The year is half over. Kind of hard to believe, but that’s the way it goes. Now it’s time to take a quick look back at the last three months, do a little reminiscing, and maybe think a bit on next quarter. I can’t really think of anything else interesting or useful to say as an introduction, so let’s just dive into this past quarter. Here’s a sampling of some of what I’ve been up to both involving and outside of photography.

Photography

It has been a bit of a struggle at times keeping a regular weekly schedule to the blog posts, but I’ve managed to keep that going throughout the quarter. I prefer to get ahead, having at least 3-4 weeks of posts already photographed, written and ready to go, but lately I’ve been lucky to get the next post finished just a couple days before it goes online. This next quarter I’ll see if I can manage to build up that buffer of posts again. It helps me get through periods when I’m less inspired.

Below are links back to this quarter’s posts. Check them out if you missed any or just want to revisit.

Reading

I had another great reading quarter, consuming books from a mix of genres, such as non-fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mystery/thriller. Overall I found myself enjoying most of what I read, with some standing out above the rest.

The books I consumed this quarter (paper, ebook, and audio).

My favorite reads of the quarter include:

Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5) by Martha Wells

Up to now The Murderbot Diaries has been a series of novellas, which have worked great to tell some amazing stories with incredible character development. Now we finally get a longer dose of Murderbot in the first full-length novel of the series, following the life and adventures of a security android that’s escaped its life of servitude and has to figure out what to do with itself in a world full of humans. I love this series!

The Last Wish (Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski

I’ve never seen the show or played the video games so this was my first introduction to the character of the Witcher, and I absolutely loved it. This is an anthology of stories that have that classic fantasy feel of magic and monsters taking me back to my days playing Dungeons & Dragons with a group of friends. I can absolutely see why so many others are drawn to this character.

The Sword of Destiny (Witcher #0.7) by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Last Wish wasn’t enough so I had to continue reading. This volume is another anthology of short stories and I enjoyed it just as much as the last. In this one we continue to learn more about Geralt, the Witcher, and how he came to be what he is. It almost felt as if each story added yet another element to his history, giving a better picture of who this person is. I can’t wait to continue reading the series.

The Pariah (The Covenant of Steel #1) by Anthony Ryan

I’d never read anything by Ryan before but have seen good things about him, so I entered a goodreads giveaway and was fortunate to win an advanced reading copy (in ebook form) for a book due out late August 2021. I absolutely loved this book and how it was written. It’s told as a written record set down by Alwyn Scribe, the main character, and tells of his early life, from being raised in a band of outlaws, to being locked up in a prison no one’s ever escaped, and eventually becoming a soldier under the command of a woman who sees visions of the future. This story was so well told with hints of what’s to come sprinkled throughout leaving me with a strong desire to read the next book as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Critical Role Vox Machina: Origins (Library Edition: Series I and II Collection)

I’ve been a fan of Critical Role, a group of voice actors who get together to play Dungeons & Dragons and eventually started live-streaming their gaming sessions. I wasn’t there when they began but I’ve watched for a couple years now. So I was fairly excited when I learned they were now putting out comic books to provide more story and background for their characters. This collection features the first two story arcs of Origins, telling a possible story for how the group originally got together. I love both the artwork and the stories, and I don’t think you need to already be a fan of the show to enjoy the comics. Think D&D with a small dose of comedy thrown in.

Movies

I didn’t watch nearly as many movies this quarter as I read books, but I enjoyed what I watched. My thoughts on what I watched are below.

Attack the Block is a great British alien invasion film about a group of teenage thugs living in a high rise and making trouble in all their spare time. But while robbing a young woman they’re interrupted by something falling from the sky and crashing into a nearby car, which ends up being the first of many things to fall from the sky. And none of them are very friendly. From 2011 starring Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega and others.

White Vengeance is a Chinese historical epic told as a story within a story, with recent students learning about events from history. We’re then taken back to see the battles and political maneuvering, and how men once friends became foes in their fight for power. From 2011 starring Shaofeng Feng, Leon Lai, Hanyu Zhang and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang.

Daybreakers is an interesting take on vampires, showing it as a pandemic where the vampires have taken over society and now rule, but there are so few humans left that human blood is becoming a vanishing commodity. We see society begin to decline, but in this case it’s a vampire society. From 2009 starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Niell.

Gunnm (Battle Angel) is a short one hour anime based on a series of manga and a predecessor to the more recent movie, Alita Battle Angel. In this case the Battle Angel is named Gally, but the story is very close to that seen in the movie, or more appropriately the story in the movie is very close to that of the anime. I’ve yet to read the manga, though I do have it in ebook form and hope to try it soon. From 1993.

John Wick: Chapter 2 was ok. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the first movie. This one just didn’t seem to have as much story and it felt like I was sort of being dragged along. While watching I was wondering whether it was worth watching Chapter 3, but by the end I did find myself curious enough about what comes next that I will check out the next one. From 2017 starring Keanu Reeves.

Music

I’ve been getting back into symphonic metal lately, and with that comes listening to some Nightwish, a band from Finland. One of my favorites is their 2013 live performance of Ghost Love Score at Wacken in Germany, a longer song at about 10 minutes that does a good job showcasing some of their strengths. I love the range to the vocals and the drums are incredible, especially at the end of the song.

Will, over at A Refuge From Life, got me interested in Delain, a Dutch metal band. One of their songs I keep coming back to lately is The Gathering. This is their official video, but there’s another live version online that I really enjoy featuring Marko Hietala, formerly of Nightwish.

Finally, I’ve been getting into Band-Maid, a Japanese rock band. It all started with one of them working at a maid cafe, and now they’re five women playing some great rock music. Their song Daydreaming is one of their lighter pieces but also one of my favorites. And as a bonus, I’m including a live version of their instrumental, onset. I’ve always enjoyed this sort of rock instrumental, though be warned the video contains lots of strobing lights.

Life

Overall, it felt like a good quarter. My father and I have continued our hikes through the woods as often as we can. The weather is getting warmer and the humidity is quickly rising. Summer is here. That means many hikes that were easy during the cooler months are becoming increasingly difficult, so we may have to cut back on the duration of our hikes. But it’s still good getting out in nature, watching as the forest changes in small but noticeable ways week after week, and documenting some of those changes with a camera. And we may start venturing to other locations beyond the forest.

Locally, the virus situation has been improving, so we’re slowly moving into a new phase of life, restarting some of the things we’d put on hold for the past year and a half. I went on a day trip with my folks, something we used to really enjoy, and now we feel comfortable enough to do it again. Not everything is back to “normal”, whatever that means, but there’s a movement in that direction. And honestly, I’m both happy and sad about it. With all the problems the virus brought there have also been some benefits for an introvert like myself. But life moves on and so do I.

I did have a small medical scare this quarter. I’d been shocked awake one night by some sound out back, and when I opened my eyes one of them felt very gritty. It took me a while to clear, but eventually I fell back asleep. When I woke the next morning, though, I couldn’t see clearly from that eye. It was as if I were looking through a layer of Vaseline. I tried to flush out the eye but it didn’t change anything. I was able to get an appointment that day and the optometrist confirmed my cornea was all scratched up, likely caused by my eyes drying out over night and the eyelid sticking to the cornea. When I was shocked awake and opened my eyes quickly it tore at the front of the cornea. Thankfully, it healed naturally over a week or so, but it was a bit of a scare for someone who gets such enjoyment out of using their eyes for photography and reading. Thank goodness for audiobooks, I made heavy use of them during that time.

Well, that’s it for me for the quarter. I hope you’ve had a great quarter, and I hope the next one is just as good. My goal is to work hard to get ahead with blog posts, having photographs processed and articles written. I’m also hoping to make time for some other website work, like updating my galleries and getting more work available on my online store. I hope you have a couple goals you can work towards this next quarter. Even if we don’t fully achieve them I think having them helps keep us moving forward and making progress.

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