Yesterday, I went to lunch with one of my Meetup groups ~ I haven't seen these peeps for ages, so it was nice to catch up. My bad for not checking Meetup for a while, as it turns out they restarted the Saturday lunch a while ago, but I didn't know about it. (I don't allow notifications from most non-essential websites because the bombardment drives me nuts.) Anyway, we went to The Cheesecake Factory, where now in addition to their traditional humongous, high-calorie items, there has also been an astronomical increase in prices. They do have a skinny menu, but it is pricey too. Remember how a few years back, there was a viral thing going around about how men were "cheap" for taking dates to TCF? I ordered the lunch-sized vegan Cobb salad, which was $24 with tip, tasty, and quite large: greens, beans, beets, avo, toms, cukes, quinoa, etc. I would get that again. And no, I am not vegan (or vegetarian), which I always have to explain to peeps each time because no one understands why someone might simply want a fresh, healthy plate of food. I know, so weird.
We had all kinds of great convos at lunch... dating, love languages, philosophy, evolution, the meaning of self, the Myers Briggs indicators, etc. One of the guys highly recommended the Netflix mini-series Adolescence, and other friends on FB have mentioned how wonderful it is, so I began watching it last night. I figured I would binge the whole thing, or at least two out of the four eps, but I stopped at one. It was interesting, but not fabulous, in my opinion, and I was more into reading my book. I will finish the series, but I am failing to understand what the big deal is about the camera work/angles. It all seemed pretty ordinary to me.
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Speaking of books, the one I was reading last night was a romance called There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev, and I gave it five stars. It was absolutely fantastic! It fulfilled my 2025 Reading Challenge requirement of taking place on the East Coast, though it didn't exclusively take place there. The story begins in Naperville, IL, where Mira lives with her traditional Indian family and is planning her wedding to a doctor. The couple is gifted an engagement trip to NYC, both for sightseeing and wedding shopping, but Mira's fiancé has to cancel several times due to work emergencies, and she ends up going alone. There is also the matter of her twin brother who lives in NY and is estranged from their parents. After a mishap, Mira finds a ring on the street and is compelled to locate the owner by posting a video. She is contacted by a journalist and adventure ensues, including a trip to India! Besides being a great love story, TSAM also gives loads of interesting info about Indian food and culture.
Earlier in the week, I finished Her Knight at the Museum by Bryn Donovan, and I gave it five stars too. It's a super fun contemporary romance about a nobleman from 1428 who is turned into a statue by an evil spell, endures centuries of being mentally alert while trapped in stone, and is rescued by beautiful Emily, a restoration specialist in the current day. Donovan's attention to detail is superb, from the police procedures regarding an extremely valuable museum piece gone "missing," to all the pesky problems a time-traveler may have, such as needing vaccinations. I would categorize this book as "spicy vanilla," and I counted it as "recommended by a friend" for my 2025 Challenge, as Bryn and I follow each other on Bluesky and have chatted a bit.
Lest you think I've gone mad flinging out five-star reviews everywhere, rest assured that I also read a terrible erotica book this week and gave it only one star. Why did I read it at all? Welp, because it semi-fulfilled the Challenge requirement of taking place at a college (technically, it was a frat-type crazy party, which wasn't exactly on campus, but everyone was a student there), so I suffered through all the dumb sex ~ luckily it was a short story ~ so I could check the box on my Challenge chart. I don't feel like naming the book/author here, but it's on my Goodreads list, which I believe is public.
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Today, Sunday, I went to lunch with my friend Jenny. We met at Lemon Thai in Huntington Beach, and it was as delicious as last Saturday. Then, I had the spicy eggplant and tofu dish; today, I ordered egg rolls to share plus a mandarin beef salad. I love this place, and their prices are reasonable. Plus it's always fun to see Jenny. She’s going to be a grandma imminently! I do need to get back to Mother's Market soon for their veggie quesadilla ~ I think theirs is my favorite. Loads of mushrooms! Although, come to think of it, Harbor House Cafe has a fabulous veggie quesadilla as well. Hmm, dilemma. Where to go next time for my veggie quesadilla craving?
When I got home, I watched the three remaining eps of Adolescence and was entirely underwhelmed. Once again, I simply fail to understand the appeal of a show that a zillion other people enjoy. To me, the story was as slow as sludge, with scenes (mostly conversations) dragging on interminably. I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters, and the only interesting angle was the teens' use of emojis that referenced the men-hating-women subculture of the internet, but even though this seemed to be a huge factor in the murder of a teen girl, not much time was devoted to exploring the issue. Instead, we had boring interview after interview by the cops/counselors and a dullsville family trip to the hardware store for paint. Gah. And I still don't get the fascination with the camera work. Shrugs.
I didn't paint this weekend, but I did go over to my friend L's house Saturday night and colored a fish. It was very relaxing!
I don't get the flapping about "Adolescence" either. I had to look it up but the flapping was because each episode was shot in one continuous take - so kudos to the actors - I wonder if that was easier than doing bits over and over - tho a stage play is one continuous 'take' if you will. Anyway why would I care? Either something is interesting and well done or it isn't, doesn't matter much to me how they produce it. And yes, it was a bit tedious, it was nothing I would rave about or recommend.
ReplyDeleteYou... colored a fish? I mean, I've done that with something called soy sauce. But I don't think that's what you meant 😄
ReplyDeleteI'm an omnivore, too, and that means I can totally enjoy veggies without meat as well as with. Or do I mean flexitarian? I can't keep up. 😆
Grace, thanks for explaining ~ I hadn’t bothered to look it up. I was so disappointed in how boring it was. Of course, they had to make the dad a bit of a jerk, which is so trite, when imo the real story was about the menace of social media.
ReplyDeleteKeera, flexitarian sounds right. I strive for nutritional balance while watching portion sizes, so naturally veggies figure into that. I have been avoiding desserts, my big weakness, and the longer I go without indulging, the less I crave them.
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