Week Ending 11/27

 OK, this one went better.

I'm still not doing great. Still wearing out way more quickly than I did this summer... but this week has been... I don't know, steadier. If I'm crashing after 3 or 4 hours, at least it's been a consistent 3 or 4 hours, not 3 hours one day and 30 minutes the next. More, my head feels clearer than I has in weeks. I managed to get some minis painted. I managed to get some writing done on my Sims story. Even started playing a board game with Juno. All in all, I'm feeling pretty accomplished.

At the same time, I'm also feeling depressed and lonely. I've never been much of a social butterfly (ha! I've never been social, period) but find myself missing interacting with people. I actually miss my co-workers, miss being able to chat with people occasionally. It's getting me down. 

Still, I'm trying to look at the bright stuff. I can get through this. One day at a time. 

Onward.

Happy Thanksgiving

 Yeah, that's pretty much it - Happy Thanksgiving. 

 I suppose this is the part where I say what I'm thankful for... which is pretty easy. I'm thankful for my wonderful wife even if she does snore like a chainsaw, hogs all the hot water and doesn't always listen. After all, she puts up with all the same things from me and then some! I am thankful for my son, for my family and my friends, maddening as they can be sometimes. I am thankful for a pretty good life... not always easy but pretty darn good really.

 OK, enough of that... I hope everyone out there has a good day and a good feast.

 So, I leave you with the Greatest Turkey Event ever:

Week Ending 11/20

 On the whole, this has not been a bad week. I've gotten a lot of rest. I've been taking care of myself and it's paid off. I managed to get some minis painted. I'm feeling a little more clear headed. I'm not really doing more... in fact, I'm doing less... but I'm managing to convince myself that that's OK.

 I also have a new plan, which I only just started experimenting with yesterday. Naps.

 OK, I know... it's stupidly obvious but I really haven't been doing it. Generally, I wake up. I do things until I feel to weak and fuzzy headed and then I lay dawn and continue doing what I can do (which is usually watch TV, play SIMS and/or read) until bedtime. The thing is, I never really just stopped. My mind kept racing. I kept trying to do something, anything. 

 Yesterday I just stopped. I put everything down, turned off the lights, closed my eyes and stopped. Did that for maybe 45 minutes and felt great afterward. Not like "oh hey I'm all better" great but "hey I can think semi-clearly, move around the apartment and do a little more painting" great. So I'm tried that again this morning and again I feel great. We will continue this little experiment and see where it takes us.

 Onward

Week Ending 11/13

 This has been a really bad week. I've felt horrible, exhausted all the time and frustrated about not being able to do even the little things I enjoy doing. 

 I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with this stuff. I know I should let myself rest, but at a certain point just laying here trying to sleep, because I'm too exhausted to get up and my head hurts too much to think clearly, isn't really restful.

 I try doing things... reading, playing games, watching shows... but on a week like this even those can be too much. Pushing myself too hard just trying to read. I did figure out that listening can work. I have music and some BBC radio plays I can listen too. I might try that next time I feel like this.

 The good news is life isn't always like this. This was a bad week. I've had bad weeks before and I've good weeks too. Today was actually a good day. I decided early on that I wasn't going to push myself. I felt a little better but I wasn't going to try to do much of anything. I lay down. I read a book (Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb, not very good... I don't think she knew where she was going when she started it. The ending doesn't work for me). Quiet day. I feel ok for it. 

 So, no big plans. No little plans. Just resting for a little while. The good weeks will come around eventually. 

 Onward.

Review: Red Notice (2021)

 Another movie review for you... Red Notice (2021), an action-comedy with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot.

 I watched this movie on Netflix one day because I was tired, bored and curious. As something to watch when one is tired, bored and curious I think it's entertaining. Not great. Not really good but entertaining.

 Basically, I think the director looks at Reynolds and said "You know that thing you did in Deadpool? Do that." (I honestly don't know Reynolds work well enough to know if he really only plays that one role or if he's doomed to it now... but that's what he did.) Meanwhile, the director told Johnson "You're the straight man" and just said to Gadot "Ham it up."

 So, yeah... Ryan Reynolds being weird and snarky, the Rock being stoic and Gal Gadot being completely over the top. Throw in a "plot" (and I use the term very loosely) involving jewel theft and villains who would be too cheesy for most comic books and you have this movie. 

 Like I said, not great, not good but entertaining.

Lost City (2022)

 OK, time for some more movie reviews...

 Lost City (2022) is a movie that was recommended to me by a friend who made me promise to write a review of it. I watched a the movie several weeks ago, and I enjoyed it, but I've been putting off writing a review of it because something felt off. This morning, I finally figured out what I wanted to say.  

To start, Lost City is an adventure-romance which has been compared (favorably by many reviewers) to the classic masterpiece of adventure-romance - Romancing the Stone (If you disagree with the preceding characterization of Romancing the Stone we have nothing more to discuss. :) ). Now, I can definitely see where Romancing the Stone inspired and informed parts of Lost City... but I think that comparison is what got me hung up.

 Lost City is not Romancing the Stone. That's not to say it isn't good. I enjoyed it.

 For me, Lost City is a character piece and what characters indeed. We have Sandra Bullock as the historian/archeologist/treasure-hunter-turned-romance-writer-after-the-tragic-(pre-opening)-loss-of-her-beloved-husband... yeah, that's a mouthful but stay with me. We have Channing Tatum as the male-cover-model-for-the-hero-of-Bullock's-romance-novels. Finally we have Daniel Radcliff as the rich-insecure-man-baby-villian-named-Abigail. We also have a lost city (hence the title), a treasure hunt and, most importantly, host of really strong side characters... and that's what makes this movie good.

 See, on it's face, this is an movie with adventure and comedy and romance... and watched at that level, it's a decent movie.. albeit one that hits a couple of sour notes for me.

  However, stripped away, this is a movie about identity. Who are you and how to do you define yourself... the widow who sees no value in life now that she's lost her love... the model who wants to be a hero... the insecure man-baby who wants to be valued but doesn't understand what that means... all struggling with their identity. That makes this movie interesting.

 Not great... I don't think Lost City achieves greatness, but it is interesting. It's also a fun adventure-romance.Well worth an afternoon.

November 6

 I'm experimenting with new ways to title these posts. Counting the number of weeks I've been sick is... well, I think pointless at this stage. It's a vestige of my thinking "I'll be all better tomorrow." I really won't be. 

 Otherwise, this has been an up and down week. I had some really, really bad days including one where for all practical purposes I didn't get out of bed. I also had one where I got up, painted minis, sat on the couch and watched dvds and generally had a great day. So, yeah... up and down. If technically a little more down than up, well the good day was really, really good. :)

 That's about it really. Not much more to tell.

 Onward