Notices by Ariel Kroon (arielkroon@wandering.shop), page 3

@seanbala I'm a fan of The Coventry Carol and Veni, Veni Immanuel, also! But yes, Advent Carols are where it's at. Have any recommendations?

Finally have started to listen to Christmas carols / seasonal music to try to force myself into a more festive mood (never mind that I've had Mariah Carey's version of "All I Want For Christmas is You" as my hellish earworm all month; I must have racked up some bad karma earlier).

Anyway, yearly reminder to myself that I am a cranky git who dislikes most post-1947 Christmas-themed media, so I really should stop trying.

The classics are where it's at. Listening to Mediaeval Baebes' rendition of "We Three Kings" and the line "king and god and sacrifice" goes so hard.

Like, it didn't have to. But it did. And I appreciate that. Give me the songs about suffering, please. It's cold and dark and they are far more relatable.

Every year the COP tries to be the Council of Elrond deciding what to do about the Ring (aka fossil fuels), except instead of Boromir, it's Denethor advocating that we need to use it to save/preserve the world as it was, and now he's the host. There are no adults in charge.

Liberating things: saying "I don't actually know yet" cheerfully in response to a question at a conference about a game I was developing. I did this as a first-year PhD and that's a high I won't soon forget. Baffled the older prof asking me too.

Also the woman sitting across the aisle has a stroller and it turns out it is holding a carrier with a bunny inside! She has the bunny out in her arms now. It looks so soft and sweet ...

Finally saw The Batman last night, and my ice-cold take is that I enjoyed watching a sophomore superhero screw up and develop character. It's the same reason I like Spiderman stories: he fails and then learns and gets good. Also kudos to the film for not beating the dead horse of backstory. I feel like I watched a superhero origin film without it being a superhero origin film. If that makes sense.

I am in Toronto Union station with two hours to kill. What should I do?

#Toronto #UnionStation

The shrinkflation on chocolate bars is wild right now.

Worth it to invest in chocolate from more ethical sources, which are more expensive: it's going to be expensive either way, might as well give your support to organizations trying to make lives better instead of just turn a profit.