Reading

Current Mood: thoughtful

Entry tags:

fandom: critical role

Critical Role

Critical Role has released more information about their upcoming fourth campaign, and I'm very curious to see just how things end up going with it.

( More details from the video and article under the cut. )

If you don't hit post, life goes on

Hi friends, I did not forget you. I've just had a busy week/weekend.

I spent most of the week doing homework and cleaning up around the house - cleaned the gutters (that I could reach since I couldn't find the tall ladder to do all of them), swept up about 298374982734987239473 million pine needles, and worked on my giant project for one class. After that I flew out on Friday morning at 12:45 to go to the bridal shower of my goddaughter. She didn't know I was coming so it was an amazing surprise. Spent the weekend there, meeting her soon-to-be in-laws (who were absolutely delightful), making a pound cake, and then sitting in an airport/airplane for about 14 hours.

After that it was focusing more on school. My goal is to be done asap so that I'm, you know, DONE. Fortunately this summer's classes have been easy so I've been able to fun stuff too. August is crazy-cakes with stuff to do (shower, board meeting, work training, baseball, Josh Johnson, birthday, training camp (supposedly, they haven't announced it yet), dropping my mom off for a cruise, and then Jordan Klepper). I've also started cutting hockey sticks to make coasters, will soon graduate to frames, and coming up with other ideas for the year, hopefully. I'm also picking up flooring from a friend and redoing my entryway and, all things willing, finally getting the fucking carpet out of my kitchen.

I've also been watching (bingeing) a few Netlix mini-series - The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, and currently Midnight Mass. They're all done by Mike Flanagan who I had never heard of until I saw an article on good mini-series to watch. I've enjoyed them all so far. He uses a lot of the same actors, so it's kind of fun. I just watched The Haunting of Bly Manner, but I didn't like that one as much.

Ok, I started this a few days ago and have failed to post anything yet. Even more things are happening, so apparently I've decided to cram all of my summer into the last two weeks before school. I lost a crown, so there have been three dentists appointments, two lunches, a doctor's appointment, and an extra day at work (and possibly missing a training camp day - though we don't know the times yet for one of said dentist appointments. Still, I'm happy to get them all in so I don't have to take time off of work.

Also since the start of this, I've completely finished one of my classes, and am almost done with the other. The group I'm working with (god, I hate group projects) fails at communication, so I don't actually know what the fuck we're doing.

BUT in amazing news, my ex-captain bb!hockey got re-signed by the Firebirds, so yay! I love this kid. He's great, I tell you. One of the other bb!hockeys I follow has moved to a team in Sweden, so I will not be seeing him play any time soon. Speaking of hockey - if you like hockey, bank heists, absolutely ridiculousness, political corruption, whiskey drinking thieves, and complete stupidity, you should listen to Attila: Heists and Hockey because it is all of those things and hosted by the amazing radio announcer for my bb!hockeys, and he's so good and funny. I had to pull over once while driving because it made me laugh so much.

Anyway. There you have it. Further reports on exhaustive schedule likely yet to come.

Entry tags:

books-a-go-go

ANOTHER BOOK POST? SO SOON??? !!!

Re-reads. HUH

None for this post.

I DNF'd

* Death Has Golden Eyes by Cameron Darrow (Parnormal Mystery/Thriller) - Sometime during WW 2, the Nazis used dark magic resulting in a portal to another dimension called The Realm. All sorts of supernatural creatures have crossed over. Desdemona "Dizzy: Dixon happens to be the world'S expert on all things abt The Realm. She moves to the countryside with the sole intention to investigate Realm-related activity in the area. Accompanied by a sentient fox and a 130-y.o. female vampire, Dizzy's first assignment involves two werewolves who showed up at her door. One of them is dead and the other one is unconscious. It'S now up to Dizzy to figure out what's going on...

I wish I could remember who or where I saw the rec for this book. If only so I could give that person a piece of my mind, LOLsob. The premise sounds cool enough already. But i know I picked it up cuz Dizzy is queer AND she's gonna have some kind of romance with another female character in the first novel of a new series.

Unfortch, the writing style was ATROCIOUS and LABYRINTHINE to the point of 🤬.

I BRING RECEIPTS!

- [Context: part of how the female vampire is described] "Solid black eyes--pupil, iris, and sclera--reflected as much as they saw, making them as unnerving as they were arresting. On humans, silver hair was sign of decay, but Azalea's was a vibrant river of mercury. The glint from the sharp curtains she'd slashed into it to best frame her angular face cast faint iridescent highlights across skin so sublimely pale it was as if she was wearing her bones on the outside."

Ooookay. I guess the idea was to make Azalea seem creepy yet attractive? IDEK.

- [Context: Description of Dizzy, the main character] "Nature had made Dizzy a gamine, but a lifelong love of dance and swimming had made it difficult to find off-the-rack options that accounted for the fact that she was, in fact, female, and wanted to present like it."

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Did she gain weight and/or muscle to such a degree that she couldn't buy clothing at regular stores?? *Hands*

- [Context: Description of Dizzy's eyes] " A brilliant crystalline green that made most emeralds look like stained glass by comparison, they had always drawn attention--both to the hue and how far apart they were. Despite being nicknamed 'Hammerhead' as a child, her appreciation for sharks had only deepened as she aged: strong, graceful, able to rend the occasional limb from a human being and get away with it.."

😶😶😶

FTR, whenever I'm not sure abt a book, I try to read until page 50-100 (depending on the size of the book). IIRC, I gave up by, like, page 20 (or early in Chapter 2). IF, for whatever reason, anyone's interested in this novel, check out the sample first. I gave this a 1 out of 5.

Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

* The End of Her by Shari Lapena (Domestic suspense) - Stephanie and Patrick are parents to newborn twins. They're trying to keep things afloat (Patrick at his job as an architect at the firm he's founded with a partner; Stephanie at home taking care of colicky babies) the best they can. But they're also quite frazzled.

One day, a woman shows up accusing Patrick of something and that's when everyone starts to wonder WHO THEY REALLY MARRIED...

Let me state for the record that, out of this author's 9 books, I've read 6 of them. Although I wouldn't call myself a fan, I'm also aware that there's something in this author's books that I gravitate toward. This one, just like the rest, is extremely readable.

It's also a good domestic suspense...for the first half at least. There's a moment around the 52-56% where things get turned upside down. And that's when everything goes BONKERS. This is something that this author always does, so I just shook my head and kept reading til the end.

There are two reasons why this book is in this section:

1. One of the 10 (!) POV characters has a RIDICULOUS flip in their storyline. I wish the author had taken some time to establish said "flip" cuz it legit came out nowhere. I can rationalize an explanation for that switch, but ehhh.

2. NO SPOILERS FOR THIS NEXT THING

So, IN THE LAST CHAPTER, it's hinted that something terrible is gonna happen and that's underlined by the focus on a handful of characters as "potential suspects". Then the book ends. Next is an epilogue when the bad thing is over with...but the book never makes it clear WHO was involved???!!

To me, that ending reads incomplete AF.

I do have to add a strong trigger warning

for

a pregnant character who gets murdered (the child dies in utero). There are a few descriptions of that the corpse looked like in the aftermath. There's also undiagnosed post-partum depression in at least 2 of the female characters.

I gave this book a 2 out of 5.

* A Crown of Deceit & Ruin by Jessaca Wilis (YA fantasy) - This is the first book in a series abt a world where the ruling monarchs have a curse on them that will transform them into actual monsters.

Elora is a princess who has been held captive for decades. Kestrel is an older teen who leaves the tower she's lived at for years in order to find her father. Their paths intertwine (sorta) and soon, there's a race for a cure for the curse.

I gotta admit that this book had me HOOKED for the first 40%. Really liked the writing style, the worldbuilding (including a really cool magic system), and both MCs were likable enough to make me root for them.

HOWEVER, I started to feel some SUS vibes the closer I got to the halfway mark.

My issues with this novel both stem from the marketing:

1. This book is classified as an "adult novel."

This is NOT true at all! The book is an upper YA novel.

Kestrel is 19-y.o.--which is something that's brought up in the book several times. Elora is of an undetermined age. She herself doesn't know her exact age. HOWEVER, she mentions that the first time she died, she was 20 y.o.. and so, that's the age she'll look like until she dies for realsies. [NB: this is due to her race of ppl having the ability to resurrect themselves.]

In addition, Elora's main storyline is abt regaining her freedom after being held captive for decades. As for Kestrel, her initial storyarc is abt her leaving her home to go find Thom (who is her "father"). In reality, her narrative is a coming of age: finding out how the world works, learning abt social interactions, etc. Basically, Kestrel's tale centers on her growing up a little (not fully maturing, per se.) Kestrel, whose perspective carries most of the story (even though this novel has dual POV), and her character journey aren't anything I'd ever define as adult.

2. This novel is being promoted as a "slow-burn sapphic fantasy romance".

Which is a complete misrepresentation!

There's a marked difference between a fantasy book with some romantic elements (which is what this book actually IS) and an actual!fantasy romance.

Stating that a book is a sci-fic/western/fantasy/what-have-you romance indicates a series of things that SHOULD BE PRESENT IN THE TEXT. And that doesn't happen here.

FULL SPOILERS AHEAD for this so-called "romance" as well as the ending! IT'S RANTING TIME!

- The foundation of the entire plot of ANY romance novel comes from the romance itself.

Which doesn't happen in this book. The actual!story is abt finding a way to cure a curse, Elora gaining her freedom, and Kestrel learning abt who she is. The romance between Kestrel and Elora is wayyy in the background and NOT what fuels or influences the plot.

- Romances include several moments in which the characters are thinking abt each other a lot, pining away, as well as having plenty of cute/sweet interactionss that could be read as friendly or romantic.

Footage not found

Keeping in mind that this an almost 450-page book, Elora and Kestrel don't meet until right after the halfway point. These are all of their 1:1 "moments":

- A short conversation outside of the castle's library;
- A scene in which Elora comforts Kestrel with some kind words at the gardens;
- A chapter in which Elora and Kestrel practice dancing in an empty ballroom. FTR, this is the ONLY part that has them being mildly flirty with each other. NGL, this chapter feels like it belongs in a completely different book;
- During the novel's climax (starting around the 75% mark), there's a quick scene in which Elora thinks of Kestrel as her princess. Out of nowhere.
- When the book ends, the two of them share a v. passionate kiss before going off into a new adventure.

That's literally it.

So I ask y'all: WHERE'S THE ROMANCE?

The book spends so long setting up an admittedly complicated world that the romance is pushed off-page for the majority of the novel. Until, the last 15% of the story. By then, it not only feels v. late to bring it up, but it also makes the romance come across as totally unearned. It should've been built up way, way back.

I'm NOT saying Elora and Kestrel had to be head over heels with each other at first glance and fingering each other every chance they got or whatever. But creating a successful slow burn takes time and attention. This author did worked on crafting an engaging, action-heavy plot. She "just" forgot all abt the romance. 🙃

MOVING ON.

- The main conflict in a romance novel might/will potentially and temporarily break the couple up.

This next thing is SUCH a joke, y'all.

OK, so it turns out that Thom, the man that Kestrel has considered her father since she was a child, is also the man that Elora knows as Darius Graeme. He was the leader of the group that tortured Elora (under the king's order) for at least TWENTY YEARS. Upon hearing that the queen's army has captured Darius and is bringing him back to be judged, Elora's freaking out cuz that's how terrified she is of him and that's how intense her PTSD is. The one (1) thing that calms Elora down is remembering that the queen has promised her that she can use her death powers on Darius.

Me: Ohh, this is gonna be messy. OJO!

What actually happens: Elora and Kestrel have one (1) argument abt Thom | Darius, then they apologize the next time they meet. And, before they head off to the find the potential curse cure, Elora sneaks Kestrel into the dungeons so Kestrel can talk to her "father". Finally, Darius|Thom apologizes to Elora and she forgives him.

Me: wow, this book has truly 🤡 me, LOLsob.

So, not an adult novel and NOT a "slow-burn sapphic fantasy romance". I did finished it in 1 day. Although I don't regret reading it, I am not continuing the series. I gave this one a 1.8 out of 5

Good vibes all around

* The Duke Makes Me Feel... by Adriana Herrera (Historical Romance) - Marena owns and runs an apothecary in London. She's v. popular with the aristocracy. One day, the Duke of Liney shows up. He doesn't need any of her tonics, teas, etc. But he does want Marena to help him find a friend of hers...

Per what I know, this was the author's first historical and wow! Loved the premise, the worldbuilding, the MCs, and (even better) the surprise!queer characters too! A++++ for the sex scenes and the diversity of the world this author created too (which read a lot more like real life than a lot of other historical romances that ONLY feature white ppl, IJS.)

As I understand it, this was part of an anthology called The Duke I'd Like to F... that's no longer available in ebook form. So this author rereleased this novella. I borrowed it from my amazing library.

My gripe had more to do with the HFN ending (some of the conflicts that came up in the story remained unresolved by the novella's end.) Also, I did find both MCs (but mainly the Duke) to be a bit too perfect?

I gave this book a 3 out of 5.

* Monseiur X by Adriana Herrera (Historical romance) - Joseph Cantor Marshall is one of the most sought-after painters in Paris. He's v. lonely (and horny), tho. So he goes to an exclusive sex club where he has a wild time with a man who goes by "X".

Imagine Cantor's surprise when it turns out his v. next client is "X" himself, a shy Lord...

Again, delicious writing, diverse characters (both MCs are biracial), plenty of naughty times (centered around kink), and enough plot to keep everything together. I had a fantastic time reading this story in an an afternoon. This was part of ANOTHER anthology titled Rake I'd Like to F... that I think is out of publication. So Herrera republished this novella (thank you, my dearest local library!)

If only this had been a full novel. Alas! I gave this one a 3.3 out of 5

Current fic tally

Last post, it was 134 read/70 DNF'd. As of today, I'm at 148 read/74 DNF'd. Not bad!

Up next...

In an effort to avoid a potential reading slump, I've picked up an Ilona Andrews. I have a handful of queer romances I might give a read or two.

Unfortch, I returned Thursday Murder Club something like 3 days after my last book post cuz my mood reading self wasn't feeling it. I've since requested it again (LOL), and will try to stick with it til page 50 at least, LOL.

most of them aren't wealthy enough to guillotine, just enough to be annoying

I am fascinated by reading antique magazines and the fiction published in them, and I don't want to imply that I'm not enjoying it, but... sometimes it's very hard to sympathize with the wealthy, or even the upper middle class.

Of course I'm used to literature being by and for the wealthy further back in history, and I don't say that I read about them without class consciousness, but somehow it's not as hard when it's from the 19th century or earlier. Maybe it's just that it's longer ago, or maybe it's because the society is more alien to me and harder to view through a personal lens.

But with these American upper middle class magazines from 1900-1940... well, the middle class was exploding in size and not all fiction or nonfiction was by and for the wealthy!

It's disorienting reading things about "every American girl" or "every new bride" in the 1920s that actually mean every American debutante. All four of my great-grandmothers got married in America around that time and none of them were worried about cruise ships and couture hats. (One was a nurse, one was a schoolteacher, one was a farmer's daughter and a farmer's wife, and one was a daughter of servants, from a big Catholic family.)

My tolerance for the wealthy perspective in fiction and nonfiction is lower the closer it gets to the present. I always have to overcome a strong impulse of disbelief that you're supposed to seriously sympathize with the idle rich, or people with maids, or the sphere where only people from recognizable New England families "count". Of course those people exist, but this is a big circulation women's magazine! Where are the average middle class women? The average middle class housewife was not a former debutante in 1908! But Woman's Home Companion could easily give the impression that she was. (Maybe there was a competing magazine that was preferred by the working middle classes. I'll try to find out.)

(no subject)

I'm looking after Kayleigh's cats and tortoise atm, visiting twice a day, and man, having the two kittens makes the job so much harder. Fun, but I totally understand why the phrase like herding cats was invented.

We went to see Materialists yesterday, and while I really enjoyed watching Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, I can't say it gripped me, so I wouldn't really rec.

James also had an appointment with his back doctor. It was at the private hospital and when we got there we were told there was a 40-min delay. But in the end we only waited about 20 minutes, probably because the consultant was rattling through his appointments. James' literally took less than two minutes, asked if the pain was back, told yes, okay, can have the injections again, appointment will be sent as soon as possible, then done, out we went.

Today was weight management class, ( cut for those who don't want to read )

I finally picked up my new compressions today. I actually got the thigh high pair last week, but those are meant for use in the house or just pottering around, so I haven't worn them much. But today I got the below knee ones meant for every day, and you know I'm going to wear the blue patterned ones tomorrow.

I'm going swimming again tomorrow morning. So it'll be cats, swimming and then back home to tidy up and move furniture as my MiL is coming to spend the week on Friday. I'm just hoping James' appointment doesn't come really early as there's already an overlap of looking after the cats and my MiL. I could do without James' being down for the count, too.

Current Mood: blank

Entry tags:

Long Weekend

Welp. I've been posting about this under lock, but let's make a public one too. My younger brother and his wife were supposed to be visiting me this week (with them arriving today), but those plans were cancelled at the last minute due to a combination of several reasons.

I'd already asked off work for the rest of the week, and I'm not taking it back. I'm just going to take a five day weekend and call it a day. Which, you know, I could use the break from work, so it's not a bad thing. And, hey, this way I won't have to worry about a lack of spoons when I have to go back to work like I did when I was off for the Fourth of July and playing D&D all weekend.

Sadly, I don't have much in the way of extra money right now, so I can't do anything fun while I'm off work. I'm fairly stocked on groceries at least, so I won't have to worry about that. I'll take what I can get on that front.

Right now, my plans are to basically switch between playing video games, reading fanfiction, and writing fanfiction (specifically for Black Emporium and the Dragon Age Reverse Bang) for the next five days. We'll see if that changes, but that's what I'm aiming for right now at least.

Entry tags:

Fannish 50 S3 Post 32: BTS Vlogs!

So BORAMONTH was busy AF. Then July was a hot mess of a month. Therefore, here I am in August to finish my BTS-centric posts (for now, as we all wait for new content to drop, heheh.). Starting with the [BTS Vlog] videos...

Back in 2022, BTS released individual vlogs. Varying in length and theme, each video had a particular type of charm that I feel will be appreciated by anyone whether or not they're a fan. I've gone ahead and grouped them by topic

Travels

RM goes to Art Basel in Switzerland. He's soaking up all of the art, being all dreamy while enjoying life, and basically nerding out all the while. What's not to love?

Watch on YouTube

Taehyung takes us along for a long day and drive. We follow him to the dentist (!!!), listen to him crooning along with some music, and just having a chill time.

Watch on YouTube

Jungkook spends a night camping at the beach.

Watch on YouTube

Work

Hobi invites us to look at the creative process for the filming of his MV for "Arson"

Watch on YouTube

Arts & Crafts

This last batch are my faves.

Starting with Jin who takes a cooking lesson from his close friend, Chef Lee Yeonbok.

Watch on YouTube

Jimin learns how to make metal jewelry. He's an absolute cutie from start to finish.

Watch on YouTube

30 mins of 🥵 as Yoongi makes 7 whale-shaped cutting boards. This is Yoongi nerding out abt woodworking. It also has lots of close-ups of his hands... *SWOONS*.

Watch on YouTube

Entry tags:

recipes

Chicken Florentine

I posted a few weeks ago about Florentine omelette, a recipe we really liked, after I saw it mentioned in a book (neither of us had heard of it previously).

Florentine or à la Florentine is a term from classic French cuisine that refers to dishes that typically include a base of cooked spinach, a protein component and Mornay sauce. Chicken Florentine is the most popular version. Because Mornay sauce is a derivation of béchamel sauce which includes roux and requires time and skill to prepare correctly, many contemporary recipes use simpler cream-based sauces.

A Florentine omelette doesn't have Mornay sauce; it's just an omelette with spinach and cheese filling (parmesan and gruyere traditional). However, eggs Florentine is a common café/diner dish from the UK and Australia, a breakfast sandwich with a poached egg, spinach, and sauce on an English muffin. (People seem to expect Hollandaise instead of a Mornay sauce in that case.) Chicken Florentine might be the oldest version: that idea is out there, but it might be apocryphal too. The history of the term and the style is colorful but probably not accurate:

Culinary lore attributes the term to 1533, when Catherine de Medici of Florence married Henry II of France. She supposedly brought a staff of chefs, lots of kitchen equipment and a love of spinach to Paris, and popularized Florentine-style dishes. Food historians have debunked this story, and Italian influence on French cuisine long predates this marriage.[4] Pierre Franey considered this theory apocryphal, but embraced the term Florentine in 1983.[5] Auguste Escoffier included a recipe for sole Florentine in his 1903 classic Le guide culinaire, translated into English as A Guide to Modern Cookery.

(Quotes from Wikipedia, Florentine (culinary term))

Because Chicken Florentine was trendy in the US in the mid 20th century, the popular English-language versions of the recipe have suffered from simplification. Recipes from the midcentury reportedly used mushroom soup. Modern ones overwhelmingly use cream instead of Mornay sauce; it was necessary to put "Mornay" in the search terms before I found any recipes with it (because 1. it's not hard to make a roux, like what are you talking about? & 2. we wanted to try the more authentic recipe). We looked at three and used this one because the Mornay sauce called for wine, mustard powder, and nutmeg. We didn't use gruyere, though, just parmesan, and served it over white rice and it was sooooooo good. So delicious.

Current Mood: thankful
Current Music: City Swan - Neko Case

Linger just a little long.

The Museum of the Moving Image's recent Tom Cruise retrospective ended this afternoon, with a grand total of twenty-two different movies being screened at least once, with some playing twice. I'd decided I'd see everything at least once - I didn't need to sit through the theatrical cuts of The Outsiders or Legend a second time - and managed it with very little trouble and fuss. Mostly just what's inherent in the subways, like lines being down for a weekend and not finding out until I'm in the station and had to find an alternate route that, thankfully, still took me to a station within six blocks of the museum.

It was like going to summer camp, honestly. A regular thing to keep me busy in the long, hot days. Something to look forward to. Shared experiences with voices that gradually grew more and more familiar and faces I came to recognize. And now that it's over, we've gone our separate ways. We might bump into each other again - as dense a city as it is, it's not huge, and the community of repertory movie screening enthusiasts is small enough it's more than likely to happen eventually. Even if we don't, it was fun while it lasted and I'll look back on it fondly.

None of the movies were a chore. All of them were a pleasure to see on the screen, some more than others - for example, Eyes Wide Shut is something I appreciate more than I enjoy. Plenty of them were overwhelming in the best ways, whether it was the immense, immersive sound or the rich colors of the film prints or simply letting myself get taken away for a little while in a really good story. It was just as much about having the experience of the big screen viewing as it was the movies themselves - not quite a compulsion, not exactly a fixation. Hearts that are true, as Dave Barry described them, and a line in the essay kept echoing throughout this summer: "If you ask her why, it shows you could never understand."

All right, that one and another: "And the hell with what people say." Tom Cruise is a good actor, a sharp producer, someone I can personally say has a lovely smile, and he doesn't need anyone defending him. At least, not in the context of internet snark, cheap jokes, flippant comments. He's not my friend. He's someone I'm glad to share the planet with for a little while because his art's good, and I find it inspiring and meaningful. I don't need more than that.

While I don't need more than that, sharing it for a little while made for a wonderful time.

Worth mentioning are:

This one guy who brought up Alan Moore's Superman work and wasn't prepared for me to bring up Top Ten and Tom Strong,

That same guy who argued that after a long week at work you'd want to unwind and see some light fair and as such might not go see a Tarkovsky or 8 1/2 and wasn't prepared for me to say I'd recently seen 8 1/2 and found it a buoyant and uplifting piece on the creative spirit,

This one guy who agreed Streets of Fire is a movie that needs to be seen at night,

This one couple who hung back a few minutes to talk about how Jerry Maguire picks up where other romcoms leave off and how these days there aren't enough movies in the "people trying to become better" and "good people trying not to be lonely" genres,

This one projectionist who answered a couple questions I had about who owns individual prints and lends them out for screenings,

The print of Magnolia that keeps playing around NYC that I've now seen six different times and can recognize the flickers because a print's an object that changes over time and seeing those flickers reminded me of the nature of film as something that's almost a living creature that breathes with you in the dark,

The projectionist who had to re-adjust Cocktail a bit to get it into focus which was a moment that added to the viewing experience in a good way,

The curtains that closed over the screen and pulled back to make sure we knew we were in for a good time,

The MOMI staff members who were always thoughtful and patient and were able to give me a couple extra copies of the various movie programs and got to know me on sight by the end of July,

The MOMI itself for putting it on,

Everyone who took their tickets home as mementos and souvenirs,

Everyone who crowed somewhere about seeing thirty-five and seventy millimeter prints because even bad movies look fabulous that way and good movies are an absolute joy to behold,

Everyone who'd seen the older works like Risky Business and Born on the Fourth of July and Top Gun when they'd first played in theaters decades ago and were happy to see on a big screen and be lifted up and pushed under again,

Everyone who brought kids to one or both of the Top Gun double features because I know those kids had a fantastic time,

Everyone who laughed,

Everyone who cried,

Everyone who sucked in a breath and held it and let it out as one because we were all feeling the exact same thing in that specific moment,

Everyone who clapped at the end credits,

Everyone who hollered at the director or the cinematographer or the title card whether that came early or late in the individual movie,

Everyone who had firm opinions about which movie theaters in the five boroughs are worth the time and energy it takes to visit them,

Everyone who hung around a while between movies or after the day's programming was over whether it was at the doors or in the courtyard or on the subway platform and let the conversation continue just a few minutes more,

Everyone who I already knew beforehand or recognized after a few screenings and looked forward to seeing because of the pleasure of seeing a movie in shared company,

Everyone who legged it out to Queens to see a beloved movie on the big screen for the first time or possibly the fortieth, traveling by car, train, bus, commercial airline, commuter light rail, crossing state lines and time zones, who brought their own food, who shared their popcorn, who was happy to exchange a few words in the theater or in line waiting for the bathroom as a way to make the waiting easier or just for the pleasure of exchanging a few words about the recently shared experience, everyone who wanted to have a good time at the movies, everyone who spent this last summer together with me like I haven't done since I was a kid and helped make it something worth remembering.

(no subject)

It was our first craft fair of the year yesterday, so the days before involved checking through stock while James finished off new items. With him having to cancel a few fairs last year after breaking his elbow, there was lots to sell. It was held at our local cat only vet in aid of Consett Cats, and went very well. It's a small space so things got crowded, but we managed. And a bonus, I didn't adopt any of the adorable kittens there for cat cuddles. I was exhausted last night, though, ready for bed at eight, but managed to hold on to nine.

On the subject of broken elbows, James was finally discharged from physio. They said they've pretty much done all they can for him and his grip and strength is much better. He still can't get his hand to his mouth, but at this point the only thing that may help that is surgery and neither of us are keen on that happening as it would be very little gain for a big risk. Not that he's had an appointment to discuss the CT scan results yet, so surgery may not even be an option whether he wants it or not.

We went swimming again last week, got to the pool and the receptionist said, are you aware the pool shuts at 9:30 for an aqua aerobics class? And no, no I was not aware. But we got a good 40 minutes swimming so better than nothing.

B12 injection day again on Thursday and I went from the doctors to the gym. Can't say I felt any more energetic, though did do a 45 minute recumbent cycle session so maybe there was a bit of a boost going on. It was actually great at the gym as it was nearly empty for most of the time I was there. Which was good as they'd completely ran out of hygiene wipes so no one could wipe down the machines after use. Which was pretty gross and I cleaned mine the best I could with the hem on my t-shirt.

We went to see Freakier Friday and it was fun, a good way to spend a couple of hours.

Weight management class was about unhelpful thinking patterns, and it was one of the best classes I've been to yet ( cut for those not interested )

Entry tags:

meme,
random

Random MCU Meme

(Snagged from

littlerhymes

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part/DNF'd
*Watched more than once.

Phase One:

Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
* Thor (2011)
* Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
* The Avengers (2012)

Phase Two:

Iron Man 3 (2013)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV 2013–2020)- From what I remember, I dropped off halfway thru S1
* Thor: The Dark World (2013)
* Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - This is the one I've watched the most. It's probably over 100 times? IN MY DEFENSE, there was a point in 2015-2017 where it'd be show on TV at least twice/week.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
*Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Daredevil (TV 2015–2018)
Agent Carter (TV 2015–2016)
Jessica Jones (TV 2015–2019)

Phase Three:

Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Luke Cage (TV 2016–2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Iron Fist (TV 2017–2018)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The Defenders (TV 2017)
The Punisher (TV 2017–2019)
Inhumans (TV 2017) - IIRC, I watched the first 2 eps and then said "I'm good!"
Runaways (TV 2017–2019)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Deffo the 3rd thing I've watched a ton of times.
Black Panther (2018) - And this is the 2nd most watched media for sure. Love it to bits still!
Cloak & Dagger (TV 2018–2019) - NB: Haven't watched it BUT I do plan to do that sometime this year? A friend recced it to me in a way that convinced me to give it a chance.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - And this the 4th MCU media I've watched an excessive amount of times. I know a lot of ppl hated it (and that's OK!). It worked for me despite the random turns and weird plot holes. *Hands*
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - My not watching this movie signaled the beginning of my burnout with this franchise. I was NOT in the mood for it then, and remain to NOT be in the mood to watch it in 2025. XD

Phase Four:

Black Widow (2021) - This one was a bittersweet experience given Nat's storyline in EG. However, I do remember liking it a lot more than expected.
WandaVision (TV 2021) - This was a series everyone but me loved. I was practically hate-watching it by ep.4. Solely stuck around for Agatha LOL.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021) - MESS!
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) - Wish it had had some casting changes (I'm NOT talking abt Tony Leung or Michelle Yeoh here, btw), but I liked it?
Eternals (2021) - MESS part 2. - I just... yeah. This was the official last drop for me.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Loki (TV 2021-2023) - NB: I came close to start this one, but I was still in 🙅🏾‍♀️ mode fandomwise AND what I saw of the reactions online (from fannish spaces) made me leave it where I found it. #NoRegrets
Hawkeye (TV 2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Moon Knight (TV 2022) - NB: I do intend to watch this one too for 2 reasons: cuz I LURVE the character (have read all of his comics) AND Oscar Isaac. I've got a feeling it's gonna disappoint me, but IDC. I gotta watch it at some point soonish (like before December ends.)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - My feelings are too complicated to give it a full yays, but I wasn't going to ignore a new BP movie. IDEK, y'all.
Ms. Marvel (TV 2022)
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (TV 2022)

Phase Five:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Secret Invasion (TV 2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
The Marvels (2023)
Echo (TV 2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Agatha All Along (TV 2024) - NB: I too am surprised I haven't watched this nor plan to. IDK.
Daredevil: Born Again (TV 2025-2026) - NB: Ditto this one.
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
Thunderbolts (2025) - I know it's kinda ???? but, I did watched this movie! Loved Yelena and Bob, felt EXTREMELY MEH abt everything else (including Bucky! Weird, I know!). My overall feeling after I was done with it was "I guess? It wasn't terrible, but I could've watched something else instead."
Ironheart (TV 2025)

Phase Six:

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Wonder Man (TV 2025)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Vision Quest (TV 2026)
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)

Final thoughts:

So, yeah, aside from the 2 1-season series that I'm deffo watching AND the two movies I might, per-maybe-haps pick up at some point in the future, I can say that me and the MCU are dunzo. #WompWommp

Looking at this list, I'd say that 2021 was the turning point. In part cuz there was so much new stuff dropping every other month that just trying to figure which one I should start with first was overwhelming AF. And I'm NOT into the idea of stressing myself out for stuff that's meant to be entertainment. Triply so if it's related to Fandom, IJS.

There's also the FACT that the premises (Sam and Bucky buddy cop roadtrip! Loki time-travels! A Thor film that goes OTT! A live action version of the excellent Hawkeye comics by Matt Fraction and David Aja!, etc, etc, etc.) sounded amazing...only for the actual content to not land at all cuz Disney had "other ideas". IDK, I can only take so many disappointments.

It's also super clear that the MCU as a whole was trying to launch a 2nd Chapter of sorts, but they pushed it so hard that it put me off almost completely.

Entry tags:

brain: adhd

Live Wife Reaction: GUUURRRLLL!!!!!

On Thursday I went to Turku to take the driving theory test at the Ajovarma office. I passed! However:

I had paid in advance and scheduled this test several weeks ago. I made the reservation at home, from the computer, and immediately saved the date with a bunch of reminders in my calendar.

But when I got to the test site they didn't call my name at the appointed time. One of the desk workers asked me if I had an appointment and when she scanned my non-driver's ID card, she said, "Oh, you don't have an appointment today, but you had one yesterday!"

I had somehow managed to put the appointment in my calendar wrong, even though I thought I checked it so carefully! (I stopped myself from saying "I have ADHD!" with very great difficulty.)

She was very nice and helpful, though. She said she would reschedule my appointment and the payment would still be good; she found an opening that same day three hours later, and then when I said I could wait, she said actually the testing room wasn't full and she could let me take the test right away. So she did.

I have a total of (I think) 5 hours of driving lessons left, the first of which is in two weeks, when my instructor is back from his vacation. In the meantime, it's the second half of Wax's annual vacation starting today, and we will hopefully be trying chicken florentine for the first time this week.

Current Mood: tired

Entry tags:

d&d: pyra cantha

Pyra Cantha D&D: Summary for 8/15 Game

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: nothing now

Infrastructure.

About thirty one hours, all told, between water shut-off and hearing the pipes fill back up. Sputtering, struggling, deeply welcome. I made use of other buildings' bathrooms during the days and last night I managed a two-bucket scrub that did a decent job of getting my skin cleaned off. My hair, not so much, which is one of the bigger reasons I'm really looking forward to a shower tonight.

Last night, I realized I was getting ready to wash the dishes on reflex, and ended up feeling a little lost for a few minutes. Now they're all cleaned and the water I'd saved and didn't drink is still going to get drunk, but it's gone into the kettle so I don't have to draw more out of the taps - something that seems appropriate right now. Not getting "new" water, but using water I'd already gathered. Because in part, I know right now I can get more if I need it. But I've already gotten this, so I don't need to protect it. Just use it.

Current Mood: dirty
Current Music: Monday Morning - Death Cab for Cutie

Never learned how to stay.

Starting tomorrow morning, my building won't have water for at least 48 hours. This isn't a surprise; I found out about it a couple weeks ago. They're replacing the water tank, which is one of the better reasons for that kind of disruption, and I'm fairly certain it's said to be at least 48 to keep people from getting impatient and disruptive around 2PM on Friday. I've been told Saturday morning at the latest, and I can live with that. Unpleasantly, but I can live with it. I'm filling up water bottles for drinking, a bucket for the toilet, and setting my biggest bowl in the sink for flatware. Figuring out where local bathrooms are and how to at least wipe myself down in my apartment a couple times.

In planning it out, the biggest things seem to be wiping myself down, keeping my hands clean, and brushing my teeth. The usual routines can't be followed and it's making me deeply aware of how I follow them, down to each small step. I'd recommend giving it a shot. Just to be that conscious of it all.

Entry tags:

!admin,
!feedback

Festivids 2025 Questions Post

( You're about to view content that a community administrator has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Driving theory test tomorrow

I've mentioned before that our van is a 1999 Citroën Berlingo. We named him Bernie because he's an old white guy. Bernie was a white van man's van: he belonged to a company for twenty years and sat in their warehouse being taken care of, but mostly not used, so he was in practically mint condition when we bought him in 2019, but he only cost 2000€. Now contemporary Finnish driving education is teaching me about safety features that are common or required in modern-day cars that he doesn't have: traction and skid control, smart cruise control, side door airbags that you can disable in the back, front and rear fog lights, a screen that recommends which gear to use, warning messages when you exceed the detected speed limit.

Obviously a 1999 van doesn't have any of those. But

waxjism has also been scaring me for weeks saying he's too old to have anti-lock brakes, but today I finally read the manual and he is not. He has anti-lock brakes! That one was the only one that was seriously upsetting (the car I learned to drive in didn't have any of the others: it was a 1993 Buick Skylark).

I have to get up early to go to Turku to take the driver's license theory test tomorrow, and today I took the practice theory test again as soon as I got back from my last driving simulator lesson, and failed with the worst score I've gotten on the practice tests yet (42/50 "situation" questions). Then I took it again immediately and passed with a perfect score for the first time.

I've taken the practice test 7 times in all, but I've also gone through all the practice question sets, which amounts to 60 tests' worth of situation questions and 40 tests' worth of verbal questions (with repetition!), and I have consequently pretty much been at saturation for a while. I can't predict whether I will miss situation questions when I do a set, but that's not because I haven't learned the material, it's because the questions are not at all like a situation you actually encounter while driving; they're more like a sort of Where's Waldo-esque detailed visual search game plus logic puzzle. About half the time I miss them because of something like not noticing that the car is on a priority road (when the sole clue that it's a priority road is the tiny triangular edge of the sign with 80% of the sign cropped off on the extreme edge of the image blending into the windows of an apartment building in the background) or not noticing that it's on a one-way street (when the sole clue that it's a one-way street is some painting on the road facing the wrong way that you can only see if you look in the left side mirror image but it's very small). So I just have to take methylphenidate and count breaths and try to make sure I take my time. And try not to get distracted.

(After the theory test I still have driving lessons in a real car, and then the driving test.)

Current Mood: hopeful

Entry tags:

Video Games

Hey, it's a semi-fannish post! I don't make those very much lately. Let's hope this is the beginning of me getting back to that. 🤞🏻

As was probably obvious from my post last night, I'm trying to get back into the habit of playing video games again. It's one of those things where I honestly feel happier and more mentally stable when I'm making the time to play for a bit daily or at least every few days, but it's really hard to find the time and energy sometimes. Especially the last, uh, year or two. What with everyone going on IRL in various ways.

So, you know, I'm actively working on improving that.

( Rambling under the cut about my current daily schedule and how I'm trying to fit video games into it more regularly. )

That said, I am going to attempt to make posts here and there where I ramble about what's going on in whatever game and playthrough I'm focusing on at that time. I have no idea if I'll manage it, but I'm going to try. I really miss being properly fannish about things, and I want to at least try to get back to it.

Current Mood: lethargic
Current Music: Unobstructed Views - Death Cab for Cutie

No verse.

2.3 miles in 30 minutes today. That plus getting up early left me fairly tired most of the day, but in a way I don't mind because it feels good. It helped me stop feeling upset, too - I keep thinking I don't need a career counselor or coach, especially not the ones I've met, because it always strikes me as unhelpful and impractical compared to doing the work of finding a job.

What I really don't like is feeling like I have to get upset and agitated to talk and voice my concerns, and if anyone has any suggestions, I'd welcome them.

I'll say something else good about the day, though, which was small but positive: turning off all the notification settings on my Brooklyn client's phone, and managing to get a fair number of double-bagged planes of glass out for recycling. Hopefully the next batch of planes will be out next week.

Current Mood: amused

Entry tags:

fandom: baldur's gate

Baldur's Gate 3

I freely admit that I cackled a little when I saw this conversation happening in one of my D&D Discords. Especially since I was literally in the middle of playing Baldur's Gate 3 at that very moment. I feel like I'm being judged, but I can't really blame them when it's, you know, true.

Speaking of which, my gnome sorcerer/bard was very busy doing important things tonight:

In related news, I love the poly mod. Also? It works surprisingly well when combining these two romances specifically. Karlach and Wyll's relationship makes it very much come across as two Vs working towards a triad.