Watching, Reading, Doing_Week 2
A wizard and some ghosts grow a garden (or something like that).
It’s that time again for the week…
Reading
This week I wrapped up A Wizard of Earthsea, the first in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle. I actually picked this up because I watched Studio Ghibli’s Tales of Earthsea a few months back and while it wasn’t my favorite Ghibli film, it piqued my interest in the Earthsea series. There were definite gaps in the film about the story, so I naturally went to the internet and then the book. Turns out the film tried to combine several storylines across the series and it just didn’t quite land.
The book was lovely, something I wish I read younger and earlier, but melancholy and slightly dark in a beautiful way that I think all humans can appreciate. I still recommend the film because all Ghibli films are worth a watch in my opinion, but pick up the book too!
Watching
I actually stay specifically away from scary shows. In my teens, it seemed like all my friends and fellow youths wanted to watch scary stuff, but I am prone to nightmares and carrying scary thoughts after such viewings. Suddenly I realized that I actually don’t have to consume scary stuff just because my friends are. So honestly, I shrugged off all scary stuff for a long long time. Then I recently started getting just a little into horror as a book genre, which made me a little more comfortable around some scary stuff.
Which is how I started watching the Haunting of Hill House. I was also intrigued because this had an interesting family dynamic and seemingly had a lot of story behind it, not just jumpscares or body horror. I just finished it and I felt like it was a gentle dip back into horror/scary. Not sure I’ll make that a regular rotation, but I loved that I was different from what I normally watch.
Doing
On TikTok my feed is serving up tons of “chaos gardens” and starting seeds. Chaos gardens basically mean you buy seeds and more or less put them in dirt randomly and see what sticks. It’s definitely the season for it and while I’ve always dabbled in buying some flowers from the box stores, I’ve never planted seeds or really started any kind of garden. Though I do vividly remember growing beautiful sunflowers one time when I was an elementary school kid. I can see them in a backyard that I have long moved away from and still remember the immense pride and awe that something so tall could grow in our little dirt patch.
So now I spend a lot of time watching TikToks about seeds and flowers and dahlias, and I think I’m going to casually go for it. I am not a person with a huge green though, but I love flowers and when it does come together I am immensely satisfied. I have purchased a few seed packets, so I’ll keep you posted on Crystal’s “Chaos Garden”.