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This that and the other thingamagig
Apr. 21st, 2026 08:55 pmTelevision Re-Watches
I attempted to re-watch Veronica Mars and Firefly - but neither held my interest, and Veronica Mars - sigh, it neither dates well nor holds up. I remember liking this better when I first watched it? Maybe I wanted to like it? The writing and direction just aren't that good. And Bell doesn't quite sell the high school student vibe? The performances are more forced and less natural than the ones on Buffy - there's a scene with Veronica crying in about the seventh or eighth episode, and I don't buy it. Buffy cried - and I bought it. Also, Veronica isn't as likable nor is Keith, none of the characters are - and I think it's a dual problem, writing and direction. I can see why Rob Thomas's work didn't take off and Veronica Mars didn't last more than three seasons, and the revival didn't take off. I may try Firefly, again, not certain, don't really remember it all. I only have a vague memory of most of the episodes.
April Question a Day Memage:
20. Did you sleep well last night?
Not really. I need to go to bed earlier. I've been getting to bed around 10:30, and as a result only sleep a little over 5 hours. Also getting up at 5:50 am. I slept longer, when I went to bed by 10 am, and slept until 6 am.
21. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?
New York City. I really don't want to live anywhere else? It has ease of transportation, my favorite mode of transportation, is near water, has lots of trees, and a temperate climate. Plus lots of cultural pursuits, and is very diverse in population.
I'm a New Yorker, I think. It's going to be very hard to prod me out. NYC has kind of ruined me for anywhere else. You either take to this city and love it for life, or you can't wait to get out of it - and don't stay long. It's often one or the other. Also apparently, you either love Boston or NYC, not both.
Maybe London would work? I remember loving London in the 1980s. I suck at languages, so it would have to be a place that spoke English as the official language. Also, I don't/can't drive any longer (yes, I drove once upon a time - long ago, in a galaxy far far away - it was called Kansas, and it was back in the 20th Century). I like trains. And I need trees.
**
Books
To get out of the reading slump - I've embraced one of my go-to genres, Fantasy. And am exploring all the new fantasy novels out there. I have two favorite go-to genres - Fantasy and Science Fiction. (Then mystery and romance, and horror, and sigh, regular realistic fiction which more often than not tends to bore me? I need more plot and world-building than actually exists in realistic fiction.)
I finished Illona Andrews "The Kinsmen Universe" novellas, Silver Shark and Silver Streak (I think), and stopped short of the soft core porn short story (Illona Andrews isn't that good at sex scenes, and I tend to roll my eyes?). It was good. Not enough plot. But fast reads.
Now? I'm reading Gideon, the Ninth on my Kindle - it's a book about lesbian necromancers in Space. Gideon is attempting to escape a necromancer strong-hold. We'll see. I'm heterosexual - so lesbian stories sometimes work for me, and sometimes don't. It depends on the characters. Actually that's true of heterosexual stories too, so never mind. It came highly rec'd - mainly for the banter and laugh out loud sections, also emotional core. From various social media sources - people here, and random strangers on "Book Instagram" (I finally found "Book Instagram" - which is kind of like Book TikTok but far less annoying, and not quite as obnoxious with the marketing and pimping - not that I'm on TikTock - TikTock irritates me - and that's just from the posts folks throw at me from it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It reminds me of the worst of Twitter - but with videos.)
Also making my way through This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews - in hard cover (so I can only read it at home - although, I am debating lugging it to doctor's appointments). This book is a portal fantasy - except into a "GrimDark Fantasy World" (a la Game of Thrones without GRR Martin's abilities - so think a very watered down version of Game of Thrones?). Portal Fantasy is not my favorite fantasy sub-genre?
It's hard to do pull off well - and Illona Andrews doesn't manage it. So far there are far too many information dumps, and way too much telling and not enough showing. Every time a character shows up - we get a couple of paragraphs, sometimes pages of character backstory, summarized by the protagonist based on her memory of the book's world. It's kind of like having a commentator with you as you read? CS Lewis didn't a better job with the portal fantasy in the Chronicles of Narnia, as did the guy who wrote The Magicians, which became a series. Long Live Evil - was atrocious, I couldn't get through it.
Also the world, which is GrimDark, is much nicer to the protagonist than it should be. It's kind of a comforting, romantic take on Game of Thrones, while at the same time making fun of Game of Thrones...or the fact that GRR Martin can't finish the series because he wrote himself into a corner and got writer's block as a result. (We're never going to see Winds of Winter.)
***
Doctors...
I've finally figured out why people who see doctors are called patients. I'm surprised it took this long. It's kind of obvious when you think about it.
I attempted to re-watch Veronica Mars and Firefly - but neither held my interest, and Veronica Mars - sigh, it neither dates well nor holds up. I remember liking this better when I first watched it? Maybe I wanted to like it? The writing and direction just aren't that good. And Bell doesn't quite sell the high school student vibe? The performances are more forced and less natural than the ones on Buffy - there's a scene with Veronica crying in about the seventh or eighth episode, and I don't buy it. Buffy cried - and I bought it. Also, Veronica isn't as likable nor is Keith, none of the characters are - and I think it's a dual problem, writing and direction. I can see why Rob Thomas's work didn't take off and Veronica Mars didn't last more than three seasons, and the revival didn't take off. I may try Firefly, again, not certain, don't really remember it all. I only have a vague memory of most of the episodes.
April Question a Day Memage:
20. Did you sleep well last night?
Not really. I need to go to bed earlier. I've been getting to bed around 10:30, and as a result only sleep a little over 5 hours. Also getting up at 5:50 am. I slept longer, when I went to bed by 10 am, and slept until 6 am.
21. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?
New York City. I really don't want to live anywhere else? It has ease of transportation, my favorite mode of transportation, is near water, has lots of trees, and a temperate climate. Plus lots of cultural pursuits, and is very diverse in population.
I'm a New Yorker, I think. It's going to be very hard to prod me out. NYC has kind of ruined me for anywhere else. You either take to this city and love it for life, or you can't wait to get out of it - and don't stay long. It's often one or the other. Also apparently, you either love Boston or NYC, not both.
Maybe London would work? I remember loving London in the 1980s. I suck at languages, so it would have to be a place that spoke English as the official language. Also, I don't/can't drive any longer (yes, I drove once upon a time - long ago, in a galaxy far far away - it was called Kansas, and it was back in the 20th Century). I like trains. And I need trees.
**
Books
To get out of the reading slump - I've embraced one of my go-to genres, Fantasy. And am exploring all the new fantasy novels out there. I have two favorite go-to genres - Fantasy and Science Fiction. (Then mystery and romance, and horror, and sigh, regular realistic fiction which more often than not tends to bore me? I need more plot and world-building than actually exists in realistic fiction.)
I finished Illona Andrews "The Kinsmen Universe" novellas, Silver Shark and Silver Streak (I think), and stopped short of the soft core porn short story (Illona Andrews isn't that good at sex scenes, and I tend to roll my eyes?). It was good. Not enough plot. But fast reads.
Now? I'm reading Gideon, the Ninth on my Kindle - it's a book about lesbian necromancers in Space. Gideon is attempting to escape a necromancer strong-hold. We'll see. I'm heterosexual - so lesbian stories sometimes work for me, and sometimes don't. It depends on the characters. Actually that's true of heterosexual stories too, so never mind. It came highly rec'd - mainly for the banter and laugh out loud sections, also emotional core. From various social media sources - people here, and random strangers on "Book Instagram" (I finally found "Book Instagram" - which is kind of like Book TikTok but far less annoying, and not quite as obnoxious with the marketing and pimping - not that I'm on TikTock - TikTock irritates me - and that's just from the posts folks throw at me from it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It reminds me of the worst of Twitter - but with videos.)
Also making my way through This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews - in hard cover (so I can only read it at home - although, I am debating lugging it to doctor's appointments). This book is a portal fantasy - except into a "GrimDark Fantasy World" (a la Game of Thrones without GRR Martin's abilities - so think a very watered down version of Game of Thrones?). Portal Fantasy is not my favorite fantasy sub-genre?
It's hard to do pull off well - and Illona Andrews doesn't manage it. So far there are far too many information dumps, and way too much telling and not enough showing. Every time a character shows up - we get a couple of paragraphs, sometimes pages of character backstory, summarized by the protagonist based on her memory of the book's world. It's kind of like having a commentator with you as you read? CS Lewis didn't a better job with the portal fantasy in the Chronicles of Narnia, as did the guy who wrote The Magicians, which became a series. Long Live Evil - was atrocious, I couldn't get through it.
Also the world, which is GrimDark, is much nicer to the protagonist than it should be. It's kind of a comforting, romantic take on Game of Thrones, while at the same time making fun of Game of Thrones...or the fact that GRR Martin can't finish the series because he wrote himself into a corner and got writer's block as a result. (We're never going to see Winds of Winter.)
***
Doctors...
I've finally figured out why people who see doctors are called patients. I'm surprised it took this long. It's kind of obvious when you think about it.