is that something in your eye or are you just sad to see me

I'm now perpetually offline, it seems, but I have a few updates. Mostly on my goals for the year! Everything else is work or home and more or less smooth. That's a good thing. Here's my status so far. 

1. Watch 16 movies

   1. Encanto: Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Some odd directoral choices were made here, and some key cast members were missing and were felt. That said, Stephanie Beatriz is delightful and I didn't hate spending an hour on this. We fast-forwarded the bit with Lin-Manuel and the children's choir.

   2. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. Realized belatedly that I hadn't watched it at ALL last year, so it was an easy remedy. Was nice to watch with someone new as well. What a joy to see enjoyment of my favorite from someone I care about.

   3. I'm Thinking of Ending Things. Absolutely loved this but for the last 15 minutes or so. This is my first Kaufman-directed film, so I'm not sure if it is a choice that is worth excusing, or more of a case where more restraint should have been added. Jessie Buckley is just magnificent.

2. Complete 11 TV seasons

   1. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season 5. Kicked up the notch on drama with a mostly cohesive/chronological story that I enjoyed quite a bit. Also de-centered Anakin - amazing how that works out.

3. Dedicated, album-order listen to 11 albums

   1. Beabadoobee, Beatopia. I like quite a lot of these songs, but it was frustrating to listen to the album only AFTER hearing all of the ones I like separately. Not a disappointing album, just a disappointing process of discovery.

   2. SZA, CTRL. Need to give this another go, considering how much I like SOS. There is quite a lot of inter-song dialogue which is a big negative for me.

   3. Sam Smith, Gloria. Not a Sam Smith fan as it were, but the outrage over their latest video made me curious/want to give them some streams. This is another I'd actually like to spend some more time with, as I think there is an interesting narrative going on with the holiness (despite "Unholy") of queer identity. Also "I'm Not Here to Make Friends" is a bop.

   4. Julien Baker, Little Oblivions. With new boygenius on the horizon, I wanted to give Julien's solo work another good chance. While I love her leads on boygenius, I am just not feeling this.

4. Read 5 books. LMAO GUYS. We'll see.

5. Complete 5 pieces of fiction

   1. Simple, Pam/Karen, The Office. A bit of a cheat since I had most of this written in a draft, just really honed it down into a double drabble. I think I'm happy with this.

   2. Your nightdress on the floor, Olive/Elizabeth/Bill, Professor Marston. This isn't quite what I want it to be, but it scratched an itch while I continue poking at a few other ideas for them.

6. Share 8 impactful podcasts or episodes

   1. Dead Eyes, season 1. Finally wrapped this season. I've heard that season 2 finally realizes the full premise of the show, and while I find the industry information fun, I'm not sure I can abide such intense naval gazing for another season.

7. Try 12 new-to-me recipes

   1. Mushroom Carbonara (with 2nd variation with bacon and peas). Less bacon is absolutely essential. Peas were a nice ad. Good creamy sauce.

   2. Sushi bake cups. The second-best type of recipe where we all loved it but came away with a lot of ideas for how to make it better next time. I want to try a full pan bake rather than cups.

8. Deep clean of the back room. Progress is VERY good. It is unlocking the need to do a deep clean of all closets in the house as things need to migrate around to new homes.