by Quentin Lewis

Quentin's Weeknotes 8/1/21-8/7/21

books weeknotes comics family museum

This Week:

  • I finished Nalo Hopkinson’s “Skin Folk”, a short story collection of fantasy, science fiction, and magical realism, rooted in her Caribbean heritage and Canadian upbringing. I also read some more of Brian K. Vaughan’s “Paper Girls”, which continues to be a funny and strange science fiction comic about growing up, saving the world, and loving your friends.
  • I finally finished listening to the audible production of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman”. The graphic novel was one of the most important pieces of art I found as a young person, and listening to it wellperformed by an amazing cast brought back a lot of what originally inspired and astonished me about it. This time I was struck by just how violent and horrific parts of it are–the audio really brought home the horror of Dr. Destiny’s sadistic manipulation in “24 Hours” and the funny but terrifying story of “the Collectors.”
  • Last week, I took a vacation with the fam. We spent the first half of the  week in Southern Vermont, staying near Wilmington, swimming in Harriman reservoir, and visiting Manchester, Brattleboro, the ruined castle at Madame Sherri’s forest, and Shaftsbury state park. After that, we dipped down to western Mass, and visited with old friends, as well as making pit stops at the Whateley Diner, the Black Sheep, Richardson’s Candy Kitchen, and the Berkshire Brewing Company. It was a great trip for everyone but our poor dog, who we discovered REALLY doesn’t like being in cars.
  • At the Museum, we began installing the Mexican Mask exhibit. It’s taking a VERY long time, but will look great when it’s done.
  • We said goodbye to Gabriel Valenzuela (‘23) our summer Museum assistant. He’s done amazing work in inventory, installation, and general assistance and we’re sorry that he’s got to leave (even if he’s coming back in two weeks when classes start!).