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Jan. 4th, 2018 05:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Historic Bomb Cyclone Unleashes Blizzard Conditions from Coastal Virginia to New England, Frigid Air to Follow.
* My Mother got four inches of snow in Hilton Head, South Carolina. (They haven't gotten snow since 1989.) It's in the low 20s (F) and got as low as 19 degrees. (It's never that cold there. Normal temps for this time of year are 50s and 60s.)
* Disney World Closed due to frigid temperature for the first time in history.
* My Aunts in Florida (Tampa area) had temperatures in the 30s.
* There's blizzard like conditions in NYC today. So bad, the railroad sent us home at noon. And the lobby of the Air Train building was packed with stranded commuter, not to mention all the people waiting for buses.
I got home okay. Did get stuck on the G train at the Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn stop for about 40 minutes due to a sick passenger five stops away at the 7th Avenue Stop. They had to wait for the EMS to show up. Then they had to wait for the police to show up. Ugh. And there were drunk and somewhat nutty passengers on my train. I spent the whole time trying not to worry -- about getting stuck. (The MTA occasionally halts service on some of the lines. But they didn't do that today. They had a much better plan. The winds were the worst, 50 miles per hour, and it was 20 degrees, felt like 11.
Good news? My new winter boots were waiting for me at my front door when I got home. Good thing too, since old ones had worn out a bit and sprung a leak.
2. Sticking to my New Year's Resolution not to argue politics with folks on social media, especially family members, friends of family members, friends of friends, etc. It's counter-productive. You can't win. I learned that in 2016 and 2017. You can't win a political argument on social media.
That's just one of my many New Year's Resolutions and goals. Others include:
* Not worrying about how others feel towards me, I've no control over it. Just be happy and live my life.
* Stop coping with stress by eating chocolate, baked goods, and sugar, do more yoga, meditation and exercise.
* Be kinder to others, particularly people who irritate me and I disagree with. (It's easy to be kind to people you like and care about. It's the one's you don't like, despise, irritate you or are strangers that require more work.)
* Write more, worry less.
3. The Swedish romance novel that I've been reading is actually interesting in places, and different than the trope in that the female character is wealthy, and a smart businesswoman. Also it has some extremely strong female characters. And makes a rather pointed statement about women who define themselves by men, traditional female roles, and hate change. The male characters are slightly more complex than usual.
What's interesting is the setting is rather irrelevant. It could be taking place in NY or London for that matter. It's about an investment company taking over another one in a stock grab. Now, Sweden is supposed to be socialist, but the book reads as if it is free-market capitalist. Because that sort of stuff happens daily in the States. If it weren't for the place names and the character names, I'd have thought we were in NYC and Wall Street.
Which makes me wonder if Sweden is in reality a hybrid -- ie, neither strictly socialist or capitalist, sort of similar to Britain and France? Although the French apparently are anti-class hierarchy or anti-aristocracy. You don't brag about being rich or privileged in France apparently.
I don't know if any of this is true. I'm getting it from third party sources, who may or may not be reliable.
Meet a young woman in the laundry room who hailed from Isington (Sp?) London. She's been here three months and plans to become an American citizen. I wondered why with what's happening politically. She said it's better here than there. (Okay?) Or they aren't that different. (Good to know.)
4. Nashville, Lucifer, The Gifted, Runaways, and The Good Place are all back. So much television watching lies ahead.
Did see Lucifer last night. It's another stand-a-lone. Apparently one of the stand-a-lone's filmed last year? It didn't quite work for me. And felt mainly like a lame excuse for the writers to get Lucifer and Amen bare-chested and fighting each other in a cage. Which also didn't quite work or make a lot of sense. Actually the episode didn't make much sense at all. I just went along with it. Lucifer is just fun tv, it's not well...thought-provoking fun tv a la The Good Place and Buffy.
What I don't understand is why they felt the need to give us a new episode this week, but a rerun next week? Dear network programmers, please stop confusing the viewers by doing this sort of thing. It makes no sense.
So we go back in time to when Lucifer ("Lucy") decided to take a vacation from hell. Apparently he's done this before -- the last time was probably in the 1970s, hence the disco suit from Sat Night Fever. Each time he does it, Amen pops down to drag him back to hell.
It usually works, because Amen throws their father in Lucy's face. "If you don't go back, you'll have to answer to Dad!"
Except this round, Amen somehow gets shot and mugged, losing his necklace (which Lucy found and returned to him last year). His father gave it to him, so it's rather special. (Amen and Lucy both have serious Daddy issues).
So Amen asks Lucy to help him get it back. Instead, Lucifer solves the mystery of how another man got killed. They don't find the necklace.
Also, Amen screws up and tells Lucy that he's evil and that's why he's the devil and been exiled to hell. This royally peeves Lucy -- who decides to fight Amen in the Cage himself. Amen keeps throwing the Daddy card, and the evil card, until Lucy decides fuck this -- I'm staying on earth. And that's the favor I'm asking in return for helping you solve this mystery. Then Lucy makes a crying Maze shave off his wings as an act of defiance.
Meanwhile Detective Dekar who is just Officer Dekar decides to solve the same case in order to push for the promotion to Homicide detective. There's a bit of an interaction with her and Charlotte, which doesn't really go anywhere, her and Det. Dan, also goes nowhere, and she basically wanders about not quite sure what she's doing.
I can't tell you what happened with the mystery, I sort of lost track of it. The plot didn't quite make sense...something about a fight promoter who killed the guy who was like a son to him, to help the kid get out of...the ring and better his life? See it didn't make a lot of sense. Was only there to give Lucy and Amen something to do and bond over.
How's everyone else doing weather wise? 2018 really came in with a blast. Apparently the natural disasters aren't going to let up any time soon.
* My Mother got four inches of snow in Hilton Head, South Carolina. (They haven't gotten snow since 1989.) It's in the low 20s (F) and got as low as 19 degrees. (It's never that cold there. Normal temps for this time of year are 50s and 60s.)
* Disney World Closed due to frigid temperature for the first time in history.
* My Aunts in Florida (Tampa area) had temperatures in the 30s.
* There's blizzard like conditions in NYC today. So bad, the railroad sent us home at noon. And the lobby of the Air Train building was packed with stranded commuter, not to mention all the people waiting for buses.
I got home okay. Did get stuck on the G train at the Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn stop for about 40 minutes due to a sick passenger five stops away at the 7th Avenue Stop. They had to wait for the EMS to show up. Then they had to wait for the police to show up. Ugh. And there were drunk and somewhat nutty passengers on my train. I spent the whole time trying not to worry -- about getting stuck. (The MTA occasionally halts service on some of the lines. But they didn't do that today. They had a much better plan. The winds were the worst, 50 miles per hour, and it was 20 degrees, felt like 11.
Good news? My new winter boots were waiting for me at my front door when I got home. Good thing too, since old ones had worn out a bit and sprung a leak.
2. Sticking to my New Year's Resolution not to argue politics with folks on social media, especially family members, friends of family members, friends of friends, etc. It's counter-productive. You can't win. I learned that in 2016 and 2017. You can't win a political argument on social media.
That's just one of my many New Year's Resolutions and goals. Others include:
* Not worrying about how others feel towards me, I've no control over it. Just be happy and live my life.
* Stop coping with stress by eating chocolate, baked goods, and sugar, do more yoga, meditation and exercise.
* Be kinder to others, particularly people who irritate me and I disagree with. (It's easy to be kind to people you like and care about. It's the one's you don't like, despise, irritate you or are strangers that require more work.)
* Write more, worry less.
3. The Swedish romance novel that I've been reading is actually interesting in places, and different than the trope in that the female character is wealthy, and a smart businesswoman. Also it has some extremely strong female characters. And makes a rather pointed statement about women who define themselves by men, traditional female roles, and hate change. The male characters are slightly more complex than usual.
What's interesting is the setting is rather irrelevant. It could be taking place in NY or London for that matter. It's about an investment company taking over another one in a stock grab. Now, Sweden is supposed to be socialist, but the book reads as if it is free-market capitalist. Because that sort of stuff happens daily in the States. If it weren't for the place names and the character names, I'd have thought we were in NYC and Wall Street.
Which makes me wonder if Sweden is in reality a hybrid -- ie, neither strictly socialist or capitalist, sort of similar to Britain and France? Although the French apparently are anti-class hierarchy or anti-aristocracy. You don't brag about being rich or privileged in France apparently.
I don't know if any of this is true. I'm getting it from third party sources, who may or may not be reliable.
Meet a young woman in the laundry room who hailed from Isington (Sp?) London. She's been here three months and plans to become an American citizen. I wondered why with what's happening politically. She said it's better here than there. (Okay?) Or they aren't that different. (Good to know.)
4. Nashville, Lucifer, The Gifted, Runaways, and The Good Place are all back. So much television watching lies ahead.
Did see Lucifer last night. It's another stand-a-lone. Apparently one of the stand-a-lone's filmed last year? It didn't quite work for me. And felt mainly like a lame excuse for the writers to get Lucifer and Amen bare-chested and fighting each other in a cage. Which also didn't quite work or make a lot of sense. Actually the episode didn't make much sense at all. I just went along with it. Lucifer is just fun tv, it's not well...thought-provoking fun tv a la The Good Place and Buffy.
What I don't understand is why they felt the need to give us a new episode this week, but a rerun next week? Dear network programmers, please stop confusing the viewers by doing this sort of thing. It makes no sense.
So we go back in time to when Lucifer ("Lucy") decided to take a vacation from hell. Apparently he's done this before -- the last time was probably in the 1970s, hence the disco suit from Sat Night Fever. Each time he does it, Amen pops down to drag him back to hell.
It usually works, because Amen throws their father in Lucy's face. "If you don't go back, you'll have to answer to Dad!"
Except this round, Amen somehow gets shot and mugged, losing his necklace (which Lucy found and returned to him last year). His father gave it to him, so it's rather special. (Amen and Lucy both have serious Daddy issues).
So Amen asks Lucy to help him get it back. Instead, Lucifer solves the mystery of how another man got killed. They don't find the necklace.
Also, Amen screws up and tells Lucy that he's evil and that's why he's the devil and been exiled to hell. This royally peeves Lucy -- who decides to fight Amen in the Cage himself. Amen keeps throwing the Daddy card, and the evil card, until Lucy decides fuck this -- I'm staying on earth. And that's the favor I'm asking in return for helping you solve this mystery. Then Lucy makes a crying Maze shave off his wings as an act of defiance.
Meanwhile Detective Dekar who is just Officer Dekar decides to solve the same case in order to push for the promotion to Homicide detective. There's a bit of an interaction with her and Charlotte, which doesn't really go anywhere, her and Det. Dan, also goes nowhere, and she basically wanders about not quite sure what she's doing.
I can't tell you what happened with the mystery, I sort of lost track of it. The plot didn't quite make sense...something about a fight promoter who killed the guy who was like a son to him, to help the kid get out of...the ring and better his life? See it didn't make a lot of sense. Was only there to give Lucy and Amen something to do and bond over.
How's everyone else doing weather wise? 2018 really came in with a blast. Apparently the natural disasters aren't going to let up any time soon.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-04 11:47 pm (UTC)Um, yeah, only since the 1930s or so. :) We pretty much invented that kind of model, actually.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 12:21 am (UTC)I think the confusion in the US arises from the sense that we aren't really pure free-market capitalism. We're sort of a hybrid as well, just to the right (economically) of Europe. If we were pure free-market capitalism, I wouldn't be working for a state run commuter railroad. That would have been privatized. Yet, we have less regulations than you probably have, or so I'm guessing. Because I was told by a co-worker that his friend left Norway (granted not Sweden) to become a pilot here...because less regulations and as a result more opportunities to fly and make more money.
But again, complicated, because New York is very socialist in its legal structure -- lots of regulations, and just passed a free college program. There's a reason NY is hard to pass the bar, lots of regulations, many of which are contradictory. While other states are more capitalistic in structure with few regulations. The more rural the population, the less regulations. The more urban, the more regulations.
To add to the confusion you have countries like China which aren't really communist or socialist, more free-market capitalist than the US is actually. China has no regulation on a lot of things. But, China appears to own and control most of the commerce. So...confusing.
I honestly have always found economic theory confusing and contradictory. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 09:21 am (UTC)IMO, the two need each other; if you want a sustainable market economy, you need a reasonably healthy and comfortable population without too much income inequality, so government needs to take an active role or the whole thing will turn into Mad Max. If on the other hand your goal is a fair society with wealth redistribution paid for by taxes, you're still going to need reasonably well-off people to tax and successful companies to employ them. Economics is just fiddling with those two buttons to get the balance right. Sweden, traditionally, has leaned towards the left side of that equation, but it's always been done in cooperation with free enterprise. So, we're a socialist nightmare (according to some US pundits) that's somehow also given birth to quite a few world-leading companies which, yes, come with rich investor assholes. :)
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 04:00 pm (UTC)Agree. The middle ground is best. Where the argument comes into play is well how far to lean in either direction. And some of that is cultural and specific to the region or country's culture and difficult for those foreign to that culture to fully appreciate.
Economics is just fiddling with those two buttons to get the balance right. Sweden, traditionally, has leaned towards the left side of that equation, but it's always been done in cooperation with free enterprise. So, we're a socialist nightmare (according to some US pundits) that's somehow also given birth to quite a few world-leading companies which, yes, come with rich investor assholes. :)
While others see Sweden as a socialist nirvana. (In reality, it's neither.) Actually some, if you believe 60 Minutes and various media outlets - it is a feminist socialist nirvana. (But the popular fiction that I've read from the country paints a slightly different picture.) This is true of the US as well...the media paints one version, the popular fiction may paint another. A Russian immigrant told me recently how disappointed he was -- "where was the American Dream that he was promised?" Some people in the UK and Europe see the US as a capitalist nightmare, others as a capitalist nirvana, when in reality, it's neither. Also, some states in the US are more capitalistic than others. In the 1940s -70s, the US had swayed more towards the socialist model, but in the later half of the 20th Century and now in 21st, we've become increasingly free-market, as has some of our allies. Deregulating industries, and freeing up the market for competition.
There's always been a huge fear of taxes in the US that isn't really shared by most of our allies, and I think may well baffle some of them. On the other hand, there are things taxed in the US that aren't abroad apparently -- a lot of celebrities reside in Switzerland and/or France to avoid US property taxes or have over the years. It's cheaper over there. Unless you are a tax analyst - it's hard to really know which countries have more taxes and how they are utilized. From a distance, Sweden looks like Nirvana to many people, free health care, free education, affordable housing, long vacations...etc. But that's from a distance. When you get up close, you realize it's not any better than say New York, just different. Right now, with the idiot in office, anywhere in Europe looks like Nirvana to me. ;-) (So there's that.)
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 04:16 pm (UTC)IKR? Before I watched Buffy, I had no idea the US was full of vampires!
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 07:57 pm (UTC)LOL! Yeah, I stepped right into that one, didn't I?
Although Buffy is hardly popular fiction. ;-) But yeah, it would be like thinking Let the Right One In and The Vanishing...are representative of Sweden. Wait, is the Vanishing Swedish or Danish? Can't remember...
Did interact with someone who seemed to think the Walking Dead represented the US views...uhm, no, really not.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-06 02:02 am (UTC)A lot of books are like that.
I can't tell from a lot of journals where people are posting from, gender, race, ethnicity, age, etc. I had someone think I was male once and another thought I was 16 and asked if I was an adult and could read adult content (I'm older than they are), which bewildered me.
But, it's interesting that these books in Sweden discuss themes that are heavy in American literature and British Literature (okay maybe not literature but genre fiction), also Russian, etc. Showing that misogyny, greed, vengeance, etc are widespread and not limited by national boundaries. In short these are human problems.
Already knew that of course, but it is nice to be reminded that people aren't necessarily kinder or nastier elsewhere, they are basically the same, when you think about it.
I think on of our biggest problems around the globe is the rise of "nationalism" and "tribalism", which have always been problems. We all get way too caught up in how much better our country is, or our national heritage or culture, and it's dividing us as a people. I sometimes wish aliens would invade, because it might bring us all together for a common cause. We do band together when we need to, forget for a moment all those things that divide us, and look at what unites us -- our common humanity.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 03:04 am (UTC)Hence the reason, not doing it any longer.
Latest? Stupid Uncle keeps posting on FB about how wrong Al Gore was about climate change and it's actually sun-spots and solar flares causing the weather issues based on a series of scientific articles he's read. I'd argue with him, but seriously...why put myself through it?
Prior to that? The idiots who think the GOP tax plan is going to save us money, and give people more money in the bank.
Note to self -- it's probably best not to engage in an argument with someone you think is an idiot regarding a specific topic. Such as the GOP tax plan and Global Warming.
That said, I don't mind a good discussion and as you know, can be persuaded that I'm wrong and change my mind on things. But seriously? When the facts are stacked against you, there's plenty of evidence...and you still persist in believing Trump is a great guy, climate change isn't an issue, and the GOP tax plan is a good idea..I can't help you.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-05 07:39 pm (UTC)Oh I read "Nine Ways to Romance a Rake" by...Sara McLean (I think - can never remember the authors names and the book titles tend to blur). I didn't think much of it. Rather conventional in structure, lots of typos and grammatical errors (seriously don't these people have editors??), and predictable plot. It won a RITA no less, and I've no clue why.
Go to romance novel writers, who are a whole lot better?
Sara Mclean is a horrible plotter, has little consistency in her stories, and sticks fairly closely to convention. She's a little subversive in places, but still plays it safe hence the RITA.
Milan's Duchess War series or Brother's Sinister is rather interesting, as is her contemporary romance which she wrote in direct response to the Fifty Shades trend (which annoyed her, since she's a former corporate attorney and knew it was complete BS.)
Thomas's - My Beautiful Enemy, the Hidden Blade, and the one about the female surgeon and much younger handsomer man is great (but can't remember the title off hand, His something or other...it's in the Private Affairs series), she also did a contemporary, which was unique but not quite as interesting as Milan's.
Duran did the Duke of Shadows and a Lady's Guide to Misconduct that I found to be rather compelling reads. Written on Your Skin - about a spy was also interesting. She also has one about a woman who owns an auction house who gets involved with a criminal.
Oh and "The Windflower" which weirdly made fun of the entire bodice ripper trope, and weirdly subverted it.
Trick? Read a sample first, reviews can be misleading. I've read a few horrible books that came highly rec'd by smartbitches.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-09 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-09 03:35 pm (UTC)The title of the book is "Not Quite a Husband" takes place in the Victorian period.
"Their marriage lasted only slightly longer than the honeymoon—to no one’s surprise, not even Bryony Asquith’s. A man as talented, handsome, and sought after by society as Leo Marsden couldn't possibly want to spend his entire life with a woman who rebelled against propriety by becoming a doctor. Why, then, three years after their annulment and half a world away, does he track her down at her clinic in the remotest corner of India?
Leo has no reason to think Bryony could ever forgive him for the way he treated her, but he won’t rest until he’s delivered an urgent message from her sister—and fulfilled his duty by escorting her safely back to England. But as they risk their lives for each other on the journey home, will the biggest danger be the treacherous war around them—or their rekindling passion?"
I don't like the contemporaries as well, mainly because the women irritate me in them and the writing...ugh. But there are a few half decent ones out there:
Alisha Rai -- "A Gentleman in the Street" and "I hate to want you" isn't bad. Nora Roberts - "Sweet Revenge" about jewel thiefs, only one of hers that I like.
Most of them are dumb-ass military guys with tattoos, billionaire assholes, and weepy willowy girls that I want to smack upside the head.
Milan did a half-decent contemporary -- if that's your preference, called "Trade Me" -- it's about a billionaire high-tech guy with OCD who trades places with an Asian IT researcher, and they fall in love.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-09 06:09 pm (UTC)I agree, but this is the same issue I have with the popularity of historicals. I can't help finding it an easy workaround for how neither men nor women behave the way we know they do (or could) since it's at a remove, since it's a very regimented way of life for a very thin strata of women, and one so delicate that even the mildest curse (today) is considered shocking by the protagonists. So I end up reading it as a form of infantilization, created as a sandbox where very timid actions can be seen as bold and however sheltered the modern woman is she will not be challenged by the book's content. At the same time the actual harshness of life back then, which many modern readers would be truly challenged by, is hardly ever portrayed.
I get that it's a fantasy escape but it's one that never seems to put actual power in women's hands, which to me is what's severely lacking in them. In fact, I found a phrase (which I've run into before) particularly telling: "she felt a rush of feminine power." I found this as irritating as the terms "man bun" or "man whore". These terms suggest that there's something different in the noun if it's applied to one gender vs another. Power is power. To me the use of the adjective "feminine" is a way of making it more acceptable to the reader, who I can just picture otherwise recoiling with the vapors and claiming "Oh my, no, I would never want power." To me the romance genre is all about power, a fantasy where women can have relationships turn out the way they want however improbable this is in real life -- and in an arena where they often feel very powerless and unappreciated. And at the same time, it's a genre that seems to cloak this desire in all sorts of happenstance so that the heroine gets what she wants without any real sacrifice. I realize that's not true of all books but it's been sadly the case in most that I've read.
Mind you, fanfic is rarely better in this regard, but as I am so often reading slash I am slightly less likely to want to kick the heroine ;)