The State of Me -- The Midseason Finale
In which I attempt to hold myself accountable for my goals. One of which was to use this journal for more than posting my fics, and at which I have failed miserably. Onward and upward, yes?
On the health front, I am still as fat as ever, but I have made progress on all my sinus issues. Multiple visits to the specialist and a CT-scan later, I will finally find out on Tuesday whether my sinuses fall into the "suck it up and deal with it forever" category or the "it's bad enough that we should operate" category. I'm still not sure which answer I prefer.
The move into the new apartment went well. Aside from the VERY BIG ISSUE that I saw a cockroach. Just. Why me, ya know? So I'm living in a mild version of ongoing paranoia. The property manager seems eager to solve the problem. We'll see how it goes. Cassie still spends most of her time sleeping on the rug in the bathroom. She's not scared of the new place, so I guess she just finds it comfy in her old age.
I'm quite happy with my progress in my writing. I'm down about 25K on my word count goal (a big deficit, but not insurmountable) but I'm up on the number of days I've written and most of what I'm writing is getting posted. I've also somehow become even more of a multi-fandom girl (I have NO IDEA how that happened) since I'm now regularly writing Once Upon a Time and Live Free or Die Hard as well as dipping my toes into writing for Stargate: Universe and Black Sails.
And I've yet to break my chain!
The black X's mark writing days, blue X's mark non-writing days. My goal is 14 writing days per month, and I am still on track... I managed to keep going even through packing and moving. "Don't Break The Chain" is a great motivator!
I also love my landcomms. I just joined a new one (writerverse in which the challenges are almost all geared to writing. So.Many.Prompts. I'm actually a bit overwhelmed with prompts at the moment, but that's kind of good for me. Makes me write!
My Movie Goal is to watch 50 movies this year. I'm only at 19, so I need to pick up the pace there.
Movies
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth
As mentioned before, I am not a big superhero fan but I make an exception for Thor and Iron Man. So. This one I enjoyed more than the first Avengers movie. I won't say much coz I don't want to spoil it for anyone (even though everyone who wants to see it probably has by now.) In the "like" column: all the banter, Thor, Ultron, Thor's hair, Thor's arms, and the two new people. In the "dislike" column: endless fight scenes, super fast editing. In the "omg I am bored silly please kill me now" column: all the Clint stuff and all the Natasha & Bruce stuff. In conclusion: Thor is pretty.
16. Angela's Ashes (1999) - starring Robert Carlyle, Emily Watson
The true story of author Frank McCourt's frighteningly impoverished childhood in Ireland in the '30's. Though it's young Frank's story and his mother is supposed to be the central figure in his life, I really think Robert Carlyle as Frank's father Malachi stole the show in this one. Malachi is an alcoholic, can't hold a job, constantly spends what little money they have on drink while his children are literally starving for a piece of bread. It would be easy to paint him as the villain of the piece but he is much more complex than that. He's shunned by everyone because he's from Northern Ireland, and his wife does nothing to defend him. Everything indicates that he wants to do well by his kids. He loves them, and he gets no joy from his drinking (the one time young Frankie goes searching for him in a bar, we see Malachi sitting alone and friendless.) In the end it isn't anger or hatred you feel for Malachi, it's pity.
17. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Well. This is an entertaining edge-of-your-seat kind of film (and I mean that literally - I found myself leaning toward the screen on various occasions and had to remind myself to relax) but it's certainly neither the cinematic nor feminist masterpiece that everyone is raving about. I really enjoyed stylized, heightened reality type films and this one fit the bill, but it's basically a two hour action sequence - I needed more character development and just a smidge more understanding of the world they all occupied. And while some of the little nods to the original films were interesting and appreciated, I really could have done without Tom Hardy emulating Mel Gibson's grunting. Oy.
18. Jurassic World (2015) - starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Wooooot! Now this is what I'm talking about! Loved all the little nods to the first film; this truly felt like a worthy sequel to Jurassic Park (and it wisely ignores the second and third films in the series, because there's no reason from a writing standpoint to really mention them.) Super fun film, great action sequences, the kids are not annoying (yay!) and actually manage to be pretty kickass on their own, cool heroine, badass hero, amusing dialogue. AND PTERODACTYLS. What more can you want??? (Okay, a cameo by Sam Neill would have been awesome. But I guess a girl can't have everything.)
19. Dead Fish (2005) - starring Gary Oldman, Robert Carlyle, Billy Zane, Terrence Stamp
You'd think with a cast like that you'd be bound to get a pretty amazing film, right? Ohhhh you would be so wrong. This is just… weird. It's about a hitman and a petty thief who accidentally switch phones, and I imagine it's supposed to be madcap and zany but all it manages to be is strange for the sake of being strange. I mean, at one point Oldman breaks into song while in chains with his dominatrix, and Carlyle talks on a banana phone while sitting in a chair shaped like a hollow parrot which eventually ejects him onto the roof so he can escape the hitman. Ohhhhkay. There's two subplots and about five characters too many, and it's so stupid that it was literally difficult for me to just pay attention and finish. *sigh*
And my Book Goal is to read 30 books this year. I am already at 23, so I'm thinking I should raise this up to 40.
Books
17. The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh
Look, I managed to get some Robert Carlyle into the book category! Yeah, I listened to this in audiobook form, and it was read by none other than Mr. Carlyle (and yeah, that's pretty much the only reason I got it.) It's the story of Mr. Rilke, an auctioneer who, while appraising the home of a man who just passed away, happens across a stash of erotic books and some decades-old photos that may be from a pornographic snuff film/photo session. Rilke decides to investigate himself instead of handing them over to the police.
If you're looking for a great mystery plot, this is sooo not the book. It's a character driven piece, and the plot is secondary. But the two main characters in the book, Rilke and the city of Glasgow, are lovingly written. The language is very lush and moody, especially when describing the back alleys, trysting spots, and seedy bars of modern-day Glasgow, and Rilke is a fascinating character. Unfortunately the conclusion felt rushed and confusing.
18. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
I've lost track of how many years it's been since this was recced amongst a ton of my flist, but I was hesitant to read it - a story about a hermaphrodite -- because it seemed… exploitive. But though Cal is the narrator, this is not just his story. It's an absorbing multi-generational tale, because to explain the genetics that made this happen we have to go back to Cal's grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty, and their story is the one that kept me turning the (figurative) pages. Cal's present-day story I often found a little boring, to be honest.
19. Finders Keepers by Stephen King
The first of two planned books featuring some of the characters from Mr. Mercedes, this one deals with the cop who captured the killer in the first book and the son of one of the people who was injured by the killer. It's… fine. I mean, I am a huge King fan. I would read the man's grocery list. But somewhere along the way he lost the ability to grab me. Despite the impressive word count in his books, his characters simply lack depth. King tells us what we need to know about them to understand the current plot, and little more. As a result, the characters can tend to feel two-dimensional. It's disappointing.
While this one is strictly a dramatic tale, the ending sets up a supernatural twist for the next book. I'm quite looking forward to that.
20. Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Well. This was an 'easy read' - I finished it in 1.5 shifts at work, in between answering phone calls. The writing is fairly simplistic, and all the characters tend to sound/think like each other which is a huge red flag in my book. It's also a little odd in that the chapters narrated by the book's hero, Oz, are in first person POV, while the chapters from other characters perspectives are in third person. The characterizations tend to be flat and uninspiring.
The premise - which is about mammals all over the world suddenly going crazy and attacking humans, the scientists scrambling to figure out why, and the government refusing to see the forest for the trees -- kept me going. I wish it had lived up to its potential, because the idea is a great one. Unfortunately most of the attacks are talked about instead of 'shown', so the writers really missed the opportunity to creep us out about how horrible this could be. We hear about the rats attacking Manhattan through a throwaway line and then a two sentence mention of a dude in a hazmat suit shooting a flamethrower into a sewer opening. How much more intense could it have been if they had actually SHOWN us the rats sweeping through the city? (At least the ended the way I wanted it to.)
21. The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay
Barney is just a sad, pathetic man, ignored by his wife and dominated by his mother, who puts in his days in a barber shop and wishes for a better life. Then he becomes an "accidental serial killer" - I won't say how, but yes, he managed to kill not one but two men, both completely accidentally. Meanwhile, a true serial killer is terrorizing Glasgow, and somehow Barney and the Glasgow butcher's lives end up entwined. This is a truly funny, very quirky and odd little tale. For the first few chapters I didn't think I'd like it, because Barney's life is just soooo grey and dismal, and I don't find anything funny about people being abused and neglected by their supposed loved ones. But once Barney commits his first "accidental murder" and things spiral out of control, it's just one crazy over-the-top moment to the next, and I literally laughed out loud on several occasions. I liked this one enough that I went out and got the remaining 6 novels in the series, so we'll see if Lindsay can keep the laughs coming.
(FWIW, I picked this up because Robert Carlyle - oh look, him again - just recently directed and stars in the film version of the book. It's Carlyle's first time directing a film, and Emma Thompson plays his mother. The trailer for it looks like it's going to be a hoot.)
22. The Barber Surgeon's Hairshirt by Douglas Lindsay
and
23. Murderer's Anonymous by Douglas Lindsay
The next two books in the series. Still an oddball mix of quirkiness and gore, as sadsack Barney is roasted by the press (he's being held responsible for losses in 20 year old football matches now) and once again gets mixed up in the lives of serial killers (Glasgow sure has a lot of those) with detectives Mulholland and Proudfoot on his trail. Hairshirt was a bit plodding, but the pace picked up again in Murderer's Anonymous (and there's the supernatural to come in the next book in the series, so it should only get weirder from here.)
Let's see, what else? My presence on other social media remains the same (I read but don't add content). I've had to unfortunately dip into my Money Jar (because figuring out what you can afford paying almost $150 more in rent on paper is a hell of a lot different than living it) but it still remains more than 3/4 full (it was full to the rim before. *sigh*.) Money woes are also the reason that I'm missing both Justin Long in the Berkshires and BRUCE WILLIS ON FUCKING BROADWAY this year. C'monnnn lottery win.
And I haven't been keeping up with my Memory Jar at all.
So. Some successes, some failures. Looking forward to improvement in three months.\
And as of RIGHT NOW, I'm on vacation from work for 7 glorious days. LET THE ANGELS SING.
.
On the health front, I am still as fat as ever, but I have made progress on all my sinus issues. Multiple visits to the specialist and a CT-scan later, I will finally find out on Tuesday whether my sinuses fall into the "suck it up and deal with it forever" category or the "it's bad enough that we should operate" category. I'm still not sure which answer I prefer.
The move into the new apartment went well. Aside from the VERY BIG ISSUE that I saw a cockroach. Just. Why me, ya know? So I'm living in a mild version of ongoing paranoia. The property manager seems eager to solve the problem. We'll see how it goes. Cassie still spends most of her time sleeping on the rug in the bathroom. She's not scared of the new place, so I guess she just finds it comfy in her old age.
I'm quite happy with my progress in my writing. I'm down about 25K on my word count goal (a big deficit, but not insurmountable) but I'm up on the number of days I've written and most of what I'm writing is getting posted. I've also somehow become even more of a multi-fandom girl (I have NO IDEA how that happened) since I'm now regularly writing Once Upon a Time and Live Free or Die Hard as well as dipping my toes into writing for Stargate: Universe and Black Sails.
And I've yet to break my chain!
The black X's mark writing days, blue X's mark non-writing days. My goal is 14 writing days per month, and I am still on track... I managed to keep going even through packing and moving. "Don't Break The Chain" is a great motivator!
I also love my landcomms. I just joined a new one (writerverse in which the challenges are almost all geared to writing. So.Many.Prompts. I'm actually a bit overwhelmed with prompts at the moment, but that's kind of good for me. Makes me write!
My Movie Goal is to watch 50 movies this year. I'm only at 19, so I need to pick up the pace there.
Movies
15. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth
As mentioned before, I am not a big superhero fan but I make an exception for Thor and Iron Man. So. This one I enjoyed more than the first Avengers movie. I won't say much coz I don't want to spoil it for anyone (even though everyone who wants to see it probably has by now.) In the "like" column: all the banter, Thor, Ultron, Thor's hair, Thor's arms, and the two new people. In the "dislike" column: endless fight scenes, super fast editing. In the "omg I am bored silly please kill me now" column: all the Clint stuff and all the Natasha & Bruce stuff. In conclusion: Thor is pretty.
16. Angela's Ashes (1999) - starring Robert Carlyle, Emily Watson
The true story of author Frank McCourt's frighteningly impoverished childhood in Ireland in the '30's. Though it's young Frank's story and his mother is supposed to be the central figure in his life, I really think Robert Carlyle as Frank's father Malachi stole the show in this one. Malachi is an alcoholic, can't hold a job, constantly spends what little money they have on drink while his children are literally starving for a piece of bread. It would be easy to paint him as the villain of the piece but he is much more complex than that. He's shunned by everyone because he's from Northern Ireland, and his wife does nothing to defend him. Everything indicates that he wants to do well by his kids. He loves them, and he gets no joy from his drinking (the one time young Frankie goes searching for him in a bar, we see Malachi sitting alone and friendless.) In the end it isn't anger or hatred you feel for Malachi, it's pity.
17. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Well. This is an entertaining edge-of-your-seat kind of film (and I mean that literally - I found myself leaning toward the screen on various occasions and had to remind myself to relax) but it's certainly neither the cinematic nor feminist masterpiece that everyone is raving about. I really enjoyed stylized, heightened reality type films and this one fit the bill, but it's basically a two hour action sequence - I needed more character development and just a smidge more understanding of the world they all occupied. And while some of the little nods to the original films were interesting and appreciated, I really could have done without Tom Hardy emulating Mel Gibson's grunting. Oy.
18. Jurassic World (2015) - starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Wooooot! Now this is what I'm talking about! Loved all the little nods to the first film; this truly felt like a worthy sequel to Jurassic Park (and it wisely ignores the second and third films in the series, because there's no reason from a writing standpoint to really mention them.) Super fun film, great action sequences, the kids are not annoying (yay!) and actually manage to be pretty kickass on their own, cool heroine, badass hero, amusing dialogue. AND PTERODACTYLS. What more can you want??? (Okay, a cameo by Sam Neill would have been awesome. But I guess a girl can't have everything.)
19. Dead Fish (2005) - starring Gary Oldman, Robert Carlyle, Billy Zane, Terrence Stamp
You'd think with a cast like that you'd be bound to get a pretty amazing film, right? Ohhhh you would be so wrong. This is just… weird. It's about a hitman and a petty thief who accidentally switch phones, and I imagine it's supposed to be madcap and zany but all it manages to be is strange for the sake of being strange. I mean, at one point Oldman breaks into song while in chains with his dominatrix, and Carlyle talks on a banana phone while sitting in a chair shaped like a hollow parrot which eventually ejects him onto the roof so he can escape the hitman. Ohhhhkay. There's two subplots and about five characters too many, and it's so stupid that it was literally difficult for me to just pay attention and finish. *sigh*
And my Book Goal is to read 30 books this year. I am already at 23, so I'm thinking I should raise this up to 40.
Books
17. The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh
Look, I managed to get some Robert Carlyle into the book category! Yeah, I listened to this in audiobook form, and it was read by none other than Mr. Carlyle (and yeah, that's pretty much the only reason I got it.) It's the story of Mr. Rilke, an auctioneer who, while appraising the home of a man who just passed away, happens across a stash of erotic books and some decades-old photos that may be from a pornographic snuff film/photo session. Rilke decides to investigate himself instead of handing them over to the police.
If you're looking for a great mystery plot, this is sooo not the book. It's a character driven piece, and the plot is secondary. But the two main characters in the book, Rilke and the city of Glasgow, are lovingly written. The language is very lush and moody, especially when describing the back alleys, trysting spots, and seedy bars of modern-day Glasgow, and Rilke is a fascinating character. Unfortunately the conclusion felt rushed and confusing.
18. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
I've lost track of how many years it's been since this was recced amongst a ton of my flist, but I was hesitant to read it - a story about a hermaphrodite -- because it seemed… exploitive. But though Cal is the narrator, this is not just his story. It's an absorbing multi-generational tale, because to explain the genetics that made this happen we have to go back to Cal's grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty, and their story is the one that kept me turning the (figurative) pages. Cal's present-day story I often found a little boring, to be honest.
19. Finders Keepers by Stephen King
The first of two planned books featuring some of the characters from Mr. Mercedes, this one deals with the cop who captured the killer in the first book and the son of one of the people who was injured by the killer. It's… fine. I mean, I am a huge King fan. I would read the man's grocery list. But somewhere along the way he lost the ability to grab me. Despite the impressive word count in his books, his characters simply lack depth. King tells us what we need to know about them to understand the current plot, and little more. As a result, the characters can tend to feel two-dimensional. It's disappointing.
While this one is strictly a dramatic tale, the ending sets up a supernatural twist for the next book. I'm quite looking forward to that.
20. Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Well. This was an 'easy read' - I finished it in 1.5 shifts at work, in between answering phone calls. The writing is fairly simplistic, and all the characters tend to sound/think like each other which is a huge red flag in my book. It's also a little odd in that the chapters narrated by the book's hero, Oz, are in first person POV, while the chapters from other characters perspectives are in third person. The characterizations tend to be flat and uninspiring.
The premise - which is about mammals all over the world suddenly going crazy and attacking humans, the scientists scrambling to figure out why, and the government refusing to see the forest for the trees -- kept me going. I wish it had lived up to its potential, because the idea is a great one. Unfortunately most of the attacks are talked about instead of 'shown', so the writers really missed the opportunity to creep us out about how horrible this could be. We hear about the rats attacking Manhattan through a throwaway line and then a two sentence mention of a dude in a hazmat suit shooting a flamethrower into a sewer opening. How much more intense could it have been if they had actually SHOWN us the rats sweeping through the city? (At least the ended the way I wanted it to.)
21. The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay
Barney is just a sad, pathetic man, ignored by his wife and dominated by his mother, who puts in his days in a barber shop and wishes for a better life. Then he becomes an "accidental serial killer" - I won't say how, but yes, he managed to kill not one but two men, both completely accidentally. Meanwhile, a true serial killer is terrorizing Glasgow, and somehow Barney and the Glasgow butcher's lives end up entwined. This is a truly funny, very quirky and odd little tale. For the first few chapters I didn't think I'd like it, because Barney's life is just soooo grey and dismal, and I don't find anything funny about people being abused and neglected by their supposed loved ones. But once Barney commits his first "accidental murder" and things spiral out of control, it's just one crazy over-the-top moment to the next, and I literally laughed out loud on several occasions. I liked this one enough that I went out and got the remaining 6 novels in the series, so we'll see if Lindsay can keep the laughs coming.
(FWIW, I picked this up because Robert Carlyle - oh look, him again - just recently directed and stars in the film version of the book. It's Carlyle's first time directing a film, and Emma Thompson plays his mother. The trailer for it looks like it's going to be a hoot.)
22. The Barber Surgeon's Hairshirt by Douglas Lindsay
and
23. Murderer's Anonymous by Douglas Lindsay
The next two books in the series. Still an oddball mix of quirkiness and gore, as sadsack Barney is roasted by the press (he's being held responsible for losses in 20 year old football matches now) and once again gets mixed up in the lives of serial killers (Glasgow sure has a lot of those) with detectives Mulholland and Proudfoot on his trail. Hairshirt was a bit plodding, but the pace picked up again in Murderer's Anonymous (and there's the supernatural to come in the next book in the series, so it should only get weirder from here.)
Let's see, what else? My presence on other social media remains the same (I read but don't add content). I've had to unfortunately dip into my Money Jar (because figuring out what you can afford paying almost $150 more in rent on paper is a hell of a lot different than living it) but it still remains more than 3/4 full (it was full to the rim before. *sigh*.) Money woes are also the reason that I'm missing both Justin Long in the Berkshires and BRUCE WILLIS ON FUCKING BROADWAY this year. C'monnnn lottery win.
And I haven't been keeping up with my Memory Jar at all.
So. Some successes, some failures. Looking forward to improvement in three months.\
And as of RIGHT NOW, I'm on vacation from work for 7 glorious days. LET THE ANGELS SING.
.