What a month

I had plans for last weekend.  Unfortunately, I also had stomach flu, and that sort of trumped the plans.  And work was as busy as short work weeks tend to be, so I didn’t actually get here until now.

In any case!  I got nominated by What’s it all about and other stories for the Tell Me About Yourself Award. It was kind of startling, but in the good way–like having the cat appear from nowhere to jump onto your lap and start purring, actually, which is totally not an example drawn from recent personal experience.

So… wow, okay. Five Things About Me:

1. I knit. Most of the time this is very satisfying, kind of a cross between assembling a puzzle and getting a room cleaned.  But occaisionally I get anxious over the fact that what I do with it isn’t creative, and it ties up my hands so that time spent knitting is time taken away from typing.  (I also knit stuff with no idea of who it should go to, and probably need to start clearing out a few things.)
2. I find it easy to get involved in stories, to think about what they mean in an idealized way.  I read a horror novel and I see how it reflects King’s ideas of Appolonian and Dionysian struggle; I get into a gaming setting and start gushing when I try to describe it, the idea that among the crooked or the corrupt or the afraid, you may look into the darkness and pick up your weapon and stand your ground.  I can get sappy over TV Tropes; I know that so much of what’s there is pulp, but (as they say) tropes reflect life, and they are about celebrating fiction, not mocking it.
3. I spent the first four years of my life that I remember in London, England–age three to age seven.  I got the chance to go back three years ago and it was lovely; I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so comfortable in a place.
4. I have depression.  It’s currently being managed, but I’m still dealing with a chronic condition, I’m not better.  I try not to hide it, because I don’t want to feel shamed into pretending I’m well in order to live my life.  I’m near-sighted, I’m physically weak, and I have a neurochemical imbalance–describing it as diabetes of the brain seems to help some people get it, and to not sneer at my meds.
   It’s hell.  There is no-one in the world I can imagine ever, ever wishing it on.
5. I love the TV show The Wire; I honestly think it’s the best one I’ve ever seen.  It’s an exception to point 2: the world is so low-key and plausible and compelling and honest that it comes in feeling almost more like a documentary than a story, a roman a clef, and the story’s so vital that there’s no inclination to wander into the abstract.  It’s brilliant and harsh and honest and sad and funny, and the kind of thing I buy on DVD specifically so I can loan it to people.

EDIT: This post was originally titled “What a week”.  I’m still not finished.  Posting as it stands, for the moment, and will update with a list of people.  Apologies for the delay.