I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Wouldn’t Do That)

Posted on February 9, 2022February 9, 2022 by D. Parker

And I would do anything for love,
I’d walk briskly right into hell and back
I would do anything for bloglove,
I’ll never lie to you and that’s a fact

And some days, it ain’t easy
And some days, it ain’t hard
Some days it ain’t happening at all

I’ll do anything for bloglove (but I won’t do that)…

Goodbye Meatloaf (gone like a bat out of hell)

I don’t know about you, but to me January 2022 felt more like Groundhog Day than a new start, but now it’s February so everything will be different, right? Right?

February started with the Lunar New Year aka Chinese New Year – it’s the year of the tiger, ok, I’m singing it as “Eye of the Tiger” and thinking of Monty Python, how about you?

What else is February (allegedly), for such a short month, it’s crammed full of expectations including but not limited to:

Black History Month (to remember, to learn, to grow, and to look to a better future)
Valentine’s Day (and National Impotence Day is the same day, hmmm, interesting)

LGBT+ History Month
National Library Lovers Month (having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card!)

World Cancer Day (to state the obvious, cancer sucks)
Random Acts of Kindness Day (again, you shouldn’t need a day for this, just be kind for pity’s sake)
Love Your Pet Day (shouldn’t that be everyday?)

Family Day (wow, how many times can I say this, should be every day)
Spunky Old Broads Day (bet a lot of Maxine cards are sold for this day)
National Pizza Day ( ummmm, pizza)

World Whale Day ,as opposed to Worldly Whale Day (très magnifique whales, hmm, wonder if worldly whales would play Wordle?)
Read to Your Child Day (Every. Single. Day.)
Extraterrestrial Culture Day

Chocolate Day (you mean every day?) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/05/30/you-live-you-die-in-between-theres-chocolate/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2020/01/26/aggressive-simplification/

National Umbrella Day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/22/umbrella/
Super Bowl Sunday https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/01/lazy-super-bowl-sundae/
Tinnitus Awareness Day (oh, I’m “aware” of it every day!)

2022 is not a Leap Year, so February 2022 has only 28 days, oh no, but hopefully not 28 Days Later, fast zombies are scary, speaking of, guess who’s coming back and with fast zombies, “The Walking Dead”. February has more, but I don’t want to be a bore!

February will come and go in the blink of an eye, pushing into March. My year of chronic change marches on, topsy turvy with all the moving; organizing; growing “Chronic Not Hopeless” (chronicnothopeless@gmail.com https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/01/30/chronic-not-hopeless/); getting addicted to “Among Us”; reading, reading, reading, so much reading; writing; snow, so much snow, eh…

Watching: “The Gilded Age”, “Midsomer Murders”, “1883”, “Snowpiercer”, “Stay Close”, “What We Do in the Shadows”, “Shetland”, “The Expanse”, “Vera”, “The Great”, “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”, “The Eternals” (we’ve waited 7000 years for this movie, ha, Marvel/Disney, more like it felt like 7000 years watching this movie, wow); waiting for the return of “The Walking Dead”, waiting for the return of “The Orville”, waiting for common sense/#kindness to poke it’s head out and return us to a better reality.

Here’s what’s happened so far…

In August, it was a difficult decision, but I had to break up with myself

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/08/23/seems-breakin-up-was-easier-in-the-90s/

In September I asked “What If…?”

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/09/29/what-if/

Then in October I knew that “Sweet Screams (Are Made of This)

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/10/29/sweet-screams-are-made-of-this/

Then in the midst of November chaos came calm

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/11/27/have-yourself-a-merry-little-christmas/

Counted down in many ways in December

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/12/02/24-days-of-our-christmas-lives

In January I shared ways I’ve learned to save money, of course, if there was affordable housing and even slightly less corporate greed scraping pennies wouldn’t be as necessary. People’s health would be better, physical as well as mental health. I also did a presentation about how to save money for “Chronic Not Hopeless”, a grassroots support group for people with chronic conditions, here for each other because when one of us shines, we all shine.

Contact/get links to Zoom events/volunteer/suggestions/questions/resources/donate:

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2022/01/21/cant-buy-me-love/

Wishing you and yours a safe, happy, and fact-based March, hope it treats you kindly.

Christmas, Holidays, kindness

Have Yourself a Merry Little #Christmas

Posted on November 27, 2021November 29, 2025 by D. Parker

Is Christmas really the most wonderful time of the year? Can’t we make the most wonderful time of the year any old time of the year? Does it have to be scheduled? Does it have to be a certain day? Why not wish each other well and treat each other well every single day in each and every single way?

1. Marathon your way through the season, which apparently now begins in January with brief visits from other holidays before bouncing back to Christmas again. Don’t limit yourself to Christmassy viewing, though if you’re in the mood…

“Get Back” to Let It be and Let it snow and Let it go, yeah yeah yeah, The Beatles won’t let you down as they wanna hold your hand down this long and winding road; spend some time back in time at “Downton Abbey”; go anywhere or anywhen with The Doctor in classic or modern “Doctor Who” (not “Doctor Who Flux”, flux, wait, is that because The Doctor is female now, hmmm, weird…);

don’t be sheepish, pop over to “Shetland”; immerse yourself in the Marvel Universe, or the Star Wars galaxy, or anywhere else you can imagine; revisit some “Friends”; fear the future of “The Handmaid’s Tale”; hope “Vera” only calls you “love” or “pet”, not “sunshine” (Dear Santa and Vera, I can explain…); see what is the deal with “Seinfeld” (It’s Festivus for the rest of us); be glad you’re not invited to a “Game of Thrones” Christmas party (you know nothing, Jon Let It Snow);

put on your Walkman, pull on your neon spandex and fanny packs to take a tour of the Upside Down in “Stranger Things”; watch cooking shows, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay (are you blaming the fish?!?), “Baking It” with Andy Samberg (can Lonely Island all host?), or “Breaking Bad“; or drop by “Yellowstone”; find out “What We Do in the Shadows” or in the “Shadow and Bone”; and/or see who survived on “The Walking Dead“. Or read your way through the snow, ho, ho, ho…

2. Use this as a time to catch up with family, friends, or new friends (just haven’t met you yet) who also are looking to hide away from the holidays, enjoy the holidays in a less commercial way…

3. Be bold, be brave, go on a holiday dating/companionship spree, even if it’s on Zoom. Eggnog your way through stories about his/her ex, mom, ex’s mom, work, football, baseball, hockey, fashion, cars…Who knows, maybe you’ll find a Christmas miracle, or become comfortably numb.

5. Fill your time, don’t just kill that time. Do something you wanted or needed to do but hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet. Read, write, craft, draw, paint, bake, blog, sing, play games, cook, knit, go to a museum or art gallery, walk, work, declutter (unclutter?), exercise, sleep, stream, meme, clean, dream…It’s all good.

6. Have a Single Christmas Party (not for singles, just you, be your own party). If you can’t enjoy your own company how do you expect others to enjoy it? This year, like last, we have some restrictions, but enjoy your time anyway.

7. It’s never too late (or early) to start a new tradition with yourself or others, hopefully one that doesn’t involve eating your feelings, spending future rent/mortgage payments, insulting others, and/or anything illegal.

8. Help others this season – the best way to keep your mind off your problems is to help others with their problems. It can also give you perspective if you’re in a woe-is-me-kinda-place.

9. Under no circumstances drink too heavily, that could lead to calling, texting, or emailing an ex, or blogging under the influence, or doing something else you may otherwise regret.

10. Look back, look inside, look around, look forward. See past the blinking lights, beyond the cha-ching of the cash register, and maybe read about my year of chronic change https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/08/23/seems-breakin-up-was-easier-in-the-90s/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/09/29/what-if/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2021/10/29/sweet-screams-are-made-of-this/

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, but generally, on all the days of the year, make a life for yourself that isn’t an escape room. A life where you’re not trying to get away, not trying to immerse yourself in the latest holiday…where each and every single day holds some tidings of simple comfort and joys, and some jolly.

This season is simple. It’s days, weeks, months like any other. It’s filled with what you want it to be filled with, well, mostly. Winston Churchill famously said, “When you’re going through hell, keep going”. Churchill means, when you’re struggling, push through, or you’ll get stuck in the struggle. I triple dog dare you, keep going, you never know what’s on the other side, isn’t that exciting?

And have yourself a Merry Little Christmas…and be kind, to yourself and others. Please. Thank you kindly.

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” ~Charles Dickens

Chocolate, kindness, motivational, social media

Welcome To Your Life

Posted on March 25, 2019November 25, 2025 by D. Parker

Welcome
to
your
life
there’s
no
turning
back
Even
while
we
weep
You will find us
acting on our worst behaviour
turning our backs on Mother Nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

***https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/16/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world/*So glad we almost made it**

So sad we have to face it

who is really ruling our world?

Say that you’ll never never never need it

One headline – why believe it?

Stop letting our world be ruled…

Stereotyping is the scourge of our time. All women are this, all men are that, good guys always win, life is fair, fat people are lazy…religion, race, wealth, poverty, sex,diets, politics, illness – everything is painted with the stereotype brush…wait, did I just stereotype stereotyping? Make no mistake, hate is the easy way. Different = Hate. Don’t agree with you = Hate. Blame everyone for your problems. Don’t change, just dig in. Lies, make them big, no, small won’t do. Feed them what they want to hear, while they pretend to care about those they hold dear.

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/03/25/welcome-to-your-life/

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss

A lie is still a lie
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

And when politicians woo
They still say “I love you”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings

As lies goes by

Promises of jobs and tax cuts
Never out-of-date
Tapping into bias with a passion

Spilling jealousy and hate

It’s an age-old story,

sensationalism wins

over love and glory.

We pick and choose

what truths to hold self-evident…

her truth, his truth,

my truth, your truth, the truth…

flippity-floppity, they can’t all be true.

That no one can deny

It’s still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome liars
As time goes by…

Storytelling, once used to pass along useful information, to keep people safe or make their lives easier. Cavegal/Caveguy didn’t recount that story about almost being eaten by a Saber Tooth tiger to get Retweeted, or get Likes on Instagram. Nor did they stop to film it, or get a Selfie #catscratchfever

No, she/he told exciting tales, not to get attention, to influence, to build her/his brand, but to warn others not to go picking berries on that path where those tigers live #berryscary #noyabbadabbadooforyou

We’re addicts, we need another fix. Oh we can stop anytime, we don’t need it, then a ping, a new text, email, tweet, update, tag, post, whatever. We’re all about the yarn, the tale, the story…

We crave all the grimy little details, especially the ones that sound like they could be real, the facts say otherwise, but they’re boring, tell us more about the lies, fraud, sex, the scandal of it all, no matter how insane or impossible it seems…tell us more, more, more!

Is it true? Who cares? Jump on that bandwagon wherever it may take you. Why worry, got to get another hit. As long as we get our momentary rush, who cares about the consequences?

Do people even want to rule the world anymore, or are they content to just stare at a screen and watch the world burn, as long as they can feed on the flames of the story as we crackle? Remember the good old days when there used to be a line-up to rule the world: aliens, supernatural beings, crime lords, hackers, scammers, Dystopian Future leaders seem especially bent on keeping control (time is fleeting…),

megalomaniacs with delusions of grandeur, terrorists, corporate terrorists, politicians, super villains (better than average villains or just wearing capes?), Huns, Hordes (so many Hordes),

puppets, paupers, pirates, poets, pawns and kings (they’ve been up and down and over and out and they know one thing, each time they find themselves flat on their face, they pick themselves up and get back in the race), and who can forget Vikings, evil scientists, and laboratory mice whose genes have been spliced (sounds painful and wrong – free Pinky and The Brain!).

But for those who still have an interest in ruling the world, here’s an Easy Peasy guide:

Make someone’s day with a smile or a kind word. Do something they need, not just someone you think they need. Help them as they need help.

Be part of the good, even if it means not taking that tempting/way-too-easy dig at someone (just as a completely random example, Donald Trump).

Jump rope, Jump Force, Shonen Jump, Jump Jump Jump Around (I Came To Get Down), Jump Up and Down for Joy, jump-start your day, jump-start a car – just don’t jump to conclusions.

See the world from someone’s else point of view, even on their worst day. Then someone else. And someone else. The sky’s the limit and maybe not even then.

Care. Don’t just pretend to care. Do it, surely it must take the same effort, right?

Don’t attack, don’t react – act on your best instincts.

Do something you didn’t think you could do. Except murder. Don’t do murder. Or anything else bad, let’s start again, do something good you didn’t think you could do.

Grow food instead of a portfolio.

Be yourself. Unless you can be Groot, then be Groot (I am Groot).
Don’t try to control, be a part of something. Join a club (not a gang), volunteer, find people with common interests, goals, and values (beware of diving right in, some groups and people can be intense, hey, I didn’t directly mention Game of Thrones fans https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/07/you-know-youre-obsessed-with-game-of-thrones-when/), find time to find others.
Laugh (I’ll help, Jann Arden has a comedy series, Jann – watch, laugh, repeat). Cry (or laugh and cry thanks to Ricky Gervais, his Netflix series, After Life may just change your life, it changed mine). Dream, wonder, rejoice – seriously, if you’re still not watching The Orville, I, I, I just don’t…So go ahead and feel, feel frustrated, sad, lonely, happy, hopeful, hopeless, scared, joyful, jealous, disappointed, angry, but don’t think those feelings are facts; just to reiterate, feelings are not facts.
Show and share compassion, patience, empathy, understanding – all the money spent on piles of flowers, stuffed animals, balloons and candles, the endless moldering memorials – give that money to those in need. Isn’t that a better way to remember those who have been lost?

Offer your support and some Random or Not-So-Random Acts Of Kindness, but try something different, if you’re in line for coffee, you can afford a coffee (or think you can, that’s a whole other issue), the only kindness you’re giving is to the coffee place. Give that money to those in need, not just in need of a caffeine fix.

Comfort, inspire, don’t require something in return.

Anger, greed and fear are so tempting, calling a siren’s song, ‘give in to me, it will feel soooo good’ and it could, briefly, but it hurts others; if that makes you feel good, you need some serious help.

Instead of trying to be right, be happy. Instead of being closed, be open. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/01/26/two-can-keep-a-secret-if-one-of-them-is-dead/
Be part of something kind. Easy to pick on someone, more work to pick them up. Instead of rising to the bait, rise together.

Share something you want to keep all to yourself, for me, chocolate (they’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands, then again, if I share, we’ll both be in bliss).
Answer a child’s toy phone instead of your phone. Be there, in the here and now, tomorrow isn’t certain, but I’m certain we should be enjoying today. Welcome to your life, there’s no turning back so let’s enjoy a world where there’s enough for everyone – enough food, enough shelter, enough kindness, enough hope, enough compassion, enough love.

This blog post brought to you today by Donna’s Brain, now filled with 100% more:

Tears For Fears.
Politics/politicians/political machinations.
Casablanca.
Toy Story (4, 5, 75, whatever, just keep ’em coming, we’ll watch, we promise).
Frank Sinatra (anyone else feeling a Rat Pack vibe these days?).
The Walking Dead (more Negan please, gots to get me a Jeffrey Dean Morgan fix).

Agatha Christie – the new Ordeal By Innocence – go catch some red herring.
Organization (shouldn’t that be a four-letter word?).
Buffy (RIP Luke Perry).
The Orville (stop taking breaks, work 24/7 365 please and thank you).
Kindness (it really does matter).
Harry Potter (I don’t know if the Sorting Hat could figure me out right now).
Hope.
Avengers (and of course, Guardians of the Galaxy – I get it, I still listen to my Walkman).
E.T. (Text home?).
Love.
Struggles.
Supernatural (300 has a whole new meaning, they get my jonesing for some JDM and pizza).
Poverty.
Passion.
Peace.
Pests.
Pizza.
The Handmaid’s Tale (as we start to live it we should accept that good people don’t always win, but that doesn’t mean they should stop being good and yes, some rich people believe the ‘screw the rules I have money’ motto, but money doesn’t equal right just right now).
Exhaustion (is there a place past exhaustion, like mega-exhaustion?).
Secret City (is this a series or a documentary, it’s so difficult to tell anymore…).

Books (more on that later).

Why is it every Spring I feel (doesn’t make it true) like I need more socks, pizza (did I already mention pizza, it’s worth another shout out, right?), donuts, Gilmore Girls, maybe Easter eggs (only the chocolate ones, I can have eggs anytime) and cake.
Loss.
Thinking of how fix the root causes of all the anger, hate, loneliness, trauma;
compassion.
Game of Thrones (anyway to get Jason Momoa back in flashbacks, time warps, something?).
Earth Day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/22/all-the-ways-im-told-im-stupid-everyday/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/04/15/tra-la-la-tra-la-la-la/
Psych (why aren’t they bring this show back, at least a movie or limited run series, come on, I’m desperately in need of a happy place!).
Change (not all change is good, not all change is bad).
Laughter.
The Good Fight (keep it up).
SEO, streaming, dreaming, superheroes, raw water, CBD-infused anything and everything, detox, botox, Cheetos dust (is that a must?), ruffles, truffles, bigger phones, smaller minds, ALF, BTS, Bill and Ted (what’s the newest Excellent Adventure, finding their dentures?), cryptocurrency, Wikileaks (maybe they just need WikiDepends), Julian Assange, rading #Area51 (#StormiArea51), self-driving cars (scare me less than drivers driving cars), flying cars (still not as scary as people driving cars on the ground), goat yoga (yoga goat?), inflated lips, inflated hips, inflated prices, fanny packs are back (what?!?), Momo, CYA, Apple (is it really an #AppleEvent without Steve Jobs? Maybe Tim Apple will be there, would Tim Cook be a cooked apple, but I digress.), FOMO, Snapple, GMO – oh no, my brain is melting;
Storms.
Ultravox and pancakes and not necessarily in that order.
SpaceX.
Boomtown Rats and Queen (feeling a Live Aid vibe here).
Aurora Borealis.
U2 (What if I found what I was looking for and didn’t know that’s what it was?).
Downton Abbey followed by the urban sequel, Downtown New York Abbey.
Stranger Things (welcome to my life).
Food waste.
Murder (not doing it, writing about it or reading about it or watching it, wait, I’m sensing a theme).
Why the birds are conspiring to sing their ‘songs’ outside my window, exactly what subliminal messages are they putting into my brain…
I’ve been going through some stuff as you see from my ‘slow blogging’, but not slow braining, but I keep bouncing back, Don’t Stop Me Now
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2019/02/06/dont-stop-me-now/ I guess the biggest thing I’ve been struggling with, concerning blogging and social media is, am I part of the problem, am I an enabler? Am I feeding the beast? I try not to, but readily admit, I’ve had varying degrees of success. I move forward with a new resolve…I hope.

Glad to be back and always to be here with all of you.

Big bloggy hugs and welcome to your life, young, or old, or in between, the rest is up to you.

Christmas

Santa Should Be On The Naughty List

Posted on December 3, 2018November 23, 2025 by D. Parker

I don’t want a lot for Christmas. There’s just one thing I need. Don’t care about the presents, shopping, or a Christmas tree – could we unblur the lines between good and bad? Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is less celebration of Black Hats (or Red Hats with Fur Trim), more celebration of White Hats (and cookies, definitely cookies).

We cheer for serial killers, drug lords, mobsters; glamorize celebrities and corporate fat cats – I hear they can even become President.

We’re allegedly repulsed by the violence, greed, self-absorption yet…we’re mesmerized.

Look at Santa. Or should I say: Santa Claus, Pere Noel, Father Christmas, SinterKlaas, St. Nicholas, Dun Che Lao Ren, Kris Kringle? Secret Santa indeed…he needs many aliases, with all the break and enters; sure, he leaves gifts but also a lingering sense of unease.

Some poor child still sings about being traumatized when he saw his Mommy kissing ‘Santa Claus’ underneath the mistletoe one night; how about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer, huh, whose reindeer? Take a wild guess.

Santa only works one day a year, while keeping elves slaving all year-long, to make toys, for which he takes the credit (and cookies).

Santa’s all ‘thank u, next’, he only cared about Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer when he deemed Rudolph useful, not when the poor reindeer was bullied relentlessly (#BeBestSanta).

Only eight tiny reindeer? Really?!? For one cookie-stuffed man? Does that seem fair?

Santa leaves his reindeer out in the cold and snow while he goes into warm homes…and they say The Grinch treated Max poorly (he did/does!).

Elvis begged Santa to bring his ‘baby’ back to him…what other atrocities don’t we know about, is it just me or does Santa seem kinda, I dunno, elfish?

Santa tells children he’s watching them when they’re sleeping; knows if they’ve been bad or good. He browbeats children into behaving well, threatening to leave a toxic substance, a lump of coal, in their stocking – The Nice List, The Naughty List, more like The Blacklist.

What’s next, Santa?

Are you gonna lead The Sons of Santa motorcycle gang, Ho Ho SAMCRO?

Be President in The House of Christmas Cards?

Have a barbed wire baseball bat covered in with Christmas lights (P.S. You’ll poke your eye out with that thing; or someone else’s eye)?

Kill to sit on the Candy Cane Throne in the Game of Santa’s Village Thrones (you sit on a throne of lies)?

Go over to The Dark Side (they have Christmas cookies – Merry Sithmas!)?

Be known as He Who Must Not Be Named at The North Pole…Harry Potter and The Half-Eaten Gingerbread Man?

Breaking Bad Santa?

Supernatural Santa?

Rescue Me from Santa’s tyranny…Hmmm, maybe Santa should be on The Naughty List.

Santa baby, c’mon please make it right this Christmas, or at least make it wrong and interesting.

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright and May All Your Dreams https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/12/18/twice-upon-a-christmas-carol/ Take Flight!

Blogs, halloween, Holidays, Movies, Televison

The More The Scarier!

Posted on October 26, 2018November 5, 2018 by D. Parker

Bloggers and readers of every age.
Wouldn’t you like to see something strange?
Come with me and you will see.
This, our blog party of Halloween!
Share it once, share it twice.
Take a chance and roll the dice.
Ride with the moon in the dead of night.
Everybody scream, everybody scream!

In this blog party (share your links to your or others blog posts, books, social media, whatever!) of Halloween (or not)!

The more the scarier!!! #TheMoreTheScarier

Memories shape our lives and we cling to them as a witch clings to her flying broom (or vacuum). Some memories are comforting, others haunting. Do you remember the first time you heard: One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater? How about Monster Mash? Thriller? Dead Man’s Party…Sympathy for the Devil, Time Warp, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, Devil Went Down To Georgia…Dragula, Welcome to my Nightmare, This Is Halloween…Who You Gonna Call? (Ghostbusters)…2018 version: Who You Gonna Text? (Emojibusters)
For some, Halloween is another kind of Christmas. It’s been 25 years since I stood in line on opening day to see Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/19/the-nightmare-before-christmas/ and sometimes it feels like yesterday.
Hocus Pocus came out the same year and it’s cheesiness put a spell on me for all time.
Halloween attacked theaters (1978, 40 years ago and still today) and thanks to lax age rules back then, I probably saw it on the big screen. I heard that music and I was transfixed, they had me. Then the cinematography sucked me into the vortex of Michael Myers; I was right there, running scared with Laurie Strode/Jamie Leigh Curtis (Final Girls rule!). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/20/25-ways-to-stay-alive-in-a-horror-movie/
Night of the Living Dead was 50 years ago and sadly, the ending stands up the most in these troubled times, proving the point, the more things change the more they stay the same. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/
The Rocky Horror Picture Show – 43 years and counting of fish nets, great tunes and, er, toast? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/the-rocky-horror-picture-show/
Netflix’s vision of The Haunting of Hill House may thrill and chill you. Starring Michiel Huisman of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society -thanks Netflix for keeping the original book titles, for both and possibly for redoing Sabrina, I think I’m missing the teenage witch angst campiness, but adding Michelle Gomez aka Missy from Doctor Who , genius!), Game of Thrones, Orphan Black, Nashville; also, Timothy Hutton; Carla Gugino; Henry Thomas (E.T. Phone Home!) and more, it’s not too scary, er, depending on your definition of scary. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/19/religion-politics-and-the-great-pumpkin/

A strange magic thralls us with varying degrees of horror, from Mary Shelley to Stephen King (Castle Rock hooked me – mesmerizing and creepy, but in the best way, but a redo of Pet Sematary – Sometimes dead is better), to Wes Craven, George A. Romero (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/21/zombies-on-sesame-street/), Amy Holden Jones, Shirley Jackson, Rob Zombie, Anne Rice, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero, Lisa Tuttle, Eli Roth, Kubrick, Jason Blum, Shaun Cassidy (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/01/american-gothic/), John Carpenter, Charlaine Harris, Terry Pratchett, R. L. Stine, Susan Hill, Marti Noxon, Sam Raimi (sure, all the Raimis), Neil Gaiman, Rick Baker, Guillermo Del Toro, Ayn Rand (if you don’t find Objectivism horrifying… https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/29/the-pursuit-of-happiness-cult/), Agatha Christie https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/, Joe Hill, Clive Barker, Hitchcock (I still get a moment of unease when I step in a shower and not just because I know I’m about to murder some songs), Poe, Cronenberg, all the Hammer films, Scooby Doo(?) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/31/the-mysterious-world-of-scooby-doo/ – and more Supernatural https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/10/26/my-big-fat-supernatural-life/ um, joys. Do you have a favourite writer, director, and/or star of horror books, movies and/or TV shows?
Are You In The House Alone reading this or out with strangers or stranger things? People are strange and these days when I try to scream it only comes out as a yawn (thank you, Barenaked Ladies, that sum of all fears it up). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/28/enter-at-your-own-risk/

Welcome To My Nightmare, dear readers…

Don’t be afraid to share your links – I dare you to add posts, not just spooky; one per comment, come back often, here are some examples of parties passed – https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/28/monster-meet-and-greet-mash/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/01/29/always-on-my-mind-blog-party/).
No Psycho Killers, please, but practical magic, go for it (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/10/17/the-curse-of-time/). Any questions? I’ll try to answer, unlike David S. Pumpkins (Tom Hanks, SNL).

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), The Walking Dead – he’s lasted (read the comics)…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-will-rule/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-wont-rule/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/02/personal-reasons/

I bet Charlie Brown would probably have been zombie food in an hour (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/29/stuff-i-learned-from-its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown/)
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)? The scariest monsters and super creepiest – those who feel the ends justify the means. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/01/06/im-not-inclined-to-resign-to-maturity/
At least Casper was friendly and The Addams Family https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/20/hide-and-shriek-with-the-addams-family/ and Munsters https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/21/my-fair-munster/ were fun, those who are Bewitched by lies, what happens if or when you wake up? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/09/16/you-had-me-at-cake/

Enjoy each day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/22/umbrella/ and each holiday, but don’t jump ahead, stay here, with pumpkins, pumpkin spice, candy and costumes – Halloween…
Then Remembrance Day/Veterans Day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/11/02/christmas-comes-after-remembrance-day/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/11/03/lest-we-forget-to-shop/
Then Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving in Canada comes early and everyday these days https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/17/all-were-asking-is-for-a-little-respect/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/)
Then Black Friday and Cyber Monday https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/01/12-hours-of-cybermonday/ (yes, apparently shopping counts as ‘holiday’ now, go figure), then Christmas https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/12/08/dear-santa-i-can-explain/
Now I’m getting sleepy and hollow (needs more chocolate and eye of newt). This Haunted Halloween Blog Party has no rules, except, like with blogging itself, have a bloody good time! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/21/dancing-in-the-dark/

No mandatory comments, likes, reblogs, shares (although they’re appreciated), no time limits. Do what you wanna do, i.e https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/16/you-cant-handle-the-blogging-truth/

Something wicked this way comes and horror gives us a way to examine the scary, horrifying, most frightening, the darkest parts of our world in a safe space, so you might say we horror fans are the original snowflakes…let’s hope we don’t melt.

Books, ebooks

See You Again

Posted on July 15, 2018July 15, 2018 by D. Parker

Sorry I’m not sorry…Not sorry I took a blogging break to question myself. I was seized with a feeling, a feeling that I had nothing else to say…I know that doesn’t stop some folks, but I didn’t want to waste my time or yours, you know, overstay my welcome. Then lately, everything I read or watched seemed to have the theme of atonement, redemption – maybe my brain was begging to reclaim my blog, atone for not believing in myself, redeem my poor little lonely blog sitting here, hoping against hope, to be read, so I thought, what the heck, a few more posts couldn’t hurt (er, famous last words?).

Not sorry a couple of wonderful bloggers/authors, Teagan and John knew just how to lure me back, putting down Reese’s Pieces, or in this case, books/ARCs, to lead me back to blogging (Be Good).

Teagan Riordain Geneviene https://teagansbooks.com/ is a talented, kind, and brilliant author and blogger who just keeps giving us delight-filled and diverse gifts of books and blog posts. We don’t get enough second chances in this life so when I got a chance to revisit the supernatural Southern town of Atonement, Tennessee https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/03/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/12/15/the-cats-pajamas-birthday-party/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/ in the sequel, Atonement in Bloom, I dived in and swam in the magical pages.

Atonement in Bloom, like the first book in the series (it is a series, please please please say it’s a series), roars and purrs with mystery, magic, hope, and intriguing characters you just need to know more about (unlike some people). This book review would not be complete without advising you of something quite dire indeed – this book should come with a warning label, “Read at your own risk, addictive and time-consuming in the best way possible”. Not sorry I’m not a big fan of flowers, never was, but I do like hedge mazes or a cool Labyrinth (yes, including the awesome movie with David Bowie and the muppets) and this book had enough twists and turns to do any of those, even the Royal ones, proud. This is one of those Indie books, like it’s predecessor, that should be made quickly (but well) into a series of hit movies, starring, just to throw a few names out there: David Tennant, Aden Young, Norman Reedus, Nathan Fillion, Richard Armitage, John Krasinski, Ian Somerhalder, James Spader, Chris Pratt, Benedict Cumberbatch, James Roday…I’ve got a whole list (you know that’s right) and of course be these books should be and remain #1 on every Best Sellers List, magical and otherwise. They are simply the cat’s meow.

John W. Howell is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, you will never be sorry if you visit his blog and books. https://johnwhowell.com/author/ His latest book, The Contract (Between Heaven and Earth) is co-authored with Gwen M. Plano http://www.gwenplano.com/ (I look forward to reading more of her work as well). It’s a complex story that could be hard-to-follow, perhaps because it’s such a unique fusion of the natural and supernatural, but instead this tactile and celestially charged story has wings that fly in a metaphysical rush through love, hope, honour, action, and mostly, redemption. It was one of those, I’ll-just-read-a-little-more-maybe-a-few-more-pages-just-one-more-chapter-until-I’d-devoured-the-whole-book-and-had-to-write-this-book-review-or-my-version-thereof type things. Heart-thumping, in more ways than one. I can clearly picture The Contract as a movie, or a Netflix series (hint hint Netflix, get this before Hulu, Amazon Prime, Playstation Vue, HBO, or someone else gets it).

Not sorry I’m honest (even in book reviews, though I’ve severely tempered my extreme, sometimes remorseless bluntness over the years, so please, send me your books). Remember when honesty, truth, facts, used to be a good thing? If you think you have a valid point, or story, or belief, or you didn’t break the law, why lie?

Not sorry life isn’t fair (doesn’t mean I won’t complain about it now and again…and again?).

Not overly sorry I didn’t get everything or give everything.

Not much point being sorry I screwed up and will do so again.

Not even slightly sorry I have opinions and can still compartmentalize, be objective and effective…as can many others. #sorrynotsorry

Not particularly sorry I’m dumb about some things and smart about others, addicted to chocolate and gifs and memes and books…also, not sorry I’m not: young, rich, stunningly beautiful, stick insect thin, famous, infamous, or quiet.

Not sorry I ignore the trolls, their utter and intense cruelty, while still feeling slightly nauseated that people are so angry, so hurt, so pathetic that they have to lash out at others to feel better, or maybe just to feel anything?

Not sorry I found the staggeringly absorbing TV series, Rectify Sundance/Netflix starring the remarkable Canadian-Australian actor Aden Young (in looks a cross between Nathan Fillion and Tom Hardy, but quite different from either, and I say that as a fan of all), also, Abigail Spencer, Clayne Crawford, Linds Edwards, J.D. Evermore, J. Smith-Cameron, Nathan Darrow, Caitlin FitzGerald, Adelaide Clemens, Luke Kirby, as well as an impressive amount of Deadwood and The Walking Dead (idea for a new show, The Walking Deadwood? ) alumni. This is a compelling cautionary tale of how our carelessness with people can start chain reactions of brokenness. That despite unspeakable (but needs to be spoken of, long and loud) cruelty and injustice, you can find hope, kindness, justice, and even, redemption, sometimes in the most unlikely places. If this doesn’t fix in your mind how easily life can come undone and redone, I surely don’t know what would.
Not sorry I believe piracy is not a victimless crime, but shiver me timbers, charge less, yo ho ho and we’d buy more, you scurvy dogs!

Not sorry I don’t know everything. I can’t rectify all mine and the world’s problems. I can’t readily atone for all my alleged “sins”. Partly because I don’t see some of them as sins, my truth isn’t your truth and your truth isn’t my truth. Partly because time takes care of all that – a memory is not a fact. Perhaps I’m reaching an age where I’m unapologetic, but that’s a story for another day.

Not sorry to see you again.

Autism, Books, Movies, Televison

Tra La La, Tra La La, La

Posted on April 15, 2018April 21, 2018 by D. Parker

Tra la la, tra la la, la
Tra la la, tra la la, la
Tra la la, tra la la, la

One banana, two banana, three banana, four
All bananas make a split, so do many more….

Flipping like a pancake, popping like a cork
Fleagle bingo drooper and snork

Tra la la, tra la la, la…We’re The Banana Splits, at least, we’re meant to be…meant to have more fun. I wonder, are we over thinking life? Always doing, having, wanting, needing, pushing, pulling, rushing, yearning, instead of just being.Maybe, just maybe, radical thinking alert here, we’re born, are intermittently happy, then leave this world, remembered or unremembered. We need to spend more time flipping like a pancake and popping like a cork. Making up a mess of fun instead of just a mess.More TraLaLaing, less brouhahaing. More Fleagle, bingo, drooper, and snork – less fighting, lingo, booper, and snark. The wise words of William Wordsworth are all too real now, “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers…”.So today I’m just a girl, sitting in front of her computer, asking you to have fun with her.We can read books, talk, laugh, eat, blog, dance, sing, agree, disagree, watch shows/movies – I dunno, have fun…not to judge, nor praise, nor critique. Not to pick apart or speculate. Just to be.I’ll start…Couldn’t put down “The Girl Before” by JP Delaney, recommended (on Facebook) by my delightful British cuz, Penny (now there’s a woman who knows how to have fun), thank you, sweetie, it kept me page-turning long after I should been abed.

Had some more Boo Radley moments with “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Harper Lee) then “Benny and Joon” (one thing always leads to another in my head).
Joined Ellen Berry on Rosemary Lane and Miss Marple in the library, with the body, through the mind of Agatha Christie https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/21/how-to-get-your-book-published/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/
Was “Dreaming in Chocolate” (like always), but this time thanks to Susan Bishop Crispell; how apt for me.
Meandered down the rabbit hole filled with zombies, as Gena Showalter left Alice and friends/foes in the final book (oh no!) of the “Alice in Zombieland” chronicles, “A Mad Zombie Party”…we’re all mad here!!! And more! I would include some indie books in this list, but no one has sent me any lately (hint hint), those I would review, honestly, as I do everything.
Speaking of zombies (were we?), plenty of heartbreak, wisdom, and triumph on “The Walking Dead” and hopefully “Fear The Walking Dead” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-wont-rule/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-will-rule/ I really keep learning, sometimes, despite our best efforts, that’s how it’s gotta be, while still believing, trying to keep believing, it’s still gotta mean something.
So while I try to believe…and try to patiently await holds at the library and, more…“The Handmaid’s Tale” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/05/13/the-mother-of-all-blogs/, “Westworld”, “Game of Thrones”, “Psych” reboot (please, please, I need a happy place), “The Orville” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/, and on the big screen (finally)…”Deadpool 2″, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, “Incredibles 2”, “The House With The Clock In Its Walls” (family-friendly goth mystery based on one of my fav childhood books by John Bellairs), “Marvel’s Avengers Infinity War”, and more, more, more – while I wait, I split (with bananas?) to the ‘good old days’ when life was simple (or was it?): Doris Day, James Stewart, The Marx Brothers, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly (can’t think of any more Kellys right now), Ingrid Bergman, Fred Astaire, James Dean, Rock Hudson,Judy Garland, Mae West. Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/arsenic-and-old-lace/, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn (I’m out of Hepburns), Lauren Bacall, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Myrna Loy, Joan Fontaine, Alfred Hitchcock, Tim Burton, er, classics, right?
I traveled through time with “The Crossing”…remember when we could do that with “Doctor Who”?
Went on adventures (burp) with “Rick and Morty”, aww geez, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, but I still love cartoons https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/08/09/i-miss-saturday-morning-cartoons/
Revisited the Conner household with the return of “Roseanne” (still love Laurie Metcalf, almost as much as on “The Big Bang Theory” and “3rd Rock From The Sun”) – you don’t have to like her, her voice, her politics, or watch, life is filled with infinite choices, ordering coffee and from Amazon has taught us that.
Had more “Supernatural” fun with the Winchester boys and “The X-Files” folks https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/10/26/my-big-fat-supernatural-life/.
Another Series of Unfortunate Events https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/16/you-cant-handle-the-blogging-truth/, this time with Nathan Fillion https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/28/well-cream-you-with-our-tim-hortons-donuts-you-hosers/ – sigh.
Wandered back to Stars Hollow to visit the “Gilmore Girls” and company – I can’t seem to stay away https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/01/06/im-not-inclined-to-resign-to-maturity/
Went from “LA > Vegas” with little turbulence but lots of laughs.
Was “Barry” pleased to watch Bill Hader (“SNL”, “Trainwreck”) as he makes life and death comedy (no, not the ongoing saga of Trump, you might need to watch “Wag The Dog” https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/09/15/wag-the-dog/ for that, ‘Mission Accomplished’? Really? Wow) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/06/nothings-gonna-stop-us-now/
Got “Lost In Space” (Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, Parker Posey – this show has a nice amount of Parkers), the only ‘Danger, Will Robinson’, is binge-watching on Netflix.
In the “Here and Now” here and there. Played games. Worked. Visited blogs. Organized. Got distracted. Pondered the meaning of life…
April gives us some interesting times: #AutismAwareness (I’m aware everyday) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/20/take-your-time-hurry-up/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/21/dancing-in-the-dark/ Friday the 13th https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/13/its-friday-the-13th-do-you-know-where-your-serial-killer-is/ and Earth Day (everyday) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/22/all-the-ways-im-told-im-stupid-everyday/
April can also be the cruelest month, as T.S. Eliot told us, and it took, way, way too soon, a beloved Uncle, a true gentleman whose dry wit and kindness were always present as he tried to help people. And is giving us a historic ice storm, but, I remain hopeful that Spring is lurking, somewhere, waiting to make me Capri-happy and carefree.I’m not saying life is all about fun, but if we had a more Banana Splits (the show, The Dickies version of the song, and the tasty treat) attitude, maybe we wouldn’t fall prey to lies, scams, machinations; we might enjoy our time in this life, not to make the most money or power or to make a name for ourselves, just to be. Be happy. Be silly. Be kind to each other. Be grateful. Be here. Why not? Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la Tra la la, tra la la, la

Uncategorized

Twice Upon A Christmas Carol

Posted on December 18, 2017December 13, 2020 by D. Parker

I had too much to dream last night…again.
I feel like I’m suffering from a dream hangover.
I woke from my confusing, at times, exhilarating Dickens’ A Christmas Carol -like dream (with Muppets), and again, filled with revelations. I was visited once again by Donald Trump who told me 3 others (the best 3 others) would visit that night. It was terrifying, he still wore the chains of greed, intolerance, and suffering he’d forged link by link…it seemed like there was more of the hairspray than grave about him.

When Colin Firth showed up as my Ghost of Christmas Past in the white shirt from Pride and Prejudice (you know the one, ladies and gents), I thought, bring it on, this dream just got X-tra special. He reminded me that all things past are actually always still with us…

My Ghost of Christmas Present (what a gift) turned out to be my own insecurities, about: writing, parenting, weight (with all that weight I fear I may have lost my sense of humour…), and blogging mostly because WordPress gave me a gift for my blog anniversary/Christmas – less than half of you who asked for notifications to my posts are getting them and I’m not receiving a lot of yours either – oops; “Likes” aren’t staying Liked; and they ‘Unfollowed’ a bunch of you that I Follow – I think I have you all back, I hope. Don’t take anything personally and please, look out for my posts on social media –
Where I’m a complete twit: https://twitter.com/yadadarcyyada
Where I’m endlessly baffled by humanity: https://www.facebook.com/yadadarcyyada
The desert where I wander: http://www.pinterest.com/dpark2/
I am here!
I am here!
I am here!
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/12/18/these-arent-the-gifts-youre-looking-for/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/11/22/how-to-get-away-with-christmas/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/11/30/hello-its-me/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/27/message-in-a-bottle/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/12/08/dear-santa-i-can-explain/

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/12/02/elf/

1. Christmas songs play everywhere but we need more Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsman. Peace on Earth, goodwill, and about how even the worst of enemies can put aside their differences, if only for a little while…we sure need more of that.

2. Even on a crummy morning a gingerbread man still makes his bed with cookie sheets.

3. Christmas is about giving. Though broke and obscure I still believe in giving to others and weirdly, sometimes you get stuff back.

4. Not waiting in line for some guy in a red suit to make me promises, I’ll make some to myself and try to keep them.

My Ghost of Christmas Future was Norman Reedus, well, actually Daryl Dixon, (because it’s my dream and it gets better, he’s holding a cat reminding us to Shop Cruelty Free https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/ – that goes for people as well, cruelty-free)…and he showed me…

5. Christmas could be a little late this year, instead of making toys, Santa and the elves are already lined up to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi (I haven’t seen it, but I’m guessing it has to do with a Jedi).

6. The Christmas feeling could be there, even without the gifts, the lights, the decorations, chocolate (this one is iffy), turkey and toys, even without the Christmas.

7. Ordinary rules of time and space don’t apply to Santa or The Doctor (Doctor Who Twice Upon A Time – I’m not ready for Peter Capaldi to go and I’m still missing David Tennant), but they do apply to us, we only have so much time in this world.

Happiness and success can be measured by the joy and comfort we bring to others. Remember the good times, the fun times, the laughter, the kindness, the little moments.

If you don’t see me around here for a bit, I’ve checked myself into Clementine rehab (I can quit anytime I want) – one day at a ‘clementime’.

Merry Christmas to all and sweet dreams!

Chocolate, halloween

My Big Fat Supernatural Life

Posted on October 26, 2017March 8, 2018 by D. Parker

I’m haunted.
Maybe haunted isn’t the right word, um, spooked, creeped out, ok, maybe just confused.
I’ve tried to lead a normal life, really I have, but I’m afraid my attempts have been astonishingly less than successful.

Everywhere I turn, so-called supernatural forces invade my peace and quiet.
Ghouls, goblins, trolls, clowns, demons, ghosts, poltergeist (Theeeeey’rrrre here!), killers (#JFKFiles, or a version of them are being ‘released’, but my conspiracy theory stands – it was aliens, so in love with Marilyn Monroe they took her to their planet and they also took John F. Kennedy because he was having her death investigated…and now you also know my theory on how Monroe ‘died’)…Serial killers, serials killers who kill serial killers (Thank you?), vampires, zombies, dragons, zombie dragons, monsters, witches, warlocks, werewolves, wizards, whatchamacallits (why am I suddenly craving chocolate?)…I admit, I’m no Stephen King, but I’m not blameless in this, I’ve invited some of them in, even if metaphysically, er, unwittingly?
How was I to know it would be an ongoing supernatural thing?
Something wicked this way comes, really, kinda busy double double toiling and troubling here…

Rapping, rapping, rapping at my door? Let me guess, the government wanting more, more, more.
No, it’s not what goes bump in the night that terrifies me, but those in the light, pretending they want my thoughts to be free.
It’s not a corpse risen from its grave, nor a black cat (look how cute they are, how could something that cute be bad luck, oh wait, just had a flashback of some past dates, cute can equal creepy)…
What scares me the most doesn’t claw from the ground, nor fly down and drag me to its lair – no, it’s the lies, the lies, oh the lies, lies, lies! We’re spending our precious time on this planet…listening, worse, accepting lies – from politicians, corporations, anyone – we want to believe (ok, lapsed into X-Files there, who am I kidding, it’s playing in my brain right now). How can we trust if we’ve become toilet paper, waiting to be used or always taking crap from folks?
I feel like shouting, Beware! Beware! there and everywhere, Grim Reapers Heffalump or Woozle, I’m very confusel. And it isn’t honey they’re after, they’d have to let the bees live for that, no, Winnie the Pooh and all of us should know, it’s all been very sly-sly-sly…Power and money is what they covet and if they so love it, they’ll guzzle up and muzzle up everything you prize.
Who needs horror movies anymore? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/20/25-ways-to-stay-alive-in-a-horror-movie/ This is where the magic happens. Online. They put a spell on us and now we’re theirs. It’s all a bunch of hocus pocus. We need to cut through, maybe with a jigsaw…or break through, open our minds – Aparecium! Reveal the truth (yes, it’s still alive, just been badly wounded). I’m should drown my sorrows in Butterbeer, yup, you guessed it, I’m rereading the Harry Potter series for Halloween.
The Nightmare Before Christmas? Holidays seem more like The Nightmare of Christmas and Black Friday, CyberMonday, Halloween (The Great Pumpkin will be here soon, right and David S. Pumpkins, please tell me it’s David Pumpkins – “Any Questions?”) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/ Also, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day/Veterans Day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/11/02/christmas-comes-after-remembrance-day/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/11/03/lest-we-forget-to-shop/ Sadly, people seem way more concerned about who’s saying ‘Merry Christmas’ versus ‘Happy Holidays’ than if anyone is either merry or happy…and of course all the important parts of the holidays: peace, love, kindness, hope, caring, compassion https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/02/20/compassion-never-goes-out-of-style/ – I’m kidding, I mean important things like: shopping, pumpkin spice, decorations, presents, phones, cars, vacations, clothes…
This isn’t your Grinch’s consumerism, it’s so much worse. I don’t even enjoy entertainment (as much), I’m getting (more?) grossed out: books, TV, music, phones, video games, apps, sports, fashion, movies – what we spend on entertainment could be feeding people, giving them healthcare, education, shelter, security – the budget of the new Star Wars movie alone could feed a nation or six (The Last Jedi? Nothing like spoilers – now release the fans!).
We’re so afraid of being alone or being left out, we’re so desperate to be accepted, to get approval, we’re willing to believe just about anything – we believe gossip is real, innuendo is truth, and rumour is fact. Who says we don’t get enough exercise, have you been on the internet, we get plenty of exercise, jumping to conclusions. Instead of feeling connected and informed, I’m feeling tortured (and not in a starving artist kind of way). Smoke and mirrors, why bother, just plop whatever BS on the internet and suddenly, for many people, it’s magically true. Getting news from Facebook and Twitter? Really? That drives me batty! Seriously, the internet, enter at your own risk https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/28/enter-at-your-own-risk/
In a world of choices, we have less and less choice every single day. You think zombies, Negan, and The Saviors are scary in The Walking Dead?Ple-eeease, that’s nothing, you want to get terrified, look up: child pornography, sexual harassment, rape culture (#MeToo isn’t just a hashtag, it’s past time – listen), child abuse, racism (clowns now emboldened to wash off their make-up and take their show on the road), poverty, net neutrality https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/06/02/net-neutrality-i-hardly-knew-you/, opioid epidemic (let me guess, this crisis will now be ‘fixed’, for profit, by those who caused the problems, for profit)… cashless society (some folks must really love having their everything tracked), stock market manipulation, business amalgamation, human trafficking, scams, women’s (real) equality, chemicals (everywhere) in our environment, war profiteering, civil (and not so civil) rights, human (and not so human) rights, multi-level marketing, tax loopholes/evasion, sponsored reviews, wealth abyss, or want to get freaky, gasp, food waste.
The real darkness seems to be oozing from deep inside us as we hyper-focus on the trivial and ignore anything of consequence – arguing, fussing, fighting, whining, name-calling, complaining – we’ve become mentally Pennywise and pound foolish. We wear wireless masks, hiding in costumes of anonymity and anger, our candy the pain we can inflict or watch or both. We all float down here in the internet sewer because here, everything you’re afraid of, every nightmare you ever had can be found with the click of a button, and I guess, we want more of Wi-Fi IT.
It’s all so devilishly clever – we’re snapping selfies while they charge us hidden fees for digging our own graves.
If only we could focus on kindness instead anger, helping instead of hurting, and sticking together instead of tearing each other apart. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but stranger things (2)… https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/
Education, formal or otherwise is the answer, the more you learn the less you’ll be burned. Click on learn, not Clickbait. Who cares what celebrities are doing? Care about those who need, not those who greed. Seriously, what are we looking for anyway?
Maybe this year for Halloween, Rick Ghastly can sing an updated version of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, because even if we find out cellphones are causing cancer or controlling our minds, they’ll have to pry these smartphones out of our cold, dead hands!!!
I can’t think about this anymore, it’s all trick and no treat, I have too much crapathy https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/05/25/crapathy/ Or maybe I need yet another break https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/
Or maybe this can be helped by cake https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/09/16/you-had-me-at-cake/ – which, like the internet gives your brain a scrupulous high, but too much can leave you wondering why, why, why, why?
So I’ll try to rise up above the noise and confusion, carry on to see past all illusions. I’ll lay my weary head to rest (only 3 days without sleep, I’m fine) and wait for Halloween candy to go sale…because, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore...
Even Dean and Sam Winchester boys couldn’t help us out of the hellish pit of petulance we’ve fallen into, but I’d love to see them try. The Fall of the House of Us…sure. Happy Halloween!

Books, Televison, Uncategorized

I’m Not Inclined To Resign To Maturity

Posted on January 6, 2017July 16, 2017 by D. Parker

How do I stay positive in a negative world? I’m positive I’ve had brushes with cynicism, brief flings with pessimism, but lately I’ve been feeling less, I don’t know, less confident in the positive aspects of life. In days past, I thought being positive and honest was doing the right thing.
I somehow believed being positive and honest would help me have a ‘good life’, it would make me ‘happy’, maybe even help others have a ‘good life’, but society keeps screaming at me that I’ve got it all wrong. And the screams are getting louder every day.
Dishonest people get what they want.
Greedy people get what they want.
Narcissistic people get what they want.
At least it seems that way.

Maybe I’m over thinking this, being too adult, too mature, maybe Steve Franks got it right in the Psych (best TV series ever or pretty close) theme song, “I’m not inclined to resign to maturity”. If what I saw in the past few years is adulting, then I see why: video games, smartphones, fast food, onesies, drones, vacations, etc. are so popular – they make us feel like children again.

Speaking of feeling like a child, while I still have Netflix for free and returned to Stars Hollow to catch up on ***Gilmore girls* *Resurrected*** (isn’t that the title, it should be).

When I started watching Gg, in 2000, the world was a really different place.

It hadn’t been completely invaded by smartphones, fake news, and lattes – people still talked to each other, only had semi-fake news, and drank basic legal stimulants, er, coffee…

Seven seasons of Gg…still going? Thanks, charming-fast-talkers-narcissistical-wholesome-spend-the-GDP-of-a-small-country-on-food-emotion-stringtuggers who make me feel hungry and slightly brain hurty.

Brain hurt aside, I don’t want to drink the Objectivism koolaid https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/29/the-pursuit-of-happiness-cult/

It revived the ghosts of TV past and present (dare I hope, future?): Smallville, Roswell, Buffy, Charmed, Jared Padalecki – portrayed Dean in Gilmore Girls, later plays Sam in Supernatural, with his brother, Dean played by Jensen Ackles, hmmm, I’m confused https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/26/supernatural-impala/

So, oops, I watched it again…

Apocalyptic/fantasy/historical books, movies, and TV shows are sooo popular: Hunger Games; DoctorWho; Colony; The Matrix; Vikings; Westworld; Grimm; Sleepy Hollow; Game Of Thrones; The Walking Dead; Terminator; Supernatural; Revolution; The Last Man on Earth; Z Nation; Aftermath (you get the point).

Worlds in these books, movies, and TV shows are full of horrible things, really horrible things, but…less consumerism, fewer people arguing over everything and not seeing other people’s points of view, less obvious fakeness, no smart phone dependency, and pimped out coffee – I can learn to handle a crossbow or find someone else who can handle one.

My New Year’s resolutions just begging to be broken…

Avoid foods that make me feel sluggish, ill, regretful, sigh, oops I ate it again.
Stop celebrating birthdays. This birthday made me feel my mortality – or was it watching long lists of celebrities who died in 2016, hmmm, I’m far from a celebrity, so I’m probably ok, for now.
Less watching shows like Van Helsing (the series); it’s good, if you like apocalyptic world orders where life is drained out of people – since Trump was elected POTUS and hacking in general (Russia in particular) is a cool thing now, I’m guessing the answer is a big fat juicy ‘yes’!
Don’t smirk when I hear stupid or bizarre things, ie. birthday platitudes like, “Your best years are ahead of you”. Really? Saying I’m in midlife wasn’t unrealistic enough? Unless I win a super-duper lottery, and/or get a 50 book publishing deal, https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/21/how-to-get-your-book-published/ and/or start dating David Tennant or James Roday (at the same time?), my best years are years I can only remember (what I can remember). And when people tempt fate at New Year when they say next year couldn’t be any worse (especially this year). Really?
Live my life with more passion, don’t give in to FOMO https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/11/08/is-everyone-hanging-out-without-me/ and never run out of Windex, wait, that might all have to do with watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

I know, you know…

I doubt my purpose in life depends on being happy all the time https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/09/20/if-i-had-a-million-dollars/
I doubt I’d be filled with bliss if #FreshlyPressed (certainly not after the post I wrote, oops, how bridge burny of me) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/26/why-i-will-never-be-freshly-pressed/

How could you not Freshly Press this face?
I doubt I’ll be hopped up on unmitigated glee at being the best paid blogger in the world (like to try). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/27/message-in-a-bottle/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/
Positive or not, I’m going to ignore aches/pains, lack of millions (coupons and sales rule!), lack of sleep https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/11/17/follow-your-dreams-go-to-bed/ and other icky life problems. I resolve to give and receive kindness, unabashedly; grab that imaginary oxygen mask on that imaginary plane, breathe in, breathe out, and be as happy as I want to be.
I’m going to enjoy giving and receiving laughter.
Enjoy the pineapple.
Enjoy the music.
Enjoy the books.
Enjoy time with family and friends (in person or online).
Enjoy the cake and cookies.
Enjoy movies and TV shows.
Enjoy snow or sun or rain.
Enjoy smiles.
Who knows what I’ll gain (Friends, followers? Followers who become friends?).

Welcome to 2017, go out and be!

Blogs, halloween, Movies

Enter At Your Own Risk

Posted on October 28, 2016October 31, 2016 by D. Parker

With any luck this time, next year, I’ll be blogging more and a published author (gee, maybe I should finish writing a book first, but I want to believe). But for now, let me say, without hope or agenda, just because it’s Halloween (and at Halloween you tell the truth), to me, dear readers, you are perfect and my wasted heart will love you until you look like this (no, not Andrew Lincoln, the one below)…

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/28/enter-at-your-own-risk/ — Merry Halloween

Is reality just a figment of someone’s wild imagination? What if none of this is real, what if we’re all characters in some bizarre game, er, maybe I should cut down on Westworld watching, but am I really supposed to believe this is real? What if I’m in a coma and dreaming all this? Or in a TV show, snowglobe, in a virtual reality machine…Maybe living in words between words. So if you’re waiting for another page to be written, why not write it ourselves?

Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul, this is a topsy-turvy world, onlineness takes its toll, but read closely, not for very much longer…

– Since children now watch/play more ‘adult’ TV, movies, and games, I assume holiday specials will soon catch up: You’re A Zombie, Charlie Brown; It’s A Wonderful Murder; Frosty The Hitman; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Drunk; The 12 Armed Conflicts of Christmas; A Christmas Sex Tape; and Twas The Fight Before Christmas.

– Nervous about your colonoscopy cause it’s your first time? Hopefully you get an intern who kindly explains, no worries, it’s his first time too (don’t know if he was kidding, thankfully my doctor was also there).

– Books in any form are still one of life’s absolute pleasures – I’m a happy bookoholic, I bought 144 books for $30 at my city’s library sale! Oh why can’t I just read all day everyday?

– Tim Curry (saucy minx), now The Narrator/Criminologist, he’ll always be Frank-N-Furter to me – lovely to see him working after his stroke.

– Doctor Who returned, well, at least The Doctor, only briefly in the spin-off, Class – Correctamundo, but without David Tennant.

– The Walking Dead can still make me feel wobbly, as the Season 7 opener taught me, no spoilers, if you watch it, you know what happened; if you’re going to watch it at some point, you’ll watch it; and if you don’t, you don’t care. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-will-rule/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-wont-rule/

– And crawling on the planet’s face, some insects called the human race, too often worshiping at the altar of celebrity, lost in time, lost in space and I’m hoping for more meaning, maybe when the election’s over. Please!!!

Just in time for Halloween, I happily watched the less campy, less raunchy, but extremely entertaining TV reboot of The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again – Reeve Carney aka rock star Dorian Gray (sigh, I miss Penny Dreadful https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/05/19/penny-dreadful/), Ivy Levan, and Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/09/12/orange-is-the-new-black-except-for-pumpkins/) killed it in this reboot. But it made me wonder, hmmm, is this actually like blogging?

1. You see others doing something and get engaged in the process. You want to share your blogging bliss, but break down in a blog storm, then have to get ‘help’. Enter at your own risk…

2. Then you experience things in a whole different way. I remember doing the Blog Warp. Drinking those moments when, the blogness would hit me and the blogvoid keeps calling. Let’s do the Blog Warp again! With a bit of a mind flip, you’re into the blog slip and nothing can ever be the same…

3. You find yourself doing things you’ve never done before, meeting people that might be from a different planet when you only wanted to blog. It was great when it all began, I was a regular blogging fan…Now I finally understand, loss and pain carve a great big hole for the joy to land.

4. Blogging, not as wild as Rocky Horror, but you feel exposed, like you’re standing around in your undergarments in the social media castle. Now, blogbabies, don’t you panic. So come up to the blog-lab, see what’s on the blog-slab, I see you shiver in antici…blog…pation! Don’t dream it, blog it.

5. If you question how or why you’re blogging, if you’re doing it ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, close your eyes, smile and know – the darkness must go down the river of night’s dreaming. Flow morphia slow. Let the sun and light (aka other bloggers and readers) come streaming into your bloglife, into your bloglife…

I like to have fun, dance, and sing, I’m bored with angry people blaming everyone for their problems and thinking there are magical solutions.

So thank you, Richard O’Brien, after all these years you still block the angry noise and make me remember throwing toast, yelling borrr-ring, a newspaper over my head, lighter in hand, dressed as Riff Raff (I looked for pictures, but in those days we were too busy being it). Mmmm, meatloaf for supper tonight?

Just a jump to left and a step to the right, thanks for dropping by – Happy Halloween and have a safe and yummy night!

halloween, Movies, Televison

The Glorious Chaos

Posted on October 14, 2016November 9, 2016 by D. Parker

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, the wheels of the train mocked me as I tried to play Risk on a mobile device – is it just me or are mobile devices a conspiracy by a secret order of Masonic Ophthamologists trying to destroy the vision of everyone, making them need eyeglasses, contacts and even eye surgery? Time will tell. Leaving Toronto aka The Glorious Chaos as my brother aptly named it, I paused to think of the large, cosmopolitan city – wild, weird, at times, woolly, but wonderful as well. The Glorious Chaos is actually a suitable description of life. Sadly, those with Autism, like my son, experience Toronto and life itself differently. To him, it’s loud, smelly, bright, and crowded. To him, it’s overwhelming, scary, just generally creepy. But he has to live in the real world – whatever that means these days, so when my son is in a ‘good place’ (not The Good Place, a new comedy with Ted Danson and Kristen Bell, funny but hardly seems sustainable), I try to do things with him, a kind of sensory diet.

After a lovely visit with my brilliant and funny family (I’m biased, but they’re actually as I describe), we headed home, watching Summer’s bright promise fade, the quilt of Autumn cover the land, nestling under our chins as we snuggle into Winter. At no time of the year is chaos more clear than Fall, Thanksgiving, and Halloween https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/28/monster-meet-and-greet-mash/ – especially Halloween, the most confusing holiday of all.

Children dress up, ignore their parents’ warnings (with encouragement) not to talk to strangers and instead go out in the dark to the homes of hundreds of strangers, begging for food. Adults also get in on the action, partying hard, many even wearing sexy costumes – angel, devil, nurse, vampire, ninja, cat, ninja cat, Frozen, Harley Quinn, Kylo Ren, Ken Bone, really, any ol’ Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter (oh yes, I borrowed and read J.K. Rowling/Jack Thorne/John Tiffany’s Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, no spoilers, but it had Harry Potter and a cursed child, shhh, you didn’t hear it from me; they did manage to slide Robert Pattinson from Twilight fame in there too – how convenient) and Hunger Games https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/16/you-cant-handle-the-blogging-truth/ I guess they’re hoping for one night of the year, Cialis Doesn’t Live Here Anymore?

And nothing says Halloween (other than mini chocolate bars begging to be eaten) more than strange, spooky viewing, what should it be this year? The Addams Family https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/20/hide-and-shriek-with-the-addams-family/

It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/29/stuff-i-learned-from-its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown/ and https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/19/religion-politics-and-the-great-pumpkin/

Twilight Zone, Z Nation, The X-Files https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/20/the-truth-is-still-out-there-2/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/02/26/exs-and-ohs/ The Rocky Horror Picture Show https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/the-rocky-horror-picture-show/

The Walking Dead (can you keep your eyes open for ‘it’?), Pet Sematary, The Munsters https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/21/my-fair-munster/

Practical Magic (the true magic is family and friends), Bewitched, Army of Darkness, Goosebumps, The Nightmare Before Christmas https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/19/the-nightmare-before-christmas/

Dracula, Young Frankenstein https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/28/young-frankenstein-2/, Halloweentown (was there any need to make more than one?), Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

Arsenic and Old Lace https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/arsenic-and-old-lace/, ***Friday the 13th* https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/13/its-friday-the-13th-do-you-know-where-your-serial-killer-is/*, The Shining…***

Scooby Doo https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/31/the-mysterious-world-of-scooby-doo/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/22/all-the-ways-im-told-im-stupid-everyday/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/08/09/i-miss-saturday-morning-cartoons/

Beetlejuice https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/beetlejuice/, Casper, Edward Scissorhands https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/31/edward-scissorhands/

Buffy the Vampire Slayer https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/29/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/, Lost https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/lost/, Halloween – sigh, quit looking back, he’s still there – run! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/03/20/25-ways-to-stay-alive-in-a-horror-movie/

Aaaah, Thanksgiving (No turkey soup for you!!!), food coma aside (I even tried to avoid those little pushers at the mall – sure, they call themselves Girl Guides or Girl Scouts, they’re cute, but we know what they really are – you try to say no to cookies!), Thanksgiving should be everyday, a time to remember to be thankful – hopefully we know to be thankful for the right things. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/10/13/thankful-i-know-enough-to-be-thankful/

Still, there are some things I know for certain:

1. Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder…if you want salt on your floor and shoulder.

2. With everyone texting and driving, for my part I welcome self-driving, computer cars – at least they won’t give me the finger (or will they?).

3. You don’t have the right to touch anyone without their permission…ever, did I mention ever?

4. Crossing paths with a black cat is dangerous…unless they’re doing something adorable, which is likely.

5. Pumpkin Spice it if you got it.

6. Make friends with the truth – it might be your best friend when no one else is.

7. Make decisions about people on their words and actions not their race, religion, country, political affiliations, sexual orientation, size, etc.

8. Comfortable shoes and chocolate are human rights, right?

9. Non-orange pumpkins used to seem weird, but lately orange things are scaring me.

10. Adam Lindsay Gordon got it right: “Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone. Kindness in another’s trouble, courage in your own.”

11. Kiss my grits is making more sense to me every single day…

12. Fear is more contagious than any disease and stronger than any army.

13. Remembering, looking back, glamorizing the past – it seems better, more fun, easier, but maybe, just maybe, complicated and different doesn’t have to mean bad – exercise your brain, it’ll look better in yoga pants.

Oh and of course, show love whenever you can. Enjoy The Glorious Chaos.

Blogs, Books, Cats, Chocolate

So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

Posted on July 8, 2016April 29, 2019 by D. Parker

It’s never easy to say goodbye. Ok, that’s not true, sometimes it’s super easy to say goodbye, in fact, you wished could’ve said goodbye much, much earlier. You’re with someone, they’re annoying you, but it’s impolite to leave, or you feel you should or have to stay. Or when you’re at a party, function, event, etc. and some guests are driving you up a wall. There are times when you’re screaming goodbye in your head, measuring how many steps it would take to get to the door, or wondering if anyone will notice if you were to dive out of the window, full-on Die Hard – hmm, was that what Shakespeare was picturing when he said, ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow, wait to jump out that window till the morrow’? Something like that.

We love to tell stories, we’re natural born storytellers. Over 7 billion of us on the planet, telling our stories. So many stories. While we’re telling those stories, or hearing those stories, we’re not going to agree on everything all the time or be pleased all the time, but could we put all the hate, bullying, vitriol, name-calling, hyperbole, lies, persecution, injustice on the shelf? Maybe we could strive to disagree respectfully. There are many ways to tell stories, from many perspectives.

A long-awaited specialist appointment (now waiting for more, er, stuff and trying new, er, stuff) opened and reopened my eyes. No worries, it’s not fatal, to the best of my knowledge, it just feels like it’s killing me…

1) I need to take a break and focus on my health.

2) I need to write, not just blog posts, but my book, and maybe try to make more money to pay for my dirty habit…to clarify, it’s my chocolate habit, but it can be dirty; dark chocolate especially leaves terrible stains and smears everywhere.

3) It’s with a heavy heart that I write This Is Where I Leave You…actually, I didn’t write that, Jonathan Tropper did and it was delightfully flawed, if a little clever-clever, but I appreciate the exertion. Plots and characters somewhat transparent yet quite engaging. His authentically muddled and intriguingly idiosyncratic style keeps me reading. Hollywood made a valiant attempt to adequately adapt it to the screen with: Tina Fey (SNL, Mean Girls, 30 Rock, Spongebob Squarepants, Simpsons, Sisters, Muppets, etc.), Jason Bateman (*Arrested Development, Z**ootopia, Juno, Paul, Little* House on the Prairie, Knight Rider, etc.),

Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Girls, J. Edgar, Lincoln, The Unusuals, etc. ), Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood, Justified, Catch and Release, Live Free or Die Hard, The Mindy Project, The Office, Hitman, Call of Duty), Dax Shepard (Robot Chicken, Idiocracy, Parenthood, and endless odd Samsung commercials with wife, Kristen Bell who will always be Veronica Mars to me, also great in Deadwood), Jane Fonda (*The Newsroom, Barbarella, On Golden Pond, Sunday in New York, Cat Ballou, Barefoot in the Park, The Butler, Georgia Rule, They Shoot Horses Don’t They, Klute, Coming Ho**me, The China Syndrome, The Morning After,* and you may know her from her activism and/or groovy exercise videos).

4) I might need to cut back on TV, way too many shows are just ads in disguise. ie. Ride with Norman Reedus should actually be titled: American Tourism, Ducati, BMW, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Indian, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha Pay For Ride with Norman Reedus. And it’s weird how he wanders around never opening his wallet, it’s like he’s still on The Walking Dead, I guess there’s no need for money during the zombie apocalypse – the Daryl Dixon Discount.

Gorgeous bikes, scenery, people (well, mostly), but obviously one long commercial. Don’t know if I’m now more or less inclined to be sad if Negan chooses Daryl. Just sayin’.

I’ll forgive AMC, after all, they also gave us: Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Talking Dead, Hell On Wheels, Mad Men, Fear The Walking Dead, Turn: Washington’s Spies, The American West, Into The Badlands, and now, Preacher, a gruesomely heartening supernatural tale of good vs evil, or more like good vs itself.

5) I need to find new ways to de-stress. Stress is everywhere these days. Even dogs and cats are under pressure to perform, and not just in endless and often demeaning internet videos, gifs, memes, etc. (see above, but how cute is that?); just look at their food – it has to be high in fiber, promote lean muscle, keep them at a healthy weight, all so they can be adorably frisky and playful, for our amusement. Amusement seems more important now than ever. We need to be constantly amused, entertained, busy. Is it a latent, twisted version of hunting and gathering, we now hunt and gather entertainment?

We even amuse ourselves with foodporn, I mean, food now…

6) I’m crushing on teacup pigs, some call them pocket pigs, or micro pigs, but I worry about their popularity, they could get bought up by someone like Bill Gates and we’ll have to buy endless crappy versions of them – Microsoft pigs.

7) I need to catch up on my reading. Numerous library books await my attention, with due dates, apparently some others have the nerve to want to use my the public library.

Life is all about the journey, not the destination, and sometimes that journey takes you not where you meant to go but where you’re meant to be. Reading takes you anywhere you want to go and while some books may not change the world, they could change your world.

My books to review basket is also overflowing. I almost missed out on a great murder mystery, These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly in the bookflood https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1415718938 And I’ve enjoyed indie works – hidden treasures, like the ones previously mentioned here https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/01/29/always-on-my-mind-blog-party/ and so many more. Luckily I can’t physically see the Netgalley books unless I log on, so I’m pretending I forgot my password (psssh, I know you remember your password). Books have many purposes: entertainment, distraction, learning, companionship, dreaming, but really, like pop culture they’re a way of examining life, a form of philosophy. Long time readers of this blog know I have an ongoing love affair with books, including Open Court’s …and Philosophy series, but there are so many of them, how can I read and review them all? I can’t, but I sure can try. If not on here, then on Goodreads. ie. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1677400824

8) I wish The Newsroom (stunning cast of: Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston, Emily Mortimer, Jane Fonda, Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, Marcia Gay Harden, Chris Messina, Kat Dennings, David Harbour, Hope Davis, Kelen Coleman, Grace Gummer, Constance Zimmer, B. J. Novak, etc.) was still on and that more people watched it.

Aaron Sorkin is a master at presenting all sides of, well, everything, logically, rationally, especially politics. We need more of that. Smart, well-balanced writing. To me, Sorkin is the ultimate optimist, an anti-cynic, after all, who else would keep monologuing, writing epic, inspiring speeches and broadcasting them in the hopes he’s actually reaching people, not just cleverly preaching to the converted.

9) So…Politics…That happened. I feel all Alice Through The Looking Glass, what if it’s all a dream? Maybe I went through a mirror, fell down a rabbit hole, opened a door, magically traveled through a wall to Platform 9 3/4, opened a portal, a Stargate, a paratime machine, a window, a crack? I keep hoping I’m in some alternate reality, some parallel Universe and I’ll wake up. Are we BrainDead (funny show, but making me a tad paranoid of the ants that keep invading my place)? Have aliens taken over politicians? Naah, too obvious. As Alexander Hamilton said: “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”? Hmmm, how about stand for something with even a hint of logic, intelligence, integrity, or sanity?

Donald Trump, #Brexit, bogus indignation, lies, corruption, murder, abuse, war, poverty, disease, starvation, terrorism (of course, we’ve always got a new foe, it’s important to keep us scared, worried, after all, we buy more that way). Imagine what we could accomplish if we focused on what mattered and would help all people, not just a select few.

It’s too easy to long for a simpler times. Watching Brooklyn (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/01/08/stand-by-me/) it seems like life was simpler, less complex, less contentious, and it’s true in many ways. But we can’t live in the past. Can’t go back. Can’t unring bells that have been rung. With technology ruling our lives, we have to find ways to somehow enjoy the benefits of here and now without being consumed and overwhelmed by the here and now.

As for Brooklyn the film? It’s a nicely unpretentious offering about the choices we make and those that are made for us. Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, Hanna, City of Ember, The Host, The Lovely Bones, The Grand Budapest Hotel https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/09/20/if-i-had-a-million-dollars/) is, as always, astonishing, With the depth of her performance you’d think she was 102 instead of 22; she expresses so much, so perfectly, sort of an anti-Kristen Stewart. Rounded out by the talented: Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter, Paddington, Bridget Jones’s Diary https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/12/19/bridget-joness-diary/ and a million others), Julie Walters (Calendar Girls, Harry Potter, Mama Mia!, Brave, and at least a million others), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoake in Arrow), Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars: The Force Awakens https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/11/05/go-home-star-wars-youre-drunk/ Harry Potter, The Revenant, etc.

10) I’ve thought a lot about why the world more closely resembles the last days of Roman Empire and that line Gena Rowlands uses to chide/teach her moviedaughter, Sandra Bullock in the romcom Hope Floats, “It’s the worst kind of extravagance the way you spend your chances”. What if this applies to the whole world now? We need to stop spending our chances.

We need to stop settling. Stop lowering our expectations. Go out there, spend your chances wisely. We may live in a world supercharged by social media, where we dramatize each problem, instead of looking for solutions. Where gossip, blame, fighting, arguing, cool cynicism, magical thinking, phony outrage, lowest common denominator pandering, digital degrees of The Butter Battle Book, The Lorax, and The Cat in the Hat combined (Dr. Seuss would be so proud) rule the day. Where intelligence is mocked, sensationalism screams loudest, bits and soundbites of information, right or wrong, reign supreme. In fact, it would be really funny, if it wasn’t such a sad mess…

It doesn’t mean we have to buy into it. We can be more. Rise above. Care. Have character, loyalty, integrity, even if it’s not cool to do so. Choose courage. Choose love. Choose hope. Caveat emptor, lest we drown in the muck. You’ll find true power in being kind.

I write this with tears in my eyes and the words to Green Day’s Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) playing over and over in my head: “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right. I hope you had the time of your life.” I do, I hope you had the time of your life, I certainly did.

I can’t thank those of you who have supported me enough! Thanks for following, sharing, reblogging, commenting, visiting. I’m not ruling out coming back at some point, I’m just not well enough to continue now.

I’ll still visit my blogging family and friends regularly. Still take part in some parties, social media stuff, etc. Blogging is addictive. When you first do it, you feel like you’re standing naked (sorry for the visual), exposed, and then you start to love it. You have to silence your inner critic (she’s just jealous).

My posts stay here, so please, visit my vaults whenever you’d like, comment, share, I’ll still be here, after all, almost 3 years of blogging later there’s close to 600 posts, like these:

I’m not ruling out returning to this blog or another blog, or bookstores near you (she wrote wistfully). Some time away might recharge my batteries and I will regenerate (I could be the new Doctor in Doctor Who, I think it’s time for a female Doctor). Until then, so long and thanks for all the fish…come on, you think I’d leave without something to do with Douglas Adams, he’s at least partially responsible for my brain. I might be down now, but there’s no time limit on getting back up. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I’ll get up, dust off, and be back, one way or another!

Chocolate, Uncategorized

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now

Posted on May 6, 2016May 10, 2016 by D. Parker

May dances in,
dances with dreadfully
stunning promises,
dances ribbons of hope,
twisting pretty, pure,
gurgling, whispering
about what once was,
what will be,
and never be again.
In the moonlit
rattling bones of night
I, awake pondered,
what if those
five stages of grief:
denial, anger,
bargaining, depression
and acceptance,
are a stale simplification?
Is life ever that simple
or that linear?

My 5 Stages of Belief, Relief, oh Good Grief!

1. I can’t deny I was kind of missing my old tagline, Vague Meanderings of the Broke and Obscure. Trying to decide, what do you think, dear readers, I’ve believed a lot of things…

2. Some days I feel I should scrub my eyes after reading some comments sections and news. I’m a walking paper cut as I read about people, even leaders and wannabes rage, lie, attack, hyperbole flying, anger roaring, name-calling like schoolyard bullies. People lap it up like reality cream. We might be sliding down a slobbery, slatternly nowhere-to-clutch-on-and-save-ourselves slippery slope. Mike Judge should re-release Idiocracy, exaggerated for effect, but maybe not as much as we’d like. It reminds me of RKO 281, based on Orson Welles’ struggle to make and release Citizen Trump, I mean, Kane. Why reward and encourage those who spread hate? Why feed the beast?

3. Some days even doing errands isn’t what you bargained for. I heard a woman trying to return a bathing suit she’d ironed. A dog dressed as Darth Vader (probably not by choice). Felt accosted by an overenthusiastic greeter when I just wanted to look at some books. Even the book covers were more than I bargained for – various states of half-dress; invisible force fields between people as they try to kiss; murdering someone or thinking about murdering someone; symbolism runs amok; people with words as clothes; moodiness; weird eyes; people with half faces; hot demons, aliens, wizards, vikings, pirates – all looking epic; folks gazing off into the distance looking pensive or constipated. And don’t even get me started on titles….

4. Remember my Happiness Project? I figured out fairly quickly (well, quickly for me, it’s all relative, right?) that happiness doesn’t come in a project, happiness has to come from doing, being, happiness has to flow naturally, happiness cannot be forced. But I had some fun, hope you do too.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/03/dont-worry-be-happy/

5. Not ashamed to have belted out the lyrics to cheesy 80’s Starship classic,
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now with Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins.
I accept and embrace my cheesy side, it helps me write,
helps me keep smiling, laughing, despite,
well, so much, including Fibromyalgia: https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/08/08/fibromyalgia-is-a-four-letter-word/
SNL, Trainwreck, etc., my comcrush it still growing. Still not sure about Angry Birds though, Hitchcock flashbacks and all.

Waitress is certainly a fitting, quirky little Mother’s Day film. It reminded me of many things, such as but not limited to: Nathan Fillion – Castle, One Life To Life, Halo, Buffy https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/29/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/ Firefly https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/24/firefly
is as adoradorkable as the movie itself.

1ablog48

Also, Keri Russell – The Americans, Felicity, Austenland https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/12/29/austenland/ is an under-rated actress. I’m having a craving for Quiche (that counts as pie, right?). Watching Andy Griffith I wish he’d been on The Walking Dead as like, Rick Grimes’ Grandpa – he could’ve just charmed the zombies, talked some Matlock sense into them. I’d now settle for The Christopher Walken Dead.

1ablog58
Life is pie (or pi, if you’re mathematically inclined). You don’t have to like every variety, you don’t even have to know every variety, in fact, new varieties are being made all the time…but some of it is so awesome, light, and flaky, it makes you want to take bite after bite, searching for hidden delights.

This Mother’s Day maybe I’ll plant a tree, even if I’ll never sit in the shade of that tree, someone, someday will.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/09/happy-mothers-day-i-just-ate-your-gift/

So if this world runs out of Mothers (noooo!), or bloggers (unlikely), we’ll still have each other, nothing’s gonna stop us, nothing’s gonna stop us now, although we might get distracted, by chocolate…or something.

Movies, Uncategorized

Wish You Were Here

Posted on April 22, 2016April 26, 2016 by D. Parker

I walked
a path
I hadn’t
walked
in years.
The sounds of the city
sang their strange song.
The sights pilfered
my attention.
A Grecian effigy with no arms, but a whimsical flowered spring bonnet.
A tank incongruously set among the budding flowers with a background of lawyers and pizza; lots of cheese and hot grease –
oh, and on the pizza too.

I past my old doctor’s office, now a frat house. I smiled, remembering Dr. Shearer who raised sheep and around the corner lived members of the band, Sheep Look Up (ewe can’t make this stuff up, sorry, that was baaad)

I wish to go back, for a visit, in a time machine (preferably with David Tennant as The Doctor; come on, Doctor Who fans, who would you travel with?). I’d tell myself how little I knew. Be nicer to some. Apologize to others. Tell others to go to h-e-double hockey sticks (it’s Canada, eh, and they deserved it). Maybe see Prince in concert singing Purple Rain, Darling Nikki, When Doves Cry, 1999, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, etc. once more. #RIPPrince

I smiled as a big RV chugged by, making me think of the latest installment of the Vacation movie series. Campy? Maybe even glampy! Cheesy? More than the aforementioned lawyers and pizza. Tacky? I expect nothing less. Might’ve watched it sooner if I’d known it had Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers, The Huntsman stuff) and **Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead)**. Small parts (bet no one says that often), but memorable, if creepy. I may never look at them the same again. Oh, who am I kidding?

I glimpsed a bank turned into a restaurant and vice versa, hmmm, wonder which saw more money? Shuddering, I thought of The Big Short. Awesome cast (Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Melissa Leo, Selena Gomez)…

Snappy writing, but an altogether terrifying horror film. Versions of Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire, The Turtles (not ninja), Johnny Thunders, The Pogues, D.O.A, The Dickies, and Public Enemy blared in my brain as the obvious soundtrack for this film. Why worry about nuclear threats, terrorists, natural disasters, and disease when assuredly the scourge of greed and corruption will wipe us out first?

I’d left plenty of time for myself, better early than late. Cars whizzed past, buildings blurred, making me curious, how many were Turo and Airbnb? Would you, dear readers, rent your car and/or home?

Finally there, I folded myself into the 3 foldy gown…I had better luck than the full moony older gentleman, thankfully an attendant helped him; laughing at old or infirm people isn’t good sport. With two Donnas there, I got ‘Donna P’ (say it out loud…there you go). Tests done, I started back. I waved at a tabby cat reclining regally on a window ledge who obviously didn’t feel I was worthy of his time. Correct, the bird swooping past, more fascinating by far.

Home again, I happily listened to my son’s monologues. I knew what my doctor would say – not urgent (doctor code for: it’s not cancer), but I need to see you soon; kind man, he’s happy when he can actually help me. I was spot on.

Nora Ephron’s words drifted into my mind, “everything is copy” (check out the documentary of the same name). Inspired me to write this and think, wow, my blog was on the edge of 200,000 views (now over). Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined so much blog love. Thank you all.

And thanks for taking this walk with me, you made it easier. Also, Happy Earth Day!!!

Some of you, dear readers, may have noticed I changed my tagline, “Vague Meanderings of the Broke and Obscure”. Why? I’m trying it out, after all, I feel not quite as obscure, my meanderings a tad less vague, ok, this post wasn’t the best example of that…although I’m still broke, despite the unused donate button, lol.

I thought, “Wish you were here” worked better because, well, I do.

Cats, Uncategorized

Shock and Awww

Posted on April 10, 2016April 22, 2016 by D. Parker

“Somewhere,
something
incredible
is waiting
to be known.”
~Carl Sagan

People use the word ‘shock’ a lot. The news keeps telling us how shocked we should be. Politicians are always shocked. Most things they use the word shock for, are not, in fact, shocking.

Shockingly, we’re still cavepeople. We just happen to be living in a modern world. The modern trend is toward being positive, but there is a reason humans tend to be negative. It kept us alive. It was important to caution your family, friends, even strangers about: the wolves in the forest, the cliff behind the bush, the saber tooth tiger about to jump on their head, the rabid bats in the cave, the poison berries, and so on. We spoke of, then later, wrote about negative things not always to dwell on them, but to often to help others, protect others. And sometimes, other times, it’s just mean.

Now we warn people about bad restaurants on Yelp, about faulty products, bad apps, terrible service, overcharging, scams, hoaxes, crimes, we even warn people are triggers and spoilers…Constant weather talk, a throwback to warning people about possible dangers. Gossip. Complaining. Oversharing on social media. Maybe it all throws back to this instinct to warn people. And when we feel people aren’t heeding the warnings, more aggressive, provocative, shocking language and images are used.

Things people are shocked by…but why?

1. It’s not shocking when someone dies. Poor, rich, old, young, famous, unknown…it can be sad, sudden, heartbreaking, but not shocking. To the best of my knowledge, everyone dies, unless there’s something I don’t know.

2. People make stuff up to get attention, money, power, and all kinds of stuff. People lie for all kinds of reason and sometimes, for no reason. Stupid, but not shocking.

3. TV, movies, even most books aren’t supposed to be your moral compass. Shockingly many of them contain questionable moral content. They’re entertainment.

4. Adultery and cheating. Why call them shocking? Wouldn’t have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too-cowards be more accurate?

5. News about money, sports, politics that you hear will make no sense whatsoever, sometimes in the same sentence, definitely 5 minutes from now, an hour, day, month, year. Too often confabulation, time-fillers, ratings-getters. When there’s blood in the water, in the race to tell us something, anything there’s little time for facts. Pathetic, pandering, and vacuous, not shocking.

6. Business is meant to be confusing, so don’t be shocked that Guerrilla Marketing doesn’t involve putting guerillas in adorable outfits while using the latest iPhone apps, and The Fatal 2% Rule has to do with market share, not 2% of main characters on TV shows being killed off, cough, cough, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, cough, cough.

7. It’s not shocking when fictional characters do bad things, things you don’t agree with, and even when they die (see #6)…it actually makes them less fictional and more realistic.

8. Relationships are uber complicated, ok, sometimes shockingly so…

9. Celebrities do weird stuff, say weird stuff, and/or wear weird stuff to get attention, you know, publicity. Shocker.

10. People do horrible things to each other, and for each other. You don’t have to like it, but it’s not shocking.

11. Don’t be shocked when people show their true colours and/or let you down, just try not to put yourself in the position where they can do it again.

12. It’s not shocking kittens and puppies are cute. Ok, maybe shock and awww.

We want to warn people of bad things, but it’s also human nature to spread joy, beauty, kindness, happiness and hope…the good. Blogs, books, art, music, poetry, tweets, updates, texts, email, TV, movies – information wants to be shared, given, known, to be free. Don’t be shocked when it does. Be grateful.

Books, Uncategorized

Hungry For More

Posted on March 24, 2016March 28, 2016 by D. Parker

Easter is here again. It means different things to different people. For some, it’s religious. For some, family, and/or the Easter bunny or all. But like so many things, it revolves around food, and plenty of it – ham, fish, roast beef, yams, hot-cross buns, cakes and cupcakes decorated like bunnies, jellybeans, Cadbury creme eggs, marshmallows peeps, chocolate bunnies, rice krispies treats shaped like bunnies and eggs, bunny bread…

I’ve been binging, this time reading, including, the Popular Culture and Philosophy series from Open Court. Pop culture and philosophy, for me, that’s book heroin. I started with ***Homeland and Philosophy: For Your Minds* Only, edited by Robert Arp. On some level I like this show, https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/03/homeland/ I keep watching it; one thing about it really stuck with me, Brody (Damian Lewis)** is compared to a cockroach, surviving no matter what, but bringing misery to others. It describes so many people, oh my, does it describe the whole human race, crawling across the planet’s face?

My next bite was The Ultimate Walking Dead and Philosophy: Hungry For More, edited by Wayne Yuen. I nibbled on each page, snacking on deep thoughts about a deep show; delicious, but a lot to digest (chocolate-covered Daryl Dixon?).

Then I finally gave in, read some of Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) and her Lean In self-help stuff. Same old, same old, but still good advice and catchy. It’s certainly what we want to hear, that we can succeed by embracing challenge and risk, but is it realistic? We want to believe women are moving ahead, but are they?

We also want to think diets, shifting our body weight to the thinner side will make us happy. It’s important to keep in mind, at all times, correlation is not causation, even strong correlation. I watched the documentary, Fed Up, like Ms. Sandberg’s work, it’s catchy, but with gaping holes and I don’t just mean the to-be-counted-as-sexy-these-days-thigh-gap which I think used to be called bow-legged and wasn’t that medically uncool? I guess having your thighs catch on fire while wearing corduroy isn’t considered ‘sexy’ anymore.

We already know the truth, we don’t need all these books, documentaries, etc. We don’t need a magic pill, that won’t fill our emptiness. We need moderation, in all things. And to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks. I’ve had a long, complicated relationship with food, now I just want to be friends.

I wonder if our aversion to moderation comes from childhoods dominated by promises of dire consequences intermingled with lies. You know:
– Don’t swallow your gum, it’ll stay in your stomach for 7 years.
– Don’t pee in the pool – a dye will show you did it.
– Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis. Toads will give you warts.

– Don’t go swimming for 30 minutes after you eat.
– I’m leaving without you. We’re almost there.
– It won’t hurt. We’ll see. I don’t know.

– Maybe later. I always know when you’re lying.
– Your pet (insert fav pet name here) went to live on a farm.
– Coffee will stunt your growth. Milk will make you grow.

– Just a minute. Give me a minute (a parent minute is a lot longer than the average minute).
– And the obsession with preserving your eyesight. Carrots improve your eyesight. Reading in the dark damages your eyesight. If you cross your eyes they’ll stay that way. If you sit too close to the TV it will ruin your eyes. I wonder what we’re supposed to think Google glasses, smartphones, laptops, computers, etc. will do to our eyesight?

What about you, dear readers, any gems from childhood? I still feel guilty about stepping on cracks as a child. Sorry Mom. Walking in the rain, dodging worms, I tried to remember did we ever get told, Step on a worm, make your Mother squirm?

I wish you all a wonder-filled Easter. No matter how you celebrate, whether you lean in, lean out, lean up, or just enjoy, I hope you have enough.

Blogs, Books, Canada, Chocolate, Jane Austen, Movies, Star Wars, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Always On My Mind Blog Party

Posted on January 29, 2016April 11, 2016 by D. Parker

Decisions. The average person now makes more decisions in a day than most did in weeks, months, even years. Decisions can engulf us. Haunt us. Overwhelm us. Interrupt us. Even stalk us in our dreams, ummm, a Nightmare on Choice Street? Choices are great, but too many can make it difficult, or almost impossible to make and trust decisions. Then comes the morning after, littered with “Did I make the right choice?”, “What did I do?”, “Can I return this?”, “What was I thinking?”.

Even in blogging there are so many decisions. At first, it felt frightening, like I was that boy in Jurassic Park, when Dr. Grant was explaining how Velociraptors kill.

Now I’m more like Chris Pratt, on a motorcycle, riding with the Velociraptors in Jurassic World, which for me was an all-out, action-packed cheesefest (in a good way), but a noticeable lack of Jeff Goldblum.

And yes, we’ve all made the wrong decisions, like someone thinking it was a good idea to make a certain theme park ride that shall remain nameless, ok, Tomorrowland, into a movie. It had its moments, mainly involving George Clooney and Hugh Laurie – I do so enjoy when Laurie’s given a chance to rant.

Even after years of blogging I still have trouble making some decisions, and have more blank-I-just-can’t-make-this-decision-moments than would seem humanly possible..but mostly it’s much, much more like It’s A Small World After All.

Blogging has taken me to places I might never have gone:

1. Magical places…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/03/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/

2. Hopeful places…
Thank you, Mary Smith http://www.marysmith.co.uk/ for your riveting novel, No More Mulberries and equally entrancing non-fiction offering, Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni: Real Stories of Afghan Women. Reminding us that so much of the stereotypes, drama, and propaganda are fabrications – to sell products, news, and government policies; that strength, compassion, and hope still blossoms, especially in the hearts of the oppressed.

3. Intriguing places…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/09/you-may-say-im-a-dreamer/

4. Complex places…
Ever wonder what happened after? You know, after Darcy and Elizabeth, after Jane Eyre and Rochester? Some authors take up the challenge and continue the classic stories. It’s awfully daring, foolhardy, or just cashing in. In the case of Luccia Gray http://lucciagray.com/ – I’m going with daring. As a reader, I didn’t feel this was just to piggyback on the fame, but because Gray loves the enigmatic character, and wanted to continue Eyre’s story through her Eyre Hall Trilogy. The first book, All Hallows at Eyre Hall draws you in, and by the second, Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall you’re on tenterhooks, awaiting more.

5. Spacey places…
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/12/18/these-arent-the-gifts-youre-looking-for/

6. Even racey places…
Not in a tangible sense, but maybe that’s me, because my idea of a romantic Valentine’s Day is the return of The Walking Dead. Who knows? Love is a mystery.
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-will-rule/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/04/11/why-zombies-wont-rule/

If you’re a writer, film, art, whatever, contact me at: iwanttobelieve@rogers.com I do reviews, honest opinions only.

One way or another, we’re all busy.
Finding blogs we enjoy is challenging enough, but making time to read them is daunting.
Why not put all the awesome blogs in one place?
I promised you a blog party https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/01/24/take-it-easy/

Here it is!
1. Mix and mingle, refreshments to your left beside the archives (what do you think of the new theme?).
2. Please leave your blog link or post link in the comment box below along with any introductions. One link per comment, but come back as often as you’d like.
3. Please reblog to spread the word or like, share on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, etc. Like, share, reblog, tell your family, friends and blogneighbours.
4. I will visit and respond asap (at the snail’s pace I’m moving these days, the next Star Wars film could be out before my asap…kidding ).
5. Have fun, it’s a great way to find bloggers and have them find you.

Thank you for coming to the party and for supporting my blog…You’ve made blogging a decision I’ll never regret.

Where I’m a complete twit: https://twitter.com/yadadarcyyada
Where I’m baffled by humanity: https://www.facebook.com/yadadarcyyada
The dark hole where I lose hours of my life: http://www.pinterest.com/dpark2/
Where I google (seriously, not nearly as fun as it sounds): https://plus.google.com/112672588892199127381/posts
Another place to BlogLove: https://www.bloglovin.com/people/donnaparker10-6312637

Maybe I didn’t blog love
Quite as often as I could
Maybe I didn’t treat posts
Quite as good as I should
If you felt like second best
Sorry, it’s just lack of time
You were always on my mind
(you were always on my mind)
You were always on my mind

Blogs, Canada, Cats, Chocolate, Doctor Who, Movies, Star Wars, Televison, Uncategorized

Take it Easy

Posted on January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 by D. Parker

Well I’m a-runnin’
(ok, walking quickly)
down the road,
tryin’ to loosen
my load
I’ve got seven
million things
on my mind
Four million that want to own me, two that want to stone me, one that could be a friend of mine.
Take it easy, take it easy.
Don’t let the sound of your own words drive you crazy. Lighten up while you still can. Don’t even try to understand. Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy…

Whether in blogging, work, love, parenting, friendship…The Eagles (goodbye Glenn Fry) had it right – take it easy.
The sound of your own wheels (the ones turning in your brain) aka the sound of your own words – spoken, written, or even in your head can drive you crazy.
Instead, I want to Take It Easy, to celebrate – despite the war and strife, the Canadian dollar sinking faster than the Titanic (the ship, not the movie)…

rising food prices (wait, how many were going to eat cauliflower in January anyway? Eat in season, or frozen), Star Wars mania, lack of affordable housing and healthcare, loss, illness…but at least there’s no zombies, and I still have all of you – my readers and other bloggers!

You make me happy when skies are grey, you’ll never know, dears, how much I love you – thank you, thank you, thank you for being here!

Friday January 29th we’re going to beat the January blahs, the winter ennui, the snow woes with a knockout blog party!

I was trying to get it together for this week, but seriously, The X-Files is returning, my hold of Season 3 of Orphan Black came in at the library, my son has a Pokemon thingie, schoolwork, housework, workwork, lifework, adulting, decisions, snow, cold, snow, cold (repeat)…I think I’m catching a cold, oh, and did I mention The X-Files is returning?

And some of you may have noticed I’ve been trying out new themes. Turns out choices are limited for mobile-friendly themes in the ‘Free’ category on WordPress, but I will choose in time to expose it (oh my!) for the celebration!!!

Come back Friday January 29th and join in the fun! It’s easy, leave your blog link or a link to an old post, new post, red post, blue post in the comment box (one link per comment, but come back as often as you like).
Introduce yourself, wander around, eat some cake, be astonished at the size of my archives (oh my!), and mingle with the other bloggers. There will be virtual cake, blogging advice, and who knows what else! It may take awhile, but I promise I’ll read, visit, and reply to everyone!

One thing I’ve yet to regret (but the day is young) is blogging. I’ve virtually met some words-cannot-express-how-awesome people here who’ve welcomed me with open arms into their blogging family.

And I get swag! Really, my mail carrier randomly hands me treats! Like books (my drug of choice), or chocolates from Chicago I won from the enchanting Cher https://thechicagofiles.wordpress.com/ a delightful friend, blogger, and ex-pat Canadian. Yes, I got a box of chocolates delivered to my door just for reading a blog post! I love blogging! Those poor chocolates didn’t make it through the night – next of kin was notified…then eaten.

It may seem like the internet is a giant virtual haystack and we’re just tiny needles, but we can find each other with blogging parties and thanks to the tireless efforts of amazing and generous bloggers like:

Suzie, creator and hostess of the trending #SundayBlogShare on Twitter speaks at http://suzie81speaks.com/
Jason/OM shares and helps us share at http://aopinionatedman.com/
Danny is a blog dream-maker at http://dreambigdreamoften.co/
Vicky let’s us Weekend Blog Share every weekend
http://www.singlemotherahoy.com/
Elena throws weekly off-the-hook linky shares #BlogShareLearn http://www.livingwithbatman.com/
Janice offers us a place to pause at Blogger’s Pit Stop http://mostlyblogging.com/
Angie helps food addicts (I prefer devotee or aficionado) at Fiesta Friday http://fiestafriday.net/2016/01/08/best-fiesta-friday-100/

And so, so many more!

Please come back on Friday January 29th, 2016, in this case, size matters, the more the merrier!

Let’s be that lovely bit of blue sky in each others day!

Blogs, Books, Canada, Doctor Who, Family, Fibromyalgia, Food, Jane Austen, Movies, Music, Star Wars, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Stand By Me

Posted on January 8, 2016January 8, 2016 by D. Parker

Hello, it’s good to be back!

Thanks to all of you for standing by me, supporting me, my blog, and my blogging break.

Against all odds, I’ve tried to keep up with your blogs too, but couldn’t seem to muster the energy or inspiration to write a post myself.

I’ve resolved not to make any resolutions this new year, but to keep exploring this uncharted life of mine.

But here’s what happened when I was gone, sort of….

1. I learned I’m never going to be a proper gym bunny. It seems to involve an excessive amount of hair-flipping, giggling, spandex, and a thong or two where they don’t belong or two.

2. Inconsiderate people keep using my public library to take out books I wish to read. On a brighter note, they’ve increased the hold limit to 60 items!

3. Another plane, another train, but no way to get those Beastie Boys outta of my brain. Every time I see or hear an ad for the movie, Brooklyn voices inside my head sing: “No sleep till Brooklyn!”.

4. If you don’t try you can’t fail, but you can’t succeed either.

5. I miss when stuff didn’t have so many names or labels, when you could just like what you liked. My lovely childhood crushes on Tom Baker, Kirk, and Bobby Darin, ok, that one ended badly when I found out he’d been dead for several years (somewhere beyond the sea, for sure), anyway, all that would now be called ‘fangirling’. Long before Mr. Darcy plunged into that lake and Daryl Dixon picked up a crossbow, I had labels I didn’t know about. Forget labels, just be you, that’s enough.

6. People who say, “I’m not going to say I told you so” are really saying, “I told you so”.

7. I missed blogging! I needed a break, to write my book, catch up on life, which is being dreadfully uncooperative, but I missed this and you, dear readers and I bet you missed all my, er, blogging advice.

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/26/why-i-will-never-be-freshly-pressed/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/27/message-in-a-bottle/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/16/you-cant-handle-the-blogging-truth/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/12/i-cant-make-you-love-me/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/09/26/the-phantom-of-the-blogging-tips/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/09/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/11/07/can-you-feel-the-blog-love-tonight/

8. Imagine, you win millions in the lottery, would you spend it on a vanity project? That’s what Alice (Kristen Wiig) does in Welcome To Me, a weird little film with a big, brilliant cast including: Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, James Marsden, Wes Bentley, Linda Cardellini, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Tudyk. Full of uncomfortable moments, it had me questioning quite a few things, especially blogging – is blogging just a vanity project, a sort of emotional exhibitionism?

9. While suffering from Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Haven, The Blacklist, Into The Badlands withdrawal, which wasn’t pretty and mostly consisted of me trying not to whine about it, since these are clearly First World Problems, to the extreme, I decided to read more (is that possible?). Why not get caught up on a few of the fascinating ‘And Philosophy…’ series from Open Court? I started with Doctor Who and Philosophy, then Downton Abbey, Homeland, and The Walking Dead. I noticed all these books toil to shatter the myth that TV is simply a vast cultural wasteland. Fighting zombies, taking tea, traveling through time and space, those are hooks to get us to watch and keep watching, it’s really about the interaction between the characters, the choices, the sacrifices, those moments when we see ourselves and feel or learn something. If it can happen in a book, why can’t it happen on TV or in movies? I love these books because like the TARDIS, they’re bigger on the inside, making me feel all esoteric, ideologicalish, and thinky, but without getting that time-consuming philosophy degree. Just the way I like it.

10. I sometimes forget (or wish to forget) what a tricky beast and ruthless, relentless taskmaster Fibromyalgia can be, but I’ll keep trying to keep on keeping on…easier said than done.

Tomorrow we could be alive or dead, but today, my friends, today we are alive, so go out there and live.

Cats, Christmas, Doctor Who, Family, Holidays, Jane Austen, Movies, Music, Star Wars, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

The Christmas Carol Awakens

Posted on December 11, 2015December 11, 2015 by D. Parker

I had too much to dream last night.
I feel like I have a dream hangover.
I woke from my confusing, at times,
exhilarating Dickens’
A Christmas Carol-like dream
(unfortunately no Muppets), but
filled with revelations.

First, I was visited by Donald Trump who told me 3 others would visit that night. It was terrifying, he wore the chains of greed, intolerance, and suffering he’d forged link by link…it seemed like there was more of the hairspray than grave about him.

Then Colin Firth showed up as my Ghost of Christmas Past in the white shirt from Pride and Prejudice (you know the one ladies). This dream just got a whole lot better. He reminded me that all things past are actually always still with us…

1. Christmas songs are playing everywhere yet I rarely hear Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsman. It’s my all-time fav, it’s about peace on Earth, goodwill, and about how even the worst of enemies can put aside their differences, if only for a little while…we sure need more of that.

2. Dean Cain and many others we haven’t seen in a while do still have careers, kinda, hey, I like Christmas movies.

3. And even on a crummy morning a gingerbread man still makes his bed with cookie sheets.

Then Taylor Kinney (without fiancée, Lady Gaga…hey, it’s my dream) floated in as my Ghost of Christmas Present (subconscious you’re so good to me) dressed as Fireman and reminded me that despite the season, it’s getting hot in here. Whether it was just a hot flash or I’m watching too much Chicago Fire (is that possible?), I woke up in a sweat. Back to my dream, rescue me.

4. Christmas is about giving. Though I’m broke and obscure I still believe in giving to others and weirdly, sometimes you get stuff back. For example, by donating, I won a month gym membership and a few other goodies. So now I can be buff like Arnold, though I’m saying this in Schwarzeneggar accent, the buff part seems unlikely.

5. I’ve noticed my Mom (a senior) and my son (a teen with Autism) have a much fuller social life than I do, I need to work on that. And the only action I’m getting is from my latest mammogram.

6. I don’t have to wait in line for some guy in a red suit to make me promises, I’ll make some to myself.

My Ghost of Christmas Future was Norman Reedus, well, actually Daryl Dixon (my dream, so he’s holding a cat reminding us to Shop Cruelty Free https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/ – I’d like to add, that goes for people as well), who showed me that…

7. Christmas could be a little late this year, instead of making toys, Santa and the elves are already lined up to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

8. The Christmas feeling could be there, even without the gifts, the lights, the decorations, chocolate (this one is iffy), turkey and toys, even without the Christmas.

9. Ordinary rules of time and space don’t apply to Santa or The Doctor (Hello Sweetie, Doctor Who Christmas Special on almost Boxing Day – Christmas but late, can’t wait, but it’s times like these I miss David Tennant), but they do apply to us, we only have so much time in this world.

Can happiness or success be measured by what we have instead of the joy and comfort we bring to others? Do we really think in the end, we’ll care about how much we shopped, what car we drove, how big our home was, if we had the latest iPhone, or what we were wearing? Or will we remember the good times, the fun times, the laughter, the kindness, the little moments.

This season, remember a date on a calendar is just that, but life, life is for living, every day.

Oh yes, and if you don’t see me around here for a bit, I’ve checked myself into Clementine rehab.

I can quit anytime I want.

Just…one…more.

Cats, Christmas, Cooking, Holidays

How To Get Away With Christmas

Posted on November 22, 2015November 18, 2025 by D. Parker

Christmas is a time of cheer…right?

Yet during the
holiday season
we’re bombarded
with images of
social wealth.

Everything from: Family dinners, parties, drinks with friends, hugging, skating in pairs, walking together looking at lights, Secret Santa and gift exchanges, spontaneous snowballs fights, eating roasted chestnuts, and of course, people running into the arms of loved ones at airports…

But what if those things aren’t in your life?
The social media holiday barrage, Christmas FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), anticipointment (trademark?), Facebook, Instagram, TV, Google+, Twitter, MySpace (kidding, just wanted to see if you were paying attention) – all bursting with shiny images of happy people enjoying the holidays together. It can be overwhelming yet it’s only a day, like any other.

So if you find yourself less-than-surrounded by family and friends during the holidays, try to:

1. Marathon your way through the season, which apparently now begins in July with brief visits from other holidays. Don’t limit yourself to Christmassy stuff…be glad you’re not invited to a Game of Thrones Christmas party; see who survived (Christmas) on The Walking Dead; try to figure out what they’re cooking on Breaking Bad; or catch up with Mrs. Brown’s Boys (Dear Santa, I can explain…). Soon it will be January (sorry, I skipped ahead, was I wrong in assuming you don’t have anyone for New Year’s Eve either?), then you’ll have a few weeks to recover before the Valentine’s Day trauma begins, maybe.

2. Gently ‘add’ yourself to someone else’s Christmas or add someone to yours.

3. Find dating sites/apps and go on a holiday dating spree. Eggnog your way through stories about his/her ex, mom, ex’s mom, work, football, baseball, hockey, fashion, cars…Who knows, maybe you’ll find a Christmas miracle.

4. Adjust your expectations. Social media is one long high school reunion. Everyone is wearing their best outfit, just lost weight, and sharing only highlights of their life.

5. Read, write, blog, sing, bake, work, clean, declutter, exercise, sleep, go to a movie…flashback to the 70s – dance, wear turtlenecks, bellbottoms, ponchos, and go see Star Wars (or not). It’s all good.

6. Have a Single Christmas Party (not for singles, just you, be your own party).

7. Ignore the season, the gaudy decorations, the commercialism, multiple Santas in multiple malls (unless you work there, try to stay out of the malls altogether) and create a Michael-Bublé-Bing-Crosby-Burl-Ives-free #safespace.

8. Start a new tradition with yourself or others, hopefully one that doesn’t involve eating your feelings (and don’t forget legal).

9. Help others this season – the best way to keep your mind off your problems is to help others with their problems.

10. Under no circumstances drink too heavily, that could lead to calling, texting, or emailing an ex, or watching other people having family time, especially through their windows. Though oddly specific, it’s good advice.

It’s not about what you have, what you get, or even who you’re with, this season is about anything being possible.

Want to know how to get away with Christmas? Simple, enjoy the season and each day, not the way everyone tells you is enjoyable, but the way you enjoy it.

I triple dog dare you.

Blogs, Canada, Cats, Chocolate, Christmas, Doctor Who, Family, Fibromyalgia, Holidays, Monty Python, Movies, Music, Parenting, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Can You Feel The Blog Love Tonight?

Posted on November 7, 2015November 7, 2015 by D. Parker

Turns out, being an adult is hard work.

Adding blogging to that and anxiety, well, it could be the proverbial straw.
When it’s quiet here on my blog, I have time to think.
Why am I really doing this?
Should I be doing this?
I have so much else to do, is this a distraction?
Or is blogging just another version of chocolate, sappy movies, wanting to cry, desperately wishing a time machine would materialize in my living room to whisk me back to a time when the biggest decisions I had to make were: what to wear to school, who to hang out with, what to listen to…Probably shouldn’t go back, I might scream at myself to quit wishing to grow up and just enjoy growing up.

Some days I feel like blogging is more Hotline Blog (I’m assured Drake will drop this as a follow-up to his famous Hotline Bling)
You used to like me on my blog post
Late or early when I needed blog love
And I know when that hotline pinged
It could only mean one thing…
But these days, you’ve become a ghost
***Wonder* if you’re out there forgettin’ about my blog post
*Doing other things, maybe making cinnamon toast***

But blogging isn’t all about Likes, it’s about enjoying each other…

Learning. Teaching. Laughing. Crying. Smiling.

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/26/why-i-will-never-be-freshly-pressed/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/09/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/27/message-in-a-bottle/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/16/you-cant-handle-the-blogging-truth/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/12/i-cant-make-you-love-me/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/09/26/the-phantom-of-the-blogging-tips/

I try to imagine what my blog would have been if I blogged as a child, you know, before I knew:

1. I’d have a computer, in my home.

2. I’d use this computer to tell perfect strangers (well, maybe not perfect) stuff about my life.

3. My worst recurring nightmare wasn’t fear, it was the fear of fear.

4. Bacon would become both hero and villain.

5. Everyone lied to me about stuff, including but not limited to: Santa, this won’t hurt (it did), The Tooth Fairy, being “almost there” (we weren’t), there was no more chocolate (there was), and that I’d use math in real life…

**6. Life is less Game of Life and more Monopoly.**

7. Power is a commodity, not necessarily the one that lights up your home.

8. What skin tags are, let alone having them.

9. The world is crawling with serial killers, if TV is to be believed.

10. Some people will still be mean, even as adults.

11. I’d use numbers from a fortune cookie for lottery tickets.

12. My body would be my worst enemy.

**13. I’d look more like Jessica Fletcher than Jessica Alba.**

**14. I’d still be watching Doctor Who, Monty Python, and so would my teen son.**

15. I’d lose hours of my life to a mysterious world that delivers weird yet amusing things to me right at home (yes, including pizza and Amazon).

1blog78

16. I’d ever tire of Christmas (well, the commercialism of Christmas).

17. I’d try figgy pudding…get out there – try, visit, read, comment, share, take part in something different.

18. I’d let zombies into my home at least once a week…and love it.

19. You can’t eat all the cake, you have to share it, same goes for blogging.

20. I’d have many families – the one I was born into, the ones I found and found me, the ones I’ve made, and this amazing blogging community.

So get out there, hakuna matata – visit some blogs, enjoy each other, and never forget, you’re not alone.

Blogs, Canada, Cats, Holidays, Movies, Music, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

If I Could Save Time In A Blog Bottle

Posted on October 23, 2015October 28, 2015 by D. Parker

There never seems to be enough time
to do the things you want to do,
but there might be,
if I stopped blogging…

But I like blogging…

Yet it’s time-consuming…

Once you’ve let that blogging genie out of the bottle, there’s no turning back. I keep trying to get away, but blogging keeps pulling me back in.

I also like making people laugh, I might be the one during the apocalypse: “Knock Knock.” Random guy, “Who’s there?” “Zombie.” “Zombie who?” Me running, yelling, “Zombie, behind you, run!”

Then again, too much time isn’t always good, when I have time to think, I often feel like an alien in this world. Not the rubbery, gray, tall, skinny aliens, more like the ET-hey-I-landed-on-your-planet-I need-to-phone-home-wow-your-long-distance-plan-sucks-at-least-the-snacks-are-yummy-does-this-dress-make-me-look-fat-type alien.

Going out on a limb, I’d say I’m not the only one who’s ever felt they’re waiting for the mothership to take them back to their home planet.
If only I’d arrived with an instruction manual. I know my parents wish I did.

Time runs by us, screaming like a babysitter in a horror movie. And as another Halloween creeps up, let us pay our last respects to things gone, but not forgotten…maybe they’ll return someday (hopefully not as zombies):

1. Hairspray, you once permeated every part of our lives, especially our lungs…guess we’re kinda grateful big hair is dead.

2. Mixed tapes have gone to join the choir invisible – mixed emojis?

3. Adieu giving up your seat to someone elderly or disabled or pregnant; apparently now they must fend for themselves, Game of Thrones-style.

4. Farewell phones, attached to a cord, instead of our hand or head.

5. Once loved and adored, held up on a pedestal, billboards, race cars, own section in the grocery store…poor little gluten, now dead to many, a social pariah.

6. RIP, ‘Please’, ‘Thank You’, and ‘You’re Welcome’, now ghosts of civilities past.

7. Quiet time, without tweets, updates, texts, and emails has kicked the bucket…Remember? Probably not, with all the digital amnesia…

8. Showing up at your new neighbours with baked goods has shuffled off this mortal coil; no friendly greetings, just pepper spray, the police, and/or speech on food allergies.

9. Bereft of life are ‘Thank You’ notes, but I’m still thankful to people who say cardshark instead of cardsharp, so I can picture a shark playing poker.

10. Talking to plants is now pushin’ up the daisies, can’t we just text them, telling them 2 gro?

11. Not asking for gifts and money has kinda bought the farm – #gimme is society’s new hashtag.

12. Wobbly inside-out pools hidden under threads of Egyptian cotton; waterbeds gone to their watery grave.

13. Patience is at death’s door, but really, there’s nothing you could possibly have to do (or explain to a judge) that’s worth putting children at risk, on Halloween, or any time.
Please pay attention while driving, I promise that absolutely fascinating tweet, update, text, or email about:

how porcupines mate without stabbing each other,

the shape of dog’s poop,
a divine fat, gluten and dairy-free no-bake cheesecake recipe (can that still be called cheesecake?),

cats robbed of their dignity via the internet,
if Bon Jovi’s hair is still real (see #1),
which Kardashian is getting married or divorced (all of them),

if Taco Bell is health food (it’s not),
finding out who died on The Walking Dead (hint hint, no one, they’re actors),

Justin Bieber’s private parts (what part of private is hard to understand, Justin?),
discussions about Donald Trump’s IQ (rich doesn’t equal smart)…

will all be there later, sadly. If not, what did you really miss?

I guess we make time to do the things we want to do, so I’ll save every blogging day ’til blog eternity passes away, just to spend them with you, dear readers.

Blogs, Fibromyalgia, Uncategorized

Message In A Bottle

Posted on August 27, 2015August 4, 2017 by D. Parker

To me, blogging is
a version of the
old-timey message
in a bottle.
The blogging world
is a vast ocean,
we throw our
message out there
and hope against hope
someone finds it.
Some of us are trying to
connect, share, find others,
teach, or maybe even
send out an SOS.
So how do you start
your own ‘message in a bottle’
and make it reach others?

1. Don’t think about if your readers will love what you write or you’re going to be discovered, just make sure you love it, then hopefully, they will. If not, there’s always chocolate.

2. Remember as you send these bottles out, those you’re trying to reach are never far from the madding crowd (hearing people mispronounce the title, Far From the Madding Crowd is actually more fun than the book/movies, is that wrong?). People are busy, so when they open their email to see a hundred billion bottles washed up on their shore, it can be overwhelming.

3. In this same vein, posts can be vampires, sucking away time. Or maybe sometimes a vampire is just a vampire.

4. Posts can also be zombies, shuffling into our readers or mailboxes, taking bites out of the day. I don’t know if I Fear The Walking Dead so much as opening my email, in other words, know your audience…it can be a grave error to write long or many posts if your readers don’t have time to read them. You make your readers snooze, you lose.

5. Adding images to posts amuses me, makes me laugh, makes a point, or just makes me happy. Hopefully they resonate with others.

6. Sometimes readers won’t get what you’re saying or don’t agree. Sometimes your jokes fall flat. Maybe they haven’t read the same books, watched the same movies or TV shows…Some are trolls, actively dislike you, perhaps even use your Gravatar at which to throw darts – the internet is built on people being offended, appalled, shocked, and downright grumpy. Just do what you do.

7. How can you expect people to have a deep relationship with a shallow person? Be real, write your own stuff, if that makes people think, learn, laugh, smile, cry, or even spit their coffee out…they’ll want to read more.

8. Like it or not, successful blogging has a degree of popularity. Let’s jump back to vampires, they depend on brooding, pouting, sparkling, hotness, intensity, and overacting with a penchant for black clothes, especially black leather, but blogging can’t all be about flash and no substance.

9. Get out there, enjoy other blogs, find those messages in bottles and answer them, don’t be timid about liking, sharing or commenting – let others know you’re out there. Make them feel like they’re not alone in being alone.

10. Most of you are part of a large, sprawling, at times dysfunctional, human race family, so you’ll be part of the blogging family. Like vampires, family can sometimes be a pain in the neck, but still we hunger for the connection.

11. When the unexpected or unwanted happens, say, your computer breaks, you have a dental emergency, you can’t get a song by The Police out of your head; out of town company; Fibroflare; anxiety about a coming event; a sinus infection and the list goes on…um, write a blogging advice post?
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/04/10/im-hooked-on-a-feeling/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/05/12/i-cant-make-you-love-me/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/09/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/
https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/03/26/why-i-will-never-be-freshly-pressed/

12. Wow, that advice is bloody awesome…or terrible, depending on your point of view. Forget all of it, just do whatever feels right to you.

And I hope that someone gets your…I hope that someone gets your message in a bottle. Here’s mine.

Blogs, Books, Food, Movies, Music, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Rock Me Amadeus

Posted on June 15, 2015June 17, 2015 by D. Parker

No one ever talked or did stuff like they did in 80’s movies. Ever.

In the future, they’ll probably dig up 80’s movies and come to conclusions like: Ferris Bueller was a god, aliens could phone home from Earth, “wax on, wax off” was a common phrase, and paternity results were only told to your child in space, after you cut off their hand. They’re going to think the 80’s were even more messed up than they were.

And what was with romance in the 80’s?
Why sit on a table with a birthday cake and a cute boy? I can think of much better things to do…with that cake.
Everyone was dancing – dirty dancing, flashdancing, Kevin Bacon dancing (don’t know what else to call it).
A guy with a boom box and a trench coat outside your house…nowadays, restraining order, or it would go viral, or both.

Officers, gentlemen, risky business, funny business.
Adventures, in space or babysitting, as long as they were most excellent, dude.
Supernatural, psycho, science, time travel – sometimes all at once.
Where’d they get all the gremlins, goonies, vampires, muppets, and aliens?
Actually, that all sounds like the soundtrack to my 80’s.

Know what also ruled in the 80’s? Political incorrectness. Who could worry about offending anyone when girls just wanted to have fun and boys wanted girls to have fun, especially with them?

I kind of miss it. Sure, political correctness is good in theory, don’t say unto others what you don’t want said to you, but has the correctness over-corrected? I don’t know if you can change human nature, people just say weird stuff.

“That’s the best kind of cancer to have.” Let’s review that sentence. Nope, still looks weird. The best kind of cancer is no cancer.
“Don’t worry.” Why are they telling me not to worry, is it because they know I should be worried and they don’t want me to panic?
“Do you have a bathroom?” Did you mean to ask if you can use my bathroom, because yes, I have a bathroom, I don’t ‘go’ in the yard.

“Money won’t make you happy.” I think money and I would be very happy together, we’d make the perfect couple (couple of million).
“Time heals all wounds.” Not true. Time doesn’t heal anything, it just passes.
“If you get lost in the woods, don’t panic.” Of course I’m going to panic! I’m lost, in the woods!!! Surrounded by bears, badgers, and bugs, maybe zombies in the dark (when I picture being lost in the woods, it’s always dark), and with my luck, zombie bears, badgers and bugs (note to self, pitch a spin-off to AMC, working title, The Walking Bears, Badgers, and Bugs™ ).

“Everything happens for a reason.” Technically correct, but I’m not sure that’s how people mean it.
“I think therefore I am.” Not true for everyone, have you been on the internet?
“I know you are, but what am I?” This one is actually timeless.

Back to 2015, my Don’t Worry, Be Happy 365 day project enters Week 3, will I falter?
Week 1, amazing: https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/03/dont-worry-be-happy/
Week 2, a revelation: https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/06/09/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/

Week 3:

1. Remove 15 minutes or more per day of sitting time (replace with dancing, but with less enthusiasm to Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus, my knee will thank me).

2. Remove another 100 calories per day (Again, not veggies…perhaps cake, but not, like chocolate cake, right?).

3. Remove 15 minutes or more of screen time per day to read or research.

4. Do 1 thing I’ve put off doing.

5. Read a book I said I’d never read (doesn’t leave me the range you’d think it would).

6. Pay it forward, aka do something good and don’t tell anyone what I did.

7. Try a food I haven’t tried (I guess I can’t sneak cake in and pretend?).

Chocolate, Food, Movies, Poetry

Lazy SuperBowl Sundae

Posted on February 1, 2015February 4, 2018 by D. Parker

I know it’s Super Bowl Sunday
That means I should be
worshiping
the gods of football

Yet when I hear Sunday
I think of many things
people might do:
relaxing
cleaning
Sunday dinner
volunteering
#SundayBlogShare
day at the park
drive in the country
fun with family
and friends
brunch
Downton Abbey
museum
movies
walking
tea
Masterpiece Classics
or Mystery!
board games
The Walking Dead
video games
sledding
Sunday Bloody Sunday
staying in bed
curled up with a good book
Broadchurch
cookies
Pokemon
laundry
swimming
*The Blackli***stsleeping
shoveling
church

But mostly I think of
rivers of chocolate flowing
down
over snowy white
mountains
of ice cream
majestic whipped cream
caressing icy peaks
crowned by a plump
red
rotund
cherry
all on a lazy sundaeSo whether you’re watching
Super Bowl
Puppy Bowl
Zombie Bowl
Or cleaning your toilet bowl
Hope this day, at least,
is treating you kindly.

Books, Cooking, Food, Holidays, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

The Joy of Cooking on a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Posted on October 9, 2014March 7, 2015 by D. Parker

Some days I love cooking, but what about cooking on a terrible, horrible, no good, really bad day? I still want what I cook to be delicious and healthy, but how could I do that, say, during a zombie apocalypse? I don’t want myself and any loved ones who had managed to survive to simply subsist on self-contained, shelf-stable foods. We might be prey, but that doesn’t mean we’re stuck eating MREs (Meal Ready to Eat). Think fresh and available. What could be tastier than cricket, kelp and mushroom bourguignon?

After reading The Art of Eating Through the Zombie Apocalypse: A Cookbook & Culinary Survival Guide by Lauren Wilson, illustrated by Kristian Bauthus (Benbella Books) you’ll be thinking you should get a head start on this new way of cooking. While I know this book was meant to be tongue-in-cheek (I think that may also be a recipe), it could be a great book to have on hand, just in case. Enjoy this detailed, funny, and practical cookbook as you re-watch or catch up on The Walking Dead to be ready for its return on Sunday October 12th, which coincidentally, is the Canadian Thanksgiving…turkey and zombies, this completely changes the phrase, surviving the holidays.

If nature turns against you, turn that frown upside down – think of it as a fresh start, going back to basics.World crumbling around you during a zombie or other apocalypse?
Doesn’t mean you can’t make a wonderful apple crumble in your ammo can oven!

Just because the living dead can’t think of anything but eating human flesh doesn’t mean you have to give up being a foodie.

Books, Doctor Who, Movies, Music, Televison, Uncategorized

Dear Luke, We Need To Talk. Darth

Posted on September 8, 2014March 5, 2015 by D. Parker

Icebergs, henchmen, Fight Club, The Walking Dead, Friends, Twilight, Dora The Explorer, Jurassic Park, The Superbowl, Beastie Boys, Star Trek, Disney, The Grinch, Seinfeld, X-Files, B-52’s, Twilight Zone, Elton John, NASA, Harry Potter, Kurt Cobain, War Horse – no one is safe from John Moe’s satirical pop culture whimsical correspondence, and I’m so glad.

This book Dear Luke, We need to Talk. Dad Darth and other Pop Culture correspondences by John Moe (Three Rivers Press/Penguin) is hilarious, a remarkable, one might even say, noteworthy poke at pop culture. I love to laugh and when I saw the title on http://www.bloggingforbooks.org I knew I was going to have fun.

Some of my favs include, Bruce: A Shark’s Journal, which had me in giggles, especially the June 14 entry where Bruce fell off the wagon. Some of you may remember the eating issues Bruce had in Finding Nemo, now have that go Jaws.

Also, a letter from the Peanuts gang teacher regarding the lack of adults in Charlie Brown and his friends’ lives; also, how grateful she is to have a job considering her speech issues.

An explanation of what happened to Agents 001 through 006.

All of Jay Z’s 99 Problems.

Concerns about the overall direction the Doctor Who franchise is taking.

A letter to the island on Lost on how to promote tourism there.

Saul Hudson (Slash from Guns’N’Roses) as a Heavy Metal Editor, explaining to Axl Rose why Sweet Child O’Mine isn’t going to be a hit.

CIA report from Agent Gilligan from the Island Project – Gilligan’s Island goes to a dark place on April 21, 1973 when they ate The Howells (It was time)…

A Welp! review of Cheers, Rick’s Café, Bronto Burgers, Overlook Hotel, Bates Motel, etc. A funnier version of Yelp!, not just people whining about the their First World Problems with restaurants, here’s a hint, you can afford to go to restaurants.

Correspondence between Batman’s producer and Neal Hefti the writer of the 1966 Batman theme; this money man versus artist exchange pits artistic integrity against commercialism which explains why the theme ended up being, you know, Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Batman! and so on.

Muppet Studios Casting Office where we find out some of the reasons certain Muppets could not be included…

An Oral History of Pac-Man Ghosts (I think Inky had it the toughest). Wocka wocka wocka.

And some dysfunctionally tasty drink recipes from Mad Men:

Drapertini

4 ounces gin
1 ounce vermouth
3 olives
5 tears that I never shed as a boy

Shake, stir, then pour down the sink because those days can never return.

Draper Manhattan

2 ounces bourbon
1 ounce vermouth
2 ounces of aromatic bitters
3 dashes of bitterness about my own need to hurt everyone who loves me
2 scrapes of the grime from that apartment I had after Betty and I split
1 maraschino cherry
Pour contents over ice into a glass, catch a distorted reflection in the ice for a moment, and wonder who you are or who anyone is really, sit in chair.

There, it’ll all be ok now.

Books, Movies, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Why Zombies Won’t Rule

Posted on April 11, 2014March 9, 2015 by D. Parker

1. Zombies are, so far, an analogy for over-consumption. We don’t have to worry about zombies, we’re killing ourselves off quite effectively.

2. Zombies seem relentless, but have no ambition, sort of like teens at a mall.

3. Zombie genre is hyper-focused on what zombies would do to humans. Not much about what nature would do to these walking smorgasbords. Nature doesn’t need fresh meat, many love decaying flesh. First the blowflies, flesh flies and maggots. Also, vultures, burying beetles, lions, wolves, dogs, eagles, hawks, coyotes, crows, raccoons, tigers, hyenas, etc. And cockroaches – they can live up to a week without a head, can’t say the same for zombies.

4. They’re dead and only getting deader. Weather, nature, and decomposition works wonders on the complexion and can make the average zombie into a sticky puddle of botox-won’t-help-that-sweetie-mess in no time.

5. Think of the zombie apocalypse as a Home Alone movie, but with zombies instead of inept burglars. They can’t strategize, they’re easily tricked, they don’t notice traps. Try sandbags, fences, walls, doors, boarded up windows, spikes, barbed wire, fire, or maybe even marbles, icy stairs, hot door knobs, paint cans, etc. would work.

6. No one really explains how zombies overcome the military. Zombies move toward armies, have no defenses, don’t retreat. This doesn’t even work as a Risk game.

7. As free-range humans become more scarce so would the food source; we’re just not that reliable. Also, we fight back.

8. Humans could get to islands, fortified or remote locations, and structures to wait until the zombies decompose.

9. Humans generally know more about survival now, ie. Water purification tabs, weapons, decoy camps, Dakota fire pits, how to purify urine to drink it, making a stove out of a soda can, etc.

10. I think Nerds will save us. They have special skills, right? Video games have taught them survival skills, including using a sniper riffle, crossbow, etc. Most already exist on processed foods. They’re used to staying up for days on end, they’re patient, and they don’t feel the need for a companionship. Also, they can figure out a way to start getting power back on, etc. They can read maps, are used to quests, and really, it’s as though they’ve been training for an apocalyptic event since the first time their hands touched a controller. Let’s hope these video game skills translate into life skills, wait, maybe I shouldn’t pin too much hope on this.

I just hope if the zombie apocalypse happens they’re the slow zombies, not the fast ones. I think I can survive the slow, shuffling ones, but those fast ones, not so much.

Books, Movies, Political, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Why Zombies Will Rule

Posted on April 11, 2014February 22, 2015 by D. Parker

1. Zombies won’t just be dangerous because of the biting flesh part, they’re rotting corpses. Think about all the diseases they would cause, not to mention all the scavengers and parasites they would attract. Like some people you may know, zombies are toxic, but literally.

2. Zombies don’t need to sleep.

3. They’re not distracted by TV, the internet, cell phones, etc.

4. They don’t have any vices.

5. Zombies don’t get sick, I mean eventually they decompose, but who knows how long that will take?

6. Society will fall apart if they don’t have cell phones, the internet, TV, etc.

7. Sadly, Zombies will kill off children and probably their parents quickly, come on, think of how long it takes to get the average toddler to put on their shoes, get to sleep, etc…and how would they stay quiet enough? How would they be amused without technology?

8. Zombies don’t get bored and don’t need entertaining, they just wait around for food to be delivered to them or they wander around looking for takeout.

9. So many people are too apathetic or lazy to even get out and vote which effects your life just as much as zombies (have you seen some politicians?). How are they going to survive?

10. Statistically as there are more zombies and less humans, well, you do the math…the odds are against us.

Books, Movies, Music, Televison, Uncategorized

The Shawshank Redemption

Posted on April 11, 2014March 8, 2015 by D. Parker

For those that have read the novella by Stephen King I will alternately title this Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.

For me, both have been irreparably damaged by the Family Guy version, oh great, now I’m humming Hollaback Girl.

This book and movie hold many messages, the most obvious one, hope.

I used to think, many years ago when I was young that no matter what anyone did to you, no matter what they took from you, you’d always have hope.

But then I began to slowly realize that hope itself could be dangerous.

When nothing or no one can hurt you.
When nothing or no one can take anything more from you.
When nothing or no one can break your heart.
Hope can.

Hope unfulfilled.
Hope crushed.
Hope ignored.
Hope betrayed.
Hope denied.
Am I cheering anyone up yet?

This is the moment when people have to choose, to take a chance that hope is a gift. Just because you’re in a hopeless position doesn’t mean you’re hopeless.

For people with chronic illness we cling to hope like it’s the side of giant mountain and we never want to look down.

That’s the power of hope. And the danger. It depends how you use it.

It’s been 20 years since we were given Frank Darabont’s (The Walking Dead) vision of Shawshank. Hey, it starred: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, William Sadler, James Whitmore, and Clancy Brown, how could it be anything but cool?

I recommend you also read King’s story and if so inclined, destroy both by watching the Family Guy take on this brilliant celebration of how you can be free or imprisoned wherever you are, it’s all about perspective.

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”~Jack Layton

Christmas, Movies, Uncategorized

LOVE ACTUALLY

Posted on December 19, 2013November 19, 2017 by D. Parker

10 years ago we were given this gift although some might not consider it so…

Sap heaped upon syrup piled upon sugar, but still funny and with some quite meaningful and even poignant moments.

There are many faces of love, many stories, these are only a few, but what a lovely few.

Sure, some parts hamper the flow and are dreadfully contrived, but the message is still lovely.

My fav bits are:

Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) and Joe (Gregor Fisher) and their bond. Nighy’s striptease is priceless.
Hugh Grant as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is delightful (kind of his thing), especially his impromptu victory dance around 10 Downing Street and his conversation with Margaret Thatcher’s portrait, the saucy minx.

Billy Bob Thornton is scarily good as the smarmy President of the United States.

Rowan Atkinson is quirky/fantastic, as always.

Colin Firth is charming, well, duh, of course.

Andrew Lincoln (yes, now Rick with his American twang, of The Walking Dead fame) is most memorable. You just want him to make signs for you…or kill zombies for you. Sigh
The quintessential Christmas feel good movie…what’s so wrong about that?

Movies, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

The Walking Dead Again

Posted on October 30, 2013February 23, 2015 by D. Parker

AMC’s huge success, The Walking Dead is amazing, but if you get a chance, check out Boris Karloff in the 1936 film, The Walking Dead.

Books, Televison, Uncategorized, Zombies

Zombies on Sesame Street

Posted on August 21, 2013June 23, 2016 by D. Parker

I’ve noticed in the last few years people have become obsessed with books and movies about dystopian societies.

Why? Maybe because we’re already living in a dystopian society controlled by those who destroy the very world that gives us life, for short-term profit and power. Worse than that, we let them.

The Walking Dead is a mainstream hit, a soap opera about a post-apocalyptic world where people are being ripped apart by zombies, fighting each other, and still finding time for romance. It’s more about the people, their interactions, what they will do under horrible situations, etc., the zombies are just to make it different than an actual soap opera, well, sort of.

In George A. Romero’s original vision of zombies they were an allegory about consumerism run amok; they’re about each of us consuming each other by over-consuming.

We find them fascinating because we see ourselves in them, the darkness inside, the monster within, a ravenous beast who lives only to consume, to devour, to munch through or chomp down.

There is something strangely admirable about zombies, they are who they are. No lying, no cheating, no deception, no manipulation – they want to tear your flesh apart and eat it and they make no bones about it. Are they even the bad guys or is it the humans who terrorize and torture each other?

Let me sum this up by a quote from the man that started it all, George A Romero –

“I expect a zombie to show up on ‘Sesame Street‘ soon, teaching kids to count”.

His point being, that’s how mainstream they’ve become in our attempt to accept and somehow justify our insane consumerism.

Not saying I don’t like this show, it is so well-crafted it’s impossible not to view and enjoy.

The Walking Dead (in Black and White)

B&W adds a whole other dimension to this series and of course, is reminiscent of Romero’s independent 1968 B&W unique horror standard, Night of the Living Dead. It’s also a great way to sell more DVDs. I really love the B&W version, it’s spookier, moodier, creepier and what real horror is about. Hey, I just love B&W.

What else is February (allegedly), for such a short month, it’s crammed full of expectations including but not limited to:

Here’s what’s happened so far…

Wishing you and yours a safe, happy, and fact-based March, hope it treats you kindly.

Pull up a chair and please share!

The message is drummed into us in every seasonal day, in every seasonal way, that if you’re not involved in a holiday social barrage then you’ll be unhappy, that you’ll be sad, that you’ll be lonely, you’ll miss out on the perfect Christmas. It’s CFOMO – Christmas Fear of Missing Out.

It can be overwhelming, yet it’s one day, sure it’s been stretched into like, months because of the hype, the marketing as we’re viciously bombarded with images of physical and social wealth that are unattainable for many. Blink. Relax. Enjoy it your way.

1. Marathon your way through the season, which apparently now begins in January with brief visits from other holidays before bouncing back to Christmas again. Don’t limit yourself to Christmassy viewing, though if you’re in the mood…

2. Use this as a time to catch up with family, friends, or new friends (just haven’t met you yet) who also are looking to hide away from the holidays, enjoy the holidays in a less commercial way…

3. Be bold, be brave, go on a holiday dating/companionship spree, even if it’s on Zoom. Eggnog your way through stories about his/her ex, mom, ex’s mom, work, football, baseball, hockey, fashion, cars…Who knows, maybe you’ll find a Christmas miracle, or become comfortably numb.

4. Adjust your expectations. Social media is not reality. Say that to yourself every time you go online. This is not life, it’s one long high school reunion. Everyone is wearing their best outfit, just lost weight, and sharing the highlights of their life.

6. Have a Single Christmas Party (not for singles, just you, be your own party). If you can’t enjoy your own company how do you expect others to enjoy it? This year, like last, we have some restrictions, but enjoy your time anyway.

7. It’s never too late (or early) to start a new tradition with yourself or others, hopefully one that doesn’t involve eating your feelings, spending future rent/mortgage payments, insulting others, and/or anything illegal.

8. Help others this season – the best way to keep your mind off your problems is to help others with their problems. It can also give you perspective if you’re in a woe-is-me-kinda-place.

9. Under no circumstances drink too heavily, that could lead to calling, texting, or emailing an ex, or blogging under the influence, or doing something else you may otherwise regret.

And have yourself a Merry Little Christmas…and be kind, to yourself and others. Please. Thank you kindly.

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” ~Charles Dickens

Pull up a chair and please share!

Welcome to your life there’s no turning back Even while we weep You will find us acting on our worst behaviour turning our backs on Mother Nature Everybody wants to rule the world

https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/16/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world/So glad we almost made it

So sad we have to face it

who is really ruling our world?

Say that you’ll never never never need it

One headline – why believe it?

Stop letting our world be ruled…

Glad to be back and always to be here with all of you.

Big bloggy hugs and welcome to your life, young, or old, or in between, the rest is up to you.

Pull up a chair and please share!

We cheer for serial killers, drug lords, mobsters; glamorize celebrities and corporate fat cats – I hear they can even become President.

We’re allegedly repulsed by the violence, greed, self-absorption yet…we’re mesmerized.

Look at Santa. Or should I say: Santa Claus, Pere Noel, Father Christmas, SinterKlaas, St. Nicholas, Dun Che Lao Ren, Kris Kringle? Secret Santa indeed…he needs many aliases, with all the break and enters; sure, he leaves gifts but also a lingering sense of unease.

Some poor child still sings about being traumatized when he saw his Mommy kissing ‘Santa Claus’ underneath the mistletoe one night; how about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer, huh, whose reindeer? Take a wild guess.

Santa only works one day a year, while keeping elves slaving all year-long, to make toys, for which he takes the credit (and cookies).

Santa’s all ‘thank u, next’, he only cared about Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer when he deemed Rudolph useful, not when the poor reindeer was bullied relentlessly (#BeBestSanta).

Only eight tiny reindeer? Really?!? For one cookie-stuffed man? Does that seem fair?

Santa leaves his reindeer out in the cold and snow while he goes into warm homes…and they say The Grinch treated Max poorly (he did/does!).

Elvis begged Santa to bring his ‘baby’ back to him…what other atrocities don’t we know about, is it just me or does Santa seem kinda, I dunno, elfish?

Santa tells children he’s watching them when they’re sleeping; knows if they’ve been bad or good. He browbeats children into behaving well, threatening to leave a toxic substance, a lump of coal, in their stocking – The Nice List, The Naughty List, more like The Blacklist.

What’s next, Santa?

Are you gonna lead The Sons of Santa motorcycle gang, Ho Ho SAMCRO?

Be President in The House of Christmas Cards?

Have a barbed wire baseball bat covered in with Christmas lights (P.S. You’ll poke your eye out with that thing; or someone else’s eye)?

Kill to sit on the Candy Cane Throne in the Game of Santa’s Village Thrones (you sit on a throne of lies)?

Go over to The Dark Side (they have Christmas cookies – Merry Sithmas!)?

Be known as He Who Must Not Be Named at The North Pole…Harry Potter and The Half-Eaten Gingerbread Man?

Breaking Bad Santa?

Supernatural Santa?

Rescue Me from Santa’s tyranny…Hmmm, maybe Santa should be on The Naughty List.

Santa baby, c’mon please make it right this Christmas, or at least make it wrong and interesting.

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright and May All Your Dreams https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/12/18/twice-upon-a-christmas-carol/ Take Flight!

Pull up a chair and please share!

Bloggers and readers of every age.Wouldn’t you like to see something strange?Come with me and you will see.This, our blog party of Halloween!Share it once, share it twice.Take a chance and roll the dice.Ride with the moon in the dead of night.Everybody scream, everybody scream!

In this blog party (share your links to your or others blog posts, books, social media, whatever!) of Halloween (or not)!

The more the scarier!!! #TheMoreTheScarier

For some, Halloween is another kind of Christmas. It’s been 25 years since I stood in line on opening day to see Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/19/the-nightmare-before-christmas/ and sometimes it feels like yesterday.

Hocus Pocus came out the same year and it’s cheesiness put a spell on me for all time.

Night of the Living Dead was 50 years ago and sadly, the ending stands up the most in these troubled times, proving the point, the more things change the more they stay the same. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/14/the-glorious-chaos/

The Rocky Horror Picture Show – 43 years and counting of fish nets, great tunes and, er, toast? https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/25/the-rocky-horror-picture-show/

Are You In The House Alone reading this or out with strangers or stranger things? People are strange and these days when I try to scream it only comes out as a yawn (thank you, Barenaked Ladies, that sum of all fears it up). https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/10/28/enter-at-your-own-risk/

Welcome To My Nightmare, dear readers…

Don’t be afraid to share your links – I dare you to add posts, not just spooky; one per comment, come back often, here are some examples of parties passed – https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/28/monster-meet-and-greet-mash/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/01/29/always-on-my-mind-blog-party/).

No Psycho Killers, please, but practical magic, go for it (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/10/17/the-curse-of-time/). Any questions? I’ll try to answer, unlike David S. Pumpkins (Tom Hanks, SNL).

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), The Walking Dead – he’s lasted (read the comics)…

I bet Charlie Brown would probably have been zombie food in an hour (https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/10/29/stuff-i-learned-from-its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown/)

Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)? The scariest monsters and super creepiest – those who feel the ends justify the means. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/01/06/im-not-inclined-to-resign-to-maturity/

Enjoy each day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/22/umbrella/ and each holiday, but don’t jump ahead, stay here, with pumpkins, pumpkin spice, candy and costumes – Halloween…

Then Remembrance Day/Veterans Day https://yadadarcyyada.com/2013/11/02/christmas-comes-after-remembrance-day/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/11/03/lest-we-forget-to-shop/

Then Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving in Canada comes early and everyday these days https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/17/all-were-asking-is-for-a-little-respect/ https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/09/28/we-were-on-a-break/)

Then Black Friday and Cyber Monday https://yadadarcyyada.com/2014/12/01/12-hours-of-cybermonday/ (yes, apparently shopping counts as ‘holiday’ now, go figure), then Christmas https://yadadarcyyada.com/2016/12/08/dear-santa-i-can-explain/

Now I’m getting sleepy and hollow (needs more chocolate and eye of newt). This Haunted Halloween Blog Party has no rules, except, like with blogging itself, have a bloody good time! https://yadadarcyyada.com/2017/04/21/dancing-in-the-dark/

No mandatory comments, likes, reblogs, shares (although they’re appreciated), no time limits. Do what you wanna do, i.e https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/10/16/you-cant-handle-the-blogging-truth/

Something wicked this way comes and horror gives us a way to examine the scary, horrifying, most frightening, the darkest parts of our world in a safe space, so you might say we horror fans are the original snowflakes…let’s hope we don’t melt.

Pull up a chair and please share!

Not sorry a couple of wonderful bloggers/authors, Teagan and John knew just how to lure me back, putting down Reese’s Pieces, or in this case, books/ARCs, to lead me back to blogging (Be Good).

Not sorry life isn’t fair (doesn’t mean I won’t complain about it now and again…and again?).

Not overly sorry I didn’t get everything or give everything.

Not much point being sorry I screwed up and will do so again.

Not even slightly sorry I have opinions and can still compartmentalize, be objective and effective…as can many others. #sorrynotsorry

Not particularly sorry I’m dumb about some things and smart about others, addicted to chocolate and gifs and memes and books…also, not sorry I’m not: young, rich, stunningly beautiful, stick insect thin, famous, infamous, or quiet.

Welcome
to
your
life
there’s
no
turning
back
Even
while
we
weep
You will find us
acting on our worst behaviour
turning our backs on Mother Nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

***https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/08/16/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world/*So glad we almost made it**

Bloggers and readers of every age.
Wouldn’t you like to see something strange?
Come with me and you will see.
This, our blog party of Halloween!
Share it once, share it twice.
Take a chance and roll the dice.
Ride with the moon in the dead of night.
Everybody scream, everybody scream!