Hello hello!
It’s November and I’ve been blaming all my issues on it being November, the bleakest month of the year.
It is totally unfair of me as I am struggling on a lot of planes that have nothing to do with the lack of sunlight, but this way I can keep ignoring the fact that I am exhausted and overworked. I dyed my hair blonde, though, so not all is sad and bleak.
Speaking of ignoring stuff, I injured my foot again at roller derby practice and am once again going to need at least two months off the skates to recover. It’s already been nearly a month, but I did not even get close to any kind of rest in the past weeks, so I guess I’m still at square one.
The main reason why I didn’t get rest last week, though, is pretty great news, as I became the treasurer of the Wikimedia France nonprofit, of which I’ve been a board member for two years already! I’ll be up for reelection next November (unless things go awfully wrong) for a second and final three-year mandate. Reelection or not, I’ll really do my best as I’m super proud and honored that I was chosen on such an important role.
Also, hosting the IndieWeb carnival was really great, there was so much participation! I still need to make a couple of updates to the roundup post and start preparing the conclusion.
A final note: it’s winter sports season, baby! This weekend I’ve been watching curling, alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, and short-track speed skating, and it was glorious! This is the best time of the year for my winter sports nerdery.
Speaking of winter sports nerdery, if you read French, I’m proud to say that you can now rely on Wikipedia to learn about bobsleigh, and that I’m working on the curling page right now. I was hoping to work on all winter Olympics sports articles and get them to a quality label before the Olympics kick off, but I have not had the energy and probably will not have it given how much there is left to do. Improving some of the bleakest pages will already be a good start.
What I’ve read / Texte
📚 Books / Livres
I didn’t read much, and didn’t enjoy much of what I’ve read, so this recommendation list is even shorter than it’s been in recent months.
In English
- Fiction
- Loser of the Year, by Carrie Byrd, is a Lambda Literary laureate for romance and deserves to be.
- The Verifiers, by Jane Pek, is brilliant. I accidentally started with volume 2, so coming back to part 1 was sometimes confusing and always very fun. I hope there’s another one coming soon!
En français
- Fiction
- Frapper l’épopée, d’Alice Zeniter, est super, comme tous les livres d’Alice Zeniter. Les sursauts du scénario et du style d’écriture nécessitent un petit temps d’adaptation et ne plairont peut-être pas à tout le monde.
- L’Essentiel des gouines à suivre 1998-2008, d’Alison Bechdel, est un tome 2 et je ne le savais pas au moment de l’achat. En dehors de ça, c’était excellent, j’ai passé un super moment.
- J’ai fini L’Empire de lotus, dernier tome de cette trilogie de Tasha Suri. C’était bien !
📰 Web links / Liens web
Links marked🔏 are paywalled; send me a message and I’ll send you the file.
In English
- A cable tech tells her story for the HuffPost
- The Nazi dilemma facing German actors, by Katja Hoyer
- Audra McNamee tells us that RSS is not dead (yet) in a gorgeous comic.
- Imperfect tells us: Resurrect your web.
- Adam Mastroianni tells us that things could be better (and that’s why we, as humans, are great, but also unhappy).
En français
- Quel relou êtes-vous en visio ?, chez Cdlt. Moi, je suis à peu près tous à la fois, et ça m’inquiète un peu.
- 🔏 Le lent effacement des boîtes postales à la campagne chez Le Monde pour déprimer, puis…
- 🔏 …comment un village de 500 habitants au fin fond du Trièves a su se revitaliser grâce à sa solidarité sur Le Dauphiné pour se requinquer
- Caudron, A. (2023). Carrière queer et (dés)engagements professionnels : à la recherche d’une radicalité soutenable. Travail, genre et sociétés, 49(1), 103-120
What I’ve watched / Vidéo
🎞 Movies / Films
Arte helped me build a bit more cinema culture so I watched Stromboli, which was pretty fascinating and confusing.
Rewatched Twilight 3 with a friend as part of our regular spa-then-Twilight ritual. I can only recommend it.
📺 TV Shows / Séries
Following Abbott Elementary as it comes out.
On Arte, watched episode 1 of La mafia uccide solo d’estate, which was fun enough to make me want to watch episode 2 but not to actually make me watch it.
📷 Online video / Vidéos en ligne
🔏 The Devil wears Prada is Scorsese for women, argues (correctly) Broey Deschanel. (I believe this video is also available for free on YouTube.)
What I’ve listened to / Audio
🎤 Podcasts
I only include links if the podcast has bothered to have a website. All episodes are available for free on your favourite podcast app / web reader. 🔏 are Patreon episodes: send me a message and I’ll send you the file.
In English
- I have a new favorite tech + business podcast. Also, love that it’s made by a woman.
- Sarah Marshall has a CBC series on the Satanic Panic. It’s called The Devil You Know and it’s pretty good.
En français
- Torchon a produit un excellent roast du bouquin de Dan Brown Le secret des secrets.
- Dans le podcast Un hit, une histoire, j’ai appris l’histoire de la chanson « Angels » de Robbie Williams.
🎹 Music
I forgot about my Deezer subscription and listened to about 3 songs, all of them in my October history. Oops.
What I’ve played / Jeux
I had a nice reset and early game phase on Animal Crossing: New Horizons after talking about it with an old friend.
Otherwise, not much playing – I was a bit too burnt out to play something as demanding as Hades, so most of my more action-oriented gaming was with my partner as we progress through the lovely It Takes Two.
I discovered a few board games, too, at La Tanière au coin du jeu! Still enjoying Pina Coladice enough that I’m seriously considering buying it, and discovered the very fun Castle Combo as well.
Where I’ve been / Lieux
Went back to La Tanière au coin du jeu, which is still the best place in Grenoble these days. Meraki is still brilliant for brunch, and I discovered the delicious restaurant Viet Gourmet in my own neighbourhood.
Also, I spent the first weekend of the month doing non-skating official training for roller derby in Valence! The training was great! There was a « foire du livre » (book fair) right next to the venue, and it was infested with far-right authors and literature. I felt queasy, but it gave me renewed appreciation for the politics of my own city, with a few months to go before we elect a new mayor.