Pondering Life's Little Annoyances...
Mar. 17th, 2026 05:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Came home, did the exercises. Had PT last night, and NYU double charged me for it - so I'm attempting to get a refund. Is my knee getting better? I think so? It hurts less for the most part, although I have switched from tynenol to aleve - to relieve night time neuropathy in the feet and legs. Still? I am having less pain at night - since buying the cloud alignment erogonomic pillow via Amazon. Sleeping better as well. It's helped tremendously with neck issues and migraine headaches. My vertigo/migraine headaches were being caused by insufficient neck support - apparently? Still getting up with a numb or stiff right leg, not sure why that is, and no one appears to know - including PT. But getting up and down doesn't hurt as much, and I'm able to go up and down the steps without too much pain now. Also walk for thirty minutes. So progress? Will most likely never be able to run again - but considering haven't been able to run since my knees gave out at 25? Not a loss. But if anything chases me? I'm dead. I think I'll avoid African Safaris and camping trips in the National Parks, also secluded areas in Cities for the foreseeable future.
2. Oh as an aside on PT and knee/hip/leg issues? The ballerina in the Sinner's number at the Oscars - who did a split with one leg up in the air and other bent beneath her? She had hip replacement surgery about three months prior.
"Just weeks before the Oscars, Copeland had undergone hip replacement surgery to address various injuries from her decorated ballet career, including bone spurs and cartilage loss. Despite this, she was determined to be a part of the Sinners performance, which allowed her to step back on pointe and join the celebration of the film's success, including Michael B. Jordan's Oscar win for Best Actor."
In December 2025, Copeland underwent hip replacement surgery.
On March 16, 2026, Copeland appeared on stage during the Oscars performance of "I Lied To You" from Sinners."
https://nationaltoday.com/us/ca/los-angeles/news/2026/03/17/misty-copeland-joins-sinners-oscars-performance-after-hip-surgery/
3. Commute is irritating me - this is partly due to the fact that I have to do the R train to the F train at Jay Street, as opposed to the R to the G or the F at 4th/9th Streets. I preferred the later - in that the trains were more frequent, and not as crowded. But alas - I can't do the eight flights of steps at 4th and 9th, and unlike Jay? It does not have an escalator or elevator. The F train gets crowded - it's not frequent, subject to delays, and has far too many school kids on it, also it goes all the way to Coney Island, while the G stops at Church. But on the plus side, still faster than the commute from Jamaica. This is 30- 45 minute commute as opposed to 48 minutes to an 1 1/2 commute, which I did for about 18 years. The Commute is tough on my knees, however - too many steps into and out of the subways.
4. Work is also irritating me. I keep having to explain the same things over and over and over and over and over again. I've come to the conclusion that people don't listen. Breaking Bad believes they are illiterate. Possible. I had to explain the difference between credits and debits to the project team on one of the projects, and do it in a way that's not condescending or patronizing or judgemental. Financial and legal writing isn't easy. But on the plus side, union is inching closer to an agreement with Crazy Org, so we may just get a raise and a new contract without a strike (which would shut down the nation's largest commuter railroad and cause all sorts of chaos). And I was fighting with the work place computer which decided it needed to restart to update various software programs - I've no idea what was updated, whatever it was - wasn't visible and didn't assist me in an obvious manner. Just that it took forever and shut down my digital picture frame. I am however grateful for the job - which I appear to be good at and for the most part - am appreciated for? It's hard to tell, no one complains and they are fairly silent for the most part - which is the equivalent of appreciation in the workplace. They don't correct me. And they send folks to me, and more work my way, and ask me questions and for stuff (not in a critical manner, so much as in - oh you know what you are talking about and are the subject matter expert - manner.).
5. Is this journaling or venting, I can't tell? Well at least it's mostly under a cut?
6. Stumbled upon the Florence + The Machine Song that references Buffy S6, finally. [Take that Christopher Golden (who told Charisma Carpenter in her podcast that he disliked S6 and thought the characters were Out of Character or OTT (?) - which probably explains why I found his Buffy novels unreadable and never bothered with them (I tried them in the book stores and gave up)) and all the other naysayers. (What can I say? Except that the Buffy fandom is a contentious and fractious one. Most are, actually. People rarely agree on anything - even the things they love - so this is hardly surprising? ) ]
The song is entitled "This Old Religion" - and I'd not really listened to it before today. I actually love it - it's a good song.
Here's the lyric:
"And it's the old religion
But the urge remains the same
Freedom from the body
Freedom from the pain
And it's your troubled hero
Back for season six
When it's at its darkest, it's my favourite bit
And I am wound so tightly
I hardly even breathe
You wonder why we're hungry for some kind of release
Watch me crawl on hands and knees
And scratch at the door of heaven"
Florence stated in an interview recently that she almost called her recent album - Season 6. Season 6 Buffy was her favorite - she, like myself, related to it the most.
6. Regarding Buffy - apparently they not only filmed the pilot, they even reworked the script when Hulu wasn't satisfied with it, and made the show more adult and more centered on the character of Buffy.
I'm fascinated with this - because it shows how impossible it is to get good television shows on the air. Crap is easy. But a good television show is really hard to put out there - you have to get around the network. And sci-fantasy is really hard because it is so expensive to produce. Why? They are looking for a sure-thing, so go by market analysis and logarithms and statistical data. Demographics. They used to do focus groups - and select a group to view something.
The way Hulu handled the Buffy revival and dealt with the creators involved - reminds me of my own experiences with the publishing industry ("we love your writing or you can really write - but we hate your story, it should be a murder mystery (because that's never been done before?), she should find a body, this whole discussion about Looney Toon characters is boring...wah wah wah wah"), and my family members and actor friends experiences with the entertainment industry (they've told me horror stories - about spending years on a film only to have it land on a shelf, or pitching an experimental film idea only to be ditched in favor of Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson (before they became famous)). Particularly my brother's with the film industry, the fine and graphic arts, and my sisinlaw's. When you mix business and art - it becomes painful and nearly impossible not to sell out. Business folks and marketing folks rip apart art and stomp it, if you let them. It's rather depressing when you think about it.
And Gellar's comment about the executive at Hulu who disliked Buffy and bragged about never watching it - makes me want to drop my Hulu subscription. (I won't - I watch too much on it at the moment.) Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of shows I despise (most fall within the category of "dating reality shows" (which I consider unwatchable) and sigh, sitcoms, but if I were in a position of power - I wouldn't kill those shows, because I know they make others happy - they have an audience.
I mean - I am not a fan of Malcolm in the Middle - the show gives me a headache, but other people love it, same with Scrubs - I find it unwatchable, but other people adore it. Shouldn't they be happy? The shows are harmless fun! (The Bachelor - I'm not so sure about - that I'd have cancelled out of the box..) The problem with our society is too many of the wrong people have all the power. That said? I like the New Mayor of NYC so far - he's coming across as a genuinely kind human being and proactive in his efforts to help all New Yorkers.
Chloe Zhao is less angry than Gellar - but Zhao has had different experiences having her hopes dashed and struggling with the corporate animal. (Zhao has had more luck than Gellar overall.) Also, it helps that Zhao has been in the Oscar race multiple times, and won a best director Oscar for Nomadland. She's got less to prove. And she's wrestled with Disney before in regards to its franchises (of which she's a fan). It's hard to be a creative artist, and a fan of various creative content - coming up against the corporate monstrosity that happens to own all the distribution and subsidiary rights to it. Worse, that corporate monstrosity - has folks in place, mainly greedy old white guys - who have their own (often regressive and out dated) ideas of how things should go and what should go up on the screen and care a bit too much about profit margins - which happens when art becomes a business and is all about how much you make at the box office, how high your ratings are, or if you made the NY Times Best-Seller List or Billboard's Top Ten. We even have an Oscar category now - about blockbuster movie sales. So, Zhao has a bit more of a Zen attitude towards it. She sees Hulu passing as an opportunity - not the end, and a possible way of shopping it elsewhere.
I know most of the folks who stumble across this - couldn't care less about the Buffy revival or Buffy. Depressing that. I miss the Buffy fandom. But alas, it scampered elsewhere. Mostly on Tumblr, Ticktock, Bluesky, Twitter, and Facebook. And that's not the fandom that I miss. I miss the one that analyzed the show, discussed things to death, and on occasion, not often, wrote fanfic.
7. I've joined then left a private group site on FB. "What to Do in NY" - I finally jumped out of. I decided its a tourist group site that exists solely to annoy the heck out of New Yorker's. (It's painful at times living in a highly frequented Tourist destination.) People would post, and all of the NY Residents on the site, myself included, would be compelled to state - no, no, you idiot, don't do that. Or yes, that's fine, stop worrying. Or for heaven's sake - if you are that concerned, just stay home, NY will eat you alive.
Anonymous: "Is it safe to take the subway in NYC"
Me: Yes, it is safe. I've been taking it for over 30 years.
Anonymous: With 9/11, aren't you scared of bombs in NYC? Is it safe to travel there?
ME: Yes, I've lived here for 30 years without any worries.
Rubygrapefruit (that's an actual name): Have you forgotten about 9/11.
KathyGreen: Look, RubyGrapeFruit - if you want to be safe? Stay home. Lock your doors. Order groceries in. And good luck to you.
Folks - a good way to piss off a long term New Yorker is to indicate that they've forgotten 9/11. It's kind of hard to?
Latest?
Poster: Do I need a transponder if I rent a car to drive in NYC?
New Yorkers: Please don't drive in NYC. You don't need a car. Most of us don't drive.
Poster: Are you going to pick us up from the airport in Boston?
Me: You can take the train from Boston to NYC - it's cheaper. Amtrak has a cheap rapid train service from Boston to NYC now - so also much faster. Why would you want to drive??? Or you could drive to say, one of the towns outside NYC, park, and take the train into the city like most people do?
New Yorkers: Up until recently, most people didn't even own cars in NYC.
Poster: what did they use instead, horses?
New Yorkers: Subways, cabs, buses - don't be an idiot.
Poster: Is it doable to fly in LGA at 9am, see Chess at 2pm, then fly out at 9pm?
New Yorkers: Yes, but only if the flight is on time, and depending on traffic. But it is possible.
God, folks, just stay home. And that's why I can't get tickets to see Chess.
So, I finally gave up and left.
2. Oh as an aside on PT and knee/hip/leg issues? The ballerina in the Sinner's number at the Oscars - who did a split with one leg up in the air and other bent beneath her? She had hip replacement surgery about three months prior.
"Just weeks before the Oscars, Copeland had undergone hip replacement surgery to address various injuries from her decorated ballet career, including bone spurs and cartilage loss. Despite this, she was determined to be a part of the Sinners performance, which allowed her to step back on pointe and join the celebration of the film's success, including Michael B. Jordan's Oscar win for Best Actor."
In December 2025, Copeland underwent hip replacement surgery.
On March 16, 2026, Copeland appeared on stage during the Oscars performance of "I Lied To You" from Sinners."
https://nationaltoday.com/us/ca/los-angeles/news/2026/03/17/misty-copeland-joins-sinners-oscars-performance-after-hip-surgery/
3. Commute is irritating me - this is partly due to the fact that I have to do the R train to the F train at Jay Street, as opposed to the R to the G or the F at 4th/9th Streets. I preferred the later - in that the trains were more frequent, and not as crowded. But alas - I can't do the eight flights of steps at 4th and 9th, and unlike Jay? It does not have an escalator or elevator. The F train gets crowded - it's not frequent, subject to delays, and has far too many school kids on it, also it goes all the way to Coney Island, while the G stops at Church. But on the plus side, still faster than the commute from Jamaica. This is 30- 45 minute commute as opposed to 48 minutes to an 1 1/2 commute, which I did for about 18 years. The Commute is tough on my knees, however - too many steps into and out of the subways.
4. Work is also irritating me. I keep having to explain the same things over and over and over and over and over again. I've come to the conclusion that people don't listen. Breaking Bad believes they are illiterate. Possible. I had to explain the difference between credits and debits to the project team on one of the projects, and do it in a way that's not condescending or patronizing or judgemental. Financial and legal writing isn't easy. But on the plus side, union is inching closer to an agreement with Crazy Org, so we may just get a raise and a new contract without a strike (which would shut down the nation's largest commuter railroad and cause all sorts of chaos). And I was fighting with the work place computer which decided it needed to restart to update various software programs - I've no idea what was updated, whatever it was - wasn't visible and didn't assist me in an obvious manner. Just that it took forever and shut down my digital picture frame. I am however grateful for the job - which I appear to be good at and for the most part - am appreciated for? It's hard to tell, no one complains and they are fairly silent for the most part - which is the equivalent of appreciation in the workplace. They don't correct me. And they send folks to me, and more work my way, and ask me questions and for stuff (not in a critical manner, so much as in - oh you know what you are talking about and are the subject matter expert - manner.).
5. Is this journaling or venting, I can't tell? Well at least it's mostly under a cut?
6. Stumbled upon the Florence + The Machine Song that references Buffy S6, finally. [Take that Christopher Golden (who told Charisma Carpenter in her podcast that he disliked S6 and thought the characters were Out of Character or OTT (?) - which probably explains why I found his Buffy novels unreadable and never bothered with them (I tried them in the book stores and gave up)) and all the other naysayers. (What can I say? Except that the Buffy fandom is a contentious and fractious one. Most are, actually. People rarely agree on anything - even the things they love - so this is hardly surprising? ) ]
The song is entitled "This Old Religion" - and I'd not really listened to it before today. I actually love it - it's a good song.
Here's the lyric:
"And it's the old religion
But the urge remains the same
Freedom from the body
Freedom from the pain
And it's your troubled hero
Back for season six
When it's at its darkest, it's my favourite bit
And I am wound so tightly
I hardly even breathe
You wonder why we're hungry for some kind of release
Watch me crawl on hands and knees
And scratch at the door of heaven"
Florence stated in an interview recently that she almost called her recent album - Season 6. Season 6 Buffy was her favorite - she, like myself, related to it the most.
6. Regarding Buffy - apparently they not only filmed the pilot, they even reworked the script when Hulu wasn't satisfied with it, and made the show more adult and more centered on the character of Buffy.
I'm fascinated with this - because it shows how impossible it is to get good television shows on the air. Crap is easy. But a good television show is really hard to put out there - you have to get around the network. And sci-fantasy is really hard because it is so expensive to produce. Why? They are looking for a sure-thing, so go by market analysis and logarithms and statistical data. Demographics. They used to do focus groups - and select a group to view something.
The way Hulu handled the Buffy revival and dealt with the creators involved - reminds me of my own experiences with the publishing industry ("we love your writing or you can really write - but we hate your story, it should be a murder mystery (because that's never been done before?), she should find a body, this whole discussion about Looney Toon characters is boring...wah wah wah wah"), and my family members and actor friends experiences with the entertainment industry (they've told me horror stories - about spending years on a film only to have it land on a shelf, or pitching an experimental film idea only to be ditched in favor of Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson (before they became famous)). Particularly my brother's with the film industry, the fine and graphic arts, and my sisinlaw's. When you mix business and art - it becomes painful and nearly impossible not to sell out. Business folks and marketing folks rip apart art and stomp it, if you let them. It's rather depressing when you think about it.
And Gellar's comment about the executive at Hulu who disliked Buffy and bragged about never watching it - makes me want to drop my Hulu subscription. (I won't - I watch too much on it at the moment.) Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of shows I despise (most fall within the category of "dating reality shows" (which I consider unwatchable) and sigh, sitcoms, but if I were in a position of power - I wouldn't kill those shows, because I know they make others happy - they have an audience.
I mean - I am not a fan of Malcolm in the Middle - the show gives me a headache, but other people love it, same with Scrubs - I find it unwatchable, but other people adore it. Shouldn't they be happy? The shows are harmless fun! (The Bachelor - I'm not so sure about - that I'd have cancelled out of the box..) The problem with our society is too many of the wrong people have all the power. That said? I like the New Mayor of NYC so far - he's coming across as a genuinely kind human being and proactive in his efforts to help all New Yorkers.
Chloe Zhao is less angry than Gellar - but Zhao has had different experiences having her hopes dashed and struggling with the corporate animal. (Zhao has had more luck than Gellar overall.) Also, it helps that Zhao has been in the Oscar race multiple times, and won a best director Oscar for Nomadland. She's got less to prove. And she's wrestled with Disney before in regards to its franchises (of which she's a fan). It's hard to be a creative artist, and a fan of various creative content - coming up against the corporate monstrosity that happens to own all the distribution and subsidiary rights to it. Worse, that corporate monstrosity - has folks in place, mainly greedy old white guys - who have their own (often regressive and out dated) ideas of how things should go and what should go up on the screen and care a bit too much about profit margins - which happens when art becomes a business and is all about how much you make at the box office, how high your ratings are, or if you made the NY Times Best-Seller List or Billboard's Top Ten. We even have an Oscar category now - about blockbuster movie sales. So, Zhao has a bit more of a Zen attitude towards it. She sees Hulu passing as an opportunity - not the end, and a possible way of shopping it elsewhere.
I know most of the folks who stumble across this - couldn't care less about the Buffy revival or Buffy. Depressing that. I miss the Buffy fandom. But alas, it scampered elsewhere. Mostly on Tumblr, Ticktock, Bluesky, Twitter, and Facebook. And that's not the fandom that I miss. I miss the one that analyzed the show, discussed things to death, and on occasion, not often, wrote fanfic.
7. I've joined then left a private group site on FB. "What to Do in NY" - I finally jumped out of. I decided its a tourist group site that exists solely to annoy the heck out of New Yorker's. (It's painful at times living in a highly frequented Tourist destination.) People would post, and all of the NY Residents on the site, myself included, would be compelled to state - no, no, you idiot, don't do that. Or yes, that's fine, stop worrying. Or for heaven's sake - if you are that concerned, just stay home, NY will eat you alive.
Anonymous: "Is it safe to take the subway in NYC"
Me: Yes, it is safe. I've been taking it for over 30 years.
Anonymous: With 9/11, aren't you scared of bombs in NYC? Is it safe to travel there?
ME: Yes, I've lived here for 30 years without any worries.
Rubygrapefruit (that's an actual name): Have you forgotten about 9/11.
KathyGreen: Look, RubyGrapeFruit - if you want to be safe? Stay home. Lock your doors. Order groceries in. And good luck to you.
Folks - a good way to piss off a long term New Yorker is to indicate that they've forgotten 9/11. It's kind of hard to?
Latest?
Poster: Do I need a transponder if I rent a car to drive in NYC?
New Yorkers: Please don't drive in NYC. You don't need a car. Most of us don't drive.
Poster: Are you going to pick us up from the airport in Boston?
Me: You can take the train from Boston to NYC - it's cheaper. Amtrak has a cheap rapid train service from Boston to NYC now - so also much faster. Why would you want to drive??? Or you could drive to say, one of the towns outside NYC, park, and take the train into the city like most people do?
New Yorkers: Up until recently, most people didn't even own cars in NYC.
Poster: what did they use instead, horses?
New Yorkers: Subways, cabs, buses - don't be an idiot.
Poster: Is it doable to fly in LGA at 9am, see Chess at 2pm, then fly out at 9pm?
New Yorkers: Yes, but only if the flight is on time, and depending on traffic. But it is possible.
God, folks, just stay home. And that's why I can't get tickets to see Chess.
So, I finally gave up and left.
