TV Roundup, Part 1: The Expanse, The Haunting of Hill House, and Future Man

It's been awhile since I've written about TV on this blog.  Even though we still live (I think?) in the "Golden Age of Television"(tm), I don't watch a whole lot of TV, at least by our contemporary "Golden Age"(tm) standards.  These days it seems like everyone is required to binge watch three seasons of content every day, or at least to brag about doing so whether one has done so or not.

I don't usually enjoy binge watching.  I like some time to digest what I watch.  I actually preferred olden times of waiting a full week between episodes and tuning in at a specific time when you could share the experience with others at the same time.  Weird, I know.  If you think about it, it's odd that "binge-worthy" is a compliment.  Imagine eating at a nice restaurant and exclaiming, "My compliments to the chef!  I ate that dish really fast!  It's binge-worthy!"

I also live with a TV enthusiast of very different tastes.  If I'm going to watch straightforward science fiction, fantasy, or horror shows, I tend to watch them late at night by myself, which is a time when I often would rather take advantage of the quiet and get some reading in.

I'm exaggerating a bit, of course.  I watch plenty of TV.  About as much as I want to.  And here is the first part of my roundup of some interesting shows I've watched in the last six or seven months, starting with The Expanse, The Haunting of Hill House, and Future Man.

Sci-Fi Vampires: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

I'm a huge Octavia Butler fan, but somehow I had never read Fledgling, the last book she wrote before her untimely death in 2006.  Vampires aren't usually my thing, and there's always something melancholy about reading books by favorite deceased authors knowing there will never be more (luckily I have most of Butler's Patternist series yet to read).

I recently taught Butler's Kindred in a class on horror and philosophy and I had read and enjoyed Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot, so I thought vampires maybe aren't so bad and maybe Butler would do interesting things with the concept.

And she did! Fledgling is an interesting science fictional take on vampires with some deeper thoughts on identity, difference, bigotry, belonging, freedom, and memory.  It's not my favorite Octavia Butler book by a long shot (that's probably Parable of the Talents), nor is it really a horror novel (Kindred is more horrific than this).  But I'm glad I read Fledgling.

"OMG! LeVar Burton Retweeted Me!" and Other Adventures in the Twitterverse

I joined Twitter in 2016 because ... well, I'm not entirely sure why.  To promote this blog?  To promote my academic career without being obnoxious about it in person?  To follow journalists, favorite authors, and celebrities?  The mind boggles.

For whatever reason, I joined Twitter.  Two and a half years in I still can't say I entirely "get" Twitter (at least it makes more sense than Instagram...).  Twitter is weirdly different than Facebook.  Facebook is a way to stay in touch with people you know in real life, whether you really want to or not. Twitter is like standing in a public place saying random things where your friends might wander by amid the flurry of self-proclaimed "entrepreneurs." Oddly, Twitter reminds me of Livejournal: you make random connections with strangers (yes, I'm old enough to remember Livejournal.  I do miss being able to write paragraphs, though, which is probably why I started a blog ... but I digress).

I've recently had some interesting things happen on Twitter.  A tweet I randomly wrote about philosophy got over a 100 likes, which doesn't sound like much, but---

--But forget all that, because OMG! OMG! OMG! LeVar Burton retweeted me!  But you don't have to take my word for it.

Podcast Appearance and Skyping with Singapore

Here are a few interesting happenings in the professional academic side of my life as of late.

Get Ready for Con Nooga 2019!

I'm extremely excited for Con Nooga 2019 this weekend (Feb. 22-24)!  Con Nooga takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA every February as a celebration of science fiction, fantasy, horror, anime, comics, gaming, and all things nerdy!  This will be my fourth Con Nooga (you can read about what I did last year here).

No Sleep 'Till Derry: Insomnia by Stephen King

I've been reading a lot of Stephen King lately, but Insomnia was never very high on my King To-Read List until I was finishing the Dark Tower series and read about connections in Insomnia. Of course, I also recently read King's On Writing, where he says Insomnia is one of his least favorite creations (mainly because he had it elaborately plotted out ahead of time - more on that later).

So, what did I think? While Insomnia isn't one of my favorite Stephen King books, it has its highlights and, if I'm being honest, the Dark Tower connections probably make me like it a little more than I otherwise would.

Random Thoughts, Part 3

Made at: https://www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud/

Several months ago I started collecting my random thoughts, things I think about while I'm eating breakfast, walking down the street, getting ready for bed, trying to become a better teacher, looking at a fortune cookie and thinking I could do better, or what have you.  You can see my previous 36 random thoughts in Part 1 and Part 2.  Alas, Part 3 is upon us, so get ready for random thoughts 37-58!