Two for Tuesday [movie reviews]

SPOILERS!!!!!

1. A Simple Favor.

This is one of the movies I was really looking forward to seeing. The previews were so tantalizing… and after watching Henry Golding slay in Crazy Rich Asians, I wanted to see him in another role. Plus, I was predisposed to like the female leads: Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. Am I now going to say boo I hated it? Nope! I loved it. It was fabulous!

However. I would not have liked it as a book. Generally, I say to myself, self, I like the written version best and the screen is never as good as what I can imagine from the words. But not this time. There were several elements, one in particular (which I hesitate to reveal even to those who don’t mind spoilers), that are on my hate list. If I see this on a novel description, I won’t read the book. Yep, that bad. But I didn’t mind it in this movie.

There were other things that would have annoyed me as a reader ~ I would have paused and thought wtf? Why is this here? Gratuitous backstory weird sex scene. Unnecessary veering into the possibility of the supernatural. But the movie was too fast-paced to pause and think. It was just damn good fun with a satisfying ending.

I walked out grinning like an idiot. Love these three actors. Blake was especially great.

2. Puzzle. This is another movie I had been trying to pin down on Movie Pass and finally gave up. So, I just went and saw it on Sunday with a few friends. Odd flick. Not what I had expected.

I didn’t much like the protagonist. She’s supposed to be some sort of repressed genius whose mind works too damn fast for her mundane life, yet apparently not fast enough to pick up a book or any kind of smart hobby all these years until someone gives her a jigsaw puzzle. And then she doesn’t know where to buy another puzzle without traveling an hour or so by train into Manhattan to a special puzzle store. Because this genius has never heard of Target.

But they need her in the big city for the plot to work, so okay. And it seems we are supposed to dislike her husband, except I don’t. I actually dislike her new man, so there’s that. I don’t like people who jabber psychobabble at you that ostensibly is supposed to make you feel good about yourself, but is ultimately designed to manipulate you into doing what they want all along. I have a big thing about that actually! 😡 Oo Paula’s issues! But it was still an interesting movie overall about family dynamics and such, and I’m glad I saw it.

I’m looking forward to Colette, A Star Is Born, The Old Man & The Gun, Serenity, The Nutcracker & The Four Realms, Bohemian Rhapsody, Robin Hood, Welcome To Marwen, Mary Queen Of Scots, and Mary Poppins.

Geez, that’s a lot of movies. Good thing I have my trusty pass! 🙄

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In Praise Of The WP App

No, they aren’t paying me. Though they could, if they wanted to. I wouldn’t mind. 🙂

I was not an app fan, until lately. Why do I need to clutter up my phone with dumb icons, I used to whine? I can just go to the websites. But then I got clued into the fact that apps gobble less battery. Ooh, that’s nice. Next I realized that Twitter is actually better on an app. Can’t explain ~ it just is. After that came the banking and insurance apps ~ not only more convenient, but more secure. Well!

But that’s enough. I’m certainly not going to write lengthy poasts and emails on apps, I sniffed. I need a real keyboard for these dreamy endeavors. And then I destroyed my laptop on July 4th with a glass of iced tea. Whoops! Since I didn’t feel like running right out and buying a new laptop, I began using my phone for everything. Including those long emails and bloggeries.

That’s where the WP app comes in. Not only is it ideal for starting and saving draft ideas, it also has a great newsfeed. I can read, like, and save other poasts! 🤩 In the past, whenever I wanted to save another blogger’s poast for linking later, I had to keep it open in a browser tab. Sometimes I screwed that up and closed it. Now, all saved poasts are in a tab in the app. So fab! Easier to select categories and tags via the app and to schedule poasts. Also, it’s easy peasy to edit or delete one of my own published rants and do blog admin stuffs.

It’s not perfect, alas. This morning I was forced to return to the browser newsreader when I realized that the app reader had missing poasts. Yep, there was a 6-hour window in the middle of the night through which a pile of poasts up and fluttered bye. 🦋 Sad! And the browser newsreader felt clunkier than ever. I could like poasts but not save any. There were annoying “you might like these” blogs mished in with the ones I follow. This made me appreciate the WP app even more. They need to keep the windows closed though.

However, fingers x’d, I am picking up a new (used) Mac tonight, so I will have a real keyboard again shortly. As the days grow shorter, I will resume my favored position of sitting at my kitchen table, WIP in front of me on the screen, while staring out the window at nothingness. But I will keep any beverages far, far away from the puter! 😜

All About Orange

The fact that I have this photo in my blog media library gives me the idea I have written negatively about orange before. But instead of searching for that poast, and lazily efficiently reblogging it, I’ve already banged out a new one. Maybe next time I’ll remember to look for a pic before I start typing like a maniac. Who wants to bet on that?

Orange has never been a favorite color or flavor of mine. There are a few exceptions. Color-wise, I like a dash of bright orange with pink and yellow, lime and purple, for that crazy fruit bowl tropical look. Perfect for the muumuu you need on a cruise to cover up the 10 pounds you gain the first three days before the dysentery hits. And naturally orange is the appropriate base color for Halloween shirts, preferably with black cats, owls, and bats decorating a spooky crooked tree. Boo!

Food-wise, oranges suck. What is up with these things? All pulpy and seedy, with icky white strings you have to keep peeling off. Feh! Waaay too much work. I don’t mind some orange juice, sans pulp, if it’s mixed with mango juice, but that’s a lot of sugar. Did I mention I’m eating a lot less sugar now? Paula’s diet… always a fascinating topic, but we’ll leave that for another poast. As far as the actual taste of orange? Meh. It’s good in cake, I guess. But there’s that pesky sugar issue again! Same with Panda Express orange chicken (soooo sweet and yummy). Oh, here we go with the Panda Express haters piling on to tell me it’s not real Chinese food. 🙄🙄🙄

Okay. Not gonna write a book rn. Bottom line: orange is pretty much last on my list, except for pretty flowers obviously, and it’s not because of you know who.

A Bit Of Pontificating

It’s been a while since I said anything controversial and pissed people off. I shall attempt to remedy that right meow. 🐱

Like everyone else, I believe I have achieved the perfect balance between extremes. Almost no one categorizes herself as a loony lefty or a rightwing wacko, though we can all easily find some (if we so desire), label them, and mock. I’m no exception and neither are you. How does that feel? 😂😂😂

We all want to be special. We like to think our ideas are exciting and unique, but mostly they’re not. So sad. Sometimes we get jealous and irritated at people who, for whatever reason, have staked a claim to fame, so we criticize them. I do. You do too, right? I probably could find a hundred better uses of my time. Even checking the news now is mostly a waste of time, since it’s almost all repetitive garbage about our horrible POTUS and celebrity fluff.

Did you catch that last sentence? Like most reasonable people, I think the POTUS is a deranged, narcissistic moron, but you may have also noticed I don’t spend much time talking, poasting, or tweeting about him. What’s the point? I wouldn’t be saying anything new or interesting, and I’d just get myself all riled up. For nothing. I’ll make my preferences known on my ballot.

Note that I’m not criticizing people who spend loads of time focused on hating the Prez. Go for it. Some folks make a living that way, but even if you don’t and you’re having fun, great. I don’t find the hate-follow to be enjoyable ~ in fact, I try to block the things I hate. The entire Trump family is blocked from my twitter feed, and I only wish I could block them and the KarJenners from regular news as well. I actually consider them on the same level, though I guess Kylie is richer than all of them because… lipstick?

Maybe I’m just jealous. I admit it might be nice to be a beautiful billionaire. I’d at least be willing to try it for a year, hey. If it didn’t work out, no hard feelings, I’ll leave with a nice parting gift of $100M, okies? And all the clothes and plastic surgery, natch. 😀

It’s been almost 6 months since I deleted my Facebook account, and I find that my peace of mind has increased accordingly. I encourage everyone who feels stressed by the level of hate and negativity online to consider giving up Facebook ~ it really is a pit of despair. I’m not talking about the ads and scammers, which are bad enough, but your friends. Yes, them. Your friends are depressing. I’m not making this up ~ there have been studies. No, I’m not spoon-feeding you links; you know where Google is. If you have a bunch of sad friends talking about their sads, it will tend to bring you down. If you have a bunch of shiny, happy friends poasting about their perfect lives, you’ll get down about that, even if you suspect they’re faking it. And then there’s all the relentless arguing about shit that doesn’t matter in the context of friendship. Do we really have to engage in vicious name-calling with friends of friends, people we will never meet, over abortion, gay rights, immigration, etc.? Why?

I’m outta that horror stew for good. I know there are folks who get into the same (or worse) mess on Twitter, but I’m not one. I don’t jump into controversial threads, and my own little tweets never go viral. Exiting FB didn’t cure all my problems, but it was a nice start. I’ve exited many other online time-wasters too, such as Instagram. And guess what? I don’t miss taking constant pics of my food. Gawd, that was silly.

I’m trying to stop reading comments on news articles because they’re just a magnet for trolls and other nasty types. I condemn any publication that allows anonymous, unmoderated comments in order to boost clicks. It’s just wrong and encourages racists and misogynists and all manner of bullies to spew their hate. Whenever I see one of these creepsters, I do not engage, but use whatever means available to block them from engaging with me online. I know that’s not everyone’s way (and didn’t use to be mine either), but I find it works best for me now. The more you feed them, the more they will return. It’s a universal law.

I guess that’s enough pontificating. For now. Kinda got into it… might do moar soon. Consider yourself warned!

Activity vs Energy

Two perfect words popped up as prompts today: activity and energy. This is a great follow-up to my migraine poast because many days are a balancing act between wanting to participate in more activities and lacking the energy because of dealing with a chronic disease. Managing migraine is a serious job.

Today is a good example. I woke with a bad migraine and had to take Rx meds in order to go to work (Excedrin was not gonna cut it). They helped, but by the time I got home I was exhausted. I have no “spoons” left for anything social, and right now I am trying to summon up some scraps of energy to do a bit of exercise. This is pretty ordinary for me and I’m sure other chronic pain people can relate.

Check out Amanda Workman’s article about how migraines affect our social life. She really nails it.

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Btw, it was amusing trying to find a scales or balance photo in the WordPress free media library. Scales produced snakes, and balance gave me yoga. So, I had to steal from Google. Whaddaya gonna do?

Lime or Light Green [CFFC]

This series is all about lime, also one of my favorite colors (and flavors)! Back in the day, I had loads of lime green clothes, and even some lime boots, but I don’t have the patience to look for photos in the various archives. Idk why everything has become so disorganized in the clouds. 🙁

Anyway, here is a refreshing cucumber minty drink… from somewhere, probably at the Irvine Spectrum. Dunno when.

And here are some pretty lime green tchotchkes from the tea shop up in NorCal where my daughter took me for a lovely Mom’s afternoon in 2015.

This is Gatsby snoozing behind some lime towels as he likes to do. This photo is a couple years old. I’ve replaced many of my towels now with turquoise ones, which is a great combo with lime, btw.

I guess I will have to add “organize cloud photos” to my list of things to do. Bummer. That will really interrupt my project of staring at the wall. I’ve been making great progress, which is why my blogging’s been a bit light.

End Of Summer [SOCS]

Round round get around
I get around…

The Beach Boys’ music means summer to me, and September first signals end of summer. Labor Day weekend always meant back to school, but I suppose that’s not true these days ~ most schools start mid to late August now. Gotta stuff those little heads full of All The Things! Some college classes begin second week of September or even later. UCI hasn’t started up again yet, which is why my commute is still nice and smooth. Dunno why UCI affects everything everywhere, including my street nowhere near the campus a few cities away, but it does. As soon as classes start, it’ll be all stressful to pull out of my driveway. I live in fear of someone behind me honking because I’m too slow and scared to zoom out aggressively the way normal drivers do. I’d rather just wait. This is another reason why I always build extra time into my trips… my slow pokiness factor.

Okay, that’s enough stream of consciousness for now. I only have three days to finish all these prompts and do laundry too! Sheesh, blogging is getting more demanding. 😀

Creative Updates [RDP]

I was making good progress on the cross-stitch project I designed for a gift, but then my eyes got all itchy/tired at night again and I haven’t touched it for months. Boo! I hope when it’s a little cooler I’ll be able to resume working on it because it’s a really cool needlework.

When that’s done, I want to do a similar design in a needlepoint for another gift and for me. They are hamsas, which are good luck. (Dunno why my phone is underlining hamsa ~ it’s a word, dammit!)

I also have some yarn for a(nother) scarf, plus the kooky idea of making a poncho. I know it’s insanely ambitious, but I really want to.

As far as writing, all my WIPs are on hold because I don’t have a laptop right now. I’m only blogging and writing the occasional poem. I have to admit I’m enjoying this break from my self-imposed stress and the artificial deadlines. I just don’t need that after working a regular job and dealing with migraines. Yes, I know other people can handle all that plus more, but I’m not them. Idk if I’ll ever go back to writing for real… maybe after I retire. I’m starting to enjoy watching TV shows like a normal person.

When I was visiting my daughter and her fiancé last weekend, we had a super fun paint night. Actually it spilled over into the next day… so great to have the supplies at home and do the vids off YouTube at your own pace. I’m tempted to set up here, but no! I have enough going on.

Fleeting Freedom Flashes [RDP]

Much of my stress/anxiety has always come from the struggle to carve more freedom for myself. This is a bit ironic, since I like structure and routine, don’t mind rules as much as some people, and have desires that require funds, which necessitates an income/job. Having a job, no matter how good it may be, takes a big bite from the freedom pie. Mmmpie!

Yet I’m reminded of The Matrix, where at first people were given everything they desired ~ this supposedly bored them to the point where their brains quit producing enough energy. I realize this is fiction, but even so. A little stress and conflict may be good for us? Personally, I prefer the stress of a particularly difficult logic puzzle rather than an argument with another person, but YMMV. I guess I like the kind of anxiety I can control myself ~ I set my own pace in a pencil puzzle, but other people are too hard to predict.

Back to freedom. I like anticipating a long weekend and a nice chunk of time to spend on myself or visiting my daughters, but if every weekend was “long” or there were no weekends because I wasn’t working, then what would I have to look forward to? Just nothing piled on top of nothingness. 😛

It’s fun though to fantasize about more freedom, flashes of what it might be like to have gobs of time to write and do anything I pleased. I’d like to believe I’d fill at least some of those hours doing good works, however defined, and not only focusing on myself. But of course that’s a slippery slope too, since I would naturally feel good about myself for doing good things, unlike now when I have neither time nor energy…

Travel Musings

In theory, I’d love to travel to a bunch of cool places ~ England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Israel, etc. ~ but practicalities always quench my wanderlust. First, the cost. Second, the time. Third, my migraines. It’s not only long plane flights that mess with my head, but everything about changes in my environment ~ food, sleep, weather, etc. ~ are pain triggers as well. I also don’t like to leave my furbaby. Right now, it’s an emotional challenge for me to go away for more than two nights in a row, but luckily I have a trusted friend to come over and take care of Gatsby.

I thought I had blogged about my idea for a post-retirement (and post-kitty) epic U.S. trip, but apparently I only discussed it on Facebook. My previous plan was to take train rides from the Pacific Northwest across the country. I’d see Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, etc.; then onto Chicago, Philly, and NYC; up to Boston, Vermont, NH, and Maine; down to DC, Nashville, Atlanta, and New Orleans; over to New Mexico and Utah; smoosh Yellowstone in there somewhere… basically see lots of new places, plus old friends (and meet friends in person with whom I’ve been corresponding for decades). But I’m not sure this is a good plan any longer, given the state of railroads these days. Dunno if I want to drive thousands and thousands of miles alone when I’m old, but…

I have this fantasy that after I retire (and after my kitty has rainbow-bridged), I could get rid of most of my stuff and do this epic trip in a comfy vehicle. But still… so much driving! Oww, my neck hurts just thinking about it. After the trip is over (three-four months, who knows?), I could figure out where to resettle in California, in a less expensive area away from the coast.

Be nice to visit Canada at some point too. That reminds me: I still haven’t bothered to get a passport after all that fuss to finally obtain my birth certificate. Yes, I am legal! I know, it was iffy there for a while, lol. But all this road-trippin’ is only a fantasy. It’s not like this crazy vacay would be cheap ~ I’d need to stay in a lot of motels and buy a lot of snadwiches. Not to mention gas!

The furthest I ever go these days is the Bay Area, which luckily is fabulous, and not only because my awesome daughter lives there with her awesome fiance and their awesome puppy. But mostly because of that. 😍