Year 2- Day 95- Happy Juneteenth
Jun. 19th, 2021 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI'm thinking of stopping these posts when I reach 100. 100 seems like a good stopping point. Besides hardly anyone responds any longer. I feel like I'm talking to myself.. [No, I just wasn't getting the notifications, so people responded, I just didn't see the comments. Sigh. Technology. Sigh.]
I don't know what happened toatpo_onm, whose disappeared, along with various others. cjlasky comes and goes.
Yeah, I notice. Although, I don't know about anyone else's correspondence lists, but mine's funky. There's the folks who post all the time, some who post 10 to 20 posts a day, and others who may post once or twice a week, and still others who post once in a blue moon. I tend lose those folks, unless of course I read constantly, and I don't.
FB is worse. I lost a lot of posts on it. And lately it's had issues.
Anyhow... been laying low today. It's hot. It's humid. It's threatening rain. Read a little, surfed the net a little, watched television. Spoke to mother - game plan is for me to come down sometime closer to the fall - after the tourists flock home, maybe the weekend after labor day weekend or the first week of September when everyone goes back to school.. It's crowded down there at the moment and she's immobile. Of course that's also the height of hurricane season, but whatever.
Television
1. Full Bloom - I think the hosts are biased, and it became clear to me halfway through that they don't care so much about the designs as the personal stories the contestants are sharing. Also, the contestants began to annoy me. And like I said in the last post? HBO Max has the worst interface.
Connor: If I win the $100,000 - I can finally buy my boyfriend a ring and ask him to marry me.
ME: You need a $100,000 dollars to do that? Really?
Beth: My husband told me that if I didn't win, not to bother to come home.
ME: Honey, the way the Judges are biased, you're not winning. Also really?
I'm so glad I'm single.
Justin: I miss my mom, so much, this is the longest I've gone without seeing her. (It's been what a couple of weeks? And you're a grown man.)
The Brits do this better than the Americans do. Just saying.
Shame - I like watching them put the flowers together. But I want to kick the judges and editors for pushing the melodrama. I only like melodrama on scripted serials, not reality series - on reality series - it comes across as fake and grating. They are florists not actors.
I'm doomed, the only contestant I like is Ace, and there's no way he'll win. Actually I liked Ace, Kristin, Beth, Adam, and Spencer. So far only Ace has survived.
2. In the Heights
Disappointing. I liked Hamilton better. The music doesn't thrill me. It's an interesting story though and there's some decent dance numbers. According to mother - one of my cousins is obsessed with it. She bought T-shirts for her kids, and even journeyed to Washington Heights with her kids recently. (I thought - I'm not willing to go there right now, and I live in NYC, she lives in Chester County, PA.)
Wales gad initially wanted to see it in the movie theater - but changed her mind after she heard the music. She realized she wouldn't like it. She didn't like the music in Hamilton. And she loves Rap.
ME: You don't like musicals.
Wales: Well, okay that's true. I'm picky.
Me: Very picky. There's a lot you hate.
Wales: Yes, also true - I don't like Rodgers and Hammerstein -
Me: Or Meet me in St. Louis, Wizard of Oz, I can go on...
Wales (laughs): I probably shouldn't see it.
Me: It is a musical.
Although not overtly so, there's a lot of dialogue interspersed, and it's really a kind of combination of interlinked stories or dreams by a group of Hispanics that live in Washington Heights. They definitely filmed it there - I recognized it. Actually Washington Heights looks like streets of Brooklyn that I've walked around on, and Jamaica Queens in sections. My neighborhood is kind of a mix - because there are no zoning ordinances on architectural styles in NYC, so the sky's the limit. You can build whatever you want. As a result, we get a hodgepodge. NYC is a paradise for anyone interested in weird and varied architectural styles.
The story is about a young bodega shop owner who dreams of moving to the Domician Republic and rebooting his father's failed beach bar. We're lead to believe he accomplishes this dream, since the movie starts with him telling a bunch of kids the story of a failing neighborhood filled with folks with big dreams, called Washington Heights. The theme is basically saving failing communities - who are victims of gentrification.
There's no villain, or much of a plot - just the intertwining of these folks personal stories. The music unlike Hamiliton sounds pretty much the same throughout - although it is reminiscent of Hamilton in places, with some ballads here and there, and rap.
Jimmy Smits and Lin Manual-Miranda have cameos, Jimmy Smits has the bigger one.
3. Legacies
The series lacks the suspense and oompf that the Vampire Diaries and Originals had. I still like it well enough. I wouldn't say it was all that good, but it's not bad either. I like the characters - particularly MJ, Kaleb, Chloe, Ethan, Lizzie, Landon, and Alaric. Hope and Josie still annoy me a bit. And the new wolf-girl that Josie is into is interesting.
It definitely demonstrates the huge changes that have occurred on the television landscape in just a few years. MJ, Kaleb, Chloe, Dorian (whose another teacher/adult) are all black. And three of them are major characters. In previous series - we were lucky to get two POC.
Also, there's a lesbian relationship on the canvas, and the most worrisome part is one is a dark witch and the other a werewolf.
This season is slower than previous seasons, in that Landon is always in trouble, it must be Thursday. They have spiced it up a bit by adding Chloe - who is now, also in trouble. But there's really no big bad that we can get worried about or mystery about one that works. So it's kind of slow.
I'm sticking with it though for the time being. Also all the network series appear to be ending in June, possibly due to the fall/winter hiatus.
***
I feel strangely disconnected from folks and not sure how to change that or if I can change it. I'm not depressed so much as anxious about it.
Right now, feel nothing at all - outside a feeling that I should do something about it - but I've no clue what.
My Aunt M has had a series of surgeries. And over two liters of liquid removed from her spine. They had to take her off the blood thinners - because that was causing the other problems. She's been in the hospital for three weeks now - so her legs have atrophied a bit, and rehab is required to walk again. Legs go fast - if you've been off them for too long. And it will take at least two years for her to fully recover. Before all this happened, back in 2019 - she was running marathons, doing water aerobics, partying with her friends.
2020 and 2021 has been hard on my family, but I think it has been hard on everyone. My sisinlaw said she'd gained weight and everyone she knew had as well during the pandemic, only a few had lost weight. The ones I know of who have - were sick with COVID or cancer.
Mother pressed me to get my mammogram soon. I had to wait at least three to six months post vaccine to get it - since it can show false lesions.
***
Dinners this week have been simple affairs.
* Swordfish, broiled, with thyme and red pepper and olive oil, steamed snow peas, yellow squash and asparagus, with mango salsa.
* Hamburger without the bun, dill pickles, tomato, onions, with green beans.
* Spinache/Feta sausage in a chickpea quesidilla with cheese and spinach.
* Spinache Feta Cheese Sausages with cheese and homemade quacomole in a yellow corn taco
I also made walnut butter - which is a lot easier to do in the cusinart then it was in the nut chopper. I needed to use oil in the nut chopper and could never get it smooth enough.
**
I don't suppose anyone who has gone through or is going through perimenopause/menopause - has any tips? I can't get treatment for it. So have to rely on other remedies.
I really want a way to eliminate hot flashes. The mood swings have stabilized.
***
Juneteenth
I watched a little of Friday night's program on it. But passed on the Juneteenth celebration being held in downtown Brooklyn aka Cadman Plaza.
It would be far too crowded. And I didn't do crowds before the pandemic, I don't see myself doing them now. They were registering folks - so it may not have been too bad.
Also it was hot today.
And it's ...not a holiday that is mine to celebrate, although I'm on the fence about that. I celebrate the hope that slavery will end. I don't know if that is possible because humanity is well..humanity? I mean humans have enslaved each other since Biblical Times. And still are. Hello, human trafficking?
But I celebrate the hope it will end. And Juneteenth is kind of about that hope, and about how it did end for one group of folks way back when.
My family and I are kind of odd on holidays, we celebrate them in fits and spatters.
**
Oh, good news? The skinny jeans are finally out. I don't really follow fashion or care. Never have. Won't now. Being fashionable is kind of in the sub sub basement of my priorities.
It's just nice to know I don't have to worry about hunting jeans that aren't skinny any longer. I like the boot leg or flayed look better.
Off to bed, and hopefully a good night sleep. I've yet to sleep through the night. I envy the people who have. They were bragging about getting 10-12 hours of sleep on FB. I would kill for 8 hours of sleep.
I don't know what happened to
atpo_onm, whose disappeared, along with various others. cjlasky comes and goes. Yeah, I notice. Although, I don't know about anyone else's correspondence lists, but mine's funky. There's the folks who post all the time, some who post 10 to 20 posts a day, and others who may post once or twice a week, and still others who post once in a blue moon. I tend lose those folks, unless of course I read constantly, and I don't.
FB is worse. I lost a lot of posts on it. And lately it's had issues.
Anyhow... been laying low today. It's hot. It's humid. It's threatening rain. Read a little, surfed the net a little, watched television. Spoke to mother - game plan is for me to come down sometime closer to the fall - after the tourists flock home, maybe the weekend after labor day weekend or the first week of September when everyone goes back to school.. It's crowded down there at the moment and she's immobile. Of course that's also the height of hurricane season, but whatever.
Television
1. Full Bloom - I think the hosts are biased, and it became clear to me halfway through that they don't care so much about the designs as the personal stories the contestants are sharing. Also, the contestants began to annoy me. And like I said in the last post? HBO Max has the worst interface.
Connor: If I win the $100,000 - I can finally buy my boyfriend a ring and ask him to marry me.
ME: You need a $100,000 dollars to do that? Really?
Beth: My husband told me that if I didn't win, not to bother to come home.
ME: Honey, the way the Judges are biased, you're not winning. Also really?
I'm so glad I'm single.
Justin: I miss my mom, so much, this is the longest I've gone without seeing her. (It's been what a couple of weeks? And you're a grown man.)
The Brits do this better than the Americans do. Just saying.
Shame - I like watching them put the flowers together. But I want to kick the judges and editors for pushing the melodrama. I only like melodrama on scripted serials, not reality series - on reality series - it comes across as fake and grating. They are florists not actors.
I'm doomed, the only contestant I like is Ace, and there's no way he'll win. Actually I liked Ace, Kristin, Beth, Adam, and Spencer. So far only Ace has survived.
2. In the Heights
Disappointing. I liked Hamilton better. The music doesn't thrill me. It's an interesting story though and there's some decent dance numbers. According to mother - one of my cousins is obsessed with it. She bought T-shirts for her kids, and even journeyed to Washington Heights with her kids recently. (I thought - I'm not willing to go there right now, and I live in NYC, she lives in Chester County, PA.)
Wales gad initially wanted to see it in the movie theater - but changed her mind after she heard the music. She realized she wouldn't like it. She didn't like the music in Hamilton. And she loves Rap.
ME: You don't like musicals.
Wales: Well, okay that's true. I'm picky.
Me: Very picky. There's a lot you hate.
Wales: Yes, also true - I don't like Rodgers and Hammerstein -
Me: Or Meet me in St. Louis, Wizard of Oz, I can go on...
Wales (laughs): I probably shouldn't see it.
Me: It is a musical.
Although not overtly so, there's a lot of dialogue interspersed, and it's really a kind of combination of interlinked stories or dreams by a group of Hispanics that live in Washington Heights. They definitely filmed it there - I recognized it. Actually Washington Heights looks like streets of Brooklyn that I've walked around on, and Jamaica Queens in sections. My neighborhood is kind of a mix - because there are no zoning ordinances on architectural styles in NYC, so the sky's the limit. You can build whatever you want. As a result, we get a hodgepodge. NYC is a paradise for anyone interested in weird and varied architectural styles.
The story is about a young bodega shop owner who dreams of moving to the Domician Republic and rebooting his father's failed beach bar. We're lead to believe he accomplishes this dream, since the movie starts with him telling a bunch of kids the story of a failing neighborhood filled with folks with big dreams, called Washington Heights. The theme is basically saving failing communities - who are victims of gentrification.
There's no villain, or much of a plot - just the intertwining of these folks personal stories. The music unlike Hamiliton sounds pretty much the same throughout - although it is reminiscent of Hamilton in places, with some ballads here and there, and rap.
Jimmy Smits and Lin Manual-Miranda have cameos, Jimmy Smits has the bigger one.
3. Legacies
The series lacks the suspense and oompf that the Vampire Diaries and Originals had. I still like it well enough. I wouldn't say it was all that good, but it's not bad either. I like the characters - particularly MJ, Kaleb, Chloe, Ethan, Lizzie, Landon, and Alaric. Hope and Josie still annoy me a bit. And the new wolf-girl that Josie is into is interesting.
It definitely demonstrates the huge changes that have occurred on the television landscape in just a few years. MJ, Kaleb, Chloe, Dorian (whose another teacher/adult) are all black. And three of them are major characters. In previous series - we were lucky to get two POC.
Also, there's a lesbian relationship on the canvas, and the most worrisome part is one is a dark witch and the other a werewolf.
This season is slower than previous seasons, in that Landon is always in trouble, it must be Thursday. They have spiced it up a bit by adding Chloe - who is now, also in trouble. But there's really no big bad that we can get worried about or mystery about one that works. So it's kind of slow.
I'm sticking with it though for the time being. Also all the network series appear to be ending in June, possibly due to the fall/winter hiatus.
***
I feel strangely disconnected from folks and not sure how to change that or if I can change it. I'm not depressed so much as anxious about it.
Right now, feel nothing at all - outside a feeling that I should do something about it - but I've no clue what.
My Aunt M has had a series of surgeries. And over two liters of liquid removed from her spine. They had to take her off the blood thinners - because that was causing the other problems. She's been in the hospital for three weeks now - so her legs have atrophied a bit, and rehab is required to walk again. Legs go fast - if you've been off them for too long. And it will take at least two years for her to fully recover. Before all this happened, back in 2019 - she was running marathons, doing water aerobics, partying with her friends.
2020 and 2021 has been hard on my family, but I think it has been hard on everyone. My sisinlaw said she'd gained weight and everyone she knew had as well during the pandemic, only a few had lost weight. The ones I know of who have - were sick with COVID or cancer.
Mother pressed me to get my mammogram soon. I had to wait at least three to six months post vaccine to get it - since it can show false lesions.
***
Dinners this week have been simple affairs.
* Swordfish, broiled, with thyme and red pepper and olive oil, steamed snow peas, yellow squash and asparagus, with mango salsa.
* Hamburger without the bun, dill pickles, tomato, onions, with green beans.
* Spinache/Feta sausage in a chickpea quesidilla with cheese and spinach.
* Spinache Feta Cheese Sausages with cheese and homemade quacomole in a yellow corn taco
I also made walnut butter - which is a lot easier to do in the cusinart then it was in the nut chopper. I needed to use oil in the nut chopper and could never get it smooth enough.
**
I don't suppose anyone who has gone through or is going through perimenopause/menopause - has any tips? I can't get treatment for it. So have to rely on other remedies.
I really want a way to eliminate hot flashes. The mood swings have stabilized.
***
Juneteenth
I watched a little of Friday night's program on it. But passed on the Juneteenth celebration being held in downtown Brooklyn aka Cadman Plaza.
It would be far too crowded. And I didn't do crowds before the pandemic, I don't see myself doing them now. They were registering folks - so it may not have been too bad.
Also it was hot today.
And it's ...not a holiday that is mine to celebrate, although I'm on the fence about that. I celebrate the hope that slavery will end. I don't know if that is possible because humanity is well..humanity? I mean humans have enslaved each other since Biblical Times. And still are. Hello, human trafficking?
But I celebrate the hope it will end. And Juneteenth is kind of about that hope, and about how it did end for one group of folks way back when.
My family and I are kind of odd on holidays, we celebrate them in fits and spatters.
**
Oh, good news? The skinny jeans are finally out. I don't really follow fashion or care. Never have. Won't now. Being fashionable is kind of in the sub sub basement of my priorities.
It's just nice to know I don't have to worry about hunting jeans that aren't skinny any longer. I like the boot leg or flayed look better.
Off to bed, and hopefully a good night sleep. I've yet to sleep through the night. I envy the people who have. They were bragging about getting 10-12 hours of sleep on FB. I would kill for 8 hours of sleep.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 03:10 am (UTC)Interesting tip about mammograms after the vaccine, I'd not heard that one, I hope those affected do.
I usually like Jimmy Smits in things. And, yes, not melodrama in reality series, it's nearly as tedious as heavily deployed canned laughter in sitcoms.
Please feel free to post as much or little as you like, I tend to find a fair fraction of what you mention of your life and thoughts interesting to read though.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:03 pm (UTC)Yep, the melodrama and the tears felt forced here - I'm thinking, losing this contest is not the end of the world folks. Come on. And no, it's not the best thing you've ever done.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 05:01 am (UTC)I think I've mentioned this sometime before, but for the last roughly year and a half I've been increasingly affected by some manner of chronic fatigue syndrome, and it's been especially bad the last 4 or 5 months. I'm normally awake, and within 10 to 15 minutes am suddenly exhausted. If I'm sitting in a chair at the time, such as when reading the newspaper, my arms will get heavier and heavier and I may fall asleep right in the chair still holding the newspaper, only to wake up with a start 10 or 15 minutes later from a sagging posture cramp or somesuch.
Blood tests supposedly did not find anything, and the intensity of the problem comes and goes.
So, this has not been conducive to my work, which is already chronically backlogged since I'm pretty much the only one in southeast PA that does what I do. There are days when I literally sleep for half the day.
I have plenty of material to post-- photos, toons, some TV and movie reviews, other stuff, but whereas I used to be able to easily stay awake until 3 or 4 in the AM, now I often fall asleep around 10 to 11 PM.
That's the scoop. I'll try to get something up this week sometime, likely photos, I've gotten some cool ones in the last few months.
Take care, and please keep posting, kat... doesn't need to be everyday.
-- OnM
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:00 pm (UTC)Sounds a little like nacrolepsy - which my Aunt has. Although I can't stay awak past 12, without getting exhausted. And am trying to go to bed by 10 or 11pm.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 05:34 pm (UTC)I know what you mean about the sleep too. Silent apartment, early bedtime, decent temperature, should have slept soundly for 12 hours. Instead had trouble getting to sleep and woke up sleepy.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 01:33 am (UTC)Ecupper Women's Casual Elastic Waist Cotton Trouser Wide Cropped leg
I like them better - I have big calves. The tight stuff was impossible to get on sometimes.
Not everyone is built like a stick figure.
I'm waiting for tights to go out of fashion as well. I'm hoping post pandemic they will.
**
Sleep sigh...I need to go off chocolate, but I doubt that will help. Last night a sinus headache woke me up at 5 AM.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 02:46 pm (UTC)Thanks for the link! This is not what I was thinking of though as these are essentially cropped wide leg pants. What I have is closer to this: https://www.amazon.com/Inno-Buttery-Bootcut-Pockets-Workout/dp/B08MZ3BB4R/ Finding the correct size though is another story.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 06:04 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think everyone is tired. I know that I, too, am guilty of scrolling through my flist, reading stuff & thinking 'I should leave a comment' and just... not.
it became clear to me halfway through that they don't care so much about the designs as the personal stories the contestants are sharing.
Yeah, reality TV is very guilty of this. This reminded me of a delightful clip from the sitcom 'Outnumbered' with the youngest child playing 'Britain's Got Talent': Hippo's Got Talent BGT | Outnumbered Series 3 - Episode 2. I could have sworn there is also an clip where the different contestants just talk about their personal tragedies, but this was the one I could find. Kids are great. (I think there was a basic script, but they generally just let the kids run with it, which was a brilliant decision.)
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 01:28 am (UTC)LMAO! That's excellent. I could do without the personal interviews, and sob stories. I honestly think they often go with them.
Great British Bake-Off and the Great Pottery Throw-Down kind of jumped away from it.
***
I'm growing tired ...as well. I can't say I comment much. And after I whined about it, I discovered people were - but I just wasn't seeing the comments. Which is well - my bad? Or DW? Or google email?
Did teach me a lesson about perception - what appears to be real may not be. Or objects seen in the mirror are not exactly as they appear?
I think the information age has become exhausting?
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 12:54 pm (UTC)Thought it would amuse. :)
Great British Bake-Off and the Great Pottery Throw-Down kind of jumped away from it.
Thinking about it, then Bake-Off isn't really a competition show, it's feel-good TV. It's about the people. They select the bakers very carefully, it's always a wide-ranging group of people of different ages/ethnic backgrounds etc. It's basically The Best of Britain, with everyone being inclusive & supporting each other. Someone on Twitter remarked (and was 100% serious) that the best way of advancing trans rights in the UK would be to get a trans contestant on Bake-Off, because the contestants always become the country's sweethearts.
I'm growing tired ...as well. I can't say I comment much. And after I whined about it, I discovered people were - but I just wasn't seeing the comments. Which is well - my bad? Or DW? Or google email?
DW stopped sending me notification a good while ago. I raised it as a ticket, but they haven't got back to me. I just use my DW inbox now to keep track.
Did teach me a lesson about perception - what appears to be real may not be. Or objects seen in the mirror are not exactly as they appear?
(Cue Buffy's speech in Earshot)
I think the information age has become exhausting?
I think we forget that we can just turn stuff off and leave.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 09:59 pm (UTC)That show has no monetary award, so it takes the competitive aspect down a couple of notches right there. The US keeps trying to copy the model but falls short in the desire to make it a "capitalistic" competition.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-22 05:48 am (UTC)Indeed, often not. And that's just in this universe. You figure in some alternate and/or parallel universes, and... oh, dear.
:-)
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 08:09 pm (UTC)TwoThree things to try for hot flashes:1) a supplement called Herbal Harmony, by Progressive Labs. I found it at a health/vitamin store; it's also available on Amazon. It helps... some. Not nearly enough, but it did take the edge off for me when things were at their worst. The ingredients are a mix of LOTS of herbal remedies you'll see recommended for help with (peri)menopause.
2) Mix some peppermint oil with a carrier oil, in a roller bottle. Roll it across your chest and/or the back of your neck when you feel the hot flash starting. The cooling sensation helps, and it smells nice.
3) Take off your shoes, stand on a bare (uncarpeted) floor and remind yourself that this, too, shall pass.
By the way, one thing I never knew about hot flashes until I had this happen to me: you can have "mood" flashes, too. The whole perimenopause cycle can cause mood swings and a shorter temper, but I've had a few flashes where everything just felt horribly wrong for a moment... and then it stabilized and I felt ok again.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 01:20 am (UTC)By the way, one thing I never knew about hot flashes until I had this happen to me: you can have "mood" flashes, too. The whole perimenopause cycle can cause mood swings and a shorter temper, but I've had a few flashes where everything just felt horribly wrong for a moment... and then it stabilized and I felt ok again.
I thought I was going crazy. This has been happening a lot. I'll be fine, then horrible, then fine.
I went to a therapist about it - and he just looked at me as if I was imagining things. My mother is useless - she didn't go through any of this - and keeps telling me everyone is different. [ETA: I also will occasionally get a headache flash or feel light-headed with them. It's very odd.]
One thing that I've been doing which my Aunt K suggested - is putting cold packs on my chest and neck. That does work like a charm on the hot flashes. Maca herbal supplement also seems to help.
Evening primerose oil didn't.
I may look into your remedies though.
Thanks so much.