Spontaneous Musings

shadowkat @ 2023-01-09T22:03:00

2023-01-10T03:39:03Z

When I put on the sensor tonight - it hurt and bled. I think I pushed down too hard - because it didn't take the first go around. ( Read more... )

Also, today, I gave my bag of chocolates to Leo to add to his collection in his desk drawer. People come and get chocolate from Leo. This way, I won't have them in my desk calling to me. They can be in Leo's desk calling to me, and I'm far more likely to ignore them - and not binge. Last week, I discovered that every time I get annoyed, irritated, bored, etc - I'd grab one of the individually wrapped chocolate squares, which made these feelings worse - and resulted in spikes of temper.

I'm drinking CBD cinnamon tea at work instead, now. And snaking on nuts. So progress.

I'm rather proud of myself for giving Leo my chocolates. I did it first thing this morning, before I changed my mind.

***

Someone on Twitter asked Western Fans to provide Westerns that people would fall in love with. Bonus points if made before 1964. Then commented that this was harder than they thought.

Me: Not if you are a fan of Westerns and know the genre.

My mother agreed, she loves Westerns. People bash, denigrate, and scoff at the genre all the time. ( Read more... )

Anyhow, the films I came up with were: Red River - 1948, The Searchers - 1956, The Big Country - 1958, the Man who Shot Liberty Valance - 1962.

But I'd go with Red River (mother's favorite) and The Big Country (mine) - I think they've held up the best.

There's also Duel in the Sun - 1946, Three Violent People - 1957, The Gunfighter - 1950; My Darling Clementine - 1946; Gunfight at the OK Corral - 1957

I studied Westerns in 1986, undergrad. Also studied Gilbert & Sullivan. And Plays in London. I wrote analytical essays on all of them, except Gilbert and Sullivan, which was mostly quizzes. I was so good at them - I ended up doing a trivia contest with the traveling troupe. Shame I couldn't get a job writing meta about television shows, theater, films, and books.

**

I wondered tonight if I lack ambition. Mother told me it was partly just age. I no longer care. I looked at jobs on Linked In, and they just made me tired. I want to take courses on art restoration, mural painting, and oil painting. Or graphic novels. Maybe detecting art fraud. But I've no interest in furthering my career in the legal profession.

I also want to work on my novels. I have about ten percolating in my brain.
I'd like to take the time to write them. I do, but I steal time to do it.

***

Bit of a reading slump. I've jumped from the Magpie Lord, to the Vine Witch to My Lady Notorious. I may go back to the Vine Witch, though.

Finished ...a book that I can't remember the name of. It was by Suzanne Craig. And it was different in that it developed various side characters, and built the romance after the two people were married (this took care of the sex scenes, and anachronisms depicting them. Women didn't tend to sleep with men prior to marriage - in Georgian period, without severe consequences. The language and dialogue also was a bit more true to the period than most. Plus, the writer wasn't bad at sex scenes. The last one was. I gave up on the one before it - it was a mystery about spied, but the sex scenes kind of weighed that one down. Sex scenes are like fight scenes, brevity works best, also less is more, and the build up is important. Plus they probably should take the characters somewhere. Otherwise they are kind of boring. A lot of writers suck at sex scenes and fight scenes.

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Y2/298 - Too Cold

2022-01-09T03:28:35Z

I thought about taking a walk today but too blasted cold. I consider 25 degrees F too cold. I'm admittedly a wimp who spent Christmas in 70-80 degree weather.

My Optimum upgrade arrived in the mail today. But I can't figure out how to install it - since it didn't come with certain items, and I do not have a cable wall outlet, I have a cable splinter. So I called Optimum and complained, wrangling a tech service call from them. Then they proceeded to call me three times after they set it up - to see if I would cancel it. No, I told them, I'm not cancelling - you sent me equipment I can't install myself. And you failed to tell me what was required prior to my request for the upgrade. This is on you. I think they will charge me $80 for the service call tomorrow - between 2-5pm. Because they like to make you wait three hours to see if they will arrive.

If it doesn't work - I'm switching to Verizon.

The box is sitting on my other armchair, aka dumping ground, waiting for use.

**

Mother has decided - the hell with this latest outbreak - and is going to church tomorrow morning and out to brunch with her friends. (She's going to wear a mask except while eating, and try to sit apart from folks. Also not singing in the choir.)

Meanwhile my church has gone full live-streaming again. But hey, I travel to and from the office two - three times a week, have a guy upgrading my cable/internet service tomorrow, get groceries, do laundry, etc.

Are we all just learning to live with COVID? I'm trying to decide if I can get up the courage to see Spiderman and/or West Side Story in movie theaters? Probably not - even though my cough has lessened.

Last night, I had a nightmare that I was back at school (UMKC of all places), and I forgot my mask. I was wondering stairwells etc, trying to get away from folks in dorms, because I didn't have a mask. It was horrible. Kind of haunts me for some reason or other.

**

Binge watched the rest of S4 Yellowstone. Also, got some back story on the writer/director of the series - Taylor Sheridan. He was an actor, and actually has a role in Yellowstone. He played in Sons of Anarchy, and various other things, small roles mostly. And finally realized he wasn't going to get anywhere as an actor - so decided to become a writer/director so he could call the shots. And chose to write what he knew - he's a cowboy who worked as a cowboy in Texas and Montana. So he writes about that - and as he put it, if you don't know it - you fall into cliches.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the whole write what you know - hyper-realism crap. ( Read more... )

Yellowstone is what I like to call a "modern western" - which tend to be rather dark. ( Read more... )

Also, watched the eighth episode of Yellowjackets. I'm hooked. ( Read more... )

**

Another thing I wanted to comment on that I saw online - was about fantasy novels and Wheel of Time. I can't find where it came from - except it was on Twitter. The comment was basically that fantasy wasn't all about men up until Wheel of Time novels, that there were a lot of novels by female writers and male writers with female heroines.

This is true.

Wheel of Time is also one of those series that is way overrated due to its political correctness (it has a diverse cast and LGBTA romances), but has issues in well all the other areas such as character development, pacing, world-building, and plotting. One reviewer felt it was a better adaptation of the source material than the Witcher. ( Read more... )

See, this is why I refuse to be a television media critic/writer for onzines. I would end up writing crappy and meaningless articles like the one's I just quoted, and that add zip to our world. I can write that crap for free.

***

I'm taking a break from the news. Someone on Twitter coined the term PTTD, Post-Traumatic Trump Disorder. Fitting. Particularly since he's still alive and refuses to go away. And as a result the dumb media can't quite ignore him.

**

Random photo...

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Y2/D242...

2021-11-14T03:10:38Z

Eh, I spent most of the day in my armchair, feet propped up on cushy coffee table, binge-watching Yellowstone on Paramount Network (I'd taped it, so fast-forwarded over commercials).

It's a dark, violent, modern Western that takes place in Montana. The scenery is beautiful, and Kelly Rielly who plays Beth is amazing. I'm basically watching it for her, and a few other female characters. Also, I like Kevin Costner. (I don't know anything about the actor nor want to. The less I know about actors, the better.)

It did have a nice line of dialogue in it - that I rather liked, and agree with.

Rip: Here I'll let you know the trick to get by.
Kid: What would that be?
Rip: You don't deserve anything.
Kid: I don't deserve anything?
Rip: Nope. You never deserve anything.
Kid: Never?
Rip: Never.
Kid: So do you?
Rip: No one does.

Later...

Kid: Rip told me that I don't deserve anything, that's the trick to survive.
John: He told you that did he.
Kid: Yep. Do you believe that?
John: Yes, you don't deserve anything in this life, no one does.

Agreed. We don't. We're given this beautiful world to live in, but we don't deserve it.

Modern Westerns are kind of commentaries on how horrible humans have been in their relationship with the land and nature, and in regards to Native Americans - who've lost their relationship and custodianship of the land.
They tend to be dark and violent, and hyper-realistic in nature.

Definitely not a trope or genre for everyone. Some idiot on Twitter considers them uncle shows. He's categorized television shows into uncle and aunt shows. I wish people wouldn't do that. No one fits that neatly into a category. This need to categorize folks - is self-defeating, I think.

**

Anyhow, not doing much. Just relaxing before another tough week. I think that's why - stressful work week ahead.

Random Photo of the night is...a picture of an on-coming storm approaching outside my window, with a bird flying by.

With bird.

Without bird.

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