get me off this crazy thing

For weeks I've been meaning to post! Everything is pretty okay on my end, though still in that weird WFH limbo of sameness that I dislike the most from this pandemic. As much as I hated the Trump administration at least it gave me something to push against during this weird time, but now I am just like Tuesday what is Tuesday?

It's not even Tuesday, it's Thursday. What the hecking heck. The weeks are only separated by my horseback riding lessons on Saturdays -- I still work on Saturdays to take the edge off of the workload -- and the fact that I hibernate more than usual on Sundays lol.

Tonight I am going to go see Jungle Cruise and am excite about it. Never enough Dwayne the Rock Johnson in my opinion.

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All right. I've watched some TV recently.

( Hannibal )

( Agents of Shield )

( Leverage: Redemption )

Okay that's enough yammering.

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I went to see Black Widow 3 times in the theaters and I don't regret it at all. It is now among my favorite MCU films, joining The Winter Soldier and Thor Ragnarok.

I also went to see The Green Knight which is a trip. I don't know what the heck I watched. It's beautiful though. And Dev Patel is so handsome in it. Stunning visual film.

The other day I realized I hadn't updated since the whole chicken pox (mis)adventure. I survived! Mostly. Still covered in fading spots. Meanwhile, life continues to be....interesting. And by interesting I mean varying degrees of stressful.

Hopefully there will be some fannish content in this post.

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( the chickenpox experience )

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( saying goodbye -- possibly triggery for some, click with caution )

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( Mom has to add her own special twist to things )

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( friend dynamics -- why am I the only adult here. this is a lot of complaining about my friends. feel free to skip this too! )

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Okay, now for some more fun stuff.

Anyway, I went to see Assassination Nation last week and I can't stop thinking about it. It's not an easy movie to sit through, though. It is violent, and upsetting. People left right after the first bit where the film has the trigger montage, and then a few more left when the action really got tense. And the theatre only had like 10 of us to begin with. It has every one of those triggers in it. But I honestly think this movie is brilliant. Genius. I want to follow the director around. I love all the actresses. The 4 leads are amazing.

While I was watching, I kept thinking how terrifying it was, like I was watching a horror film. It's not a horror film, but it is. It's not far from our reality right now. It's supposed to be a satire but it feels real. The fact that this movie came out right when that supreme court bs is happening. With trump in office. With all the me too stuff. It is INTENSE. It did not play around. The film goes there. It goes there HARD.

But, just as a spoiler, ( Read more... )

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Ugh, I would like to write more MCU before A4. Can I do it? I DON'T KNOW. WHAT DO I WRITE NEXT. I had a sad Tony & Peter story in mind, but it stalled. Its just so sad! I already made everyone cry buckets with Starborn.

I have a few other ideas (all different pairings) but I might just write two sequels to Starborn Steve/Thor. If real life can just go hide under the bed for a while.

I also have some pro writing I kind of have to pay attention to. I need to get chicken pox again just without the chicken pox so I can have time to write. Time is really my issue here. I just don't have any of it.

I've entered that stage of spoiler avoidance where every image on tumblr is masked before I see it. LOL.

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I am woefully behind on all TV watching. All of it. I went down the Great British Bake Off rabbit hole after getting back from Portland (it was all my friends fault. she's the one that made me watch a couple of episodes while I was visiting her!)

Now I want to bake. I never bake. So I went to Trader Joes and I was like, no problem. Just do something from a box. Like, super easy. So what do I buy??? I bought a box of mug cake. Where you mix water and cake mix into a mug, microwave for 20 seconds, add two caramels, then microwave for another 20 seconds. It's a real thing you can buy and everything.

I want to present this to Paul Hollywood. HAHAHA DIES.

I'm going to graduate to a box of brownies I think.

That mug mix shit was gooooooood.

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I tried to go see Colette today, but 50 minutes into the film one of the theatre employees interrupted the show to announce we all needed to evacuate due to fire alarm. There were a sea of confused, blinking, people standing around wondering what to do in the middle of the day, ousted from their blissful movie-going experience.

In this day and age, you don't mess around with theatre evacuations though. I was like, I'm out.

Colette was lovely, for the little bit I watched.

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I can't stop laughing at this buzzfeed - Images Of Thor That Perfectly Demonstrate What It's Like Having A Period. Don't click if you can't deal with menstruation or periods, but it's just pictures of Thor.

I can't make it to #4 without hyperventilating.

Tomorrow I get on a plane and fly all the way to SPAIN!

This is the plan:

1. board the plane
2. fly to Madrid
3. take a train to Alicante
4. Hang out for 5 days. Eat. Drink. See things. Play on the beach or in the pool. Look fabulous.
5. Fly to Majorca.
6. Hang out for 3 days. Eat. Drink. See things. Play on the beach or in the pool. Look fabulous.
7. Fly back to Madrid.
8. Hang out for 3 days. Eat. Drink. See things. Look fabulous.
9. board the plane back home.
10. SLEEP

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I saw that King Arthur Legend of the Sword movie the other day. What a goofy movie. But, despite it being as far from King Arthur as I've ever seen, I did love the more multicultural cast/knights of the round table thing, and then spent most of the movie marveling at Charlie Hunnum and Aiden Gillen together again on my screen looking even hotter than ever. Like way hotter than in QAF! Especially Charlie who was just barely an adult in QAF. And now Aiden is all charmingly crinkly and silver-foxish. ugh.

Love this bit of an interview I found online with CH.

How did it feel to be acting with Aidan Gillen for the first time since Queer As Folk?

He seemed exactly the same. He has still got a real magic to him and he’s every bit as eccentric and beautiful and weird as he always was. I’ve always been cognisant that I owed Aidan a huge debt of gratitude, being exposed to his level of craftsmanship and integrity at the start of my career. He was a very powerful guiding force to me.

Your scenes together in King Arthur have a lot of innuendo. Was that deliberate?

Ha! Not that I was aware of. What are you referring to?

You tell him: “I want to get my arse out of here.” He tells the others: “Leave him alone with me.” Then you say: “Put your ring back on, Honeytits.”

It hadn’t occurred to me, but you’re right. Maybe Russell (5) came in to do some secret script doctoring on that scene.

<3 <3 <3

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Completely coincidently I swear I finally started watching Sons of Anarchy. Which.... I don't know. I expected to like a lot more than I do, tbh.

I'm hanging in though, muscling my way through. I like some of the characters -- Tara, Opie, Jax, and bizarrely Chibs for some reason. At least so far. I have found I don't tend like a show all the way through usually. Like, I started out loving White Collar and then kind of got annoyed with it well before it ended. It's the rare show that I love from beginning to end, usually because they torpedo the characters. I can count the tv shows I love unconditionally in one hand. (Highlander! Leverage! Star Trek Voyager/Next Gen!... MCU might count if we're counting films. But it's easy to pick and choose with the MCU, and it's not done yet so verdict is still out)

I thought the Shakespeare/Hamlet touches would be an automatic win for me, but really I just find Charming suffocating. And the physical and emotional abuse of women is exhausting to watch. Also, also, they kill like EVERY latina woman on this show I swear. They are always lying dead full of bullet holes.

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Also continuing my habit of only watching TV shows long after they're off the air and everyone is no longer watching anymore and no one gives a damn, enjoying my Amazon subscription I started watching Justified with the every charming Timothy Olyphant. <3

Now, if I didn't already love Timothy for Deadwood and Seth Bullock, I absolutely loved him for his wacky yet devoted portrayal of Joel in The Santa Clarita Diet. One gets the sense that Timothy really loves doing comedy but got somewhat pigeon-holed as the broody western gunslinger type haha.

I'm liking Justified so far, and am amused that I started out hating Boyd but then kind of ended up mostly loving him! Walton Goggins man, who knew. Also I love Tim Gutterson. And Rachel. End of story.

But, this is another show where its possible they're going to make me hate everyone before it ends, or kill people, so we'll see.

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Rebreaking/replotting second novel continues apace. I'm being all fancy and using color coded index cards!

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In other other news, the sister drama continues.

I was planning on emailing her the very helpful suggestions I got from you all and from other friends, but then some even greater fall out occurred between her and my mom, and terrible emails were sent and sister girl seemed even more fragile and in a bad place than before. So, I didn't want to send her another email on top of all that pretending like I didn't know what was going on and also telling her I can't help her. Didn't seem like the time. Anyway, she's not speaking to my mom again. I'm not sure she's speaking to me either. I did email her to wish her a happy birthday and opted not to tell her I'm going to spain. :/

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EEP. It's past 11 AM already. I still have sooooo much to do!

Not only is it 91,000 damn degrees outside today, I am also, shall we say, processing a fair amount of alcohol out of my system. (what the fuck do I gotta put this bitch on? power ranger? this is unacceptable.)

I am currently sequestered in an air-conditioned cafe. I like this place. I'm here a lot. There's a lot of us locals that just hang out here all day. I see the same people mostly. I was telling cesperanza that sometimes this guy is here who looks like he could be Thor. He comes here often and every time I see him I'm like "Oh good, Thor's here."

So, I recently switched from Tumblr Savior to the new xkit extension package because I didn't see an option to hide peoples tags with TS and even people's tags were sending me into stressed out monkey mode. And omg I loooove xkit. (you have to make sure you dl the new xkit as the original one is no longer being updated.)

Like, I want xkit for my daily life. Why can't I have a Blackout list for every day and why can't I mute people??! If I could just select a real live person's menu options and mute them when they speak, things would be golden. And hella amusing.

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I finally went to see Jurassic World the other day and was prepared to be, you know, somewhat entertained, and did not expect that I would actually like it as much as I did. Damn you Pratt. I liked Owen better than Star Lord, although GotG is a better written film.

Also, I went into it expecting some sort of horrid characterization for Claire Dearing, based on the news articles that were everywhere, but I guess my expectations were pretty well low enough haha. I did want to punch whoever thought it would be a good thing to have her in heels the whole time though.

Who ever said they were rooting for the dinosaurs was spot on.

**

I'm sure there was more I wanted to say but I am hampered by my post-martini brain.

**

jesus be a rain drop or central air because I cannot breathe.

I haven't gone to see a movie on opening day since I don't even know how long. But I happened to be free today, and I adored all the previous movies. Also, there's Paul. <3 Something about the loss of Paul has always made me emotional and I'm not sure why, since aside from loving him in the F&F films I wouldn't say I was a fan of his in anything else.

I didn't want much from this film aside from watching them have fun, no one dying that wasn't already dead (fictional or otherwise. I'm STILL upset about Han), and a good goodbye for Paul, and I more than got all of that. Furious 7 was as OTT and ridiculous and fun as I hoped! And it was sad. It wasn't wrenching, though, and for that I am grateful. The ending was lovely and sad.

( More behind the cut. )

It used to be that going to the movies was this big social event. Friends getting together, going to the movies, getting dinner, a drink, etc etc. But now I'm old and don't have the time and the patience and most days my friends and I don't always want to see the same films. So, I've been going by myself and it is AWESOME. It's like one of my new favorite things, to go see a movie all by myself. I love it. I'll go with friends, if someone organizes it, or I'll go with a date or my mom, etc, but more often than not, I go alone. It's cool.

( LUCY )

And then I went to go see ( Snowpiercer )

And then finally, I went to a free screening for ( Guardians of the Galaxy )

Phew. Now I'm tired.

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In other news, I have reached the end of the internet when it comes to Leverage, and specifically, Parker/Hardison/Eliot fiction. :(

I may actually have to write some. The bother!

I love lists.

Anyone who feels like it should post their ten most CRUCIAL CRUCIAL CRUCIAL-ASS movies, like the movies that explain everything about yourselves in your current incarnations (not necessarily your ten favorite movies but the ten movies that you, as a person existing currently, feel would help people get to know you) (they can change later on obviously).

In no particular order:

1. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,
"Talking monkey?"
"Yeah, yeah, talking monkey. Came here from the future. Ugly sucker. Only says 'ficus'."

2. Defending Your Life
"There was one person you were really cheap with, over and over again. I wish you were more generous with him."
"Who?"
"You."

3. The Family Stone
"Hey. Hey you." *throws fork* "I love you. And you're more normal than any other... asshole sitting at this table. OK? OK. I need a fork."

4. The Jacket
"I was 27 years old the first time I died."

"How much time do we have?"

5. Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall (what? they work like 1 film!)
James Bond, tied to a chair: "I've got a little itch... down there... would you mind?"
"No, no, no, no! To the right, to the right, to the right!"
James Bond, tied to a chair: "What makes you think this is my first time?"

6. The Fast and the Furious All 6 movies (what? It's a franchise!)
"You don't turn your back on family, even when they do." (sob. gah. crying now.)

7. Tropic Thunder
"I know who I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!"

8. Ocean's 11
"Thirteen million and you drive this piece of shit across country to pick me up?"
"Blew it all on the suit."

9. Gosford Park
"Do you think he's the murderer?"
"It's worse than that -- he's an actor."

"I've been wanting to do that ever since I first laid eyes on you."

10. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows
"It's not that he can't ride... How is it you put it, Holmes?"
"They're dangerous at both ends and... crafty in the middle. Why would I want anything with a mind of its own bobbing about between my legs?"

Honorary mention to all the Pirates of the Caribbean films. <3 <3

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In other news, it's my birthday. I am celebrating by a) not being at work, b) being lazy, c) going to the barn for my lesson later, and d) going out for drinks afterwards. There will be more "wild" partying this friday, by some definition of "wild."

wahoo!

I actually went to go see it back in december but am now just getting around to writing about it. Such is life.

I have a friend whose opinion I generally respect a great deal, who posted on facebook how much he loathed this film. He's a huge Tolkien fan, and as far as I could remember he loved the first 3 LotR films. And then, I saw many of my online friend's comments on LJ who seemed to really love the film. So I had no idea what to expect! But since I was NOT a fan of the first LotR films, yet I did rather enjoy the first Hobbit film, I really didn't stress my head over it. Long since gone are the days when I cared what Peter Jackson did with these books. But I was curious.

Also, amusedly, since I was a wee kid back when I read The Hobbit the first time, I have always pronounced Smaug like Smog. So, I have been saying to people, "Oh, I'm going to see that Smog film," or "I saw that Smog film. You know, Smog, the dragon," and I get this blank look. haha.

( Random thoughts. I mostly really liked it. )

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In other news, things continue over here. My mother has had a cerebral angiogram so the docs can have a look at her special brain. We hoped this would clear her for general anesthesia so she can have the gallbladder surgery, but no luck. They want another MRI or something. Oi.

Meanwhile, she's planning on going out of the country for a couple of months, so many of these things will have to be delayed.

I bought her an iPad mini for Christmas. Instructing my mother on how to use an iPad has been... fun? lol.

I am... almost done editing. By almost I mean not really done at all, but done with the big stuff anyway. Yay!?

I am also thinking of buying a new car. Soonish.

I fell down the stairs carrying a GIANT bag of laundry and hurt my food. It is nearly all better now, though I have a smallish lump on the side and my toes are still bruised. It was pretty banged up, and as I lay on the ground cursing my first thought was "Oh fuck I can't ride tomorrow," haha. Only, I did ride. I rode on it all bruised and swollen and stuff all that week, because I am a badass. No actually, while it was pretty bad, it was okay to walk on and stuff, so I figured it was okay to ride.

I have been watching Scandal with my mom while she's in town. I never would have watched this if she hadn't wanted to. I am of two minds about this show. I like it sometimes. I mostly like Olivia Pope, I like her team, but then I find it immensely frustrating and ridiculously predictable. I'm too lazy to do another cut tag, so maybe I'll talk about it in anther post sometime.

Here I am with another quick update for you, my most dearest of friends. All you VVC folks, I thought of you all weekend! And knew you were all having a great time and that made me happy. I actually bought a supporting membership, so I'm looking forward to receiving a shiny new DVD.

Unfortunately, there isn't much of fun below the cut, although it's nothing too dire.

( In no particular order: )

In more fannish news...

I went to see Pacific Rim, without realizing it had giant robots and giant lizards in it.... And well, Nathan is all grown up! Mostly I thought the film was a bit exhausting, but good fun. Not at all fannish about it. My biggest complaint, though, is why weren't there any girl/girl teams? wtf.

Then, I also went to watch World War Z, which was super stressful omg! I was basically a pretzel the entire time watching. I liked this film better than Pacific Rim, but it kind of fell apart for me a little at the end, but still, it was pretty cool.

I finished all of Fringe, which was great. ( I was worried )

I also watched all of Game of Thrones, which... I don't know. Am I the only one that has major issues with GoT? Not really enjoying it.

I also started watching Xena on Netflix, which I had never really watched before outside of an episode here or there. It's totally ridiculous, which I knew going in, and you know, mostly I find it a bit of a chore to keep watching actually, but I do love Xena and Gabrielle and they're not-really-text-but-more-than-subtext relationship. It's funny watching all those New Zealand actors popping up right and left...

Tumblr has me almost caving on doing an X-Files rewatch. I've resisted so far... But you know what they say about resistance.

Still happy rewatching Star Trek: Voyager. This show is like a warm, fuzzy blanket. My love for Janeway has pretty much exploded and I'm not sorry. Back in the day, although I always loved her, I wasn't really into reading J/C but now I find myself reading J/C babyfic and god help me WANTING MORE. Yes. Which is only outshone in my desire for Janeway/Paris babyfic, which god help me I WANT EVEN MORE and there's far fewer of it although there is some. Now you know my secret and can judge me accordingly. And although there is one or two J/C/P fics out there, no one has written the fic of my heart. SADNESS.

Aside from controlling my raging star trek voyager addiction, I find myself STILL thinking about the Fast and the Furious films. So far, they've been my favorite thing this summer. I did finally get to see Tokyo Drift, which was a better film than I thought it would be, although the thing that I DO NOT WANT was a harsh reminder at the end. :( I'm too lazy to do another cut tag, but I leave you with this image: Han and Gisele.

FYI, I think Sung Kang is obscenely good looking. Like, holy smokes, mister, do something about that because you're blinding.

Hello, kind friends, how did we get to the end of January already? I have no idea.

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I went to a screening of Coriolanus last night. I admit, I was unfamiliar with this Shakespeare play outside of the premise and that it was a tragedy. I had seen a trailer the other day when I went to The Iron Lady, and for some reason wasn't aware that it was a modern setting, either. Anyway, this is all to say that this entire movie was a bit of a surprise, but I have a weakness for Shakespeare films so I was eager to go.

( That Shakespeare dude, he sure can write good. )

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In other news, I have a lot of things I want to post about, that's not going to happen today. :(

Oh, but have a picture of me on a Halflinger! And no, that is not a hobbit. Those are halflings. haha.