I have had a recent brush with self-improvement/self-help/personal development books. Call them what you will, books where prescriptions of mental and physical exercises are meted out in an attempt to meet a hierarchy of needs without addressing the foundations of those needs—would be a far more accurate description.
You see, last weekend, I had an ad pop up for the Headway app. It was a reasonable deal to try it out for three months at a reduced price. And somehow on setup, I ended up with it pushing self-improvement books over anything to do with fiction or non-fiction. I’m not sure why sign-up pushes you towards that when you can see from the above link that it has far more than self-help to offer.
Explainer: Headway is a platform that offers audio and written summaries of books. The summaries are usually under 20 minutes in length and are meant to be a way of getting key points and learnings from a book without having to read the whole thing.
No matter what I did with these settings, it pushed self-help over the rest of its library.
As you can see, when I start to scroll down the app it begins to offer links to less self-help content. But the top of the app is all self-help.
A week of regret
So I spent the past week mainly trying out self-help recommendations that on the whole made me want to vomit. Why? Because they were mainly dealing with how to approach problems that have been created by US society, economics and politics. Some of the issues have bled over to the UK thanks to certain political ideologies in our ruling classes since the 1980s, but on the whole, our challenges are not the same.
What I learned from the titles I tried to listen to is that people need the opportunity to meet their foundational needs (food, shelter, belonging), or else the information in these books is utterly useless. Also, listening to loads of self-help books in a short space of time is meaningless because they all either spout variations of the same themes or offer conflicting advice.
And I also learned that there was no point in subscribing to Headway if it was going to push meaningless crap at me first over other more meaningful content. That was a subscription canceled before it had the chance to renew at a more normal price.
(Yes, I am complaining about the effort involved in looking for non-algorithmically fed content.)
I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much while watching a film. It’s been too long, obviously, but Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is that kind of meta treat that only comes along every so often.
It stars Cage as himself in a tongue in cheek critique of his career as he gets an appearance gig for a multi-millionaire out in Spain. Nothing is as it seems (of course) and he ends up playing himself, playing himself as he acts through one of his toughest parts to date. It is a meta film with a high dose of parody.
There’s a midlife crisis, parenting, questions about career choices and friendship. Plus action. All while Cage uniquely sends himself up using Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten’s script that could only have been written after watching a lot of Cage movies.
I suppose if you’ve not watched at least a handful of Cage films, then you might be hard pressed to enjoy his latest outing. And if you know nothing about his personal and professional life that is out there in the public domain, you might also struggle with some of the film’s plot points.
(And if you’ve never watched any of Cage’s films, you should probably rectify that. Like, go do that right now. Maybe start with Face/Off, followed by Raising Arizona and a side of Mandy, but that’s just to start with.)
One thing I did find myself thinking is that it reminds me a lot of The Disaster Artist but the big difference here is that I’d willingly watch any of Cage’s films. But The Room is not something I ever really want to see again.
Those of us who live for Cage “Going full Cage”, this film completely delights… And made me want to rewatch/watch some more of his extensive filmography.
On Saturday, 12 March, I hit 500 days straight of learning Danish through the language app Duolingo. But why am I learning another language? What inspired me? How am I learning? What’s the plan going forward? What have I learned beyond telling a zoo keeper that a tiger eats my future husband? (Tigeren spiser min mand!)
The Venn diagram of events that led me to me learning Danish
There’s a pretty simple explanation as to how I ended up leaning towards learning Danish over another language.
Step one: end up a Fannibal
Post GISH (the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt) 2020, I was gently nudged into a rewatch of Bryan Fuller’s version of Hannibal. Those who listen to my Nerds Assemble podcast will know how that went.
I dived deep into a fandom that is still going strong for a show that hasn’t had a new season since 2016 (and yes, I am one of those people who still hopes for a season 4). Through this dive and ongoing obsession, I well and truly became a Fannibal, who not only liked Hannibal but the filmography of the show’s two main stars.
Now, watching Hugh Dancy’s back catalogue (he’s a Brit who played Will Graham) is a lot easier for me as someone who has English as a first language. (He’s done a bit in French, but mostly sticks to English.) But for Mads Mikkelsen (who plays Hannibal) and his volume of work that goes far beyond the Hollywood titles that nearly always see him play some variation of a villain?
Some of it is in French, some German, but the majority of it is in his native dansk.
And while I don’t ever expect to be completely fluent in Danish, it’s nice not having to completely rely on subtitles (and pick on nuances that get lost in translation).
I can’t remember quite which scene, but there was one in Druk (a.k.a. the Oscar winning Another Round) where the English subtitles didn’t quite match what I was hearing in Danish and changed the emphasis a little. Anyway.
Mads has been in a lot of Danish productions, and through interactions with Fannibal Twitter I decided to get to know them alongside Hugh’s previous work.
(Did you know that Fannibals have a term for discussing the rest of Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen’s back catalogue and having all sorts of fanworks where their various characters “encounter” each other? It’s called the Hannibal Extended Universe or HEU for short.)
Step two: be in the middle of the apocalypse
C’mon, you know what I mean. Begins with C, ends in D and has devastated the globe?
Followed up by other global events of a humanitarian disaster level that are shaking up everyone’s trust in institutions, friends, family and even neighbours?
Yeah, a lot has happened since 2020. (Though 2016 was probably the point where the darkest timeline really took hold, let’s face it.)
Step three: be aware of your need to stop doom scrolling
Boy, while I do tend to keep myself on top of world events there’s only so much I can take in and stay sane.
While March to the start of October 2020 saw me doing a lot of doom scrolling, there came a point where I was feeling like there was something else I’d rather do while on my smartphone. Something healthier for my sanity and meaningful to me (feck off doing it for future employability, and so on and so forth, because not every minute of my day needs to be “productive”).
Perfect opportunity to learn Danish
It helps that I had previously learned German for about seven years between secondary school and two years on the International Baccalaureate. Not that I am fluent in German, I can read it, listen a bit, but I am crap at speaking it.
With this background and all the above events coalescing in my life, it seemed like a good time to learn Danish.
There are many language apps out there
Depending on how you learn and why you’re learning, there are a lot of ways that you learn a language like Danish. It’s not supported on all language apps out there but it is on the following:
I haven’t looked further than these three and if you have any suggestions, please do share them.
And if you’re in Cornwall and have a Cornwall library card, the card gives you access to a free app where it’s possible to learn a level of Danish suitable for a holiday. (Based elsewhere? Your local library service likely has free-language learning resources you can use too.)
What I learned from 500 days of learning Danish
Here is a list of things I learned that aren’t just random Danish words.
There are bits I like about Danish as a language
There are similarities between Danish and German which helped me not be too scared by a third language. And there are things that Danish does that I prefer over how German handles things, including:
“The” being part of words (it varies but I love it), while still having a separate word for “the” when you need it. So, tigeren is “the tiger” with en denoting “the”.
The use of English swear words (makes cursing easier) and some intriguing ones of their own.
How less formal than German, Danish is as a language. And it’s far more to the point in my opinion as a result.
However, I have grown more appreciative of just how much more slowly spoken German is as a language compared to Danish. And wow, can Danish get fast.
There are also some similarities between English and Danish, which I find helpful.
It’s worth learning about the culture a language comes from as well as learning it
Learning about culture as you study a language helps you understand why certain phrases exist, where the important elements of a sentence come into play. And it just makes it all far more memorable when you don’t have a native speaker to talk with and you’re not living in the country.
I went on two language exchanges when I was studying German in school and the internet hardly existed as it does now. So, opportunities to learn about German culture were limited and it definitely made it harder to learn.
Today, there are so many opportunities to learn about the culture for a language as you learn it, largely thanks to the internet. That opportunity is super important in a world where travel is not always easy.
What I’ve used to get a bit of Danish culture:
Mads Mikkelsen’s back catalogue of Danish films
Danish language TV shows like Rita, Borgen, The Chestnut Man on Netflix
What The Denmark podcast, which is literally a show all about understanding Danish culture
Books like The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (which was recommended to me)
And if you have any recommendations, lemme know.
I’ve even got a Danish version of the Stephen King novel Carrie to read once I’m feeling more confident about reading in Danish. (I also have some dictionaries and a grammar book on hand.)
You don’t have to learn something just because it’ll lead to a new career
Learning Danish has cost me money and it’ll likely cost me more in future because some day I’d love to visit Denmark for a spell (apparently it might be possible to get there entirely by train, an idea that excites me immensely).
I’ve been asked numerous times during my 500 days if I am learning just because I want to work in Denmark or with Danish companies. These have never been my goals.
My main goal has always been to give my brain something to do and occupy my time in a non-stressful way. That helps me alleviate boredom and connect more deeply with the film career of a guy who is an amazing actor.
And then the deeper I’ve gone, the more I’ve wanted to know about a different country and its culture beyond that one man.
I like knowing and learning stuff for the sole reason it fascinates me.
But I am well aware that I also have the privilege of time and modest financial means to learn something new.
Learning something new takes time
Okay, this is more of a reminder for me, rather than something I learned. But I do swear people forget that it takes time and practice to get okay and then good at something.
I’ve encountered a fair few people in my life who give up on something because they spent an hour learning something and still can’t do it as well as someone who’s had years to hone their abilities. People who won’t learn something because they won’t be instantly good at it.
Whether it’s learning a new language, learning how to knit or learning how to decently cook… and on, and on.
Slow down. Expect to fumble words, to make holes or burn food. And then try again. You’ll get better with practice, so don’t be so hard on yourself if you don’t get something right away.
Here’s to 500 more days and beyond!
While I’ve been writing this blog post, Duolingo has popped up a reminder on my phone to remind me to take a lesson.
Later this year, for my birthday, I’m hoping to convince a few friends to have a Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen movie marathon with me. (Heads up if one of you is reading this.)
I’m slowly saving for that trip to Denmark.
So, here’s to 500 more days and beyond of learning dansk.
My first defeat in my reading challenge comes in the form of Robert Graysmith’s Zodiac. It’s taken a while to write about it on account of being busy reading things I’m enjoying (more on that later). But at the start of February, I gave up on my next read after Black Sunday.
I am allowed to give up reading a book if it’s not managed to hold my interest after I’ve attempted to read at least a third of it.
Dear reader, I could not even make it that far. I managed the first chapter and that was it.
I am familiar with the case of The Zodiac Killer, and I have read plenty of non-fiction in the past but this book is essentially a dry accounting of all the evidence that Graysmith collected over the years he investigated the cases at hand.
So, I gave up on the book.
I will be keeping hold of it, but just for writing purposes as a source of inspiration.
Do I change my rules?
Perhaps having my third of the way through rule isn’t entirely helpful. Maybe I should make it less generous.
I do have well over one hundred books to try and get through.
But there are books in the past where I struggled with the first chapter and then finally got into it. My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is one such novel. And I’m pretty sure it took me a bit to get into This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth last year.
I’m not going to change the wording for now, but I am allowed to change any rule as per the tenth rule in my list.
Is this a sign that the book deserves a zero star rating?
I think I’d just rather rewatch the David Fincher 2007 film adaptation of it, which removes the dryness of the book.
I’m going to say that Zodiac doesn’t need a rating from me. I can tell it has potential, I just can’t get on with the style of how it was written. Plenty of other people over the decades have found it a fascinating read but its style just ain’t my cup of tea.
Black Sunday by Thomas Harris is a thriller set in the 1970s following a terrorist group and their new American ally in the plotting and execution of a terrorist attack in New Orleans. The novel is Thomas Harris’s first novel.
How I got on
I’ve had Black Sunday kicking about for a while after starting a Thomas Harris kick at the end of 2020 and start of 2021, because of landing in Hannibal fandom. Having read all of Harris’s Hannibal novels, I wanted to see what this early work was like. (His latest novel, Cari Mora is also on my to-read pile.)
You can certainly see in Black Sunday the origins for Harris’s writing style where the plot speeds along as tidbits of characterisation are brought to life in the present or in harrowing flashbacks. And certainly his habit of not necessarily writing characters you should or would want to identify with.
When I found time to read this novel, I would devour chapters quite easily. It certainly works as a thriller, though sometimes I got tired running around in circles over Michael Lander’s misery and psychological disorders. Certainly, Harris does not shy away from the effects a character’s pasts will have on their present.
No one is well adjusted.
Would I recommend it?
If you’re unfamiliar with Middle Eastern politics at the time of the novel’s setting or indeed with them at all, much of the novel will make little to any sense. I’m the kind of person who’s read a lot on the historical situations there and the present issues, and seen and read a lot of news reports over the past 25 years as well as watching series like Homeland.
Should you know a lot about the above then you’re going to get along fine with the story’s main driving forces and plot.
SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
Do not read this thriller if you’re expecting a happy ending.
Will I be keeping Black Sunday on my book shelf?
Seeing as how I now seem to be collecting Thomas Harris novels, I will be keeping Black Sunday on my shelf. If I wasn’t collecting them, I probably wouldn’t.
Final rating for Black Sunday
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
I’m giving Black Sunday 3.5 stars. It’s a little dated and creaky at times but still worth reading at least once.
Drowning In Multimedia 