Recent Entries

Entry tags:

sticky

Sticky: This is How You Know Me

instagram, wakeupgreat
AO3, aphrodite_mine
letterboxd, aphroditemine
Spotify, wakeupgreat (current home to my 8tracks mixes)
Serializd, wakeupfine
Bluesky, PM for username

I was formerly a mod for rarewomen,

rarelywritten , fandom_arcana, xmmficathon.

Fanwork & Permissions: I have a free reign policy when it comes to fanworks based off/inspired by/whatever my works: No need to wait for permission, just link me to what you create! I do not grant permission for my image to be linked to my user name or RL name, other than by my own posting. I do not grant permission for my user name(s) to be linked to my real name publicly, other than by me.

Friends: I have a delete-or-add at will policy on both ends: I reserve the right to disappear, and feel strongly that you should too! Unless we have developed a close relationship, I'll likely leave quietly if necessary. I do my best to interact with fanworks I consume and people in my circle. I tend to post a mix of whatever fandom I am interested in and personal updates including my own children and our extended families. All personal information is friends-locked, and should remain so. Fanwork and dear author letters will be public.

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death, Abbott Elementary, Yellowjackets, Shirley Jackson-related works, Kevin Can Fuck Himself, The Nevers, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Fingersmith, Masters of Sex, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Hannibal, Star Wars, Degrassi (all generations), Strange Empire, The Virgin Suicides, Allison Ponthier (music), Phoebe Bridgers (music), Lil Nas X (music), Annihilation, The Office, Bandits (1997), Party Down, etc.

Entry tags:

echo in my head like radios

Haven't been here in awhile. Hi.

Movies (18/16, over half over 3* success so far!)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe: BF recommended and I couldn't remember what review concensus was so I opted in, and oh boy, this is 3/4 not good. There's a few changes at something better? Maybe?
Pauline, short film by Celine Sciamma: *shrug*?
Portrait of a Lady on Fire, rewatch: Possibly a perfect film.
Dogville, 20th anniversary print: Definitely more SA than I remembered. I still think this is doing interesting things and that is why I will forever be insufferable.
Zodiac: Holy shit I couldn't understand what anyone was saying? Seeing this in a theater with no subtitles was a mistake.
Longlegs: The marketing campaign did this no favors. I liked it, mostly?
Coma (2022): Claustrophobic and effective, but then low-key weird because a dude made it.
Cuckoo: A good time!
Strange Darling: Also a good time, mostly! I was glad to be spoiled for content.

TV Seasons (9/10)
Call the Midwife, s4: Nothing could have prepared me for the lesbians!
X-Men: The Animated Series, s1
X-Men: The Animated Series, s2: I can see how this fandom really had so little femslash, because the cartoon seems to lean in to the m/m slash to a level I was not expecting. Most of this just makes me miss X-Men: Evolution.

Album Listens (16/16)
WILLOW, empathogen
Towa Bird, American Hero: Like Blink-182 for queer women? A bit?
Hannah Cole, Big Bite (EP)
Anna Shoemaker, Everything is Fine (I'm Only on Fire)
Hannah Cole, Glisten (EP): Hannah Cole is EXCELLENT and I am really into the sound she's developing into.
Maude Latour, Sugar Water
Paris Paloma, Cacophony

New Recipes
Steak fajitas, grilled!
Cajun garlic chicken
Harissa chicken
Corn fritters

Entry tags:

she's the monster in the fridge

Movies:
- Strange Way of Life dir. Almodovar. Pedro Almodovar is almost a genre in himself, right? I liked this, though there is a rumor that Ethan Hawke smells like urine, and I couldn't stop thinking about it because he looks like he smells like urine.
- I Saw the TV Glow dir. Jane Schoenbaum. I have no idea how to talk about this film, because so many others are doing a great job. My god, this made me feel everything and is still making me feel everything. It is about my teenagehood, my fandom, my autism, my gender. I rarely attend a film and feel like it was made for me, but Jane Schoenbaum is making films for me.

TV Seasons:
- Star Wars: Clone Wars, s7. The show brought it home! I found season 7 really engaging. There was so much less Anakin! <3 I know Ashoka (the series) is Not Great, but I thought the finale of CW actually fed really well into that series. We're going to do X-Men and X-Men 97 and then probably head back around and do Rebels.

Actual Play:
- The finale of season one of the Periodic Talks podcast (now defunct, sadly) has Gillian Jacobs playing D&D with her co-host, Erika Ishii, and others. I am saying that is qualifies for this category because godddamnit I make the rules. Hilariously, Gillian lands in a similar character to the role she usually plays on Comedy Bang Bang. I liked it.

Albums:
- Allison Ponthier, Breaking the Fourth Wall (EP). Really feels like a blooming or emerging, end of a 3-EP cycle (per Ponthier herself). I love the blend of genres here, where it felt like the blend wasn't quite gelled (or just wasn't quite my thing) previously.
- Henri Bardot, Throwing, Part 1 (EP). Instrumental. Bardot is artist Miel's brother, and I like his sensitbilities whether working with Miel, working on his own vocal material, or here, primarily piano.
- I Saw the TV Glow soundtrack. Schoenbaum used a chunk of budget to commission original songs, landing at a 90s television soundtrack that was made in 2024. Some tracks keep smacking me in the face.

Recipes:
- I've made several but not logged them. Oops.
- Mini meatloaves. Total meal cost was like $8 and enough to feed everyone, even if the young ones didn't want to try. Win for me.

Entry tags:

two thousand whatever

Movies:
- Saint Maud dir. Rose Glass. I won't soon forget the final sequence. There's so much here for a debut feature and it was incredible to see that grow and bloom in Love Lies Bleeding. It doesn't quite congeal here for me, but serves as an incredible artifact of a debut feature.
- Love Lies Bleeding dir. Rose Glass. A really transcendent theater experience about consuming desire. Marvelous.
- The Platform dir. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. Didn't work for me. Quite hammer-headed with messaging, but you know that going in and keep wondering if it will be worth the allegory, and, spoiler, no, not really.
- Lisa Frankenstein dir. Zelda Williams. Another promising debut! I'm not sure if my issue here is with Williams, Diablo Cody's script, or industry cuts, as I feel like so much is missing or misses the mark. Really wish I could have enjoyed this more, as people who do had so much fun!

TV Seasons:
- Star Wars: Clone Wars, s6. Definitely sloggier after [redacted] leaves. Odd that as someone who loved The Courtship of Princess Leia and the witches of Dathomir so much in the books REALLY doesn't jive with the magic/mysticism of the Force episodes. We're going to plow through s7 and then switch over to X-Men in prep for X-Men '97. I never watched the original! IMAGINE!
- Call the Midwife, s3. IMO a rougher season. Struggled to connect with Jenny more than usual, and the episode at the asylum was pure horror.

Albums:
- Lizzy McAlpine, Older. Significant growth from her debut! This album hit me in a lot of emotions, complicated by my OCD because I misheard "I want you to hate me" as "I want you to rape me" and had a big spiral in Wal-Mart. The comparison to Phoebe Bridgers is strong. I especially like the juxtaposition between McAlpine's "I wish I knew what the end is" and Bridgers' "I Know the End [screaming]." They feel like two facets of the same depression/abusive relationship rut.
- Bad Bad Hats, Bad Bad Hats. A nice listen. Low investment. Nothing stunning.

Recipes:
- Candied bacon, egg and cheese croissants with garlic Parmesan butter. E and F helped me cook! SO GOOD, especially the juxtaposition of the sweet bacon with the savory butter bread.

Entry tags:

drive-by posting

UTOPIA NOW!

Rosie Tucker's new album, UTOPIA NOW! is stunning. I love an album with a thesis and a clear theme, and this one is perfection. Tucker asks us to consider the absurd reality of flesh sack, disgusting, fallible humanity, immersed in a faulty technological "UTOPIA" and I've been listening for about 24 hours straight.

*

New recipes:

An earthy spinach mushroom pasta where I ran out of Parmesan cheese. Truly a travesty.
Hawaiian roll grilled cheese. Like, fine?

*

Playing D&D for the second week in a row! This week is my cranky "mom of the party who hates magic." We were having some trouble with one player monopolizing the plot but that seems to be resolved! Even more odd, the twins are home being babysat by Kiddo, which is oddly not terrifying.

Entry tags:

love lies bleeding

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Potentially excited about fanwork for this because SPOILERS

( UNDER THE CUT )
Okay, that is all. :D

Entry tags:

H O T T O G O

I've had a bit of a tough time determining that I have anything to say lately, I've been trying to keep my head down and live, basically. As this is a public post, I'll keep the personal out of it and focus on some media.

Books
I've started reading the 20th anniversary version of Heir to the Empire, inspired by Delusions of Grandeur podcast. As represented there, it holds up well, and reading the author's commentary is really engaging, especially regarding what Zahn was and wasn't allowed to do. It is slow going because I'm out of practice for fiction, but enjoyable.

Movies
Finally (after over a year of obsessing over it) rented We're All Going to the World's Fair from the library. Not sure I would have gotten the trans dialogue without reading interviews and commentary, but the movie is richer with it. Even without it, what a FEAST. The lead actress (on screen for almost the entire runtime) is beyond incredible. It as so much to say about the experience of coming of age online, and while I was never a YouTube person, I felt myself acutely represented. It is also very much a first narrative feature, but I'm incredibly hopeful that Shoenbrun's next film works out some of the kinks. I'm absolutely ready to make I Saw the TV Glow my entire personality in a way that I haven't felt about media in awhile.

After browsing a few services I also followed a whim to watch The Nightingale (The Babadook director's sophomore feature) despite previously deciding that I wouldn't do so. It turns out that past me was by far the wiser. The film is exponentially worse than I had expected, even with fast forwarding through the three (THREE) prolonged rape scenes. There's a narrative racism that I don't think Kent even has any idea that she's perpetrating that really made me sick. DNF, but read up on the ending, and it goes exactly where it telegraphs it is going to. Is there some art here? Maybe? But it feels so much rougher than The Babadook, and makes clear that the psychological broad strokes there are more or less endemic to Kent's filmmaking.

Television
Our Flag Means Death season 2 was ultimately so disappointing. Ashoka wasn't very good. But Deadloch, DEADLOCH was excellent. I'll take it.

Podcasts
I'm very much mourning the end of "Baby Geniuses," but have found a few nice shows to pad out my listening profile, including "A Colossal Waste of Time," a Homestuck recap podcast from a 2024 perspective, "The Popcast" with Knox and Jamie, and "Text Me Back!" with Lindy West and Meagan Hatcher-Mays.

--

It has been a nice uplift to make plans. So far, I've secured a babysitter (and tickets, mostly) for Love Lies Bleeding opening weekend, I Saw the TV Glow opening night, Chappell Roan's solo tour stop in St. Louis, and a family trip to Table Rock Lake.

Entry tags:

goals

eyes to the board

Finally mostly recovered from the latest illness blast (COVID + strep + influenza B after Christmas) and I think I have my 2024 goals finalized.

16 movies, at least half that I rate 3 stars or higher, same count as last year
10 TV seasons, up from last year
2 Actual Play miniseries, new category. These took up spots on both movies and TV last year, so technically both are increased in that way as well!
16 full-album listens, up from last year, but lower than I actually achieved last year, since EPs count
5 books, same as last year
12 new-to-me recipes, same as last year, but lower than I actually achieved
5 pieces written, at least 100 words each. I originally removed all writing goals in sheer despair, but just today added this one back. I think I have to be hopeful that at some point in the year, I will have enough mental bandwidth to try again

Progress so far:
Movies - Saltburn, which I most certainly did NOT rate 3 stars or higher. I don't know, man.
TV Shows - None finished, but making good progress with Ahsoka, Deadloch, Our Flag Means Death S2, and if I can figure out a HBO Max login (had to cancel ours), I think I'll eat True Detective: Night Country right up.
Albums - Rosie Tucker, Tiny Songs Volume 1, which is lovely, and Hannah Cole's 2-year-old EP Cradle, which earned 4/4 songs on my liked list. I also gave Juliana Madrid the old college try because I LOVE her song "Let the Light In" but wow, it was actually somehow terrible?
Recipes - Ham, Egg, and Cheese Croissant Bake, which is like if french toast was savory and also WAY too squishy? I got through a bowl and a half but this one isn't a repeat

Maybe this year I'll also manage to get on Dreamwidth more than once a month!

you'll see everything that happened before you were born

Public-style update things

Someone did end up requesting Professor Marston and the Wonder Women for

femslashex , but there's no letter and the account seems to be brand new. Alas. I doubt I would finish a treat anyway.

Since last we posted...

Talk to Me: I did end up going, but about a week after I posted. Babysitter fall through and emergency illness/cancellations have been the name of the game. When the third of your polycule is also your second babysitter and all three of you want to see a thing, there will be a Conundrum. Got this one more or less sorted, which is good because I really liked this movie. Nice and juicy and depressing as fuck, just like a modern horror should be.

Bottoms: And sometimes, the babysitter comes through. I enjoyed this greatly. So much shocked guffawing in the theater.

Critical Role, Exandria Unlimited: Calamity: Really stupid that I cried so much because they're all assholes.

Critical Role, Cinderbrush, a Monster Hearts One Shot: Really stupid that I loved this a lot because if it were a tv show I would have begged for cancellation.

Ally Evanson, In My Dreams, You Laugh at Me: Full EP. Solid sad girl with some excellent hooks and a unique approach to the standard situations.

Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess: Most of the non-singles are slow/filler, which was disappointing, but there are a few hidden gems. Wish I had been able to swing attending her Missouri concert. Serious guaranteed good time.

Blood Ties, season 3: The writing on this podcast was never really good, but ooh boy is three seasons stretching it. Gillian Jacobs has such a lovely voice though. She tried!

Best new recipe was everything bagel seasoned grilled cheese. HI.

I'm mad I removed crafts from my yearly goals because I took up dice making. I have 4 usable full sets so far!

I should also consider tracking plants that thrive or something because I've only lost 3 of the SIXTEEN my dad sent and that's because they were in planters and I couldn't repot for too long. And out of the others, I have like 5 new leaves. I'm winning.

nice juxtaposition

Bless whomstever has nominated Olive/Elizabeth for

femslashex in my absence. Alas, I don't have enough fandoms to offer or request to fully sign up, let alone the like, brain power or time. Maybe I'll get ambitious and write a treat. LOL, I do make a good joke.

I've been truly terrible about posting here. Been sick for weeks; feels like some longish covidish stuff with a dose of SAD on top.

At some point I'll update! Swear!

(no subject)

I'm not putting pressure on myself to post here, because it is so hard lately, but I did make it on to Bluesky (I'm

wakeupfine) which is much, much easier just access-wise.

I'll probably back it back here for month-ish updates, but no promises.

Anyway. Love you all!

Entry tags:

goals

Goal Progress

Movies:

7. Evil Dead Rise (I was not as prepped as I could have been for the tonal spread of this one)
8. Joan is Awful (yes, I count Black Mirror episodes as movies)
9. Oppenheimer (technically interesting, but god-awful writing and very Nolan treatment of women)
10. Barbie (I refuse to engage with this on any level than surface, because I want to remain enjoying it)
... 11. Talk to Me (will be seeing on Sunday, universe willing!)

Television Seasons:

4. Party Down, season 3 (enjoyable)
5. Call the Midwife, season 2

Album Listens:

12. Barbie: The Album (several bops, but such spoilers! I listened before watching ((WHY)) and kind of messed up)
... I also tried Claud's latest Supermodel but felt so meh about it that I couldn't give myself to log it

New Recipes:

I've done several but the only one I remembered soon enough to log it properly was today's
10. Brown Sugar Glaze Salmon (doubled the brown sugar, halved the dijon mustard, yum)

yet again, I meet the end of my reading page

... I guess I need to port my AO3 items somewhere.

Cool, cool.

when you go driving could you stick to the limit?

Apparently I'm all-in on D&D. We're playing two campaigns (every other week, depending on if Kiddo is home) and J has officially won me over to Critical Role. We watched the Darrington Brigade campaign - I'm logging campaigns as movies, though I may log longer ones as tv series, I'm not sure! I loved it. It is all so silly and earnest and fun and accomplished feeling.

I'm also re-reading Kushiel's Dart, picking up an in-progress from... three or four years ago. By gum, I'm going to complete it. But HOLY cats these books aged badly. By which I mean... everything. The idea that a fantasy overlay of Europe just isn't a great political idea let alone literally everything about Phedre. The book works so hard to separate consensual(ish) non-consent from "real" rape but both sides end up meaning very little when the protagonist experiences a degree of sexual pleasure from either! WHAT. Also, I'd repressed that Dart really does push hard at a love triangle situation. The race stuff is... truly gnarly. I'm sure someone else has written about all of this with more eloquence than me.

... oh no. The books are currently being re-released.

I'd prefer not to have a big meta discussion here. If things get heated, I'll lock this post. I'm not online enough to engage the discourse.

Entry tags:

recs

please rec me!

Having recently listened to Criminal episode 212 "The Fasting Cure" I would love recommendations for stories of turn of the century female quacks, cult leaders, and alternative medicine purveyors. I think this is absolutely a trend, and an extremely curious response to the medical establishment of the time and the overlapping women's movements.

I find it easiest to consume podcasts at the moment, but I'm not opposed to recs in other formats.

THANKS BUDDIES!

Entry tags:

do you need a social commentary or apocalyptic romance?

I've been offline so long I hit the end of my Reading Page. Hi.

Movies (5/16): [REC]. I had a commentary typed out but deleted my draft accidentally so we'll just leave it at "fine."

TV Seasons (3/11): Party Down, season 2. Feels a bit like a dream, since I spent so long in season 1 fandom life.

Albums (8/11): Gracie Abrams, Good Riddance. Dedicated listen twice. I love what she's doing with repeated lyrics and songs that feel like mantras.

Kate Davis, Fish Bowl. This deserves to be a top 10 album of the year. Comparable to Mitski's Laurel Hell or gosh, Punisher, but so much weirder. Just brilliant. I'm on my... 6th listen. It came out Friday, and I didn't get to listen until Saturday morning.

Books (1/5): Process! by Mike Paton and Lisa Gonzales. Speed read for work.

Podcasts (4/8): The Dead Authors Podcast, episode 40. Hosted by Paul F. Thompkins "as" a time travelling H. G. Wells, this episode features Virginia Woolf, played by Mary Holland. It is quite lovely. The podcast is recorded from live shows (sigh) but this one is worth pushing through.

Pretend podcast. The current season is called The Stalker. I truly have no idea what is going on. If stalkers/stalking fascinate you, I'd recommend the series.

Oh No! Ross and Carrie. Recent episode is a re-broadcast of Carrie's talk for Skeptics in the Pub on Trauma Pseudoscience. This was a good and welcome wake up call for me and helped cleanse my Instagram habits a little so I stop absorbing nonsense.

New Recipes (7/12): Two smoothie recipes I'm referring to as "Green" and "Orange." Green didn't fly; kale is just so incompatible with sweetness. Fight me. Orange is a winner, but takes literally a full orange per glass, so we're a bit more limited supply.

Shrimp and Orzo. We loved this. https://www.howsweeteats.com/2021/04/one-pot-shrimp-and-orzo/ We left out the lemon because I forgot to buy it.

Chicken and Tortellini Alfredo. Half of us liked it, but the barrier for repeat is all of the older humans, and that didn't pass. Sigh. Might make tortellini alfredo without the meat, since it was very easy and that was the preferred item.

Honey and Soy Glaze Baby Potatoes. Recipe from instagram. Very strong soy/garlic when what it seemed to call for was MUCH heavier on the honey. Added a lot, still could have used more.

Entry tags:

music,
recs

trying to derail my one-track mind

After the two-week illness marathon, I got a bonus sick day from norovirus! That was fun!

I'm committing to

bethefirst, though I'm not sure what I'll write yet. Maybe Allison Ponthier's new music video "Character Development" since it is a queer dream with multiple universes to choose from. (To sell it a little, AP plays an alternate version of herself who writes romance novels. She tries for her latest hit, borrowing from traditional m/f romance tropes while bemoaning her history with men. Then queer magic happens!) If Chappell Roan's video for "Casual" drops soon, that may also be a candidate - queer mermaid alert!

No big watches or reads, but two more album listens as they're simpler to do while working.

Julia Jacklin - Crushing. This is the album before her latest, Pre Pleasure. I keep coming back to Pre Pleasure as a meditation on intimacy and emotional connection and Crushing doesn't quite get to that peak, but it is an excellent album. I think she's really stunning.

Searows - Guard Dog. I'd heard a song or two prior to a broad recommendation in the Phoebe Bridgers subreddit, but took that as an excuse to do an album dive. Yes - his voice is almost a dead ringer for hers, which is wild. Unfortunately, that does set up a comparison. His album stays more or less on a limited range of emotional notes. It isn't bad, not by any means, but doesn't stretch very far. I love quite a bit of it.

I haven't listened to Gracie Abrams' "debut" album (not sure how This is What it Feels Like isn't an EP, but whatever) Good Riddance because I'm sure it will put me through the ringer.

Entry tags:

for a taste of you

(for the public feed: got my COVID dx after 3 years on Monday)
(for all: am now COVID free, apparently!)

*

Started watching Severance and it is wonderful and weird and interesting so far. We had big plans to watch on my sick mornings, but then G was positive too and we had crabby twins and it was easier to just sleep.

Also started rewatching Party Down (first watch for Liz!) to prep for season 3 and dear GOD I am still so obsessed with Casey/Henry. Lizzy Caplan is just so extremely GOOD. And now I want to rewatch Masters of Sex but I don't actually want to do that, I am pretty sure.

*

Movies (4/16): Trolls (2016). After catching snippets over the last month, I finally caught the full movie twice last week. It is the twins current favorite movie and stops meltdowns, so it is on often. I gave it a 3 on Letterboxed, but now I'm wondering if I need to revoke that, because there are a lot of really... gross things happening? There's also a lot that's cute and fun and by GOD they love the music (G sings along, y'all!) but the antisemitism is real nasty and all of the voice cast but Anna Kendrick and Ron Funches I'm like "but why." Anyway.

*

My mind apparently needs about 15 hours of sleep per day to get real creative anymore, but I have a free book/movie idea for anyone with the writing stamina for anything longer than 1,000 words (that's pushing it for me lately). Stars are Rebecca Hall (Laura "Lou"), Emma Corrin (Coral), Bryan Tyree Henry (still kicking around name), and Rahul Kohli (Rafael). I want to talk about them a lot, but know I can't do a damn thing with 'em. They're (eventually) a foursome!

Entry tags:

goals,
recs

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.

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

sticky: "rec me" and "my recs"

I'm trying to start collecting things I recommend under the tag recs [<-- clickable]

I'm Looking For:

Audio Dramas

Not sci-fi or horror (magical realism is okay, elements of these are okay)
Not narrated
Not behind a paywall
Female protagonists
Available on a podcast feed, rather than a website or library

Examples I've Enjoyed: Blood Ties, Passenger List, Sandra

Televisions Shows (including non-English-language)

Available on Netflix US, Hulu, Peacock, HBO Max, Viki US, Tubi US or a free streaming service
No (or very limited) hetero romance
Mystery, drama is a plus
Female main character isn't mandatory, but please at least some major female characters
I enjoy a procedural as long as there is a good overarching plot

Authors

Female protagonists
Veers into dark themes fearlessly
Touches of magical realism welcome

Examples I've Enjoyed: Virginia Woolf, Margaret Atwood, Aimee Bender, Shirley Jackson

Entry tags:

goals

results of my resolutions, and new ones

2022 GOALS
1. Complete 8 puzzles. Not completed. Promotion plus office shuffle-ups meant no more puzzle table OR time to puzzle.
2. Complete 5 craft projects. Not completed, though I may have graded myself more harshly in what "counts."
3. Watch 15 movies. With two last minute entries (Strange World and Glass Onion) I made 18/15. Most movies watched this year were a solid C+ so that's something that needs to be amended.
4. Complete 10 TV seasons. 15 seasons completed. I haven't yet posted about She-Hulk (which I enjoyed) and Clone Wars s4 (which I mostly enjoyed).
5. Dedicated, album-order listen to 10 albums. I wrapped up the year with sza's SOS making 15 albums.
6. Read 10 books. Not completed. I got through 4.
7. Complete 5 pieces of fiction. I did 6! Most were really short, though.
8. Complete 12 pieces of nonfiction for work. Far past 12. I stopped counting.
9. Share 10 impactful podcasts or episodes. I did 9. Not bad!
10. Work on 5 sales that result in a signed contract. Again, stopped counting and far surpassed.
11. Try 12 brand new recipes. Ended the year on 20 with a chicken, spinach, orzo skillet (mixed reviews).
12. [Unnoted goal] Attend X live shows. I attended 2.
13. Spend less time on social media. Deleted Facebook from my phone and dropped usage down to maybe 15 minutes every two weeks. Instagram and Reddit usage went up, however. Twitter stayed zero. Mixed results.
14. Spend less time on phone. Shrug?
15. Grow leadership skills and agility. Nothing conscious, but this definitely developed over 2022.
16. Guide kids through school and therapy. I did a bang up job here. Pretty solid.

2023 Goals
1. Watch 16 movies, with a majority being movies I enjoyed (at least 9 movies at 3.5 stars or higher)
2. Complete 11 TV seasons.
3. Dedicated, album-order listen to 11 albums
4. Read 5 books.
5. Complete 5 pieces of fiction
6. Share 8 impactful podcasts or episodes
7. Try 12 new-to-me recipes
8. Attend 2 live shows
9. DEEP clean of the back room to the result of an ACTUALLY USABLE SPACE.

No longer tracking work goals, or phone goals with the understanding that those will remain more or less on track.