end of week hodge-podgey wrap-up #2

Project Life:

Week Two complete! :D

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New-to-me words:

*sigil-a sign or image supposedly having magic powers (from Epic by Conor Kostick

*allogrooming-another term for social grooming among animals (from Guide to the Planet by Matthew Murrie and Steve Murrie)

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Music from Ana:

This past week's song from Ana's list from my happiness project was Edward is Dedward by Emmy the Great. My thoughts jotted down throughout the week:

*Already knew I loved her voice. Just more confirmation.

*This is one of those love-at-first-listen songs. And one which I suspect will only become more loved with more listenings.

*Okay. This song is breaking my heart. It's beautiful. Just feels so fucking real. So real. So sad. So beautiful.

*I think the lack of "sentimental" makes it more loving than anything else could ever be. (That probably makes no sense outside of my head.)

*Does it sound weird to say that I think this is one of the most beautifully written songs ever?

*I know this sort of thing changes an a weekly/daily/hourly basis, but right now, Edward is Dedward is my favorite song.

*Another day, and it's again my favorite song.

*Note: I wasn't able to find this song to download, but instead repeatedly listened to it through this youtube video:



(Project progress: Happiness project, Ana's list of songs, Item 2-Edward is Dedward by Emmy the Great)

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This week's mini reads:

Essay-
"Rendezvous 8: Lemurs, Bushbabies and Their Kin" and "The Aye-Aye's Tale" from The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. I enjoyed this one profusely. And not just because he quoted from Last Chance to See, one of my favorite books ever. :P (And I must thank you again, dear Ana for introducing me to it!) Anyway, this is where we meet Concestor 8, the grand ancestor of all primates. Mostly what we get a look at is the uniqueness of Madagascar. As Dawkins puts it "The Aye-Aye's Tale is about Madagascar, textbook showcase of biogeographical natural experiments...."

Short story-
"The Protectionist" by Meg Cabot. Again, from What You Wish For. And again, a first-time-for-me author. Okay, I have to say that I ended up really liking this one. And it was one of those times when I didn't realize it until the end. I mean, I was enjoying it as I read, but it wasn't until I'd shut the book that it hit me how much I enjoyed this story. That seldom happens, but when it does it's just the neatest little gift. Does this ever happen to anyone else?
I don't want to say too much about the story in case anyone goes on to read these book, but suffice it to say that the main character is...well, quirky. His heroes are an early 20th century economist and a BMX extreme athlete. And he's a bully target. But it turns out he's not immune from making surface judgments of his own...

Poem-
"The Herbalist's Nightshade Song" by Katrina Vandenberg (from Atlas). It took a few readings for this one to grow on me...but grow on me it did. In fact, it's one of my favorites from the collection, and believe me, that's saying something...

(Project progress: Misc. Projects--Read one short story a week, Read one essay a week, and Read one poem a week)