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Apr. 7th, 2024 11:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatKind of depressed. Trying not to be. It's a combination of things, not worth going into or boring folks about. Also talking about it won't make me feel any better -I know because I've already deleted five potential posts on the topic. Focusing on depression just depresses me more - it's best to focus on positive things and things I can control.
Pretty day. First one in awhile that was sunny with clear blue skies. Makes me appreciate my living room windows, which are good size and show me the tops of the trees, rooftops, and sky.
Cool crisp breeze. I took a walk to the grocery store earlier today.
Intended to work on my artwork, novels, and writing - but couldn't focus. Struggling with various creative blocks. And slept through most of the morning hours. Got up at 9:30, took a shower, had scrambled eggs, listened to an audio book, turned on FB to watch the UUA church service and promptly fell asleep during it. So I basically slept to 9:30, and then from 11:15 to 12:45. Then took a walk and went grocery shopping. (I needed items that were low in carbs and wouldn't increase my blood sugar. Basically fish and vegetables and greens. Plus cheese.)
What I'm reading
Gave up on: "Bride by Alix Harwood" - the writing isn't working for me. I made it to the 75% mark and realized I was just skimming at that point and no longer cared about any of the characters, so it was time to call it quits. (I may be burned out on the romance genre?) So started the latest Illona Andrew Kate Daniels Book - Magic Gifts or Magic Claims, the Wilmington era.
Also gave up on the audible version Tina Brown's Vanity Fair Diaries read by Tina Brown - she was beginning to grate on my nerves. She reads in a kind of chatty monotone. Jumped over to John Scalzi's Starter Villain as Read by Will Wheaton - which is slightly better so far. It's typical Scalzi - except with cats. The character reminds me a little of the character in Project Hail Mary.
Still working my way through Yellowface - which needs to be a touch darker to work. It's almost too realistic for its own good. And satirizes publishing Twitter more than any other medium. Twitter is kind of old hat now. It no longer packs the punch it did pre-pandemic or even during the pandemic. Since the whole Elon Musk debacle and the pop up of about five other social media platforms in the interim, it's power has dissipated. Actually the power of most social media platforms has? My niece jumped off of it because she felt you couldn't make any real connection on it. She's not completely wrong nor right on that score. It depends. People like to write social media off as completely toxic - it's not. It depends on what you are doing with it. And everyone is different.
I've made real connections on social media. Just as I made real connections via letter correspondence and email. But not always. It varies. But that's true offline as well. I'm not sure there's a discernible pattern to it?
There's personality clashes online and offline. (shrugs).
Anyhow Yellowface goes after the cancel culture or left-wing cultural sensitivity corps on Twitter. Which was powerful for a bit, until Trump and Russia had a field day turning it on its head. The difficulty with utilizing a social media marketing platform for activism - is the other side can do the same thing, and sometimes more effectively than you can if backed with enough money and tech savvy. Yellowface kind of gets that across.
[As an aside, I like this time of day - evening, or twilight, when the sun hits the leaves softly, and the light is soft and quiet, as is the world outside my window. I should start taking walks between 6:30 pm -8pm this spring and summer.]
I need to finish Yellowface - so I can start a more interesting book. I'm considering giving up on it and doing that anyhow. There's so many books I've given up on.
I did pick up the one old college buddy rec'd: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies .
Here's "Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,” is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.
The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.
Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need—society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins."
***
On the Television Front:
Not doing great.
* The Wish - Disney Plus - it's a poorly conceived film, that if they'd tweaked it a bit here and there, would have been much better? The animation is okay. There's some interesting sight gags here and there. But, it falls flat in the plot, song, and character departments, and relies too heavily on time-worn cliches. The plot? A sorcerer who is a wee bit too into himself (his name is Magnifico?) comes to an island, collects everyone's wishes, and keeps them safely hidden, granting them once a year to someone he personally selects, who he thinks will better the kingdom and his realm. Everyone thinks this is lovely and never questions it, until Asta who had previously given tours of the realm, interviews to become his apprentice and discovers he's only parceling out and/or granting wishes that he thinks are worthy. Also people forget their wishes, and are somewhat empty without them - when they give them up at the age of 18. (Heavy metaphor there.) Asta in trying to free her family's wishes - enrages Magnifico - who goes all evil in trying to stop her or anyone else from taking his power away from him. What's disappointing - is Magnifico's character development. Initially - he did all this to protect himself and everyone else from what had happened to his land and his people. He'd been orphaned and lost his family - but we aren't clear on how. And he's insistent on doing this because of that - initially. Then all of a sudden the story flips, and he's rendered as little more than a cardboard narcissist who cares only about himself and power. I think the story would have been better served - if we'd gotten more of his back story and made him a touch more complicated?
The songs also fall a bit flat. Is it just me or have movie musicals slid down hill? I've tried to watch more than one and couldn't get through them.
And I like musicals. A good musical is a thing of beauty. A bad musical is a cringe-inducing nightmare. We have too many bad musicals at the moment.
I think the last one that I saw that I really enjoyed? Was the Greatest Showman - and it had its weak points (ie. bio-pic). I did like Rocketman.
Actually the only musicals that I've seen that I liked were biopics. Barbie wasn't bad.
* Bodies, Bodies, Bodies - Prime Video or Paramount Plus. [I think Paramount, because there were no commercials. Oh, Paramount Plus has Showtime with it now. Which is lovely!]
Slightly more entertaining than The Wish. I didn't like anyone in it. I watched it mainly for Lee Pace, who is barely in it, and has almost no role. It's a satire and kind of makes fun of the "Then There Were None" murder mystery trope. Where you have a bunch of people stuck in a house during a storm, cut off from the general population and despise each other. Someone dies. Everyone points fingers. Then one by one, people are killed off, until there's only one or two people left.
It has a nice twist to it, and plays out differently than the cliche. Usually the murderer is either the first person allegedly killed, someone we never see but heard about, or the last person standing. In this one?
Well, they came up with a realistic and third option that hadn't occurred to me. So kudos.
Just wish I liked the characters a bit more than I did. It leans a bit too heavily into satire on that score - in that all of the characters are beyond annoying, and I was kind of rooting for them to be killed off?
*Resident Alien - eh, I don't know about the 2nd Season, it's getting a bit too dark for me, humor wise. The alien is building a bunker and planning on pulling Asta in it with him to survive the aliens killing everyone on earth. (Eww?)
* The Ark - on Prime, it's animated. I want to like it more than I do, but the animation is kind of so-so, and I'm a little bored with the video game aspect of the story and plotting.
* X-men 97 - I ignored the Jubliee storyline, and focused on the Storm Life/Death story. Which I feel they may be rushing a bit? They condense a lot of the stories which in reality were about six-ten comic books arcs. I did however like how they adapted the Maddie/Scott/Jean storyline - they fixed a lot of my issues with it. Maddie and Jean have agency in it. Sinister is the clear villain not Scott. And it's Maddie who sends Nathan to the future with Bishop, as opposed to Scott who does, with Jean's assistance. So that at least worked in episode prior to last week's.
I don't like Jubliee - she's a bit too stereotypical for my taste and always has been.
Off to make dinner.
Pretty day. First one in awhile that was sunny with clear blue skies. Makes me appreciate my living room windows, which are good size and show me the tops of the trees, rooftops, and sky.
Cool crisp breeze. I took a walk to the grocery store earlier today.
Intended to work on my artwork, novels, and writing - but couldn't focus. Struggling with various creative blocks. And slept through most of the morning hours. Got up at 9:30, took a shower, had scrambled eggs, listened to an audio book, turned on FB to watch the UUA church service and promptly fell asleep during it. So I basically slept to 9:30, and then from 11:15 to 12:45. Then took a walk and went grocery shopping. (I needed items that were low in carbs and wouldn't increase my blood sugar. Basically fish and vegetables and greens. Plus cheese.)
What I'm reading
Gave up on: "Bride by Alix Harwood" - the writing isn't working for me. I made it to the 75% mark and realized I was just skimming at that point and no longer cared about any of the characters, so it was time to call it quits. (I may be burned out on the romance genre?) So started the latest Illona Andrew Kate Daniels Book - Magic Gifts or Magic Claims, the Wilmington era.
Also gave up on the audible version Tina Brown's Vanity Fair Diaries read by Tina Brown - she was beginning to grate on my nerves. She reads in a kind of chatty monotone. Jumped over to John Scalzi's Starter Villain as Read by Will Wheaton - which is slightly better so far. It's typical Scalzi - except with cats. The character reminds me a little of the character in Project Hail Mary.
Still working my way through Yellowface - which needs to be a touch darker to work. It's almost too realistic for its own good. And satirizes publishing Twitter more than any other medium. Twitter is kind of old hat now. It no longer packs the punch it did pre-pandemic or even during the pandemic. Since the whole Elon Musk debacle and the pop up of about five other social media platforms in the interim, it's power has dissipated. Actually the power of most social media platforms has? My niece jumped off of it because she felt you couldn't make any real connection on it. She's not completely wrong nor right on that score. It depends. People like to write social media off as completely toxic - it's not. It depends on what you are doing with it. And everyone is different.
I've made real connections on social media. Just as I made real connections via letter correspondence and email. But not always. It varies. But that's true offline as well. I'm not sure there's a discernible pattern to it?
There's personality clashes online and offline. (shrugs).
Anyhow Yellowface goes after the cancel culture or left-wing cultural sensitivity corps on Twitter. Which was powerful for a bit, until Trump and Russia had a field day turning it on its head. The difficulty with utilizing a social media marketing platform for activism - is the other side can do the same thing, and sometimes more effectively than you can if backed with enough money and tech savvy. Yellowface kind of gets that across.
[As an aside, I like this time of day - evening, or twilight, when the sun hits the leaves softly, and the light is soft and quiet, as is the world outside my window. I should start taking walks between 6:30 pm -8pm this spring and summer.]
I need to finish Yellowface - so I can start a more interesting book. I'm considering giving up on it and doing that anyhow. There's so many books I've given up on.
I did pick up the one old college buddy rec'd: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies .
Here's "Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,” is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.
The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.
Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need—society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins."
***
On the Television Front:
Not doing great.
* The Wish - Disney Plus - it's a poorly conceived film, that if they'd tweaked it a bit here and there, would have been much better? The animation is okay. There's some interesting sight gags here and there. But, it falls flat in the plot, song, and character departments, and relies too heavily on time-worn cliches. The plot? A sorcerer who is a wee bit too into himself (his name is Magnifico?) comes to an island, collects everyone's wishes, and keeps them safely hidden, granting them once a year to someone he personally selects, who he thinks will better the kingdom and his realm. Everyone thinks this is lovely and never questions it, until Asta who had previously given tours of the realm, interviews to become his apprentice and discovers he's only parceling out and/or granting wishes that he thinks are worthy. Also people forget their wishes, and are somewhat empty without them - when they give them up at the age of 18. (Heavy metaphor there.) Asta in trying to free her family's wishes - enrages Magnifico - who goes all evil in trying to stop her or anyone else from taking his power away from him. What's disappointing - is Magnifico's character development. Initially - he did all this to protect himself and everyone else from what had happened to his land and his people. He'd been orphaned and lost his family - but we aren't clear on how. And he's insistent on doing this because of that - initially. Then all of a sudden the story flips, and he's rendered as little more than a cardboard narcissist who cares only about himself and power. I think the story would have been better served - if we'd gotten more of his back story and made him a touch more complicated?
The songs also fall a bit flat. Is it just me or have movie musicals slid down hill? I've tried to watch more than one and couldn't get through them.
And I like musicals. A good musical is a thing of beauty. A bad musical is a cringe-inducing nightmare. We have too many bad musicals at the moment.
I think the last one that I saw that I really enjoyed? Was the Greatest Showman - and it had its weak points (ie. bio-pic). I did like Rocketman.
Actually the only musicals that I've seen that I liked were biopics. Barbie wasn't bad.
* Bodies, Bodies, Bodies - Prime Video or Paramount Plus. [I think Paramount, because there were no commercials. Oh, Paramount Plus has Showtime with it now. Which is lovely!]
Slightly more entertaining than The Wish. I didn't like anyone in it. I watched it mainly for Lee Pace, who is barely in it, and has almost no role. It's a satire and kind of makes fun of the "Then There Were None" murder mystery trope. Where you have a bunch of people stuck in a house during a storm, cut off from the general population and despise each other. Someone dies. Everyone points fingers. Then one by one, people are killed off, until there's only one or two people left.
It has a nice twist to it, and plays out differently than the cliche. Usually the murderer is either the first person allegedly killed, someone we never see but heard about, or the last person standing. In this one?
Well, they came up with a realistic and third option that hadn't occurred to me. So kudos.
Just wish I liked the characters a bit more than I did. It leans a bit too heavily into satire on that score - in that all of the characters are beyond annoying, and I was kind of rooting for them to be killed off?
*Resident Alien - eh, I don't know about the 2nd Season, it's getting a bit too dark for me, humor wise. The alien is building a bunker and planning on pulling Asta in it with him to survive the aliens killing everyone on earth. (Eww?)
* The Ark - on Prime, it's animated. I want to like it more than I do, but the animation is kind of so-so, and I'm a little bored with the video game aspect of the story and plotting.
* X-men 97 - I ignored the Jubliee storyline, and focused on the Storm Life/Death story. Which I feel they may be rushing a bit? They condense a lot of the stories which in reality were about six-ten comic books arcs. I did however like how they adapted the Maddie/Scott/Jean storyline - they fixed a lot of my issues with it. Maddie and Jean have agency in it. Sinister is the clear villain not Scott. And it's Maddie who sends Nathan to the future with Bishop, as opposed to Scott who does, with Jean's assistance. So that at least worked in episode prior to last week's.
I don't like Jubliee - she's a bit too stereotypical for my taste and always has been.
Off to make dinner.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-09 01:31 am (UTC)Yeah, I can see part of it being written by AI - that would explain the uneveness of it. It was confusing. The motivation of the villain was not clear. And it wasn't exactly clear as to how the whole wishing thing worked.
Also, the songs made no sense and were not memorable. Worst Disney animated film that I've seen, and considering I saw the stuff done during the off-period (aka the early 1990s prior to the Little Mermaid), that's saying something?