Watching – I’m finding Pluribus on Apple tv very weird and interesting. I started late and I’m a bit annoyed that I’m all caught up now and have to wait a week for new episodes. That said, it’s a good one to watch slow because it throws up so many questions in every episode. I don’t want to say too much about it because it’s such an odd, creepy concept that it’s is best to just watch it unfold. It’s definitely holding my interest – I was only going to do a month on Apple tv but now I really want to see what happens next and how the series ends.

I also finished the second series of Man on the Inside on Netflix this week. It is a nice, gentle half-hour show and it’s always nice to have one of those on the go.

Reading – I started Pattern Recognition by William Gibson this week and I’m enjoying it so far. I only started reading his books in the last couple of years, and I’ve only read the two most recent novels – The Peripheral and Agency, which are sci-fi novels set in the future. They feature alternative universes and time-travel of a sort. They’re full of interesting ideas and are a bit of a thriller and a bit of mystery. I added both Neuromancer and Pattern Recognition to my request list at the library and Pattern Recognition came up first. It was set in the present day but the present day is the early 2000s so it’s got old-school internet forums as a new, cult-ish thing. I’m enjoying it so far.

On social media – I am keeping an eye on the Christmas sandwich reviews from All The Food on their instagram. I haven’t tried any of the sandwiches yet but I am planning to get a Christmas wrap from Honest to Goodness this week. This is not one I’ve seen reviewed by ATF yet – possibly because it’s a wrap, not a sandwich – but it is close to my work, which is generally my main criteria for a lunchtime sandwich.

At the theatre – I went to see Uncle Vanya in Smock Alley Theatre this week. It’s the second Chekhov play I’ve seen this year. The first was Three Sisters in the Dublin Theatre Festival, adapted by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth. It was very funny, as well as being a bleak Russian tale. This version of Uncle Vanya was adapted by Brian Friel and is also both funny and depressing. It’s long (2 hrs 45 mins including a 15 minute interval) but there’s enough going on to hold your attention. I also loved the wonderfully scented and beautifully decorated (real) Christmas tree in the foyer of Smock Alley. Uncle Vanya is on until December 20th if you want to see it and smell the tree.

Also – My friend sent me a surprise this week. She told me about it before hand because I live in an apartment building and I never know where deliveries will go if I’m not there to sign for them. (It’s never the same place twice.) This just made it a more exciting surprise, especially because she kept giving my clues by telling me what it wasn’t. The surprise turned out to be the complete collection of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses books. Great surprise, excellent gift, amazing friend! Then today I listened to the Rest is Entertainment’s “Biggest Ever Comebacks” episode, where Richard Osman described Mick Herron’s long road to success. It’s a good story.

And finally – this week I have been trying to finished blog posts. I have a couple of half-written things floating around. Mostly recommendations – lots of books, some newsletters, a bit of tv. So this is a place-holder post, an accountability ploy, and an experiment to see if I can still remember how to do this.