Day #280

The cookies I ordered from Etsy still have not arrived - they were ordered through Stamps.com and USPS. Stamps.com is notoriously slow. Everything that has used them as a delivery service in lieu of UPS, takes forever to arrive.

Do not use Stamps.com to deliver items to people.

Not unless you want the person on the other end to wait longer for it to arrive, and cost more in shipping.

After listening to the Governor via FB, because I missed most of the briefing wandering around Greenwood Cemetery this morning, I decided to donate money to Toys For Tots - you basically choose a bunch of toys, and the US Marines wraps and delivers them to families. Basically you choose and buy them online, and the US Marines plays Santa for those in need. (By the way, the US military serves more than one purpose - they help in emergencies, they deliver toys to the needy, they do search and rescue missions, and they protect us from people who want to kill us. It's important to remember that - I think. There's a tendency to demonize people and professions and institutions, forgetting that people are more than one thing. I keep reminding myself of this on a daily basis. I refuse to let the internet and the world infect me its righteous hate.]



It was another lovely walk around the cemetery. Quiet too. No sirens. Just the sounds of some tree trimming, and birds, and a few people walking about.
For the most part though - birds.

I walked for about two hours soaking up the peace and quiet. The stillness.
Winter has a kind of quiet and stillness - that doesn't quite exist in any other season. The soft white of the snow, against the green grass, and dark brown tree trunks. The wind not quite as crisp against my cheeks as yesterday. But the sun warm enough to peel off the sweater underneath my jacket and stuff it into my bag.

Couldn't go much longer than that - feet, hips and back began to ache - arthritis most likely, and well shoes not being the best on the planet.
But two hours equaled three miles, so not bad. I walked longer on Monday - 4.4 miles, and 2.4 miles on Tuesday. Considering I can't do much walking at all tomorrow and Friday, due to storms.



Fudge came - not as good as mom's but close enough. It states on the cover that it should be eaten within 2-4 days. Not an issue, I devoured it within two. It wasn't that much, less than a pound. Plus, more is coming tomorrow, from another vendor - we'll see if its any good. I'm debating making my own, but if I do - I'll eat too much of it. Besides its not really the fudge I want but the comfortable memories of home, Christmas, and family that it brings with it. My mother used to make fudge and put it out on the back porch where it was cold, to chill. We'd sneak pieces when she wasn't looking.



New York vs. the Corona Virus

New York is still a mite peeved that the US Federal Government refuses to do anything about the virulent strain in the UK, or put in national travel restrictions, and mandates in place regarding masks, etc. But hey, some good news - it managed to convince all three major airlines who were traveling to and from the UK - to instill testing guidelines, and test their travelers prior to coming to New York airports. It also has its research labs testing all the COVID samples to see if the UK train is in any of them. (We test over 249,000 people a day - it's not hard to get samples. New York doesn't understand why the Federal Government isn't having everyone tested prior to traveling and insisting upon this protocol - since New York is able to do it daily.)
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Meanwhile in other news, France apparently has re-opened to the UK - mainly because shutting down it's boundaries caused a lot of unexpected havoc. 1500 trucks were stranded. Oops.

Watching this thing play out around the globe, and how humanity continues to fumble in various ways - is fascinating from an objective perspective.

Congress vs. the President or rather the GOP vs. the President

Regarding the stimulus package - as expected the President threw a temper tantrum of sorts and refused to sign it.

[Caveat - I'm emotionally invested in it - because it is giving Public Transportation over $46 billion, and crazy org, $4 Billion. I want that Christmas Gift, damn it.]

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Sigh. The 2020 roller-coaster ride from hell continues.

Television...redux

Doing Xmas this year by my lonesome - I'd call it solitary confinement, but it isn't really - I've been bing-watching lots of television, writing stories in my head, taking long walks, and chatting on Zoom or the phone, also writing long posts in DW (aren't you lucky). I've also been posting pictures. Basically nothing has changed since March.

I see people. Strangers mostly. And usually at a distance or quickly in passing. On my walks, on my trips to the grocery stores and pharmacies, to the laundry room, recycling, and lobby. Today I walked past two ladies social distancing with their dogs. They had masks on, and stopped to chat briefly with dogs in tow. Plus every time I leave my apartment - I get Christmas music - it's the recycled Christmas Mall Musac variety not the elevated classical music station variety, but hey - festive. Today I got to here the instrumental equivalent of "Oh Christmas Tree" as I left for my morning walk. (I kind of feel sorry for the Muslim and Jewish folks who share the building with me. The Supers are Roman Catholic.) I also see people from church on Zoom, and extended family on Zoom (they are doing New Year's this year apparently.) It could be much worse. Life can always be better and worse, no matter where you happen to be in it.

Anyhow, at the start of this pandemic - some television critic fretted that we'd run out of television content soon. (Somehow I wasn't all that worried. It's a virus. They can figure out a way to do television around a virus. All you have to do is test everyone, then seal them up in a bubble for about two months, crank out the show, then back home again. The Daytime Soaps did one better - they test everyone daily, have everyone wear masks, all food/drink in dressing rooms, and use special effects. It's expensive but doable - also less expensive than going off air - they just cut five characters, voila.)

Turns out I was right. Television critics, I've realized, aren't the brightest bulbs on the planet (how can you be when all you do for a living is watch and critique television? Which, let's face it, we can do. It's not hard. I do it all the time. Sorry, not being kind to television critics.)

1. 58 New Television Shows That Time's Television Critics are anticipating in 2021 - it includes Joss Whedon's The Never's which is premiering on HBO not HBO Max, most likely because it's future remains undetermined? (Whedon left the show after the first season for personal reasons. Or so everyone said. It's hard to know really. Some think it was because of Justice League - except I was reading about the Justice League shoot before the movie was released - long before Fisher's accusations came out. And that was an insane shoot - with so many problems behind the scenes that I seriously doubt they could be laid at Whedon's feet. Also if they could all be laid at his feet, HBO wouldn't have hired him to do the Nevers.
Besides Whedon has been kind of fickle since Buffy ended. He has Brian Fuller syndrom. To date the only series Fuller seems to have finished is Hannibal - it made it to almost four seasons with Fuller at the helm, remarkable accomplishment really. Whedon to date has managed to only stick with Buffy for five seasons, he jumped off it in S6, then jumped back. Everything else - either got cancelled after 13 episodes or he handed off to someone else. I don't think he has the attention span for a long television series. He should stick to producing or shorter fair.]

Other shows on the docket...include some interesting stuff on Netflix, Disney + and I think Amazon.

2. Review of Shonda Rhimes new series Bridgerton

Bridgerton is the eagerly awaited Netflix series adaptation of Julie Quinn's best-selling historical romance novels. (Which I've never read, nor apparently has mother. And between us - we've read over a thousand romance novels. This, I suppose, is proof that the romance genre field is quite large and under-represented on television. I've no clue why she picked the Bridgerton series - apparently its very popular on Good Reads and Smart Bitches. I'd have picked a few others...but okay. Perhaps I should try it first - except the novel I picked up, I've not been able to get into. I don't know - I'd have gone with Joanna Byrne's Spymaster series, or Kerrigyn Byrne's Highwayman series, or maybe Katherine Ashe's Falcon Club. There's more action and a bit more going on than well...society balls and gossip.)

I am going to watch it. Curiosity more than anything else. Also I like the genre. Rhimes though, can be hit or miss. Since she's not show-running this series and just producing, it may work. Chris Van Dunsen is writing and show-running it - he's her prodigy from Grey's. Interesting that a guy is writing a romance series. But a guy also did Sandition. The genre actually is read by men, by the way. So too are daytime soaps - quite a few men watch them. Straight, gay, bi, men. Just like a lot of women watch football and sports movies, hard science fiction, mystery, action and non-fiction. Entertainment is not as gender specified as people like to believe.

It's gotten mixed reviews. Variety liked it better than the NY Times. But you know, television critics.

3. Great Pottery Throw-Down on HBO Max - I love this show. I like it better than Great British Bake-Off. It kind of has the same set up. They do a showstopper, a technical, and a throw-down. Also, someone is voted off, and someone is top potter. But it's more fun to watch - in part because its easier to understand and predict the judging. (Bake-Off's problem is you can't taste the creations so have no idea why they pick one person over another. Also baking is a bit more subjective than pottery - there are techniques that can be objectively judged.) The other reason I enjoy it more - is I don't crave things I can't eat and can't make. I'm more likely to make a good pot and design it, than back a great cake or pie or bread. (I'm not a baker.)

4. HBO's His Dark Materials - also love. It follows the books pretty closely and has stellar casting and effects. I'm enjoying the characters, who are layered well. One of the best characters is Mrs. Coulter - who Ruth Wilson plays with perfection, and Lee Scoresby, portrayed with warmth and flair by the guy behind Hamilton. Also I love the actress playing Lyra, and Will definitely growing on me. I'm actually enjoying this series more than Game of Thrones - for one thing, it's not as violent, few things are.

Also, whomever is playing Lord Boreal - is a true find. That actor is riveting when he's onscreen. More so than the weirdly popular Andrew Scott from Fleabag. (The appeal of Fleabag continues to be lost on me. Everyone seems to love that series but me. I couldn't get through the first two episodes. I really don't handle embarrassment humor well - which may be the reason. Although it is British embarrassment humor - so you'd think it wouldn't be a problem? I usually handle that fine. But no, I found it cringe-inducing.)

5. Overall review of Streaming Channels to date.
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6. What are you watching while stuck at home and unable to visit folks during the COVID pandemic?