Things. So many.
Books.Once Broken Faith: Seanan McGuire. It's been an all-McGuire month. I adore the October Daye series and its glittering, magic-saturated West Coast setting. I read the newest book in the series, then went back to the beginning and re-read all the way to the end. (I have to do that sometimes.) That's, um...eleven books since my last update.I love McGuire's take on the Fair Folk. Also the character development and emerging meta-plotline are wonders to behold from a craft perspective. Also, I could gush about NOT--EXACTLY-A-THREE-ACT book plots. But I won't. Onward.Movies.The Huntsman: Winter's War. Wowza, the badness. So Bad. Such badness.It made great fodder for snarky commentary while I peeled potatoes and Spouseman built Lego(tm) buildings. (We all find fun in our own ways) but the only real positives were a Hemsworth in fantasy pants and lots of scenery chewing by three, count 'em THREE fabulous female leads. Otherwise it's a gawdsawful mess.I stopped tallying toxic tropes at a dozen, and I hit that total before the 20 minute mark. Might be a record. Start with mature women with power = evil every time, then leap to women only gain power when damaged (or if evil by nature) if women are good and try to challenge evil, tragedy will ensue...it got worse from there. I'm sure the writers thought they cleverly subverted the women-in-refrigerators trope, but no. They weren't clever and they didn't subvert it. No points. Zero. The gag reel is a hoot, though.TelevisionShooter. I tried, but nope. I don't have mind-room for another conspiracy-based show with all the sophistication of ramen noodle flavoring. It has a phenomenal cast, the set up wasn't telegraphed too much, and the dialogue was snappy, but...still made of nope.Scorpion. Spouseman was intrigued by a view-on-demand commercial, so we watched some episodes. If I was fourteen I would be all about it, no lie. But I'm not, so it's...not joining the roster. I can recommend it as lighthearted no-worse-than-most-pop-shows, so there's that.Touch. So this is what Kieffer Sutherland was doing between 24 and Designated Survivor? Ya know what I said about Shooter? Fuse it with my complaints about Designated Survivor, multiply by ten, and then change the channel. Life is too short for mehness this pathetic.So I'm still at Lucifer, Frequency, Supergirl, Supernatural, NCIS, and Madame Secretary until something else begins a new season. (Gotham is still on the watchlist but I have to view it in gulps. So is American Horror Story. Westworld will get watched for sure, but not until the DVDs release in the far distant future. ) I'll be sampling Incorporated & Van Helsing next.Home Ec & Author Housekeeping. November has been a big month.
- I have blog posts set through the end of the year and am working on January.
- I'm building monthly lists of posts along themes so I can schedule FB ahead of time too. NaNoWriMo was my test case. A post a day. Next month: cute critters. January: my favorite web-surfing destinations.
- Various cookie doughs have been socked away for small batch baking
- I have plenty of applesauce, cider, and dried apples to get me through the winter
- I've discovered a way to wash the dehydrator trays in the dishwasher so I'll be making himself lots more banana chips this winter
- I made up a kickass flavoring for baked Pepperidge Farm saltine Goldfish crackers based on Chex Mix (I'll post once I work out actual measurements)
- Two different kinds oc cheesy chicken-rice casserole are now on the regular meal rotation. Almost as easy as vegetarian shepherd's pie. Almost.
- We have a teapot. A real honest-to-jeebus handmade teapot. The potter will be making mugs to match, because cups are special, but I like mugs for everyday.