I Need Some Elrond Healing

Well, my arm is apparently worse than I'd originally thought. In case you're just tuning in, I jacked it up about ten days ago and then underestimated how bad it was and lifted too hard and made it worse. Anyway, now I'm icing it several times a day which involves a fancy ice pack and an elaborate shoulder wrap thing that I can't even put on by myself.

 Yeah, it's not cool. A few days ago I figured out that jamming a pillow into my armpit seemed to keep my arm from getting into stupid positions when I'm knocked out so things are looking up. 

Anyway, I figured it's time for a new Holodeck post so here's some of what I've been reading/watching this week: 

1- Legend of Korra: Season 3

I've been on board with Avatar since 2006 and, I have to say, I think Korra is, in many ways, even better than its predecessor. Because its protagonists are more mature (like 17 instead of 11) you can have more mature plot lines and places for those characters to go emotionally and, really, Korra is a fantastic character. She's strong and powerful, she's a loyal friend and she's dedicated to her role as the Avatar. But, she's also young and still learning; she's insecure and, at times, kind of whiny. Basically, she's human. And, here's the thing, Korra isn't even the best part of Korra. This show is full of great stuff. The portrayal of friendship/romance/montorship etc. is fantastic. And, while there are goodies and baddies, this show works a lot in shades of gray and the fact that, in real life, there are no easy answers. Oh yeah. And the action. The action is BRILLIANT. The fight choreography in this show is gorgeous. 

2- Daredevil

Volumes 1 and 2 by Mark Waid

So here's what happened. I recently read all of Matt Fraction's run on Iron Fist, and then all the Iron Fist that came after his run and then I ran out. I went to my husband (who's basically an expert on wise-cracking superheroes) and said, "I need a new superhero comic that's the same kind of clever but not too self-serious." He handed me this: 

So I read all of it. In like an afternoon. And then I went back and whined about how I was out and he handed me this:

 And I read all of it. In an afternoon. And I'm way into it. For one thing, the art is gorgeous. It's fun. It's clever. It's fast. It pops. It's great for the end-of-the-day wind down. I mean, after I've spent 10+ hours working on the Awesome Jones sequel, I need a little fun in my day.

3- The Fellowship Of The Ring
by J.R.R. Tolkien (obviously)
When I was about four or five, my godmother happened to have the 1977 Hobbit cartoon lying around and popped it in when I was probably being rowdy. I think I fell asleep when they first started walking/singing.

Zzzzzz...

When I was in seventh grade, my science teacher was reading The Hobbit during class. Not to us or anything. We were watching Spice World. (Can you tell I went to some real Grade A schools?) Anyway, I went over and asked him what it was because the cover was pretty cool and he handed it to me and was like, "This book will change your life." I got a few pages in before the period was over and it was all dwarves and songs and breakfasts and I just... I just couldn't.
When I was in high school, the first LOTR movie came out and I was way into it. I went to my school library and checked out the only copy of the book they had, which btw, was the 3-book-in-1-huge-as-hell collection and, again, I just could not make this happen. I don't know why. At the time I was  more into Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Spider Robinson. That's the only way I can explain it.
Alright, so it took me like twenty something years but I finally picked up this book again (thanks to the near-constant prodding from my friend, Kate) and I am loving it. Like, I'm 100% in love with this book. Mr. Frodo and I go everywhere together. I carry my kindle with me from room to room just in case I have time to check in with Mr. Frodo. When I'm at the gym, I'm walking with Mr. Frodo. When I'm falling asleep at night, it's next to Mr. Frodo Aragorn Elrond. (Have I mentioned my weirdo crush on Hugo Weaving?)

Oh yeah... that's the stuff.

Obviously, because I live in this culture and I'm a geek and I've seen all the movies, I know how this biz ends but that's ok. Most of the books I read are super old and I know how it all turns out.

Ok, it's getting late here. Time for me to shove a pillow in my armpit and see what's up in Rivendell.

Yeah. Probably this... Zzzzz...