Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Question a Day Meme for January

(kazzy_cee was nice enough to come up with another one.)

1 What’s the first thing you think of when you consider the year ahead?

Getting my knee better and becoming more mobile and in better shape?
Also surviving another year at Crazy Org (I'm now under 5 years until retirement.)

2. What’s the weather like today (warmer or cooler than average)?

Cooler. It's been in the 20s lately, and low 30s. Normal is the 30s and low 40s. Overcast. And gray.

3. There is a Wolf Moon tonight - it will be the fourth supermoon in a row. Have you seen a supermoon before?

Yes. It's too cold and overcast to bother with it tonight.

***

Tomorrow - off to get an MRI. With any luck it won't be anything serious.
I'm trying to be more health conscious - ( Read more... )

At least I don't have to take work off for it. No, just for the doctor's appointment on Friday. I thought about taking two hours - but I don't want to unnecessarily tax my knee - hurrying to a doctor's appointment. Sick time is a pain in the ass - I have to fill out a form informing Crazy Org that no, it's not work related injury or a claim for disability, it's just a doctor's appointment. And I honestly don't want to do it - or try to convince the doctor to sign it, or get the receipt or doctor's note. Crazy Org has become increasingly inefficient and bureaucratic since I joined it in 2007. I'm amazed it doesn't have more problems.

***

I've made it up through Wrecked, in Buffy S6, and Birthday, in Angel S3.
Noticed a few things I hadn't previously.

( Spuffy )

( Willow )

Then there's Angel S3 - Dad through Birthday, which I liked better than I remembered. Birthday is where they manage to hoodwink Cordelia into becoming part demon, honestly she had no other choice. So maybe not hoodwink. I think the problem is - the gang trust those visions a bit too much? And I also think that Cordy's got increasingly worse - after WRH killed the oracles and hacked into them. (Not once but twice). Angel, Cordelia and Wes's weakness are the prophecies. And their hubris or pride.
And I think that's how WRH found a way of distracting Angel.

But it's not clear - and could be read either way. So I have a feeling the writers were split on this? I think half were going for redemption more than noir and the other half were going for noir more than classical hero redemption, and at the end noir won. I could be wrong about that - though - and they were just going for noir all along.

(Mainly because David Greenwalt left and Whedon took over.)

Haven't done much the last few days, outside of knee exercises and binge watch television shows.

Finished Stranger Things S5 - which provided an apt and satisfying finale to the series. I don't really see it continuing after it. The finale did a good job of completing all the character arcs. And allowed for some nice character moments - specifically Will Byers coming out that he's gay (so is the actor apparently). That was actually moving.

It's definitely not for everyone? But nothing is? I enjoyed it - it was off beat, and nostalgic. I liked it a lot better than Alien: Earth - which I gave up on rather quickly. What it excels at - that a lot of others don't - is the blend of inter-generational arcs. We've the adults, the teens, and kids - and the series follows all of them without focusing too much on just one, or undermining any. This is rare in the genre, often one or the other is short-sighted, and neither was here. Is it flawed in places? Yes. I mean it does rely heavily on the classic "evil mad scientist government conspiracy trope", which admittedly was popular in the 1980s. The US Military and the US Government being portrayed as sociopathic bad guys throughout, probably was a bit over the top, but other than that? I enjoyed it. It does drag at times and gets a little too into nerdy 1980s references, but that's also part of the fun.

To say much more would spoil everybody, and we can't have that. While I enjoyed the series? I don't foresee myself rewatching it, analyzing it, writing meta on it, joining the fandom, or reading fanfic. It was fun, but there's not a lot there to analyze. The general theme - if there is one - is that differences should be celebrated, and people who are different, even have conflicts, can come together and become the best of friends given the right circumstances and motivation.

Have gotten more or less to the game changer episodes in Angel S3 ("Lullaby") and Buffy S6 ("Tabula Rasa"). After those two episodes the dynamic of both series changes dramatically, as does the character relationships and plot lines. So it's a good place to pause. I liked "Lullaby" more than I remembered - and it does a rather good job of completing Darla's arc, and defining how Darla and Angelus view love and why they don't think vampires can love. ( Read more... )
I honestly think the writers on both Angel and Buffy were playing with what it meant to be a demon, and what is really good or evil, and the idea of love. Also the concept of redemption. Could they redeem someone like Angel - who they'd written as the absolute worst vampire that ever lived? And what about Spike who is more ambiguous evil - who can love, if unwisely, and unwell? Can you redeem him without a soul - without screwing up Angel's arc or Darla's or upending the verse? Part of the reason these series still resonates, and is still studied in various sphere of academia long after it ended is that the writers actually wrestled with these questions and didn't just go the standard formulaic route or rigid rules of the verse route that you see in most television series and science fiction and fantasy. Sometimes questioning the rules of your own verse - pays off. It did here.

Think about it? People are still debating various aspects of these series years later, I'm not sure this is true of all television series. And I certainly feel no inclination to do it with Stranger Things, Slow Horses, Andor, or various others that I've watched and enjoyed over the years. YMMV of course. I'm willing to admit - we all perceive and enjoy things differently - and that makes life cool and at times challenging.

I'd say Hasta La Vista - but that actually means goodbye and see you later, and I really have no interest in revisiting this nasty tediously painful extraordinarily long seemingly endless year. I plan on forgetting most of it. People wondered in person and online where the year had gone to, and how fast it sped by...not me, folks. I was aware of every stinking hour of it. It drug. And if felt mean.

Bye Bye 2025. Don't let the door smack you on the way out. With any luck 2026 will be more memorable and at the very least? Less painful.

Hopefully your mileage varied in far more positive ways.

***

In 2026, I turn 59, an inch closer to 60, and a couple inches closer to retirement. With any luck it will bring peace and prosperity in its wake.

***

End of the Year Memage:

1. Memorable Television Series of 2025 (I'd say favorite - but it's kind of a moving target at the moment, I'm going with memorable).

( memorable television series )

2. Memorable Films of 2025 (see above)

( memorable films of 2025 )

3. Fandom that you miss

The Buffy/Angel fandom, I'll always miss it.

4. Memorable Books of 2025 (well that I read or listened to in 2025 at any rate, they weren't necessarily published in 2025).

( memorable books of 2025 )

5. Memorable Music of 2025 (not necessarily written in 2025)

* Huddled Masses

* What is the Reason for it by David Byrne from his album Who is the Sky?.

* Just Like That by Bonnie Raitt

* Something Wicked (this way comes) by Siouxie and the Banshees

* Say a Little Word by Ellen McIlwaine


Question a Day Memeage - End of December

28. How much exercise have you had over the last few days?

Bad knee. Been doing knee exercises. Walking a lot - because it's my main mode of transportation outside of subways. I go up and down a lot of subway steps. Averaging 4,000-8,000 steps a day. Today just did knee exercises and a little walking.

29. In 1886, the dishwasher was patented. It was invented by Josephine Cochran, who lived in Shelbyville, Illinois. She constructed the first one and won a prize at the Chicago World Fair (and was used by the restaurant industry). Do you own a dishwasher or wash your dishes by hand?

No. Wash dishes by hand. I rent an apartment and it's not cleared for a dishwasher. Also I'm single - so not an issue.

30. It’s National Bacon Day! What’s your favourite way to eat bacon? Have you ever tried vegan ‘bacon’?

With eggs or with pancakes or waffles. I don't eat it now - it doesn't digest well and it tends to go bad before I eat all of it.

No, never had vegan bacon. Artificial yes - bacon bits. Won't do it again.

31. It’s New Year’s Eve – how would you sum up 2025 on a scale of one to ten? Let’s stay positive - what was the best thing that happened to you this year?

1, maybe 2. No definitely 1. Assuming of course 10 (is best) on this scale.

Moved my work place from Jamaica, Queens to Lower Manhattan, Battery Park, Tribeca/Financial District. Shorter Commute, and nicer area all around. Also have a window. And peace and quiet for the most part.


Happy New Year, hopefully regardless of how you ranked 2025 - 2026 will be a better or more positive year for us all around the globe.

Привет and welcome to our new Russian friends from LiveJournal! We are happy to offer you a new home. We will not require identification for you to post or comment. We also do not cooperate with Russian government requests for any information about your account unless they go through a United States court first. (And it hasn't happened in 16 years!)

Importing your journal from ЖЖ may be slow. There are a lot of you, with many posts and comments, and we have to limit how fast we download your information from ЖЖ so they don't block us. Please be patient! We have been watching and fixing errors, and we will go back to doing that after the holiday is over.

I am very sorry that we can't translate the site into Russian or offer support in Russian. We are a much, much smaller company than LiveJournal is, and my high school Russian classes were a very long time ago :) But at least we aren't owned by Sberbank!

С Новым Годом, and welcome home!

EDIT: Большое спасибо всем за помощь друг другу в комментариях! Я ценю каждого, кто предоставляет нашим новым соседям информацию, понятную им без необходимости искать её в Google. :) И спасибо вам за терпение к моему русскому переводу с помощью Google Translate! Прошло уже много-много лет со школьных времен!

Thank you also to everyone who's been giving our new neighbors a warm welcome. I love you all ❤️

Took today off, also am taking Friday off. Work is slower than molasses at the moment. I don't know why they were being fussbudgets about not letting me take the last two weeks of December off. It's not like I can do anything during those weeks.

It's still cold here, in the low thirties, feels like the twenties. Felt it when I went grocery shopping and to the pharmacy, mainly to get more antacid, and something for dinner tonight. I was going to make a quiche, I might still do that - traditional to make one on New Year's Eve. My mother always did when I was a kid - we'd have quiche and champagne at midnight.
Mine isn't as rich as hers was, I use half and half or almond/coconut milk creamer, three eggs, spinach, and cheddar/gureyer cheese. She used heavy cream, four eggs, spinach, bacon, and swiss and cheddar cheese.

Anyhow, on way back from grocery shopping, I was stumbling along and one block away from my apartment complex: It was cold. The sun was setting. My groceries were weighing heavy on my arms, and my knee was aching. I got to the cross walk just as the light changed, and I thought, frak it, I'll risk it - kill me if you want to, you stupid cars. I don't care. (I live in residential area, with a lot of cross-walks). Halfway across, I hear a loud honk, and look up, a young woman, with bright yellow blond hair, big sunglasses, and a round face with red lipstick has rolled down her window - from the top of a big black shiny SUV. She can't be more than twenty-five. She curses me out, calls me a bitch, and just tells me off for deigning to stumble across the cross-walk, just as the light turned, and halting her lazy privileged spoiled prissy ass from getting to where she was going. I felt the spoiled princess' rage all the way home. [ I've had Bengali drivers stop, let me go, often wave me along, long after the light has turned, and kindly smile at me. So it's not all NYC drivers.]

I guess I'm lucky the spoiled brat didn't run me over?

My knee was killing me when I got home. It doesn't handle a lot of weight or standing on it for too long. I may have to start doing grocery orders and limiting the amount of stuff I carry. I was annoyed enough at the spoiled brat that I drew her, the car, and myself - for a later watercolor.
I can still see her round face and died blond hair in my head. Like a cartoon.

***

I watched more of Angel S3 and Buffy S6 (which I like better than Angel S3). Buffy is still the better series on all cylinders. And the more relatable.

Watched Once More With Feeling for the first time in ten years. I'd forgotten a few things about it. ( Read more... )

Aggravating day. A day I'd describe as a lot of little aggravating drips, culminating in leaving my headphones on my desk at work (I realized it when they weren't with me on the train and it was alas too late to go back and retrieve them - if it had been my cell phone, yes - I'd have had no choice but to do so, but I don't really need the head phones at home - I only use them at work and on the commute. Unfortunately they need to be charged, which means I won't be able to use them immediately on Monday.) I also can't find my air buds. But I could find the plug-in earphones. So not all is lost, I suppose?

Less said about the rest of the day, the better. It was just a series of minor aggravations. We shall speak of it no more.

**

I already whined about the day to my poor mother, who decided to distract me by regaling me with news about my niece's trip to Montauk to see her grandfather...who apparently lives in a chicken coop on his ex-partner's property. The ex-partner (a novelist, writer, and former lecturer/teacher) lives with their adopted 31 year old daughter in the house.

( Read more... )

***

I think the reason I enjoy Buffy S6 so much - is I find it relatable? It is about an unemployed/depressed young woman jumping from one bad job to another, juggling bills, a sister, social life or lack thereof, and a boyfriend who lives in crypt and cheats at kitten poker. It's hyper-realism in a supernatural setting. The villains are nerdy guys from high school, who bullied girls. (Any woman who has ever entered a comic book store, a fan convention, attempted to play D&D during the 1980s or been in a co-ed fandom online - can relate.)
( Read more... )

It was hazy and rainy all day, until I got home and the clouds parted and sun swam through along with gale force winds. Brrr.

So today, cubicle wall mate aka Art History Major (AHM) and I were discussing Broadway shows. Apparently they had seen Hades Town and it went over their head, they didn't get it at all. (Hades Town is a musical retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth).
( Read more... )

Why can't I find people offline that like/love the same things I do? It shouldn't be this hard?

****

In other news...I decided to listen to and kind of watch the 60 Minutes expose of the El Salvador Prison from Hell - that the Trump Administration is sending all these people to. After CBS yanked the segment from the US's 60 Minutes broadcast yet somehow forgot to yank it from Canada's broadcast - where it accidentally aired, got leaked on the internet and subsquently went viral. It was leaked repeatedly on the internet by various folks (as often happens with banned and censored content that people know about) - and as a result - is now the most watched episode or segment of 60 Minutes and by the most people since 60 Minutes inception. (That's kind of huge, 60 Minutes goes back to...1968, so it's roughly 57 years of age. And it's certainly had huge stories in the past - it first aired during the Vietnam War and prior to Watergate). It's the curiosity factor. I admittedly watched for the same reasons. (And I wouldn't have - if it aired on CBS as previously planned - since I've not consistently watch 60 minutes in ages.)

Internet: 1
CBS (aka Skydance Media): 0

I found it on Instagram. They keep yanking it from Youtube, so folks put up their own recordings of it on TikTock and share on Instagram. It's really hard to censor things in the age of the Internet. We have too many social media platforms, and folks perfected the art of sharing censored or banned content back in the early 00s, while they were in junior high and undergrads in college. They know how to share stuff. I know how to find and share stuff, and I'm not techie in the least.

I don't think I need to go into the gory details? ( sigh a brief summary and my reaction )

***

It's windy here, but no rain at least. My knee still hurts whenever I go up or down steps. Considering it is multiple flights of steps, this makes sense. I have managed to limit it a little - by no longer switching trains at 4ths and 9th Streets. I also rescheduled my hair appointment for late February - to avoid the steps at that stop for as long as possible. Icing three times a day. Doing my exercises. Hopefully it will improve. I live in fear of the MRI.

***

Angel S3 - Episode 6 - Billy - is oddly enough one of the better episodes of the series. Small wonder - it was written by Tim Minear and Jeffrey Bell.

The episode is perfect noir thriller, except for one thing? It is a wicked and biting critique of the noir genre - by exposing the misogyny within it, calling it out, and giving it a ripe spanking. I was impressed. Not only does it comment on the misogyny in our society and culture (which both series do rather well and at a time period in which that rarely happened - this was 2001 before the Me#Too Movement), it also manages to move forward various character arcs, and set up two new star crossed romances that span the series. This episode blew me away - I'd forgotten it - and is a great companion piece to That Vision Thing (Episode 2 of S3).
( spoilers )

Buffy S6

I'm rather enjoying these initial episodes. I always did. The middle is the weak portion of the season. And I see the cracks in the various couples romantic lives.

Putting a pin in that.

It's late and I need to go to bed.

Forgot to post this year's Christmas Carol...



via The Pogues.

Getting slightly more done today. Did exercises - minimal. Made up the bed (well do that every day). Made breakfast and lunch. Cleaned the air fryer - it has a self-cleaning mechanism. Refilled the humidifier. And finished my water color - finally, knitted a lop-sided scarf, and edited a bit more of my work in progress, which may never see the light of day.

Also binged a bunch of Angel S3 and Buffy S6 episodes. I'm remembering why I gave up on Angel S3 now - oh dear god, it has some really bad episodes. Worse than S1, and that's saying something. Buffy S6 is the better of the two seasons, and I really love the beginning of this seasons - I'd forgotten how much. I find it highly relatable. It's also oddly realistic, the most realistic of all the seasons actually - in how it is shot and written.

That said, Angel S3 does have some good episodes in the mix - most of the good ones center on Angel, Cordelia or Wes. Carpe Diam - Angel S3 Episode 3 or 4, about Marcus, the old guy in the retirement home who is using a spell to jump into young male bodies, until he burns through them. It reminded me a little of Lonely Hearts, S1. ( Read more... )

They handle Buffy/Angel reunion oddly? ( Read more... )

Also they appear to be paralleling or comparing Cordy holding onto to her visions, to Angel holding onto being a vampire with a soul. Both are given at different points in the series - the opportunity to lose this gift. Both refuse, and see it as the only way they can be champions or chosen. It's not really a selfless act. Or the writers are questioning it.

The most frustrating thing in Buffy S6, actually is what makes it work the best - which is her friends inability or unwillingness to help her. I think she asked Angel for help - and he turned her down. ( Read more... )

Ah, it's 5:16pm and dark. So off to make dinner. I think.

Continuing with my comfort re-watch of Buffy and Angel, and for some reason or other, I don't feel compelled to watch anything else. Outside of a movie here and there. Nothing else is appealing to me at the moment, including Stranger Things, which recently dropped the first part of its' fifth and final season. I think I'm waiting for the second part to drop? Also trying to remember what happened previously.

Mother: Should I watch Stranger Things?
Me: No, I'd not recommend it - think Steven King and Steven Spielberg, circa 1980s.
Mother: What's it about?
Me: It's about a bunch of folks in a small New England town who stumble upon a porthole to a hell dimension, which brings in various demonic monsters - one captures a small boy. It's sci-horror. Very similar to the stuff Steven King and Steven Spielberg did in the 1980s.
Mother: Ugh. Really? Say no more, I'll pass.
Me: Told you.

I don't recommend television shows, books, or films to folks that I know won't like them. For example? If someone likes hyper-realistic dramas, with top-notch diverse casts, and hates fantasy and horror, I'm not going to recommend Buffy the Vampire Slayer to them, the Wire yes, Buffy no.

Why torture myself and them unnecessarily? I'm not that masochistic. Much easier to say - no you won't like it - it's a fantasy, with this that, and the other thing, and leave it at that. People need to be more tolerant of others tastes, and realize we most likely do not share the same tastes and leave it at that? Also, I'm a moody television and film and book watcher/reader. I go with whatever is calling me to it at the moment. If it's not, my brain will refuse to pay attention to it.

Finished Angel S2 finally - and it's a mixed bag. Buffy S5 is actually better - and more fluid and tighter. Of course it didn't have the problems Angel did. Angel S2, had some of the same issues Buffy S4 had - in that half of the supporting cast suddenly and without warning became unavailable in the second half of the season. Julie Benze (Darla) and Christian Kane (Lindsey) were both unavailable at the end of S2, and they had to write another story instead. Also, they ended up writing out Kate - because her involvement was contrived, also the actress got a role on Law and Order, and was unavailable. They intended to bring her back in Angel S3 as part of the Holtz story arc (she was supposed to be in the Justine role), but the actress wasn't available.

As a result, we got the Pylea arc - which is....not great. I kind of played a video game through it, and watched as background noise? I'd stop every once and awhile - out of curiosity - because I wanted to know something. (Such as Joss Whedon plays Numfar, who is told to keep dancing, in the background at Lorne's family reunion. And how Cordy becomes Princess, and how they figure out the way home (Fred figures it out with Wes's help).)

Takeaways?
( Read more... )

As an aside? You really can't trust Google's AI summaries, can you? I googled why Christian Kane and Elizabeth Roem left Angel or were unavailable - and the summary told me that Roem came back in the episode Same Time, Same Place in the 4th Season. (Uhm no. Also that's an episode in Buffy S7). Also when I was googling the Nosh Oven and how to fix something in it - it told me to preheat (you aren't supposed to, it heats up fast), and gave me the wrong cooking time.

It also says, Lindsey comes and goes in the later seasons. He only came back in S5, and on a limited basis.

1. It's the first real snowfall of the season, and the world looks soft and clean with snow outside my window. As opposed to drab and in need of a thorough washing or at least a toss or two in the washer. Soft puffs of snow decorate each and every brank outside, and leaves now,, finally, fallen, no longer present a hindrance to the decoration.

Melting won't happen any time soon, with temperatures in the teens and low twenties (Fahrenheit). (When I type my posts in this journal, it's easy to forget that I'm corresponding with the world and not just my own locality or myself. Long gone are the days in which that was the case, and for the most part I'm happy about that.) Putting thoughts and words out there for whomever happens by - can be discomforting, when I stop long enough to ponder it.)

Done little this holiday season, except rest and ice my knee (or attempt to) and do knee exercises. I'm paying for ignoring the knee during the summer and fall months. Although in my defense, I thought it was just a sciatic nerve - and the best way of handling that is often to muddle through. Also did random chores (which didn't involve utilizing the knee - ie, no getting down on my knees or squatting), and watched television.

2. I've made it through Buffy S5 rewatch, which upon rewatch - I now understand why people are split over it. ( Read more... )

3. Last night, watched One Battle After Another - Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, starring Leo DiCaprio and Scean Penn, along with Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti. It's about a washed up revolutionary, who has to come to terms with his revolutionary past to save his daughter and himself from those pursuing them. Half satire, half suspenseful thrill ride, it's a mixed bag? I found it slow in spots, particularly to start, and difficult to get into, but once it got rolling, it became more suspenseful, and hilarious in places. There are some very funny sequences in it - mainly involving DiCaprio. It is definitely topical and highlights the abuses of power not to mention deep-rooted racism by Homeland Security and ICE. (Although uses different names for them.)

4. For the most part, I'm on a news diet - so only have a passing awareness of what is happening outside my window. I did however hear in passing that numerous folks have resigned their positions from the ultra-Conservative Think Tank, also known as the Heritage Foundation. What caused this latest fracture and exodus? Apparently the anti-semitism got to them finally - and they jumped ship to join Mike Pence.

5. Memage:
( catching up on memage )

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate.

I took today off, and did next to nothing with it - outside of baking chocolate chip cookies I didn't need to bake, and resting my knee. I think I just wanted to watch television, play Royal Match and veg?

Decided to do laundry either tomorrow or Friday. Knee needed a respite. Struggling with my diet still - chocolate chip cookies tends to spike blood sugar, so does fries. I had fixed lamb, asparagus, and fries for dinner. It was a good dinner, but not the best for my blood sugar. The holidays are hard for restricted diets.

Zigging back and forth between Angel and Buffy, has made me aware of a few things? ( Read more... )

It's time for bed. The year is slowly winding down again, isn't it? And once again we've sunk into winter. Although it was sunny today. I have the lights on my little christmas tree on. And I watched my UUA Church's service on my big screen television set via Youtube. It's easier that way. Plus I can see more - such as the musicians. I couldn't see a thing when I attended it in person last year. (I won't do that again. Too crowded.) I don't get the little chocolate Christmas bells they handed out - but I didn't want or need them either. I think they gave chocolate coins, a little thing of perfume, and something else last year - to symbolize the gifts of the three kings (for the past several years the Magi had been the general theme), this year immigrants and angles were the general theme.

And it was topped off by a rendering of this song Huddled Masses. Listen to it, and I dare you not to cry. It's very moving, and particularly now.

At work yesterday, my cubicle mate did her busy holiday dance. This is when someone feels the need to tell me how busy they are, and all the things they are doing and have to do - like a little spinning top that can't stop spinning. I told her to just focus on one task at a time, stop thinking of all the things she needs to do, and break it down bit by bit.

The Department Wide Holiday Party that was held on Monday apparently ran out of food about fifteen minutes into the Party. People had to go out and get food on their own. They also ran out of bowls, and utensils. And all they had food wise was pizza (it was good pizza apparently from Adrienne's), salad (a small side salad), and a bowl of pasta. When cubicle mate left - they were hunting for bowls to serve the pasta. Cubicle mate was able to score one of the remaining two slices of pizza, which were small slices. In short, I missed nothing. The party on my own floor was better catered.

On that note - off to bed.

Taking tomorrow and Friday off, and get Xmas Day off of course - it's a Federal and State Holiday in the US.

Happy to have the break at last - work has become infuriatingly tedious of late. Needless to say, I'm burnt out, and desperately need a break from all of it. Also the commute is playing havoc with my right knee, and I've been sleeping poorly as a result.

I hope to do knee exercises, and maybe get some watercolors and writing done. Lately, I've become addicted to Royal Match on my phone. Only one problem with it? It costs money - or I get tempted to expend small amounts for more tries. I need to find a game with no costs and no ads. The Majhong game's pop up ads kept freezing the game and my Iphone. See? This is why I'm not much of a gamer. I should try the board game link.

Pondering Buffy S5 and Angel S2 today - and in my rewatch, I picked up something that in hindsight, is relatively obvious. It's a television trope that I've actually seen a lot since Buffy/Angel aired, but not as much prior. I think the series may have influenced a lot of writers to play with it. What it is - is the bait and switch, or mislead the audience into thinking this is going to happen, but do something else entirely. Otherwise known as the hairpin plot twist. It's hard to pull off well, without annoying the audience. The writers of Buffy and Angel tried to pull it off in just about every episode of the series and in the seasonal arcs.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Like I said - it's hard to pull off.
( Read more... )

I keep writing about this because I can't figure out how to articulate my thoughts on it. And keep thinking, perhaps erroneously, that writing it out will help.

**

Working my way through Angelica Huston's Memoir - which I keep forgetting the name of. Ah found it - A Story Lately Told - Coming of Age in Ireland, London and New York. It's well written and narrated. Listening to it on audible.

Gave up on "Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem" and went back to T Kingfisher's novel "What Moves the Dead". I like Kingfisher's writing style (possibly because it's very close to my own and I don't have to work that hard to read it? I've learned recently that reading a writing style that is close to my own style is easier for me to process, than one that is alien to it - or very different from it. Because of what I do for a living, and the amount of legal and technical reading I do - I have a tendency to skim formal writing, and disconnect from it. The more formal it is - the less likely I will be able to remember what I've read, without re-reading it five or six times.) It has a lot to do with dyslexia - I think? Formal writing has a tendency to make my eyes glaze over, and my focus shift away from the text.

Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem - has a formal writing style - in that the writer is trying to copy a formal British style of writing, most likely from the Victorian period. While I respect this choice? I wish they wouldn't. It makes it hard for me to stay focused on their story.

I can actually write in more than one style. I've been trained to do so, and can shift on a whim. I often do in these posts. I just prefer the casual or conversational writing style - it's easier for me to write in and to read. YMMV. People don't process information the same way or read the same way.

***

Off to bed, and hopefully to sleep. I need sleep. Been averaging 5 and a half hours the last couple of nights.

Resting my knee tonight, so didn't do the exercises - did ice it, also did exercises at work. Also took a longer walk than I should have? I wanted to see if Trinity Church, Printemps, and NYSE had been dressed up at all for Xmas. It had, but minimalist in style. The over-blown festive decorations are apparently saved for Dyker Heights, my apartment complex lobby, and Midtown Shopping District. The Financial District is well...not exactly spendthrift when it comes to Christmas decor - and errs on the tasteful and minimalist side of the fence?

( The Financial District, Trinity Church and NYSE at Christmas Time )

After the walk - which included an ill advised journey to Insomiac Cookies, which was alas closed - my right knee/leg was killing me. It was my own fault - if I'd ended it five to ten minutes sooner, I'd have been fine. Plus it was cold outside. ( Would have been nice if Insomina Cookies had warned me that they were closed this week.) And I didn't even get any chocolate chip cookies. I wanted my cookies. Instead I bought a chocolate bar - which resulted in high blood sugar, the cookies were the better bet.

On the plus side (knee wise, at least) - I managed to schedule an MRI for January 4 at the Brooklyn location, and on a Sunday morning, no less. Go me. So not quite as far as the Manhattan one, and less steps. Also a followup appointment with the orthopedist at 2:30pm on January 9 (Friday). I'll probably have to take the day off. Unfortunately. Either that or take two hours of comp time. I only have 10 hours of comp time remaining. Currently have a PT appointment scheduled at 4:30pm after it, which I might cancel or try to reschedule. So got it a lot faster than expected.

2. Gave up on the Larry Silverstein book - the narrator was speaking in a monotone, and I was having troubles following it. Jumped over to Tim Curry's autobiography entitled "Vagabound" - which Curry was reading himself, only one small problem? He'd just suffered a stroke. After about an hour and a half, I gave up. I can't do 10 hours of that - it was painful listening to him. So, I jumped over to Angelica Huston's autobiography/memoir, The Story of Me - which is a two party, and read by Huston, to high acclaim. She has a lovely voice, and it's beautifully written. Also very interesting - since she talks about her parents, the acclaimed actor, film director and writer, John Huston, his wife a prima ballerina, his father, an acclaimed actor, and their friends. It talks a lot about old Hollywood - during the 1950s. I just finished a chapter, where she talks about how her father, along with Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, etc - formed an organization supporting the First Amendment - to speak out against the McCarthy Hearings and the infamous Hollywood Blacklist. This also resulted in Huston leaving the US, and filming outside of it, and living outside of it for the remainder of his life. Huston married Angelica Huston's mother when he was 40 years of age, and her mother was 18 years of age, and a prima ballerina at the premier ballet company in the US which later became the NY Ballet.

Angelica Huston doesn't tell so much as show? She relates the facts, and lets the reader figure it out. Reminds me of Paul Newman's memoir in that respect. It's well written.

3. Progressing along in my rewatch of Buffy S5. Some takeaways, after seeing I was Made to Love You and Crush.
( still pondering the contradictions in Crush and in IWMTLY )