Oh My–Almost Monday!

Okay, so here we are with Sunday nearly over. According to my A-Z challenge for myself, this is ‘O’ day and I almost didn’t get this blog done!

As a retired person, Monday holds no sway for me. Except that my sweetie and I spend the weekends binging shows. During the week we are in separate rooms working on our own pursuits, writing, Facebooking, etc.

This weekend binge was first Lost in Space , what fun it was! I loved it because as a sci-fi it included everyone, all ages, colors, genders and still remained exciting. It even manages to have good and bad in an inclusive manner.

Sundays have been mostly The Walking Dead or Fear of the Walking Dead. Again, the reasons I love these shows are the all-inclusiveness. And the story-line is always fresh.

But I never just sit and stare at a screen. I am usually knitting or playing a game on my phone or –TADA editing! I did 4 hours today. I did do some knitting and played a couple games of FreeCell while I gnashed on sentences that beg to be fixed but I couldn’t figure them out while staring at them.

Since I am not signed up Officially with the A-Z Challenge I will say if you want to learn more about it click on the blued URL above.

If you can spare a moment to beta-read my first 13 chapters of Haven, I would be ever so grateful. Leave me questions or critiques (Please be kind–this is scary!)

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#JusJoJan Daily Prompt: Ultimatum – January 14th, 2018

This is directly from Linda G. Hill’s blog:

Your prompt for January 14th, 2018, brought to you by a new-to-me blogger, Itinerary Planner, is “Ultimatum.” Use it any way you’d like in your post. And make sure you visit Itinerary Planner at her blog, “Travel Itineraries: Travel the World for Less” (sounds good to me!) to read her post and say hi! Here’s her link:  https://traveltinerary.com/

I think of myself as a rather peaceful person. But I have a serious rebel side. And to see that an ultimatum is announced. ‘You will do this, be this, or ___ will happen.’ You know often _____ is often a better result than complying. In fact, it has often been life-changing.

I spent all day trying to tell the story to back it up but I can’t without involving someone else and I don’t want to do that. Well, and I have had one shiny thing after another today. But I think I made my point.

Has anyone watched Pirates 5? That was one of my distractions today. Talk about ultimatums! Oh, and we started the series Disjointed. FUN! I needed the laughs that came from that.

Another distraction, my 44-year-old son is coming to live with us this next weekend. Now I have to clear out a room for him and figure out a lot of logistics. If you could climb into my head right now, you would see a knotted bunch of yarn trying to break out!

Review: Return to Woodbury by Robert Kirkman

Return to Woodbury by Robert Kirkman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know those books that you can’t put down? Yep. This is one of them. I never read book 1 so I have no clue if it is about The Walking Dead characters we know and love from the television show. This is a whole new bunch of people. Not even of the Fear of the Walking Dead bunch. I loved the characters right away. The slip of Rick Grimes’s name near the end lets you know it is a part of the same series.

And who wouldn’t want to live in an IKEA? What a great place to ride out the apocalypse? But our fearless leader has other plans, against this reader shouting to stay put.

I don’t like reading books out of order but it was available on NetGalley and I couldn’t resist. I’m glad I got to read it. Especially since the new season doesn’t start until, what, the 18th or something. And I had just finished another binge of all the seasons on, I think, Netflix. Yeah, including Negan’s bad behavior. So I was jonesing for more TWD. This book filled the sudden void.

If you are going to read it, block out a space in the daytime so you don’t have to stay awake until the sun comes up in the morning. It is THAT good!

View all my reviews

#A to Z Challenge–O

Other Entertainments

I think it was around day three in Reno that I ran out of things I wanted to watch on Netflix. I wasn’t in a reading mood. I just wanted to work on my knitting and watch things when I was there alone, or even when I was able to be with my Pal (that will be my next entry). Since Daughter didn’t have cable, as I said before, I watched her Netflix or Hulu. So on to Hulu.

One of the first shows I ran across was Doris:

I loved how her friends were there for her, how she wasn’t afraid to try even though she was scared to death! Great cast!

Though the Age of Adaline had an interesting take about immortality, it merely points out how little the life of a woman has changed in the last few decades. Good for watching without analyzing, though.

The next time you want to have a good cry watch:

OMG!!!! My daughter’s cat and Kali were on either side of me as I loudly cried. I had to stop the movie and reassure them that I was okay. If you have had cancer or friends/family who have experienced this awful disease in their lives, use your own judgment as to whether or not you can handle this bittersweet film.

The trips to and from home were packed with music and podcasts. But maybe I should share that later.

Though I am still behind, I am still taking the #AtoZChallenge. To see how it is supposed to be done go here.

 

#A to Z Challenge–N

Now ‘N’

Which stands for Netflix. Which is what I did when I wasn’t visiting with friends or family. Here are some of the shows I watched:

 

BFG (Big Friendly Giant) Held up to the book quite well. My Review Here.

Oh, this was delightful! I loved how they treated the mental disability as a special ability. I LOVED the octopus!!!

After two children’s shows, I thought I’d go serious with this one. It ends in a rather triggery manner so if suicide is difficult for you to watch fast forward that part. The rest is a good reminder to be good to others and not jump to our own conclusions. Though delicate in nature, it would be good to watch with your teens so as to discuss relationships and how we each see things differently.

I love this show. I had wanted to be a midwife at one time in my life. I gave birth to my last two at home and found the experience far superior to hospital birth. Since I was only a season behind I found this newest, of the fifties and sixties interesting. The move from the healthier home birth to the overmedicated hospital births and the result of medication that caused birth defects very sad, though a truism in our history. I love how it follows the history of women!

I was surprised to see this on Netflix. It, too, followed the book. Though I didn’t read the first one I read The World According to Bob. My Review Here. Which prompts me now to go look up more by the author.

Helped me fall asleep. It was cute but the narrator made the show seem immature.

One of the shows I looked at and didn’t follow through was 3%. I kinds of found it boring. Maybe I’ll try again later.

Next, there were others I tried and didn’t stay with are Life in Pieces, MST3000 (Actually watched it with family. One of many shows we watched that caused us all to laugh together.)

#AtoZChallenge is a lot of fun, even when you get behind! Check it out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#AtoZChallenge– B

Bad Guy, Bullie, Bastard. No, not a political statement. Could be, but…

Coming up to yesterday, I looked forward to the Walking Dead season finale. Hubby stated the obvious wish, “Can’t wait to see the end of Negan!”

From the first time I saw him on the show I’ve yelled, “Cut his ‘L’ vad wire!” Fans of Grey’s Anatomy will understand. What I just learned is: LVAD stands for Left Ventricular Assistance Device. Thank you, Google!

But I knew Negan would not be dead at the end of this show. Negan still hasn’t told us his story. How did he become so bad? How did he start his band of Negans? When in the face of such a bullie, how can the average person live positively and not become the same kind of bad? The writer in me knows that is necessary. AND who wants to lose Jeffrey Dean Morgan?

The best stories are those where we get to know characters deeply, even the bad guys.

Still, I cried at the Sasha Williams part. Sonequa Martin was amazing!!!! I will miss her.

She is such a beauty and quite the actress!

And she is one of the Badass Bitches of TWD!

The other two in this picture are Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) on the right and Michonne (Danai Gurira) in the middle. There are other strong fems in this show but these may be my favs.

Sasha Badass Bitch to the end!!!!

Thank goodness for the Talking Dead that helps me heal after gruesome scenes.

That’s Chris Hardwick. Love him @Nerdist and his mother @NerdistMom!

In case you didn’t notice, this was part of the A to Z Challenge 

Please come and join the fun!

Gratitude and Life

Today I am full of gratitude. I have so much to be thankful for, family, friends, pets, habitat. I think these are played up in my blogs often. But last night one of the things I was afraid to mention happened for real. We have a sofabed! It is used. But still looks quite nice and we didn’t have to pay a thing for it. You can’t tell what it looks like, and I knew if we were lucky to get one that this would happen. The first thing I did when it came in the house was to cover it. With a cat and dog that shed in white and a cat that sheds in black, there was no sofa that was going to look nice in the spring or summer without a cover I could wash. I should have taken a picture of it but cell was in the bedroom and only now did I think of it. I’ll try to share that later.

I have been wanting a sofa since we got to this house but somehow the budget couldn’t do it. Now, because local friends helped, I will have a place for company to sit or sleep. Since most of my family and friends are at least five hours away I wanted somewhere to entertain and put them up. This will help so much! And since it is under the picture window I foresee doing my knitting there as the room warms in this next season. Love brings love.

On a whole different topic: I thought it was spring. I went for that nice walk yesterday and though the wind and spitty rain threatened, it was actually comfortable for me in my sweatshirt covered in my windbreaker. Woke up this morning to snow on the ground. It didn’t stay long the rest of the day was a steady light rain. We hardly noticed as we did the ‘outside’ things today. Kali didn’t want to the first out but the rest of the day was easy peasy. We hardly got wet. So that’s a promise of nice weather coming. Yay!

Most of the day I spent watching NetFlix while loom knitting. I am still on sock number one for my brother. It is slow and tedious. My hands and eyes can’t do a lot at one time so I’m working on another Hugger Hat using the Andalusian stitch. It, too, is slow going but not so tedious that it hurts. Since I’ve already put the knitting away for the day I have no pictures.

I watched Pete’s Dragon. No Candle on the Water but it made me cry at the end.

Then I binged on Grace and Frankie

What a fun little show!

TGIF/Meandering After Midnight

Hey, quit judging! Retired/folks on disability like Fridays, too. No, it isn’t the relief you worker bees find. But there is a rhythm to our quieter lives. Friday starts with alarm in my house. Usually, me, worried about getting the trash out to the curb on time. Like this morning.

Last week we were still asleep at 11 AM. With hubby’s shoulder pain and my fibro pain, sleep is hard to come by. So when I woke I knew they had already come. They usually get here while we’re watching the View. Good thing we recorded it. I took out the trash hoping this would be a late week for them. Nah.

So this week we had two weeks of trash to get rid of. I was up at 8. Hubby was still asleep. I think my brother was, too. He’s the only working one and has to keep regular hours, so when hubby’s and my non-sleeping take over, bro suffers. So I felt chosen to do the job. It isn’t impossible and Kali loves it very much. She is so good as when I actually leave the yard to put the can to what would be a curb if we had non-dirt streets, she stays right in our yard and waits for me.

That over I could relax. Make my breakfast yam and tea, then settle with the morning line up. The truck came right on time and took the extra bag. For three people we make a lot of trash!

I am not one of those people who thinks television is evil or a waste of time. It is cheaper than any pill a doctor could give me for pain. I can get lost in a good science show or news show or drama. My writing needs to see the results of other people’s writing. My favorite shows are on Thursday. Yes, the Shonda Rhimes line up has been my favs for a long time. When I was working I knew when those shows were on that I was nearly done with my week. Now I just see them as too far apart. Especially with the cliffhangers of last night. Grey’s sister’s mom is dying of cancer!!! Then on Scandal: HUCK!!!!!! NO!!!

Oh, yeah, concentrating on Friday. The last day of patterned TV: Maybe Kelly (I hate that all morning programs are centered in New York!) But I can’t resist Whoopi and the View. Then the local news–mostly to see what our neighbors’ weather will be like. An hour of who knows? cause I’m busy then. The finally a west coast show, the Talk. Another hour of ‘I don’t know,’ as I’m busy. Then the MSNBC line up, except for Chris Matthews as he yells at everyone and isn’t respectful to his guests. But with Greta, we can play her show during his. Then the evening changes day by day.

Monday is Scorpion for sure. I am in awe of the writers of that show. They have a pat routine to their show: clever jokes, on edge of your seat scary (last weeks’ tram scene had me sweating!) and resolve to light bantering again. How do they suck me in? I know it isn’t real. I know how it is going to work. Yet I am drawn in from the beginning of each show. I don’t usually like formulaic writing.

In the evenings I am so busy with my Duolingo and then catching up on blogs and social stuff and ‘researches’ that I’m not a good remote holder. Hubby takes that job and so I am never sure which show, except for those mentioned above. But other shows are: Blindspot, Bones, Taboo, Startalk, Librarians, The Last Ship, Designated Survivor, Chicago Med, (Almost any Medical Drama). Humans, Expanse, Chicago Fire, –and the list goes on and on as some show go on hiatus and others come back. Most of them are in the background for me. I don’t pay close attention. I’m usually reading, knitting, researching, doing email or FaceBooking. My kids will tell you I’ve always been a non-watcher. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “You were watching it, Mom. Don’t you remember?” even hubby tells me I saw this before. Mostly it is noise to keep me distracted should the things I’m working on not do the trick.

Anyway, those are the basics of the evening shows. We used to stay up and watch Craig Ferguson but since he left we turn the TV off about the time for the noisy late-night guys.

But weekends! We start with Joy but if she is too much of the T-word we move on. We have recorded masses of Dr. Pol and Dr.Jeff or Alaska the Last Frontier or other shows that are similar. If none of those work, a good disaster movie or syfy or animal show will hold that background for me. And the occasional Project Runway.

Sundays are best. Why? Game of Thrones (when it’s finally on) Shameless, Elementary, Secretary of State, and Walking Dead and Talking Dead. Those last two are nearly exclusively mine. Hubby tolerates them. But I love the character development and watching how folks survive certain situations. Talking Dead, cause I love learning how stories are made, behind the scenes and meeting the actors as people and what they bring to a role. And I like Chris Hardwick.

We tend to watch our DVDs or Netflix or the like on the weekend our favorites being Pirates of the Caribbeans Avatar, Independence Day and the like. I could watch these a million times and always notice something new. And I like the music of these shows. Or binging on GoT. That music gets me, too.

But these shows on the weekend hold more of my attention. So I feel healthier. Does that make sense? It’s like I need a lot of animal, nature type things to ground me then exciting music. Just listening to music doesn’t work for me. As a music major, I get involved. Where’s it going? How did they do that? I wonder if I could play that. So I need a show to keep me in the room involved with the writing and characters while knitting and computing.

Do you have a TV diet/routine?

Just Jot It Jan 16 – Impenetrable

 

Impenetrable?

Ask Jon Snow!

I just need to add the only thought I have about the word. It seems to be the most defiant word of all. Anytime someone says something is Impenetrable there is someone or something trying to prove that otherwise. Maybe a less defiant word would be better and safer?

The following copied from Linda G Hill. Thanks for all the inspiration!

Thanks to Blog Woman!!! for our prompt of the day, “impenetrable.” You can find her here: https://blog-woman.com/

And a special thank you to Shan, for the wonderful job she’s doing as host. Let’s hear it for Shan! https://shanjeniah.com/about/

It’s not too late to join in Just Jot It January. Click the following link to participate and read more amazing posts: https://lindaghill.com/2017/01/16/jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-16th17/

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