Of Hobbits (erm... Harfoots) and Fairytales

October Rabbit Holes 🐇

A collection of rabbit holes from September and October and an invitation to share your own. 🐇 I missed sending this out in September so you get a double whammy.

Watch

These have been two excellent months for television.

I am (of course) watching Rings of Power. It’s designed by Weta Workshop so its visually stunning, but I’m also impressed at how this show is taking its time. As a hobbit at heart I really love the Harfoots (even if they may be taking liberties with the Middle Earth timeline.)

The casting is perfect. And I am in love with the costume design for Numenor - just look at that Art Nouveau / Pre-Raphaelite inspiration. 😍

And A+ for representation. Years ago, I was horrified to realize the only people of color in the Peter Jackson film’s were orcs. (Check out this video of every line spoken by a POC which only adds up to 0:46 seconds total.) 😳

We’ve also started watching Star Trek Strange New Worlds and y’all… it is SO GOOD.

It is by far the best Star Trek show out there and captures everything about what makes Star Trek worth watching. The heart of Star Trek is about respect and collaboration among people from different cultures as well as exploring contemporary ethical issues with some metaphorical distance from real life. It’s amazing how different issues look when they are separated from their well worn context. This is (one reason) I love sci fi and fantasy.

Growing up Star Trek was only vague a cultural touchstone for me (even as a kid I related to Data), but as nerdlyweds Nathan & I watched through every series (except The Original Series. Captain Kirk felt deeply misogynistic for me and I just couldn’t stomach it.)

While I have a special place in my heart for Captains Picard and Janeway, I really love Pike and hope this series will have many seasons to come.

Books

My current spooky read is Small Town Big Magic, which is giving me Gilmore Girls meets Hocus Pocus vibes. I’m only two chapters in so I can’t say if I’d recommend it yet, but as this one is seasonal I’m plonking it in now.

A couple months ago I finally finished my massive re-read of The Wheel of Time.

Since then I’ve been binge reading the Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo. It’s darker than I usually read*, but I love her characters. As the cast grows I really relate to so many neurodivergent traits. So that has kept me reading even when the circumstances are grim. (You can get a taste of it via the Netflix series which is rated TV-14.)

*Content warning, although most of the darkness is not explicit. If you’re a sensitive reader you may want to check out content warnings for each book on Storygraph.

After that I read Among the Beasts and Briars which a fluffy light fairy tale that balanced it all out. (How gorgeous is this cover design?!)

For Kids (& Young at Heart)

One morning when I was desparate to put something low key on the TV we stumbled upon this dominoes video. It’s such a wonderful visual and auditory stim. Davy was mesmerized and watched the whole 20 minutes.

It was so fun we bought out own dominoes kit to play with. We lucked into a wooden HAPE set which is 50% off right now and comes lots of fun pieces like a set of stairs and whirligigs.

Davy doesn’t have the patience for anything elaborate, but we have had fun making short lines and its great for hand eye coordination, gentle touch, and patience. Seriously, this is the best $20 I’ve spent in months.

Substack

I’m still really enjoying the longform content on Substack. Here are some of my favorite posts this month.

First is a podcast post! I love a ramble podcast. This is my friend Claire sharing a bit about her day. (She also has a journal coming out soon so be sure to check that out.)

A little 'My Beautiful Reality' Podcast test

Then a post from author Hayley Dunlop about how rest plays a part in her creative process. I love this quote from her post.

“the more time I spend resting instead of writing, the better a writer I’ve been able to become”

I made one change to my life that unlocked my creativity

And (not on Substack), I really enjoyed this article about the first female animators at Disney.

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Ok, I had more, but I’m going to have to call it because I’m out of time.

Please share your links below!

Something you’ve enjoyed this month or a link of your own. I’ll feature some of my favorites over on Instagram.

(Although it may be two months later!) 😂

Cheers,

Sarah

P.S. This newsletter is a labor of love that takes 2-3 hours out of my week. (A miracle I have time for it thinking back to newborn days.)

Sometimes typing away while Nathan does bedtime (as he tonight.) Sometimes on my phone while Davy (gasp) watches TV. And sometimes properly on my laptop during “working hours”. If you want to chip in toward our sitter fees you can become a paying subscriber (complete with extra content).

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