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Yesterday was all set to be a bad day, and then I figured I'd call the bank, and see why the change. The dude I spoke with was very alarmist. He said it was something to do with the issuer of the check, that the check might have a stop payment or something like that.

So, I texted Lisa at the financial team, who basically said that the bank is on crack. So, during my break, I called them back. This time I went a little Karen-y, I will admit. And I got tossed from rep to rep, and held forever. Finally, they said to call them back. I did, and they said that Edward Jones couldn't verify the check.

So, back to the financial team, and at this point, I was pissed. I got nowhere with them, but figured I had nothing to lose if I called one more time. I called out of work for the afternoon, and called the bank back. Things looked grim, but then I got a really sweet rep. Shout out to Tasha, who went above and beyond to reach out to the local level, and get the check verified.

And lo, after six reps, two calls to Edward Jones and two and a half hours sunk into it, they released the full amount of the check into my account, and I used the rest of the day to pay a fuckton of bills, and get tickets for Ghost.

For the Baltimore show, they still had the Ascended package. Hopefully, the seats will be okay. Then, I got tickets for the Philly show the next weekend! Lower Level, good views, and booked a hotel room for Philly.

We'll get there around 3:30pm, have dinner at 4:30, then at 6, we'll take the hotel shuttle over to the Wells Fargo center for our second ghost concert.

It's going to be awesome. (After much research, I also picked up a couple pair of Loop Experience 2 Plus earplugs. I love Ghost, but I love my hearing, too.

So, as of this morning, my bills are all paid for the month, I have a grocery order coming tomorrow, and the farmer's market on Tuesday is going to be epic.

We also had really good Chinese food from Red Pepper Sichuan Bistro. Excellent Dumplings. I overbought mightily, so we all have plenty of leftovers.

Today, it's back to work. Then, I shall go forth and DM Frostmaiden. And now, off to prep for it.
Everyone have a brilliamt Friday!

shadowhive

So I found out the other day that is was pride in Birmingham last weekend. I swear every year I only find out that it’s happening either on the day or the days after (then say I’ll go next year and the cycle repeats). Not that I could have gone this time anyway cause the time anyway but still…

The last few days my focus has been off again and I blame the weather. It’s switched from being warm and sunny (like the recent weeks) to now being rainy and yet muggy. It’s made my head and eyes a bit achy which has been annoying.

That’s not been helped either cause I had a major downswing last week and while it’s mostly faded the depression vibes still comes back in brief waves.

But anyway, better things. Tuesday I listened to a Who audio, The Chimes of Midnight which I expected to be a spooky murder mystery from the description but it was actually a very strange timey wimey thing. It was funny that one of the clues something was wrong was someone mention the Seven Dials Mystery (which is the book I’m reading and I read some earlier)

Speaking of Agatha on last nights thing about her travels, the one with David Suchet, he was reading from her second book and it was from the collection I’ve been getting. It was recognisable cause of the cover and I even looked it up on player to confirm it. It makes me glad I’ve got that one too so I’ll have to read it soon.

Mum had a call yesterday and, ugh her friend is coming again. She called last week to come on Saturday and didn’t say why she wanted to come with little notice, but cancelled causa being sick. Now she’s coming again this week but, again didn’t say why.

That makes me think she expects us to order something for her which is always stressful and means I have to rush to the bank, up which I don’t particularly want to do generally but especially this week.

And here I was thinking we’d have a quiet weekend. Ugh.

Anyway gonna watch the second Horne Section tv show, then watch Horrors Greatest then probably snuggle.mand try and fic (and I am considering adding more prompts to the prompt table because of course I am).

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: The Horne Section Tv Show

setsuled

Last Saturday I went to one of the malls in town, a place called Ario. It has no movie theatre and, unlike American malls, Japanese malls never seem to have anchor department stores. The food court did have a surprising number of American restaurants, including a McDonalds and a Burger King as well as a Subway. I hadn't been to a Subway since leaving the U.S. so I ate there. There were no footlongs on the menu because the country uses metric and because the Japanese don't like large portions. The regular sandwich looked roughly equivalent to a six inch. I got the cheapest one, which was a tuna sandwich at just over 700 yen, with fried potatoes and coke coming to just over 800 yen, a bit over five dollars. So no five dollar footlong here, though I heard the footlong is now just over six dollars in the U.S. Still, since the tuna sandwich was the cheapest on the menu, that means Subway in Japan is on average probably more expensive than it is in the U.S., at least in this town. I imagine it can only be more expensive in a major city.

It was a nice mall and I was pleased to see their grocery store had Guinness stout. I've noticed that the quality of the beer selection is inversely proportional to the quality of the liquor selection in most stores here. If they have a good selection of beer, they have a weak selection of whiskey. If they have a good selection of whiskey, they have a weak selection of beer. I tend to enjoy beer only on hot days and it was a cool, rainy day, so I didn't buy any, opting instead to pick up some Tullamore Dew at an excellent nearby liquor shop (which has a weak selection of beer).

Rounding out my nostalgic Saturday, I stopped at a nearby Starbucks and ordered a tall drip coffee for just over 400 yen, roughly comparable to the average three dollar price in the U.S. Nowadays, if I get a coffee when I'm out, I tend to opt for a vending machine, where it's usually around 150 yen. But a sparsely crowded Starbucks on a rainy day is invaluable. I stayed there reading Marius B. Jansen's Making of Modern Japan, published in 2000, the year of its author's death. Marius B. Jansen shares a birthday with me, April 11, though he was born over fifty years earlier, in 1922. Born in the Netherlands and raised in the U.S., he was a professor of Japanese history at Princeton and in the aftermath of World War II had a role in the Occupation of Japan. He was the first foreigner to receive the Distinguished Cultural Merit Award from the Japanese government.

The book, as its title suggests, is fundamentally teleological, constructed in such a way as to explain why Japan is the way it is to-day (or in 2000), beginning with a narrative of history starting with Sekigahara, a battle in 1600 that began the Tokugawa era. I've been surprised how useful the book's insights are to my own life and situation and, in descriptions of Japanese customs and behaviour in the 18th and 19th century, I've been gaining a better understanding of the culture I interact with daily.

I first heard of the book from a mysterious YouTuber called Apostolic Majesty who has a number of really good lectures on his channel on history, The Lord of the Rings, and Bethesda games.

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: The mall
Current Music: "I Feel Free" - David Bowie

turps

Earlier, I got a text from Rosie saying she's going to send out a survey about what people think of the weight management programme and what else we'd like her to include. But also, that she was thinking of changing the day of class, so it won't be on a Monday at 11am but instead on a Tues/Wed or Friday morning at 9:30. And, do not want. I like having class on a Monday, so I know my week has started. The survey hasn't come yet, but I really hope the majority don't want a Friday.

My MiL's visit went well, and we dropped her off home on Monday. Like I mentioned in my last post, she watched the Sunderland match with James -- they won, yay! on Saturday and on Sunday we went out for lunch at Prego, the restaurant we like at the seafront. We had a nice day, but then my MiL wasn't feeling well in the evening ( cut for minor medical stuff )

I watched the series finale of The Last of Us, and ( Read more... )

On

misbegotten 's rec, I've been watching The Pitt, and man, what a show. I was so invested, and watched the last ep this afternoon. Talk about a gut punch and something wringing all emotion out of you. It's such an interesting format for a show, with each episode being an hour of the shift. I really think it works very well in terms of engaging the audience, and I'm really interested in how season two will work considering the format.

But yeah, a rec from me too if you like gritty medical shows with excellent writing and characters.

meteordust

French Open: Rafael Nadal honoured at Roland-Garros as Federer, Djokovic and Murray return

"You gave me some hard times on court but I really enjoyed a lot pushing myself to the limit every single day to compete with all of you," Nadal said.

"At the end, tennis is just a game. Sometimes we feel it's a little bit more but I think we understand it's really only a game.

"So that means [everything] for me that all of you are here. That's a great message to the world that we can be good friends even if we had the best rivalries. Thank you very, very much for everything during all these years."

An era that seemed like it would last forever. At least the memories will.

Current Mood: nostalgic

scaramouche

Onward to The King of Attolia, my fav in the series! This is the high point for me, though it requires everything before it to have the impact it does, and it needs everything afterward to bring the greater story to its conclusion. It's still so good, so well-paced, so satisfying, and this time I greatly appreciated how they have the assassination attempt just a little before halfway into the book (instead of the near end), so Costis becomes privy to the deception that Eugenides has been pulling on everyone and is given the rest of the book to process this information, and thus share in our frustration as the reader by knowing that Eugenides isn't what he appears to be.

( cut for length )

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: Hadestown OBC - Wait for Me

beanside

It's Friday eve, and I'm hoping for a quieter day today. It ended up being a good day, but whoo baby, it was pure chaos.

I started the day working on the PET exam queue. When we get orders, we call the patients to schedule. Don't want to risk the cancer patients on them calling, so we track them down. During some downtime, I texted the financial people to see if I could get the tracking # for the check. Once I got it, I refreshed that shit every 30 seconds.

It was a busy morning--lot of calls, ad a fair amount of emails of people to call. One time when I was calling someone back, Jess popped in to say that they got the email to schedule their appt for a top surgery consult. Unfortunately, the doctors who have availability are in Washington, DC, so that's going to suck, but we'll manage. They have their consult on 6/25, which is sooner than either of us expected, which is awesome. I'm very excited for them, though I know they are very nervous.

Around 11:45am, I checked the tracking and lo, there was a picture of my front door, with an envelope in front of it. I immediately grabbed it, and found my check. It's lovely and has a lot of numbers on it.

At 12:27, I couldn't stand it anymore and went to lunch 3 minutes early so I could deposit said check. It was smooth and easy, and I had the cutest little teller. He was personable, and sweet, and seemed to feel like I'd be angry that there would be a hold on some of the money for 5 days. My dude, I literally made this account two weeks ago, and I just deposited over $40k. Yes, I expect that you're going to hold my money til it clears. They actually are clearing a generous amount this morning at some point, so I'm happy.

All in all, I was back home by 12:45, having taken less than 15 minutes in the bank.

Then I got back from lunch and all hell broke loose. Our scheduling software was letting adult patients be scheduled in a pediatric room. So there were a dozen patients who were scheduled incorrectly, and I got to call each of them to break the news. It sucked and took most of my afternoon. But I got most of it done. I have three patients to try back today.

Either way, busy, chaotic day. Add to it the excitement over Jess' consult and the check, and you get a severely discombobulated Teresa.

Today will hopefully be slightly less chaotic. I have my "you hit all your goals for the month" hourlong lunch, and then I'm staying a bit late to do some annual training package.

And motherfucker. I just got an email from Wells Fargo that my deposit will not be available until 6/6 at all. Goddammit.

Oh well. That sucks. But there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm just going to have to suck it up.

I may call them this morning, just to touch base and verify that they're not going to honor the original information.

Well, guess we won't be going out this weekend after all.

And on that note, going to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an excellent Thursday!

shadowkat

I woke up in a decent mood and started the day, happy and carefree - yet by the end of it? Grumpy. I think the world likes to chip away at us at times?
Also it's raining, and my right leg is bothering me again. It was fine this morning - more or less, but started bugging me again at lunch time. To cheer myself up - I got a discounted Grand Central mouse pad/post-card, and a NYC 2025 Guide Book (both discounted off by 20%). Also, got a matcha latte. (I'm in love with matcha lattes - with almond milk - they are unsweetened, have almost no calories, and healthy). Sitting at home now, with a heating pad on my back.

1. The Truth About Why You Keep Waking Up at 3AM

I've basically done everything that has been suggested. I'm working on the diet bit - because I think that may be a factor. I realized that my sleep deprivation over the years is most likely why I have some of the health issues that I currently have - well that and menopause and ceiliac disease are probably factors, plus genetics. Honestly there's never one solution or one cause, if there was, the pharmaceutical industry would be out of business.

2. My Buffy Re-Watch - has made me aware of a few things? I'm still in S2.
( Read more... )

3. I do not know what to make of Amanda Palmer. I tried to unsubscribe to her Patreon, but it keeps popping up in my inbox. And I keep deleting. And she keeps talking about how all she does is love, gets browbeaten by trolls, but fights back, and can't talk about what happened until the lawsuit is over. I feel sorry for her - she gets trolled, but I also think that she's been infected by Fame and can't let go of the addiction? What I don't get is why people troll her? I get the anger? But trolling solves little? We're all flawed, let people be.

4. Bono (U2) of all people gave me a smattering of hope today.

Bono on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Kimmel asks him where he stands on the Trump vs. Springsteen issue. He's of course in Springsteen's corner...yada yada yada. But what he says that gave me a smattering of hope is this: "I founded a non-profit bipartisan foundation called ONE and it is made up of a lot of conservative and highly religious people, Anglicans, Catholics, Fundamentalist Christians, etc and they are VERY angry about what the person they voted for is doing to their country and how he is dismantling various fundamental and important life saving aid programs such as US AID and the Peace Corps which have saved millions of lives from AIDS and other diseases and poverty around the world. Taking away programs of compassion and kindness - which are what America is all about. What we are about. So angry that trust me on this, they and we are about to make a lot of good trouble."

I can't emphasize this enough to anyone who stumbles upon my journal, there are numerous coalitions forming around the United States and Globally to fight this administration and it's project 2025 plan. And they are growing daily.

5. MTA vs. the Federal Government.

Tee Hee, the MTA is winning!

MTA: The Feds want us to give up congestion pricing and tell us how to control traffic and transportation in our city. But the Federal court prevented them from vindictively punishing us by removing Federal funding. We are not giving it up. Look here? The New York Times dug deep and proved it is working.

I feel sorry for the MTA, they are fighting everybody. Including idiotic talk radio hosts who think the subways are dangerous. They are not dangerous. I take the subways twice daily, five days a week and sometimes on weekends and to doctor's appointments, basically everywhere. They are safer than cars or buses. And far less stressful. Not to mention cheaper.

Very few people die on the subway. The worst thing I've seen on the subway was a man who was scarred from third degree burns on every inch of his body and begging for money. Also once during the pandemic - a homeless man with a knife. But we were perfectly safe - the conductor stopped the train, got us all off, and called for assistance at the next station.

setsuled

A few weeks ago, I installed a Skyrim mod that seemed to break the game. I don't even know which mod it was as I tend to install bunches of ten or fifteen at a time. Trying to figure it out, I uninstalled one at a time and then even mods that were already installed when the game still worked. Nothing did the trick. When I tried to start the game, nothing happened, like the computer didn't even know I'd double clicked the icon. So I had to completely uninstall the game and all the mods and start from scratch. It took almost three weeks to get the game back up and running in an acceptable modded state, just in time for me to try Varinia, the new companion mod from Maplespice.

Watch on YouTube

Maplespice is the creator of Remiel, an extremely popular follower mod and certainly by far the best one I've ever installed. Many reviews and forum comments on Remiel are about how amazingly lifelike Remiel's dialogue is. The average follower mod tends to be an embarrassing female simp who becomes obsessed with the player character in dialogue and then is overpowered in battle so that oftentimes it feels like the computer is playing the game for you. Sadly, I think this speaks volumes about the average heterosexual male fantasy these days; a hyper competent girl who's capable of doing any and all of the work and who for some reason rapturously adores you. Remiel, meanwhile, can get knocked down pretty easily (follower characters usually can't die) and, although you can start a romance quest line with her, it's more satisfying to avoid it. Here's some dialogue she has with another mod follower called Thogra gra-Mugur:

Watch on YouTube

It still amazes me all these great mods, into which people have put so much work, are still totally free.

So far, Varinia isn't quite as amazing as Remiel. Remiel feels more well rounded and I wonder if it was the mod author's inexperience that led to Remiel being loaded with a wider range of ideas. Varinia is a spy/assassin character, better suited for evil playthroughs. Maybe it's the narrower focus that makes her less satisfying. Though I wonder if the mod creator is afflicted by a problem I often think about affecting artists, which is a fear of the vulnerability inherent in creation. Art is about communicating something about our humanity and it takes guts to do that, or possibly a lack of awareness of just how vulnerable we're making ourselves. I think this is what often leads to a progression in careers in many media in which artists do their most popular, intimate work earlier on and somehow make progressively less satisfying media even as their skills are refined. Maybe Tim Burton would argue all day that Big Fish is actually a better film than Edward Scissorhands or Francis Ford Coppola would argue Megalopolis is better than The Godfather. On the other hand, I would say his Dracula is better than The Godfather so maybe there's hope for us old artists yet. And I haven't played that much with Varinia, maybe she improves.

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: Windhelm
Current Music: "Where There is Light" - VNV Nation

scaramouche

I saw a poll on tumblr not too long ago, asking if people read their own fics. My guess is that one of the assumptions underlying the poll is that it's narcissistic to enjoy something you created yourself, which in my opinion is a crying shame of a stance to have because the author knows exactly the kind of characterisation and level of drama you like! And will avoid the squicks you do not!

I make this post because Andor brought interest back to some of the Rogue One fics I posted way back when, despite them being Baze/Chirrut and not Cassian-focused. I've gotten some lovely new comments and kudoses, and decided to check said fic out because I hadn't looked at them in years and... gosh, I wrote this? (This fic in particular, which is set just before the Battle of Scarif.)

I wasn't intimidated by canon lore and tried to fill the logistical issues of the movie and choreographed all these jokes??? How did I do that! (The implication being, I WISH I could turn this kind of ability on like a switch instead of staring sadly at a blinking cursor in a Word doc.) Past!me knows exactly what I like! Plus nothing that happened in Andor contradicts this fic as far as I can tell, which is magic.

Current Mood: nostalgic

beanside

It's Wednesday!

As expected, yesterday was utterly bugfuck at work. In the first four hours, I took 32 calls. I ended up around 44, because the afternoon, I was doing other stuff. Unfortunately, I was doing so much other stuff that I got very little of it done. I'm going to try to buckle down and get the PET queues down this morning, and then I'll work on calling people once those are done.

By the end of the day, I was wiped out. I went to the farmer's market and got some veggies, and then proceeded to be a lump the rest of the day.

Today, my lower back hurts. Not like I threw it out, but like I definitely pissed it off. It's not at all pleasant, and I dislike it.

I've been trying to figure out how much of the money I'm going to need to use, and how much I can save for emergencies. I'm not sure we're able to pay the rent in advance, I'll need to call the leasing office for that. The car is a definite, as is my credit cards. I plan to have a bit of fun with some of it. And the rest I'm going to sock away. I might put some of it in a CD, but most of it is just going to sit and be there if we need it.

The very first thing I'm going to do is get a pair of better seats for the Ghost concert. I've got my eye on a couple of seats that I'd like. Either via Ticketmaster or on Stub Hub or Vivid Seats. I'm hoping at least one of them is still there.

Then, I'll pay of the car. That's not going to go anywhere, so it comes in second. Then, the credit cards. Also not going anywhere. After that, I'm going to go get a haircut. Debating on getting it dyed as well. I don't know how well the gray would take the dye, but I'll give it a shot.

Okay, time to go eat something so I can take some ibuprofen. Everyone have an awesome Wednesday!

innitmarvelous_og

I gotta learn how to use Google Sheets if I am going to run my own comm.

Current Mood: tired

shadowkat

More May Question-A-Day Memage (kudos to the individual who comes up with these questions, I tried it once, and sigh, it did not end well.)

20. Own up – do you have a drawer in your home with stuff you don’t know what to do with, or shove things that you’ll ‘sort out later’ in it? How often do you clear it out?

Yes. Sigh. (I can't remember if I answered this question previously?) And more than one. I'm extremely good at building nests and shoving stuff in drawers. Organized - I'm not. I'm a quirky absent-minded artist. Organization? What's that?

My brother once said he thought I should have become a librarian.
My mother and I both laughed at this. I do not think like a librarian - the only things we have in common is a fondness for books.

21. How would you describe the décor in your main living area?

Cluttered? Artsy? I have wooden Russian Dolls on the tv stand, candles in the window sill - one is a carved owl, self-made pottery, a flower under a glass, cards, a chocolate bunny rabbit, and a glass globe venus universe lamp that's very small. Also a picture of my niece. Then there's my painting station, which has a minuature easel on my desk, with watercolors, a completed painting, a stuffed frog on top of a paper holder with a magazine picture of Cillian Murphy from GQ, above which are two photos of sunflowers, next to that a small felt cube with paints and paper on top of it, and a bookcase overflowing with books, an hand woven basket, a ceramic Christmas tree, and on top of it a large photo on canvas of a sunset. I have knitted throws, and a large television (flat screen) ....it's obvious I'm an artist. Someone comes into this apartment - they'll think artist and writer.

22. Have you ever lived or worked in a skyscraper or high-rise building? Which floor?

I currently work in a skyscraper - on the 18th Floor of a 32 floor skyscraper in the Financial District of Manhattan. I also currently live on the third floor of a 77 unit apartment building, that is six stories.

So yes?

23. Have you ever tried non-alcoholic beer or wine?

Yes. It's not worth the indigestion.

24. Have you ever had a pedicure?

Many times. Highly overrated. And expensive. Not a fan. I don't like the feel of nail polish, also I end up with toe fungus. When I stopped doing that, the toe fungus went away.

25. Are you a fan of popcorn at the movies?

Yes and no? I wouldn't say fan exactly. I do like getting it however.

26. Today the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling event will take place to celebrate the UK Spring Bank Holiday. A 7-9lb (3-4kg) round Double Gloucester cheese will be rolled down a hill until someone catches it (you can see a video of the spectacle here). Are there any Spring Festival Events in your area?

I live in NYC. I'm sure there are? But I lose track. Nothing like that.
I know they are having a Met Opening Festival next weekend, which may count. Also there's the Macy's annual flower show. And the Cherry Blossoms at the Botanical Gardens.

27. Do you like lettuce? Any particular variety?

Yes, but I'm picky. I like power greens: Chard, Spinach, Kale, Pea Greens,
Baby Spinach, Argula, and Romaine.

I will not eat iceburg - it's like glass on my tummy. That's the cheap stuff.

****

My pictures via FB links are disappearing faster than usual. I may need to figure out Pillowfort or find an alternative soon. Damn FB.

***

I was bored and frustrated this morning at work - so I distracted myself by listening to youtube actor Q&A podcasts on my cell phone.

I listened to David Boreanze - who is kind of boring? But he did say a few interesting things.
( Read more... )

Also another Marsters Q&A. Marsters is far more entertaining and open with the audience. He genuinely enjoys interacting with the fans and the interviewers. He's an entertainer, and just loves being on stage and connecting with an audience. The man is so expressive - he's fun to watch and listen to.
( Read more... )

Time for bed.

So here's a picture:

musesfool

I slept through for a full 7 hours last night! right up until my alarm went off, actually, without waking up once!

I also got some fantastic videos of Baby Miss L going nuts about TATOES and BROCCOLI and also some mouse game she plays on my sister's tablet. She is such a character! <333

I haven't started the new season of Poker Face or Andor yet - I am still in HGTV mode. No emotional investment, and it satisfies both my nosiness about other people's houses and my need to be judgy about other people's aesthetic taste without hurting anyone's feelings.

Every time someone says they want to go BOLD with color and their palette is black and white I want to punch them. (I'm not saying black and white can't be a bold choice, just that it's not a bold COLOR choice.) Everyone wants POPS of COLOR but then the color turns out to be greige. I just...find it wearisome sometimes. I get it if you are doing a quick refresh in order to sell, since allegedly neutrals sell better? But these are people supposedly doing their "forever homes" or their "dream homes" so why not pick something interesting? At least a little bit? In the downstairs powder room??? I'm begging you, please!

Ahem.

If you asked me what my preferred home decor aesthetic is, I would say beachy with lots of blues and greens in various shades, and okay, a lot of white, a little gray, and some occasional wood or wicker accents. Definitely would want hardwood floors (or LVP that looked like hardwood). I'd want a large zero-access shower with a built-in bench with some fancy tile, and I wouldn't want to waste space on a tub (or double sinks, since I live alone), but I would like more linen/towel storage.

I would obviously want a large chef's kitchen, with FULL SIZE appliances and a big range - I don't go for that countertop stovetop and wall oven set up, I'd want a bigass stove with six burners - and I certainly wouldn't put it (or the sink) on an island. I'd like a large butcher block work surface and a breakfast nook with an eastern exposure, but don't need a formal dining room or a ginormous island. I do like white upper cabinets, probably with reeded glass doors, and then a color on the lower cabinets - a cobalt blue, maybe, or a deep teal.

The place I might go a little modern/industrial/maybe even avant garde would be in the light fixtures. I have seen some WILD chandeliers and lighting options on these shows and some of them are gorgeous.

Obviously I worked a lot of this out in the time between going into contract on my apartment and finally closing, so I was able to pick stuff out that all kind of went together, because I absolutely understand being a renter for years and not really being able to put your stamp on a place. (all the people who already live in their own houses who have no sense of their own style, though - they kind of baffle me, because didn't they paint/decorate their house? I get maybe not knowing what your architectural style is but these are mainly people in their 30s and older - they should have some sense of what they like, shouldn't they, even if they can't pin it to a specific style?)

Anyway, I don't need people to do their own homes in my preferred style, and some of these homes turn out to be gorgeous, but it would be nice if everyone wasn't doing the same things across several different home renovation shows. I guess HGTV has a bit of a house style? But if you've watched any of it, you can see why Keith and Evan from Bargain Block are my favorites - they actually do a lot of fun different things (or they used to, anyway), where even if it isn't something I'd choose, it still has a strong sense of style.

*

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Knicks-Pacers on tv

twistedchick

Short takes -- three brief considerations of life in America now. COVID shots, travel advisories and Hegseth.

setsuled

Watch on YouTube

An enterprising lad goes from shining shoes to ruling Harlem in 1973's Black Caesar. Fred Williamson gives a charismatic performance in this decently written blaxploitation film.

Tommy (Williamson) starts his way up the ladder when he grabs hold of a man's leg while he's shining his shoe so a gangster can gun the man down. From there, Tommy gets courier jobs before finally taking the initiative and killing someone wanted dead by the local mafia boss. In return, he asks for control of part of town.

The argument is pretty clear; the oppressed black man becomes the oppressor once given the opportunity, a sad, fairly common commentary on the cyclical nature of tyranny. Williamson's performance is good and impressively vicious and the film has a score and songs by none other than James Brown.

Black Caesar is available on The Criterion Channel.

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: Harlem
Current Music: "The Opera" Final Fantasy VI Orchestral - Nobuo Uematsu

oracne

1. I participated in Science! This involved an MRI of my right calf while at rest and before, during, and after doing a minute of movement. I got paid, and used part of it to finally buy the Shape Note song book a college friend (from choir) worked on. The next step is to try and make at least a few of the monthly sings in my neighborhood this summer, while I'm off from regular choir.

( Read more... )

beanside

It's a Tuesday that's going to be like a Monday! Work is going to be so psychotically busy today. It always is the day after a holiday. At least the day is going to go quickly. Tonight is the farmer's market, so I'm definitely going to go pick up some tasty treats.

Yesterday ended up being a mixed bag. Work was feast or famine. Some of it, I was sitting twiddling my fingers, but then some of it, I was stuck on the phone for a full hour with one oncology coworker scheduling 17 patients. I ended up with 29 for the day, which is a lot.

After that, it was onto our Arvandor game, which went really well. People got to be sneaky, and Jess' character had a good backstory reveal. And then, dracolich. I killed a player's character. Don't worry, they got better, but they were fully dead for a few seconds.

Tomorrow, the check will come! And I will put it in my bank account. And then, I will see how long they want to hold it.

I'm plotting what to do with some of the ill gotten gains. I mean, I'm definitely paying off my car. Aside from that, vet visits for both animals. And then we shall get a few things for the apartment, and then we shall have a lovely lunch with our friends, and then, we shall go see Ghost.

And with $448 less a month that I shall have to pay, I shall actually be able to get ahead of my bills. I'm so excited about this. I'm looking forward to being mostly debt free. That's going to be amazing. Maybe, I can rebuild my credit some!

Okay, time to get myself together for work. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday!

innitmarvelous_og

I might need to start watching Leverage again regularly.

Nate:
Yeah, right, right, that's what I'm here to do: to get the egg back and clear your name.

Maggie:
But you're clearing my name with thieves! No offense, Parker.

Parker:
At what?

Current Mood: amused

snickfic

- Saw some pap photos of most of the returning members of Oasis, got all excited, spent a bunch of time on the forum catching up with convos and speculation, reading linked articles, etc. Two months from today I will see them live! Ahhhhhhh!

- Tried American Psycho because Todd in the Shadows talks about it a lot and because I knew the director was a woman. Unfortunately these were not enough for me to care about satire of 80s capitalism. I DNFed about halfway through. Christian Bale was very good, though.

- I am rereading SA Harian's novel Briardark so I have some hope of understanding the sequel. The character writing is not that great, but the scary weird parts are SO scary and weird that it's worth it. It's also nice being able to reread knowing the biggest spoiler, and being able to interpret things in that light. Still, I'm excited to get to new material.

- Made a tiny bit of progress on an old Oasis WIP. Zero additional progress on H/C Ex. I have 1100 words, but now I need to write the rest of the story. I've got six days to do it in...

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A place for Marvel/Star Wars Disney+ shows.

A place for Marvel/Star Wars Disney+ shows.

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One day, fate will find a way through the marches of death and right back to the bearer of light

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Japanese Versions

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The Big Four

Book Log: The Queen's Thief reread (part #2)

Any day now one of us could die, if we make you suffer, don't you want to find out why?

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Render Unto Black Caesar What is Black

5 Things Always Make a Post!

With these words at hand, the future is a foreign land, so let's pray for more in 2024

So I'm watching The Zanzibar Marketplace Job

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