Hoarding hobbies.

Europe from Above episodes ranked:

1. The Netherlands
2. Germany
3. Italy
4. Spain
5. UK

This is for Season 1 only. Apparently there are five seasons, but Disney + Canada only gives us the first season, minus Poland. What did Poland ever do to Disney?

I chose to watch this as a background show while working on a modelling clay project. Bad pick. It was too captivating for me to create anything more than a pinch bowl for the incense matches the roomie bought for us to use post-shit. I saved the remaining four episodes to watch with Jordi. Together we oohed and ahh-ed at the Wolfsburg Volkswagon Tower, the Zugspitze gondola, the Teufelsberg listening station, the Falkirk wheel, and assorted aerial views of natural landscapes.

But there was something off about the UK episode. It was as if a completely different team of writers did this episode.

Why on earth–or above earth–have we adopted elephants as a way to illustrate the scale of something? The last time I saw an elephant was probably at the Calgary Zoo 20 years ago. I have a vague idea of heavy they are, let alone how much three elephants in a trench coat would weigh. Using the length of several 747 lined up from wing to wing is hardly any better. I’ve seen 747s more frequently and more recently than elephants. Still, it’s not like I know the difference between a Boeing 737, 777, or 747.

This series also focuses on those responsible for maintaining or operating the machinery, buildings, or landscapes shown. This doesn’t always result in good interviews, and I suspect several overstated their passion for their job. From the five episodes I’ve watched, I estimate 95% of people interviewed mentioned how much they loved their job, and not always convincingly. The salt harvesters at the Añana salt valley chase water around the salt ponds with a push broom all day, often under direct sunlight. My lips started cracking just typing this.

The guy interviewed gave off Malta potato farmer vibes. Instead of “I have potato blood in my veins” it is, “When I die, let them bury me with a pinch of salt.”

In Laura news, as predicted, things have slowed down at work. This means I find myself with more opportunities to leave work early. I can choose to do so, but I’m not salaried. Repairing bicycles for a hourly wage is significantly less shitty than salt harvesting, yet it’s always temping to call it quits early. If I decide to leave early, it should be because I have something better to do.

I enjoyed refurbishing a catnip pickle so much that I’ve decided to make this my next project. Fuck, I might give up wrenching to craft bespoke catnip toys.

The goal this winter (in my mind there are only two seasons in Victoria: summer and winter) is to learn to sew… using a machine. Which I don’t have. Yet.

Not owning a sewing machine was never my greatest barrier to getting into the hobby: sewing classes are taught by hearing people to hearing people. Online video tutorials are also created by hearing people for hearing people. I had hoped my previous partner would teach me to use the machine I gifted him for his birthday once he got the hang of it, but we broke up before that happened.

I haven’t had much success teaching myself a new skill by watching YouTube. I learned the basics of knitting solo in 2018, only to have this hobby unravel as soon as I got into the more advanced stuff. I haven’t given up on it completely, but my DIY sweater is waiting for a knitting mentor.

I bought the shark kit from my future sewing instructor, who I met today. Last week, someone in the deaf community mentioned one of the owners of a sewing co-op in Victoria was fluent in ASL. The barrier to this prospective hobby has been removed.

So, I emailed this person on Tuesday night, and they got back to me immediately. Next Thursday is my first lesson! With how quickly this goal is already progressing, I might have my own sewing machine by the end of October and a fashion empire by next October.

PS- This is the incense match dish I made during the Netherlands episode. I blame the sub-par craftmanship on the episode being too interesting.

Glows in the dark though!