Quick Hits – October 2016

As you already know, October is a busy month for me.  I originally thought I might be short on viewing material to review.  I did not have much downtime, and what time I did have I focused on reading.  I have been watching the newest SVU season on Netflix over the past two months, so that was one TV show I had ready.  Then, towards the end of the month, my time opened up a teensy bit more and I was able to rush through some extra movies.  I even managed to find the time to write reviews for the traditional six entertainment items.  Hope you enjoy.

Warning:  Although I tried not to delve into plots too deeply, there are potential spoilers in the reviews below.  Read at your own risk.

TV Series:  Law & Order:  Special Victims Unit:  Season 17 (2015-2016)

I raced through the newest season of Law & Order:  Special Victims Unit.  It has always been one of my favorite procedurals for times of high stress, and so it was perfect for this stretch of September/October.  This show has found renewed vigor with the cast changes that have happened over the past few years.  For a while, I was really worn out by all the anger carried by Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson.  The best thing that ever happened to this show was Christopher Meloni leaving and taking his character with him.  It allowed Benson’s character to evolve in ways that were not possible with the dynamic they had built between the two.  Since then we have had more character turnover, and I really enjoy many of the replacements.  I particularly like the new ADA Rafael Barba and the newest detective Dominick Carisi.  Season 17 also saw a great part time addition with Sergeant Mike Dodds, but they wrote the character out at the end of the season so he will not be returning next year.  Episode-wise I felt the season was really strong as well.  As always, we see stories playing along current headlines, including some reality TV episodes, a Catholic church scandal, sexually confused teenagers, and dirty cops.  I found the material fresh, entertaining, and never boring.  I am eager to keep watching, but sadly I have to wait for Season 18 to make it to Netflix.

TV Special:  Iliza Shlesinger:  Confirmed Kills (2016)

Iliza Shlesinger is no doubt one of my favorite comedians.  I loved her first two comedy specials, War Paint and Freezing Hot.  When I saw that she was coming out with a third special on Netflix, I immediately put it into my queue.  It did not disappoint.  I loved it.  Iliza’s humor is all stories, which I enjoy so much more than punchlines.  She interjects sound effects, weird tag phrases, and funny faces to liven up the narratives.  She focuses on millennial life situations that are funny and relatable.  Her material focuses more on relationships than current events, so it remains relevant for long after the initial viewing.  She entertains without feeling the need to delve into sermons or political rants which often just derail the humor.  All this adds up to an hour where I felt like I was hanging out with that friend who has all the crazy stories.  I will definitely be watching again, when I need a night to relax and laugh.  Plus, her shirt is awesome and I really wish I could wear something like that.

Movie:  Laggies (2014)

Although I see some people describe this as a coming of age story, I think it is more a quarter-life crisis story.  Keira Knightly plays a woman in her late 20s, who has an advanced degree, a job twirling a sign for her Dad’s accounting firm, a live-in boyfriend who has finally proposed after 10 years, and no idea how to move forward with her life.  It is easy to judge her as a lazy millennial who just needs to grow up and deal with life.  However, there is a line in the film where she says something like “it was the first a many decisions I let others make for me” (not verbatim).  I completely understood her and could connect with her on a basic level at that moment.  Some of us are so used to going along with what everyone else expects (family, friends, teachers, etc.) that when we are finally forced to confront ourselves we do not know what to do.  At our core, we have never discovered who we are and what we want from life.  While I probably will not make a high school friend, crash at their house for a week, and make out with their Dad, I can understand the process of trying to clear the clutter from your mind for long enough to figure out what you should do next.  She does not have it figured out by the end of the movie, but she has taken some steps to move forward instead of pacing in the same rut where she started the movie.  I really enjoyed this little film.  It was humorous, relatable, and filled with a great cast.

Movie:  Dazed and Confused (1993)

Dazed and Confused is a movie I have watched too many times to count.  It used to be on TV constantly, and every time I saw it while flipping channels I had to stop and watch from wherever it happened to be.  This weekend when I could not sleep, I thought there could not be a better option than to zone out to this movie yet again.  This movie really is not about anything.  The characters are a bunch of teenagers milling about town, hooking up, hanging out, being mean, and getting wasted.  And yet it still holds my attention all these years after I saw it the first time.  I find the dialog humorous and entertaining.  I love seeing the cameos of actors that went on to more fame, and to check back on those that have disappeared from the spotlight.  The movie fills me with nostalgia for a time that I never experienced.  It is out of era for my childhood (the 70s vs. the 90s), more suburban than my hometown, and nothing like my high school or my experience with high school.  I struggle to explain it, but this is definitely one of my favorite movies ever.  I assume I will continue to watch it time and again over the years.

Book:  One More Thing:  Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak (2014)

I went into this book with big expectations.  Everything I have heard about it has been glowingly positive.  Plus, it has been described as a written version of Woody Allen’s whimsy, and I have a soft spot for his films.  So does this book live up to the hype?  As a whole, I would say I enjoyed the book.  It is full of quirky, witty stories that make some interesting points on modern culture.  I loved the fact that couple of short stories made reference to other stories, and I wish he had incorporated a bit more of this into the work.  Individually, some of the stories work well, some were a bit pretentious, and others just plain crude.  In the end, I really loved some of the stories, did not like others, and did not even understand a few of them.  My favorite ones include:  Kellogg’s (or:  The Last Wholesome Fantasy of the Middle-School Boy), Quantum Nonlocality and the Death of Elvis Presley, One of These Days We Have to Do Something About Willie, and Kindness Among Cakes.  The most overhyped story is The Rematch, a new take on the tortoise and the hare, which starts the book off in a crude mean fashion.  Combined with the second story, which has a similar tone, I almost put the book down.  This would have been a sad ending given that some of the stories that follow are absolute gems.  My recommendation is to read the book, but just know that not every story is going to work for you.

Book:  Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (2015)

This book has been on my list to read for a while.  I have seen it come up in a few different recommendation lists.  I understood it to be a book about the same marriage, as told from each spouse’s perspective.  Overall, I was a little disappointed.  Maybe I just had too much expectation going into it, but frankly I found it overwritten and a bit boring.  The first half of the book, Fates, is told from the perspective of the husband.  It is rather haphazard, telling his life before and during their marriage through singular events, snippets of parties, and the plays he wrote.  He is a likable, well-off, but decidedly average person, who loves his wife, and seems to be doing the best he can in his life.  His half of the book was tedious to read, but I pushed through it because I figured the wife’s half would be more interesting once it breaks apart all the husband thought was true.  The wife’s half, Furies, is told through conversations after the husband’s death and flashbacks.  Mathilde’s life was rather unusual and her half of the book was much more interesting as a result.  However, I did not find her story to be all that contradictory to the husband’s.  She never told him much of her life prior to meeting him, but he seemed to care little about this and it seemed to have little effect on their marriage.  She did manipulate his career and their relationship a bit, which maybe was not honest, but it ultimately helped him, so I hardly found it scandalous.  She also loved her husband and just was trying to do the best she could given their circumstances.  I honestly think this book would have been better just as a novel about Mathilde, with Lotto regulated to the role of husband not main narrator.  I also think it could have been shorter, written in a more flowing narrative, and not trying so hard to be a literary experience.  Not the worst thing I have read, but nothing much to compel me to read it again or recommend it to others.

Overflow:

Movie:  Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix (2007) – Yes.  I saw this at the IMAX at the Air & Space Museum, and I think such a big screen is overrated.  It made it hard to see all the details.

Movie:  Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) – Yes

Book:  Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) – Yes

See you next week! 

It Is Your Duty to Vote

I was getting ready to write my normal once a quarter cop-out blog.  Instead, I decided to write a very tiny blog encouraging you to go vote.

In a few short weeks, we know one of two people will be the next President of the United States of America.  Please think very carefully about the question of who it should be.  Who do you want to be the next President, Trump or Clinton?  You may not like either one, but surely you have an idea of who you would prefer of the two.  On Election Day, go vote for that person.  Do not cast a ballot for a third party candidate, do not write in a random person, and do not stay at home.  You may feel like doing one of these things is standing on principle, but all you do is increase the chances of the one you do not prefer becoming President.  If it truly does not matter to you who ends up in the White House, then by all means waste your vote.  But if you have a preference, do what you can to help that person win the election.  If you do not, you cannot complain about the results, because you did not do the one thing you could have done to help.

I have considered it, and I have made my choice.  It does not make me proud to vote for this person, but at least I know I am doing my part to keep the other one out of office.  It is all I can do.

Hopefully next week, I will be on track to do the normal entertainment blog for October.  See you next week!

Great Falls National Park Trip

Since my first trip in July, I have attempted two more hiking experiences.  The first one was Gettysburg at the end of August.  This was not a particularly successful hiking trip as I had trouble finding the trail I was attempting to hike, became overheated, and ended up returning to the Visitor Center after a couple of hours of wandering around on the roads.  I hope to attempt this trip again, planning a few days in the area, so I can visit some of the museums in addition to hiking.  The second hiking trip I took a couple weeks ago to Great Falls National Park, where I spent a very pleasant day in the park with my husband.

This trip started out on a much better note than the trip to Shenandoah or Gettysburg.  My husband drove and he has a much better sense of direction than I do.  We arrived on schedule at the right (only one I think) entrance to the park.  I directed us to the Southern parking lot, where we easily found the trailhead for the trip I had mapped out.  We walked Matildaville Trail first.  This is a 1.1 mile trail through the ruins of Matildaville, an old community for workers of the Patowmack Canal Company.  The trail is easy at first, but eventually leads into a rather steep climb up a hill.  Matildaville Trail intersects twice with Old Carriage Road, another 1.5 mile trail in the park.  At the second intersection, my husband and I switched to Old Carriage Road to head back to our starting point.  Old Carriage Road is a very easy walk on a wide level path.  Once back to the parking lot, we headed down to the river so we could take in the spectacular views of the falls for which the park is known.  There are three overlooks to visit, and we went to each one in turn.  At the end, we made a stop in the visitor center to see some of the exhibits and to buy a souvenir.  Then, we headed home about noon, or three-ish hours after we arrived.  Everything went smoothly and on schedule.

This trip was a little different than the first two because I went with my husband.  Hiking with my husband is a different experience than hiking on my own.  In some ways it is nice.  He can be a good conversationalist when he wants to be.  He helped me over a fairly large tree that had fallen across the path.  He took some nice photos of me on the trail.  He did make me feel a little safer than I do on my own, especially in a park like Great Falls that is very popular (Yes, I feel safer on my own when there is no one really around…I am afraid of what people will do to me, not what nature can do).  On the other hand, he creates constant noise which can get in the way of my quiet contemplation of the nature around me.  He walks much faster than me, even up hills, and I got left behind a couple times.  Plus while we both can get side-tracked by things to investigate, they do not tend to be the same things, so there were times where each of us was impatient for the other to get moving.  Over all, I am glad we can do some hiking together, but I definitely want to plan more solo trips in the future too.

My goal has been to plan a hike once each month which so far I have done (three months in a row).  However, I am not sure a hike in October will happen.  We are halfway through the month already, I am working this coming weekend, possibly working the next weekend, and going to a party the final weekend.  While I can obviously take some non-party time on that last one, I need time to recover from all the weekend work hours, time to do some basic cleaning, and hopefully time to work on my front room.  Even if October ends up a no hiking month, I am already scheduled for a getaway at the Wintergreen Resort the first weekend in November.  As long as weather holds reasonably clear, I told my husband I am taking a hike that weekend regardless if anyone else comes along (I am going with him and two friends).  I will be in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the autumn, and there is no reason to pass up a chance to absorb the colorful fall beauty.

Trip Spending Total:  $15.25 – Park entrance fee $10.00, souvenir for me $5.25

See you next week!

Here are some of my favorite photos from this trip.

  

  

  

Finally Some Furniture – Front Room October 2016

We have furniture!  It is only some of the furniture that will eventually go into the room, but it is a start.  I actually did not have most of the furniture when I took my comparison pictures on Sunday (a day late since I was out of town).  On Monday, they called to schedule delivery on a couple more pieces.  Two skinny bookshelves and a lateral file were delivered this morning.  I took a picture to include in this month’s update even though it was technically after the monthly cut-off.  Below are the comparison pictures, September 1^st on the left and October 2^nd on the right.  At the very bottom is the picture I took tonight of the newly delivered items.

Aside from my late delivery of furniture, I do not really have much else to show.  None of the cleanup work from the last update has been done.  My husband still needs to finish the electrical work.  I still need to clean the floor and finish painting the doors and door frame.  My husband and I did clear out some of the computer equipment that had migrated into the room.  Then, I ordered the furniture because I just could not wait any longer.  I have ordered most of the items for the office side of the room.  This includes the two skinny bookshelves, the lateral file, two chairs, and a desk.  The desk will come at a later date, currently estimated at November 4^th, so possibly not even making it for the next update.  The two chairs are here in the big boxes which you will see in the pictures below.  I definitely need some new lighting still, but I do not anticipate buying much more for this side of the room.

This coming month will most likely be rough because it is the quarter.  On top of that, I am trying to get back on track for studying for the CPA exam.  This is probably not going to leave me much time or motivation to work on the room.  If I can find some spark of energy in me, I should focus on cleaning the floor first.  Hopefully, I can convince my husband to do the remaining outlets and light switches too.  Other than that, I will work on unpacking some boxes now that I have some places available to put things.  I am also starting to think about what I want on the other side of the room.  I cannot order furniture for that side until I clear out some of the boxes and other stuff.  However, I did measure the room and map it out on some graph paper so I can start playing around with furniture ideas in the space.  I am really excited now that I have some furniture in here, and I like it as much in reality as I did on the website.  Maybe I can do this after all, and I will end up with a room that looks good.

I think that about covers everything.  See you next week!