Spontaneous Musings

Overslept, mainly due to staying up way too late last night writing and editing the previous post. I also realized that I can't seem to talk about 9/11 without crying. It's the firefighters that get me every time. Also a main take away - was how discombobulated I felt? It was as if the world had suddenly decided out of the blue to go bat-shit crazy on me, and I had no idea why? My Aunts were calling me on the landline at work - out of nowhere. (They never called. And the two Aunts that did - California and Texas, of all places. I have no idea how they tracked down my work number at the time. We didn't have FB back then?) It was bizarre? It is odd the people who reach out during times of crisis, isn't it? It's never who you think its going to be?

***

Pretty day today. I took a long enough walk to grab groceries. A recipe for chickpea cookie dough called for brown sugar, but I couldn't find anything small? I don't tend to keep granulated or any sugar in my cabinets. The only sugar I have is raw honey and maple syrup. So, maybe use that? Or just the Betty Crocker GF (Gluten Free) Cookie Mix I bought (which makes the best GF cookies or the closest to actual cookies).

Caught up on Lanterns - which is really good. It's very character driven, and the mystery is twisty. Someone on threads or twitter stated that Lanterns was what Marvel's Secret Invasion should have been. They aren't wrong? But to be fair to Marvel - the invasion storyline works better with the DC Green Lantern and Manhunter mythos, than Marvels Scrull and Kree mythos. Comics (specifically superhero comics) do a lot of science fiction. More science fiction than much else actually?

It's on HBO Max - if you want to give it try. It may eventually pop elsewhere overseas. It's dark and gritty. The women look alike to me - but it has some really strong female roles within it. And some nice gender flips or twists. I was actually surprised in by the twists in the last two episodes.

Next up, is Supergirl which is finally streaming on HBO. (I'm in a superhero film mood, in case you haven't noticed.)

I'm still following the casting rumors on the X-men reboot with interest, which are entertaining. Many are rumors. ( Read more... )

After dinner and a shower, I watched the new Supergirl film. I figured out if I take a brief cold shower - with cold water on my chest, and back of the neck - I can reset my vagus nerve. It's why people do cold plunges. This is easier and cheaper - considering I don't live near an ocean or river or lake that I can take a cold plunge in, nor do I want to pay someone for it at a spa. (They have cold plunge spas in NYC. God, they have everything in NYC? Also, apparently there is an app now for literally everything? You can keep track of what you are reading/books you've bought on an app, writing prompts, learning to sing, learning a language, recipes, diet, etc.)

Supergirl requires a much lengthier review? But, I'll give a preview? It's okay. I like it a lot better than the series and the previous films, but those set such a low bar, that it's not really a compliment?
Milly Alcock is excellent in the role - and the best Supergirl that I've seen to date. (Again it is admittedly a very low bar?) The main plot is basically the science fiction version of True Grit, except in the role of Rooster Cogburn is...wait for it...( Read more... )

Like I said, it deserves a longer review? But I can see why it flopped at the box office. And I'm glad I didn't pay $20 for it. But if you subscribe to HBO MAX? It's a fun watch, particularly if you've ever seen True Grit (but only have a vague memory of it like I did). Drags a bit in the middle though. And the supporting characters are really annoying. Kara and Krypto are by far the best things in the movie. The dog is clearly CGI, so no animals were injured in the film.

It's February already? And I managed to have an uneventful January. Here's hoping the trend continues.

Apparently no one is immune from the fear of losing bits of their jobs. So while the government touts that the employment rate is at an all time high, the news is kind of poking holes in that assessment.

I'm annoyed Diana Mitford Mosely and Oswald Mosely didn't die horribly in their forties. But alas, they lived to old age, and Oswald only died of Parkinsons. Diana, a fascist to her death, died peacefully in Paris in 2003. I wonder if they ever redeemed themselves? It doesn't appear likely.
[I'm watching Peaky Blinders who is utilizing real life historical villains as well, villains. Tommy (the anti-hero gangster) went outside and fired a machine gun after eating with them. My thoughts exactly.]

***

Was thinking about unlikable authors and their works. I have the ability for the most part to handwave the author and focus on the work. In fact I often forget the author exists. Nor do I care to know that they do. I'll even forget their name.

What book are you reading?

"Within these Wicked Walls."

Whose it by?

No clue.

See? And as far as I know that a decent author and not a nefarious one.

I'm a novelist and a writer, and I don't think the author matters all that much. The story does. The author is just a conduit for the story to come out, nothing more than that. It's why I don't really care that much if I meet authors or get books signed by them, although I have. I have two signed by Salman Rushdie, one by Denis Lehane. And I think a few others here and there. (I live in Brooklyn and went to book fairs back in the day.)

I'm stating this by way of introduction on books by nefarious writers... that well, I still love the books and often have forgotten about the writer. JKR is of course difficult to forget. Honestly, some people need to stay away from social media - it brings out the worst in them. But I enjoyed the Harry Potter books and the world. I still kind of do.

On the other hand, I've never made it through anything written by Orson Scott Card. Virgina Woolf annoys me.

***

AH, friend from college or college-buddy, tried to foist her collection of Douglas Preston paperbacks onto me. But I refused. She's cleaning out her house of books. Which is nice, but I have a one-bedroom apartment - and do not need twenty some books that I'll never read - added to the thousand some that I already own and haven't read.

Also I don't like Douglas Preston (the writer of Relic, and other horror detective novels). I know, I read Relic for a book club once. But I decided not to tell her that. Instead, I said no, and then mercilessly dumped the entirety of my 2022 on her head. I did warn her ahead of time - "Read at your own risk. You've been warned." Also she did ask how my year went. (Note - never a good idea.)

I have a feeling I won't get a response in a while?
( Read more... )

***

I was in a good mood this morning, then my co-workers irritated me. It happens. ( Read more... )

Also the commute was longer than usual on the way home. The train got stuck in the tunnel before East New York. ( Read more... )

So, I left the office at 4pm, got on the train at 4:14pm, got to Brooklyn at 4:54pm got to the subway by 4:58 pm. Got on the subway at 5:05 pm. Got home around 6pm. (I went grocery shopping at the fruit, dairy products, and vegetable (and chocolate) store. ) So in actuality I got to my neighborhood at 5:40 pm. On said commute there were people with bicycles. The train has huge ones. I've even seen motorcyles, I kid you not, on the train. How they get away with it - I've no idead. I swear bicyclists have become the bane of every pedestrian and commuters existence. They take up space or a menace. One or the other. The damn things are a bigger nuisance than motor vehicles - at least motor vehicles stay on streets and parking lots - they don't jump aboard trains and subways or speed along sidewalks and pedestrian walkways.

***

Making my way through Peaky Blinders. But I will state that the earlier seasons are the best. The last two seasons are a bit bleak and the villain in them...frustrating.

In other, unrelated pop culture news, cjl posted about James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC lineup, so I looked up the article, it's HERE

( Excerpt )

Snyder fans were unsurprisingly upset, (livid actually) and went nuts on the internet. They've been upset since Snyder was fired and Whedon took over. And are rather toxic. Also they are always upset. Snyder, may be a nice enough guy, but his take on the verse is ahem...a bit dark and somewhat fascist. He may have the darkest and most fascist Superman that I've seen. I mean you know there's a problem, when Superman is darker than Batman. Snyder clearly read the Frank Miller Dark Knight
Returns novels and took them to heart.

IDK. I saw Snyder's films and they were controversial. I liked them well enough, as did many of my co-workers, but I know a lot of folks who hated them including my brother - who has issues with Snyder. (See how I react to writers at the start of this post - I do not care. I forget about them. I care only about the story. The writer for the most part ceases to exist for me. As does the director. My brother does care. We are very different people.)

I don't know how I feel about James Gunn, who is also controversial. There are people who hate Guardians of the Galaxy. I liked Guardians of the Galaxy. Suicide Squad gave me a headache, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm curious at the Superman reboot. Considering they were going to have a Black Superman and have Ta-Nehsi Coates write it. Now it's Gunn writing and directing it. And hmmm. Not quite as interesting. Just don't hire Chris Pratt to play Superman, Gunn. Superman should not be a Pratt. (Pun intended).