(no subject)

Found this on FB:

15 Things to Stop Doing in 2015

Here's a snippet:

1. Stop showing and telling everything to everyone.

The world does not need to know your every move; leave some things to the imagination. Mystery is good.


2. Stop comparing yourself to others.

What you see is NOT what you get, or even what the true reality of a situation is. We all spend way too much of our time comparing our lives to others; yet, we all forget that the pictures we see of others on Instagram and Facebook are simply highlights of their lives.

They aren’t the everyday; they aren’t the struggle; they aren’t the bad hair day. They are the edited, Photoshopped and posed highlight reel of a momentary highlight of someone else’s life.

3. Stop worrying about what others think of you.

People will judge you regardless of what you do, so do what you want. There’s nothing wrong with walking your own journey on a path you create.

You don’t have to do, like or want the things that other people try, love or desire. Start that blog, write that article or wear that outfit about which you’ve been hesitant. In the great words of Kid Cudi, “They gon’ judge me anyway, so whatever.”

4. Stop waiting.

If you don’t take the chance or risk it all now… when will you? Time will always be hard to find. Start now and go after what you want, or wait for later and hope that later isn’t too late.

5. Stop doubting.

If you have an idea or feeling that keeps coming back to you, make it happen. When an idea keeps coming back, it’s for a reason. Take action and follow the ideas that flood your mind. Million-dollar ideas are a dime a dozen, but it’s only one in a million who follow through with their ideas.

I'm hoping to write more productively this year, and spend less time writing critical reviews on blogs. ;-)

Galavant

Just finished watching the first two episodes of the four week musical comedy series Galavant. It sort of reminds me of Spamalot by way of The Princess Bride or if Spamalot and the Princess Bride had a kid, it would be Galavant, except without the witty expertise of either Monty Python or William Goldman (and it really really needs Monty Python. Alan Mencken of Aladdin fame just isn't quite up to the task. I don't know why this is...but when Americans attempt to do British satire or even witty lyrics, they end up doing broad parody or slapstick. Wit appears to be something only the British can pull off with any aplomb. Why this is, I don't know.) So yes, to get this out of the way, the songs suck, and the composition is ahem, rather repetitive and the singing...is a bit off key. Not helped by the commercials echoing the same tunes. (Hmmm, wonder if this would have been better on itunes?) Sorry, guys, "Gal-a-VANT" is not a catchy tune. Rather grating actually. And most of the jokes fall flat. You might want to skip the first episode - they repeat it all in the second one anyhow.

BUT...the heroine or female protagonist, Isabella Elizabeth Valencia, who is portrayed by Karen Shenaz David, born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India - (in the foothills of the Himalayas according IMBD), and raised in London and Canada, is worth every single minute. Watch it for her! She's amazing. Her delivery, facial reactions, and her character - is kickass. When she comes upon the hero, he's a drunken slob. So she kicks him back into shape. Teaching him sword-fighting, training him to joust, and manages to get the guy he's competing against drunk. Add to this, she's sort of conning Galavant in order to save her family. I adore her. She's the best and most likable character in the entire series. And a rarity on tv.

And, towards the end of the second episode, I actually laughed. There's a rather funny bit with the jousting, which I won't spoil. So...the series has potential. You just have to get past the musical numbers. I sort of wish they hadn't done it as a musical, which coming from me is admittedly odd. I tend to like anything with musical numbers, not exactly discriminating on this score. But, here, the musical numbers grate on my nerves like nails on a chalk-board and don't really work the way they are supposed to - Monty Python they aren't or even Mencken's Aladdin for that matter. I keep wanting to tweak them or fix them somehow. Why they felt the need to put in musical numbers, I don't know.

Anyhow, I've decided to stick with it for Karen David, and to see if continues to improve...the last fifteen-twenty minutes of the second episode were actually quite good.

In other news, I have a CD stuck in my MAC Book PRo Lap-top computer. I have tried everything. Rebooted it. Pressed eject. Shut it off. Did Terminal in the applications folder. All that happens is it thinks about ejecting, changes its mind, turns on itunes and attempts to import the data repeatedly. I think the disc drive may be damaged or the CD is damaged. One or the other. Normally, I wouldn't worry too much about this - but I use Turbo Tax to do my taxes and have to be able to insert that disc into the computer in order for that to work. Which means a trip to the Genius desk at the Manhattan Mac Store is in my future. Ugh.