fauxklore

When the conference finished in Nicosia, I took the opportunity to give myself a day and night in Larnaka, which is on the beach on the southern side of Cyprus. It's a popular holiday destination for Western Europeans wanting some winter sun, although because it's more northerly than, say, the Canary Islands, it tends to be a bit quieter, especially outside the school holidays.

I picked a hotel on the beach, and was pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade to a sea view room with a balcony on arrival. It was too early for me to check in when I arrived, so I went to have lunch on the patio and do a bit of work. I cooled off with a small glass of the local beer (Keo). Then I had a long walk along the beachfront promenade, looking for cats.

[Cat eventually located]

As soon as I could access my room, I went up and had a shower, applied sun cream, and went for a swim. Even at 3 PM it had started to cool off significantly - sunset was at 4:45 PM - so I was alone in the pool, and indeed poolside. I did a bunch of slow, lazy laps and got out to soak up the last of the rays. I also popped down to the beach to poke my toes into the sea.

I got changed and went for another stroll, this time in the opposite direction, to enjoy the sunset. The promenade ran for several kilometres in both directions from the hotel, and when it petered out, the compacted sand on the beach made walking easy.

[Big sky, fiery clouds]

[Palm tree silhouettes]

[Night falls]

By the time night had fallen, I was pleasantly worn out. I went to the bar, thought about sitting there, and then remembered I had a balcony. So instead, I ordered a negroni and took it up to my room. I chatted to the family. I listened to the howling of the cats. Everything went very quiet around 8:30 PM. It was too early to go to bed, tempting though it was, so I did some writing with old episodes of “House” on in the background before turning in. I set my alarm so I wouldn't miss the sunrise, which was at 6:13 AM.

[Sunrise from the balcony]

Very glad I didn't miss the sunrise.

[The sun emerges]

I made myself a small strong espresso and changed for breakfast. I turned up as soon as it opened (07:00) and sat outside to eat. I got chatting to another solo woman traveller, who recommended a walking holiday in northern Cyprus to me the next time I had time to myself (“probably not for the children at this stage, my dear”). She supposed I could bring the husband if I really wanted, but in her opinion I'd enjoy it more on my own. I couldn't laugh. She genuinely meant that.

[Breakfast!]

Still chuckling, I went upstairs to change into something less roasting and had another walk toward the east, the direction I thought gave me the best chance of finding some shells. The beach was mostly claggy sand and pebbles, but I did spot a few.

[Meow.]

I changed into my costume when I got back and went down to the sea for a swim. The tide was out and it was possible to walk nearly all the way to the breakwater without being deeper than my chest. I'm not tall. I walked out, had a little paddle around looking at the fish in the crystal clear water, and swam back to the promenade. I sat on a sunbed and enjoyed drying off in the breeze and the sun. Then I went to the pool. Again there was no one in it because it hadn't warmed up yet, so I had a long, slightly more vigorous swim and then sunned myself again.

I knew it must be getting close to checkout time so I went up to shower and attempt to prevent my hair turning into straw after all the soakings. I mostly succeeded, and was pleased I'd succeeded in not getting burnt either.

I chatted with the family, who were eating a late breakfast of dippy eggs. Keiki was excited about his rugby match. Humuhumu was being a teenage potato. Nevertheless we had a nice chat until was time for me to head downstairs, have lunch, and start the long journey home.

I caught the sunset in the airport, sprinting across the terminal to take a photo before boarding the plane.

Due to various delays, I didn’t arrive home until well after midnight, so technically Monday morning. Nevertheless I had to get up six hour later and go to work. Astro here accurately reflects the amount of sympathy I got from the family about this.

[Astro at home amongst the carnivorous plants and prickly cacti]

maju

Yesterday was a relaxed day but the girls kept me occupied for most of it, although I did get in a good walk in the morning while they were watching a show. Then I had another brisk walk with Eden because she wanted to go to the school playground and she also wanted to show me how fast she can walk. (Very fast.)

This morning I managed to go for a run (again, while they were watching a show); I keep thinking the weather is going to turn wintry and stay that way and I won't want to run for a few weeks, but then along comes a very mild day like today (about 54F/12C) and I am energised to run while it lasts.

While I was out running this morning I saw some kids walking along the street in a couple of straggly groups; one of them was pulling a red wagon which looked very familiar, and when I got closer she waved at me and I realised it was Violet pulling the red wagon which used to belong to S and me. (My daughter brought it back here on one of her visits to my place in the past year.) Violet was out with some other cub scouts delivering leaflets about food collection to all the houses in the neighbourhood. Her cub scout group is supposedly coed, but she and Eden have always been the only girls in the pack, and now she is the only girl because Eden (and now Aria) are in a younger group. Violet seems perfectly happy being the only girl, but she is about to graduate to an older group which is only girls.

susandennis

Libby is the app that the library uses to loan ebooks and audiobooks. For years now, Libby and it's predecessor had three+ choices when the book you had requested became available. You could check it out. You could say no thank you and let it go OR you could extend the hold for a week, a month, a few months... pick a date. Then you just waited until it became available again.

This was not ideal. Most often when you were ready to read the book, it was not ready for you and vice versa. But, now they have changed the playing field. You can no longer pick the amount of time. Now your only option is 'suspend the hold'. This might work better but it does mean you have to go in and do stuff when you are ready to read the book and, when you are ready, the book might not be. It's ok really. Having audiobooks available from the library is just the greatest thing ever so I'm totally willing to try their new scheme.

But also other changes.

I was always amused, in the corporate world, to watch the managerial schematics. They would decide that consolidation was the tickets and reswizzle smaller groups into bigger ones. Then, after a few years, it was Divide and Conquer and they'd divide up all those bigger groups into smaller ones. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I was reminded of this last night. When I first moved off of cable, I tried consolidated TV situation - YouTube TV, Fubo, DirectTV. The last two were because they carried Mariners baseball. But, they also carried a shitload of other TV plus live TV. The I killed them all and went with the apps. Paramount + for CBS, etc. Peacock for NBC, Hulu for Fox and ABC, and a handful of others. I even tried Hulu Live (which sucked). Now, as it happens, a lot of my app services are coming to the end of subscriptions. I have been tracking and thinking about this for a while. It's not entirely a money issue. It's also an ease of watching and keeping track of what I've watched issue and news. I tried living without watching news for a while and didn't like that. I tried appointment news - watching when it aired. And didn't like that. About the time I decided to try YouTube.TV again, they got into a pissing match with ABC and a bunch of other networks. So I shelved the project.

But, last night, everyone kissed and made up and I signed up for YouTube.TV again. I killed it more than 3 years ago but it still had my settings! So setting up the rest was not a big deal. Now I have a host of things to watch now instead of Christmas shit. Food Network, PBS, (I'm caught up on Masterpiece but not the rest), Nat Geo, HGTV, Law and Order Toronto! I'm excited.

Wonder how long it will take me to decide this is way more than I need and I should just watch what I want via the individual apps. hahahaha

I just got an email from my insurance company (United Health Care). It's about the 12th one telling me that things will change with Medicare in 2026. This time it was about drugs. 'Check how the changes will affect you.' So I clicked on the link and while it loaded, I got the names of my drugs ready to copy. But, lo!, the link was to my account and they filled in my drugs and the changes is... drumroll, please, my drugs cost me $0 last year. And next year? My drugs will cost me $0. I can live with that change.

I did laundry yesterday so today I will just be knitting and watching TV and maybe puzzling. But first, a swim.

mallorys_camera

Shortly, I must toddle off to wildest, wooliest Walker Valley because twice a year, the Shawangunk Dems volunteer to pick up garbage along Highway 52.

I am not looking forward to it: Evidently, I wore the wrong shoes tromping yesterday because I woke up in the middle of the night with shin splints and am insufficiently rested this morning.

Beyond that, naught much to report.

I Remunerated (though, of course, never enough.)

I started reading The Great Believers, an epic novel about the AIDS pandemic. The novel is excellent and, moreover, written in a style that is so outside my personal stylebook, I won't find myself unconsciously plagiarizing from it. (That is an issue for me. Even in my dotage, I have an excellent memory for words, and quite often, I can't remember whether I wrote a sentence, or somebody else did.)

In the evening, I went vox with Ichabod who is getting a promotion in the PD universe which will allow him to defend people facing life sentences. The promotion comes with a hefty raise!

And for once, the kiskas are getting along and acting adorable.

jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

cornerofmadness

sums up my day. My blood sugar crashed at 430 in the morning. And bounced back to 200 upon waking, 400 by lunch and now almost normal. I'm very over this.

However while I'm eating peanut butter at 430 in the morning to stabilize my sugar I found the drop of this new indie animation.(god knows when you'll ever see more. It's such a weird business model they're using for indie animation in general, merch paying for it. I'm not sure I've seen many things that I've wanted merch for based on one show) Anyhow, it's not half bad, sort of stock characters but it's hard to tell much of anything on how short this is

Watch on YouTube

Also keeping me from sleep was how much my knee and hip hurt. And a weird nightmare. I can only remember a small part of it. We were trying to get into a resort in Mexico, one my brother and his wife go to all the time. But they aren't letting us in and for some reason my grandmother is there in a wheelchair. We're taking her for her hundredth birthday. It was stressful

Have some science saturday

Your anxiety may be controlled by hidden immune cells in the brain

Study reveals why the brain 'zones out' when you're exhausted

CRISPR brings back ancient gene that prevents gout and fatty liver of huge interest to me

Giant North American 'hell pigs' could crunch bones like lions 30 million years ago, tooth analysis reveals Oh Fat Nuggets....

A 400-million-year-old plant creates water so weird it looks alien

James Webb telescope may have found the first stars in the universe, new study claims

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Svengoolie

cahwyguy

Paranormal Activity (CTG/Ahmanson) Perhaps I’m not the audience for this particular show.

After all, I’ve never been all that into horror films. I did regularly attend horror films at the Culver Theatre in Culver City (now the legit Kirk Douglas run by CTG) in my college days, but that was only because my girlfriend at the time loved horror films. They never really scared me; perhaps the occasional startle reflex. These days, I’ll catch them here and there on TV (I seem to always run into the “Becky” franchise), and I don’t find them particularly scary. Horror films these days are particularly formulaic: you know who is going to get it; you pretty much know how; and you know it will be graphicly bloody, if possible. As for suspense? Gone are the days in which terror builds slowly (such as “Rosemary’s Baby” [insert obligatory “Tannis Root. It’s only Tannis Root” in Ruth Gordan’s voice]).

I’m also not a believer in the paranormal. Ghosts are something that were invented for entertainment purposes (cough, “Ghosts”, cough, “Beetlejuice”), or to perhaps assuage guilty minds (cough, the Scottish Play). If you don’t believe in ghosts, you don’t find ghosts all that scary.

Lastly, I have never seen any of the movies in the Paranormal Activity franchise. I think there’s something like 7, 8, 4000. Some larger number. Haven’t seen any of them. So perhaps I wasn’t the best person to be going to a stage instantiation of that franchise. My wife expressed that notion best, comparing this to the recent Harry Potter stage show. That show was light on plot and story (as any time-travel story is), but heavy on the stage magic, and relied far too much on fan service and making the fans happy.

Beyond that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?

This is all a long way of saying that we took time on this blustery and rainy Saturday to trundle down to the Ahmanson Theatre to see the Paranormal Activity play. The good news is that it wasn’t bad — it’s not something that will be a classic, and it isn’t even at the level of well done murder mysteries — but it isn’t heavy fan service and overdone stage magic. The bad news is that it is a clear profit grab by Paramount Pictures: it is not a story that needed to be on the stage. It is a trifle. I also didn’t find it particularly scary, but given what I wrote above, that’s not a surprise. It also isn’t obsessively dark, so you won’t come away from it with nightmares.

The other, perhaps more important, bad news: It is a sonic horror. By that I mean: to unsettle the audience, there is constant subsonic (low-frequency) and hypersonic (high-frequency) noise blasted at a high volume to the audience, from the moment you walk into the theatre. This is noise that is just outside the normal range of hearing, and it is not filtered out by foam earplugs, as bone conduction is involved. If you are sensitive to that range of sound (as my wife is), it will leave you queasy and on the verge of being sick. It may create headaches. For many, it will create unease. As for me, I’ve listened to too much music through headphones — I’ve lost those ranges. But be forewarned.

There are other sound problems that irritated me in other ways. The play takes place in London, and the people in the story have flat with a landline. When that phone rang, it was a single long bell. Folks that have been to the UK know that UK phones have a shorter double ring. They one of the folks had a cell phone that rang the same as a landline. You rarely see modern phones using bells for their ringtone, so that was off. Sloppy sound design.

As for the story itself: It takes place in a single set that consists of a downstairs living room and kitchen, and an upstairs bedroom, third room, and bathroom. This is all on stage in a single structure. Nothing flies in or out; nothing is rolled onto the stage. As such, this is like a situation comedy that takes place generally in a single room — think “All In The Family” or “Roseanne” or even “BIg Bang Theory”. It was, in other words, “situation horror”.

Given that this is a horror story and a suspense story, to describe all the details of the plot would serve to spoil the suspense for those that are into such things. So, suffice it to say that this is the story of a couple that moves from Chicago to London to ostensibly run away from their demons… but as anyone knows, demons have this horrible tendency to follow you and see things through to an appropriate end.

The suspenseful stage magic worked well. Besides the expected writing tricks of surprise entrances and premonition-ary lines, there were a number of stagecraft elements and diversions that worked quite well. There was also a fair amount of humor in the overall piece. It was also fun to listen to the audience reaction, especially the points of surprise. The sound was a little loud for my taste.

More of a problem was the overall story: Although the suspense and horror parts of it worked, when you come out of the show and think about the overall plausibility (setting aside the ghosts), it all starts to fall apart. Some pieces just don’t make sense, such as how some of the characters ended up where they did. But this is “situation horror”, and I guess it doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to serve the franchise.

The performances were strong and well played. I liked the two primary leads: they seemed to inhabit their character well.

“Paranormal Activity” continues through December 7, 2025, at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets are available through the Ahmanson website. Should you go see it? I guess it depends on whether you like horror and suspense and this particular franchise. For me, I get scared enough reading the news everyday about what this administration is doing. No ghost is scarier than that, unless it is the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein confronting Donald Trump. Now that’s a horror story I’d love to see on stage… or in real life!

Thinking even more, we need a version of “A Christmas Carol”, where the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein (past, present, and future) come out to haunt Donald Trump. That would certainly be worth seeing. Who’s up for writing it.

Credits

Paranormal Activity. Written by Levi Holloway. Directed by Felix Barrett. Restaged by Levi Holloway. Based on Paramount Picture’s Paranormal Activity films, first written and directed by Orne Peli and brought to the screen by Blumhouse and Solana Films. ™ and © 2025 Paramount Pictures.

Cast: Cher Álverez Lou; Shannon Cochran Carolanne; Kate Fry Etheline Cotgrave; Patrick Heusinger James. Understudies: Caron Buinis u/s Carolanne / Etheline Cotgrave; Caroline Hendricks u/s Lou; Michael Holding u/s James.

Production and Creative: Levi Holloway Written and Restaged by; Felix Barrett Director; Fly Davis Scenic & Costume Design; Anna Watson Lighting Design; Gareth Fry Sound Design; Luke Halls Video Design; Chris Fisher Illusions; Bob Mason CST Artistic Associate / Casting Director; What If We Productions Co-Production Technical Supervisor; Oren Peli Original Filmmaker; Melting Pot Commercial Producer; Melanie J. Lisby Production Stage Manager; Julie Jachym Stage Manager; Chels Morgan Intimacy/Fight Director.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

November: ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;
December: ◊ ACSAC Conference; ♣ Ben Platt: Live at the Ahmanson at CTG/Ahmanson; ♣ Nochebuena: A Christmas Spectacular at The Soraya; ♦ Stereophonic at BIH/Pantages;
January: ♦ The Notebook at BIH/Pantages; ♦ All the Devils Are Here at The Broad; ♣ Tom Chapin @ McCabes.
February: ♦ Applause at MTG; ♦ Amadeus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Anat Cohen at the Soraya; ♣ Preservation Hall Jazz Band at The Soraya.
March: The Play That Goes Wrong at 5-Star Theatricals; Here Lies Love at CTG/Mark Taper; MoTAS Poker Tournament; Spamlot at BIH/Pantages.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Situation Horror | "Paranormal Activity" @ CTG/Ahmanson Theatre by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

days_unfolding

Woke up at 7:30 AM. I had some problems falling asleep. I’m going to stay on the ship today.

Hmm. The ship’s crew is “assessing whether the tender operations will be safe”. I think staying on the ship is the right decision. They said that it would be unsafe, and they’re going to head to Miami.

The guy was cleaning my stateroom when I came down, so I waited in the lounge. Nap time now.

My electric razor is turning itself on and off. I’ll need to chuck it when I get back.

The pool is packed. I’ll try it around dinner time, when it empties out.

I don’t know why the motion of the ship was bothering me yesterday. I feel fine now and we’re on the way to Miami.

I’m mostly packed. I just left out my swimsuit, shower stuff, and pajamas. I decided to wear my short-sleeved shirt tomorrow because I’ll be hanging out in the Miami airport for hours. (And I won’t be able to check my luggage in for quite a while.) I have a coat that I can throw on in Chicago.

Went to pay my bill, but it’s on my card already. Dinner time. Checked into my flight. I’m tired. I might skip the pool. I did take a dip in the pool. I like it. I was the only person there.

Showered (because I need to pack my shampoo, etc.) Finished packing and put my suitcase out in the hall to be wrangled off of the ship.

Finished my book (bio of Johnny Carson). I think that it’s bedtime because I want to get up early and eat breakfast before I leave the ship.

susandennis

We got a puzzle lamp for the elbow! Yesterday Jan and Dick called with a tech emergency. On my way down there, I spied the new puzzle lamp. A long time ago, the floor leader, who is generally, down to her last marble, sent out an email asking if we wanted a puzzle table and lamp for our elbow. I responded, immediately, YES!! Turns out, I was supposed to gather the floor together and take a vote. Whatfucking ever. I like my way better. But, anyway since she's rarely right, I figure it was an exercise in email anyway and would never turn into anything but, now we have a lamp! And it's VERY helpful.

And Jan and Dick's issue was fairly easy to noodle out. People who don't use right clicks miss out on so much in life.

Volleyball was good again this morning. It was a good group of players.

Elbow coffee is next. And then, nothing planned til next week which turns out to be kind of busy. I do kind of have this idea of organizing my yarn but that idea might never see the outside of my head.

mallorys_camera

There is one good thing about this time of year: I sleep more deeply & I dream more vividly. Like last night, I dreamed I had developed a forecasting tool based on Daily Mail headlines. Each day is a number based on a ratio derived from the number of headlines devoted to each topic. A typical ratio might read:

Meghan Markle (5) : Donald Trump (4): Cosmetic Surgery Nightmares (3): Toddlers Dying in Parked Cars (2): Ozempic Horror Stories (11) = Daily index of 0.189.

Which means a pretty good day! Only 11 Gazans will die; Trump will only collapse three times off camera, coming down those passenger airstairs, and the New York Giants will beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

That's a pretty good idea! I thought when I woke up.

###

Other than that, I did very little but Remunerate yesterday.

My mood is still perky from socializing & accomplishing writing goals so I didn't feel particularly oppressed by Remunerating, although naturally I wish it were more like automatic writing, or that a $50,000 bill would waft down from Heaven, or that the MacArthur Foundation folk would stumble across my diary & realize what a great genius I am.

###

Chapter 4 of the Work in Progress begins with a description of how lame the backwater community hospital is dealing with COVID patients. I haven't been an RN since 1992, and I have no idea what a non-lame way of dealing with COVID patients might be. So, I have emails & texts in to all my medical pals:

How many ventilators they would have. Would they have an ECMO machine? Would they have (or need) access to dialysis? They WOULDN'T have a negative pressure room, right? So what might their isolation precautions look like? How might they handle something like the ER waiting room? Would they make people wait outside in their cars & then just call them in one at a time?

I guess they call that research.

nanila posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

cornerofmadness

So all I did was go to the writers group meeting in Athens to relax and that helped until my sugar decided you know what would be fun? Let's hit 500 and now go into freefall. Maybe she'll live, maybe she won't. It's falling so fast right now my dexcom has double down arrows. I've never even SEEN that before. This shall be a fun night.

So have the story I wrote this week. I'm happy about it.

Title: The Way You Look Tonight

Summary: All Husk wanted to do was something fun for his special day. What he got was paperwork and disappointment until something unexpected happened. In that moment, he truly saw Angel for what he was: one of the most amazing people Husk had ever known.

Rating: teen

( story under here and at link above )

And also for fannish 50 have my thoughts about this week's Hazbin Hotel episodes and my rec of the week and let me be the last to say woo hoo

fandomtrees is back. I need to fix up my requests.

( My spoilery thoughts under here )

I decided to put the music outside the cut but obviously they have spoilers too

My boy: (also Keith David singing!)

Watch on YouTube

My boys together (what Blake did with this song is pretty amazing)

Watch on YouTube

Chaggie (it's catchy)

Watch on YouTube

All the recs

A Terrible Thing Torchwood

Reading Time FAKE

Waste Of Time Hazbin Hotel

Losing to a Bottle Hazbin Hotel

Weathering The Storm Torchwood

Left Behind The Fantastic Journey

Candid Hazbin Hotel

Braid and Twist Hazbin Hotel

From the Mornings You Ease to the Evenings You Quiet Legends of Avantris

Fight Fire With Fire Hazbin Hotel

Sewer Surprise Torchwood

he looks like the real thing Hazbin Hotel

She Screams Quietly Hazbin Hotel

Before She Asks Hazbin Hotel

To Be Ordinary Torchwood/Doctor Who

Traitorous Thoughts. Fake

Current Mood: bitchy
Current Music: Death in Paradise

days_unfolding

It took multiple tries to get my Dramamine open. Damn child-proof caps. It seems to be helping.

Fell back to sleep eventually and woke up at 7:30 AM. We lost an hour last night. (We’re back on Miami time.) After my shower, I went into the Studio Lounge, and saw a bunch of older ladies who got up early. I found my tribe! But they went away.

I’m going to talk to the shore excursions person about going to the beach tomorrow.

Napped. Had lunch. The Dramamine (?) is giving me IBS symptoms. I think that I want to lie down and settle my stomach after they finish making up my room.

I left my gray purse somewhere. I just had a values notebook in there, so no big deal if I don’t get it back, but it’s annoying. I went to Guest Services but they don’t have it. I want to talk to Shore Excursions about the beach tomorrow, but they aren’t there until 5.

I checked out the shops, and except for a hat, there’s nothing much. And I already have a hat but forgot it.

Hmm. Maybe I should rent a scooter next time?

I talked to Shore Excursions, and they said to wait until they announce Open Tender to get to shore. I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

I watched Hamilton on pay-per-view. At first, I was like WTF? But eventually I got into it.

I got my purse back. Alleluia. And I found out how disembarking works. I’m going to get to the airport way early.

I’m having stomach cramps. I’m a mess. I should go to bed soon.

ringsandcoffee

1. What's one of the nicest things a friend has ever done for you?
The first Christmas I couldn't go home to California (2017), Natalie came over while I was out to dinner with another friend and put up a Christmas tree for me, with a few ornaments, and also a couple strings of lights. I walked in the door to see it and was so surprised. I still have that tree and the lights.

2. What's one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for you?
I hope I can remember an answer to this before it's time to post.
Came back to this question, and I can vaguely remember something. Grrrr my memory sucks sometimes.

3. What is a trait in another person that you instantly admire, and that draws you to them?
If they like something that I like, and we can geek out together.

4. What is a trait in another person that instantly repels you, and prevents you from forming a close relationship with them?
Pretty much anything negative. Rudeness, complaining, bad attitude.

5. Time to vent: tell us about something rotten someone has done to you.
Intentionally vague here, but 7th grade.

days_unfolding

( “Ship )

fflo

maju

It was colder this morning, down around freezing point when I got up. I didn't go outside for exercise because although it was sunny, it was also windy, and I didn't feel like facing the wind chill factor again. Now I'm sort of regretting it, but I do go up and down the stairs quite a few times a day so I'm not completely sedentary.

I've realised that two of the three pairs of long pants I've been using were very frayed around the bottom of the legs because of friction against my shoes, so because both pairs were quite long, I was able to cut off the frayed ends and turn up a new (slightly smaller) hem. I did one pair a few days ago and the second pair this morning, and both look much better and are still plenty long enough. (I like my pants to be just below my ankles.) I did both pairs by hand because there's no really convenient place for me to set up my sewing machine here, so I was regretting that I didn't get around to this task before I moved here.

susandennis

I found the wine. I had some with dinner last night. It was good but not life changing good. Oh well, at least now I know. I do wonder however, if that half glass was partially responsible for my 97% sleep score last night. I am for sure a cheap drunk.

As long as it is not milk. I am a holier than thou person about health shit. I know it. I spent most of my life believing that allergies were psychosomatic. Until daily allergy pills helped (not cured, mind you, but helped) my forever runny nose. But, now, it's for sure, I'm also lactose intolerant. I have loved milk all my life. But a couple of years ago, it seemed to turn on me. So I quit drinking it. But, I miss it. So yesterday I tried again. One tablespoon over my oatmeal at breakfast. By noon, I was paying the diarrheal price. fuck. I cream is ok in small doses. cheese is fine. Dr. Google says that old person lactose intolerance is not unusual at all. Great. now I can't have milk and I'm a cliche. Fuck.

It's another dark and rainy day here today. I do love the cozy of that. And, of course, it takes my swim up several notches on the enjoyment scale. This is all because I do not have to ever go outside. One of the local Continuing Care Retirement Communities, I looked at (on web only) was a cluster of buildings. You had to go outside to get to the dining room, to get to the front desk, to go to the library... What a PIA that would be.

Since I rarely go outside... yesterday, I wore my crocks - ones with holes - when I went to the grocery. BAD idea. The rain was coming down, which was not an issue BUT the small lakes that that created in the parking lot were a big issue. I need outdoor shoes. Wellies for grocery shopping! Or at least shoes without holes. And I need to remember to wear them.

I have no plans to go outside today. My freezer is full and my meal money account is bursting at the seams.

I think I'll go make up the bed and hop into my suit and do a few dozen laps in the pool.

mallorys_camera

Finished Chapter 3!!!!!! Go me!!!!!

Literally, the second I finished typing, the electricity went off in the house. I figure this was the Universe's way of getting me to the gym because otherwise, I would have been sorely tempted to sit on my ass and binge Season 4 of Selling Sunset.

Such a personal relationship with the Unverse, I have! 😀

###

One more chapter in the Grazia arc.

In this chapter, she meets with a drug dealer on a deserted corner at 4 in the morning who's hawking N95 masks (this actually happed to Public Policy Eleanor who had the misfortune still to be a nurse during COVID); gets floated to the floor where she watches lots of people die—including a woman who could be her doppelganger; flips out; joins a strange Shaktipata yoga cult; gets snatched by Neal who takes her to his Catskills cabin and nurses her back to mental health. The chapter has to end full-circle with Grazia & the other sister wives on the front porch of the Catskills cabin the day after Neal's memorial.

Then I start with Part 2, which is told in Daria's voice, which I am imagining as highly poetic with no wisecracks but a lot of linguistic wordplay, since Daria thinks simultaneously in English, Spanish, & French. This is going to be challenging since my French is bad & I don't speak Spanish.

If only I'd won Lotto, I would start Chapter 4 today. But you have to buy a Lotto ticket to win Lotto.

So, instead, I must—ugh—Remunerate. Don't want to work while I'm in Ithaca with the SonZ, so must position myself ahead of the deadline.

kalloway

It's been a little while since the last one - some of this is because of the length of one of these.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Complete Original Series) - 130 episodes + movies + documentaries. So this did in fact take awhile! But I really enjoyed it. I had somehow forgotten that He-Man is Science Fantasy and also how good the whole cast is. It also aged well. Wouldn't actually recommend binging it like I did, but I have no regrets. (I do own She-Ra but I need a breather before launching into it.)

Time Bokan Royal Revival - a Tatsunoko parody OVA that probably makes a little more sense with more Tatsunoko knowledge but I know enough to have enjoyed it. I know I've watched this before. I'll have to find it proper shelf space?

Eight Clouds Rising - I know I watched this years ago and was just sort of 'hmm' about it. It's an OVA based on a manga series and despite seeming like BL, isn't? I think I can let this one go.

Wild Zero - I feel like I watched over the summer but it never went on a shelf? If you know who Guitar Wolf is, um, this is the Guitar Wolf Zombie Movie. It's just kind of bonkers and has an amazing soundtrack. Like, it's just... Guitar Wolf Zombie Movie.

Utawarerumono - this was stupidly hyped back when it came out but I never osmosed more than 'guy with a mask' and couldn't have told you another thing about it. Anyway, I was not expecting what I got and it... was okay. A lot happened and it was a ride and became even more of a ride. Apparently Utawarerumono was originally an adult visual novel and, um, you can kinda tell. It can go, but I'm glad I finally saw it.

Dragon Half - dunno how this got in the pile. I should read the manga again too. The anime is hilarious though and kind of a nice palette cleanser.

Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO - I think this ended up in the pile because Zudahs. I still like the Zeon sections; the Feddie bits just kind of feel extra.

So, 5/7 keepers. Not bad.

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