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March 8, 2026- Daylight Savings Time & Guilty Pleasures
Slept horribly last night - ended up finishing The Botantist's Assistant, which features a neurodivergent middle aged female detective trying to solve the murder of her boss, a research fellow at a university. It's okay, but I probably should stop picking up books rec'd from Smart Bitches. (Yes, I got it from my brother - but only because I asked for it - via a rec from Smart Bitches.)
Got about five hours of sleep, which isn't too bad, considering I didn't fall asleep until 3:30 (2:30 until Daylight Savings Time struck at 2 am). Someone posted on FB - "Does anyone like Daylight Savings Time" - and I thought, yes, unfortunately, or it wouldn't exist - they are all the people who don't have to get up before 8 am each day to go to work, and usually get home after 5:30 pm, and don't care about morning light. I am obviously not among them. I get up at 6 am and am usually home between 4:30 and 5pm. Daylight Savings Time as a result plays havoc with my sleep patterns and just around the time I was getting it right. (An example of how helping some often hurts others, or how getting what you want may be at the expense of someone else's health.) I'm at my best sometime in May, when sunrise is at 6 am and sunset at 7 pm.
Today's Unitarian Church Service was on Guilty Pleasures, it was about enjoying what you love without letting society dictate it, but at the same time - listening to your conscience and not going against your own values because society dictates you should love this particular thing. It was interesting - because the Minister is Transmale Pacific Asian devoted Harry Potter Fan, who was struggling with the desire to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (I really feel for the LGBTA+ who fell in love with Harry Potter as kids, only to discover the author is a transphobic bully, who uses the money from Harry Potter to fund her anti-trans or Terf causes, and influence legislation against them.) He compared the so-called societal guilty pleasures of ice cream, country music/pop music, and romance novels to their desire to see the play Cursed Child (which has excellent stage craft). The difference between them - is a value issue.
With romance novels - the stigma is basically sexism and classicism. It's a genre written mainly by women for women. And like all genres there are good romance novels and bad ones. (I've read both, so had the Minister). Country music - the stigma is classicism - most of the music is targeted towards rural communities and written by rural and working class, and low income and under-educated. Hip-Hop - the stigma is racism. Ice Cream - the stigma is well, it has no nutritional value and is just fun.
The difficulty with the Harry Potter franchise is how JKR is utilizing the money the franchise is generating in her direction. She's one of the richest people in the world, and instead of using the funds to help people - she is using them to fund ant-trans causes. When she discovered that a transwoman had set up a Rape Crisis Center in Scotland, Rowlings set up her own Center that specifically excluded trans. It's why I can't rationalize seeing the Cursed Child. Gave away all of the Harry Potter books and DVDs, can't rationalize listening to the audio books, or anything else now - because of Rowlings. I don't have this issue with Whedon's work - since the people Whedon abused were highly paid at the time, and they are still making money off of the fandom and the work, when Whedon isn't. Whedon also isn't using any funds from it to benefit causes that I am morally opposed to. Whedon's sin was being a bad boss and husband - he's also been cancelled creatively speaking or fired, and unlike Rowlings isn't still making money off of his shows. (Unlike Rowlings - Whedon sold the rights to Buffy, and all of his television series and films were works for hire - meaning he got paid for doing them up front, and didn't get residuals or royalties.)
I am struggling with Tom Hiddleston though. He's in an interesting musical revival of Much Ado About Nothing, along with the Night Manager, and S2 of Loki, and is a good actor, dancer and singer. But, I can no longer look at the man without hearing the things my brother has told me. Or feeling my brother's rage towards him. (Hiddleston sexually harassed for several years a close friend of my brother and sisinlaw, destroying her career completely - he didn't say who and shut down when I pushed. But the hate he felt towards Hiddleston was palpable. He can't watch him. And if I mention anything the actor is in - he shuts me down. Mother and I have narrowed it down to the British film director and writer they were close friends with - and they daughter stayed with at various points while studying in London. My brother has contacts in the glamour biz.) My values won't let me support him in any way. I'm not telling anyone else not to - but I can't.
Also struggling with the Skydance acquisition of Paramount Plus and HBO Max. Along with Oracle IT. All of which was done through back room deals with fascist politicians and business men. Can I subscribe to Paramount Plus and HBO, without supporting people whose values are the polar opposite to my own and are hurting people? I don't know. I keep wishing they'd all die off, along with their entire families, and someone nice would take over and then problem solved. I don't really care how - I just want them gone, so I can enjoy my content in peace?
Where I draw the line on the whole guilty pleasure thing - is whether my enjoyment of the entertainment is supporting causes or behavior from the entertainer that is in direct opposition to my own values. (Note - my values, I'm not letting others dictate this for me. I never have. Nor should anyone else in my opinion. In other words: I don't care if you continue to enjoy Hiddleston, or go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, etc. I'm talking about me. Everyone is different.)
The Skydance one is harder - because the content hasn't changed yet. It's still liberal. Skydance hasn't interfered with the choices of their content providers or influenced them in any way that I can see. Nor does subscribing to HBO or Paramount necessarily fund fascist agendas, there's no evidence of that outside of cancelling Colbert and the interference with CBS News, which I don't watch. Any more than there was any evidence of it with Disney/Hulu (they rehired Kimmel and apologized). So, it's unclear that enjoying the Pitt, which does align with my values, on HBO is in opposite to them?
The world isn't simple, is it?
Television
Been watching British Costume Dramas. Currently the newest (or at least I think it is the newest) adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo on PBS, with Sam Clafin and Jeremy Irons. I'm enjoying it. I can't remember the story at all, and I don't think I ever watched all of it or seen it. I keep meaning to read the book - which is insanely thick with teeny tiny print. (It's why I read so much on the Kindle - the paperbacks have teeny tiny print - which require reading glasses, and some have faded print.)
It's a good adaptation - Clafin manages to get across both the innocent sailor, and the hardened wrathful ex-prisoner filled with vengeance. [PBS Passport]
Also started the last season (or the revival of Downton Abbey on Netflix which is followed up by the Grand Finale), and Grantchester on Netflix (a mystery series about a minister in a small British town outside of Cambridge during the 1950s, starring James Norton.
And I think I might start Maigret (PBS Passport), and a rewatch of Veronica Mars (which I can't remember at all - I can't even remember my recent rewatch of it in 2025 which got rudely interrupted halfway through season 1 by Hulu removing seasons 1-3. Netflix picked them up last week.)
And of course, I'm still watching and loving The Pitt which is the perfect medical procedural drama. It keeps all the action in the ER, and focuses on Doctor Robi's sixteen hour shift. So, say a character leaves the ER or has to run an errand or go upstairs to surgery, or go to a deposition? We don't follow them, we stay in the ER with the chaos going on there. We only leave the ER - at the very beginning of each season - following Robi on his bike to work, or at the very end of each season when the doctors from that shift leave to share a drink. That's it. I find this approach to be a breath of fresh air? It removes some of the unnecessary melodrama relationship drama bits from the procedural. And makes it far more realistic. It's in a lot of ways a no-nonsense straight up medical procedural, with relationship drama along the edges.
***
Mother: You're home?
Me: Well, where would I be? It's overcast and gloomy, and there's nothing to do with anybody. I'm fine here.
It's kind of sunny. But no real blue sky to note.
Got about five hours of sleep, which isn't too bad, considering I didn't fall asleep until 3:30 (2:30 until Daylight Savings Time struck at 2 am). Someone posted on FB - "Does anyone like Daylight Savings Time" - and I thought, yes, unfortunately, or it wouldn't exist - they are all the people who don't have to get up before 8 am each day to go to work, and usually get home after 5:30 pm, and don't care about morning light. I am obviously not among them. I get up at 6 am and am usually home between 4:30 and 5pm. Daylight Savings Time as a result plays havoc with my sleep patterns and just around the time I was getting it right. (An example of how helping some often hurts others, or how getting what you want may be at the expense of someone else's health.) I'm at my best sometime in May, when sunrise is at 6 am and sunset at 7 pm.
Today's Unitarian Church Service was on Guilty Pleasures, it was about enjoying what you love without letting society dictate it, but at the same time - listening to your conscience and not going against your own values because society dictates you should love this particular thing. It was interesting - because the Minister is Transmale Pacific Asian devoted Harry Potter Fan, who was struggling with the desire to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (I really feel for the LGBTA+ who fell in love with Harry Potter as kids, only to discover the author is a transphobic bully, who uses the money from Harry Potter to fund her anti-trans or Terf causes, and influence legislation against them.) He compared the so-called societal guilty pleasures of ice cream, country music/pop music, and romance novels to their desire to see the play Cursed Child (which has excellent stage craft). The difference between them - is a value issue.
With romance novels - the stigma is basically sexism and classicism. It's a genre written mainly by women for women. And like all genres there are good romance novels and bad ones. (I've read both, so had the Minister). Country music - the stigma is classicism - most of the music is targeted towards rural communities and written by rural and working class, and low income and under-educated. Hip-Hop - the stigma is racism. Ice Cream - the stigma is well, it has no nutritional value and is just fun.
The difficulty with the Harry Potter franchise is how JKR is utilizing the money the franchise is generating in her direction. She's one of the richest people in the world, and instead of using the funds to help people - she is using them to fund ant-trans causes. When she discovered that a transwoman had set up a Rape Crisis Center in Scotland, Rowlings set up her own Center that specifically excluded trans. It's why I can't rationalize seeing the Cursed Child. Gave away all of the Harry Potter books and DVDs, can't rationalize listening to the audio books, or anything else now - because of Rowlings. I don't have this issue with Whedon's work - since the people Whedon abused were highly paid at the time, and they are still making money off of the fandom and the work, when Whedon isn't. Whedon also isn't using any funds from it to benefit causes that I am morally opposed to. Whedon's sin was being a bad boss and husband - he's also been cancelled creatively speaking or fired, and unlike Rowlings isn't still making money off of his shows. (Unlike Rowlings - Whedon sold the rights to Buffy, and all of his television series and films were works for hire - meaning he got paid for doing them up front, and didn't get residuals or royalties.)
I am struggling with Tom Hiddleston though. He's in an interesting musical revival of Much Ado About Nothing, along with the Night Manager, and S2 of Loki, and is a good actor, dancer and singer. But, I can no longer look at the man without hearing the things my brother has told me. Or feeling my brother's rage towards him. (Hiddleston sexually harassed for several years a close friend of my brother and sisinlaw, destroying her career completely - he didn't say who and shut down when I pushed. But the hate he felt towards Hiddleston was palpable. He can't watch him. And if I mention anything the actor is in - he shuts me down. Mother and I have narrowed it down to the British film director and writer they were close friends with - and they daughter stayed with at various points while studying in London. My brother has contacts in the glamour biz.) My values won't let me support him in any way. I'm not telling anyone else not to - but I can't.
Also struggling with the Skydance acquisition of Paramount Plus and HBO Max. Along with Oracle IT. All of which was done through back room deals with fascist politicians and business men. Can I subscribe to Paramount Plus and HBO, without supporting people whose values are the polar opposite to my own and are hurting people? I don't know. I keep wishing they'd all die off, along with their entire families, and someone nice would take over and then problem solved. I don't really care how - I just want them gone, so I can enjoy my content in peace?
Where I draw the line on the whole guilty pleasure thing - is whether my enjoyment of the entertainment is supporting causes or behavior from the entertainer that is in direct opposition to my own values. (Note - my values, I'm not letting others dictate this for me. I never have. Nor should anyone else in my opinion. In other words: I don't care if you continue to enjoy Hiddleston, or go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, etc. I'm talking about me. Everyone is different.)
The Skydance one is harder - because the content hasn't changed yet. It's still liberal. Skydance hasn't interfered with the choices of their content providers or influenced them in any way that I can see. Nor does subscribing to HBO or Paramount necessarily fund fascist agendas, there's no evidence of that outside of cancelling Colbert and the interference with CBS News, which I don't watch. Any more than there was any evidence of it with Disney/Hulu (they rehired Kimmel and apologized). So, it's unclear that enjoying the Pitt, which does align with my values, on HBO is in opposite to them?
The world isn't simple, is it?
Television
Been watching British Costume Dramas. Currently the newest (or at least I think it is the newest) adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo on PBS, with Sam Clafin and Jeremy Irons. I'm enjoying it. I can't remember the story at all, and I don't think I ever watched all of it or seen it. I keep meaning to read the book - which is insanely thick with teeny tiny print. (It's why I read so much on the Kindle - the paperbacks have teeny tiny print - which require reading glasses, and some have faded print.)
It's a good adaptation - Clafin manages to get across both the innocent sailor, and the hardened wrathful ex-prisoner filled with vengeance. [PBS Passport]
Also started the last season (or the revival of Downton Abbey on Netflix which is followed up by the Grand Finale), and Grantchester on Netflix (a mystery series about a minister in a small British town outside of Cambridge during the 1950s, starring James Norton.
And I think I might start Maigret (PBS Passport), and a rewatch of Veronica Mars (which I can't remember at all - I can't even remember my recent rewatch of it in 2025 which got rudely interrupted halfway through season 1 by Hulu removing seasons 1-3. Netflix picked them up last week.)
And of course, I'm still watching and loving The Pitt which is the perfect medical procedural drama. It keeps all the action in the ER, and focuses on Doctor Robi's sixteen hour shift. So, say a character leaves the ER or has to run an errand or go upstairs to surgery, or go to a deposition? We don't follow them, we stay in the ER with the chaos going on there. We only leave the ER - at the very beginning of each season - following Robi on his bike to work, or at the very end of each season when the doctors from that shift leave to share a drink. That's it. I find this approach to be a breath of fresh air? It removes some of the unnecessary melodrama relationship drama bits from the procedural. And makes it far more realistic. It's in a lot of ways a no-nonsense straight up medical procedural, with relationship drama along the edges.
***
Mother: You're home?
Me: Well, where would I be? It's overcast and gloomy, and there's nothing to do with anybody. I'm fine here.
It's kind of sunny. But no real blue sky to note.