Category: Ruminations and Crackpot Theories

Observations on life in general.

2021: The Year To Come

2020 has been a challenging year. I don’t need to enumerate or recap the Dumpster fire. The malaise isn’t going to magically vanish when we flip the calendar page to 2021.

As is my habit, I’ve been thinking long and hard about my goals for the coming year. The strategy for my life. The changes I need or want to make. Not resolutions. Never resolutions. Resolutions are made to be broken. Goals are set to meet.

One of the changes I’ll be making is cutting back on the number of blogs I write each year. This is my final “Thursday Thought” for at least twelve months.

MJ Monday will not be as structured as it’s been for the past couple of years–Meals on the first Monday, movies on the second, etc. I will also be adding at least one new category, perhaps more as the mood strikes me.

I hope you’ll continue to join me.

Have a safe, healthy new year.

Thursday Thought: Fleabag (Includes Spoiler)

My husband and I sat down one night to binge watch season two of Fleabag, an award-winning show on Amazon. We hadn’t seen season one. Hubs had been told season one wasn’t necessary to understand season two.

I wish I’d seen season one, if only for contest. The first episode of season two dropped the viewer into the middle of a complicated family dynamic, in addition to introducing a “hot” priest.

The show was wickedly, viciously funny. Reality can be hilarious at time, especially when it comes to families.

But. (Isn’t there always a but?)

Truth was also buried in the humor. Parts of the show upset me. People not taking responsibility for their own actions. In the family, okay. That’s what made for the humor. The “hot” priest is another issue. I was infuriated when he blamed the title character for his own failures.

The only thing in the world over which we have control is our own attitude. His was appalling.

I know the program is fiction. On the other hand, who’s to say similar situations don’t happen on a regular basis? It’s okay to admit we’re only human, with all the shortcomings that entails. But don’t blame someone else because you can’t control your attitude.

MJ Monday-Movies: The Ref

The Ref, a 1994 flick (Dennis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis)has become one of my favorite Christmas movies.

This is not a movie for children.

A thief whose heist goes awry takes a bickering couple hostage on Christmas Eve. Much comedy ensues as we see the underside of family holiday gatherings. The visiting in-laws (including Glynis Johns in a completely different portrayal of the mother-in-law than she was in While You Were Sleeping), the criminal child, a drunken Santa Claus, and an inept sidekick all come together for a laugh fest.

For those who think just because a movie is set at Christmas doesn’t make it a Christmas movie will probably argue that The Ref is in that category. But the underlying story is what matters, and although this is a black comedy, the story is deeper than laughing at a dysfunctional family.

Book Review-Karen Robards: Obsession

Image credit: tieury / 123RF Stock Photo

Imagine waking up, going to brush your teeth, and not recognizing the face in the mirror. Your hair is auburn, not the blond now adorning your head. What happened to the gap between your teeth? There’s an expensive ring on your finger you “know” you bought with an inheritance, but it’s not your taste. And that tattoo near your private parts? You have a phobia of needles, so how did that happen?

And you have a headache so bad it feels as if your skull is about to shatter.

Welcome to Obsession.

As usual, Robards’ careful attention to detail help establish the atmosphere of the story (although I think she messed up on the moon phases in this one).

No one is who they seems, except the bad guy. He’s bad.

Interesting twists.10

From page one, this book is full of violence, so if you’re squeamish, I’d avoid it.

 

Thursday Though-Self Help: The Organized Mind

The Organized Mind is another book that came highly recommended  but I could not finish. I may have read it years ago. Everything I read as I delved into it sounded familiar. On the other hand, so many of these books aimed at executives rehash the same processes, the same systems, and the same theories. I don’t know if I was bored or disgusted.

News flash: not everyone’s mind works like the author’s.

More breaking news: crap rolls downhill. What about the person to whom all your crap gets delegated?

Unless a full time homemaker  blogs about it, no one ever talks about who does the grocery shopping or scrubs the toilets.

Life is full of more details than your in box.