Issue #14 I feel sexy in anything, even in a body bag
My dearest kittens -- apologies for not getting this out on Saturday! My exMIL headed home that day and we also took Thursday the pug to the emergency vet (acid reflux. who knew!), so things were a bit hectic.
My stuff from CT arrived the week before and with my exMIL leaving, TEH and I were able to get a handle on my boxes and boxes of books and general crap. Throbbing Cabin has been devoid of furniture save a chaise lounge, two living room chairs, super deluxe air mattress in the guest room, and a mattress on the floor in the master bedroom in the 5 years since we bought the place. Now we have a couch, bookshelves, an actual bed frame and bed in the master, a mattress for the guest room (with a frame and a bunky board coming next week), and a few other knick-knacks to fill in the spaces. It now looks homey.
Anything still boxed up fits nicely in the guest room's closet and the two dressers make an excellent sideboard in the living room and as an accouterment in the guest bedroom. We decided I am slowly unpacking my books and use the bookshelves for now, sort through my Fiesta Wear collection, and everything else, decide what to keep packed and what to take down south (as we refer to TEH's condo) as time moves on. Both of our MINIs are going to be packed to the gills with things I absolutely need and cannot live without when we leave in a few weeks. That was the mistake I kept making over and over previous moves: I'd only take what I needed for the next few months and ended up without clothes and shoes for interviews, proper coats for weather changes, and other small items. This time, I will be prepared for any eventuality!
My brother is getting married on October 14 in Grand Rapids so we're hanging out at the cabin until then and heading back to Louisville after the wedding. TEH agreed to let me put a stamp of Lisa-ness in the condo and we're going to buy a dresser, bookcases, a desk, and anything else he is missing in the furniture area. (We've decided to keep all of the furniture from CT at the cabin and move my boxes down slowly.)
In job related news, I mentioned a few weeks back I was not going to start job hunting until I got to L-ville. I was thinking earlier this week there are things I can do online such as tutoring while I'm at the cabin, so I've signed up with a few tutoring companies and hopefully I can make some cash while I'm up here. For one company I had to provide my transcripts (I have copies from all schools I've matriculated from since so many application packets require them) and for another company, a completed resume listing my education. These places then are legit. (I hope.)
I wrote an entry on the spreadsheet of doom (which you can download here) I found has helped tremendously tracking everything writing related.
I've thought this thoroughly on the status of the lr.com blog: does writing about my writing process help myself or would others find it silly? I have decided fuck the man, I'll keep writing everything and anything striking my fancy in my writing world and that includes updating the blog.
Update on the #100DayProject: Nearly three weeks in! Crazy! I've been sporadic these last few weeks, but I've been reading technical books writing, watching my "thats" and verbs, and keeping notes on stories. Does that count? It's not exactly where I want to be in the project but it's better than I've been doing for months so I'll take it.
Obsessions
Michigan.
Yes, I'm obsessed with my home state. No matter where I live, I'm always carrying some Michigan pride with me like wearing this necklace or sporting one of the dozen tshirts I have representing mitten love. So why? Why do I keep moving when I love this state so much? (It's hard not to love a state that gave birth to Motown sound, techno, cars, and cereal (Kellog's is located in Battle Creek!).)
For a long time, well, most of my adult life, Michigan represented a backwards mentality I desperately wanted to shed. I moved to San Francisco and later Washington DC to escape my midwest roots but while I could have, if I really wanted, live happily in those and other locales, I found my heart always belonged to Michigan. And what chuffs my chips, Michigan (primarily Grand Rapids, my home city) is getting progressively hip. While my new home is going to be in Kentucky (while TEH has a condo there, he did concede he'd move back if Michigan didn't have its winters), I'll be in driving close enough range to get to the state and visit friends. How could you not love a state always giving you a high-five?
Books / Movies / TV
Bridget Jones' Baby. I was at the local theater, at the first showing the day it opened. I know you're not surprised so let us pretend that look on your face is something else.
I've been commenting like crazy on across the internet about my opinion of such things so I'll tl;dr it here:
In BJB, we find Bridget single (and dancing to House of Paint's "Jump Around" in the opening scenes) at the age of 43; her long time on and off again with Darcy has fizzled and he's married someone else. Bridget has become a woman of reckoning and has matured since we last saw her. But her dream, the one dream she has of being married and having a baby still eludes her. But not is all lost when she meets Jack at a music festival, has relations with him and a week later has unexpected relations with Darcy. Bridget finds herself pregnant and no idea who the father is and finds she doesn't need either man to make her family complete. (It would be nice but not necessary.) Hilarity ensues and the ending is satisfying for the fans. (If you've read Pride and Prejudice, you know the ending.) As I said in one comment,
'Baby' isn't meant to win accolades or Oscars nor it's not an art film to provoke thought. But it is a solid, even if a bit times hokey, film finalizes the story of Bridget and Mark. I was able to forget the world for 2 hours and to pretend this film was anything but is a lesson in lack of actually not only paying attention to the film itself and forgoing knowing its history.
So yes, I loved it. I'll probably see it again in the theatre and will buy the DVD when it comes out.
Now that fall TV season is upon us, lots of my shows are coming back along with a few new ones: Project Runway, Big Bang Theory, Gotham, DC Legends of Tomorrow, The Good Place, Son Zorn, and Masters of Sex all kicked off in the last week. More premieres are happening in the upcoming weeks.
Can we talk about RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars for a hot second? I'm on a Facebook group that is nothing but AS every hour on the hour so here is my commentary:
I'm really glad they are getting rid of the mini-challenges
I'm super impressed with Detox and Alaska bringing their A game -- especially Alaska. She was overpowered by Sharon Needles in Alaska's season but now she's come into her own
Lil' Poundcake!
Roxxxy was far more entertaining in her own season and now she's almost forgotten
Bringing back the rejected queens for revenge is awesome but please, no Coco. She is turrible
Now we're down to five queens and four episodes in. With six episodes left, and now a total of nine queens, I bet we're going to see a few double eliminations and a few single eliminations to end up with final three to be Katya, Alaska, and Tatianna with Alaska taking the crown. I'm on team all three.
I am super sad Adore has decided to quit the show. :(
Thoughts?
Curated Link Love
If you can't choose wisely, choose randomly: good advice and one I often follow [Aeon]
tl;dr: We need to ween ourselves off the internet from time to time so we can go back to being human beings [New York Magazine]
How ten pieces of furniture got their names [Mental Floss]
Piggly Wiggly revolutionised grocery shopping [Mental Floss]
The 700-year-old tattoo shop and the family who continuously owned it [Atlas Obscura]
My obsession with French lifestyle continues: how living like a French woman helped this woman lose 75 pounds [mindbodygreen]
The '90s fascination continues: now the belly button piercing is back in vogue [Broadly]
Why the "love your body" advice is stupid [Nia Shanks]
The 100 year old todo list hack that still works [Fast Company]
Ten oldest continuously opened shops in the world (one dates back to 705 CE!) [Mental Floss]
How being mediocre makes you happy [BBC]
This vibrator doubles as an alarm clock (Yeah, I've got nothing.) [The Cut]
How books came to be [BBC Culture]
The largest book publisher is Kickstarter [The Guardian]
What makes a sentence a masterpiece [Aeon]
xoxo,
until next week! (In this case, a few days! and can you believe this is issue #14? I'm surprised. Are you surprised?)
You can find me across the internet as @byshieldmaiden or
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