Day #11 of the 60 Days of Gratitude Challenge

Day #11 of the 60 Days of Gratitude Challenge

Prompt is Name a movie that you are grateful for

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I admit - I love Star Wars. It's among the few movie franchises in which I'm a fan. And it was, outside of possibly the Monkeyees, my first fandom.
More so than the Monkeys, since I wrote fanfic in my head, picked up novelizations, read the radio play, and seen all the films. I loved it.
It turned me onto science fiction. Prior to that science fiction was monster movies or boys venturing into space.

I loved Princess Leia - who was smart and snarky, and relatable.

It worked for me. We all loved it in my family. It was for the most part, a shared love.

So, I'm grateful for Star Wars. I'm glad it exists. And I'm glad I saw it - hmmm, maybe I'll rewatch some of the movies this weekend on Disney + . I'm grateful that I have the ability to do that as well. Thank you to the lovely person who made that possible - I need to buy you dinner and desert some time, you and your lovely family.

Day # 15 of the 30 Day Book Challenge

This is Day # 15 of 30 Day Book Challenge

The prompt is A popular author's first book.

Oh dear, who to choose...eeny meany..

John Grisham's First Novel - A Time To Kill

A Time to Kill is a 1989 legal thriller by John Grisham. It was Grisham's first novel. The novel was rejected by many publishers before Wynwood Press eventually gave it a modest 5,000-copy printing. When Doubleday published The Firm, Wynwood released a trade paperback of A Time to Kill, which became a bestseller. Dell published the mass market paperback months after the success of The Firm, bringing Grisham to widespread popularity among readers. Doubleday eventually took over the contract for A Time to Kill and released a special hardcover edition.

Story went that Grisham hand sold the book - and handled all the marketing.
He was a small town lawyer at the time it was published.

He did better than myself and my relatives - who have all independently published our novels.

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Day 240 of Corona Virus Diaries...

We're back to 240 again, but this time it's actual for me. 240 days ago - I went under lockdown in New York. I began working from home, and my small apartment, and the area immediately surrounding it became my bubble. That has not changed 240 days later.

1. I forgot to share this family tale..of amusement. We need amusement in our lives. Keep in mind, my family and I have an off-beat sense of humor.

Mother: So I've been reading your uncle's science fiction spy thriller to your father..it's been an interesting experience.
Me: Any good?
Mother: Well, it takes place in 2073, except the technology is the 1980s, with no explanation. It doesn't make much sense. They don't have cell phones, or computers or anything really.
Me: So basically he wrote a 1980s spy novel and put it in the future?
Mother: Exactly. And every once and a while we have to figure out what a word is due to the typewriter key not making a good impression - he wrote it on a typewriter.
Me: That's not so bad.
Mother: Also the plot while interesting is kind of jarring - I mean it's about stopping the nuclear codes from being given out to an enemy - but aren't they changed constantly?
ME: Well by 2073, we most likely won't have them, and yes, they are.
Mother: Also, they still have cassets and tapes, and recording devices. I mean its 2073...
Me: So, he should have just put it in the 1980s?
Mother: Pretty much.

2. Other bit of amusement making the rounds... Stacy Abrams who apparently is a Buffy fan made a pronouncement about who Buffy should currently be with at the moment and various cast members felt the need to chime in over Twitter

3. Gabe and I discussed entertainment choices over email at work today. She suggested Grand Army (no clue what that is), Queen's Gambit (which I've seen - hasn't everyone? And rec'd to my parents already), and The Lie (which is a movie). I've not heard of two of them.

I rec'd Helstrum and She-Rah, and House of Bly. Although she ignored the She-Rah rec. People? She-Rah is weirdly the better of the three.
But people have a stigma when it comes to animation and cartoons for some reason. That's okay, I feel the same way about video games. We all have our cultural line in the sand.

I need more recs...something to really hook me. Something to watch after Helstrum and She-Rah. (I've already tried Umbrella Academy, twice now, it did not take - I can't seem to get through the first two episodes without my attention wandering.)

4. The US Political Situation right now is in a word? Terrifying. We're looking at it play out through our fingers. It's like a Terrifying Monty Python Skit. The less said about it - the better.

I did enter into "civil" discussions with a guy on Texas Cousin's Facebook Page. We both veered away from naming any of trigger words.

( our discussion )

I think the class divide in the US is in a sense spearheading a lot of this. And there is a severe class divide. And people don't agree on how to fix it.
I want to fix it - but to do it, I have to find common ground.

5. Crazy Company vs. The Corona Virus

Apparently people in the field aren't wearing masks or PPE like they should. ( Read more... )

6. New York vs. The Corona Virus - yes, our continuing coverage of the Great State of New York attempting to fight the Corona Virus.

( what you need to know tonight about NY fight against the virus )