Cells and blocks and amoeba
Nov. 7th, 2025 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkI found out I have iron-deficiency anemia (again.) Looking at the list of possible symptoms explains a lot about my last few weeks: I thought it was stress at first and then started to get concerned after the exam. Mostly it's reassuring because it's treatable with simple iron tablets, but a little frustrating too because it'll take a while and I would like to be cured immediately, thank you, I'm getting really sick of being so tired and struggling to focus.
And I'm feeling a bit extra whiny today because I got vaccinated and my arm hurts.
The MCSR Midoffs s2 have started and are live right now: the first match was already absolute cinema, so many plot twists in one match. I watched the first two and I definitely want to watch Cub play later, but I took a break to play more Silksong (and other stuff.) I'm practicing the final boss rn a few attempts at a time, very cool fight.
Tomorrow season 11 of Hermitcraft starts! I'm excited. Can't wait to find out what new gimmick they've come up with, who bases with who (fingers crossed for a few neighbors I'm hoping for - mostly Buttercups tbh), all their plans...
(come to think of it, didn't Joe want to post more s10 videos at some point? ^^)
Side effect, this is not going to help my "too many things and never enough time" problem at all.
I finally managed to read a book that's been on my to-read list for a long time: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
The good: It was a quick and entertaining read. Grace and Rocky getting to know each other and figuring out how to save their planets together with their combined expertise was great, and some of the scenes nailed the horror/relief swing, like when the Taumoeba infected all the fuel. And I liked the ending.
The less good:
The fact that I recently watched/read "Arrival" did not help with me finding the human-alien communication wildly implausible (and yet he has the alien "speak" in broken English, probably to show that he is not exactly fluent, but still…) Several things in the flashbacks also made me roll my eyes and/or go "things don't work that way," like the "trial," or Grace being the one to ask the others how they would want to die (lampshading it was not enough imo), and so much about Grace being Stratt's special little boy and so on.
While I liked some things in the flashbacks (shout-out to nuking the arctic), for most of the book they seemed quite disconnected to me because Grace didn't react to them, and for a while I wasn't even sure if he still got his memories in pieces as presented or if he'd recovered all of them and they were just interspersed like this in the book for pacing.
And the reveal that he hadn't come on the mission voluntarily: on the one hand it worked, as in I could definitely see Stratt do that, and in general it's very plausible for someone to have last-minute panic at the thought of a suicide mission; but while I thought it fit for the Grace we saw in the flashbacks, it didn't fit the Grace we'd seen in space so far nearly as well. I would have to reread to say for sure though and I didn't like it that much.
Another book in the category of "if I hadn't had high expectations because I saw so many recs I wouldn't have felt disappointed." I still enjoyed it overall.
And I'm feeling a bit extra whiny today because I got vaccinated and my arm hurts.
The MCSR Midoffs s2 have started and are live right now: the first match was already absolute cinema, so many plot twists in one match. I watched the first two and I definitely want to watch Cub play later, but I took a break to play more Silksong (and other stuff.) I'm practicing the final boss rn a few attempts at a time, very cool fight.
Tomorrow season 11 of Hermitcraft starts! I'm excited. Can't wait to find out what new gimmick they've come up with, who bases with who (fingers crossed for a few neighbors I'm hoping for - mostly Buttercups tbh), all their plans...
(come to think of it, didn't Joe want to post more s10 videos at some point? ^^)
Side effect, this is not going to help my "too many things and never enough time" problem at all.
I finally managed to read a book that's been on my to-read list for a long time: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
The good: It was a quick and entertaining read. Grace and Rocky getting to know each other and figuring out how to save their planets together with their combined expertise was great, and some of the scenes nailed the horror/relief swing, like when the Taumoeba infected all the fuel. And I liked the ending.
The less good:
The fact that I recently watched/read "Arrival" did not help with me finding the human-alien communication wildly implausible (and yet he has the alien "speak" in broken English, probably to show that he is not exactly fluent, but still…) Several things in the flashbacks also made me roll my eyes and/or go "things don't work that way," like the "trial," or Grace being the one to ask the others how they would want to die (lampshading it was not enough imo), and so much about Grace being Stratt's special little boy and so on.
While I liked some things in the flashbacks (shout-out to nuking the arctic), for most of the book they seemed quite disconnected to me because Grace didn't react to them, and for a while I wasn't even sure if he still got his memories in pieces as presented or if he'd recovered all of them and they were just interspersed like this in the book for pacing.
And the reveal that he hadn't come on the mission voluntarily: on the one hand it worked, as in I could definitely see Stratt do that, and in general it's very plausible for someone to have last-minute panic at the thought of a suicide mission; but while I thought it fit for the Grace we saw in the flashbacks, it didn't fit the Grace we'd seen in space so far nearly as well. I would have to reread to say for sure though and I didn't like it that much.
Another book in the category of "if I hadn't had high expectations because I saw so many recs I wouldn't have felt disappointed." I still enjoyed it overall.
Project Hail Mary
Date: 2025-11-08 10:24 am (UTC)Having said that, I don't think the author is great at characterisation in general, more about following an interesting idea. From my perspective, his MCs from The Martian, Artemis, and Project Hail Mary are basically the same character with the exact same personality and quirks, no matter their gender or backstory. Kind of unflappable, with the american-style witty quips, and just focused on finding solutions with next to zero emotion, haha. Never mind-blowing, but I've been enjoying his stories otherwise! I'm not sure I would have liked it as much if it had been warmly recced. Reading it after Arrival sounds rough :D
no subject
Date: 2025-11-08 08:19 pm (UTC)Re: Project Hail Mary
Date: 2025-11-09 09:04 pm (UTC)Simply from the tone of "The Martian" I expected the more hopeful meeting & ending, and I was glad to be proven right. The character voice could have been more different from The Martian though ^^ I have not read Artemis.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-09 09:06 pm (UTC)The doctor told me to check in again in three months but surely it will start working much sooner than that, surely.