Two for Tuesday: Money Honey

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

Today would have been my parents' 69th wedding anniversary, so it's only appropriate that I post about two love stories I watched over the weekend. Of course, the movies are fictional, and my parents' love was real, though you might not have known that if you witnessed their constant arguing. For decades, up until my mom's death in 2008, I wondered why they stayed together when they were so different, but I finally understood that they simply loved each other despite all the bickering, cold silences, and threats to leave. I vowed that my life wouldn't be that way, and it wasn't... until it was. Unlike my parents, I did get a divorce (two of them, in fact), and I never ended up with a great love like they had.

One of my parents' ongoing conflicts had to do with money, which I've read is a very common conflict, though neither of my marriages ended because of that. Both of the movies I'm reviewing have financial security as a central theme, which wasn't planned at all, but it makes this post more cohesive. 

1. Cocktail (1988) stars Tom Cruise, Elisabeth Shue, and Bryan Brown. It was written by Heywood Gould and directed by Roger Donaldson. Tom plays Brian Flanagan, who is straight out of the military and now thinks he should be able to land a high-paying job on Wall Street and make a million bucks without any experience or education. After being turned down repeatedly and told he needs a degree, Brian enrolls in college and takes a job as a bartender to pay the bills. Bryan plays Doug Coughlin, a philosophical poet of a bartender, who tries to impart his life's wisdom to "Young Flanagan" on the topics of (a) shorting drinks in a theatrical way so customers won't notice; (b) reciting poems on the spot to entertain the patrons; and (c) focusing on getting a "rich chick" to finance his future. Doug does get his rich chick, but he screws that up with bad investments, and Brian gets his eventually too ~ Jordan Mooney played by Elisabeth Shue ~ though her father vows not to help them because he doesn't like Brian (understandable from his POV). In order to get the girl, however, Brian first has to have his epiphany that money doesn't buy love or happiness. 

Critics hated this movie, but it was a smashing success with audiences and generated a huge payday. I liked it a lot (though I agree that some of the dialogue was clunky), and I particularly enjoyed the showmanship and banter between Brian and Doug. Critics complain that much of the story was "unrealistic." Yes, it's fiction, not a documentary of bartending. Critics also moan that the ending was predictable. Yes, it's a romance, and romances end happily, else they wouldn't fit the genre. This is my third or fourth rewatch.

2. Materialists (2025) stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. It was written and directed by Celine Song. Dakota and Chris are exes Lucy and John who clearly still have feelings for each other and are both struggling financially to make it in NYC (the movie doesn't explicitly say that Lucy has money issues, but imo it's implied, and she does admit to making $80K, which isn't much in New York), and Pedro plays Harry, a super rich guy. Lucy works for a matchmaking agency, and she's perfect for the job: warm, nurturing, encouraging, etc., while brutally honest about "the math." In dating, the math means coming up with a formula consisting of age, income, background, politics, physical attraction, etc., before setting up a date. It's fun to listen to the ridiculous things people want and expect from a potential life partner while bringing quite less to the table. Reminds me of my good old days of dating and how traumatic it was to be considered and rejected, though I can laugh about it now. Lucy wants the math to work for herself too, which is why she begins a relationship with Harry, and like Brian above, she has to arrive at her epiphany moment before she ends up with the true love she craves.

Critics were much kinder toward Materialists than to Cocktail, but there really isn't much difference in my view. Both had unrealistic aspects and predictable endings. In Materialists, there's a surgery that the uber wealthy men can get for $200K that increases their height (breaking their legs and making them longer with extensions), but I don't see anyone panning that in my brief foray into reviews as they did the crazy bartending stunts. I enjoyed the film and wouldn't mind seeing it again in a few years. Dakota Johnson is one of my favorite actors, along with fellow nepo baby Kate Hudson. Hey, if they're good, I don't care who their parents are. 

I watched both movies on HBO. 

Down in the Sand

Colorful music notes from Pixabay

Sorry I've been a bit absent this week ~ it's month end at work, plus I have been a busy social butterfly. I will get to your comments on previous posts in a bit. Today for Jim's Song Lyric Sunday he asks for songs about the beach to celebrate National Beach Day. I have always lived close to a coast: New York, New Jersey, Southern California, and even in Chicago I was right on the shore of Lake Michigan, which counts too. That said, I don't spend much time at the beach, though it's nice to know it's there. 

Grease (1978) is one of my favorite musical movies, and one of the songs I love is "Summer Nights," which is told in a he said/ she said style about how Danny and Sandy met at the beach. Their friends join in to ask questions about the relationship. It begins in a sweet way and then heats up, just like a summer's day.

Summer loving had me a blast

Summer loving happened so fast

I met a girl crazy for me

Met a boy cute as can be

[...]

She swam by me, she got a cramp

He ran by me, got my suit damp

I saved her life, she nearly drowned

He showed off, splashing around

Summer sun, something's begun

But ah! Oh, the summer nights

Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh

[...]

He got friendly, holding my hand

Well, she got friendly down in the sand

He was sweet, just turned eighteen

Well, she was good, you know what I mean

[...]

Sandy was supposedly moving away at the end of the summer, so they said goodbye and exchanged their "true love vows," though apparently not phone numbers. Sandy didn't end up moving and instead showed up at Danny's high school. When their classmates asked about their summer, they told the story song "Summer Nights," giving details of their romance. Of course, they both had different viewpoints. Whose do you believe? I tend to go with Sandy's version. After the song ends, they realize they're at the same school and shenanigans ensue. Nothing like this would happen today because Danny and Sandy would be madly texting each other all along.

Enjoy the full song here.

Lyrics from Musixmatch. Songwriting credits to Jim Jacobs / Warren Casey.

Fictional Meanderings

AI dragon with jellybeans

[I wrote this earlier in my Some Thoughts on Fiction post, but then I realized it should be its own thing.]

Novels are created from a writer's imagination, as least partly, but the key for me is that they could be true, either in this world or in a fantasy world. There are all types of fiction, but for me to immerse my mind in a story, I have to find the characters and the situations believable. But what about House of the Dragon? I have mentioned my love for that show. Sure, there can be dragons (or gods, ghosts, genies, vampires, shifters, etc.), but they have to follow the rules and conform to the boundaries the writer built for the fantasy universe. Anything that is “magical” needs to follow a set of rules, preferably presented in advance, so that plot twists and resolutions avoid the dreaded deux ex machina. Non-magical events should conform to boundaries we already understand from this world, and no rules should be fudged to resolve a conflict. 

Skip this paragraph if you are familiar with the deux ex machina plot device. This is when in the stage plays of old a literal “god” (the deux) would come down from the ceiling to solve the problem. A crane-like machine would lower the actor to the stage. When we use the term now, we generally mean that the writer failed to create a resolution using the rules s/he already established in the story's universe and instead had something new swoop in to save the day. Let's consider James Bond in Live and Let Die escaping certain death via crocodiles by nimbly leaping across their backs to safety (in a suit and dress shoes!). That’s perfectly in line with the 007 character. But if the writers had decided instead to have the crocs all suddenly expire from multiple lightning strikes, that would count as a deux ex machina device and be horribly unsatisfying for the audience. Good writing always avoids this! 

Back to dragons. In the imaginary world that George R.R. Martin created for Game of Thrones, there are established rules, such as dragons don’t burn and neither will the special humans with dragon DNA, so it’s fitting that Daenerys survives infernos, but her cruel brother Viserys, who is always faking his dragon status, gets burned to death by molten gold. What isn’t believable in the story, however, is when people without antibiotics survived messy, painful, and terribly unhygienic amputations. The dragons are fine in my mind; Jaime surviving his hand getting lopped off is not.

The problem I have with most shifter romances is matter of logistics. What happens to the human clothing when a man shifts into his tiger or bear or wolf or whatever? And doesn’t he get all smelly and gross and full of parasites during his animal phase? What happens with all that when he shifts back to human form? Yes, I know that even in the spiciest novels no one talks about using the bathroom (unless that's part of the spice), but I can’t stop thinking about these “practical” issues while I’m reading, so it kind of wrecks the whole shifter story for me. 

Non-magical stories do not escape my fussy criticism either. In romance novels and romcoms, I have a huge problem with too many coincidences; often, more than one is too many. The fact that the hero and heroine meet at all is an amazing coincidence, so why pile more on top of that to make the story wobble from unbelievability? I'm a fan of Collen Hoover’s popular novel Verity (soon to be released in movie form with Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and some man), but there’s no reason for the protagonists to “pre-meet” in a coffee shop, with the requisite spilled coffee and ruined blouse, before they actually meet at the job interview. In the novel I’m currently reading, Heartbeat at My Feet by Kristin Judd, the protags will meet when Josie travels to Sorrento, Italy with Cicero (the adorable doggie), so why did Judd create an awkward encounter between Josie and Giorgio at a gelato shop before that? It makes no sense!

In thrillers, my biggest problem is usually the protagonist acting contrary to her given character or any person really simply to further the plot. If you introduce a smart, sensible businesswoman who inherited her kooky old great-aunt's mansion, you can’t have her fall apart the minute she steps into the house and begin to make the stupidest decisions. Honestly, the only intelligent thing to do when you get bad vibes from a creepy old house is to GTFO and check into a motel (not the Bates one though), not spend the night there in your filmy nightgown and explore the basement at 3AM because you heard a weird noise. FOR PETE’S SAKE!

No, I do love fiction. Good fiction. And there’s plenty of it. You just have to sift through the dreck, which I’m generally willing to do. I finish most books that semi-annoy me because I forgive imperfect writing, but they have to contain at least one redeeming quality, like a cute dog. And gelato, whatever that is ~ apparently not ice cream, as I had previously assumed, according to AI. I don't think I've ever had gelato, but now I want some.

Watch everyone comment about the gelato and not my profound observations about fiction.

Lunchtime Share

My sweet little Inky

Before I jump into Di’s Share Your World questions, I want to acknowledge that it’s Black Cat Appreciation Day. I love my little Inkerbelle! 

1. What was your favorite TV show as a kid?

When very young, I loved Pink Panther, Speed Racer, Roadrunner, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Let’s Make a Deal. Later on, all the game shows became favorites, especially Match Game and Hollywood Squares. As a teenager, my sitcom faves were I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, One Day at a Time, the Brady Bunch, and Eight is Enough. I also enjoyed detective shows like Columbo, Hart to Hart, and McMillan & Wife. I’m sure there are lots more that I am forgetting!

2. Do you have a favorite “tipple” (alcoholic drink or something when you are out for a meal, etc.)?

I love alcoholic drinks, but they don’t love me, and the older I get the worse it is. Fancy cocktails are so much fun. I used to love margaritas, mojitos, mai tais, pina coladas, Irish Coffee with tons of whipped cream, etc. ~ all those sugary, girly drinks, particularly if they came with tiny umbrellas. I went through a Bailey’s Irish Cream phase (that lasted 40 years), an amaretto phase, and a cinnamon whiskey phase. Yum! Now all of that makes me barf. 

Nowadays, I can have a glass (or two) of red wine or champagne, which may or may not give me a migraine, though since I get migraines frequently regardless, I occasionally decide that it’s worth the extra risk. If I remember to drink water afterwards, it often helps me to avoid a headache. That’s it though. No more mixed drinks or sweet liquor for me. Wah.

The vast majority of time, I order iced tea or Diet Coke.

3. Is there a movie you can watch again and again and still enjoy?

Yes, indeed. In fact, this weekend I rewatched both Mamma Mia movies while I worked on my puzzle (ironically, a pic of fancy cocktails ~ see my IG), and I enjoyed them immensely. Somewhat less frequently, I rewatch Walking on Sunshine, Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, Saturday Night Fever, and other musicals, and romcoms such as You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, 27 Dresses, The Hating Game, etc. And of course Young Frankenstein! I generally do not rewatch serious movies. 

4. Did you have a favorite toy as a child? Or perhaps one you wanted and never got?

I loved my Barbies, but this was back when you had a few dolls and bought outfits and accessories for them. Nowadays, you buy a whole new doll in a themed pack instead of changing their clothes. While I appreciate themes, it was a lot of fun to mix and match outfits and browse the Barbie catalog for new ones. I also loved my Super Spirograph set and spent many hours creating cool designs ~ and redoing them obsessively until they were perfect. I don’t remember if there was anything I wanted and didn’t get, except a sister.

Gratitude: I am grateful that FedEx delivered all my stuff and that I managed to connect the new Spectrum equipment without any glitches (except for my Roku being slower). My daughter asked if you only had to plug it in. WELL YES, but I am extremely talented at messing up the simplest things. She should know that!

Thirteen in Ten

Gatsby looking peeved (my photo)

1. I'm participating in John Holton's Writer's Workshop today by writing 10 sentences about 13 peeves, and yes this intro sentence counts, which means I have only 9 sentences left for the peeves.

2. It annoys me that there's cheese on everything lately ~ I mean, I like cheese, but I don't need it all the time, especially on a salad, and I wish the default was no cheese/ ask for cheese instead of the opposite.

3. I am turned off from romance novels that (a) are written in first person; (b) are written in present tense; and (c) use spilled food or drink as the "meet-cute" (this is 4 peeves now in 3 sentences for anyone who is keeping track aka me).

4. I'm mad at the incredibly stupid algorithm designer who decided that if I bought, say, an automatic cat feeder, then I need to see a million more automatic cat feeders everywhere I wander on the internet because obviously I want to buy a new automatic cat feeder every damn day.

5. I don't want a romance novel or romcom hero who is (a) grumpy or silent; (b) wallowing in pain from a lost love; or (c) rudely sarcastic, since none of those things are the least bit attractive.

6. It's irritating that all the gift wrap on Amazon is sold in these weirdly sized pieces that don't actually fit any normal gift box (this is peeve number 9, like the love potion).

7. Did Don Francisco's think that no one would notice if they made their coffee cans 2 ounces smaller and "didn't raise the price?"

8. I always stand to the side and wait a polite few seconds before stepping onto an elevator in case people are coming out, but now they're all texting or whatever oblivious thing and don't come out, so I end up stepping in, stepping back, and saying excuse me when it's their fucking fault. 

9. I'm so annoyed at how increasingly inconvenienced we are with all these jump-through-hoops ID methods (that are still imperfect) because apparently it's not possible to catch (and execute!) scammers, hackers, fraudsters, and all the other criminals who prey on us online.

10. As always, I hate litterbugs, particularly those who dump furniture and mattresses in our trash area instead of getting rid of it properly or fling their garbage on the ground because they're too damn lazy to open the gate and toss it in the bin (and that's 13 peeves in 10 sentences, woohoo, almost as good as 88 lines about 44 women).

Two for Tuesday: Movies Again

 

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

1. Two if By Sea (1996). This romcom stars Sandra Bullock (Roz), one of my favorite actors, and Denis Leary (Frank). Yaphet Kotto (RIP) plays a detective (O'Malley), and you might remember him in the dual roles of Dr. Kanaga and Mr. Big from Live and Let Die, as well as many other roles over the years, Bill Bennett directs. Frank is a small-time Boston thief who steals a $4M painting he plans to hand over to "Phill the Shill," a big-time criminal who is presumed dead by most in law enforcement, except for O'Malley (who has a personal vendetta against Phill). Roz is a bookstore clerk and Frank's long-suffering girlfriend, who wants Frank to give up his criminal ways and become a legit citizen/ husband/ father, but in the meantime she helps him because she's a lot smarter than he is.

Frank decides to make a long weekend out of the art thievery escapade, so he and Roz end up crashing at an unoccupied house in a ritzy area, where Roz meets a wealthy, handsome neighbor who falls in love with her, and she considers dumping Frank. There are some funny side characters, including Michael Badalucco, who has been in a zillion movies. I wouldn't say this is great romcom, but there are some laughs, and Sandra is always enjoyable. I watched this on Netflix over the July 4th weekend.

2. Ladies First (2026). This movie would have been hilarious on July 4, 1986, but it felt dated as a new movie. It stars Sasha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike, and it's directed by Thea Sharrock. Charles Dance costars, and you may remember him as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones. I certainly do! The acting is top notch, but the premise that a misogynistic bully male boss hits his head and is magically transported to a parallel world where women are in charge feels a bit "been there done that" to me. There are many funny moments at first, but they soon grow repetitive and stale. We get it, OK: everyone wants to be respected, yada yada. The idea that a man would feel bad about being treated like a sex object by women doesn't really work because I don't think most men would feel bad! The movie should have focused more on gender-based pay disparities, which isn't dated because it's still happening, but I guess that's not as funny as penile implants. 

Usually, I don't bother reviewing movies I don't like, but I did watch Ladies First to the end and figured it deserved a bit of a write-up since it's new and being hyped on Netflix.

Two for Tuesday: Movies

 

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

I watched a few movies over the holiday weekend and will present two reviews here. I don’t generally review movies I dislike or don’t watch until the end, so these are ones I enjoyed, at least somewhat. 

1. Fatale (2020), a psychological thriller directed by Deon Taylor, starring Michael Ealy and Hilary Swank. This movie received mixed reviews with many on the negative side, and maybe if I had seen it in a theater I would have been disappointed, but I didn’t, so I wasn’t. The basic premise is similar to Fatal Attraction, where a married man tries to have a no strings attached one-night stand, but… complications ensue. In Derrick’s case, his hookup in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas, but instead turned out to be the detective who is assigned to his home invasion. Whoops. Oh, and it turns out she’s an unhinged lunatic who tries to frame him for murder. Some of the twists are predictable, but others are fun, and overall it kept my attention. (Netflix.)

2. Speaking of Michael Douglas (Fatal Attraction), by amazing coincidence he starred in the second movie I watched on Netflix: And So It Goes. This 2014 romcom was directed by the late, great Rob Reiner and also starred Diane Keaton. It’s not your typical romantic comedy since the protagonists are in their 60s, but it contains the usual elements of a grumpy real estate guy, a sad but sweet heroine, a precocious child who charms everyone, and a bunch of semi-wacky side characters, including RR himself. The excellent acting made up for the cliched storyline, and I enjoyed it.

Happy Tuesday!

Here We Go Again

Cast of Mamma Mia Here We Go Again 

I’m participating in Jim Adams’ Thursday Inspiration today, in which he asks for a song about the struggle with the temptation of getting back together with an ex. Welp, that’s one of the major themes in the Mamma Mia movies, so how could I resist discussing them yet again? 

In the first movie, Donna (played by Meryl Streep) is shocked to discover that not one, not two, but three of her exes have arrived on the island the day before her daughter’s wedding. Sophie (Donna’s daughter, played by Amanda Seyfried) found the three names in a 21 year old diary that Donna had kept the summer she became pregnant with Sophie, and Sophie knew that one of them must be her father. Sophie wanted to find him to make her wedding “perfect,” and she assumed she’d know him the moment she saw him, but she doesn’t. Donna tries to keep her distance from these guys, especially Sam (played by Pierce Brosnan), who was the one she truly loved, while the other two were flings. It’s a struggle that she ultimately loses because she just can’t resist him. Who could? I mean, Pierce Brosnan! Double Oh Seven! Hear Donna sing “Mamma Mia” as she gives in to temptation.

The second MM movie depicts Donna’s life during that fateful summer when she meets the three young men while traveling around Europe, and here young Donna is played brilliantly by Lily James. After she falls for Sam on a remote Greek island and spends a week with him, she discovers that he is engaged to another woman back home. Donna’s two besties travel to the island to console her, and Donna ends up singing “Mamma Mia” with them in a cafe as she attempts to shake off her heartbreak (the three women have been a “girl power” band since their college days). Here’s that version.

There are other second chance love stories in MM. Rosie (one of Donna’s friends) gives Bill (one of the possible fathers) a second chance after he cheats on her because he’s changed, supposedly. Ruby (Donna’s mom) and Fernando (the hotel manager) go for round two after being separated for decades due to war. Even Sophie and her boyfriend Sky reunite after a break when Sky was considering taking a job in New York.

It’s funny about second chances. When they work out, as they did for Donna and Sam in the first MM, we say oh how wonderful they forgave each other and made a new start. When they don’t work out, as in all my cases, we say how could you be such an idiot to forgive him? Perhaps they only work out in fiction…

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.

Underdog (April A2Z ~ Misty Memories)

 

Me in Buffalo, NY, around 1964

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 U for Underdog.

When I was little, I loved TV, cartoons especially. I vaguely remember watching cartoons when we lived in Buffalo; I definitely remember Saturday morning cartoons when we moved to Tarrytown. Even as I grew up, I still loved them: Underdog, Rocky & Bullwinkle (and Boris & Natasha), Yogi Bear (and all his Jellystone Park friends), Tennessee Tuxedo, the Pink Panther, Magilla Gorilla, the Roadrunner (meep! meep!), the Flintstones, etc. As I mentioned before, I enjoyed the Brady Bunch... also the Partridge Family, the Munsters, the Addams Family, a Family Affair, the Courtship of Eddie's Father, and of course I Dream of Jeannie, That Girl, and Bewitched. Together with my mom, I liked to watch Star Trek, Dallas, and "Creature Feature" scary movies. Am I mixing these shows up chronologically? That's how misty memories are... like a pile of photos in a box you pull out randomly.

As a teen, I regularly tuned into Eight is Enough, One Day at a Time, Happy Days, Gilligan's Island, All in the Family and all the spinoffs, and the game shows. I don't think there was any game show I passed up ~ if it was on, I watched it. My favorites were Match Game, Hollywood Squares, Family Feud, the Price is Right, and Let's Make a Deal. Detective shows were high on my list as well: Columbo, Hart to Hart, McMillian and Wife, Magnum P.I., the Rockford Files, etc. Variety shows! Carol Burnett, Sonny & Cher, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Hee-Haw, Laugh-In (which my dad loved too). Love American Style! What a fun show that was. I didn't care much for ongoing dramas at this time; I preferred for a storyline to be complete when the show was over (with a few exceptions).

After we moved to California in 1983, I immediately became addicted to MTV. We didn't have it back in Chicago at that point due to some political shenanigans or whatever (I don't remember why). For hours I would be mesmerized by all the music videos ~ it was the greatest thing ever. Until I got bored and never watched MTV again, but that took a while. Now, in my later 20s/30s, I began to enjoy the dramas. LA Law was one of my favorites. When my girls were little, I didn't watch much TV of my own choosing; I watched the fun/ educational children's shows with them, and my ex and I rented movies for the evening. Then came the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and of course the greatest show of all time, Breaking Bad.

I've lost my taste for "TV" though, whatever that means these days. Most movies and series are completely boring or stupid, and I can't bear watching them. The few that I love, I rewatch repeatedly, such as the Mamma Mia movies, Walking on Sunshine, the Hating Game, 27 Dresses, You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Grease, Miss Congeniality, Young Frankenstein, Chicago, etc. Some may argue that the movies on my love-list are stupid, and to that I say... pffft. The heart wants what the heart wants. I would rather read most of the time anyway than stare at some dumb new romcom or mystery miniseries. That said, around the holidays, I like to watch the most sugary, predictable Christmas romances. Why? I don't know. They usually involve baking.

Sorry for not italicizing titles. There are just too many of them here.

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.

Weekend Recap

Happy last day of November. I had a fun friendsgiving, which included several board games, but my opinion of Thanksgiving food, even if perfectly prepared, remains unchanged: I don’t like it. I especially dislike turkey and do not eat any of it (chicken is fine, I like chicken, but everybody else wants turkey). Stuffing can be tasty, but only the way my mommy made it. Green beans and mashed potatoes are okay, but why bother? Now, I do enjoy a baked sweet potato with butter, but I don’t want them all syruped up in a casserole. Yuck. Then we come to the pie ~ I love pie! Why can’t I just have pie? I brought an apple crumb pie from The Flaky Apple Pie Company, baked it at the host’s house, and it was utterly delicious! Everyone loved it. Next year I’m getting cherry. Every pie they make is wonderful. If it were up to me, I would have an all-pie and only-pie Thanksgiving.

I have been trying to watch season two of A Man on the Inside, but I keep falling asleep. Maybe I shouldn’t put it on at 10pm when I am already in bed. I did watch the entirety of Red Joan, a Netflix WW2 drama about “the bomb,” starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson, both playing a British woman Joan Stanley at different ages. The story is loosely based on the life of a KGB spy and depicts Joan as a naive Cambridge physics student who becomes sympathetic toward communism due to her boyfriend’s influence. After graduation, she works in a nuclear research facility and passes information to the Soviets via her boyfriend’s sister. Normally I do not watch anything set in this time period, but I love Judi, and the premise sounded interesting, so I did. It was fabulous! I highly recommend it. 

I watched couple of Christmas romcoms too, which weren’t bad, but they were completely forgettable, so I can’t tell you what they were without going to my watch history… and I CBA. I am planning to see Song Sung Blue at the theater with game friends on Christmas Day and The Housemaid with book club peeps later that weekend. Looking forward to those as well as seeing my family for Chanukah. I did a puzzle on Friday; it was only 500 pieces, so I completed it in a few hours. I think I prefer those as opposed to the 1000 pieces ones, which take several days or a week. I am trying not to spend so much time reading the news and social media, except for my FB book club group, so solo games are a good distraction.

I have a lot of social plans coming up, the idea of which stresses me out a bit, even when I deliberately set it all in motion. To ease my anxiety, I spent too much money on Black Friday sales as well as other stuff I “needed.” Now I’m stressed about that instead. I console myself with the thought that I could have spent even more but didn’t. The nice thing is that most of my stuff will be arriving in separate packages, so I will have several fun mail-opening events, woohoo. 

As far as books, I guess I took a little break ~ the last book I read was on November 26. That was What She Saw by Mary Burton, a solid mystery novel, to which I awarded four stars. Yesterday I began a John Grisham novel, The Brethren, which is mildly intriguing, and I will probably finish it. I have several of his in my TBR pile. I’m trying to understand why I don’t fling this book into my DNF donation bag as opposed to all the romances and thrillers that have been so flung, and I guess it’s simply because he’s a better writer. His characters in this book are not likable, but they hold my attention regardless, and the plot threads make me wanna find out what happens and how they tie together. Is it worth noting that Grisham narrates in third person past tense, which is how books should be written, instead of the first person head hopping present tense atrocities we keep seeing in new fiction? Yes, there are exceptions, and I have enjoyed some FPHHPT novels, but that’s despite the FPHHPT not because of it. 

Tomorrow is weigh-in day for Inky and me!

Regarding Meet Cutes

If you’re a fan of romance novels and/or romcoms, then you know about the meet cutes. We all probably have our own favorites… mine tend to be the ones that hinge on mistaken identity. For example, in Nobody Wants This, Joanne starts talking to Noah at a party and mentions that there’s an old rabbi at the event, but of course Noah is the (hot, young) rabbi. That was funny! I enjoy when people’s assumptions are smashed and they have to adjust their views and expectations. I even like when it happens to me IRL because that’s all part of learning and growing, and I am not done yet.

However! There’s one type of meet cute I absolutely despise, and unfortunately it’s the most popular one. It occurs with astonishing regularity in both novels and movies, and every time I see it, it makes me cringe. Lately, I’ve been DNFing any book or show where it happens, although I am finishing a romance currently that has one of these annoyances because it’s for my book club.

Have you guessed what it is?

It’s the clumsy, spill some food/ beverage or a bag of groceries meet cute where one of the protagonists (and almost invariably the woman) trips and dumps out her coffee or whatever and the hero naturally has to help her clean it up. Then she is super embarrassed while he stays calm and helpful. If it’s a bag of groceries, some feminine product will be on display to make everything even more awkward. Ughhh. I hate this so much!

Yes, I have used it, but that was a long time ago before I decided it was way overused and awful. Lazy writing! And I have been a lazy writer at times, especially when I write to prompts in a hurry. That’s another reason why I am sticking to my vow of not writing any new fiction or poetry unless I feel it’s good. 

The Life of an Office Girl

My eldest daughter and I drove up to see youngest and kiddos yesterday, hoping that traffic would be lighter on Columbus Day. It wasn’t. We still had fun painting rocks, having lunch, and playing. My granddaughter had discovered the American Girl doll catalog and showed me the one she wants for her birthday next June. Like a five star restaurant, AG does not list prices in their catalog, so I looked it up on Amazon later. When my girls were little, I decided that AG was too expensive; however, I am OK with buying one of these dolls for my granddaughter even though they’re still super pricey. LOL

Eldest played Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl on our drive to and from Los Angeles. Now, I consider myself neutral on TS ~ her music is for the most part (to me) pretty, bland, and boring with a few fun exceptions like “Shake It Off.” I understand she does a great live show, but I am not into loud, crowded $$$ concerts and prefer to enjoy music at home or while driving. On social media, one is supposed to either adore or despise TS, but I can’t get so emotional about a celeb. I did have fun with an FB friend the other day mocking the cringey lyrics to “Wood,” but I admit that I enjoyed TS's new song “Opalite.” The rest of the tracks fell into the PB&B category, including the ode to Travis’ penis.

Working backwards, Sunday I enjoyed a romcom on Prime called Maintenance Required, which was similar to You’ve Got Mail, but with cars instead of books. While I will always love YGM, this flick had much hotter-looking stars who had palpable physical chemistry ~ Madelaine Petsch and Jacob Scipio. The chemistry between Kathleen (Meg Ryan) and Joe (Tom Hanks) in YGM was more verbal/ intellectual, while Maintenance Required felt more "realistic." It won't become a regular in my romcom rotation, but it was a nice treat.

I binge-read two thrillers by Jason Rekulak: Hidden Pictures and The Last One at the Wedding. I gave a five-star rating to each of these! HP had supernatural elements, but they were consistent and didn't end up creating more questions than they answered. The narrative style was first person, present tense, which is generally not my favorite, but it worked in both of these. HP had a young woman narrating; the wedding novel had a man in his 50s, both completely believable. The narration pulled me right into the story and kept me hooked throughout. The twists in each were completely unexpected, but not deus ex machina. They made sense in retrospect. 

I watched the new Superman movie at a friend's house on Saturday. I liked it as much any movie of that genre (i.e., not much), but it was fun to have dinner with friends and play some board games. Sunday, I did more rock painting with the book club gals, and we also had lunch. Good times. I didn't even mind being social for three days in a row! Well, maybe family doesn't count.

That's it for my exciting recap. I am now back in the office the rest of the week.

Everything Is Exhausting

We're supposed to boycott Chobani yogurt now, along with Amazon, Target, TwiX, Facebook, Disney/ Hulu, etc. Oh, Disney is OK. Too late for me because my Hulu special is over, and I've cancelled before the price quadruples. It's all too exhausting. I admire people who can keep up with all the things and stay motivated/ involved. People who attend marches and volunteer at phone banks. People who are willing to drive out of their way and spend more money to support indie shops. I wish I had the energy to do more and feel good about myself, but I am just too tired after working, chores, family, friends. I also wish I could just accept myself with all my flaws and quit feeling that I am not enough. You would think by this age I'd be over all that sort of angst, but I still struggle with it. 

One thing I have finally accepted is that I am never going to be much of a writer. I have no interest in marketing what I've already written, and I don't have the inspiration to create new work. Also, I don't want to monetize my internet rambles either. Similarly, with a few exceptions, I don't want to pay to read other people's meanderings. There is very little online or in social media that's worth a paying subscription in my opinion, and I'd rather just read free stuff or actual books. I changed my mind and decided to keep my Kindle Unlimited subscription after all because I do read a lot of novels and love always having a bunch of new books to choose from, and a bulky pile of library books is much less convenient.

This morning I had two more vaccines ~ flu and TDAP. I already had the new Covid jab. While reading a friend's FB post, I realized I had the older form of the shingles vaccine in 2020, which only lasts five years, so I will be updating to Shingrix soon, which is given in two doses two to six months apart. So far, my insurance is still paying 100% for vaccines, despite our current HHS's antagonism toward them. 

I've come to the conclusion that I don't like Lucy Hale movies, except for The Hating Game (Netflix), which I absolutely adore. I tried watching Which Brings Me to You on Hulu last night, and it was so horrible I turned it off. There were a couple others I started because I loved her so much in THG, but they were also terrible. Lucy is still adorable and funny; it's the scripts that suck, which is not her fault. I did watch Swiped starring Lily James (Hulu), and that was excellent! I highly recommend it. Tonight I saw The Wrong Paris on Netflix, which was recommended in my romcom subreddit, and it was super cute. I loved how they totally mocked the Bachelor franchise. I'm not even bothering to check out the new Golden Bachelor on Hulu before my subscription expires, as I've lost interest in the entire thing.

Idk how people have the energy to exercise after working all day and doing chores on weekends. I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate more physical movement into my day, but by the time I do, I'll probably be retired.

Happy September

I canceled most of my long weekend plans due to the beastly heat wave, which worsens my migraines. I'm glad I did that because my headaches have been manageable indoors. Later today, my friend L is coming over to hang out/ play games, so that will be nice. I read a psychological thriller ~ They Never Learn by Layne Fargo. This flips the usual male serial killer motif to a woman, which is fun, although the plot gets more and more preposterous as the story goes on. I enjoy a killer who outwits the police as opposed to one who mainly depends upon law enforcement's indifference or incompetence. Alas, we can't have everything in one novel (usually). Since the story and characters mostly intrigued me, and I loved the ending, I gave it 3.5 stars in my reading journal (rounded up to 4.0 on Goodreads because you can't do halves there), which I began today to keep better track of the books I read. 

I recommend the psycho thriller The Devil Inside by Mark David Abbott. It's another turnabout type of story with an abused husband this time. He plots revenge upon his horrible wife, with a shocking twist at the end segueing into the sequel Flipped, which is told from the wife's POV. I gave Devil four stars and Flipped three. Flipped wasn't as fun because it was basically a retelling of Devil with a bit extra, but if you read Devil, you kinda have to read Flipped!

I started The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix the other day and found it too boring to finish despite the stellar cast. I did finish Rent a Groom (Prime), which is the tired old story of a couple "fake dating" (or engaged) due to family pressure or whatever, but then (surprise!) they fall for each other. There are some funny moments. A Perfect Match on Prime is another snoozer I managed to get through without DNFing. The premise is a bit different: a woman who runs a dating site matches herself with someone whom she decides is wrong for her because they're so different re pizza toppings or some shit, so she tries to tweak the site's algorithm to get her "perfect match," but as it turns out... you guessed it. I have noticed something weird about Prime romcoms (not the "famous" ones, but random romcoms I never heard of before with actors I don't know): there is like zero physical affection. I don't think the leads even kissed during the two movies I just mentioned! 

Back to Netflix. I watched the first episode of S2 of With Love, Meghan and enjoyed it. Idk what people expect from a show like this, but it was fun to see her whip up some delicious looking onion tarts and PB smores, plus dye a few scarves in pretty color combos. I will probably watch the whole season, as I did S1, though admittedly I sometimes fell asleep before the end of an ep. I also began the series On the Waterfront, which is a family/ crime drama about some peeps in Florida who start running drugs to save the family biz from bankruptcy. It's interesting enough to keep watching, but I stopped after one ep and will resume later, maybe tonight.

I DNF'd a whole bunch of books this week. There are so many TBR, and I have limited time (both daily and overall, given my age), that there is no point in wasting precious hours on ones that don't grab me from the start. I donated some physical books to my local library; others I plan to theme up in holiday gift baskets. As far as my Kindle, I bumped the unwanted ones off my TBR list by marking them read, as opposed to deleting them entirely (in case I change my mind), but I think that caused Goodreads to count them as read too, which I told it not to do. GR says I read 208 books this year, which is ridiculous because at most I finish 12 per month, including short stories and novellas, which GR counts as finished books. 

Whatever. I am trying to avoid obsessing over trivia and to quit deleting everything that irritates me in an impulsive purge. It's an ongoing process...

TNT

I refer, of course, to Taylor and Travis and the proposal heard ‘round the world. On cue, a bunch of folks have been grumping that they couldn’t care less and why are these celebs getting so much attention when there are real problems to focus on?

Welp, maybe that is why. Idk about you, but I would rather see a pic of Tay Tay’s enormous ring than be tortured with yet another photo of our disgusting POTUS gloating over his latest grift. Or read that his hideous minions threaten to unleash our own military on us if we don’t praise him. Or see more fake pics of “starving children in Gaza.” Or cry over the gloom and doom economists announcing that we’re not going to have any retirement benefits. Or be sickened by another school shooting, but be cautioned that we mustn’t upset the 2A wackadoos by considering restrictions on gun ownership. 

Whoops, I forgot that I don’t like to mention politics.

I am happy that TNT seem to have found blissful love. More love in the world is a good thing. I was happy to read about Meghan and Harry’s engagement/ wedding way back when too, and I don’t understand the psychos who latch onto every article about them so they can spew hate in the comments. When I come across a story about a celeb I dislike, you know what I do? Move on without reading it. Apparently, Kate is blonde now, so I wanna see pics of her new hair. Strangely, I can enjoy articles about both Kate and Meghan without feeling a need to “take sides.”

I recently posted on FB that I am still amazed at friends who waste time on trolls. People say it amuses them to mock trolls. Others say it’s very important for peeps to read their reasoned response to a troll, for as we all know, our minds are often changed by internet logic. There are those who refuse on principle to block or unfriend anyone, so we get to see all this garbage in their posts. Yada. Social media is such a drag, including Bluesky, Reddit, Substack, etc. All are boring 99% of the time. I’m even bored with the cute pics on IG.

Most tv shows and movies are the SOS, which is why I would rather rewatch something I know I like than sit through some dreck just because it’s new. But I still do that sometimes, and occasionally I experience a good result, such as recently with The Hunting Wives ~ but I only tried that because Malin Anderson is the sister in 27 Dresses, which I love and may have seen 27 times! I put on the Mamma Mia movies for the zillionth time last week and will probably rewatch The Hating Game soon (I did take a chance on that one because I loved the book). I do like to check out new books. Most are mediocre at best, but I try to rate them fairly on Goodreads regardless. Since I already pay for Kindle Unlimited and belong to the local library, I don’t want to pay for books, unless they’re under five bucks. 

If I sound like an old crabby cat lady, it is because I am an old crabby cat lady. 

Off to see if they’ve chosen a wedding venue yet!

Dog Days

It hasn't been that hot here, relatively speaking, but I still feel the lethargy of August. I don't feel like doing much, going anywhere, or exercising (though the last one is normal for any month). I have no desire to get back to any of my WIPs, paint, or start anything new. I simply consume: books movies, social media. Let others produce the content because I CBA. Blogging is different. It's like keeping a diary, and I have no problem rambling on about nothing. I did 99 notarizations at work on Friday, and my hand has been killing me since. Plot twist! It's my left hand that hurts not my right, which is weird. Maybe it's the way I hold my notary journal open with my left hand while I write with my right? No clue.

Last week I read a silly thriller by Samara Cove called How to Make Your Neighbors Disappear. It's a fast, fun story of six neighbors in Silent Ridge Road who all have dark secrets and many of whom have no problem committing murders or other felonies to advance their goals. Nothing deep or meaningful here, just a bunch of creepy characters who slither through the pages. I enjoyed it. Three stars. I have DNF'd a bunch of other novels I downloaded on my Kindle because there are so many, and if even one thing irritates me about the writing, I am immediately out. 

I watched this supercute romcom on Prime Saturday afternoon ~ Match Me If You Can. I made sure to give it a thumbs-up in hopes that Prime will suggest more movies like this instead of the usual garbage they shovel at me (same goes for Netflix and Hulu). This is a 2023 film directed by Marian Yeager, the screenplay by Betsy Morris. It stars Georgina Riley as Kit Parsons, a supposedly undesirable "nerd," but she's actually beautiful and would have no problem finding a man in real life. Her counterpart, Riley Detamore (played by Wilson Bethel) is also an adorable, successful "nerd" whom plenty of women would probably like to date in reality. That's OK. These movies are fantasies, so I go with the flow. I enjoyed the premise of this one, which is that when Kit drunkenly and impulsively signs up for a dating site (owned by Riley), she receives a message that she has no matches and should get a dog instead. She then begins a campaign of trashing the dating company on her blog, goes viral (as it always happens with fictional blogs), and gets a restraining order from the dating company. She's set up by an unethical podcaster who tricks her into breaking the gag order, so she ends up spending a night in jail and going to court. The outcome is sweet and cute; Kit even gets revenge on her mean boss. The whole movie is just wriggly with happiness like a new puppy, and sometimes I just need that in my entertainment.

I also watched I Want You Back on Prime, which I also liked a lot! Two in a row, woohoo. Directed by Jason Orley, written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, this one stars Jenny Slate and Charlie Day as two brokenhearted thirty-somethings (Emma and Peter) who work in the same building and are dumped out of the blue. They find each other sobbing on the stairs, become friends, and decide to team up to break up their exes' new relationships. Jenny tries to seduce Logan, who is now seeing Peter's ex Anne, while Peter hires Emma's ex Noah as his personal trainer, and as they hang out, Peter tries to get Noah to be unfaithful to his new girlfriend Ginny. The twists and turns are fun, and I really dig that all these folks seem "ordinary." They have regular jobs, and none are over the top beautiful. They're just people, trying to navigate changes in their lives, and coming to terms with the idea that maybe what they had before wasn't so great after all. Really well done.

That's all. Taking my friend L out for Thai food tonight as a belated birthday dinner. Looking forward to seeing her and having some yummies.

I'm Too Old For This...

No, I'm not talking about THAT. (OK, that too.) I'm talking about social media. You would think after all these years I'd have a clue, but I don't. Let's take Facebook, which is so impossible. I mostly hang out there for my book club, but the notifications are so screwed up that it's hard to keep track of things, which I have to because I am one of the coordinators. I will be reading a group thread, trying to make sense of it chronologically so I can award points to members for various things, but the fucking site refreshes every 11 seconds so I have to keep starting over. ARGH!

I've mentioned Bluesky before. I like to keep a presence there, though I am not sure why. You can't really get to know anyone via skeets (the new "tweets"), and since I don't want to be super political in public, I avoid most of those posts, which are in fact most of the posts. Even when I agreed with one of my moots last week, some other person swooped in and attacked me out of the blue. FOR NOTHING! We basically are in agreement; she just got all bent because I said I was pausing political donations as they don't seem to do any good. We went back and forth for a while, which was ridiculous. Arguing on the internet is always a giant time sink, but if someone starts with me, well, you know how I am. 

This blog is technically public, but no new peeps seem to find it (so far), so I feel I can say whatever the fuck I want. Not that I do. But I could! In any case, comments are always held for moderation, so even if some troublemaker popped up, I would nuke their comment before it saw the light of day. Bluesky is 100% public however, and if you want to moderate, you have to do it yourself by blocking bunches of folks, which is tedious. I imagine I will spend less and less time there, though in its favor there are still no ads, yay. (Besides all the other issues, FB is insane with ads.)

IG is OK. Cute animal pics but lots of ads.

I recently revved up my Reddit account, but I had been so inactive for so long I didn't realize the site is swarming with fake accounts looking for karma points by posting pics of cats that aren't theirs, etc. Or they spin up some elaborate fictional problem in order to get "advice," which creates churn, and idk what. How does this benefit them? Do the points eventually turn into money? What's going on? Today I deleted a comment I made on a "name my kitty" thread when it was pointed out that the post was a scam, and when I visited the OP's profile, it was all pr0n. Ugh. It makes reading the site unappealing now.

Substack is just as confusing as it was the last time I tried it. I'm not sure what the difference is between following someone and subscribing to them for free, though I do understand that free subscribers might not see everything someone posts if they have monetized themselves. I'm not sure what a "note" is vs an article. I can't figure out how to have my own "publication" there like other people do. I don't see that option when I post a poem or whatever. It just appears under my account name "Lightmotifs," which I changed from Paula Light because Paula Light certainly does not sound like the name of a publication. But other people there have their name showing and the name of their publication/s too. 

Whatever. At least there are some nice, thoughtful articles on Substack as opposed to the dopey memes I see everywhere else.

I still like blogging best, even if I have only a handful of readers. I appreciate you!

I watched a couple of old movies recently. I used to think "old movies" meant black and white film noir or Elvis Presley musicals from the 1960s, but it turns out that the 1990s were a long time ago too. Gah. The first one was Clueless, which is appropriate for this post. It's a 1995 film written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and it supposedly developed a cult following. You know, for a silly romcom, it is a delightful movie. Alicia Silverstone plays her part (Cher) to perfection, and Paul Rudd is great as Josh, Cher's love interest. Wallace Shawn is hilarious as the history/debate teacher who won't change Cher's grade until she makes him happy by coaxing him into a love match with another teacher. Dan Hedaya, who plays Cher's father, has the role of Nixon in the movie Dick, and I love that crazy film so much. Supposedly, this is a modern take on Jane Austen's Emma, which I haven't read, but I did see the movie adaption starring Gwyneth Paltrow. I liked it, but Clueless was more fun.

Next I watched Betsy's Wedding (1990), which was written and directed by Alan Alda, who also stars as Betsy's dad Eddie Hopper. This movie has a fabulous cast! Besides Alda, there's Madeline Khan (RIP) as Betsy's mom, Joe Pesci (RIP) as Eddie's corrupt brother-in-law, Molly Ringwald as Betsy, and Ally Sheedy as Betsy's sister Connie the cop. Anthony LaPaglia is my favorite though ~ he plays Stevie Dee, a mob guy sent to keep an eye on Eddie's construction project, but instead he falls for Connie. I guess this film didn't get such good reviews, and both Molly and Ally were nominated for "raspberry" awards, though idk why. They were fine, and the movie was enjoyable overall. I mean, it is a romcom, so idk what people were expecting.

More book reviews soon, though I have been slacking at reading lately so they won't be coming as fast for a while. 

Midafternoon Musings

[I began this post midafternoon, but only wrote one paragraph. I finished it later at night.]

I stopped watching Dept. Q because it was nonstop downersauce. The acting was great, but every aspect of the various storylines was depressing, especially the one where a woman was being tortured for years. In a weird way, the realistic vibe worked against it for me. I would rather discover a show that’s darkly fun and completely unbelievable (like Manifest) as opposed to a series like Q that feels as if it could have happened.

IDK... I get that it's important to learn and grow from art, to expand one's perspective, etc., but I still come back to the fact that real life is depressing enough (my god, have you seen the news? nonstop horror!), and so I would like my entertainment to be, well, entertaining. I want love and romance and music and fun, not death and despair and torture and disasters. Ugh. And, as I noted above, if something is dark, then let it be a fantasy rather than something trying to mirror reality. That's just me.

Honestly, I think I might start watching the Christmas romcoms again in August. Those are guaranteed to be silly and upbeat. The great thing about them is that there are always new ones with new twists, but they all have a happy ending.

I read The Sublet by Greer Hendricks (short mystery) and gave it only two stars. I have nothing much to say about it other than it didn't interest me. I also read The Legend of the Seventh Virgin by Victoria Holt (historical romance novel) and gave it five stars. Yeah, from one extreme to the other. This was probably my favorite (or at least one of) VH's books. It was so involved, with such impressively complex characters and interesting (unexpected) twists. Just wow. I am so impressed by VH the more I reread her, especially compared to other more contemporary authors who don't dive deeply into their characters.

It's now past the date (July 27) when I can "return" Inky and trade her for another kitty without paying a new fee, and I can't even imagine. I already love her so much and consider her a family member. She is so sweet and adorable with the cutest quirks. I'm so happy we found each other! Yes, I still miss Gatsby and always will. He remains in my heart with my mom and others I have loved.

This week I am enjoying Substack more and Bluesky less. We'll see if that continues.