Next week is BEA and I'm not going. Last year I was sort of numb or something about how my book blogging life has changed and I sincerely did not care, but this year I feel really sad to be missing all the fun of socializing. I don't need books, I don't really need to network for my blog, I just miss seeing everyone and the sort of nerdy bookish zeal that is one hundred percent permissable and alas even encouraged. Also,I have no fun trips planned for the year for the first time in ages. So I think it's just kind of a bummer to be missing out, although there is still Armchair BEA!
Rather than dwell on the sorry state of affairs that is my life, I decided to focus on what is making me happy in small ways. We often can't control the big events in our lives, but I have always thought that it's good to celebrate the little things. So while the sun is baking everything in existence, and now seemed like a good time to the powers that be to tear up the roads around where I live to make them wider thus leading to tons of traffic, I can be happy about stuff like how my story drought has broken!
I really loved Jellicoe Road which was sort of my reentry into reading. (yes I will be dramatic if I want) It was such a beautiful story that I jumped into more reading with zeal. I also read the third book in the Newsflesh series, Blackout by Mira Grant. It was good, although I think more than the story itself, I thought some of the potential ideas associated with the plot were interesting. I'm now reading Code Name Verity which is interesting and different.
For film club, we watched Whip It! which I loved so much. It was a really pleasant surprise and made me feel all warm and happy inside. I also saw Dark Shadows which was nothing if not pure summer movie fun.
Andrew Peterson's new single is out and it is, of course, full of wisdom and gentleness and hope.
Also, I got a late birthday present from a friend this week which was really nice.
Borgen
This gets its own subheading because...well it's important. I remember back when Jodie was like, how can I get my American friends to watch Borgen and Call the Midwife? And the part of that I really paid attention to was Call the Midwife because it was based on a book I love (good news! PBS is showing Call the Midwife in the fall so fellow Americans we can watch it legally!) and even though she found a legal streaming link for Borgen, it was like halfway through the series so I felt like I was too behind. Then, due to some good fortune of following a twitter link, I realized that Link TV (the channel that shows Borgen) had rerun series one over Memorial Day weekend and the episodes were available for streaming for two weeks again. So I started watching because Jodie raved about the show and when does she steer me wrong? And guys, like....
It's amazing. I was genuinely surprised how quickly I just got sucked into the show and after watching two episodes I could just not stop thinking about it. I've only watched four now (the episodes are almost exactly an hour long each, so every night I've stayed up late to watch) and like...aaargh there is so much good stuff I want to say about how well written and plotted this show is, how after just four episodes I feel like I know these characters. It has been so long, so so long since I've wanted to do nothing but devour a TV show like this and think about it and bring it up all the time in unrelated conversations because I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. I have six episodes left, yay, and season 2 premieres tomorrow.
But the reason I'm like all caps yelling at you in my subject line is because if you live in the United States you have just a very narrow window to view this legally and I don't want you to miss out because I really really really want friends to talk about this with. Look, I know that I'm always trying to get you to watch stuff like vampire shows, and female spies and shows with silly ridic titles like Switched at Birth but this time it's important okay?
The show is Danish (same producers as Forbrydelsen--the original The Killing) which means you have to read subtitles and it's a political show which probably turns you off, but like...it's so fascinating! I knew nothing about the Danish political system but it's not hard to understand within the context of the show. It also features a fictional female prime minister who is perfectly cast--she has so much charisma and is just immensely likable. And so far it's been about how she navigates the political system to hold on to her power without compromising her ideals. But there's also a female reporter who is equally as compelling. And gah I don't want to spoil anything but so far it's just been great.
So!! Now that I've (hopefully!) convinced you that you can't go another day without Borgen (literally translates as castle, but they call the show government in English) in your life, let me tell how you to watch it. Borgen is on Link TV which if you have DirecTV or Dish Network and maybe some other carriers I don't know, you should have. But in order to catch up with Series 1 you'll have to go to the Link TV website where they are available now for just about another week. So hopefully you'll have ten hours to devote to watching this! Please say you do. And then once Series 2 starts, you'll be able to view the episode on the website for two weeks.
And I don't mean to pile on the pressure but these aren't really available any other way legally, there are no DVDs for Region 1, and NBC is making an American adaptation which means there probably won't ever be. So this is your chance!!! We got a second chance guys!
The first three episodes are available until the 9th, the next three until the 10th, and the finale four until the 11th. So get on it!
Wow, whew. I haven't exerted that much evangelical zeal for anything on this blog in a long time, I hope it pays off! (yes that's a little manipulative, I knowww)
So tell me now...what little things are making you happy?
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