Spontaneous Musings

Catching up on the June Question a Day Meme among other things...

2026-06-11T01:35:38Z

Work was busier today - I get to play with a new excel spreadsheet as well as the editing that I'm currently doing. Lawyer has created a nifty one in Excel - that does things I didn't know you could do in excel. Sigh. She has an advantage? She grew up with the technology or as she put it, with excel and youtube, while I grew up with an electronic typewriter, dial up internet, rotary phones, copy machines, micro fiche, recording devices, cassettes, record players, and calculators. ( Read more... )

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Television Shows

I'm currently watching Legend of Vox Machina (new obsession - well not as obsessed as I was with Buffy, which dissatisfied me - only aiding in the obsession), Widow's Bay, From, Rivals, General Hospital, and Midnight Mass.
Also flirting with X-men '97, the Legend of Korra, the Mighty Nein, and The Citadel (which requires a rewatch), and the Witcher (which requires a rewatch). Oh, almost forgot, also flirting with the horror series "We Were Liars". (I'm in a horror, soap opera, and anime mood for some reason.)

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Books

Almost done with Wylding Hall (at the 90% mark) - which means I got to find something else? It's the first book that I've finished on the Kindle in about two months, since I finished "The Inheritance" - I went through three DNF's in between. So kudos to Wylding Hall! And it hasn't taken me that long to finish. I'm still reading "This Kingdom Will Not

I may go back to Willow Hill (another British folk horror novel). I need an e-book. Carting paperbacks or hardbacks on the subway is just unwieldy now. Although, considering I did it up until roughly 2008, I don't know why?

Wylding Hall is creepy and unnerving - it's also more in lines of Shirly Jackson and Donna Tartt than Stephen King? Or psychological horror with folk horror underpinnings? We get the suggestion of it, but don't quite see it happen. The author leaves it up to our imaginations. And, it's told through six points of view - in a kind of scattershot written documentary style narrative (think Daisy Jones & the Six). This makes it very interesting to me - because no one sees the same thing, or they each perceive it differently. Or see a different piece of it. I actually prefer this type of horror novel - but it's not for everyone.

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Catching up on June Mememage

4. Is rain forecast for your area this week?

Yes. There's rain forecast for tomorrow - 80% chance and on Friday. ( Read more... )

5. Have you learned anything new in the past year (a new hobby/craft/language/fact)?

Well, right now I'm learning new things about Excel? I learn new things at work all the time. What else have I learned? I learned there's such a thing as a LORAM Dump Train this week. And I learned that if you go to work when you are supposed to be on strike or cross union lines, your union can garnish your pay for that period and suspend your union privileges.

I also learned that you can do cardio by marching in places and lifting your knees high - this is also considered Tai Chi walking.

6. Can you swim? If so, what age were you when you had lessons?

Probably 5 or 6, it might have been earlier than that. ( Read more... )

7. Have you ever made pastry from scratch?

Yes. But I don't remember how? ( Read more... )

8. If you could share your life with any kind of animal (assume for a moment that the animal is tame and wouldn’t kill you, and you had the space and resources to care for it *g*), what kind of animal would be your dream companion (real or imaginary)?

A flying white tiger or a flying lion.

More practical? Siberian Forest Cat or a Siamese Cat.

I'm a cat person.

9. Do you like wearing hats?

No. They tend to give me a headache or come off. I don't mind knitted hats during winter.

10. Have you ever been to a horse race?

Yes. A couple when I was a child living in PA. We lived in Horse Country.
I didn't own one. But I had a friend with one. And my parents took me to a horse race once when I was a kid, I only have vague memories of it - mainly of a lot of people standing around dressed up and in the mud. It had rained.

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shadowkat @ 2026-06-09T21:34:00

2026-06-10T01:46:26Z

Still enjoying the Legend of Vox Machina - each season is slightly better than the last, the characters (six leads) all have good arcs, and it's a adult animation. (ie. There are sex scenes, battles, and swearing, thank you very much. And sardonic ribald humor. With British accents.)

It's streaming on Prime, and each episode is 20- 30 minutes each.

It's about a bunch of adventurers who band together to fuck shit up. Has a gunslinger, two magical elves, a woodland spirit, a cleric gnome, a singing magical gnome, and an giant orc. Music, chaos, romance, adventure, magic and adventure ensues - while they fight dragons, warlocks and other beasties along the way. High fantasy at its comedic best.

Time got away from me. Off to bed.

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This that and my new television obsession - Legend of Vox Machnia

2026-06-08T23:03:22Z

Well, the rheumatoid arthritis appointment was a colossal waste of time. Okay not completely? I got exercise - it's about ten blocks north of my work place in the building next door to The Trinity Church. And, I only really missed 30 minutes of work - not worth mentioning or recording, and it's so slow at the moment - that it wasn't even notable. It's not like I'm doing much of anything at the moment outside of answering the occasional email.

( sigh, as predicted I don't have rheumatoid arthritis )

Now, hopefully the knee injection on Friday is more productive. Considering I postponed jury duty for this and the knee injections - I certainly hope so. Otherwise, I'm going to regret postponing the jury duty.

The Doofus has once again pissed off New Yorkers by insisting on coming to tonight's Knicks Game at the Garden. ( sigh )

Okay enough ranting.

I've found a new television show to become obsessed with - The Legend of Vox Machina. They hit my story kinks hard. This doesn't happen often. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view? And one of my favorite male hero archetypes and female hero archetypes. Add to that the romantic pairing is very similar to Crichton/Areyn Sun (also to a lesser degree Spike/Buffy - but I'd say more Crichton/Aeryn), which is my favorite romantic trope. So, I'm in love with the show. And figured out a way to read some of the comics - the prequel for free. Except they changed some of it for the better with the series.

This series has an interesting back story. It's done by Critical Role - who through a kick-starter campaign turned one of their D&D Role playing campaigns into an animated series and got Amazon to sponsor it, and bank roll them for five seasons, plus a spin off - the Mighty Nein.( Read more... )

Anyway it's my latest obsession. I'll probably re-watch all of it from the beginning, while waiting for Amazon to release S5 sometime in 2027/2028. It has four seasons now. I'm in the middle of S3. The episodes aren't that long - about 22-30 minutes each. It has about 12 episodes a season. It's compact, and as a result fairly tightly written, with interesting character arcs and a diverse group of characters. My only difficulty with it - is it has a long wait between seasons. (I'm impatient, anything longer than six months, is a long wait from my perspective. Particularly when you only have 12 episodes.) I got obsessed with it - when it only had two seasons. Now, I'm obsessed again. I thought about it all last night, when I wasn't sleeping and most of today. So definitely a new television obsession. Is anyone else aware of this? Is there even a fandom? There must be. Although I'm wary...so probably best to avoid?

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My psuedo-productive morning and a book meme

2026-06-06T19:54:25Z

I kind of fell down the rabbit hole of Tony Head tributes and clips last night so forgot about doing various memes. Also, we lost two Star Wars alums: Marsha Lucas (George Lucas's wife and his film editor - at 80) and Tom Kane (the voice of Yoda in Star Wars, among others) in May.

( personal health update )

This morning - I woke up with painful right knee. Felt like someone stuck a hot poker into the left side of the right knee. After hobbling about, making the bed, taking a shower, putting cream on it, and taking an aleve, felt better. Also sorted out the rest of the winter-spring attire to make room for the spring-summer attire. (There's a lot of clothing that I need to get rid of. I foresee lugging clothing to the basement in the foreseeable future. I take it down there - it magically disappears on its own. ) Actually standing on it for a bit - helped. I think I moved it the wrong way in my sleep. Oh well, I'm getting the first injection into it - this coming week - so that should help tremendously.

I felt accomplished and slightly better. (Back is just bugging me. Will do exercises shortly. Doing the heating pad first.) After that - it was around 11:30 am and I'd not eaten anything or taken my pills, so that had to be seen to.

But. Just as I was about to make brunch - I saw a wasp crawling along the inside of the apartment window. I stared at it in shock. First wasp I've seen in ...I can't remember how long? And it was a big one too. Cursed. And hunted for something to catch it in. ( Read more... )

After that I tried to make brunch - only to have the two freshly cracked eggs slide down between the stove and the counter top, because they got knocked out of the container I'd put them in when the coconut oil fell from the shelf into the container. I didn't give up. I still made fried eggs, grits and power greens (argula, spinach, and protein pea shoots with lemon juice on the greens).

So a productive morning?

Friday Five swiped from solenne.

1. Do you enjoy reading?

Oh I adore it. Which is kind of strange considering how long it took me to figure out how to do it. It didn't come easily. I'm the sort of person who appears to appreciate the things that don't come easily for me? Once I figured out how to read? I read everything in sight. I devoured books.

2. What is the first book you remember reading?

It was probably the Robin Hood picture book based on the Disney Cartoon. I also read Benji. Most books were read to me - such as the EB White Books, which I adored. The Little House on the Prairie novels that were read to me and I'd read. Ronald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and James and the Giant Peach. A lot of ghost stories.

But the first I loved was probably Watership Down, followed by Misty of Chinaook Island, Lisa Bright and Dark, Witches of Worm by Zelphia Keatley Snyder, The Westing Game, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien...

3. Who is your favourite author?

At the moment? It's probably Illona Andrews - who I've read just about everything they've written. They write urban fantasy, sci-fantasy, science fiction romance, and epic fantasy romance. But romance is slow burn and not the main focus of most of their books.

But it shifts a lot, and technically, I don't really have a favorite? My spellcheck doesn't like how folks are spelling favourite - it wants favorite. It's an American English Spell Check.

4. What is your favourite book?

There's too many, and it constantly changes? I mean it would be like picking a favorite pet or child? I've books I've loved and re-read multiple times - such as the Vicky Bliss mysteries, the Kate Daniels series, the Dresden Files, the Hobbit, Dune, Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Rider series, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, The Secret History....the Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge, Storm of Swords by GRR Martin, The Great Gatbsy...

5. What is the last book you read and the first you'll read next?

The Inheritance by Illona Andrews and a reread via audio book of Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, currently reading This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews (hardcover and audio book), and Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand (e-book).

I really love books. I love reading. I love discussing books. I love analyzing them, I love writing them. As long as books exist, life is good. What I love about NYC is it such a book city. There are books everywhere. And people reading them everywhere. It's a city that loves to read, talk about books, sell books, and write books. It's my type of city.

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Tribute to Anthony Stewart Head

2026-06-06T03:23:55Z

This one hit me harder than expected. What a lot of folks may not realize, is Head was also an excellent musician and singer. I first fell for him - when he performed in Chess.

1. Rocky Horror

Anthony Head performing Sweet Transvesite from Rocky Horror Tribute Show

And with Amber Benson for Rocky Horror Tribute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LH43hTh5KI

2. Anthony Head testing James Marsters and Juliet Landau on British Slang:

3. Chess

I first saw Head in Chess in 1988.

Here's the song he didn't get to sing in Chess:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sCP3nTIDDs

(which he does a cappella).

4. Anthony Head as Giles singing "Free Bird" in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

5. Head singing Yet Another Hero Died Tonight

6. Giles singing "I Wish I Could Stay"

7. Giles singing Behind Blue Eyes, by the Who

8. REPO: The Genetic Opera - singing the lead of REPO.

9. And here's a retrospective of all of his film and television roles...posted 13 years ago:

Film and Television Roles

And BBC's retrospective of his film/television career

10. Anthony Head on acting.

11. Finally...all those Nescafe Gold Blend Ads (I thought it was Tasters Choice..). which was from 1987-1993.
It's how my mother fell in love with him. LOL!

I'll miss him. I've been following his career off and on since 1987.

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Whoa...Anthony Stewart Head dies at 72....R.I.P Giles

2026-06-05T17:47:27Z

Anthony Stewart Head dies at 72.

I loved watching him perform - first fell in love with him - watching him on stage in London's West End Production of CHESS, he'd taken over his brother Murray Head's role. (Yes, I saw Anthony not Murray. They don't look the same.)

Then Taster's Choice commercials, then VR5, and I followed him to Buffy - I started watching Buffy because of Head.

I'll miss him.

Ugh, this is the third actor to die from the central Buffy cast in the last three years.

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This that and the 1990s X-men animated series...

2026-06-05T02:07:19Z

My Aunt (mother's younger sister) advised Mother that Mackinack Island was rather touristy and crowded with tourists, reiterating what I'd learned from my attempt to get recommendations via dreamwidth. So, she's decided that maybe I should just come down to visit her in Hilton Head after all.
The logistics of traveling together seems to be an issue - well that and we can't find a place that makes sense to travel to. Before you suggest she just visit me in NYC? Been there done that multiple times over the years, and it won't work now - I don't have a fold out couch.

Work. Sigh. It's slow and kind of boring again (my work depends on other people and they aren't as efficient as I am.) But, the nice thing about advances in technology - is I have toys to keep me occupied at work now unlike the dark ages - aka the 1980s and 1990s, where I had nada. People don't realize how good they have it right now. In early 1990s, I bought magazines and read them at work to keep myself occupied. Now? I can play with my smartphone. Also the internet. And write my book, and/or play with my book on the computer. Also brought a little sketch book and colored pens. I'm all set. Usually I just drift off to sleep while meditating or reading about horror films on MicroSoft Edge (workplace browser).

I did accomplish a few things this week. Surprisingly enough. I wish I'd done the jury duty - it's been a slow week. But I couldn't risk it interfering with the knee injections, which start next week. And I'd have been anxious and irritated the whole time - worrying over it. With any luck they'll call me in August. But, I have no control over these things. I don't know why they need to put me in their pool at all. I live in a city with over 8 million people in it. It's not like they have a shortage of people. In Kansas - they never called me - because I went to law school and was automatically disqualified. Here? They don't have that rule. Which seems odd - considering NYC has more people than the whole state of Kansas does. So why could Kansas afford to be picky but not New York? (Yeah, I know Kansas has less court cases, but honestly, NY can't possibly have enough to include over 5 million qualified people.)

**

Making my way through the X-Men Animated Series (currently streaming on Disney +) - which I haven't seen since it aired on Fox (before Rupert Murdoch bought Fox and made a travesty of it, until Disney bought it from Murdoch somewhere around 2020) in the mid-1990s. And I only watched it intermittently back then. It aired between 1994-1996, right after law school and right before I moved to NYC. Hence the reason the sequel is entitled X-men '97 (it takes place one year after the original concluded).
Is it any good? Eh. It depends on what you like or what floats your boat? X-men is a superhero soap opera with insanely convoluted plots that appear to be written by folks on an acid trip. No one reads or watches the X-men comics for the plotting. They do it for the characters - it's a superhero relationship drama with a heavy thematic emphasis on human rights, and being an outsider or ostracized for being different. Mainstream comics, it's not - that's Batman and Superman and the Justice League, X-men is kind of counter-culture comics. They'd been around about thirty years before they took off briefly in the 1990s. Then disappeared again from the public eye, to resurface in a slew of movies and animated series, then went underground again.

So, is it any good? It's uneven. ( spoilers )
So a mixed bag, but that's true of the comics too. I kind of look at the X-men comics like published fanfic? With art? It varies by writer and artist, some are really good, some...make me wonder how they ever got hired and if the person who hired them was stoned at the time? But I feel like that in my own work place.

It is a good comfort watch though. Also, it dates well. Most things that aired in the mid-to-late 1990s do, though? The cultural vibe started to change around that time, and became a little kinder and more diverse. (Thank you NAACP and the LGBTA and Women's Rights movements - it didn't do it in a vacuum, it had help.) Also to be fair? The X-men and Marvel were always a bit on the liberal progressive side of the house. (DC not quite as much?) Stan Lee was very liberal. And the X-men had a pro-outsider or ostracized minority vibe. It's why I loved them, it's also why they were very counter-culture and kind of underground or cult.

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Wed Reading Meme/Question a Day Meme for June

2026-06-04T01:50:48Z

Beginning of the June - Question a Day Meme

1. Is anything (minor or major) irritating you at the moment?

My back is bothering me, and so is my right knee, and my shoulders are tight.

2. Have you ever used a photobooth? Are they still around where you live (where’s the nearest one?)

I don't remember? I assume so. No, they aren't in my area - they may be in New York City? But I've not seen any? I have no clue where the nearest one is? (I hate getting my picture taken - so it's not something I'd seek out?)

3. Do you still pay for things with cash? Have you been somewhere recently where they don’t take cash anymore?

Yes, depends on the place. There are some spots that tend to prefer cash. I bought a milk shake from Carnval with cash - they tend to want you to spend more for the card. Although that may have changed, I didn't ask.

Also, my hairdresser wants either cash tips or tips by Venmo, I'd prefer to give cash. I don't like Venmo.

Yes, I've been to places that don't take cash - here and there. Not many though. The MTA OMNY CARD Machines don't take cash, nor does my laundry room - we have to use a credit or debit card to renew and add funds to the laundry card. It used to be cash only, but now it's card only.

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Wednesday Reading Meme

* Currently reading "Wydling Hall by Elizabeth Hand", Hand is an established horror and dark fantasy writer from the late 20th to early 21st Century. Notably best friends with some writer bloke who blew me off on a dating app for not having a photo that gave him that spark. I got annoyed enough - to write the interaction into the book I self-published. (I'm not positive? But I think the guy may have been horror writer Paul Trembalay, although at the time we flirted with each other on social media - he was unknown and struggling. ) I'm not a fan of professional writers - particularly horror writers, they tend to be assholes? I don't know what it is about that profession - but the ones who become successful at it (ie, can make a living at it), tend to be folks you do not want to meet in person or know? Sci-Fi writers aren't too bad - they tend to keep to themselves and don't go overboard on the marketing. Literary also not that bad, nor is urban fantasy. But Horror - damn.

But I can still enjoy their writing. I'm very good at compartmentalizing.
It's rare that I can't compartmentalize. Also, I know very little about Elizabeth Hand (by design - I don't want to know anything - the small bits shared on book jackets and in the acknowledgements - are more than I want to know). Honestly, I wish the writers would just go by pseudonyms and we learned zip about them.

I know too much about Neil Gaiman - so can't read his books any longer or watch anything adapted from them. (That's an author that I can't compartmentalize - I've tried and failed. Not helped by the fact that he is a dark fantasy horror novelist. So I got rid of the Neil Gaiman books I owned.)

Anyhow - Wylding Hall is a creepy folk horror gothic novel about a 1970s British acid-folk band, whose somewhat misguided manager sends them off to/ strands them at - an ancient, creepy isolated country house in Britain, to record their album. Much chaos ensues, a legendary album is recorded, and alas their new lead singer mysteriously disappears. Years later, a documentary is made with the surviving band members - the story is told through their fragmented interviews. (Think Daisy Jones and the Six - except as a creepy horror novel by Elizabeth Hand featuring some quirky British folk band in lieu of Fleetwood Mac.) The story unravels the dark secrets of the house and the band's tragic summer, blending folk horror, psychological suspense, and a haunting mystery.

It's compelling. Very similar to Hand's other novels - which kind of refer to the demon in the corner, without ever actually looking at the demon in the corner? You are aware it is there, what it has done, what it is about to do...but for the most part? It's left to your imagination. It's a specific style of psychological horror writing that I adore. I like the less is more approach to writing. Where the horror is more implied than actually shown. Donna Tart did it well with The Secret History. Hand shows a touch more than Tart, but not by much. And both excelled at psychological folk horror, with a gothic twist.

Oh, it's June finally. I graduated from PT for the most part. No more for the time being. Vestibular issue has been corrected. Hooray? Now, if I can just get my right knee fixed.

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This that and taking Tuesday off...

2026-06-03T01:12:29Z

Took the day off for an annual skin cancer checkup - only to realize that my organization provides up to four hours for cancer screening on the way home from the check up. It's too late to change it now, might as well just continue taking the day off. Scheduled a follow up for next June, but around 4:45 pm, so I don't have to take the vacation day. They took a biopsy of one of the moles on my back - which looked funky under the magnifying glass.
( Read more... )

Afterwards, walked to Bryan Park and took the F from the front of Public Library, because Grand Central has become an insane maze with the pretty but horribly confusing signage. Breaking Bad and various co-workers weren't wrong - it has corridors that go nowhere. The signage is incredibly confusing. And I almost got lost hunting the exit. So on the way back, I chose to forgo it. (I tend to avoid Midtown Manhattan like the plaques nowadays.) On the way to Bryant Park - I took 41st Street - there was a series of gold plaques with quotes from poets and authors embedded in the sidewalk (NYC and LA are into embedding plaques with names or quotes on them in their sidewalks. NYC does historical references and quotes from authors, while LA does the Hollywood Walk of Fame - with various television and movie stars names embedded in stars on the sidewalk. Personally, I prefer NYC's take on this - but then I'm allergic to LA, I'm a New Yorker. New Yorkers are allergic to Los Angeles). It was hard to stop and take photos of them, because of all the young adults with their cell phones walking past.

But I managed to do it anyhow - so here's three of the plaques beneath the cut.

( plaques embedded on 41st Street between Madison and Fifth Avenue )

Bryant Park had free Yoga - and a Yoga Check in Point. I thought they were doing it on the lawn or in the park, but nooo - it was on the concrete stone platform in back of the NYPL, and in front of the restaurants, at the top of the steps leading to the park and green cordoned off lawn.

All these people were sitting or lying on thin yoga mats and blankets on the concrete platform. See? This is why I don't do yoga classes and do it at home, if at all, instead. I need more padding than that. Although lately best I can do is chair yoga. Maybe its just me? But doing yoga on concrete looks kind of painful? My knees hurt just thinking about it.

I was going to do a museum or the NYPL, but it was 9:47 am, I was hungry (ate at 6:30 am, doctor's appointment was at 8:30 am) and my knee had begun to bug me. So I went home.

Even if I didn't make it to a museum or the gluten free bakeries on the upper East Side as originally planned? I got stuff accomplished. Came home and did laundry. Listened to an audio book while doing it. And took a long walk around 4pm, after which I treated myself to a Coffee Ice Cream (Cold Brew) Milk Shake from Carnval Ice Cream Shop, which is a neighborhood and South Brooklyn staple.

Passed a lot of rose bushes on my walk. Been seeing a lot of roses this year. Roses do very well in New York, they love the climate. Flowers love the climate. If you like flowers or trees or greenery - New York is a great state to live in.

( roses )

**

Television

* I finished my comfort re-watch of Buffy - thinking I'd get a reboot (but no such luck, we shall speak of it no more) - and have moved on to a comfort re-watch of the early 1990s X-Men Animated Series (which is streaming on Disney +/Hulu. ( Read more... )

*Rivals - this is really funny in places. It does farce well. And sex comedy well. I prefer British satire and comedies to American satire and comedies. I don't really know why exactly? Maybe things are just funnier when delivered with a British accent? Or the Brits just do farce and satire really well? I'm on S2. Also the Taggie/Rupert romance is oddly enough working for me? It shouldn't - but the actors make it work? Also the actress playing Taggie comes across as mid-late 20s, not 21, and the actor player Rupert comes across as early 30s. He doesn't quite come across as old enough to be her father or as old as Aidan Turner and David Tennant. It also helps that he hasn't slept with Taggie yet, and is sleeping with Cameron - pretty much everywhere including the steps. (As an aside? I can't imagine having sex on steps as being all that comfortable? Painful, yes. Comfortable, no. ( Read more... )

* Midnight Mass - I keep trying to watch it, but I can't get into it. I keep getting bored. My difficulty with it - is I don't like or care about any of the characters, nor find any of them remotely interesting - which is kind of a requirement for anything I watch, read, or listen to?
It's definitely a requirement of the horror genre. If you don't care about any of the characters - then there's no emotional investment - and you won't care if they are in danger or killed off - which means the show isn't horrifying or scary.

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shadowkat @ 2026-05-31T10:10:00

2026-05-31T15:18:39Z

End of the May Question a Day Meme

27. Have you ever tried box breathing? It is an effective way to calm yourself if you are feeling panicky or overwhelmed. You can find the instructions on this page.

The question references the Calm App's instructions on Box Breathing. I switched from the Headspace Meditation App to Calm about a year ago - I was doing both for a bit, and cancelled Headspace this year. Calm is the superior app.

Anyhow, yes. It helped greatly when I did the stress heart MRI last year - which basically is asking you to do an extended and multiple variations on box breathing.

Also, I listened to a short sleep story on the Calm App last night entitled The Tree of Life, it was about a bonsai specialist, who was remembering his life while creating his granddaughter's tree. ( Read more... )
(It's not exact, kind of my memory of what I heard while attempting sleep.)

28. Do you have a favourite cologne or perfume?

No. I'm allergic. So it's any cologne or perfume that doesn't give me a migraine. Usually anything that is lavender, or eucalyptus, or citris, or ocean breeze. Rose? Ack. Musks? Ack. People also have a tendency to overdo on cologne.

The perfume section of department stores is brutal - I used to love Lord and Taylor, partly because it was among the few department stores I could get to the clothing department, without going through the entire perfume department first. Usually I'd have a headache before I made it through them. Polo by Ralph Lauren - was the absolute worst - it gave me horrible headaches.

29. When was the last time it rained where you live?

I wanted to say yesterday - but it didn't really rain, so much as threatened to do so? So, Thursday. Three days ago? We've had a lot of rain. It's very green outside my window. People aren't as into flowers this year? I see more greenery than flowers for some reason. Maybe the constant cold snaps have done in the flowers?

30. What is your favourite way to eat vegetables?

Air fried or steamed at the moment. (I don't like roasted - they tend to get burned or carmelized and are kind of slimy in texture).

31. Have you ever been in a self-driving car? Would you want to try it?

No.

Yes, but not until it's been tested to death, and proclaimed safe. Right now they appear to be driving without anyone in them like insane drones around suburban cul-de-sacs. Just no. Being stuck in a car driving about aimlessly in suburbia is my idea of hell.

However? Considering that 80% of Americans shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of a car and drive abysmally and do all the things you should not do while driving? A self-driving car is most likely an improvement. Make it an electric, solar powered, car - and we're in business.

****

A lot of books are being made into films that I've either never heard of, or wish weren't (anything by Colleen Hoover - the appeal is lost on me). I miss the days when it was cool stuff that I got excited about? Although there are a handful to get excited about. Below are the ones I'm excited about, albeit, cautiously.

( potential adaptations in the works to look forward to )
****

I'm over three quarters of the way through "This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me" and am listening to the audio book. ( Read more... )

Sigh, I need to spend less time on Book Instagram.

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shadowkat @ 2026-05-29T21:16:00

2026-05-30T02:13:16Z

Lovely day - even though I spent most of it inside, with my back to a window view of skyscrapers climbing against a bright blue sky. It was in the 70sF, started out in the 50sF and slightly warmer than yesterday, with a nice breeze. So I took a walk up towards the cookie place. The cookie people have grown used to me - and tell that they will see me next week. I even know some of their names. There's a lot of turn over as would be expected - customer service is a tough job. You've a lot of down time, and then have to deal with impatient customers, many that don't speak your language. (It's NYC, one gets used to hearing 500 languages a day after a while.)

I'm wearing the new cat shirt that I bought via Amazon - it's not perfect, the green background dye is slightly off, and there's a little fading on one of the cat designs? But other than that - it's fine, and I only really plan on wearing it at home any how.

And per mother's request - I'm hunting trips to Mackinac Island, Michigan and Chicago that we can go on together. If you've done this or know of any, feel free to drop [ETA: positive] suggestions/recs in the comments below.[I only want positive recommendations for Mackinac Island. I decided to take out the bold, and underline Mackinac Island, because the two responses I got were about Michigan. And really really negative on Mackinac Island. I was kind of hoping for the exact opposite?]

Apparently, Mother's sister suggested it - her younger sister lives in Michigan. She didn't provide additional help or advice on the matter.

Making my way through Rivals - finished the first season on Hulu. It's fun, and reminds me a lot of 1980s prime time soap miniseries and shows, such as The Thorn Birds, I'll Take Manhattan, Dynasty, etc. They were fun too. I think there's a bit more to Rivals - mainly because it's a satire, the 1980s shows weren't satires exactly.

Also, gave up on the satiric romance fantasy Long Live Evil by Caitlin Rozakis, again. ( Read more... )

And still reading This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews - which has an entertaining twist. ( Read more... )

***
Friday Five

1. In an average week, how many nights do you eat home-cooked dinners?

Pretty much every day.

( Read more... )

comments

shadowkat @ 2026-05-27T21:04:00

2026-05-28T02:02:24Z

Firefox keeps kicking me out of all of my logins - if they've not been active for a while. I get that it is a security precaution. But it's also annoying.

It's easier to forgive painful slights than it is to forget them, unfortunately? And even when I do, my body remembers them. This brings to mind a Sondheim song, Children Will Listen, in it is the lyric: careful the things you say, careful the things you do...children will listen

I think it's important to be mindful of what we say to each other - because a seemingly careless barb said or posted in the heat of a moment, which we or you or I may forget immediately thereafter, could sink in and damage the unlucky soul on the other end. Kindness and mindfulness often go hand in hand, and are lot harder than either appears.

I also think - music often captures the difficult emotions we can't quite find the words or means to describe. Music and paintings, photography, art of all sorts. Some artists create to music, while some musicians create looking at art.

The outside world at times feels sharp edged. And it can be difficult to find the soft edges.

**

I asked my mother if I should/could come to see her in July, since Jury Duty could be anywhere from August to December. But mother doesn't want to do that - mainly because she has no idea what to do with me and likes to keep her life on Hilton Head separate from her family. (And to be fair? I've become incredibly high maintenance, unlike my brother and niece who low maintenance - diet issues, bad knees, back issues, special pillow, and can't drive. Although she was nervous about them visiting them as well, she had no idea what to do with them - and was worried they'd be bored. We have to travel too far - is the problem? She live about a 1-2 hour plane ride away. So just a quick weekend getaway doesn't quite work in regards to expense, and travel time.)

I don't really want advice on this. Mother would prefer to do something else with me, but we've not figured it out, and there are obstacles. My knees. Upcoming jury duty. Her health. My job.

My mother is like her own mother - generous to a fault, but undemanding, and not liking to impose or inconvenience anyone. And I, alas, am like them both. We don't like being high maintenance, or asking for help in my family. We like to be independent, and not put anyone out. So I may physically be high maintenance, but not emotionally. In fact, the first time my grandmother had a birthday party was when she turned 90, because her birthday fell on the day after Christmas. And she didn't want to make a fuss. Everyone in my immediate family hates to be the center of attention, doesn't like a fuss being made over them, and doesn't really understand folks that do.

**

Looked up Jilly Coopers Rivals series on Good Reads, and discovered from the reviews the following:
( Read more... )

Off to bed.

[ETA: Has anyone else noticed a problem with unconsciously skipping words when writing, and going back and thinking - oops what happened to that word? I know I wrote it, I remember writing it, but it's not there. Damn it. ]

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Sigh, it's only Tuesday, but it feels like Manic Monday...

2026-05-27T02:00:15Z

Mother told me recently that I had gotten increasingly fed up with everything, and that I'm kind of burned out.

I think she nailed it. I am.

I think I've reached the stage in which this paragraph kind of fits me at the moment:

"what if some of what we are calling loneliness is not a failure of connection at all? What if it is a refusal? Refusal to perform closeness that feels hollow. Refusal to stay in relationships that require shrinking. Refusal to trade self-respect for the comfort of not being alone."

I didn't read the rest of the article - it's from The Elephant Journal, nor do I subscribe to it. It just popped up on FB and it fit how I feel at the moment. Which is basically - take me as I am or not at all.

I think I hit the wall on that in 2025, finally. And this year, I'm kind of enjoying just being alone and doing my thing - whatever that is.

***

Today - I took my Quiet Moment Sketch Book and Markers with me to work, and did a few line sketches - using as few lines as possible. Sketched a tiny stuffed koala bear, a mug, my backpack...and was happy with the results.
I'm trying to turn off the critical brain - and just let it flow. Just did ten minutes worth.

I also sent myself the first draft of my Post-Apocalyptic Alien Invasion Sci-Fi Novel. I'm so bored at my workplace - that hopefully this will give me something to do or think about. ( Read more... )

***

Question a Day Meme

22. Today Vivid Sydney starts in Sydney, Australia (and continues until 13th June). Iconic landmarks and urban spaces glow with stunning light installations and 3D projections, captivating both locals and tourists with a vibrant playground of lights, music, and creativity. Have you ever seen a city light show similar to this?

Yes. The Plaza Light Show in Kansas City, and several as a kid. I think I also saw one in Sydney Australia once or London. I can't really remember? It was a VERY long time ago.

23. When is the last time you ate fresh pineapple – did you prepare it yourself?

This weekend. No, it was prepared.

24. If you had a pet dog, what name would you give it? What’s the weirdest dog name you’ve heard?

I'm not great at naming animals? But Fetch comes to mind. Or maybe just Dog. Weirdest name? I can't think of one. Drawing a complete blank.

25. It’s estimated that gaming now holds around an 11% share of the global entertainment market. Have you ever played an electronic game (on your phone, computer or a game console)?

Yes. I'm playing Tiles Survivor at the moment. I got bored of Royal Kingdom and Royal Match, and the Vital Majohn game had too many pop up ads, Redecor - you couldn't play without spending money after a certain point and alas, ads. You have to spend funds on Tiles but not as much (and like Royal Kingdom and Royal Match - there are no ads)- I may give up on it soon too.
I'm not really much of a gamer? I get bored easily?

26. When you look up into the sky, can you identify any of the cloud formations, such as Cumulonimbus, Cirrus or Stratus?

Nope. I learn it, I forget it. I can't remember astronomy either.

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Memorial Day ramblings

2026-05-25T23:07:37Z

It's Memorial Day in the US. I'd wish folks a happy one? But it's Memorial Day? The day that we remember the dead, specifically those who died in multiple Wars throughout the centuries. Not exactly something to celebrate? I used to visit my Grandmother in Liberty, Missouri, on Memorial Day. I was in my mid-twenties and we'd wander about decorating the graves with her handpicked roses and peonies from her garden. There were three grave sites that we visited. And some of the grave stones were so weathered by time - you could barely read the names let alone the dates on them. (This was long before I moved to NYC and while my parents were in Australia.) Then we'd have pie. And watch action flicks on her big television set. Not as big as my television set now, but it was the 1990s. Now my mother's cousin does it - although she's in her 80s now and lives in Seattle, so maybe not?

I think graves are more about the living than the dead. The dead have passed on for the most part, leaving maybe a residual amount of energy behind depending on how, when and where they died. They aren't here any more. But the living need some way to memorialize and commemorate them, if only as a means of dealing with the constant and never-ending cognitive dissonance of their actual loss (ie. the fact that their loved ones, friends, and/or family members are no longer here and incomprehensibility of that.).

***

I've gotten into the British dark comedy Rivals adapted from Jilly Coopers Rutshire Chronicles novels - the series, which is set in the fictional county of Rutshire, England, follows an intense rivalry between David Tennant's legendary head of a television network, Tony Baddingham, and Alex Hass, an ex-Olympian show jumper turned Tory politician. It takes place in 1980s Britain, and does what the Brits do best, dark sex comedy.
It's on Hulu, and it's adult. Not much violence to speak of? But a lot of graphic sex, and full frontal nudity. Kind of gives HBO a run for its money in that department.

I'm enjoying it. The characters are engaging, and its fun. Also it's nice to see British 1980s hairstyles and clothes for a change of pace.

Also stars Aidan Quinn. He gets full frontal nudity scenes, but Tennant doesn't. The series tends to only give the full front nudity scenes to the good looking guys and gals, although the woman get less nudity then the men, which I thought was interesting and a nice switch.

**

I took a walk - since the sun actually peeked out for a bit and it has stopped drizzling. Stopped by the book store and picked up two art books - one is Quiet Moments - a guided sketchbook (in the hopes that it will jump start my muse), and the other is Sketching Outside - an illstrated guide to making art on the go. I have a traveling water color and sketch kit and I want to make the most of them.

Looked for the highly touted book - Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid but couldn't find it. Odd that. It's a best seller. The independent book store, Lofty Pigeons, has an eclectic book selection to say the least. Making me wonder how books are distributed among bookstores in the US now? Do they stack based on word of mouth? Because the Matt Dinimian series - Dugeon Crawler Carl is visible, but you can barely find Illona Andrews or Jim Butcher. Sarah J Maas - has an entire shelf now, but I couldn't locate books by Anne McCaffrey or many by RF Kuang. William Gibson? Only Neuromancer was shelved.

See? This is why folks buy from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and not from the indies?

On the way to the book store, an older woman (around my age) greeted me in Spanish, I understood roughly half of it? Possibly by osmosis? I hear Spanish a lot. That and a variety of Eastern European dialects. I can tell the latin ones apart, but not the Eastern European. I waved and greeted her in English. I didn't even attempt Spanish. All the flowers were in bloom, the trees heavy with green leaves - it looked like June, felt like early May.

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shadowkat @ 2026-05-24T16:50:00

2026-05-25T01:14:39Z

It's a cool rainy day. Been raining for the last three days with no end in sight - to the extent that the days have kind of blurred together, with work wedged in at the front of them. Gloomy. Perfect weather for watching horror television shows. ;-)

I took a brief walk today - stretched the legs, through the drizzle, to pick up groceries. Then cleaned out a portion of the fridge - in order to insert them, along with a portion of the cabinet. All the while listening to an audio book. Then made dinner. Which was comprised of broccoli rabe, zuccini squash, summer squash, and carrots, with chicken on kebob sticks.
Peppermint ice cream, berries, chocolate and whipped cream for desert.

Saw the horror flick Send Help on Hulu, which stars Rachel McAdams, and Dylan O'Brien (the standout from Teen Wolf) - and directed by Sam Rami.
I was curious to see where it went. It surprised me. They didn't follow any of the standard tropes, and kind of skewered a few along the way. There is a hilarious scene that is almost reminiscent of a scene from Misery, but far more twisted. The director does a surprisingly good job of misleading the audience, and allows the audience's imagination to fill in the blanks - to great effect. Not something I'd expect from Sam Rami, who has matured since Evil Dead.

Think Castaway meets Misery by way of Survivor and Office Space?

It's better to go in blind on this one, so I won't say more than that? Except it's a two character piece, and both O'Brien and McAdams sell it.

I have to say horror has gotten a lot more interesting in the last several years? We've slowly moved away from the redundant slasher flicks and serial killers, and into more mischievous territory - with darkly comedic ventures. Mike Flanagan, Sam Rami, Emerald Ferrel, Noah Hawlely, Guillermo Del Torro, The Duffer Brothers, Blumehouse and A24 have managed to revitalize the genre. Inserting humor and focusing on character - also a touch of satire.

Also watched a bit more of Firefly - eh, it doesn't hold up well? I liked it better when it first aired. I loved it when it initially aired - I had the DVDs, and saw the film in theaters. But it doesn't hold up well.
Has anyone else rewatched this recently? ( Read more... )

Binged all of the current episodes of Widow's Bay on Apple Tv. It's worth a look. Although my favorite character is the sheriff, who is definitely supporting. ( Read more... )
Also some nice jump scars. It's not violent though. And doesn't result in nightmares. I'd say mildly scary? It's not like Alien: Earth - which I couldn't get through, it was too violent and too gory and too scary for me.
(I admittedly can't do body horror. And Alien:Earth is heavy on body horror and parasites, two things that I don't handle well. I'll leave it to the true horror aficionados on my correspondence list.)

Then I jumped over to a contemporary romance movie on Prime entitled "Regretting You" - I think it's adapted from a Collen Hoover novel (?) - and it's horrible. I made it a quarter of the way in and gave up out of boredom. You know the movie has issues - when two major characters are killed off and you do not care. Worse? You can't really tell the difference between the four major characters because they all look alike.
Do they just hire people from models inc for these sorts of movies?
One actress isn't bad, the rest, sigh. It's about a woman who discovers her sister and her husband were having affair, after they die in a car accident, and she rebuilds her life, with her sister's fiance/baby daddy.
It's poorly paced, drags, and has bad dialogue.

Skippable.

I gave up on it. And will most likely go back to watching either Midnight Mass or Citadel. There is a zillion television shows and movies on. Honestly, I feel the same way about activities in NYC or things to do (which unfortunately all require a subway ride or car ride or ferry ride or bike ride). I feel overwhelmed and in sensory overload? Anyone else feel this way?

Maybe I need a life coach to keep from shutting down.

I've moseyed back to the science fiction novel I wrote. Which I may write the prequel to. Dumped the contemporary romance novel - which I couldn't make work. Too problematic. Some stories just don't work no matter what you do. Best to let them lie dormant. [And, it's just possible that I'm not cut out to be a contemporary romance writer? I don't even really like the genre? And barely read it? So it's kind of hard to write a genre that you don't like. I like horror better, actually. I could write horror. Every time I try to write contemporary romance it turns into horror or a thriller, with a convoluted plot - because I get bored easily.]

And, I'm considering taking a sketch book with me when I do jury duty (whenever that is - I postponed it to August, and they told me it could be any time after August depending on need...so I've no idea.) and just sketch people. Maybe my travel watercolor book? They may take exception to that?

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This that and the other thingamagig

2026-05-23T03:15:59Z

1. Mother won't stop bugging me about finalizing a will.

Mother is like a dog with a bone about my will. Every other month - she'll harp on it. Latest? Telling me horror stories about her friend's children who don't have wills.

( mother drives me crazy about the damn will )

As an aside? It's not like I haven't drawn one up yet or investigated it. ( Read more... )

As I attempted to explain to Mother - I only procrastinate about things I don't know what to do, or how to make them work. Also dealing with my brother makes me crazy.

Sigh. Hell is other people.

2. Should we be permitted to critique and analyze and/or review fanfiction (and/or fanworks)? Or is it understood to be off-limits by polite society?

There is an on-going argument about whether people should be "permitted" to critique and/or review fanfiction. And how fanfiction should be either protected, shielded, or off limits to any and all sorts of criticism. (ie. We must protect fanfic writers, who just want to have fun and not create anything of lasting impact or value.) - that's not quite a direct quote but close of a fan and former editor on Threads. [I'd tell you who - but I can't spell the name, or find it again. It's Threads.]

This begs the question? If criticism or reviews are off limits for fanfic, then are kudos or positive feedback off limits too? Should we just pretend it doesn't exist, and not respond to it at all? Or is only validation and supportive kudos permitted?

The latest spiel about how it should be off-limits to any and all sorts of criticism came once again from the Buffy fandom (do other fandoms do this? I presume so? But I'm not certain?) and it was on Threads. (This individual thought of themselves as old school fandom - since they went all the way back to the dark ages of 2007. I thought, no, hon, that's not old school fandom. Old school fandom is the 1960s with Star Trek and Doctor Who, before you could post a fic to over a million readers on the internet. Back then, they published it in fanzines handed out at conventions. (I found this out from Star Trek and Doctor Who fans.). And old school Buffy fandom goes back to the late 1990s and up to roughly 2004, when the show was airing live. You're not that old. (Not that old school fandom doesn't necessarily agree with your sentiment - the last argument I had on the topic was with someone twenty years older than me, and who dated back to the dark ages of fandom - 1960s Doctor Who.)

I flirted with responding and chose not to - it wouldn't end well. (Been there done that...back when I actually bothered to review and critique it. I don't do that any longer - either.) It never does end well. Note: Never argue with someone on Threads, Twitter, Bluesky or on social media who is in sermon mode or rant mode or on their holier than thou soap box - it won't end well. I have the battle scars to prove it.

But it is something I want to discuss? Preferably not with someone who feels strongly about it? (I don't read or critique fanfic any longer folks, I can't remember when I last critiqued or reviewed it? It was THAT long ago. And the folks whose fanfic I did critique? Are long gone from Dreamwidth and the fandom. So, even if I disagree with you? I'm hardly a threat.)

( Should critiques of Fan-fiction be Permitted Online? )

3. Barnes and Nobel announced it would sell AI Books. And the internet along with various co-workers have been debating whether they should boycott Barnes and Nobel. (Poor B&N, just when they had made a comeback and were seen as the golden child in comparison to evil Amazon. Although, I've got news for people - AI written books are most likely in Amazon, and various independent bookstores as well. They aren't that selective on the books they sell us.]

To be fair, that's not exactly what they said?
( Read more... )
[Cubicle aisle mate and I decided we weren't going to exactly boycott B&N, just not buy as many books there. We'd both started buying them again, because we'd learned we didn't own them on the kindle.
( Read more... )
I think there's a high possibility people will buy them. There's a lot of books out there that kind of written that way already, formulaic and paint by numbers.

4. Actors and AI (And James Marsters' sexy Spike as a Rock and Roller video)

I can see why Actors fear it - it's relatively easy to grab an actor's likeness and enhance it with AI or alter it, or have AI take over. I see it on Facebook and Instagram constantly.

Heck, James Marsters recently put out a music video of his band's song, Civilized Man, where he's playing the guitar shirtless, and looks 35 years of age. I'm willing to bet he used AI? Even though it comes with the disclaimer that this video used no digital effects. (So maybe not?) I wonder why he didn't do it while he was playing Spike? Whedon probably wouldn't let him? Or it never occurred to him? He really should do the Bruce Springsteen's "Fire" song in Spike get up.

( James Marsters playing Spike as a Rock and Roller in Civilized Man )

Proving that he'd have no problems coming back as Spike in the Buffy Reboot. Annoying me all the more with the missed opportunities. I really wanted rock star Spike. Even as just a cameo.

At the very least AI may wreck havoc on the plastic surgery industry.
It works better on film than plastic surgery does.

comments

shadowkat @ 2026-05-20T19:43:00

2026-05-21T01:17:06Z

Crazy Org is having a bad week. First the railroad strike. Then issues on subways - with various delays...and well... one of its cars caught fire and exploded.

The disabled were also protesting out front of the building about twenty four elevators being out of commission and not having enough elevators. (Sigh. They aren't wrong.) And maybe Crazy Org should consider settling that law suit with the elevator repair company, so they could have elevators.

Other than that, it was business as usual.

The weather got funky. It made it into the upper 90s in the city today (with the humidity felt like a 100 degrees) then we had a huge thunderstorm and the temperatures are rapidly dropping into the 50s and 60s by morning. It's 75 degrees now, after being around 98 degrees at 4pm. The storm was rather brutal.

***

Catching up on May Question a Day Meme:

18. There are hundreds of different shapes of pasta – Farfalle (butterflies), Campanelle (little bell flowers), Orecchiette (little ears), Rigatoni (ridged), amongst others. Which is your favourite pasta shape to have with a sauce?

Marconi, although rigatoni can be fun.

19. How’s your gut microbiome? Your gut is linked to your immune system, so eating a large variety of plants each week (at least 30), and eating fermented foods regularly (such as live yoghurt, kefir, fresh sauerkraut and kimchi) is said to have a huge impact on your gut health and therefore your weight and immune system. Do you make an effort to do that every week?

Yes. ( Read more... )

20. It’s International Customer Support Day. When was the last time you had to contact customer support? Were they able to help you?

Sigh. I think it was Amazon, and kind of? Customer Support has become increasingly difficult to deal with since the advent of AI. AI makes a horrid customer support specialist. I gave up on Optimum's which is even worse - they just type in a set script and get upset with you when you go off script. I'd rather have the AI.

21. It’s International Tea Day – do you like a cup of tea every now and again? What type of tea do you drink?

Yes - definite tea drinker. ( Read more... )

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Catching up on the May Question a Day Meme

2026-05-17T22:40:49Z

Question a Day Memeage

10. Are there some colours you would never wear or use in your home?

Never wear? Yellow. I look horrid in it. Also not a fan of lime neon green or neon colors. Hot pink - wouldn't use in my home.

11. When was the last time you took a photo?

Today. ( About an hour ago )

12. It’s the International Day of Plant Health! Healthy plants mean a healthy planet! Have you ever planted something and watched it grow? Do you look after your houseplants or your garden plants diligently?

I kill plants. So I don't own any. So that would be a firm no? My family members however seem to be good at this...

13. It’s Top Gun Day! Ever seen it (and/or the sequel)?

Saw Top Gun about three times in the movie theater in college in the 1980s when it first came out? We had a $1 movie theater. And we also jumped movies, which is basically once one ended, we jumped to the next theater and into the movie that had just begun. As a result of this - I saw a lot of movies for next to nothing in theaters - ah the good old days. Some days I miss the 1980s.

Yes, I saw the sequel. It's nowhere as good as the original. The music, the acting, the filming, etc - the script - were just better in the original. Movies were better in the 1970s and 80s, for some reason. Tech has not necessarily made all movies better.

14. Have you ever seen a ‘mockumentary’ film or TV show? The term was coined when the 1984 “This is Spinal Tap” film was released, and notable examples on TV include “The Office”.

Yes, I dislike them. (With the possible exception of Arrested Development, which is the only one I've made it through.)

They give me a headache. For some reason or other my brain dislikes watching people talk to me from a film or television screen.
I can listen to them. But I can not watch talking heads without getting a headache after a while.

I don't find them funny. Annoying? Yes. Headache inducing? Yes. Cringe-inducing? Sometimes. Entertaining? mildly. Funny? It's not my brand of humor too obvious. I have a dry dead pan wit. Mockumentaries are parodies or satire and usually far from subtle.

I know that I'm in the minority on this...unfortunately. If only more people liked and thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer was funny and entertaining or the Good Wife, and far less were entertained by The Office, my life would be a whole lot easier. But alas, no.

15. Bees are responsible for pollinating many of the plants we eat (a current estimate is that they are responsible for every three bites of food we eat). Have you seen any bees this year?

Yes. Recently. On my walk today.

16. Henry Fonda was born today in 1905 – have you seen any of his films?

More than I can count or remember the names of. He was very good at playing the every man type of role. And had excellent range. I saw him in Grapes of Wrath, Once Upon a Time in the West, My Name is Nobody (which is my favorite Western), On Golden Pond, and countless others...I grew up watching his films on television and in movies. I even studied some of them.

17. It’s World Telecommunications Day – have you ever learned something new online?

Yes. Although I have no idea what at the moment...I learned that race, gender, sexual orientation, age, size, shape, looks, fall away on social media - all you see are the words and the exchange of ideas. I forget or don't see any of the annoying identity politics or classifications that often masks who people truly are at their core. We aren't these societal definitions. And I kind of figured that out on social media discussion boards, when I had no idea what race, religion, sex, gender, age, class, ethnicity, nationality, etc - folks were. All I saw were folks who liked to discuss Buffy, and literature, and movies, and had families, and loved one another. And fought with one another over silly things.

It was freeing in a way.

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Nonsenical Book Meme

2026-05-17T00:48:52Z

Meme stolen from coffeeandink - who actually told us all to steal it, so it doesn't count.

Take five books off your bookshelf.

[with the exception of the first, they are all TBR, with the hopes I'll get around to reading them.]

Book #1 -- first sentence: "Rain drenched the city, cold and relentless."

Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty: "Unlike my horses, a Spider would never get cold or hot or tired."

[unexpected challenge do I pick the last sentence or the last complete one? I picked the last complete one.]

Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred: "People say that after this event, the rich man's family slipped into a decline, and in the end, went entirely to ruin."

(Unexpected challenge: do I pick the second sentence or the second complete sentence? - weirdly I had the same unexpected challenge as coffeeandink.)

Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty: "Within an hour, his strength had so depleted that he could no longer handle the weight in his pack, although he refused to let us remove anything, forcing us to fish out the heaviest items, such as his water bottles and his cameras, when he wasn't looking."

Book #5 -- final sentence of the book: The local sheriff met us in the street and eyed us suspiciously.
"Runaways?" he asked.
"We are," I said.
"Any of you named Nigger Jim?"
I pointed to each of us. "sadie, Lizzie, Morris, Buck."
"And who are you?"
"I am James."
"James what?"
"Just James."

(Yes, I am treating one paragraph of dialog as a single sentence for the purposes of the meme. Fight me!)

Make the five sentences into a paragraph:
Rain drenched the city, cold and relentless. Unlike my horses, a Spider would never get cold or hot or tired. People say that after this event, the rich man's family slipped into a decline, and in the end, went entirely to ruin. Within an hour, his strength had so depleted that he could no longer handle the weight in his pack, although he refused to let us remove anything, forcing us to fish out the heaviest items, such as his water bottles and his cameras, when he wasn't looking." The local sheriff met us in the street and eyed us suspiciously.
"Runaways?" he asked.
"We are," I said.
"Any of you named Nigger Jim?"
I pointed to each of us. "sadie, Lizzie, Morris, Buck."
"And who are you?"
"I am James."
"James what?"
"Just James."

I promise it wouldn't make any more sense if I chose another option for step 5.

Book #1: This Kingdom Will Not Me by Illona Andrews
Book #2: Antidote by Karen Russell
Book #3: Strange Tales from Japan - 99 Chilling Stories of Yokai, Ghosts, Demons and the Supernatural - collected and retold by Keisuke Nishimoto, Translated by William Scott Wilson.
Book #4: A Walk in the Park: the true story of a spectacular misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarku
Book #5:James by Percival Everett

comments

shadowkat @ 2026-05-11T20:25:00

2026-05-12T01:26:22Z

Has anyone else been noticing that Google and MSN and other browsers are throwing FOX and CBS News stories, but one has to look for other outlets?
Or is that just me? I have to keep steering clear of them.

Also Paramount is blacklisting various actors now - who it considers too liberal. Meanwhile I'm blacklisting/boycotting Paramount and CBS. I won't watch either. At all. I blacklisted Fox News when it popped into existence. It's not that hard? I don't like anything on either. I watch ABC only on cable at the moment - which makes me wonder why I still have cable? (Oh right, I can't figure out how to get rid of the equipment - and they'll refuse to pick it up. What I need to do is come up with a deal in which they gain something by reducing my equipment and it's in their interest to pick it up.) I kind of miss spectrum news - but I refuse to pay $169 a month for it.

**

No news on the strike - outside of the fact that they are still negotiating. I honestly wish my vote mattered more than it does - because if it did, we wouldn't be even considering a strike. But alas, no one cares what I think. I want Universal Health Care, Affordable Housing, Rent Control, and Food for Everybody. They did put up a free grocery store or Polymarket in February, it was on 137 7th Avenue. I don't think it exists now. NY and NYC also have health care - entitled MetroPlus or HealthPlus, and if you are a NY Resident you can go to the CUNY and SUNY Colleges and Universites for free (these are the NY State Universities and City Universities.)

The problem with money - is people never have enough of it. They always want more, or what the other guy has.

**

Been comforting myself at work - listening to Charisma Carpenter's Bitch is Back podcasts of all things. I'm as surprised as anyone by this news.

She says things like:
( Read more... )
And that she's not crazy about hugs, they make her uncomfortable, she's not sure why - maybe it's the breasts or previous trauma? I felt seen. Because I feel the same way. It's also kind of hard to hug folks when you are almost six foot with big breasts, and they are five foot two. It's just painful.
( Read more... )

Carpenter has also pointed out a few things that didn't occur to me previously? ( Read more... )

Another thing Carpenter says that is endearing? "It's hard to be a human being."

I'm by no means a fan? But I do like Carpenter and find her Bitch podcast comforting and entertaining

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Happy Mother's Day for those who celebrate..and the Protest Song

2026-05-10T17:10:30Z

Not everyone does, and we should be mindful of the reasons some don't and show compassion in how we celebrate and talk about this day - I think?

I am forever grateful that I have a loving mother who is my best friend. And have been for the most surrounded by loving mothers, including my beloved maternal grandmother. While far from perfect, I am grateful for my mom. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not.

There but for the grace of god, go I - since I'm mindful that not everyone got that. And an insane amount of people did not.

Last year - I visited mother around this date, and took time off work. This year, I'm navigating doctor's appointments, work, and the fear of an impending strike over what amounts to pennies.

**********************

Haven't been sleeping well this week for many reasons not worth going into. I swear the internet has a solution for everything, some of which seem to be competing with each other for my attention and use. Choose me! I can solve all your physical ills! Choose me! I'm the expert! (Sigh, the snake oil salesmen no longer have to go town to town, they have the internet. And they seem to multiply daily. They've even evolved to selling apps and weight scales that will solve all your problems. I kid you not, there is actually a weight scale that diagnoses what ails you and provides the solution. It's like something out of a bad 1980s sci-fi satire. Maybe it did originate from that - and someone out there got the bright idea to create one and sell it.)

**************************

2026 is the year that folks have started writing and releasing "Protest Songs" again en mass. Not that they didn't do it off and on previously, they have. And there are some good ones from yesteryear...

( pre-2020s Protest Songs..or from yesteryear )

And here are some from 2026...
( newer protest songs )

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The Rainy Saturday Info Dump....

2026-05-09T22:38:01Z

Wasted time watching two movies today. One took way longer than it should have and ate up all of the afternoon.

* Remarkably Bright Creatures (Netflix) - adapted and directed by Olivia Wilde, and starring Sally Field, Lewis Pullman (who looks a lot like Bill Pullman), Colm Meany, and Kathy Baker along with Alfred Molina as the voice of the octopus. It's adapted from Shelby Van Pelt's novel of the same name. I remember enough of the novel - to see where they veered away from it (they excised a lot of the dead weight and fixed the pacing, also it ends on a happier note in some respects, the novel was more realistic and slower). [So, yes, I was completely spoiled - since the plot was more or less the same, just tighter. The book meanders all over the place, to the point that I had issues following it at times - because it unlike the movie, felt the need to be in every character's point of view. The movie is just in Tova's (Sally Field) and the Octopus's point of view for the most part.]

It's okay. It's a nice little sentimental film, with the oomph removed from it. The novel wasn't great? But it had a bit more going on?

Some books don't adapt well? Although I'm not sure I'd made it through a series. The interesting thing about Sally Field - is you can see her grow up and grow old on screen - if you watch enough of her films.

That said, the movie has a good line - said by the Octopus:

"With all their good points, humans have abysmal communication skills."

God, yes. We're all horrible communicators. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it? Only one species can manage to come up with a way to complicate language to such an extent that they can't understand what the majority of their species is actually saying.

* Marty Supreme (HBO MAX) starring Timothy Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa Azion, Fran Dreschler...and directed by Josh Safdie, has the distinction of not having any likable characters. It's loosely based on the story of Marty Reiseman who wanted to become the best pin pong player in the world. ( vague spoilers )

***

Okay, I'm done with hyper-realism, I'm off to watch Daredevil and From next.

Meryl Streep stated that modern movies are marvelizing all the villains and making them one dimensional, and Miranda in Devil Wears Prada has more layers?

I'm guessing she's not actually seen any of the Marvel films? Because Killmonger in Black Panther, Thanos in the Avengers, not to mention King Pin, Magneto, Loki, Ultron, Scarlet Witch, and Agatha Harkness were far more developed than Miranda was in Devil Wears Prada. Miranda, I'm sorry, wasn't that developed and kind of two-dimensional. Devil Wears Prada is a fun flick, I enjoyed it for what it was, memorable cinema, it's not. Darth Vader had more layers.

I wish people wouldn't dis something they've not actually watched? This is a huge pet peeve of mine. It makes people look like nitwits? Film watching like all things is a subjective experience. It's okay to dislike something? But dissing a whole genre - which granted isn't to your taste and making the assumption films have been ruined by that genre? Is just stupid troll logic. Also, Meryl? You made both Mama Mia films? Great Cinema, it's not. Give your ego a rest.

Also on social media:

* Poster: The MET is just a Fashion Museum for Rich People
* New Yorkers on Threads: Eh, actually the MET is free for the most part, and pay what you can afford. It also is not a fashion museum. The Fashion exhibit is seasonal, lasts maybe two months, and is actually rather small. Blink and you miss it? You'd know this if you googled it on your phone. It's not hard to do. Just google - the Met.

[If you don't currently live in NYC, it's probably wise not to comment on NYC? Visiting it repeatedly as a tourist, doesn't count.]

Apparently the MAGA nitwits want to cancel Mark Hamill for supporting Obama. Folks say they missed the point of Star Wars. Not exactly, they interpreted it differently? Keep in mind that the villain doesn't see themselves as the villain - they see themselves as the hero. We're all villains and heroes depending on one's perspective. It's all a matter of perspective. [That said, cancelling Mark Hamil is akin to trying to cancel Big Bird or Santa Clause, people like him, I like him - he's not being cancelled. Any more than Obama is.]

**

Union had a rally out on Long Island. My spy (Babs) texted me about it.
And showed a photo. It was near the railroad tracks out in Massapequa on a rainy dreary Saturday. I'm not sure if it has actually rained all day? But it's definitely threatened to. Eh, it's doing it now.

Everyone in the photo was male, mostly white, appeared to be over the age of 40, and wore caps and red and black shirts. It wasn't a bad turn out? But it wasn't that many people either.
( Read more... )

***

Book Instagram doesn't appear to like "This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Illona Andrews". (which is a best seller, so no worries there - and damn the writers are selling the bejesus out of it? They have pictures you can buy, stuffed animals, t-shirts, book marks, tea bags...when did writing a book become a massive marketing and cross-product merchandizing event? Also some of the merchandise spoils the book. So if you pick up a book now to read, you have to jump off of social media and not follow the writer at all until you are done reading it. And some people read at the speed of light, and then insist on spoiling everyone else.) As a result of this - I kind of figured out the plot twist early on.

I can understand why people are having issues with the book. ( Read more... )

***

May Question a Day Meme

Catching up on the May Question a Day Meme - prior to making dinner, now that it is finally raining after spending most of the day pondering it. Honestly? The sky looked constipated. It's looking a bit better now.

4. Today is a holiday in many countries, either to celebrate Labour Day or May Day. If you have a day off today, what are your plans?

Well in the US it was May the Fourth Be With You - or Star Wars Day. Labor Day is the first Monday in September. Memorial Day is May 25, I think or the last Monday in May. We don't celebrate May Day - mainly because the US has issues with the Harvest Calendar, except of course for Halloween.

5. Do you like rhubarb?

Depends on how it is fixed? I like rhubarb pie. Ages ago, when I was kid, on one of our first trips to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, we discovered this out of the way little restaurant which had a to die for strawberry rhubarb pie. It was the best pie we ever had. We couldn't find the restaurant again and spent years trying to recreate experience. Had a similar thing happen with Key Lime Pie (discovered in the Keys) albeit better luck recreating it. Turns out, it's easier to make.

6. Have you ever completed a cryptic crossword, or do you stick to the easy ones?

I don't know what it is? Probably not. I suck at crosswords. My brain doesn't understand them - it's probably a dyslexic thing? My father hated them, yet he worked in cryptology or code breaking while in the army.

7. Do you take your phone everywhere, or sometimes leave it at home and not worry about it?

I take it everywhere now. Why? I wear a diabetic sensor and the damn thing is linked into my phone. I miss the days, I could leave it at home.

8. Henry Dunant was born today in 1828 – he was the co-founder of the Red Cross. Have you ever learned first aid? Could you resuscitate someone?

Yes. Ages ago. No, I can't resuscitate anyone. I learned first aid over thirty years ago. I've forgotten most of it.

9. In 1896, the first horseless carriage show in London featured ten models. Do you own a car? What kind of car is it?

No.

***

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The Met Gala...and sigh rail strike worries...

2026-05-06T01:11:45Z

I forgot about the Met Gala which happened on Monday night. I was admittedly distracted by personal health issues among other things. I'm watching it on youtube - "The Met Gala with Vogue". The theme is "Fashion is Art" or "Costume is Art" - with a focus on disabled bodies. Explicit and radical invitation for disabled, and accessibility in art and fashion. It's a fund-raiser for the Met's Costume Exhibition. The Met Museum is actually by donation, or pay what you will - when you visit. But the Gala? Requires an invitation to attend and costs $100,000 to attend, and up to over a million to dress for it. The cameras are only allowed in the entry up to the doors, inside there aren't any cameras. So the participants often have a change of clothes, and once they get inside - they have something more comfortable to wear. Also they get dressed a block away.

This is by far my favorite look for the women.
( favorite )

This is one of the hosts of the Gala, who is also a fashion designer, and fits the disabled or accessibility theme [Note: she used the word disabled, I'm quoting her.]:
( disabled or accessible outfits )
Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman came - but neither wore anything remotely interesting. Nor did Ben Stiller. Adrian Brody looked good but wasn't all that interesting.

A lot of folks had gowns with...hands on their body parts, which is odd. This was the best of those:
( Read more... )

This is among the oddest...
( Read more... )
Heidi Klum went for a Living Sculpture

And here they are next to their Costume Inspiration

Best Dressed Male Customes Ranked

All the Best, Weirdest, and worst celeb looks

***

Still worried about the pending railroad strike which if it happens would be akin to dropping a neutron bomb on the Long Island economy.

ABC News on the Unions and the MTA and pending strike

Strike still looms as MTA and LIRR unions meet

They got a few things wrong in the article? There was no work rule discussed about the locomotive engineers in the PEB Report or Federal Mediation Board Report, and in reality the unions are asking for a 4-4.5% increase in the fourth year (this year) not a 5%. They've been without since 2023.

This could get political and could cost the Democrat's the Governor seat, if they don't resolve it. Ironically, the Republicans appear to be supporting the union and the Democrats don't appear to be (on the State level at least). Goes to show you, that both sides have their hypocrites.

Rail Strike could devastate Long Island Economy

Potential Rail Strike will Impact over 200,000 commuters

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shadowkat @ 2026-05-03T20:47:00

2026-05-04T00:53:39Z

Tried "Widow's Bay" on Apple + and it's okay? Kind of mildly amusing, and mildly scary? The first episode wasn't all that compelling. But I may try a few more.

It's a Stephen King style horror - but kind of styled as a comedy? Absurdist comedy? Reminds me of Plurbist (which is apocalyptic horror absurdist comedy). Both are on Apple.

Some example lines from Widow's Bay?

Mayor: Have you heard of the Sea Hag?
Old Crochety Town Story Teller (sings the ditty of the sea hag)
Mayor (at the end of the creepy song): So uhm, how does she kill you exactly?
Old CTST (aka Stephen Root): She crawls into your bed and sits on your face.

Or

NY Times Writer: So, did you have cannibalism in your town's history?
Mayor: No, no that's just a story, I don't know where you got that idea.
Writer: It's on a framed news story in your historical society (he turns to point to the large framed story and exhibit - they are standing in the historical society.)

****

Read the following blurbs on social media this past week:

If you are in a reader's slump, it may be for other reasons:

* Your brain is overwhelmed and can't handle any more information.
* The books aren't fitting your mood.
* That's not the book your brain wants to deal with right now.

Or? You just don't like those books and need to find a different source for recommendations, preferably not twenty-somethings getting money off of providing marketing content for books geared towards twenty-somethings?

If it were like the 1990s again - with no cell phones, doom scrolling, social media...what is the first thing you'd do?

Go to the movies. Seriously - cell phones ruined movie theaters for me. [Not that they didn't have issues to begin with - but give people a little computer or computer on a watch that they can talk to, text in, and play with? Forget about it.]

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Question a Day Meme - May (and other things)

2026-05-03T21:27:48Z

Question a Day Meme - May:

1. Have you ever contributed to something being crowdfunded? Was there an incentive to do so?

No. Although I did contribute to an acquaintance's Go Fund Me for cancer treatment once or twice. (She died, so it's not like it necessarily worked? But I guess it helped keep her alive a bit longer...)

2. Have you heard of the ‘Language of Flowers’, published in 1884? Victorian Britain and America were caught up in the concept in the 19th Century. Do you know the secret meaning of any flowers?

Yes, I've heard of it. I don't remember any of it.

3. Have you ever traced any of your family tree?

Yes, I fell down the genealogy rabbit hole a few years ago - traced it back to the 1600s in the Americas and Britain. Got bored. And forgot most of it. That of course didn't prevent various extended family members from doing it? The most famous person I'm related to - appears to be Eisenhower - 9th cousin nine times removed. (See? That's genealogy.)

I'm not sure how accurate most of it is? There's a couple of countries that were good at preserving records of well, just about everybody, and the records weren't destroyed in bombings. Also they weren't in danger of people tracking them down to kill them or enslave them.

Britain, Ireland, and their descendants in the US. Also the Mormons. So if you are British, Irish, British-Canadian, Scottish, or Mormon - you can probably trace it back fairly easily. Germany? Not so much, it was brutally bombed during the first and second World Wars, as was France and a good portion of Western Europe. We also had a lot of records changed or destroyed because of the Holocaust and the Nazis. Scandinavia didn't tend to keep records of anyone who was well not of a certain class.
And good luck hunting accurate records of ancestry if you are Black or Native American descent - those records were destroyed on purpose in the US or altered to protect people from being found and enslaved or killed by armed militias.

****

It's a beautiful but chilly day for spring. In the 40s, looks like the 60s.
Comfortable indoors for a change - in the low 70s. Lots of green outside my window. And blue sky, with streaks of cloud cover. I'm battling a headache and irritability. Have two scheduled doctor's visits next week - PT (vestibular) and lab work, then a doctor's appointment (virtual) the next week and somewhere in there - I have to plug in X-rays. I'm tired of doctor's appointments - I don't think I've had a week off from any of them in a while. I need a vacation from waiting for doctors and going to work.

Making my way slowly through This Kingdom will Not Kill Me - which isn't the book's fault. I can only read it in snatches at home. I can't cart it around with me - it's a hard cover book. It's interesting because it is employing the unreliable narrator tactic. The narrator thinks they know everything about the world they are in and the people in it - because they read the book it's based on? But alas, they don't and get quite a few things wrong. The writer's are slyly commenting on how fans misinterpret the stories they love and read over and over again. Thinking they know everything about it. Or that their interpretation is the correct one. Or their memory of it is right. (It's not, people are human and fallible.)
I may have to re-read the book when I finish it and stuff is revealed.

My reading slump has more to do with system overload than anything else.
But it is what it is.

**

I'm up to date now on From - ie, I can't be spoiled any longer. It's an interesting set-up, but I'm not sure I trust the writers not to go for the shiny/creepy Twilight Zone ending in S5. (ie. Everyone dies and a whole new batch of people enter the town to struggle. I've seen this trope done a few times before. Usually that's how it ends. No one gets out and it just keeps rinsing and repeating itself in an endless frustrating loop.) Maybe I should stop now?

On the other hand, I'm curious. So will probably keep watching until the end. I want to see how quickly they figure out the latest plot development?

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