What I’ve Been Thinking
Now that Thanksgiving is over, in my apartment that means it is Christmas. Fall decorations have all been put away and Christmas ones have replaced them.
There are now string lights all over the living room, as well as hanging decorations. We couldn’t find time for our fake tree this year but The apartment itself already exudes the holiday spirit.
Now all I want to do is get cozy, have hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies.
For me, it is a tradition that once Thanksgiving ends it’s time to start binge-watching Christmas movies for the next month. We started by watching “The Princess Switch 3” while decorating the apartment.
In New York, it also means holiday markets. After not having Christmas in New York last year, It is a nice treat to be able to walk the city and see the decorations. In fact, I think I’ll be doing just that once I finish this post.
What I’ve Been Watching
This week on Broadway both “Dana H” and “Is This a Room” closed at the Lyceum theatre. The arrangement itself was a bit strange, having two plays take up residence together at the same theatre, switching of days for performances. It stemmed from both these shows being experimental Off-Broadway plays, something Broadway has tended to shy away from.
I was able to see “Is This a Room” after rushing it on a cold morning the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day. And man… was that show good.
Simply put, “Is This a Room” is a play that uses the transcript from an interview between the FBI and Reality Winner, who leaked government documents showing Russian interference in the 2016 election. It is 70 minutes with no intermission.
The show felt like an absurdist piece of theatre, with the dialogue being almost nonsensical and disjointed from what the characters are trying to accomplish at times. Something that is made all the more terrifying when you think about how this really happened, and where Winner’s last moments before being detained for 5 years (she is currently still under house arrest).
Working with a transcript as the script added an element of choreography. The show is almost a finely directed dance, with each actor exuding a naturalness in their motions even when they must be carefully chosen, a perfect action repeated every performance.
It also carries so much emotion that I didn’t expect. Once the bows happened I could feel how tense my body had been for the entire 70 minutes of the show. After I left the theater, I found myself thinking about Reality Winner the person, over the character.
What I’ve Been Reading
In the shadow of the “Hawkeye” show on Disney+, Marvel released the first issue of a new Hawkeye comic. Most importantly it stars the best Hawkeye: Kate Bishop. The new series is a limited five-issue run, written by Marieke Nijkamp with art by Enid Balam.
As those who are watching the show are sure to learn soon, Kate is not only a superior Hawkeye to Clint but also just a good time. We haven’t had a comic with Kate since 2018’s West Coast Avengers, a comic that itself was a sequel to Kate’s own 2016 series.
Kate after the events of these comics is now a P.I. in Los Angeles, but it seems she is being pulled back to New York in the new series.
Though the first issue doesn’t give much storywise beyond a little familial drama (almost a given in a Kate Bishop story), Kate is her old self and it is a pleasure to see her at her full potential in both skill and sarcasm. I am excited to keep up with this new series, and I can hope that Kate will be sticking around a bit more now thanks to her status in the MCU.
Also, a little shoutout to the Fraction / Aja Hawkeye run which the new show is heavily pulling from. It is still one of the best comics ever. Go read it, seriously.
What I’ve Been Playing
During the Steam sale, I bought “Overboard”. When it came out earlier this year it was sold to me as a game of Clue where you are the murderer and you need to pin the death of your husband on someone else.
This game is made with crack in it. Every attempt takes 8 in-game hours, which translates to roughly 45 minutes to an hour of real-world time. This is just enough for me to regret every mistake or missed opportunity and immediately sit down for another try, this repeats for hours.
On top of this addictive gameplay loop, “Overboard” holds back on its true depth until you survive your first attempt. At this point the game draws back the curtain just a little bit, letting you know you have just scratched the surface.
It reminds me a lot of the game “Elsinore”, a favorite of mine. There is so much more going on beyond just getting away with a murder, and the game entices you to discover every secret.
What I’ve Been Cooking / Eating
I cook Thanksgiving dinner every year so this week was filled with lots of cooking. While Thanksgiving day itself had a solid 6 hours of being in the kitchen, pulling dishes out of the oven, and quickly putting in the next one.
But it started long before that. Sunday was grocery day. Monday was for brining the turkey and throwing it in the fridge to sit. Tuesday my partner made pastry dough and pie dough. Wednesday was for pre-making a lot of sides and snacks for the next day.
It is something that I very much enjoy. As someone who enjoys cooking, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to make a feast so I love to make Thanksgiving dinner. Overall I was fairly happy. I mean, I didn’t mess anything up. I do have notes for next year though.
That’s all for this week, see you back again next time! Here are some pictures of my Thanksgiving spread.