Complex Numbers

Kryptonite

PROMPT January 4th

What books and/or movies are on your list to read/watch this year? What are your “go to” genres?

Whatever comes my way.

I'm not planning much this year. I mean, yeah, a couple of things I expect I'll be doing, like traveling in August, are on the docket, but I've carefully avoided making anything resembling a New Years resolution. Those never worked out for me.

One thing I know is that there will be several comic book superhero type action movies, and I'm always a sucker for those. You might say they're my Kryptonite, except that my true weakness is cold and fizzy and comes in pints.

Chances are I'll go see all of these movies.

I've also pre-ordered a couple of books from Amazon: Brandon Sanderson's next Stormlight novel (finally!) and Jim Butcher's next Dresden story (also finally!). Real books, not Kindle editions. I'm not averse to ebooks; there are just some I'm old-school about.

So there's the answer to the genre question: fantasy (and also science fiction), which anyone who reads the Fantasy newsletters I edit here on WDC already knew.

In addition to books and movies, another type of entertainment I consume is TV series. I resisted those for a long time, partly because they kind of sucked and partly because they were always shown with commercials. Now, though, what with Netflix and other streaming services, I can view some series commercial-free. Yeah, I have to pay for them, but even with the proliferation of such services lately, it's still less than I would have paid for cable TV - which, frustratingly, comes with commercials. If you're going to make me pay for something, don't make me watch ads for diapers or hemorrhoid cream. I can put up with the occasional trailer for other series - though why CBS insists on playing ads for Survivor when all I'm trying to do is watch Star Trek is a complete mystery to me.

I don't think those two shows have much of a crossover audience, and you're certainly not going to create one with the ads.

I'd like to be able to say I watch these things to pick up writing tips. And I do, to some extent, but I usually get too caught up in the stories to bother. Hopefully, something technical breaks through to me every once in a while.

If I go crazy, then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there and holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might
Kryptonite