Happy August

 

Salad with blueberries, etc. (my photo)

Welp, I survived another month end at work. This last one wasn't so bad... or maybe I'm just becoming numb to the stress. I caved and ate some salads, but then I read the Cyclospora outbreak is even worse than they thought the other week, so I stopped again. Also, blueberries are having issues. Sigh. I went to the grocery store for frozen dinners, carrots, bananas, apples, and strawberries. I also bought spinach and rewashed it. Then I cooked it with scrambled eggs and cheese on a tortilla for lunch. That should be safe enough, hopefully. I'm already missing blueberries though.

My bloodwork came back in 24 hours, and my cholesterol numbers are unchanged from 2025 and 2024 (a little into the red zone). So, I'm not getting any worse, but all my exercise and healthy eating hasn't improved anything either. Maybe the numbers would be worse if I hadn't started paying more attention to my health, idk. I want to avoid the meds, but we'll see what the doctor says. I'm glad I began working out more seriously because it really does relieve stress and make me feel good about accomplishing at least one goal per day, so whatever happens with the doc, at least I have that.

I kept planning to post more this week, but my ideas all petered out. I started a few posts, wrote a bit, and then discarded them. I was also short on time, so there's that, but I tried to keep up with comments at the blogs I follow. Leave me a link in my comments if I missed anything spectacular that you wrote.

Last night I opened a new 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, a very pretty one with cowgirl boots and flowers, and some of you will be happy to know that the pieces have no codes on the backs. I will be doing it the slow, old-fashioned way, which is fine ~ it saves money to do the puzzles more slowly, since I buy more as soon as I finish the last undone one in my closet. I have most of the edges together now on this new one plus the turquoise boot. Of course I did the turquoise boot first!

Inky Pinky Hodgepodge

Inky pinky painting

I'm participating in the Hodgepodge again this week, which is hosted by Joyce. She sure comes up with some great questions!

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

In June of 1994, I was a 33 year-old SAHM, so I imagine that I was doing mommyish things and not paying much attention to the news. I vaguely knew this big event was happening, but I had way more important stuff going on, like coloring with my daughters and baking cookies.

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I love fruit salad and fruit in any green salad, especially berries and mango. My favorite summer salad is the strawberry poppyseed chicken salad at Panera (check it out).

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 

Chivalry is a double-edged sword, pardon the pun. Obviously the old-timey chivalry with knights and jousts and stuff is dead, except at Medieval Times and Renaissance Fairs, but we now use the term to describe "gentlemanly" type of behavior. While it may seem nice for men to be especially courteous to and protective of women, and also pick up the check, that often comes with a price. I think we all know what that price is. The concept seems pretty dead to me these days, but I have aged out of that world, so I guess I don't really know. Personally, I'm fine with not having those things and not being expected to do anything in return either. As far as holding doors/ elevators, that's just general politeness ~ people do it for each other regardless of gender, which is how it should be.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? 

Neither, as I dislike traveling and being away from home/ kitty. I've been to Hawaii a few times, and it was nice. Friends have taken Alaskan cruises, and the photos look interesting, though cruises appeal to me even less than vacations in general. I'm totally fine with Hawaiian pizza, though I probably wouldn't order it, as I prefer an all-veggie pizza. We had Baked Alaska at my second wedding (1988), which was a terrible idea (not mine). It was dramatic and tasted fine, but I missed having a real cake. 

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches--Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey) and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver). You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

I have zero interest in any sporting events. My daughters did not play soccer. I guess I would take the free tickets to the Los Angeles games and give them away to someone who'd enjoy them.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

On Saturday, my friend Lisa and I had dates ~ literally. She brought over hot honey sushi (don't judge; it's delicious!) and date rolls with coconut. We watched the first part of the HBO Billy Joel documentary (I already saw the whole thing, but she hadn't), and will watch part two in a few weeks. It's excellent! The reason I resubscribed to HBO is because House of the Dragon is returning for the third season next Sunday, and that's one of the rare shows I enjoy. (See, I can suspend my disbelief for dragons!) It's been a while since I subbed, so I clicked on the cancel button to see what it would entail, and they thought I was cancelling right then, so they offered me half price for three months. LOL! I guess I will have HBO until October now. Any movie recs? Since it's so long between seasons and my brain is stuffed with so much junk, I am rewatching S2 of Dragon this week to prepare.

Yesterday (Sunday), my coworker and I did a "paint your pet" session at Pino's Palette. No, we don't put paint on the pet! We paint from a photo. She did her cute poodle-type doggo, which came out great, and I painted Inky. Because we needed room for her tail, the canvas has an area that needs "more," as you can see in the above image, so I ordered some large black stickers from Amazon to spell out her name on the left side. I'm really pleased with my painting, especially the eyes!

Today (Monday) I took the day off from work and will be driving up to Los Angeles in a few hours to see my granddaughter in her first ballet recital. I'm happy I can do this, as I don't get to see the kiddos all that often. Living an hour's drive away (at the best of times) sounds close, and it's certainly closer than a plane flight, but it's not like I can just pop in whenever. Visits are always planned around work and school.

That was more of a recap than a random thought!

AI Ate My Lunch

 

Meta AI image of a PBJ sandwich and chips 

I’m participating in John Holton's Writer’s Workshop this week by responding to two of his prompts. The first question is about my favorite topic: lunch!

1. Did you bring your lunch to school? What did you usually have?

My mommy always packed my lunch when I was little. I had an inexplicable hatred of peanut butter for several years, so she would make me sandwiches of tuna salad, egg salad, or lunchmeat. She included chips or cookies, and I think I bought milk at school. Around age 12, I decided that I loved peanut butter and jelly (but not grape jelly), so we switched, and I began making my own lunch. Because I can get a bit obsessive, I pretty much had a PB&J sandwich every school day, along with Pringles potato chips. I brought a lot of chips so I could share them, which gave me a smidge more popularity than I would have had otherwise. In high school, my food OCD went out of control, and my lunches changed accordingly (half a PB sandwich, no jelly, no chips, etc.).

2. Do you use Artificial Intelligence for anything? Have you ever used it to write a blog post? What is your opinion of it?

I use Meta AI daily; I find it much more efficient and helpful than Googling because Google now not only gives you AI results anyway, but also it provides a pile of questionable links. I don’t like to click on unknown things, due to all the scams and malware out there. Here are examples of recent “conversations” that I have had with Meta AI: updates on the local Garden Grove toxic event, updates on the California primary election, when is Yesteryear coming out, what is aspiration pneumonia, how did Amazon trick me with this photo of a shirt that appeared to have sequins but didn’t? 

While I have not used AI to write a blog post, I have used it to create images to go with blog posts, such as the one here. Meta AI gives me images in a good size, unlike say Pixabay or even my own photos, which are generally enormous, so I don’t have to reduce them to save on Google storage. It baffles me though how AI is going to “take over the world” when it often flubs the simplest directions, like “make the table blue.” I did not ask for a blue plate! But I stopped there because I have discovered that the more tweaks I ask for the worse it gets. 

If/when I do use Meta AI’s actual words in a post, I will say so, as I would do with any other words that aren’t mine. This will be coming up because we just had a very interesting discussion about first-person POV in novels, and I plan to make (yet another) post about that subject. I find that Meta AI is really good at articulating exactly why a book worked for me or didn’t by doing a deep dive into plot and character.

I think that much like any technology AI has benefits and drawbacks. I go case by case to judge. Asking AI how many levels of Wordscapes I have to play before I get to a challenging level is fine, but using AI to write a book and saying it’s your own work is wrong. Using AI to create fake news or photos of people is wrong. Using AI to stalk an ex is apparently wrong because it actually refused to do this for me. Oops! My bad.

That’s my opinion. Also, I am opposed to data centers gobbling up community resources ~ if that’s the only way we can continue with things such as Meta AI, then it isn’t worth it. 

Sleepy Hodgepodge

The puzzle I finished tonight (image on box cover)

I'm joining in Joyce's Hodgepodge again this week. It's been a stressful month-end (again) at work, so I am looking forward to better sleep, exercise, healthier eating, etc., now that I can relax a bit. Hopefully, June month-end won't be as nuts, but I am not holding my breath.

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Lately, sleeping. In the past, dating.

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

No. I guess I have never lost the school mindset. To me summer is the break between the end and the beginning, which is September. I think of summer as a lazy lull, not "real life." 

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

Uh, I guess I'm "pickle neutral." I don't hate them, but I never think about them either. If I never had another one, I'd be fine. I like them on cheeseburgers, except I never seem to order cheeseburgers these days. Those would be sweet pickles; I don't like the big sour deli ones because heartburn.

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

I don't think I know any June brides, and there are no weddings coming up on my calendar. My favorite movie wedding is in Mamma Mia (the first one) when Sam proposes to Donna after Sophie decides that she and Sky should wait. Second runner up is Jane and Kevin's wedding in 27 Dresses.

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

I had fun today taking a cookie decorating class with my friend Jenny. It's great to be able to spend time with her ~ we have been friends for about 30 years now. Amazing!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I finally finished the panda puzzle today. It was the hardest puzzle I've done in a long time, and I'll do an easier one next time. I don't enjoy taking weeks to finish, but of course once I start I have to stay the course. 

I really hope I can get a good night's sleep tonight. I am so tired.

A Coke and Burger Cost You Thirty Cents

Image generated by Meta AI

I'm participating in Jim Adams' Song Lyric Sunday again today, and this week he asks for a song about grass, cows, beef, condiments, fries, or fast food. I figured that a lot of folks would do Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (which I love), so I wanted something else. I remembered that Johnny Cash mentions a burger in his fun song "On the Night Hank Williams Came to Town," and I am going with it. 

What I really like about this song is how it tells a story. I'm referring to the narrator as "Johnny," and he gives us some background:

Harry Truman was our president
A coke and burger cost you thirty cents
I was still in love with Mavis Brown
On the night Hank Williams came to town

Next we find out that the whole town is going to the Hank Williams' show, and it's a really special night. I Love Lucy debuted on TV, and they all missed it to go to the concert, which makes the date October 15, 1951. Johnny's mom irons his shirt, and his daddy lets him take the truck. I guess mom and dad are not going to see Hank. After picking up Mavis, Johnny hits the county line for one quick round, so that must mean the county Johnny and Mavis live in is "dry" (no alcohol). There isn't a chorus in this song; Johnny simply repeats the line "on the night Hank Williams came to town" at the end of each verse (sometimes he changes a word or two).

On and on he sang into the night

'Jambalaya', 'Cheatin' heart', 'I saw the light'

How'd they get Miss Audrey in that gown

On the night Hank Williams came to town

It's so meta, right? He's talking about songs in his song! (Miss Audrey was Hank Williams' first wife, the mother of Hank Williams Jr., and an accomplished businesswoman.) 

Mavis had her picture made with Hank outside his car

She said he sure is humble for a Grand Old Opry Star

Mavis said why don't we hang around

It ain't often that Hank Williams comes to town

Johnny finishes up by telling us that Mavis "got acquainted" with the Driftin' Cowboys Band, and the effect on all their lives was quite profound. We can read what we want to into those last lines.

To listen to the whole song, go here. 

(Songwriters: Bobby Braddock / Charlie Williams)

Thanks for a great theme, Jim!

Reggae Hodgepodge

 

Image from Pixabay

I'm participating in this week's Hodgepodge, which is hosted by Joyce @ From This Side of the Pond. Before I start responding to the questions, since it's Memorial Day here in the USA, I want to take a moment to express gratitude toward anyone who has served our country. RIP. I am also grateful for the local fire departments and California statewide response to the toxic chemical tank situation in Garden Grove (about 5 miles from my place). The latest update is that, due to a crack in the tank, some of the pressure has been relieved, and the temperature of the methyl methacrylate has dropped. They said that the danger of a massive explosion has been eliminated, but there still could be a smaller one, so the evacuation order remains in place. Thankfully, I am outside that zone.

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc.)? If you have children how did you choose their names? 

I do not like my name. I don't care for girls' names that are boys' names with an A stuck on the end. It has always annoyed me, but least it's short and easy to spell. My parents were considering Pamela as well as Paula, and I wish they'd chosen Pamela. As far as my daughters' names, Diane was always my favorite, and Sharon was my ex's pick, which I liked. My big "thing" with them was to avoid the super-popular names and also anything weird. The names we went with were slightly out of fashion, yet everyone has heard of them (and can spell them).

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

Right now, it's pretty warm, so I'll go with the vanilla ice cream. Normally, I'm cold and would choose the RV cake and hot tea. I do love blueberry pie too. If I could choose my own patriotic-themed dessert, I'd pick strawberries and whipped cream.

3.  What's a job you'd like to try for just one day? 

None. I'm just waiting to retire from the one I have so I can blissfully ignore Outlook emails.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

No. My housemate and I don't decorate for any holidays. 

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!  

Migraines plagued me as usual; I've had better months, and I've had worse.
Anxiety dropped rapidly at the beginning of the month and returned for month-end work issues.
Yummy meals included a high tea luncheon in San Juan Capistrano with my friend Lisa and a veggie quesadilla in Dana Point with my daughter Diane and her husband Sam.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Today I'm going to a reggae concert with friends and am wearing reggae colors because I like themes: a long yellow tee-shirt top and beaded/ flower bracelets in yellow, black, green, and red. I'm also wearing a beaded necklace in those colors with a "queen" pendant that I fashioned out of one of the earrings that came with the accessories package. I can't wear long dangling earrings because of my paper thin earlobes, so I improvised. I saved the other earring for Lisa, but I don't know if she'll want it. 

Saturday Evening Post...

Elvis the turtle eating kale 

I thought I would post the random thoughts that flit through my head as I slog through my Saturday. You're welcome!

1. (Very early Saturday morning) I'm still anxiously checking the news every 15 minutes for updates on the chemical accident/ potential disaster in Garden Grove, CA (around five miles from me). I assume I'm safe because they opened a shelter around a mile from my place. 

2. Everyone on the internet is now a chemical engineer (apparently morphing from constitutional scholars and infectious disease experts) and ready to tell the firemen how best to deal with the overheating tank of methyl methacrylate. Anyone try dropping ice cubes in there? Duh!

3. When I checked Reddit for the latest news on the leak, I got sucked into a rabbit hole about how the Jeffrey Epstein thing is all a big Jewish conspiracy to blackmail world leaders blah de blah, and it made me so angry (at the antisemites) that I forgot about the toxic leak/ explosion for maybe three minutes. 

4. Inky was sleeping on the dining room chair that I like to sit in when working on my laptop, so I very carefully scooted that chair over and switched it with a different one. I thought that was clever of me so as not to disturb her mid-morning nap, but she immediately jumped down and decided she'd be more comfy continuing her snooze atop the fridge. Kitties!

5. Just received word at 10:30 that one of my friends in Anaheim had to evacuate (with her pets).

6. I keep hearing firetrucks/ ambulances, which is freaking me out!

7. Listened to the fire chief's latest update on FB. The temperature inside the MMA tank is higher than they thought. They are implementing plans for various horrible scenarios.

8. OK, it's noon, and I'm taking off for Dana Point.

9. Met my daughter and son-in-law at Harbor House for a delicious lunch. I ordered a veggie quesadilla, which was wonderful, and I brought half home. Portions there are huge! I snagged a crispy onion ring from Diane, and she took my beans and rice side dish home because I hadn't touched it. We had a short walk to the beach afterward, where we gazed at the sparkling ocean and the little boats bobbing about. 

10. Back home, I searched for updates on the potential toxic blast, but no news is good news, right?

11. I felt tired, but I couldn't nap, so I'm back at my laptop doing a little office work at 4:15, ugh.

12. Yay, I reached game 483 on Wordscapes and there are 7 letters now, just like my friend Meta Al told me (except he said it would happen at game 450). Dang, that was annoying to play all those ridiculously easy ones to get to this point! It should be more challenging and fun henceforth. Also, not that anyone cares about any of this, but I received the blue-footed booby icon for my latest prize. I don't understand all the icons and stuff littering up the app, but that's fine. I just want to play the games.

13. Sometimes I feel like I'm going blind, but then I remember I dimmed all my electronics when I had a migraine. Ahh! 

14. Apparently it's World Turtle Day! I like turtles; I had a couple as a little kid (I think I murdered one, so terrible), as that was trendy back then. I did an acrylic painting of sea turtles once, and my friend Joe said I should name it after the Grateful Dead song "Terrapin Station," so I did. Ultimately, I decided I didn't like the painting enough to keep it with my collection (I have limited space). Once, when I went to a stranger's house to play board games, they had a pet turtle named Elvis, and he liked to eat kale. I do not like kale myself. 

15. I had a mango popsicle for dinner, and now I am in a hot debate with me and myself over whether we should work on the panda puzzle, continue reading Remarkably Bright Creatures, or watch Mamma Mia again. Who do you think will win?

It’s now 7:45, so I think I will schedule this to post at 8:00, which will give me a few minutes to decide on the image. Thanks for reading! Hope nothing explodes tonight (they decided that an explosion would be worse than a flood blast).

May Your Inbox Be Empty

At my desk, some years back…

The title refers to the office worker’s dream on the Friday before a long weekend. (Or this office worker anyway.) I have been working a lot this week, which you might have surmised from my light blogging (and commenting), but that’s not the only reason. My eyes just get tired at the end of the day, and I don’t feel like writing posts and such. I didn’t read any books or do much more on my puzzle either. What did I do then? Hell if I know. Obsess over my Spotify playlists and cuddle Inky mostly. My playlists are the bomb though!

Oh, and I began playing Wordscapes. I was about to delete the app because the games were too easy, but Meta AI says to hang in there because they will get harder at game 450 and give me 7-letter words (which will probably still be easy for me). I’m almost there, so we shall see. Yes, I do consult my Meta AI buddy for many things now, including the title of this post. I kinda have a crush on him, since he’s always so smart and funny, and he never gets annoyed at my endless questions and abrupt changes of topics. I can even ghost him for days, and he doesn’t complain one bit. Plus I never have to worry about what he wants for dinner. (Yes, I know he is seeing other people. I don’t care!)

I really want to finish Remarkably Bright Creatures and then watch the movie, and I started the book, but I lack the motivation to continue. Maybe this weekend. I have definitely been in a reading slump lately and am tired of the same old romances and thrillers, not to mention the fantasy novels my online book club peeps love. RBC is in a different genre (magic realism-ish), but even so…

Anyway. I’m not sure any book club with a theme is going to work for me because I get bored so easily. (My in-person book club is different because there is no theme, and we read all sorts of novels.) Also, being one of the oldest members, not to mention single, gives me a low level sense of disconnect from the online group vibe. Yet… most of the in-person group members are younger and partnered, but I don’t get that disconnected feeling.

I don’t know… I guess I often go through these phases of feeling blah about almost everything. Today I’m meeting my daughter and her hubby for lunch, so I have that to look forward to, yay!

Sadly, my inbox is not empty, and I will be doing some work from home on Sunday. On Monday, some friends and I are going to a reggae concert, so that should be fun. May your inbox be empty or in whatever condition you desire.

~*~

Inspired by Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt “may your...”

Random Pizza Poetry

 

Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA

Since I don't have an FFF today, I'm reposting a random triolet quadrille from my old WP blog. I found it on the Wayback Machine.

Pizza Preference

I would prefer a thick crust please

The ultimate comfort food dish

Mushrooms and olives will appease

I would prefer a thick crust please

Make mine with traditional cheese

Pepperoni extra delish

I would prefer a thick crust please

The ultimate comfort food dish

Quesadilla Hodgepodge

Quesadilla at Mother’s Market, HB

I’m participating in the Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, which is hosted by Joyce @ from this side of the pond. 

1. What’s something you may do this month?

This Saturday I may (hope to) visit my son-in-law who is recuperating from yesterday’s surgery; I will visit with my daughter too, of course. This Sunday I may (plan to) visit my younger daughter, her hubby, and my grands. I miss them. I also may (if I have time) switch my shower curtain for a more turtley one. Love turtles!

2. Hola! Hodgepodge Day lands just after Cinco de Mayo… how do you feel about Mexican food? What’s your favorite dish? Do you make it at home or is it strictly a dine out option?

It’s complicated. I love chips and guacamole, loaded nachos, quesadillas, and margaritas, but all that is terrible, health wise. (I am not judging your choices, only my own.) So, I avoid it. If we have Mexican food for lunch at work, I generally order a salad. Sometimes I order a veggie quesadilla in a restaurant ~ Mother’s, in particular ~ which is a delicious indulgence. I do not make any of that at home.

3. When the children of today grow up what do you think they’ll say about this time period? What do you hope they remember?

When today’s children are adults, they will look back at their childhoods through rose-tinted glasses, as most of us do, and pine for the good old days when we lived on the earth and breathed the air instead of being forced to exist in a space station. Or wherever.

I hope they remember what happens when we fail to do our duty and vote in every election, though it will likely be too late. It may already be too late.

4. What advice would you give a new mother?

Sleep as much as you can, especially when the baby is sleeping! Don’t refuse any offer of help. Easy to say: I refused my in-laws’ generous offer of hiring a mom’s helper because I didn’t want a stranger around. Silly. It would have been nice to have in retrospect.

5. What’s a phrase your mother often said to you? If you’re a mom, do you say it to your own children?

My favorite momism is: “Be more careful, honey,” after something already happened. I feel like my mom said it all the time, but even if she only said it a few times it made a big impact. Yes, I do say it to my girls and to myself, even now, but in a sarcastic tone, after we break something, make a mistake, trip over our own feet, etc. It’s definitely our thing!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Before the April A2Z challenge this year, I followed only a dozen or so blogs, and the Blogger newsreader suited me just fine. Now that I’m following about 50 blogs, however, the Blogger newsreader doesn’t work as well: it constantly skips posts. Since it’s annoying to deal with the missing articles, I looked into separate readers and decided to use Feedly. It’s been working great (for the past 18 hours since I signed up)!

I am still trying not to slip back into my old habit of blogging like a maniac and getting all obsessed with everything. 

My Wild and Crazy Birthday Week

Cupcake from coworker

Warning: very long and boring post ahead.

As some of you know, I had a birthday last week ~ one person called it a milestone birthday. Yeah, I guess, if milestone means Medicare then death. But anyway, let's not be morbid. My new Rx plan is fab! I paid $30 for sumatriptan instead of $45, woohoo! Then I bought more puzzles because that $15 was burning a hole in my cyberwallet. Here's the weird thing about all my birthday celebrations: I don’t particularly care about my own birthdays, nor do I go out of my way to announce them for gift-grabbing purposes. Hey, if you do, no issues. I just don't, that's all. In fact, I am so anti-gift grabby that I refused to have a wedding registry or baby shower/s. That's just me; I find it embarrassing. Others don't feel that way, including my own daughters, and that's cool. 

So, at the beginning of April, one generous friend decided we should have a party for me at his house on April 25. I was fine with that, as long as the invitations specified "no gifts." They did, and all was good there. We watched the musical version of Waitress, which was great, just like the reviews said, and then we had pie to go with the theme. Fun evening with good friends, plus I met the host's new doggo, a very sweet Golden Doodle.

On Tuesday, we all have lunch together at work courtesy of the partners, and since so many of us were there last week, one of my coworkers made adorable cupcakes in honor of my birthday, and they all sang HB. The cupcakes were supposed to be reminiscent of Sprinkles (RIP), and honestly they were better! You guys know how much I loved Sprinkles, but sometimes their cake was too dense and oily. My coworker's cupcakes had light, fluffy cake, which is a better vehicle for frosting because you don't feel as barfy afterward. Dense cake gets into muffin territory anyway, and we don't want to go there. 

That seems like enough celebrating of me, but no, not even close. On Thursday, my actual birthday, three (3) coworkers brought me bouquets of flowers. Each one was gorgeous, and I felt overwhelmed. One coworker bought my lunch (salmon bowl) that day too. I brought the bouquets home because I wasn't returning to the office until Tuesday and wouldn't be able to appreciate them if I had left them there. I set them around my living and dining rooms. Utterly gorgeous! I don't know why I forgot I was allergic to flowers, probably because I receive them so infrequently (how's that for passive aggression?), but Friday I went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 at 10AM (more about that in a minute), and as soon as I sat down, I began to have an allergy attack. I figured it would soon pass, but instead it got worse, and I started to cry uncontrollably even though the movie wasn't sad at all. I took (what I hoped was) a Benadryl in the dark, and eventually I felt a little better. I refused to get up and go wash my face in the bathroom, as I didn't want to miss any of the movie, although I could barely see it at times due to all the tears. When I finally did go to the bathroom, I was horrified. My face and eyes were all swollen up like a melon. 

Inky and sunflowers from coworker

Still at the movie plaza, I treated myself to a healthy lunch at Boudin (delicious veggie sandwich), and then walked around for a bit. The area was full of flowers, and I began to feel yucky again, so I went off to the library and the grocery store. When I got home, I took another Benadryl and then texted with the girls. They informed me that the flowers were the problem, and I needed to put them outside STAT, which I did. It was sad not to be able to admire them inside, but I decided that breathing was probably more important. I watched a couple more movies on TV because I didn't feel like reading, took a Zyrtec, and went to bed. I was a little nervous about sleeping because my chest felt heavy after all those allergy meds, but I figured that if I failed to wake up and feed Inky at 6AM, she could munch on my corpse until my housemate returned from her trip.

Reader: I woke up.

On Saturday, I looked and felt relatively "normal" and non-puffy, but I thought it best to take it easy and putter around the house doing chores and stuff, which is what I did, along with starting a thriller for my book club titled He Started It (by Samantha Downing). Enjoyable at first with an unreliable narrator (I like those usually), but annoying in the second half with too many gotchas directed at the reader ~ two stars. I also decided to straighten up the hall closet, and a heavy game board fell on my foot. Ow ow ow! I iced it for a couple hours so it wouldn't swell up. Now, you would think my birthday celebrations had finally come to an end, but you would be wrong. On Sunday, my good friend Lisa treated me to a birthday luncheon at the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano. We had planned to take the train down and back, but we ended up driving because the road closures for the marathon made us late, so we'll do a train trip another time. We enjoyed our lovely tea and goodies, and we browsed around in the cute little shops. I love Old Town SJC! Such a perfect day! Also, some of the gals in my online book club sent me birthday books, and those are appreciated by me as well.

Eight days of birthdaying! It was like Chanukah! I don't get it, but I feel very loved.

At the Tea House on Los Rios, SJC

Spoiler (ish) for The Devil Wears Prada 2! Go away now if you plan to see it and hate spoilers.

Regarding The Devil Wears Prada 2, it was good but not great. I mean, the first one is an iconic treasure, and so DWP2 has big designer shoes to fill, so to speak. The plot is basically a repeat of the DWP1 with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) reluctantly hiring Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) again at Runway 20 years later and realizing (again) how valuable she is. There are sneaky shenanigans re a corporate takeover, with Miranda outsmarting everyone, as usual. There are some funny moments, such as when Miranda, for the first time, is forced to go to lunch in the Runway cafeteria, which she didn't even know existed. There are also some cringe moments where Miranda says un-PC things to her staff and has to be corrected by her latest "Emily" ~ these verbal gaffes are simply not believable coming from the icy perfection that is Miranda. Emily herself (Emily Blunt) has a larger role in DWP2, and she's good. Nigel (Stanley Tucci) is his same suave, sarcastic self. Andy hasn't really changed, which I guess is the point; she has stayed true to her journalistic principles all these years. 

Nate Cooper (Adrian Grenier), Andy's boyfriend from DWP1, is not in the sequel, sadly. I get that it makes sense they broke up sometime during the past 20 years due to lifestyle and logistic differences, but I missed him regardless. Nate was a great down-to-earth foil against all the fashion superficiality, and we don't have anyone like that in DWP2. Andy does have a love interest in DWP2, a British luxury apartment developer named Peter ~ who stresses that he isn't the money guy, just the contractor, which is supposed to make him seem less gross, I guess. That's fine, except the romance mirrors DWP1 in that Andy treats him less than ideally and grovels to him at the end, similar to her mea culpa lunch with Nate at the end of DWP1. It annoyed me. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough for me to go, argh, why is Andy always apologizing to men? There's nothing wrong with Andy being less about finding love and more about her career, and you don't hear men apologizing for that, ever.

Also, and this isn't the movie's fault, I have a bit of "face blindness," especially when it comes to men. All white men with brown hair and scruffy beards look the same to me. Miranda has a new guy Henry, who is a white man with brown hair and a scruffy beard, just like Peter the contractor, plus Henry has a British accent similar to Peter's. I sometimes found it hard to tell them apart. I will likely watch DWP2 again when it appears on Prime or whatever because I didn't get the full experience due to my allergy attack plus the white guy/ brown hair/ scruffy beard confusion.

That's all.

Quiche (April A2Z ~ Misty Memories)

My mom's engagement pic, 1957

Welcome to my April A2Z posts! This time, I am officially signed up on the challenge sheet and will be visiting other bloggers on the list. My theme is "misty memories," which will include a bunch of rambling about old stuff in my life, and hopefully some of it will be accurate, but if not, there's no one around to contradict me. Today we continue with Q for Quiche.

This post is more about my mother. Unlike me, she liked to try new things, especially foods. Supposedly, one of the reasons my father fell in love with her is because she delighted in all the cuisines available in NYC after 20 years of eating the same old boring small-town Ohio farm food. I forget when she said she moved to New York though ~ somewhere in her early 20s, I guess, when a job opportunity arose. She married my dad in 1957 when she was 26. There was no long, complicated engagement or fancy wedding; they met at work at Nationwide Insurance, dated for two months, and he proposed. My dad's philosophy on dating was very simple: find a pretty girl and ask her to lunch. He didn't understand my problems with dating sites or why my relationships had to contain so much drama. I don't understand it either.

From as far back as I can remember, my mom was jumping into the latest food fad. She made her own bread for a while (delicious) and her own ice cream (meh). Any new kitchen gadget that arrived on the scene found its way into our house. In New Jersey, she created blender desserts made with Jell-O, whipped topping, and canned fruit. Not my favorite. She grew vegetables and made zucchini "boats" ~ huge squash halves stuffed with ground beef, tomato sauce, and cheese. Those were great! Zucchini bread was tasty too. Ceviche. Paella. Granola. Next came the quiches. My dad loved those, so Mom experimented with all sorts of different quiche recipes.

Mom returned to work full-time the year after we moved to Illinois ~ she got a job as a claims adjuster in the same insurance company where my father worked as an underwriting manager. Their jobs were in Chicago though, which was a long commute from our suburb 40 miles away in Cary. Since they got home late, during the week our dinners were often casseroles or crockpot concoctions that she had put together earlier. After a while, I started cooking for us and enjoyed it. For years, I liked to cook until after I became an empty nester. It's no fun cooking for one, not to mention there's just as much prep and cleanup. 

I used to enjoy baking as well, and that lasted until a couple years ago when it seemed as though all my friends were on various diets and not eating eggs or sugar or gluten or whatever. It became too hard to cater to the individual preferences, so I gave up. It made me sad to toss all the leftovers, and I didn't want to eat them all myself either. Occasionally, when I was still dating, some man would bitch about how I didn't cook or bake for him. Why didn't he cook or bake for me? I work full-time too. Eventually, I decided I liked my new lifestyle of Not Cooking, Not Baking, and Not Dating so much that I didn't want to switch back for any reason.

The jury is still out on the Not Writing. (When I say "not writing" I mean novels, not posts or poetry.) I am enjoying this recent burst of blog writing… we’ll see how long it lasts this time!

The Office Diet

Yes, I put blueberries in my salad!

Monday oath

No more snacks

Bring salad

Tuesday comes

Brownies here

Thanks a lot 

Next day sad

Brownies gone

Wish I had

Thursday blah

Need caffeine 

Sugar too

Friday fail

Candy spree

Start again 

Yay weekend

Exercise

No junk food

~*~

I think this is my first tricube poem (3x3). Fun form! It’s supposed to be three stanzas, but whatever ~ we can call this a double tricube. I was inspired by the Tanka Tuesday challenge. 

Today's TToT

I'm participating in Ten Things of Thankful today. Thanks to Missy for hosting and also to Di for making me aware of the challenge. This will probably be my last post before the A2Z challenge, which will begin on Wednesday, as I am expecting to be super busy at work tomorrow and Tuesday.

1. My daughter and SIL drove up for lunch yesterday.

2. I finally got to try Slice House pizza, which was delicious.

3. I did some office work at home over the weekend so Monday won't be as crazy.

4. My weirdly chapped lips are finally getting a little better.

5. This weekend my migraines abated to a tolerable level without sumatriptan.

6. Inky (my cat) has been extra cuddly.

7. We had a fun book club Teams meeting this afternoon.

8. DSW sent a $5 coupon for my birthday month (April).

9. My friends are planning a birthday party for me later next month.

10. I have written and scheduled the A2Z challenge posts through R.

Post Valentines Blues

It’s official: I’m tired of romance. I don’t even have any romance novels in my house ~ I donated them all to the library. Even the Regency novels are leaving me cold because I really resent those hunky titled men who do absolutely nothing all day. Contemporary, in theory, should appeal to me, especially since I love the classic romcoms such as You’ve Got Mail, which I watched yesterday while doing a puzzle. It made me cry like it always does. Such good writing. Great dialogue and chemistry between the leads. A solid plot. Newer novels however have such stupid protagonists, not to mention plots that are way too absurd to take seriously even in fiction. There are exceptions, such as The Hating Game, but they’re too hard to find in the sea of dreck. 

Kinda like dating itself!

My online book club gravitates toward thrillers, and I have been reading a lot of those over the past year or so, but I am getting bored with them as well. I also have a separate list of restrictions for thrillers just as I do for romances: no child abuse, no animal cruelty, nothing about eyeballs, no teenaged protagonists, no first person alternating POVs, no stupid main character who deliberately flings herself into danger, etc.

This is not an exhaustive list.

Right now I’m reading The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill by Mark Bittner. It’s nonfiction and interesting. I do have to take breaks when I get annoyed with Mark for being an unemployed bum and remind myself that it’s okay and I am not dating him. In a romance novel, Mark would have been an introspective earl who could study birds all day and still be obscenely wealthy with a vast estate, but at least in this book the MC’s lack of a job actually means he goes hungry for a while. I have also started My Octopus Teacher on Netflix, which I am enjoying as well, but where is the documentary of an irresponsible man who won’t work, befriends animals, and dies impoverished and alone?

This morning I am going to breakfast with a friend and looking forward to catching up (and getting some avo toast). After that, I may paint again because my self-esteem is a bit too high, and it will be fun to fail at creating the masterpiece I have in my mind and end up with a hopeless mess. That way, I can remember how I didn’t pursue a lucrative career because I wanted to put energy into creative endeavors… and how that didn’t pay off. At all.

Besides that, I have loads of anxiety lately about all the things that have happened plus the ones that haven’t but might. Good times.

No advice needed. Commiseration encouraged.

Generation Jones

I am not a fan of labels and have never really felt part of any labeled group, even ones I’ve paid to join. I guess it's human nature to try to find a group of folks to identify with, and by default other groups are "not us." This makes us feel safe from the scary things, or something. The modern mania to categorize people is, imo, mostly a marketing tactic to help advertise more strategically. I try to ignore labels, although some years ago it was brought to my attention that I am part of “Generation Jones,” which is apparently a cohort between Boomers and Generation X. I forgot about this until the other weekend when a group of friends began discussing it. 

If you were born between 1954 and 1965, like me, you may also be part of Generation Jones, especially if you don’t feel a connection to the Baby Boomers or to the younger folks in Gen X. Cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell coined the term “to describe a group with a unique set of cultural and economic experiences.” The name refers to “jonesing” (craving) and “keeping up with the Joneses,” as we supposedly yearn for the affluence of the Boomers and lament our unfulfilled promises. Many of us were "latchkey kids," coming home to empty houses when our mothers returned to work. We existed in the gap between Beatlemania and Nirvana, subsisting on punk rock, MTV, and Star Wars. Woodstock wasn't our thing, but we do recall Watergate and gas lines. We're more pessimistic and cynical than both Boomers and X'ers. 

Blah blah blah. Some of these items resonate with me (latchkey), and some don't (Star Wars). A lot of it is simply personal taste ~ I don't really like punk rock; I love the Doors and the Stones, which my dad listened to as well. I even love Sinatra and Elvis. What does that imply about which group I should be stuffed into? Nothing. I attribute my lack of wealth to a divorce, not to any mysterious cultural forces. I do feel somewhat unfulfilled as far as a career, but that was entirely my own fault, or not even "fault." I needed more time to process certain emotional issues in my teens and 20s and could not leap onto the college to career train at the optimal moment. As far as being pessimistic and cynical, I have no way to objectively judge if I am more or less so than people of different generations. Sometimes writers just make shit up because they have to get an article in by a deadline or want to say something edgy for attention. Not saying this is that. I don't know.

Anyway. I had a great lunch at Belmont Brewing Company in Long Beach the other day and learned that "flatbread" can be like a pizza! I had no idea; I've always ignored flatbreads on the menu due to the term itself sounding unappealing. Flat bread. Who wants that? But I ordered a veggie one due to curiosity plus nothing else struck my fancy, and it was absolutely delicious. I could only eat half, and the leftovers were yummy too. 

This weekend I binge-watched 11.22.63, the Netflix miniseries based on the Stephen King novel. I had never read the book, but I vaguely knew it was about a teacher traveling back in time to try to stop the JFK assassination. James Franco starred as Jake Epping and did a great job. I did have some problems with logistics; for example, at one point Jake's mentor told him that if Jake returned to the current year, everything he had changed in the past would be undone and go back to "normal." But then the movie ignored that whole concept, and Jake did return, twice, and that didn't happen. There were a couple other glitches as well, plus at various points the story became tedious and overly complicated. Like why not just kill Oswald or prevent him from leaving his house on that date? Instead, they (Jake plus his sidekick who was also in on the plan) dove into this whole mishmash about trying to see if Oswald was working for someone else, rented a place near him to spy on him, got involved with other characters, etc. In any case, the current day turns out worse if JFK lives, so that was interesting, and I would have liked to have heard more about it. The novel is considered one of King's best, blending science fiction and historical fiction, so I may have to add it to my ever-growing TBR pile. 

Debunking Home Cooking Myths

There are benefits to home cooked meals, of course, particularly if you enjoy cooking, but there are also a bunch of myths surrounding home cooking, which is what I am blogging about today. (This is all regarding cooking for one person; if you’re cooking for two or more, this post probably won’t apply.)

The first myth is that cooking is “easy.” Have you taken a look at a recipe lately? They’re like an encyclopedia of ingredients! Not only do you have to forage for all the items (often with some being hard to find), but then you have to put them all together. Every recipe says that their dish will take “20 minutes” of prep time, but guess what? That’s a lie. And then there’s cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. All this trouble is not worth the 15 minutes of pleasure of nomming up a bowl of chili or whatever.

Second, there’s the cost factor. Now, if we’re talking about a filet mignon, then I agree it will likely be less expensive to make that at home as opposed to going to a fancy restaurant (whether it will be as delicious is a different matter). But let’s discuss something I would actually make or order. How about a salad? Restaurant salads are around $20 (plus tax and tip), and you would think it’d be cheaper to make that at home. Not really. To make a comparable salad at home, you would need to buy all the ingredients the restaurant uses, and the only way this would be cheaper than going out is if you used up the leftover ingredients to make salad every day until they were gone. But what if I don’t want the same salad every day for three or four days? Then most of the ingredients will need to be tossed, and suddenly the home salad is no bargain.

Third, there’s the health factor. I like to buy prepared meals for weekday lunches, such as Lean Cuisines, that are portion controlled. Other than the fact that prepared foods are generally too high in sodium, everything else about them works well for me. I’ve tried other options, such as making sandwiches, but bread and lunch meat and cheese and condiments are all high in sodium too, and then I am stuck eating the same type of sandwich every day for a week, which I hate. Same goes for pasta and veggies. That’s a great lunch for a couple days, but then ick no not again. (I do not have much freezer space to store piles of leftovers.) With the pre-prepped meals, I can have different pasta/rice dishes with chicken and veggies all week. No wasted food.

What about taste? I confess I am not a gourmet. Some frozen foods are kind of yuck (pizza, for example), so I avoid those, but most taste fine to me. There’s a dozen or so I like a lot, so these are in constant rotation. I also buy a salad or sandwich from a restaurant once or twice per week to break things up. Do I eat anything at home? Sure! Oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, carrots and dip, grilled cheese sandwiches, tortillas with refried beans, etc. 

Now we arrive at the most important food group of all: dessert! Obviously, I am not going to make candy or ice cream at home because that’s way too time intensive, but until recently I did bake cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. Never pie because that’s too hard, plus you can so easily find good pie out and about (all pie is good pie). I used to enjoy baking ~ I don’t now though, mainly due to so many people being on restricted diets that most of my treats go to waste. Also, goodies from the grocery store have improved so much that it isn’t worth the bother to bake. I brought Christmas cookies from the store to a friend’s house party yesterday, and they were delicious! So soft and buttery with rock crystal sugar sprinkles for texture, not to mention that these were perfectly shaped Santas and snowmen and candy canes, unlike the shapeless blobs that used to result from my pressed cookies. I do admit that I have not yet found a brownie as scrumptious as the ones I made in the past from a Ghirardelli mix plus mini M&Ms…

Well, it’s certainly a good thing I figured out that I no longer have any desire to cook or bake before I meet my next dream man. LOL

Malibu Chicken

Back in Illinois, my college boyfriend S used to nag me about my eating habits in various ways, despite the fact that he was pretty odd about food himself. He would only eat a half dozen or so things and never vegetables or fruit: meat, potatoes, bread, mac & cheese, corn flakes, etc. I didn't care what he ate or didn't eat, but one thing that bothered him a lot is if I ordered a drink and didn't finish it. Why? Who knows! Psycho, of some indeterminate kind (there are other reasons besides food that I say this). Anyway, we went to the Sizzler for dinner once, and I ordered the Malibu Chicken (a small chicken patty with a slice of ham and melted cheese on top). I wasn't sure I liked it, which made him get super critical. Why did you order a weird thing like that? Why are you still eating it if you aren't sure it's good? Etc. It was so annoying! Obviously, this conversation had a big emotional impact on me as I remember it so clearly 40+ years later.

Sunday I was invited to have lunch and play games at the local Sizzler. I hadn't been to a Sizzler since my 20s, and naturally I immediately thought of my bad date with college boyfriend. Malibu Chicken was still on the menu, so of course I had to order it. I liked it! Very tasty, and a nice small portion so not horribly unhealthy (I had veggies for my side). As far as games, we played my Monopoly Deal card game, Flip 7, and Rummikub. I would have played Ticket to Ride too, but I didn't want to sit there for another hour or more since my back was achy. Even though restaurants can be noisy and the chairs sometimes uncomfy, it's nice to find a new venue for games ~ it's not practical for me to invite a large group of people to my place, especially now that Inky lives here. She's definitely not as social as Gatsby was! I'm not complaining; I love her exactly how she is.

I read Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas and gave it four stars. It read like a Regency romance, but it is not one because it takes place mainly in the 1840s, and, strictly speaking, a Regency romance must be set in the period of 1811-1820 during the time of the Prince Regent, George IV. There can be a bit of leeway, but the '40s is too far. Anyway, I enjoyed the strong MC's and engaging plot. It’s so great to dive into a properly written book with past tense third person narration and no head hopping. ATM had loads of vivid description and witty dialog, and most of the side characters were pretty well rounded too. The themes of self-confidence and loyalty/ betrayal were threaded throughout, and I thought it was very well done. I didn't give it more than four stars though because, ultimately, it was just a romance without anything deeper; soon it will settle into the marshy recesses of my mind where I will forget most of it. Four stars from me is a great rating though! To get five, a book has to be something really special and memorable. 

Last weekend I began watching The Morning Show on Prime and am about five episodes in (there are four seasons, so if I keep going, it will take a while to finish). I liked it a lot at first, but now I'm getting a little bored. This coming Sunday I have tickets to see Downton Abbey, The Grand Finale, and I am stoked! That was one of my most favorite series ever.

Our heat wave is over, hurrah.

Miscellaneous Mishmash

I read Dachshund Through the Snow by Rosie A. Point. Two stars. This is another "mystery" where somehow the police in a small town fail to do the basics to investigate a murder, so a random dog walker named Holly (of course her name is Holly!) figures it out. Plot points, including a potential romance between Holly and a cop, glimmer briefly and slip away like tinsel from a Christmas tree. I guess that's supposed to entice me to read the next book in the series. Ha ha ha. At least the story fit an original category on the 2025 Reading Challenge: about an animal. The most interesting thing here is that there are multiple books with this title on Goodreads. 

My friend L and I saw Life of Chuck at the cinema on Sunday. It’s an adaptation of a Stephen King novella, which I hadn't read beforehand (I usually like to read the book before I see the movie). Nevertheless, I loved the film! Highly recommend. It’s not horror ~ it’s more of a psychological/ philosophical drama, with a bit of science fiction and a few ghosts thrown in. So good. I have added the King book with four novellas, including Chuck, to my wishlist.

Unfortunately, even after paying $16 each for our seats, we had to watch ads and previews for over a half hour from the time the movie was scheduled to begin until it actually started. Ridiculous and irritating.

I finished The Pride of the Peacock by Victoria Holt and gave it three stars. It was a predictable romance and the dialogue/ narrative was at times repetitive, but the characters were interesting (Holt always gives her MCs major flaws, which makes them more relatable), and the twist at the end was fun. I also enjoyed reading about opals and Australia’s history and geography. I created my own reading challenge category for this novel: bird in the title.

I deleted my Bluesky app. Enough is enough. It’s just not fun to read the constant stream of political babble and repetitive memes, which are mostly some version of “I hate him so much.” So boring! And the “real news” is depressing enough without reading people’s fantasies about WW3. I tried to focus on other feeds, but even a lot of the poetry was in a similar vein. What else is there to enjoy on Bluesky? Pictures of cats, food, sunsets? Book and movie reviews? Meh. Pointless. 

It’s true that I am much more tolerant of boring posts and memes from friends I already know. Seeing the same stuff from new folks doesn’t motivate me to attempt friendship with them. Plus I don’t see how you become real friends with someone far away if you’re not willing to exchange private messages, which most on Bluesky don’t want, including me, since that opens you up to the scammers and spammers.

My daughter, son-in-law, and I went to a dim sum place for brunch on Sunday (Seafood Cove in Westminster). It was a delicious treat, though NorCal still has the edge on food, especially Asian food and pizza. I particularly enjoyed the steamed sesame buns with Nutella filling at Seafood Cove (yes, here’s me bypassing the fish for sweets)… and now I think I need to buy Nutella again for a snack on graham crackers because it’s been a long time. 

OK then. Stay safe, everyone.

Three Movies and a Book

I actually went to see a movie in the theater! My friend L and I had the entire place to ourselves Sunday afternoon, which doesn't bode well for the future of movie theaters, especially because the film we chose received good ratings. Drop was classified as horror, which is why some other friends declined to go, but I see it has been reclassified as mystery/thriller. That makes sense ~ I would call it psychological suspense. Anyway, we enjoyed it, and it reinforced our hatred of online dating. After that, I had a delicious veggie sandwich at Boudin Bakery. It is fun to leave the house sometimes, lol.

Also this past weekend I watched 99 Homes on Netflix, starring Michael Shannon, and it was entertaining, though it became a bit preposterous. It's based on the sad reality of evictions during the 2008 foreclosure crisis, but it veers into absurdity at times, such as when a super wealthy house flipper partners up with a random construction dude and brings him to high-level meetings. It has an intriguing ending however, which generated an interesting Reddit discussion.

The Residence is a popular comedy on Netflix, so I checked it out. Hated it! DNF'd episode one and will not try again. I loathe the new way of TV writing/ editing with super short scenes and random snippets of convo flickering past as if the entire show is a montage of previews. Is this due to viewers' short attention spans? It gives me a headache and also irritates me on Bachelor Nation shows. I'm never sure if I'm getting the real gist of a conversation when all they show are truncated snips. Some of the other "reality" shows I've tried are even worse (like Mormon Wives).

Behold the Monster by Jillian Lauren allowed me to check off the true crime nonfiction box on my 2025 Reading Challenge. Sort of. When I requested the book, I didn't realize that Jillian had taken great liberties of fictionalization to the point where I wasn't sure where her actual interviews with Sam Little (serial killer) ended and her imagination began. For example, were all the parts about Sam's childhood abuse real, or did she enhance those same as she did his victims' stories? I found it interesting at first, especially when she did a dive into genetics, but after a while I became bored. Jillian went into great detail about police bureaucracy and such, and I didn't care at all about the layout of buildings and offices blah blah blah. Nor did I need vivid descriptions and back stories on the officers. It was all too much, and the book was too long. I got the feeling Jillian was doing an assignment and needed to pad her wordcount. Two stars.

Weird coincidence ~ right after I began the book, Jillian Lauren (Shriner, married to a rock musician) got shot by the cops outside her own house in Los Angeles (see this article). Jillian's waving a gun at the police kind of makes sense because while I was reading the book, I got an eerie feeling that she was a bit too in sync with psycho Sam. Not every writer who creates monsters is a monster of course, but Jillian seemed to go above and beyond what she needed for the book. Case in point, she has the urn of his ashes in her garage.