn't the worst thing.

The big news in Minas Marta lately is I got a new laptop. It's clunky and heavy but with a case meant to last: good quality keyboard, strong screen hinges, all that. Which means it's taking some getting used to but ultimately I think it will handle the rough handling I put my machines through. In a typical move I renamed it something Tolkien, but in a less-typical step I reached for the First Age. One of those alternate elf-names I always found a bit offputting in Silmfic because it seemed a bit excluding (probably unintentionally): Makalaure.

What's this all about? For those of you not on Tumblr (which is all of you), I recently was musing about Maglor in LOTR-era Rivendell, being utterly raucous and uncouth after centuries spent traipsing through the wilds; and maybe having a hand in writing BIlbo's unfortunate Earendil song. It was a passing thought, but then someone made a (to my mind) unfair criticism that Maglor was a murderer so should we really imagine him having that domestic afterlife with Elrond of all people. Which just gave me the opportunity to dig a bit deeper into his story. (You can read the exchange here, if you're interested.) The bottom line, though, is I'm reminded that I like morally complicated characters with a good core buried very deep down that makes them still redemption-worthy, even if all the layers on top of that makes them redemption-difficult; there's the challenge, I guess. And while Maglor was never someone I thought a whole lot about, now that I have, he's kind of grabbed my readerly sympathies by the throat.

It makes me want to dust off that WIP about Maglor's and Maedhros's "fostering" of Elrond and Elros. Not promising anything. I'm still not sure I have the courage to not be all wishy-washy with a difficult story, but I'm feeling more driven to give it a try. Certainly it has me privately imagining quite a lot about him.  But that's where my head is, and so that's the name my new machine demanded for itself.

Anywho. Stay warm and safe if you're affected by this latest storm.

In honor of a certain someone's birth-anniversary, have a read about inventors of languages, both the nerd-hobbyists who do it for fun and those using them to make communication easier (think Esperanto) or just understand more about how words work.

I suspect he'd be more than a bit insulted by the implication there was anything "just" about people engaged in wordscaping for the sheer joy of it. Though maybe he'd put himself in the latter camp, folks using invented language to understand natural languages better. Whatever the case, I'm pretty sure he'd have Opinions with a capital 'o'.

https://slate.com/technology/2019/10/conlangs-klingon-taensa-invented-languages.html?utm_source=pocket_mylist

Many happy returns to two very special hobbits! Try not to insult your party guests too much (a tall order, I know), and should they press too close, remember that magic rings are more than just a convenient means of escape.

One of these days I'll check in when we're not in the middle of extreme weather, I promise.

Currently the little man in my phone is warning about a simultaneous tornado watch and flash flood warning, but as I'm safe at home and don't have a lot of rooms to choose from, the best I can do is stay just where I am. It's actually kind of romantic in a Jane Austen sort of way. There's something about being in a city in an old apartment building full of other people that makes you feel oddly invincible against weather. What else can I do differently, and if something happens it won't be just me, etc.

I'm fine, so far as I know. Hope you all are, too.

I got my first COVID jab! It's a bit uncomfortable but not too bad, certainly no worse than a flu vaccine. Definitely worth it just to feel like I have a plan to get back to normal and am taking steps in the right direction.

You know what's a wasted skilll these days? Handwriting. Not just cursive-font but any kind of handwriting. Truly: I have a box of pens by my microwave, because I write things so rarely, I inevitably lose a pen by the next time I need it. I bought them shortly after I moved to the new place in October and it's still half full because the only thing I ever write is my rent check each month, which doesn't accept electronic payment. Literally everything else is typed.

It's a shame, because I actually do have decently nice scrit when I take the time to do more than chicken-scratch.

Ah, well. There's your observation for the day. Everyone who said you needed to learn cursive and people woul judge you by your ability to write nicely and neatly? I name thee purveyor of LIES.

(Also: Happy Easter/Passover to those of you celebrating it and a good nearly-weekend to the the rest of you happening froods.)

(Also-also: I don't know why I'm so perennially exhausted, but that doesn't mean I don't think of you lot regularly. Tumblr is easier because you don't actually have to put much into it, it's very low-key and quick. But here it feels like I actually have to make the words go, which seems beyond me most times these days. But I miss hanging out here and hope you all are doing well.)

A few weeks ago there was this meme-mem-meh going around where people who liked to go outside shared photos. I am a people, and I do like to go outside, but it's (a) New York, which means it's dark before I can stop work (not the best for photos), and (b) for me the joy of outside is getting around to the shops and around people, not necessarily nature.

However, we are having a bit of weather today, and if that's not an excuse for the view outside my window I don't know what is. The mayor closed streets to non-essential traffic, which if my little street is to be believed, people are following with ... varying degrees of compliance. But I have my hot cocoa and my cinnamon raising bread to toast and no reason to go otside, so I'm good.

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This all reminds me of one of my favorite old commercials, so I'll just drop that in as well.

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Stay warm, little Shirelings.

I've been thinking a bit about the slightly Pollyanna-ish blog posts and news articles I'm seeing about how we've almost survived 2020 and 2021 will be so much better. I don't think it will be like flipping a light-switch, and I don't think everything will be okay, but I do have a bit of cautious optimism.

COVID-wise, I think we're finally turning the corner, at least with the strand we've been suffering under since last March. (Godspeed, Brits and everyone living Brit-adjacent lives...) We're not there yet, but I think we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I may be able to see a movie in person again one of these days.

(Don't tell Dr. Faucci, but I actually did when I was down south last week. Goodness, how I miss them.0

Not that it at all is worth the massive suffering, both in terms of death and illness and also economic suffering, but I think the prolonged lockdown made a lot of people slow down and re-evaluate their life choices (or lack of same). And I think that wiped away a lot of illusions about how some of the common assumptions we have for how life has to be is really the best approach, or even equally good for everyone. I've seen a lot of my male friends say they're suddenly much less blind to what their wives have to deal with regarding balancing childcare and domestic expectations and a professional life... just because they saw them doing it across the table from them. Or to take another example, as much a nightmare as zoom-school is, I think it has a lot of families asking if the assembly-line model of American schooling is really the best approach and what more customizable or individualized schooling might look like. And just because we've all been going through hard times together, I think there's a lot more awareness of how precarious life is for the American poor, how hard they work and how depenedent they are, but not because they're bad people. Just because society isn't looking out for them.

Not suggesting everyone is reached, by a long shot. But I think a lot of the reachables, good-hearted and fair-minded people who through inertia or just general business are a bit blinded to these needs, have been much more reached this last year than they usually are; and I see a lot of these kinds of people looking for creative solutions. At least they're admitting there's a problem. This makes me optimistic for 2021.

Politically, Biden isn't everything I'd hope for, but he's so far better than the White House's current occupant. He is someone I see people representing my interests being able to work with. And he plays by the usual rules, which has all kinds of normal problems and biases but is worlds better than the current exercise in raw power and avarice and shamelessness. So while there's doubtless loads of work to do, as an American I'm finally seeing a landscape where we can at least start doing that work.

Poor people are still poor- arguably poorer- but we're also recognizing instacart delivery-men and Walmart cashiers as essential workers. We're also much more aware of how interconnected we all are. Can you imagine that before 2020? And obviously that's a cheap way to get out of actually protecting them, but rhetoric matters.

As do stories. I think like a lot of people are more aware of how important stories are, not because we need to be entertained but because it's so deeply human. I'm thinking about how American society talks about humanities and other story-driven kinds of study as "less" than scientific or career-oriented one; well, we were all touchstarved and depressed and facing a kind of angst in the true sense of the word, and so many of us turned to our stories. I think at a deep level, a lot of people are more reminded of why that's so important to us.

I'd love to hear what makes you optimistic for 2021 too, if you have anything you'd like to add.

If you're like me this week you'll be feeling a lot of pressure to be thankful and, 2020 being 2020, well. Maybe this will helps, and even if you didn't need it, couldn't we all use a cute kitty marching band in our lives?

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And in case I don't say it: happy turkey day.