thirtydreamingcatsonline

Good news?

Super texts me around 11 am: you're shower is working now. (Sends video demonstrating both cold and hot water are coming out of it.)
ME: Yippee! Yay! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I got to take a shower when I got home. Kaloo Kalay...I did a little happy dance at my desk when I discovered it.

It's the little things. Like the ability to take a hot shower and wash my hair. And relax tense muscles. Slept horribly last night worrying over it.
I kept wondering if I should try to put a pillow over the window in the bathroom - to make the room warmer.

Bad news? The apartment is a touch warmer than I'd like? I was enjoying wearing sweat shirts and fuzzy socks. Also warm pjs, and curling under the covers. Although not scrambling to get dressed in the morning, while it was cold or covering up every crack in the windows with cloth. It was beginning to look like a derelict's bedroom. Now, the window fan is back in the window, the air purifier is on, and I've installed the humidifier in the bedroom instead of the living room.

But other than that...

Also it's gotten warmer? Instead of -4 degrees, we have 24 degrees. It's rather balmy. Once it hits 38 degrees F, folks will be wearing shorts.

And per Breaking Bad, it snowed in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Me: Did it? (a bit more gleeful than I should be)
BB: It might have been in the mountains, I'm not certain.

yourlibrarian

1) It's surprising to me that it's been a month since I last posted...here. I have been posting every week in communities, but simply haven't completed some write ups and reviews I wanted to make.

However speaking of communities,

marchmetamatterschallenge will be starting up again on March 1. If you've written meta, join in and copy your meta over to an additional location for both discovery and safekeeping! More details at the community link.

2) We were watching Colbert and his wife Evie was on. For Valentine's Day they read through her 12 year old writings about what she considered the perfect guy for her. Among her notes was that he should be "all man." This made my partner remember an event in hockey where a player was placed in the penalty box because his team had too many players on the ice. The TV caption however, as they showed him sitting there was "Too much man." I found this hilarious.

3) I daresay the article Stop Meeting Students Where They Are is relevant to various readers here. They key to me is that (a) younger online users are starting to intentionally reduce their time there, and ( Read more... )

4) Love how the same people scolding audiences for preferring to watch movies at home, don't go to the cinema even when it's free. "The Academy has long hosted screenings of Oscar-hopefuls for its members throughout the year in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New York and London, and then again after the announcement of the Oscar nominations.

But in recent years — particularly over the seven years since the Academy introduced its members-only streaming service, the Academy Screening Room, through which members can watch films at home — attendance at all of these screenings has markedly declined.... “an average of five members attended these screenings in the last two years,” ...which reportedly cost the organization thousands of dollars a pop. So the Academy decided to save resources by eliminating them altogether." Aside from the Academy members can view movies on the big screen at the many showings hosted by the nominating studios. They just choose not to, just like most other viewers.

5) We finished watching Bodkin, which I will agree was an interesting view, though I had trouble getting into it, primarily because I was not fond of any of the main characters. A few episodes in the mystery was developing and I was fairly satisfied with how that unfolded and its complexity.

My big problem was that Netflix had labeled this "Comedy." ( Read more... )

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shadowkat

1. Another bitterly cold day, actually worse than yesterday. Woke up to no hot water in the shower - per the Super, the pipe had froze. Apparently the folks in the apartments on the 6th and 4th floors barely use the hot water (they must be very stinky?) and the 5th is now vacant.

Me: What happened to the new tenant in the 5th Floor apartment, did they leave already.
Super: They passed away.

So they took heaters up to the 5th floor and 6th and got the hot water working. Apparently the 4th is fine. (I'm annoyed I was dripping the hot water - and had even taken a hot shower at 11 pm). Their solution is to put another radiator in the bathroom (I already have one in there) and close the door - apparently this worked on the 5th and 6th floor. And open the hot water valve.

They also decided to turn on the radiator in my bedroom. Because 64 degrees in the bedroom, with the windows covered and the cracks patched up, is too cold. The building code is 70 degrees.

After all that work to get the radiator turned off in the bedroom - it's back on again, because the temperatures decided to go below 0 this weekend.

So, how's your Sunday going so far?

Some church services were cancelled. Mine wasn't - I'm watching it on Youtube on time delay (I kept pausing it to deal with the Super). And no it wasn't done virtually - they are actually there having service and live-streaming it. People came from Chinatown - for the first time. Now, that's dedication.

2. Speaking of dedication? Found this via brithistorian yesterday....

"The rule: In order to prevent ski jumpers from going full flying squirrel with their suits, they undergo a 3D body scan, which determines the dimensions (and hence the surface area) of their suit.

The allegation: It has been alleged that some ski jumpers are having their penises injected with hyaluronic acid to make them bigger and thus net them extra cloth in the crotch of their suits. It's not a lot, but given the tight margins of victory in some Olympic competitions, it could make a difference.

The ruling: WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) has said they have no definitive evidence that this has ever been done, and in fact they aren't even sure that this would fall under the definition of doping, but they do say they'll be looking into it."

Now, assuming folks are actually doing this? That's dedication. It didn't say what the women ski jumpers do - but yes my mind went there.

[Personally? You couldn't pay me enough to do ski jumping. I don't ski. Tried that, won't do it again. It's a real good way to permanently injure yourself for no good reason - which is why my father refused to ski - he considered it an expensive, cold, dangerous sport with no point.]

***

3. Watching Angel S4 and Buffy S7 back to back or together kind of hammers home how impossible it is for Angel to be redeemed. ( Read more... )

Now, I'm kind of watching Katee Sackoff and her husband watching herself play Starbuck in BSG, they've never seen it. (This is a thing, now? Actors watching themselves in iconic/popular 25 year old television series in podcasts. And you get to watch the actor freaking out over the show, and their own acting, and realizing, wow, this was a great show.) Sackoff is kind of similar to Juliet Landau, because both know filmmaking, and they are doing it with another person.

This is just making me want to rewatch Battle Star Galatica and I have enough shows in my to watch queues without adding re-watches. Stopped.

shadowkat

Due to the bitter cold and resting the knee - haven't done much today. Outside of a few knee exercises - need to do a few more.

Moseyed onto yet another episode of Buffy S7 - Lies My Parents Told Me. It's written by Drew Goddard and David Fury, and directed by Fury (who has a bit of a mean streak and wrote Helpless). ( long and rambling )

shadowkat

Hibernating in my apartment (because it is -16 degrees F outside with windchill, that translates to - 26 C (correction - it's now dropped to 6 degrees and is between -12 and -14, so I guess the wind is leveling off at least?), it's 68 degrees inside with radiators). I'm wearing a turtle neck, sweats, and fluffy socks. So I'm warm. Had hot coco earlier.

( Read more... )

I did finish "Buffy S7: Storyteller" - and the ending isn't bad? ( Read more... )

Then watched two episodes of The Pitt S2 - which were excellent. I love this series. (It's a hyper-realistic medical procedural that focuses on one 16 hour shift in an American inner city ER. It's less personal than This is Gonna Hurt or ER, in that we don't see the home lives of any of the characters. The only set is the ER and the immediate area into and out of it. We see Dr. Robi riding his motorcycle to the ER to start his last night shift before leaving on sabbatical, but after that? It's indoors. Medical health care workers - have stated that when people ask them to describe what they do? They point to the Pitt.)

I can relate - I have troubles explaining my profession too - although it's not that, and no one in their right mind would do a television show off of it. The viewers would go to sleep, god knows, I do.

Mother called after the figure skating (partly to apologize for the American's short program being a disappointment - it isn't usually) and to tell me about a comedy sketch she's working on for her retirement center's variety program. The center's self-appointed theater director has grown weary of writing sketches and has asked people to write or develop their own acts to be edited together into one program. They just have to write it about the center and issues involving it. Mother's decided to do a "Who's on First, What's on Second" sketch - except using maintenance workers.
( Mother's skit - well so far )
I wished her luck with it. She's presenting it to her friend (the self-appointed theater director) tomorrow. (Mother is 83 turning 84 this year, and her friend is about four-five years older, I think.)

**

The self-appointed Buddhist expert on FB posted a list of things to do to change your life and become...I don't know? Calmer? More empathetic? A better person? One never knows with self-appointed internet Buddhist experts.

Their list?
( 6 month plan to become unrecognizable.. )

Anywho - the first three aren't bad: Get sun regularly, practice gratitude, practice detachment (unless of course it means becoming a sociopath - in which case? Bad Buddhist, and I do not think that's what Buddhism is about). But the fourth one kind of lost me and I fluttered away after that, arguing with the person who posted in my head (assuming of course it is an actual person? It could be Generative AI or a Digitial auto pilot account, one never knows these days. (And also not very Buddhist. Techie, yes, Buddhist, no.)
( Read more... )
**

Against my better judgement, I caved and made brownies. ( Read more... )

**

I've managed to do my knee exercises or most of them - the important ones at any rate. Not necessarily three times today, but the knee was hurting still from yesterday. I'd stood on it too long - so it wanted to rest. It finally stopped hurting sometime around noon.

***

Memage

4. How old is the oldest book you own?

God knows. It appears to be On the Road with Jack Keroack - 1955. I was going to say my copy of the Hobbit or the Last Hurrah, but On the Road wins. (I don't tend to keep old books - since I'm allergic to the dust and book mold - and I don't have the space, and I can barely read the small print any longer.)

5. It’s the 60th anniversary of the game ‘Twister’ – have you ever played it?

Yes. Although not since the 1980s. I vaguely remember enjoying it a lot in the 1970s as a kid.

6. In 1869, Harper's Weekly published the first picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers. Do you know anyone with a beard or a moustache?

Most of my neighbors and male co-workers. My boss has a beard and moustache, his boss does. Most of the young men in the neighborhood do. Most of my male neighbors - next door, across the hall, downstairs, the guy in the basement. It's incredibly trendy at the moment?

7. Is there a subject at school which you disliked, but you would consider learning now?

No. The ones I disliked, I ended up learning in spite of myself, and unfortunately doing for a living and figuring out on my own. So I don't think it matters? There's no avoiding math. It's a fact of life. As is business law, contracts, and property law. Whether you go to law school or not. Same with computers. Can't avoid it.

Science? No. I hated biology then, I hate it now. Dissection really wasn't my thing. And chemistry - too many annoying formulas and you kind of need to know calculus.

shadowkat

1. Ah, protest songs throughout the ages that are still relevant today and we've all been rediscovering out of..I don't want to say desperation?

This one was written in 1941 by Irving Berlin and it works just as well today for ahem, someone else (albeit someone who is basically the same guy - Berlin wrote about, just in the 21st Century).

"When that man is dead and gone" by Irving Berlin

Watch on YouTube

And here's When that Man is Dead and Gone as sung by Mildred Bailey in 1942.

"The world is hell for you and me, but what a heaven it will be when that man is dead and gone, we'll go dancing down the street and kissing everyone we meet...When that man is dead and gone, what a day to wake up upon, what a day to smile upon when a certain man is dead and gone."

It's kind of on the nose? But it made me happy listening to it five to six times. (Honestly, I'd like to go ONE day without hearing anything about that man, at all. I get emails about him. He's in the news. My Boss mentions him. Right now he's threatening to withdraw Federal funding if they don't put is name on Penn Station instead of the name Penn Station. Sigh. I really despise fascism.]

2. Started watching Buffy S7, Episode 16 (?) - Storyteller - it does NOT improve with age. ( Read more... )

3. It's going to be bitterly cold this weekend. Dropping into below 0 territory with wind chills. Which is kind of dangerous in NYC. NYC doesn't have the infrastructure for the lower temperatures. Lots of above ground trains. Homeless population. Ferries. Etc. Also, there's a lot of apartment complexes that don't have great heating.

I'm fine. Although...I'm very happy that I cancelled my hair appointment on Saturday morning - and rescheduled it for President's Day (it's supposed to be warmer on that day.)

shadowkat

1. So scanning the kindle library, and comixcology, resulted in an impulse purchase - Bloody Fool for Love - A Spike Prequel by William Ritter - I got the kindle e-book, not the audiobook - mainly because I can't listen to anyone but James Marsters read it.

Also found an absurd AU "published" Buffy fanfic - where Buffy is the villain that all the bad guys have to get rid of to save themselves. Big Bad by Lily Anderson

( synopsis )
LOL. No, I didn't get it. But the writing from the audiobook is actually not bad.

I blame my Buffy Rewatch for this. Sometimes fictional characters jump off the screen or page, and refuse to leave my head. Not always. Sometimes.
I never quite know why?

Also, I don't have a type. Because, another character that jumped off the page for me was Cyclops from the X-men, who is the exact opposite of Spike.
You'd think I would love Wolverine? But nooo. I loved Cyclops.

2. Angel rewatch S4 - the Lilah/Wesley romance, Wes's entire arc, and Faith's return are the best things in the season and worth watching just for that alone. Actually it's why I love Angel S4 - I love Wes's arc (helps that Denisof is insanely attractive). Wes and his women. Faith, Lilah, and Fred. Also his interactions with Angel and Angelus are a lot of fun.
( Angel S4 Rewatch Soulless through Salvage )

**

Off to bed again. It's that time. Time gets away from me as I ramble.

shadowkat

Today was a better day than yesterday for various and sundry reasons. ( Read more... )

***

I finished the Angelica Huston Memoir - "Watch Me" - which isn't that memorable, outside of a bittersweet ending, wherein she makes the point that of everything she's done, it's her connections with family, friends, and others that meant the most. ( Read more... )

Currently listening to Twelve Months by Jim Butcher - narrated by James Marsters. Not Marsters best voice work but still rather good.
And still reading The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy Townsend- which is basically a mystery with an autistic sleuth, whose six foot tall, and middle-aged. It's okay - I got it as a Xmas present. But it's slow moving.
[Note to self- stop picking up books rec'd by Smart Bitches. This one was - looked great and I asked for it for Xmas.]

***

Buffy S7 Rewatch - Get it Done, Ep. 15

Doug Petrie, God Bless Him, is not a good script writer. His dialogue, ugh. Cringe. Yes, I know he was credited for writing both Beneath Me and Fool for Love, but I also know both those episodes were heavily edited and rewritten by the show-runners and executive producers (Marti Noxon and Joss Whedon). Whedon and Noxon wrote all of the Spike and Buffy scenes in Fool for Love, taking turns. While Petrie wrote the Riley scenes. (He states this in the commentary for the episode, that's how I know. Petrie told us.) Whedon also rewrote and refilmed, and directed himself the second half of Beneath Me. Petrie's script was so awful, Whedon rewrote it, and directed it, and brought everyone back to film it over the weekend. And you can tell the difference. The dialogue in the first half of Beneath Me is cringe inducing in places.

Petrie wrote As You Were and Get it Done, and they have the same problems. He doesn't know how to write for Spike, Willow, Anya, or Dawn. Buffy is okay for the most part. Also he sucks at plotting, there are plot holes in this episode that you can drive a truck through. You can tell they didn't plan it out.

The other difficulty with Get it Done is...the writers want to be color blind? ( Read more... )

I get what they are trying to do and the power metaphors are interesting on a certain level. And Buffy's refusal of the power at whatever cost - is interesting as well, and direct demonstration of how she is different from the First's take on her or Caleb. But, the execution is clumsy at best, and it doesn't totally make sense? ( Read more... )

**

This is more about S7 as a whole, not just this episode - when Buffy moved over to UPN, UPN let the show-runners and producers know that they had to fulfill a diversity quota. ( Read more... )

Get It Done - unfortunately didn't have a strong enough writer to handle the world building, the cultural stuff, and the large cast. That said, there's a few isolated moments in there that work however. Spike's fight with the demon does. I spent some time trying to figure out why soulful Spike would have issues fighting demons or taking a demon life? ( Read more... )

I also wondered why he needed to get the coat to be able to do it? And realized finally that it's clarified in Sleeper or the song, Pavlov's Bell - "trading coats and ringing Pavlov's Bell is how I nearly fell" - that's what Spike has been doing all along. ( Read more... )

Overall - an interesting but deeply flawed episode. S7 like all the seasons has some clunky episodes in the middle. This is one of them.

Make of that what you will...just my own mutterings for my own amusement.

Off to bed.

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Hi all!

I'm doing some minor operational work tonight. It should be transparent, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong. The main thing I'm touching is testing a replacement for Apache2 (our web server software) in one area of the site.

Thank you!

shadowkat

My father used to tell me I had a bad case of the February Uglies. And alas, I do. February is a tough month. It's dark. It's gloomy. It's cold. Snow is usually on the ground. Everything looks dead. It has an annoying holiday (aka Hallmark Card Holiday - Valentine's Day), although at least it's paired with a bank holiday (President's Day).

I can't figure out if I need to bundle my Disney + and Hulu subscriptions yet? I don't care all that much about the Disney one, it's the Hulu that I don't want to lose. Apparently Disney is slowly phasing out their Hulu app and combining everything with the Disney + app. I wish they wouldn't do that, but I get it. It's probably cheaper if I bundle them. But I want to keep my shows on Hulu - and they aren't available on Disney yet.

Confused? So am I.

Between work, Physical Therapy, the internet, church....I live in perpetual state of confusion. Work confuses me on a daily basis - after five years of this, you'd think I'd have gotten used to it? Maybe just resigned.

Tortured myself by looking at trips to warm places that I can't afford to physically or financially visit at the moment.

Also tortured myself by looking at this thing - which is cool, but I can't afford it nor do I think I could get it to work effectively. (Facebook likes to throw stuff at me that I can't afford and don't really require.)

Enuf whinging.

At least I got my exercises done. (Although he didn't manage to send me the revised ones yet, so I did last week's program to the extent that I could. There's one that I think we discontinued, because I can't do it correctly at home.)

Need to make dinner, just don't know what I want to make. Thinking mac and cheese - the gluten free version. Although probably shouldn't.

***

1. What’s your favourite hot beverage? How do you make it?

Currently - matcha latte. Get a small teaspoon or two of matcha powder, a little hot water, then add almond/coconut milk, then head in microwave. (OR get it from a coffee shop with steamed milk of your choice.) (I also like cold matcha latte.)

Also, dark organic unsweetened chocolate, milk, steamed over a stove, add cinnamon and vanilla. Serve with whipped cream.

2. When was the last time you saw an original hand-painted painting?

Now? I'm an artist and there's one on my watercolor easel in process.
Also if you been following my journal at all regularly? You've seen one fairly recently as well. I've been posting my original hand-painted paintings.

If this means in person? Again for myself? Now. It's in the corner next to the windows, along with a stack of recently painted watercolors. I'm a painter? Specializing in watercolors.

3. Is there a book you’ve seen made into a film and been disappointed with the result?

Too many to count. The problem is what I see in my head is rarely what the film maker or adapter is viewing in theirs - so, obviously it will be different? There are exceptions but they are rare. I've learned from experience to put as much time as possible between when I read the book and when I see the movie. Or not to read the book first.

That said? I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of adaptations. Particularly fantasy and sci-fi adaptations.

I remember being annoyed by the first film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. Tom Cruise was horribly miscast in that role.

shadowkat

The weekend has flown by, yet again. Mother is more worried about the hematoma that I acquired beneath my upper arm than I am. It's a long red bruise. I have ice on it. Read up on hematomas - and apparently they are only an issue if you feel dizzy, faint, run a fever, have tingling in the digits, have one near the brain or abdomen. Arms, shoulders and legs, not so much. And it takes 1-4 weeks for them to heal. If somewhat lumpy, sore, and colorful - normal.

It's fine. I have ice on it at the moment - finally figured out how to do it. Also been told via mother's cousin - that heat helps.

I've been using a CALM APP to calm my nerves and help with the negative emotions. It helps. Best app that I've found to date, and cheaper than Headspace.

Television

* The Pitt S2 is up on HBO, and it's still good. It's one shift, hour by hour for July 4th, Doctor Robie's last shift before he goes on sabbatical, and the first shift for two doctor's who were away on sabbatical. The series is a hyper-realistic medical procedure that takes place entirely in the ER of an American inner city hospital in Pittsburgh, otherwise known as The Pitt. It's by far the most realistic medical drama that I've seen. The only other one that comes close is the UK series This is Gonna Hurt - starring Ben Whinslaw, and I found difficult to watch. The Pitt isn't quite as raw, nor as bloody as This is Gonna Hurt (which is about an London NHS obstetrics unit). If you want to watch the latter series - it's on Netflix, and was done by AMC and I think ITV. Netflix by the way - has the worst interface on streaming. It's close to impossible to rewind or fast forward, stop or pause on Netflix. I really hate Netflix's interface - it's always crashing my wifi on my television set. If it didn't have great programming, I'd ditch it.

I'm stretching this one out. It stars Noah Wyle, and the daughters of Brad Douriff (horror king), and Bryan Cranston, in supporting roles. Basically ER for grownups.

* Bridgerton S4 Part I - this is Benedict Bridgerton's book, and it has issues. The set up is pretty much the Cinderella trope - a popular and (ahem) overdone (IMO) trope. I am admittedly biased against it. I didn't like the original Cinderella. And the only version that kind of works for me is the one with Drew Barrymore or Sondheim's Into the Woods. (My favorite fairy tale trope is the original Snow Queen - I like it when the woman saves the guy, not the other way around). This is also a highly controversial book among romance readers - ( Read more... )

But Bridgerton is a bit of a satire, as are Julie Quinn's novels - they are making fun of the snobby British Class System.

I've got more to say, but alas time has jumped away from me and I must mosey on to bed.

Tomorrow will be a long and cold day - with work and PT afterwards.

shadowkat

Disclaimer: Good news as always is in the eye of the beholder. [i.e. - If you don't think it is good news? I really don't want to know.]
( Thirty Good News Items )

shadowkat

Started watching Bridgerton S4 - and was reminded of why I dislike the Cinderella Trope. Cinderella is way too nice. She should have looked into poisoning her evil stepmother. Deathly Nightshade. Hemlock. Arsenic. Mold. Maybe valium or opium? ( Read more... )

Took a shower to relax the muscles last night, and my tub mat got crooked and loose and when I tried to fix it - the mat slipped under my feet, and I tumbled out of the shower/tub and sprawled somewhat painfully onto the bathroom floor. ( Read more... )

I didn't get in nearly as much knee exercises or other activities, as I'd planned. I also fell asleep watching the James Bond flick Spectra - which isn't nearly as good as the prior films. The actress playing his love interest has almost no chemistry with him, and doesn't "spark". [I think I'm as tired of the James Bond trope as Daniel Craig appears to be - he was kind of walking through the film.]

Watched Angel S4 - Soulless - which is an interesting episode to watch while watching Buffy S7. ( Read more... )

An unfortunate side effect of the Buffy/Angel rewatch - is every time I watch these series - I get obsessed with the character of Spike and crave more of him. And more of the actor's performance. I don't know why. There was just something about his performance as Spike that sparked a response in me?

**

I've decided to subscribe to the Calm App - to deal with insomina, feelings of anger, anxiety, and depression - which are kind of wrapped up together in one nice neat bundle. Calm is actually helping. The problem I had with Headspace - was it was geared more towards millenials with small children or Yuppies. And kept triggering me. Also, it had embraced AI and was going the text psychology route with AI. While Calm was using sound technology to help with rebalancing the nervous system, and calming it.

Calm's also cheaper than Headspace.

***

End of January Memage

30. In 1873, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne was published in France. Have you read the book or seen any of the films?

I think I read it once? Can't remember. I've seen multiple film and television versions. The best is the most recent version with David Tennet that was done a few years back. The worst was probably the one with David Niven. I don't really remember the David Niven one that well, but it does NOT date well - Shirly McLaine plays an Asian woman in it (yes, Shirly McLaine). The Pierce Bronsan version is okay - I vaguely remember that one.

31. Do you like hot chocolate with or without marshmallows?

I used to? But now? Not so much. It makes the hot chocolate too sweet. I guess if you can get a home-made marshmallow - which I've done. Those home made gourmet ones - are a treat. But it also doesn't work well. The marshallows don't quite melt the way they should and get kind of slimy and again too sweet.

I prefer whipped cream. And peppermint. Also I prefer unsweetened hot chocolate with almond milk, and zero sugar whipped cream. It's insanely difficult to get unsweetened hot chocolate though - because people put sugar in everything.

***

Weather - very cold. But not as bad as yesterday, believe it or not. We didn't have the wind chills. So the apartment was actually 70-73 degrees as opposed to 65-69 degrees. And outside, it made it up to 22 F/ -18 C.
Low was 10 degrees F.

shadowkat

My subject heading sucks - I blame it on the brain fog.

1. Buffy S7 Re-Watch - this season is a whole lot better than I remembered it?

( vengeance is a bad bad thing )
When I first watched S7, my enjoyment was tainted by reading the responses of those watching it along with me on various posting boards. Many of which I knew fleetingly or saw once or twice in person, if at all. Looking back, I find myself pondering why I cared what they thought? Or why they cared what I thought? I suppose we wanted to connect somehow, as impossible as that may seem, and to an extent we did. Also, it is interesting to see variant views. So perhaps tainted is not the right word? So much as colored my enjoyment or enhanced and undermined?

It also helps that I know what happens next - some of the nervous anxiety and anticipation is gone.

There's some interesting takeaways.

( Spike )

( Giles and Wood )

( how different Spike is with a soul )

There's a few interesting questions posed by the episode, some answered, some not.

* Why does Anya tell Spike that Giles is the First, when she knows he isn't? (Does she want to play a joke on Spike and Giles?)

* Why doesn't the First use Spike to kill the Girls - what is the First holding Spike back for? ( Read more... )

Interesting episode, better written than I originally gave it credit for. Even the Xander bits are kind of fun. Poor Xander - he keeps going for the demons. He and Buffy seem to have that in common. Actually I think everyone Xander has dated was or became a demon at some point, with the exception of Willow? Cordelia does in Angel S3. Buffy similarly has gone for mainly men who have well issues? Riley was on super-serum, when she fell for him. Spike - vampire. Angel - vampire. Only Willow doesn't appear to do that, and well Giles.

My favorite exchange (it's a hilarious episode in places, the lines in these series are wonderful):

Xander and Buffy at the same time: I have a date!
Xander: Wait, I have a date - way to upstage me, Buff.
Buffy: Sorry. Would it help if I said, it's not really a date - it's with the Principal? My boss? Who is either evil or promoting me? It could be a promotion? Or -
Xander: Isn't he at least 10 years older.
Willow: Yet a 100 years younger than the last two.
Buffy: And fingers crossed, less with the wicked energy. We're hoping I don't have a type. And he's not evil, even if his office is directly above the hellmouth.

Buffy's dating choices would put anyone's to shame.

2. My knee is doing better. I've been doing the exercises - there's about ten of them? And I have an app now - that I can go into, see how to do it, how many sets, reps, and holds, and once I finish, click complete, and it takes me to the next one. So I do them in order. There's one that the PT wants me to do five times a day (but it's lying flat on the bed pushing a towl into the bed or floor) and that's impossible to do five times a day. (I commute into the city daily to work at a desk in front of a computer in a cubicle.) But the exercises are making the knee feel better. So I'll make sure I do them as often as possible this weekend. I've done them diligently yesterday and today. It helped getting the app. My difficulty is I can barely see the wording on the PDF print outs, and can't keep track.

3. Discovered a few nifty IBS aides.

* Kiwi and Magnesium Citrate really help with constipation. So does Miralax.

* Baking Soda and lemon juice helps with digestion, heart burn, and gastric reflux.

* Peppermint tea settles stomachs.

4. Discovered there might have been a General Strike today via social media - my sister-in-law posted about it on Instagram. I saw it after I got home from work today.

(It's easy for her to go on strike - she owns her own fashion business, doesn't have to travel anywhere, nor does my brother, neither work for anyone, and they are flying to Hawaii for free on Sunday due to credit card points).

At least I think it was today? It's hard to know for certain. Maybe it's tomorrow? Although why would anyone go on strike on Saturday? I don't think it happened - because, ahem, not everyone got the memo? None of my co-workers knew about it. And people were traveling on the trains. Granted not quite as many - but it was also 10 degrees - so....

You know you can't exactly have a General Strike if you don't tell everyone about it. If people don't know the specifics - such as date, time, and what they are expected to do - they aren't going to be able to comply and go on strike. It's not personal - they just don't know.
( Read more... )

Current Mood: aggravated

shadowkat

Brrr...umph. It's cold. And getting colder. Today it was 8 degrees. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 10 below zero. NYC wasn't designed for anything below 20 degrees. It's a pedestrian city - we all walk places, wait outside for buses, and in some cases - on outside platforms for trains. But you can't wait outside for 20-30 minutes in temperatures below 20 degrees - you can get frost bite. Most you can safely do is 15 minutes tops. (People blow my mind - a lot of people are walking around in sneakers without socks.)

It was okay for a little bit (the cold temperatures - not the people wandering about sockless), but I'm tired of it now and want it to warm up already. (You know that it has been cold, when 18 degrees with no wind feels okay.) Also tired of navigating around snow, ice and slush. My area was a mixed bag when it came to shoveling. Some folks did it well, some tried and gave up, while others barely bothered at all. (Note Super's at apartment complex's are experts at shoveling. Everyone else sucks at it.)

Told Breaking Bad that my brother is off to Hawaii for the entire month of February, he leaves Sunday.

Breaking Bad: ask him - if he can take me with him? If there's enough space in one of his suitcases? I can curl up in it.
ME: Yeah, I'd like to go too. But alas, can't. (also Bro won't take me. He hates traveling with me. Can't think why...actually I don't like traveling with him either. So even if crazy workplace let me go - I couldn't. We'd kill each other in the space of four hours, maybe three - and that's a long flight.)
Breaking Bad: Hope he makes it out okay, god bless him.
Me: yeah me too...(well I do...for the most part...)

I also hope this weekend's winter storm skips over NY and Long Island and heads out to sea. We do not need more snow.

They are already wandering about with snow melting machines. (Basically hot tubs on the backs of trucks, which they use to melt the snow.) I'm blaming my incessant brain fog on the cold weather. I'm forgetting things and having troubles focusing. Also I keep dozing off at work. It's either the cold, anxiety (gee, wonder why?) or senility is settling in at the ripe old age of 58.

Oh, a bit of good news? The Senate rejected the Bill (that will fund ICE among other things) 55-45. It required 60 to pass. 8 Republicans voted with the Democrats specifically against the ICE measure. So if anyone called to stop it? Kudos. People keep calling for a General Strike - but I'm not sure they understand what that means? I mean if you shut down public transportation, hospitals, fire departments, doctors, nurses, EMT, sanitation, taxis, etc - what happens if someone needs an operation, a heart transplant, injures themselves, or has a heart attack? Also you have a lot of paycheck to paycheck folks? If they go on strike - there goes this month's rent. I endorse protests that do not injure innocent people unnecessarily or animals for that matter.

Although, I am vaguely amused by the statement: No one thought the Revolution would start in Minneapolis except for Prince. (Which is actually true - he even called his band "The Revolution" and kept writing songs about how the world ends.)

27. Up-Helly-Aa is a vibrant fire festival celebrated in the UK Shetland Islands tonight. Thousands gather to witness the breathtaking sight of a longship ablaze, illuminating the night sky. Do you have any similar local winter or summer celebrations?

The US is weird? We have so many blended cultures - that it depends on which state and community you live in? But yes, there are Winter Festivals.
I think NY's is the Chinese New Year - we have a huge celebration for it in Chinatown and various areas in NY.

28. Have you ever played a kazoo?

In case you don't know - This is a Kazoo

And not that I recall?

29. It's Tom Sellek's birthday - have you ever seen him in anything you've enjoyed?

Ponders. I guess a handful of Magnum PI episodes? He's not a favorite of mine. I'm kind of ambivalent. Also I was more into "Fame" which was opposite it at the time. Yeah, Sellek never did anything for me. He was kind of boring? A little bit like James Garner and Harrison Ford (or what would happen if they got together and had a kid), but both are much better and more charismatic actors than Sellek. Also Magnum PI couldn't hold a candle to the Rockford Files.

shadowkat

Sharing...

A rough pencil and watercolor of the confrontation that I saw ages ago between an old woman with her walker and a truck at an intersection. I made it bit political - to get across a statement. Two actually. It's not perfect, kind of rough.

( watercolor and pencil )

Bruce Springsteen has released a new single on the Minneapolis protests.

Streets of Minneapolis

And Lady Gaga released a new cover of Won't You Be My Neighbor

And they've been singing and chanting Holiday by Green Day - and Green Day performed American Idiot and Holiday for Minnesota. [I love Green Day].

shadowkat

This is the Manhattan Financial District - in front of my workplace, the Bowling Green subway station and park.

Snow was cleared from most of the streets, just not the lesser used side streets, and sidewalks in front of houses. Apartment complexes, yes. Small businesses and houses not so much. Also all the parked cars were snowed in.

( images of a snow bound Brooklyn and Manhattan Financial District beneath the cut )

Super called while I was talking to my mother (on the phone - mother lives over 13 hours away). Apparently there was a lot of snow on the roof and some leaks - the tenant on the fifth floor filed a potential leak complaint. ( Read more... )

And I found out what was causing the insane vibrating humming sound over the weekend, which was so bad on Sunday - I used noise cancelling headphones to block it out? ( Read more... )

Everyone is having issues with the snow. Also public transportation is a mess. The NY Ferries aren't running or with severe delays, because the Hudson and East River have frozen, and there are ice junks - making it difficult for them to navigate. Also I think the bay leading out to the Atlantic - which is around Liberty Island and Staten Island has frozen in places.

The Long Island Rail Road was having switch problems and issues with snow on the tracks. The buses are having issues navigating snow drifts as are their passengers. NJ Transit and Path trains were running with delays, due to snow removal. The subways had delays. The airports were struggling to re-open. And there were road closures due to stalled vehicles and accidents.

The Federal Government offered to send help, and the Governor of New York and Mayor of New York City said nope, we're fine. Go away. Shoo. New Jersey more or less said the same thing - we're fine, thanks, go away.

***

The internet is giving me writer's block? ( Read more... )

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Dina

The Blog that Used to be About Australia

April 2022

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Page Summary

shadowkat - (no subject)
yourlibrarian - March Meta Matters Challenge Returning!
shadowkat - Sigh...how is your Sunday going? Mine's starting out cold...and frustrating, I'd rather be in Hawaii
shadowkat - Lies my parents told me - Buffy S7 Episode 17
shadowkat - Brrr-umph. Hibernating on a Saturday...so a long-winded post
shadowkat - (no subject)
shadowkat - Thoughts on Angel S4 Rewatch...among other things
shadowkat - Buffy S7 Rewatch Takeaways..among other things
mark in dw_maintenance - Minor operations; testing new serving path
shadowkat - February Uglies & Question a Day Meme
shadowkat - (no subject)
shadowkat - There was some good news in January, apparently?
shadowkat - (no subject)
shadowkat - TGIF? Still cold, so hibernating, and Buffy 7 Rewatch
shadowkat - More memage and whinging about the cold...
shadowkat - And we pause from our regularly scheduled programming for a bit of artistic protesting...
shadowkat - Snowy New York City is...well Messy New York City

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Dina

Reading

(no subject)

March Meta Matters Challenge Returning!

Sigh...how is your Sunday going? Mine's starting out cold...and frustrating, I'd rather be in Hawaii

Lies my parents told me - Buffy S7 Episode 17

Brrr-umph. Hibernating on a Saturday...so a long-winded post

(no subject)

Thoughts on Angel S4 Rewatch...among other things

Buffy S7 Rewatch Takeaways..among other things

Minor operations; testing new serving path

February Uglies & Question a Day Meme

(no subject)

There was some good news in January, apparently?

(no subject)

TGIF? Still cold, so hibernating, and Buffy 7 Rewatch

More memage and whinging about the cold...

And we pause from our regularly scheduled programming for a bit of artistic protesting...

Snowy New York City is...well Messy New York City

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April 2022

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