Posted in Books, Televison, Uncategorized

We Were On A Break!

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/Something has changed
within me.
Somehow I’m
not the same.
I’m tired of playing,
someone else’s game.
Too late for second-guessing. Too late to press stop (oops, I hit Publish!). Time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!
Some things I cannot change, but till I try, I’ll never know!
I’m sick of denying gravity, now…I’m defying gravity!
Even by getting up in the morning…I’m defying gravity!https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want. I wanna—, I wanna—, I wanna stop hearing ‘want’ instead of ‘need’…So I have a problem, something I have to face…To move ahead at a more novel pace.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/
We need to not believe everything we read and not only read everything we believe. My fondness wish? That we hit pause, stop fighting about who’s right and who’s wrong. Simple, the facts are right; what if we’re all wrong?https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/I want to read what I want…Not what’s fed to me by algorithms to feed greed, telling me what to read what to believe…https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/What’s the worst that can happen? I go to Over-Readers Anonymous meetings (Are those a thing?). I can find books for myself everywhere…https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/Mysterious buildings with ‘Library’ on the door. Bookstores, smartphones, laptops, tablets, family, friends, book sales…I’ll answer the siren call – pages whispering dreams, promising more and more.

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/I could say ‘no’, follow steps…Or stand up proud and say, “I’m a bookaholic, but baby, I wouldn’t have it any…other…way!!!” So I’m defying gravity! Carrying books, swaying, falling, spilling dreams…Onto me!https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/Don’t try to pull me down; come with me instead. Think of what we could do, together…Just by saying yes! (You better believe I’m twirling…right now!).

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

Yup, books are wicked. So is TV. Definitely Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Fashion. Movies. Food. Video games. Blogging. Holidays (isn’t it Thanksgiving, oops everyday, then how about Halloween then?). Seductively luring us from reality, or are they reality? Whatever, to thine own self be true (note Shakespeare didn’t say to thine own selfish be true).

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  • I’ve been trying slow blogging, er, being semi-unplugged? Whatever you want to call it. I enjoyed the time off, but glad to be back to blogging https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/02/02/theres-no-crying-in-blogging/ So, I know what I did this summer. I laughed, I cried. Got tired and inspired. Wondered and wired…all while we were on a break!https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

  • I got cozy with a bunch of women who find murder victims then conveniently pin the mysterious crimes on others. Thank you Julia Buckley (My latest booky joy, but hey, I’ve exhausted the library’s supply of your books, hate to be presumptuous, I’m hungry for you to write more http://www.juliabuckley.com/blog), Laura Levine, Ellery Adams, Leslie Budewitz, Kym Roberts, Edith Maxwell, Lee Hollis, E.J. Copperman, and more! The worst killer ever? Doubt.

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  •  What else? Cooking, games, philosophy, writing, yardsaling, Goodwill (bargain) hunting, weight loss, ghosts, organizing – even a guy claiming he’s so organized, he could move out in 20 minutes, hey buddy, slow down, are The Sopranos after you, I’ve had longer bowel movements (oops, TMI?).

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  • I’ve recalled that the grass is always greener, not only on the other side, but over the septic bed, and if you’re using copious amounts of fertilizer (yes, even verbally). Which somehow made me want to reread Pride and Prejudicehttps://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/09/28/these-foolish-things/ hard to do when being bombarded by pumpkin spice (is there such a thing as death by pumpkin spice?), but I prevailed and Darcy and Elizabeth (spoilers!) got together once again. Love rules, pumpkin spice drools (or does it make people drool?). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/09/you-may-say-im-a-dreamer/

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  • I was once again reminded that life isn’t just unfair, it can be downright sadistic, so, as we weather the storms of life, change buffeting and sometimes battering us, try to remember, people are people, not toys to be played with, in person or online – if you wouldn’t like it done to you, don’t do it to anyone else.

    https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

  • I boldly went where no Blob has gone before, on The Orville, in a ‘Discovery’ of just how much Fox will pay to let Seth MacFarlane make love onscreen to Star Trek and all other things sci-fi and fantasy (I’m looking at Star Trek mini-ships and ET in my work area, I get it). I only watch each episode two or five times because they’re hilarious and thought-provoking, not because I have a tiny (huge) crush on Ed Mercer and Justin.

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  • I remembered I’m a 100% unique…just like everyone else. It’s my own personal This Is Us, minus Justin Hartley (I miss Smallville, Passions, and Revenge) and Milo Ventimiglia (I miss Gilmore Girls and Heroes), sigh, shake it off, it’s 2017…

    https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

  • I was prodded into remembering the world’s two most important words (sigh): fine print. What you don’t know is more important than what you know or think you know…

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  • I wondered how Moonstruck could be 30 years old, I just watched it yesterday. Cher and Nicholas Cage are still bizarrely mesmerizing and I want baked goods…and opera (I don’t suppose Hamilton and Wicked count?).

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  • I was most definitely distracted by bloggers…and bloggers who wrote books. For example, Teagan (https://teagansbooks.com) was kind enough, even though she was going through a rough time to consistently give us the gift of her posts and another stimulating escapade ebook, Murder at the Bijou: Three Ingredients I (adventure awaits, flying by the seat of your pants!). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

    But wait, there’s more! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/03/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/    https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/12/15/the-cats-pajamas-birthday-party/   I’m not complaining, but where’s the sequel to Atonement, Tennessee (ok, I’m whining a little).https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

  • At times, I found myself so excited I couldn’t eat. Who am I kidding, chocolate and I started the summer in a serious relationship and I’m happy to announce, we’re getting engaged (oops, I ate the ring). Isn’t it weird when some people say stuff like, I was so excited or so busy I forgot to eat. What?!? There’s a way to forget to eat? Tell me! Now! Frankly, I’m too busy #Sheetcaking (Tina Fey dropped by SNL to demonstrate our technique; I think it has all the hallmarks of an Olympic sport – talk about defying gravity!).

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Nostaligia was always big and getting bigger as we struggle to return to simpler times, times when TV shows were discussed around the ‘watercooler’, when Sunday, Monday were Happy Days, when Tuesday, Wednesday were Happy Days, Thursday, Friday, well, you get the point. Times when all promises weren’t false, when lies weren’t the norm, where words and actions meant something…Where we didn’t forget the unforgettable.

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

 I think we’ll see even more of a rush of gentler shows and revival ‘nostaligaporn’ shows like Will & Grace – glad you’re back, guess you were on a break too – I missed your silliness; shows people can talk about without fist fights ensuing. We need more things that bring us together instead of tearing us apart. Look at our skeletons (not the closet ones) – we’re all the same, deep down.https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

So no one told me it was gonna be this way (blogging and life).
Jobs are all a joke (and a 4-letter word).
Of course I’m broke, apparently my Donate button is mostly merely decorative…no eccentric billionaires want to adopt me and help save the endangered broke and obscure bloggers who once roamed the internet free…

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/My love life is not DOA, it’s just resting, pinin’ for the fjords…I’ll have you know my love life is not bereft of life, pushing up the daisies, or resting in peace! It hasn’t shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain, or joined the bleedin’ choir invisible! It’s not a ex-love life!

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/Looks like I’m always stuck in Park (or Neutral?).
Because it hasn’t been my day,
My week, my month, but it has been a lark!
(Thanks to my old ‘friends’, we got together this Summer and Fall for coffee at Central Perk, thought my wrists are a bit sore from holding those huge cups and my ears ringing from the creepy laugh track).
My time off has taught me, I’ll be there for you…I hope you’re there for me too!

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/

Posted in Books, Cats, Fibromyalgia, Movies, Televison, Uncategorized

Next Time, You Bring The Cookies

1fibro5My brain is often at war with my body.
I want to do more. More! More! Yes, on days like this my brain sounds like a strange combination of yearning romance novel heroine and petulant child.
Such is the hidden world of Fibromyalgia.

My body dragged itself out of bed to start another day. Not really sure why I have a bed sometimes, but at least it’s there for rest and decoration. I also once again failed to get the license number of the Mack Truck that hit me while I was sleeping.
With FMS another day means more pain, fatigue, frustration, disappointment, doubters and just more of less.

I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t live with Fibromyalgia to understand it. I don’t have cancer, that doesn’t mean I can’t have empathy and understanding for those that do. Or ALS, MS, CP, Diabetes, Autism, depression, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, etc.
Doesn’t mean I can’t understand a man because I’m not a man.
Or the rich because I’m not rich.
As human beings we have a wealth of empathy, understanding, and compassion available to us at any time.

I get some people think Fibromyalgia is made up by lazy or unmotivated people. Ok, why do doctors and other professionals go along with it, what’s in it for them? They have more than enough patients, unfortunately cancer alone keeps them pretty busy.

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1sm27So it hasn’t been my day, my week, my month, or even my year, but I do know that laughter is truly the best medicine so I thought today was a good day to review Conversations with Steve Martin edited by Robert E. Kapsis (University Press of Mississippi). Thank you Netgalley.com for letting me borrow this ARC copy, available in stores early September 2014.

I’ve already had many conversations with Mr. Martin in the last 35 years – usually he’s wearing an arrow through his head or bunny ears, or a balloon hat, playing his banjo, getting Happy Feet, dressed in a King Tut outfit, and/or eating tiny chocolate cookies while juggling small cats. No cats were harmed in my fantasy conversations with Steve Martin.

1sm1

Conversations with Steve Martin highlights Martin‘s contributions not only as a comedian, but as a writer, musician, artist, and free-thinker through a series of interviews and profiles. It’s sort of a living eulogy of Martin’s rollercoaster career over the past 4 decades.

Steve Martin has thrilled and disappointed audiences for decades with his ever-changing style, from eccentric, incongruous, and wacky to mature to sinister to bizarre to mellow.

As much as I’ve 1sm20enjoyed some of his later work, I sometimes miss the wild and crazy guy, the Cruel Shoes, King Tut, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/11/27/the-man-with-two-brains/ and more.
That being said, I’m so glad he moved on and didn’t get stuck.

If you’re a Steve Martin fan this latest book is ubercool, if you’re not, well, excuuuuuuuse me!

You can read, watch or have pretend conversations with Steve Martin or maybe really pretend 140 characters or less magical moments on Twitter @SteveMartinToGo

1sm26

Carl Reiner may have said it best, “His strength, as an actor, I’ve found, is his beautiful body,” Carl Reiner said jokingly. “His weakness is too much hair on his body.”

Laughter may not fix all the world’s problems, but it sure does know how to make them seem less dire.

I think tonight will be a Steve Martin movie night.

Thank you Mr. Martin for another lovely conversation, next time, you bring the cookies.

1sm31

Posted in Movies, Televison, Uncategorized

MEAN GIRLS

christmas260Snapping jaws…clutching claws…putrid, dank, evil swirling all around you as you struggle for your very survival. Bodies shuffling around, intent on their prey, with no hope of escape…sounds like the zombie apocalypse, but really just high school.

Ok, this Tina Fey classic is prone to amplification and hyperbole, but it is a difficult time for some teens. For others, it’s unbearable.
christmas261

This movie is a funny look at how quickly things can escalate and spiral out of control.

The Christmas/Winter Talent Show was sadly hilarious.

Almost difficult to watch knowing how much Lindsay Lohan went from being a promising actress to a tabloid joke.

All in all, little silly, but had some good points.christmas263

Posted in Televison, Uncategorized

OHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

  I love Saturday Night Live and despite it’s many downs, but I believe there are more ups so I stay with it.Image

There are so many things to love:

Landshark, mrbill1
Two Wild and Crazy Guys,
The Church Lady,
Beep in a Box, Ed Grimley,
Canteen Boy, Spinal Tap,
Mary Katherine Gallagher,
Father Guido Sarducci,
Matt Foley, Goth Talk,
Sarah Palin, Pat,
Celebrity Jeopardy!,
Sprockets, Wayne’s World,
Stuart Smalley,
Larry the Lobster,
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer,
Mr. Peepers, Weekend Update,
Samurai Tailor, More Cowbell,
Toonces the Driving Cat,
The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise,
Synchronized Swimming,
Chippendale’s Auditions,
Schweddy Balls,
Chronicles of Narnia (Lazy Sunday) –
I could go on and on, believe me, I could, but there’s a special place in my mind for Mr. Bill.

Mr. Bill is the clay figurine clown created by Walter Williams (sent to SNL as a Super-8 reel  as part of SNL’s request for home movies) to parody children’s shows. First aired in 1976, 2 years later Williams became a writer on SNL and yahoo, more Mr. Bill.

As a funny, both strange and amusing side note, Mr. Hands, the man seen only as a pair of hands, but who does most of the damage to poor Mr. Bill was played by Vance DeGeneres, the older brother of Ellen DeGeneres, he was also a correspondent on The Daily Show years ago.

Over the years Mr. Bill has been used to advertise products, as answers in shows, in skits, movies, games, teaching about the environment and in anti-drug campaigns – he pops up everywhere.  But always with the same pattern. Things start off well for Mr. Bill and those unfortunate enough to be around him like Sally and Spot. That doesn’t last long. Things go badly for Mr. Bill when Sluggo and Mr. Hands show up. Mr. Bill suffers terrible humiliations that escalate quickly to his ultimate demise with his shrieking in a high-pitched voice, “Ohhhh noooooooooooooo…” . ImageIs it wrong to think it’s funny? Perhaps. Is it funny? Yes. Very much yes.