March 2023

It's March, and this month rewatched Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film "The Birds" after not seeing it since I was young. The film, based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, follows a small town in California that is suddenly attacked by birds. It's definitely dated, and the special effects are now special for how not special they are. I loved the acting and the accents of Americans slightly English to sound a bit fancier, like the actors in many old movies. There wasn't any music, and the soundtrack of the birds sounded a lot like cats yowling. The ending held up, and it was a fun old scary movie. Just a few days ago, it was The Bird's 60th anniversary. 

I watched Knock at the Cabin. The new movie directed by M Knight Shyamalan is based on the book The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. Dave Bautista was great, and the movie was ok. Both the book and the movie are worth the time. 

I finished reading "A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" by Becky Chambers, a science fiction novel that follows a diverse crew of humans and aliens traveling through space to create wormholes. Like the Monk and Robot series, the book explores themes of identity, relationships, and community and creates a detailed world with great characters.

I'm currently reading "A Closed and Common Orbit," the sequel to "A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet," and I'm also enjoying it. The book continues the story of Lovelace and Pepper as they navigate their new lives and explores themes of identity, consciousness, and human-AI relationships.

This month, I wrote one short story, but it wasn't my best work. I hope to write more next month, and I have a great idea I'm excited to work on. However, I need to get back to writing consistently before I start. So, my goal for April is to write a short story each week, hoping that at least one of them will be good.

That's it for March. 

(Here's a picture of the oldest in England that can back up its historical claims. The Royal Standard of England goes back to 1086. This was taken at night from the outside and of the oldest part of the building.)



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