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Oh hey, ScarJo might be playing another character with superpowers, in a Luc Besson movie. That sounds promising. (It's not a Black Widow movie but hey, superpowers. That's cool. And Luc Besson is not known for cheap and shallow movies.) link @ themarysue
Speaking of themarysue, I remember when they introduced the website concept I was extreeemely skeptical because of the name... I thought it signalled an entirely different purpose, like it was to ridicule female characters instead of celebrating them. I'd have figured that the word "Mary Sue" is so fraught with negative connotations that it couldn't be reclaimed. Well, maybe it's really worth trying. I like the website, in any case.

Yesterday

jae was visiting my beautiful (if still a litte chilly) city, and we geeked about The Americans* and had some delicious asparagus. (Asparagus is kind of A Thing here... it's like a two-months feast of deliciousness.)
Also, I found out that

jae could totally have a career as an undercover spy in Germany because her German is so flawless that I kept forgetting she's not from here. Really fascinating. I'm reasonably fluent in English but I never got to the point where I lost my German accent.

*If you haven't watched The Americans but are in the market for something different: The Americans is something different. It's set in the 80s, about two undercover Soviet spies in the US who're posing as a married couple with kids. If you liked The Wire, for example, you should really check this one out... it has a similar flavor. It's realistic, nuanced and gripping, and what I really love is that when it comes to East vs West ideologies and politics, the show doesn't take sides. It shows individual people's actions and motivations, similar to The Wire. That's rather bold (I think, for a US show) and it's refreshing.

I love having visitors. Especially from abroad. Earlier this month

pentapus and a friend had stopped by (and were hardy enough to brace the freezing wind and go on a bike tour which is also A Thing here, and I got to show them our sights, among which is the world's largest ammonite. (Seriously, the thing is huge.)

Today the weather was actually great and with my illos finished I went to our hidden meadow to shoot a few arrows AND went climbing at the owl tower AND I think I finally found the perfect route along the back wall, so I'm almost ready to try to traverse the entire building in one go. *rubs hands* It's gonna be a ~15 minute climb (which is funny because it feels so much shorter when you're on the wall; time passes very differently when you're climbing.)

One potential job for May fell through, and another one got postponed for a year. I'm okay with the former, not so happy with the latter. But I still have a lot of half-finished projects of my own, some of them fanart. I had been about to post some new fanart when that last job landed on my desk. Gonna get back to that.

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After some of the conversations we had last night, I'm feeling a little bit like I should be assuring you that I'm NOT seekritly a spy. (I'm not! *g*)

I had such a good time at your place! Next time, more than just a few hours, okay?

-J

Absolutely! Maybe when you come when it's warmer we could do some cycling, too. Aka "Pättkestour". I know some beautiful routes around here.

After some of the conversations we had last night, I'm feeling a little bit like I should be assuring you that I'm NOT seekritly a spy. (I'm not! *g*)

*g* It's just so funny because just earlier this week I'd been thinking about the Jennings' language skillz and wondering how realistic such a thing really is, but telling myself that the show is actually based on real cases so it can't be that unrealistic...

Unfortunately (or not?), this tends to be the general time when I do most of my further-afield travels. The academic year is just now over in Canada, so my teaching responsibilities don't interfere, and so I tend to go over in the spring and then spend the summer at home. But perhaps I'll make it over next year for a few days when I'll be in the Netherlands (ausnahmsweise) during June and July. I'll have my own bike, too! Yeah, we should plan to do that, really--that sounds so fun.

-J

Yeah, Westphalia is perfect for biking. For rollerblading too, if you're into that. Miles and miles of narrow paved paths with zero car traffic. Just fields and the occasional castle with moat on the roadside.

And April is not usually this cold... normally even March should get warm enough for some outdoor fun. I'm hoping this sort of winter isn't becoming the norm.

Ooh, thanks for sharing the news on Scarlett! I really hope this happens--it could really bolster the whole "women can be lead superheroes in box-office hit action movies" thing. There's the Underworld and Resident Evil movies, but I really want a straight-up super-powered superhero that doesn't involve, like, the living dead.

Also, your plug for The Americans makes it sound so good! I've been ignoring it because of the show's title (really? "The Americans"? ugh), but maybe I'll give it a try.

Yeh, the show is nothing like what the title evokes. There is no USA Go! hurray patriotism of any sort, on the contrary. I got into it because of a fandomsecret that complained that Russians are presented as protagonists/heroes, where are our morals, that's so wrong! Still don't know if that person was trolling or trying to get people to watch. Heh.