She drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra
I'm not normally too wrapped up in the lives of celebrities but, I tell you, I'm crushed over Carrie Fisher's death. Too young, too early, too wonderful a person. Yes, she had her low points, with drugs, and weight, and bipolar issues, but she was a survivor.
How can she be gone?
I was at the mall, having taken MiniPlu to meet up with friends; Two and I were wandering around on our own when we passed a lounge area with a big-screen TV, showing the news. The headline at the bottom of the screen proclaimed her death and I literally stopped in my tracks, jaw hanging open. I may have stopped breathing for a moment - I was that shocked. Wasn't she getting better? Wasn't she supposed to live forever?
Two and I were headed, by chance, to the Disney store, when we'd passed by the news. Of course, given the current movie, there was a huge Star Wars merchandise display at the front of the store. I pointed at it and told the cast member (Disneyspeak for "employee") who stood nearby, "Carrie Fisher just died." She was so stunned, she asked me to repeat it, and then immediately got on her earpiece/comm device and relayed the news to every other cast member in the store. Then I saw a Star Wars tsum tsum shirt and just gazed sadly at Leia on top of the pile.
I did read that she'd finished filming her role for next year's Ep VIII, but that just means being sad every time she's on screen, much like I felt about Anton Yelchin during Star Trek Beyond and, more recently, the animated series Trollhunters (where he voiced the lead character). I have a sudden urge to watch When Harry Met Sally now.
Thank you, Carrie Fisher, for bringing so much joy to our lives. RIP.
And while I'm being cheerful, I'd like to add that we are about to be inundated by annoying relatives again, this time the crew from NC (Will/Rob's younger brother, wife, and younger daughter). Their elder daughter, a sophomore in college, arrived around dinnertime with her roommate in tow; they will be with us until about New Year's, as they want to attend a local friend's party. M1 is pretty laid back so we're not too worried about her. A third girl joined them tonight to sleep over - all three of them, plus MiniPlu, are going with Karen to NYC tomorrow to take in the holiday sights. I'm hoping MiniPlu won't feel too left out - we didn't know about the third college girl until tonight. Anyway, this crew isn't too much trouble, although M1 does have a 12-week-old Aussie puppy with her. I get to be the lucky one responsible for the puppy while everyone's in NYC tomorrow. On the other hand, she's playing nonstop with Jade, making them both blissfully tired.
No, what we're not looking forward to is P, H and M2 (who is nearly 10 now). P&H tend to just sit on their asses most of the day, and help out with absolutely nothing, then assume . They claim to want to retrieve, if possible, a few items from their mouse-infested, squatter-riddled, foreclosed home, which is stuffed, no joke, floor to ceiling in some rooms, with crap. In the year and a half since they moved, they have failed to remove their stuff and sell their house, which, as stated, is now facing foreclosure and all other sorts of ills have befallen it. They cannot afford a moving van because they blew all their disability money on expensive items and on the house they built in NC. They have also had half a (LARGE) basement's worth of stuff sitting here for 15 years from when they lived here with R&K, and haven't touched it in the 11 years since they left - and now we need space to put our stuff, plus we plan to use extra space to make a teen's nook, for hangouts. We plan to MAKE them go through it, or out it goes.
The last time they were here, shortly before we moved in, they claimed to want to deal with stuff at their old house, but they would sleep in until noon, finally get out the door early afternoon, work for a couple of hours, max, then be back again. We're not expecting much better this time, either. And they tend to assume privilege for M2 - that she can sleep with MiniPlu, or that she'll be invited along with big kids to things, etc - and it's really annoying. These are, uniformly, everyone's least favorite relatives - they long ago lost all our sympathy, with the poor way they've handled situations, the entitlement, etc. Even K, who pretty much tolerates everyone, is annoyed at them. And they, too, may be here until the New Year. So, that's: eleven people (three under the age of 18), three dogs (one who is only half housebroken and one who is semi-incontinent with poop), five cats and two men in white coats coming to take us away, haha. Oh, and we will have four MORE guests (just for the day) on Friday. And my FIL who spends the night on Wednesdays, so God only knows where we're putting him (M1 and her roommate are currently in his bed).
I will be SO glad when school starts back up. I mean, I'm delighted not to get up at the crack of dawn right now, but we all may be ready to scream in the next couple of days.
To cheer everyone up, some Yuletide recs:
Hiddlins o' Husbandry - Discworld (Tiffany and Wee Free Men, specifically). Rob tries to help his wife by scheming. It goes about as well as you might expect. Absolutely hilarious.
Smoothie Dreams Antman (Scott/Luis) While in prison, Scott figures out some stuff. Also very funny.
Some Who or Other How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Rereading the Grinch as an adult, it seems hard to believe that the Whos really would greet the day with singing, and that they'd forgive the Grinch and let him carve the roast beast. This story is about how happy endings really are possible. Very clever, but also heartfelt, a behind-the-scenes of how the Whos really could "sing, without any presents at all."
The Reward of Service Temeraire (Laurence/Tharkay). Totally true to Novik's writing style, and a wonderful postscript to the final book.
[ETA: Is anyone else having trouble with their icons? I couldn't select one when commenting on someone else's LJ, and I can't edit the icon I want here. Argh.]
How can she be gone?
I was at the mall, having taken MiniPlu to meet up with friends; Two and I were wandering around on our own when we passed a lounge area with a big-screen TV, showing the news. The headline at the bottom of the screen proclaimed her death and I literally stopped in my tracks, jaw hanging open. I may have stopped breathing for a moment - I was that shocked. Wasn't she getting better? Wasn't she supposed to live forever?
Two and I were headed, by chance, to the Disney store, when we'd passed by the news. Of course, given the current movie, there was a huge Star Wars merchandise display at the front of the store. I pointed at it and told the cast member (Disneyspeak for "employee") who stood nearby, "Carrie Fisher just died." She was so stunned, she asked me to repeat it, and then immediately got on her earpiece/comm device and relayed the news to every other cast member in the store. Then I saw a Star Wars tsum tsum shirt and just gazed sadly at Leia on top of the pile.
I did read that she'd finished filming her role for next year's Ep VIII, but that just means being sad every time she's on screen, much like I felt about Anton Yelchin during Star Trek Beyond and, more recently, the animated series Trollhunters (where he voiced the lead character). I have a sudden urge to watch When Harry Met Sally now.
Thank you, Carrie Fisher, for bringing so much joy to our lives. RIP.
And while I'm being cheerful, I'd like to add that we are about to be inundated by annoying relatives again, this time the crew from NC (Will/Rob's younger brother, wife, and younger daughter). Their elder daughter, a sophomore in college, arrived around dinnertime with her roommate in tow; they will be with us until about New Year's, as they want to attend a local friend's party. M1 is pretty laid back so we're not too worried about her. A third girl joined them tonight to sleep over - all three of them, plus MiniPlu, are going with Karen to NYC tomorrow to take in the holiday sights. I'm hoping MiniPlu won't feel too left out - we didn't know about the third college girl until tonight. Anyway, this crew isn't too much trouble, although M1 does have a 12-week-old Aussie puppy with her. I get to be the lucky one responsible for the puppy while everyone's in NYC tomorrow. On the other hand, she's playing nonstop with Jade, making them both blissfully tired.
No, what we're not looking forward to is P, H and M2 (who is nearly 10 now). P&H tend to just sit on their asses most of the day, and help out with absolutely nothing, then assume . They claim to want to retrieve, if possible, a few items from their mouse-infested, squatter-riddled, foreclosed home, which is stuffed, no joke, floor to ceiling in some rooms, with crap. In the year and a half since they moved, they have failed to remove their stuff and sell their house, which, as stated, is now facing foreclosure and all other sorts of ills have befallen it. They cannot afford a moving van because they blew all their disability money on expensive items and on the house they built in NC. They have also had half a (LARGE) basement's worth of stuff sitting here for 15 years from when they lived here with R&K, and haven't touched it in the 11 years since they left - and now we need space to put our stuff, plus we plan to use extra space to make a teen's nook, for hangouts. We plan to MAKE them go through it, or out it goes.
The last time they were here, shortly before we moved in, they claimed to want to deal with stuff at their old house, but they would sleep in until noon, finally get out the door early afternoon, work for a couple of hours, max, then be back again. We're not expecting much better this time, either. And they tend to assume privilege for M2 - that she can sleep with MiniPlu, or that she'll be invited along with big kids to things, etc - and it's really annoying. These are, uniformly, everyone's least favorite relatives - they long ago lost all our sympathy, with the poor way they've handled situations, the entitlement, etc. Even K, who pretty much tolerates everyone, is annoyed at them. And they, too, may be here until the New Year. So, that's: eleven people (three under the age of 18), three dogs (one who is only half housebroken and one who is semi-incontinent with poop), five cats and two men in white coats coming to take us away, haha. Oh, and we will have four MORE guests (just for the day) on Friday. And my FIL who spends the night on Wednesdays, so God only knows where we're putting him (M1 and her roommate are currently in his bed).
I will be SO glad when school starts back up. I mean, I'm delighted not to get up at the crack of dawn right now, but we all may be ready to scream in the next couple of days.
To cheer everyone up, some Yuletide recs:
Hiddlins o' Husbandry - Discworld (Tiffany and Wee Free Men, specifically). Rob tries to help his wife by scheming. It goes about as well as you might expect. Absolutely hilarious.
Smoothie Dreams Antman (Scott/Luis) While in prison, Scott figures out some stuff. Also very funny.
Some Who or Other How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Rereading the Grinch as an adult, it seems hard to believe that the Whos really would greet the day with singing, and that they'd forgive the Grinch and let him carve the roast beast. This story is about how happy endings really are possible. Very clever, but also heartfelt, a behind-the-scenes of how the Whos really could "sing, without any presents at all."
The Reward of Service Temeraire (Laurence/Tharkay). Totally true to Novik's writing style, and a wonderful postscript to the final book.
[ETA: Is anyone else having trouble with their icons? I couldn't select one when commenting on someone else's LJ, and I can't edit the icon I want here. Argh.]