H1-BS

Years ago, I used to do immigration work for a university. I stumbled into the job because I was unemployed and needed work at the time. Doing immigration work was horrible. I don't even list this job on my resume because it was so terrible. Thankfully, I was working another job at the time (teaching community college English, so I had something else to fall back on for employment during this time). I knew nothing about immigration and work visas when I took the job, that was largely administrative, but I learned a lot during my brief time in that position. 

A lot of foreign workers wanted to obtain an H1-B visa from the university where I worked so they could leave their home countries and work in the United States. Many also hoped that their employer would sponsor them for a green card so they could stay in the US permanently. Hopeful applicants submitted financial paperwork to show that they were able to support themselves while they would be in the US because the positions they were applying for at the university were largely low-level lab jobs that didn't pay much. We would later find out that some of the financials the applicants submitted were fake or that family members and friends in their home countries would pool their money and provide it to the applicant via a bank account to show this person had a lot of funds available. Then, after the H1-B was granted and the paperwork was done, those same family members and friends would pull their money out of the account and the applicant would go back to being largely destitute. But many of the applicants were so determined to leave their home countries, even if that meant working for slave wages in the US, that they didn't care and the employer didn't really care either because they were getting cheap labor. The whole thing was awful on all sides. H1-B: the B is for bullshit, folks!

Hearing the current debate on the right with the tech bros advocating for more foreign labor via H1-Bs and the MAGA faithful aruging against this makes me laugh. Yeah, fight amongst yourselves, kids. Are the folks who voted for Donny T. just now realizing that he's sold them a big old bag of bullshit? Tech bros want money and they don't care how they get it. If that means importing H1-B workers from India and China who will work 80 hours a week and get paid for 40 without complaining, then the more the better! If Donny's agenda is so driven by putting America first, then why not put your money and energy where your mouth is and start backing training programs for American workers, college kids, and high school students in IT? Because that makes too much sense. 

Baby Reindeer: WTF?

I know I'm late to the game in watching Baby Reindeer, which I did over last week and the past weekend, but I had to post about it now that I've watched the last episode and slept on it. What the fuck did I just watch? Thankfully, I had not read much about the series before I started watching it. I only knew it was about a woman stalking a man and that's it. I had no idea the series also dealt with trans women, rape, grooming, and a whole host of other issues that, in my opinion, made the stalking storyline take a back seat for a while.

My main takeaway from the series is that people need to stop giving mixed signals to others. A lot of the issues in Baby Reindeer came from the main character, Donny Dunn, not being honest with people about what he wanted and how he felt. If he had been up front with Martha about being bothered by her behavior from the start rather than acting wishy-washy and  pseudo-sympathetic, maybe he could have stopped the stalking before it really got going. Donny also should have been up front with Teri, his trans girlfriend, about the shame he felt in being with her publicly. If you can't have an honest relationship with your partner, then maybe you're not meant to have a relationship at all with that person. And the whole situation with Donny and Darrien was awful on so many levels. Why do you keep going back to your abuser when you know you're being abused? Are you getting something out of the abuse? I know Donny was hoping for Darrien to help his career but, at some point, he realized that wasn't going to happen, yet he kept going to Darrien. Dude, get it together and have some self-respect! 

I thought the mixed signals and lack of communication issues throughout Baby Reindeer were a generational thing. Young folks lately (and not all of them, I know), seem to be unable or unwilling to verbalize their feelings and, as a result, you get a lot of wishy-washy responses (if you get a response at all) or reactions that aren't clear to interpret. Maybe these folks are better able to express themselves online and any face-to-face communication suffers as a result. I don't know, but I keep seeing this kind of thing on TV, in movies, and in real life.

While Baby Reindeer was entertaining and made me go through a range of emotions while watching it (and I couldn't watch more than one episode at a time), this is not something I'd watch again. Donny largely annoyed me because he was such a man-child who didn't handle his business. He needed to get his shit together ASAP and quit crying to his ex, her mother, his parents, Teri, etc. about his sad life. And his stand-up routine was garbage. Ugh. How did this guy even get any comedy gigs with his awful one-liners and suitcase of bad props? Terrible! 

Is the next season of Squid Game on yet? I need a palate cleanser.

Keeping Calm and Carrying On

As I try to mentally prepare myself for the coming year of 2025 and the next Donny T administration (ugh), I've been doing some writing, reading, making an effort to get to the gym a few times a week, and trying to keep myself sane by not doom scrolling the news (a task easier said than done). I did manage to finish a short story (a Covid love story) and, hopefully, that'll be published early next year. (More news on that later.) 

In addition to writing, reading, and the rest, I watched the Yacht Rock documentary on Max a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. As a fan of yacht rock music, I was really looking forward to the documentary and it did not disappoint. Interviews with Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and others were great. Too bad Donald Fagen declined to participate, but I can't say I was surprised. The Dan doesn't consider their music to be yacht rock (even though it is). Watching that documentary made me watch the Yacht Rock series on YouTube. Hilarious! I'm surprised I hadn't heard about this web series before it was mentioned in the documentary. Check it out if you're a fan. Episodes 1, 3, and 10 really cracked me up. Have you ever wondered how the song What a Fool Believes came to be? Want to see a fight between the Eagles and Steely Dan? Then the Yacht Rock YouTube series is for you! I need to watch stuff like that to take my mind off of the problems in the world right now. 

I'm ready for Christmas this year. Aside from getting some time off from my day job, I just need to chill out and have some positivity before the year ends. I even sent Christmas cards this year because I think my family and friends need a little cheer. I had not sent cards in a while, but I did this year because I'm ready to embrace the holiday, keep calm, and carry on!

Read the Room

Like many others, I've been reading a lot lately about the United HealthCare CEO who was gunned down in New York City yesterday. (Fun fact: I stayed at that Hilton hotel where the CEO was killed the last time I had to travel to NYC for work in 2020 before Covid hit!) I'm surprised the shooter hasn't been caught yet given the tremendous amount of security cameras in Manhattan. It's been more than 24 hours and that dude is still on the run!

Many people are using the CEO's murder to express their own complaints about the health insurance industry and its willingness to put profits over people. Count me in as one of the people on this bandwagon. I'm not a fan of vigliantism, but I am a fan of fairness and it's hard to feel sorry for someone who made millions of dollars a year while denying health coverage and needed procedures to ill people in order to save a few dollars and line his pockets and the pockets of other company executives. 

As someone who has health insurance via my employer, I'm grateful for it. I have health problems, I'm not 22 years old, and I need to be able to go to a doctor and get prescriptions when needed. But it is frustrating when you have to adhere to such strict rules set by the insurance company: don't get your next mammogram even a day earlier than the one you got last year or no coverage, these medications aren't covered because the company doesn't deem them necessary, the company has denied a CT scan your doctor ordered because it's deemed too expensive, etc. 

I'm grateful I have not had any serious issues with my health insurance. But, many years ago, I dealt with a situation where my mother's home had a fire and her insurer (Allstate) refused to pay to get the house repaired. My mother paid home owner's insurance for years without a claim and as soon as she had a claim, she was denied. The whole situation was ridiculous. My sister and I had to get an attorney and threaten to sue before Allstate got on the stick and paid up. To this day, I would never deal with Allstate. I wouldn't let them insure a dog house for me let alone a home, condo, co-op, car, whatever. This is the kind of stuff that gets my pressure up and these greedy insurance exceutives need to read the room. It shouldn't take a guy getting shot down in cold blood before the insurance industry realizes that something's wrong with the system. Sadly, the industry executives probably still won't see the light after this. One can hope, right?

Back From the Beach

I took a week off from my day job to enjoy some time at the beach on the Gulf of Mexico and really enjoyed the break. After such a stressful month with the election and the unfortunate return of Donny T and the (New) Funky Bunch, it was nice to get away and relax for a few days. I'm also working on a short story for an anthology my publisher, JMS Books, is going to put out (and more on that later).

WTF, United States?

I went to bed last night before any candidate for POTUS declared victory, but I knew the way the wind was blowing. I asked a coworker yesterday afternoon if he could imagine 4 more years of Donny T. Well, no more imagining that scenario now! It's about to happen! WTF, United States? WTF, Pennsylvania (one of my former home states) and WTF, Michigan (another one of my former home states, although I don't think the final votes have been tallied there yet). Donny T and the Funky Bunch (w/special guest Hillbilly JD) are returning to the White House? Say it ain't so. Oh, it be so! Ugh. And it looks like the Republicans are going to take over the House and the Senate? Ugh again. 

There are two good things that might come out of this presidential race: 

1. The Democrats have time to regroup and get a candidate out there who can actually win in 2028. (No offense to Harris, but she was fighting an uphill battle from the jump and Biden should never have tried to run for a second term.) 

2. The Republicans could fuck up so royally that the country will be more than ready to chuck them out and move on to someone else. (At least Donny can't run again unless he manages to somehow get the Supreme Court to make that happen. Hey, you never know.)

So, on this depressing post-election day, I will keep on keeping on. Disappointment happens in life and this is one of those times when things just didn't go my way, but I feel fine knowing I did what I could by voting. At least Illinois stayed blue (unfortunately, surrounded by a sea of red states; WTF, Wisconsin?). As I've said before, I was born during the Nixon administration and made it through that, so now I'm mentally preparing myself to make it through the return of Donny T. 

Democracy in Action!

I have done my civic duty and voted today. Thankfully, Illinois has early voting so I was able to get out and cast my vote before election day. And business was brisk at the polling location today, too! I wasn't the only one in Evanston voting early and that's good. People should get out and vote. Let your voice be heard! I've done what I can do to stop Donny T's second act. Ugh. Just thinking about that guy returning to power makes me physically ill. But I'm not going to make myself crazy worrying about the future or about things I can't control. I firmly believe in voting and having your voice heard through the ballot box and it amazes me when I hear American citizens saying they're not going to vote because they don't like the candidates or some nonsense like that. No one person is going to be all things to all people. No one politician is going to solve all of the country's problems. But you have to vote for the candidate(s) you feel will do the best to move this country forward and serve its citizens. And, in this upcoming presidential election, there wasn't even a question about which candidate I preferred. I don't even understand how, this late in the game, some people are still undecided. Give me a break. Whatever. Just go and vote.

  

Overused and Overexposed

Why do I keep seeing those Kelce brothers in one TV commercial after another? They're selling cereal, soup, whatever. Stop the madness! Would these guys even have these product deals if one of them wasn't dating Taylor Swift? Maybe, but probably not although I recall seeing Travis host SNL and I didn't know who he was then (but I thought he did a good job on the show especially for the American Girl skit). I know I'm not the demographic for these guys, but I feel like they're overexposed right now. Aren't there some other athletes in line for an endorsement deal?

I had to go into the office for my day job yesterday to find some paperwork and scan it for a coworker at another location and, while I was out for lunch, I was walking behind some young women talking. One of them just kept using the word "like" over and over. Later in the evening, I stopped by my local Whole Foods to pick up an Amazon order I had shipped here and I was, again, stuck walking behind some young women who were having a conversation and the same thing happened. One just kept talking and putting the word "like" into her sentences over and over. "I, like, did, like, the wrong thing and, like, everything, like, went wrong..." Those weren't either woman's exact words, but you get the gist. God, just listening to both of these young women made me want to walk into traffic. Their voices were grating to me because they just sounded so stupid. I'm sure neither woman was actually dumb, but the way they spoke made me feel like I was losing brain cells just being in the same vicinity as they were! I use "like" also (although not as much as the women I heard yesterday) and I hate that I do it. I try very hard to avoid using that filler word because that's what it is: a filler. It's unnecessary in probably 95% of sentences. Unless you're using "like" to talk about your admiration for a person, place, or thing (I really like Mike's new car) or "like" compare people, places, or things (Sally looks just like her brother), you probably don't need to use it in a sentence. And I don't think people write "like" when they're sending emails or texts. (John, I, like, need the August distribution numbers so, like, can you, like, send them me by, like, Friday?) or (Meet me, like, at 10 at, like Joe's house). So why do people feel the need to insert that useless word into daily conversation? It's, like, annoying. 

Do You Remember? The 28th of September?

I couldn't really think of a title for today's post, so I had to manipulate an Earth, Wind and Fire lyric. 

First and foremost (and very late), RIP to Sergio Mendes. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks ago. If you read my blog with any regularlity, you'll know I'm a huge fan of Brazilian music. I have a few Sergio Mendes CDs in my collection and listen to them often. We keep losing great musicians like Mendes and David Sanborn. It's a shame. At least their music will live on. 

Speaking of music, I'm toying with the idea of having chapters in the book I'm working on reflect different songs. I'd just use the titles of the songs as the chapters (because I can't duplicate the lyrics without paying for permission), I don't even know if what I'm writing now will shake out to a longer book-length work, but I keep hearing certain songs in my head that reflect what's going on in the story. Unfortunately, I do more thinking about writing than actual writing these days. The process is slow, but it's happening. I really hope to have something finished by the end of the year.

Speaking of the end of the year, I'm thinking of moving next year. I have to see how things shake out with my life, my job, my family, my finances, the election, and a host of other things, but I'm seriously considering a move back to my home state of Michigan. It's been nice to stay put in the same state for over 10 years and same residence for 6 years now, but I'm feeling the itch to move again for a variety of reasons. So, I'm saving my money, watching, and waiting to see how things go over the next few months. By January 2025, hopefully, I'll have a better idea of what I want to do (if anything) and when I want to do it.

Who Let the Dogs (and Cats) Out?

I sat down to watch last night's presidential debate with the assumption that I'd only watch about the first half hour or so to get a feeling of how things were going, but I ended up watching it all because it was so entertaining. I was texting friends and family with messages like, "Get him, Kamala!" with a fist emjoi included. Donny T. let the woo woo out on a national scale last night. (This message wasn't just for the sycophants who to his rallies; this was for everyone!) The whole dog and cat eating thing cracked me up. I had read a story about Haitian immigrants in Ohio being accused of stealing and eating their neighbors' pets in an article in the NY Times, so I knew what Donny was talking about, but to hear that nonsense come out of his mouth was hilarious. I'm sure there were people watching last night's debate who knew nothing about that whole Haitian/Ohio/dog/cat thing had no idea what Donny was referring to. The guy was practically yelling and frothing at the mouth about this! Who does that? Donny does, of course. It's a shame for our country that this dude not only did one term as POTUS, but that he's in close race for a second! Jesus, take the wheel.

After the first POTUS debate where Biden shit the bed and finally excused himself from the arena, I was glad to see Kamala come on strong for this one. Forget all that "when they go low, we go high" stuff. Sometimes, you have to get dirty to take out the garbage. Not that Kamala was low-down, but she let Donny know what time it was and that she wasn't going to sit back and allow him to go unchallenged with his bullshit. 

If you haven't made up your mind by now about who to vote for, something is wrong with you. I'm sorry, but it is. Make a decision already! We can't vote soon enough. Let's get it on and over with. 

(No) Labor Day

Happy (No) Labor Day (at least for me and hopefully for you too)! I spent most of my Labor Day weekend in my home state of Michigan visiting family. It was an interesting visit. Some of my family members in the mitten state aren't doing so well and it was tough to hear that so many of them are having a lot of problems right now. I wish them the best and hope they're able to overcome the issues going on in their lives. I drove back to Illinois feeling relieved to be heading back to my own home. I've got problems too, but they seem miniscule compared to the problems some of my family members are having. 

I've been seriously considering moving back to Michigan for a variety of reasons. My day job hasn't gone back to the office since Covid started four years ago and I wonder if we'll ever go back now, so I'm not tied to working out of the office (at least I don't think I am). I could work anywhere as long as I have a WiFi connection. But the thought of moving again makes my head hurt. I like my current place and I'd have to sell it. And then what? Become a renter again? I dread the thought of renting again but I don't want to buy another place and have to carry two mortgages while I'm trying to sell my current place. Renting would make much more sense if I moved at least for a while. I've been looking at real estate in Michigan online and there are some affordable places out there, but I just don't know that I'm ready to make a move out of state again right now. I've been in Illinois for over 10 years now since leaving New York back in 2013 and I haven't lived in Michigan in over 20 years now. 

I wish I had been able to see more during my brief visit to Michigan this weekend, but most of my time was spent seeing various family members. I hadn't visited since Labor Day weekend last year, so it was good to see my family again, problems and all. Maybe if I get back there next year for Labor Day I'll be able to get to the jazz festival or to Belle Isle. I took pictures from Belle Isle in 2016 when I went to visit and there's one below.

007 Exhibit (and Other Stuff)

A few weeks ago, I went to Chicago's Griffin Museum of Science and Industry to see an exhibit of gadgets and cars from various James Bond movies. The exhibit, while small, had some great stuff included. I have some pictures below. I also highly recommend checking out the museum if you're in or around Chicago. I went there with my sister's girl scout troop when I was a kid, but I had not been back since moving to the Chicago area. I checked out the rest of the museum after seeing the Bond exhibit and really enjoyed it. It's a beautiful museum. Parking is ridiculous though: $22 regardless of the time you spend at the museum is insane! That was almost the price of admission for the Bond exhibit! 

In other news, the Democratic National Convention is going on in Chicago this week. Is the political tide really turning now? God, I hope so. I'm really looking forward to the time when Donny T's entire political career will just be a bad memory. Remember that guy? Ugh. I'm trying to forget him! What's Kamala's slogan? We can't go back? No, we can't and God help us all if we do.

I'm currently reading Stephen King's book of short stories now called You Like It Darker. I haven't read a Stephen King book in some time and I have to say, I'm enjoying this short story combination. To paraphrase a line from one of my favorite movies, The Big Lebowski, that dude can write! King is very good at writing about regular people faced with irregular circumstances and that's something a lot of writers can't do or can't do well. I commend him for writing so well for so long. He really is a national treasure and reading his recent work has inspired me to get on the stick and get my own writing going again. After a lot of starts and stops, I think I'm on track to get a short story done in the next few months. Thanks, Stephen!

Lazy Nina (and Lazy Kim)

I was listening to the Yacht Rock station on Sirius today (as I often do while I work my day job) and they played the song "Lazy Nina" by Greg Phillinganes. I had not heard this song in a really long time, probably since I was living in Detroit many, many years ago. I heard it frequently on our local jazz station, WJZZ, while I was growing up. I texted my sister about it because I knew she'd remember it also and she did. She mentioned that Phillinganes is from our hometown of Detroit, which explains why I heard it so much growing up. It's a really great song. 

Anyway, hearing this song today led me down the rabbit hole (but not far down) and I read on YouTube that not only is Phillinganes from Detroit, but he and I went to the same high school (at different times since we are not close in age). I also learned that "Lazy Nina" was written by Donald Fagen. I never knew this until today and I'm a huge Steely Dan fan. How did I miss this? The song sounds so much like a Dan song or a Donald Fagen solo track. I totally should have picked up on this, but I wasn't as into the Dan back in the mid 1980s when I was a teenager and when this song came out. It's always nice for me to hear something or see something that takes me back to my youth and that's what happened today with me and "Lazy Nina."  

In other news, the Lazy Kim portion of this post pertains to me. I haven't been writing much at all even though I have something on my mind to write. I even have several pages written, but I keep stalling out. I think I'm going to have to make some changes to the material I have or move on to something else. I hate not writing. It's been a lazy summer for me (and a lazy spring also) when it comes to writing and I have no one to blame but myself for the lack of writing. In my defense, I've been very busy with a project on my day job that had me working during the week and on the weekends many times, but that project is winding down, so I'm hoping to devote more time to my own projects moving forward. Lazy Kim needs to get on the stick and get some writing done.

OPKs

I'm fascinated with the views of Republican VEEP candidate (for now) JD Vance regarding childless people that have come to light recently. Vance seems to think that childless people (women, in particular) are morally deficient and that the childless should have less of a vote than people who have kids (who should get more votes in elections because they have more at stake or some nonsense he proposed). As someone who doesn't have kids, how about I take back the tax money I contribute to pay for public schools and government programs like WIC, etc. that help kids because I'm tired of supporting OPKs (other people's kids)? How about that? 

Vance is annoying for a variety of reasons and if I was to put him on the couch (no pun intended) right now, I'd say that he has some really negative feelings about single people and primarily single women because of how he grew up and how his own mother and father failed him. I didn't read his book (and I don't intend to), but I know enough about it to know that he had a rough upbringing and it seems like he's trying to overcompensate for his shitty early life by pushing the theory that having a nuclear family (a spouse and kids) is the only way one can be whole or fulfilled in life. Bullshit. Just because I don't have kids of my own doesn't mean I'm a miserable person or one who doesn't care what happens to OPKs. 

My extended family is huge. I have over 30 first cousins just on my father's side of the family. I care what happens to these kids and their kids. I care what happens to my friends' kids too. I care about the kids in my community. I care about humanity as a whole. Besides, there are many bad parents out there who have kids and they treat them like shit, so being a parent doesn't necessarily make you a more empathetic person. There are plenty of assholes in the world who have kids (looking at you, JD) and plenty who don't.

(Try to) Get the House in Order

Today's big news is that Biden has dropped out of the race for POTUS. This is something that should have happened a long time ago. Hell, he shouldn't have even run for a second term, but he did and we are where we are, so my advice to the Democrats is to pick up the pieces and try to do the best they can to move forward and avoid another four years of Donny T. (Ugh.) 

Democrats are their own worst enemy sometimes. They often manage to shoot themselves in the foot. When Biden shit the bed at the debate a few weeks ago, I found myself wondering if he'd been set up by people inside of his inner circle who knew he was sliding downhill and wanted to expose his decline to the American public (and to the world at large). As the weeks passed, I found myself believing that scenario more and more. (The calls are coming from INSIDE of the house, Joe!) Look, I would have voted for Biden if they'd wheeled him out on a stretcher in a straight jacket and face mask, a la Hannibal Lecter and I'll vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is who'll replace him. That's how strongly I feel about NOT suffering through another four years of Donny T. (Ugh again.) (RFK, Jr. is a non-entity in my mind, so no use even going down that road.)

The Dems have their work cut out for them and I have low expectations that they'll truly be able to get their house in order and nominate someone who can win. It's possible, but the road to victory is difficult and time is not on their side. In the event that Donny does become POTUS once again (ugh x 3), I'm not going to curl up into a ball and cry. I. I'm going to keep on keeping on. I won't allow allow some nut job to make me into a nut job too. I was born during the Nixon administration. My parents didn't let some loser in the White House stop them from living their lives and carrying on and neither will I.  

Karma Police

Regarding last weekend's event with Donny T, get the Karma Police on the case. (Apologies to Radiohead.) When you incite violence against others on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, are you really surprised when violence comes knocking on your door looking for you? A smart person would learn a lesson from this and make some changes in his/her life, but I highly doubt Donny will because he's not the kind of person to learn anything from anyone anymore. 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

I went to see the musical version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Chicago's Goodman Theatre last weekend. It was...interesting. Having read the book, seen the movie, and visited Savannah, GA and took the "Midnight" tour many, many years ago, I was interested in seeing a staged version. Some of it was good, but some of it wasn't. I have to say, Midnight turned into The Lady Chablis Variety Show and that wasn't a good thing. Yes, Chablis is a huge character in the book and movie, but she's not the main focus of either. Midnight is about Jim Williams and the murder of Danny Hansford. That's the main story here, yet the musical overshadowed the actual murder to showcase Chablis, the drag queen. I wouldn't have minded that much if the actor playing Chablis on stage had a better singing voice. Sadly, that wasn't the case. (I'm using the term "actor" here for all actors in the play whether male, female, trans,  non-binary, etc.) The actor's voice wasn't terrible, it just wasn't that great and to keep giving musical numbers to someone who isn't exactly what I'd call a "Broadway singer" was just a mistake. The actor who played Jim Williams didn't have a great voice either, but he didn't have as many musical numbers as Chablis. There were some really great performances in the play by the actor who led the Savannah preservation group and the actor who played the young black debutant. Those two ladies had wonderful voices. Too bad there were no Johnny Mercer songs. How do you do a musical about a murder at the Mercer House and there's no Mercer music in it? Come on!

Seeing the play made me want to re-read the book. I used to have a copy, but I must have gotten rid of it. I purged a lot of books when I left New York 10.5 years ago. I've been listening to the movie soundtrack also. It's got some great Johnny Mercer songs including a really beautiful version of "This Time the Dream's on Me" by Alison Krauss. Krauss has such a lovely voice. I could listen to her sing the phone book. I highly recommend checking out her song that, unfortunately, only seems to be available on the soundtrack. I'd like to see the movie again, but I don't think it's available on any of the streamers. I might have to get the DVD from my local library. I'm willing to suffer through Kevin Spacey to see it also. (He's not a bad actor, just a terrible person!)

Sleeping in the Bed You Made

I only had to watch the first 10 or so minutes of the presidential debate last night before realizing that Joe Biden would shit the bed last night...and he did. Aside from his meandering answers to the moderators' questions (when he did actually try to answer without losing his train of thought), I was amazed at how clueless he looked throughout the debate. At one point, there was a split screen of Biden and Trump while Trump was gesticulating and spewing his usual lies and exaggerations and Biden was standing there with his mouth agape. He looked like a nursing home patient waiting for the health care worker to bring him a juice box. Seriously. What a disaster for the Democrats that this is our candidate. What a disaster for our country that Biden and Trump are the best we can do for this next presidency. Neither of these old guys deserve our votes. Why can't we get decent candidates for POTUS? Because all of the decent candidates are smart enough to NOT get caught up in the shit show that is our American political system.

The Democrats are freaking out today and rightly so, but this is the bed they made for themselves. In my opinion, this goes all the way back to Hillary Clinton. If Biden had run against Trump back in 2020 instead of stepping aside so Hillary could run (because it was "her time" you know/s), I'm pretty confident he could have been victorious and stayed in office for two terms. Even if Biden had done as initially promised and agreed to serve just one term and the Dems had got on the stick over the past four years and got someone ready and waiting in the wings to step up as the next POTUS candidate, we'd be in a better position against Donny T. But none of that happened and now we are where we are. 

RIP, Angela Bofill

Great people in the music industry just keep passing away. A few weeks ago, it was David Sanborn and now it's Angela Bofill. I grew up listening to Angela Bofill's music in Detroit mainly on the defunct station WJZZ. She was so talented and never really got the audience or the kudos she deserved. It annoys me when "singers" who can't sing or have a limited vocal range often get pushed to mega-star status while truly talented singers like Angela Bofill, Phyllis Hyman, and Chante Moore are given the short shrift. I understand the music industry (especially these days) is more than just a great voice. You have to have a marketable persona to get fans and fame, but it still angers me that true talent is so often overlooked.

RIP, Angela Bofill.

Don't Touch!

I mentioned a few posts back that my tour group in Madeira, Portugal last month was filled with Brits and I said there'd be more to come on them. Well, that time has come! The British folks on my tour were largely nice, older people who did a lot of travelling to far-flung places. They were seasoned travelers, but some of the stuff they did was a little odd to me as an American. First, they would use me (the lone American) as a sounding board to criticize their fellow countrymen/women. I guess they figured since I didn't have a dog in that fight, I was the person to confide in. One guy complained  to me about another guy having a beer at 11 in the morning when we stopped at a location. One woman complained to me about another woman who she thought talked too much. (Honestly, I thought they ALL talked too much and I said this to the Portuguese tour guide during a moment when just the two of us were in an elevator together. He said something like, "They have a lot to say." And I responded with, "Do they? Really?" He laughed. 

There was one British woman who was traveling with a friend she hadn't seen in a long time and she would shove you out of the way to get to this other woman if they became separated. It was so bizarre. I started making sure I was far away from both of them to avoid being anywhere near the shover because I didn't want to have to let the Detroit out and go off on her ass. 

But my complaints about the group were few and far between. They really were lovely people and I had a great time in Portugal with them. Yes, a little of them went a long way, but they were funny and I learned some British expressions like a mozzie bite is a mosquito bite and a cozzie is a swimming costume (aka a bathing suit). They were very interested to know what I thought about Trump and Biden (and tell me how they loved Obama when he was in office--yeah, didn't we all). The last thing I wanted to do on vacation was talk about American politics, but I answered their questions as best I could without being annoying. 

One subject that came up while talking with one of the British ladies was about Americans touching people when we talk to them. The British woman I was talking with mentioned Trump touching the Queen when he wasn't supposed to during his visit when he was POTUS. Yeah, Americans like to touch folks when we talk to them (not all, of course). I did it when I was talking to our tour guide once, like a pat on the back. It's a cultural thing. Plus, I think it's ridiculous not to touch someone because they're royalty and untouchable. Give me a break. (Again, I'm an American, so I don't get the whole Royal Family thing. I think the monarchy is outdated and largely irrelevant, but I digress.) There was minor controversy this week with Emmanuel Marcon's wife trying to take Queen Consort Camilla's hand last week during a ceremony in France and how Camilla refused the gesture. Maybe Camilla felt she didn't want to be touched because she's married to the King of England and that's a no-no. Can't blame the Americans for that one since Marcon's wife is French, but I guess the same standards apply. Look, don't touch, folks. Insert eye roll here. 

The picture below is from the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens I visited during my trip. A lovely place and well worth the scary cable car ride to visit.

RIP David Sanborn

I found out jazz saxaphonist David Sanborn died while I was in Portugal via Datalounge, of all things. I was shocked to find out he'd been suffering with prostate cancer for a number of years because I had no idea. One of the last concerts I saw in New York before I moved to the Chicago area was one featuring David Sanborn and Bob James and it was great. I'd seen Dave in concert before, but not with Bob. They had a new CD out and performed songs from that and from their older Double Vision CD. 

Back in the 1990s, when I was a secretary, I met David Sanborn at a suburban Detroit record store. He was in town to promote his CD Pearls that had recently been released and I took a long lunch break, drove to the store, and met him. There's a picture of us together somewhere in my mounds of junk. I was (and still am) a huge David Sanborn fan. He was the kind of older man I really liked when I was in my 20s. Not that I could see myself hooking up with a guy who was almost my father's age, but I would have made an exception for Dave! There was something very appealing about him. Aside from being incredibly talented, he also seemed like a nice guy. I rambled when I met him and told him a story about some guy who kept yelling out "Jo Ann's Song" at a Sanborn concert I'd been to like Dave was taking special requests. He laughed and probably thought I was a psycho, but he still posed for a picture with me. 

RIP, Dave.  

Post-Portugal Perspective

It's been almost a week since I returned from my weeklong trip to the island of Madeira, off the coast of Portugal and I've had a lot of time to process the trip. I had a great time and learned a lot about Madeira, its people, and its ecology. The travel group I was with (that was comprised mostly of British folks and one white South African), provided amusing and interesting commentary (and more about them in another post), but we all had a great tour guide who took us all around Madeira and accompanied us to places like a banana plantation, a rum factory, on a boat ride where we saw dolphins, and many to the peaks of many mountains. Maderia is a beautiful place with friendly and (I might add) attractive people. I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful island if you get the chance. I've posted some pictures below from my travels. 

Adeus, Portugal!

I have returned home after a week in Portugal, Madiera speficially. What a great place! I highly recommend it if you're looking for somewhere to travel in Europe that it's terribly expensive. The climate is great, the people are nice, and the island is beautiful. I plan had to been to go to Germany sometime this year and I took German lessons last summer with that goal in mind, but I couldn't get it to work out in terms of the time or money I wanted to spend, so I looked into other places in Europe and decided on Portugal. I traveled with a group of Brits (who were a lot of fun and very interesting to observe). As the only American in the travel group, they often asked me questions about the USA, Biden, Trump, etc. Oy vey! I didn't go on vacation to talk about American politics, but they're interested, so I did the best I could to answer as honestly as I could about my feelings on every subject they raised. 

More on Portgual later, but I'll just say that I had a great time and I'm glad to be home. I'm the kind of American who enjoys visiting other countries, but knows I'd never live anywhere else (or at least I don't think I could). I'm too accustomed to what I know here in the US of A!

Here's a picutre of one of the little A frame houses on display in the Santana region of Madeira and also a little model of that house from one of the museums we visited. 

Going to the Movies

I've been slowly going back to actual movie theaters to see movies, but I'm still not back to my pre-Covid days of theater movie viewing. I still remember the last movie I saw at a theater before Covid shut everything down: the remake of The Invisible Man. Who knew that would be the last movie I'd see in a theater for years? (Not a bad movie, but not that great either.) The last movie I saw in a theater recently was Late Night with the Devil (that I drifted off to sleep on). I love a good scary movie and the good ones are few and far between these days, unfortunately. When I saw Late Night, I saw a trailer for a movie called Cuckoo that looked interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing that one. 

Last weekend, I read a lot of media reports about how the new Ryan Gosling movie The Fall Guy didn't meet expectations at the box office. I couldn't figure out who the audience was for this movie. Female Barbie fans who liked Gosling in that movie? Young guys who like action movies? Fans of Emily Blunt? Older people (like myself) who remembered the TV series by the same name? (I, honestly, barely recall that TV show. It wasn't something I watched religiously was a kid like The A Team or Fantasy Island.) Whoever the fan base was for The Fall Guy remake, those folks didn't turn out in huge numbers to see the film. I think part of the reason so many movies are tanking these days is that they cost way too much to make. I also think movies come to TV via streaming so fast these days that it's not worth it to trek to a theather and see it unless it's something you feel like you really need to see on the big screen. 

This weekend, the new Planet of the Apes movie is hitting theaters. I'll pass on that one although I saw one of the Apes movies years ago with Mark Wahlberg and it wasn't bad. I saw a trailer for the one coming out today the last time I went to the movies and it didn't look terrible, but it looked like something I could wait to see via streaming, not at the theater. I wonder if people will turn out for this movie this weekend. 

Jump, Jump, Jump to It!

The list of people I actually like or don't actively dislike at my day job is getting smaller with each passing month. At times, I find myself asking, "Am I the asshole?" Sometimes I am, but sometimes I'm not! I'm just getting more and more annoyed with the constant emails that expect you to drop everything else you're doing and, as Aretha would say, "Jump, jump, jump to it!" I had to tell someone I work with recently to pump the brakes after he came at me about a project that had only been sent about a week before. Jeez! It's a good thing I'm taking some time off soon. I could use some days away from the constant emails, stupid questions, and unrealistic expectations. 

RIP, Paul Auster.

"L" Hell

I made the mistake of riding the L (or El, if you prefer), Chicago's elevated train system today to see a play downtown (August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone at the Goodman Theatre). Now I haven't ridden the L downtown in quite some time. I used to be a daily rider during the pre-Covid days when I traveled to and from my day job, but not so much after the work from home thing came to be the norm. But I caught the L today and it wasn't great! I barely made it to the play on time despite leaving home 1.5 hours before the play started. I had to wait for a purple line train, then the red line crawled towards the loop. Let me just say that I hate the red line with a passion. It's slow, it stinks of cigarillos or whatever someone chose to smoke in the car before departing, and it's often filled with the homeless and/or other deranged folks. Someone on Datalounge called Chicago's red line a "rolling insane aslymn." That person spoke the truth! 

As someone who is normally a huge advocate of public transit, lately I've found myself preferring not to take it. If I have to go downtown to the office, I prefer the Metra transit train. It's cleaner, it's faster, and the clientelle is better. It's worth the extra money to ride with no bums sleeping across multiple seats, no beggars going from car to car, and no eau du cigarillo wafting through the air. If the time comes that I have to reacquaint myself with the L to get to and from work, I'm going to have to work through that transition. Maybe my next job will be one in the suburbs that I can drive to!

What the World Needs Now

To follow up from my last post, Monday's eclipse was great! The skies in and around Chicago were great and we had about 95% coverage here, which was great for viewing. My cereal box viewer wasn't the greatest, but I did have viewing glasses as a backup. I walked to the beach at Lake Michigan and viewed the eclipse from there with other folks from the area. A good time was had by all. I didn't get any pictures of the actual eclipse because I couldn't filter my phone lens and focus my picture at the same time without blinding myself, but I did get a shot of the beach before more folks showed up (see below). 

In other news, I was watching the trailer for the new Joker movie and noticed Tom Jones singing "What the World Needs Now Is Love" in the ad. As a Tom Jones fan, I was surprised I hadn't heard this song before, but it's from an album he put out in 1970 called I Who Have Nothing. I never really cared for "What the World Needs Now..." and, as a 1970s baby, I'm a huge fan of 70s music, but the Tom Jones version is excellent. It's everything I want or need from a 1970s song. The arrangment is over the top, I love the horns, the creshendos, and Tom is just giving it his all. I was more excited about hearing Tom Jones in the Joker trailer than the movie itself (although I'm sure I'll see the movie since I saw the first one and didn't think it was bad). Years ago, when I lived in Philadelphia, I went to see Tom Jones in concert in Atlantic City and it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Tom is an entertainer and he puts on a great show. His band was tight, his background singers were on point, and he was excellent. 

I think the world needs more than love right now, but a little love couldn't hurt either.

Countdown to the Eclipse!

Count me in as someone wrapped up in eclipse mania! I'm taking a day off from my day job tomorrow to watch the eclipse (and do some other things). I've got eclipse viewing glasses and my homemade eclipse viewer (see photo below) and I plan to walk down to the shores of Lake Michigan and see what I can see from there tomorrow afternoon. Since the next eclipse won't come for, what, 45 years and I'm sure I'll be dead and gone by then, I'm planning to catch this one live and in action. 🌒

Bridges

My sister sent me a link to an article in the Washington Post about people's fear of driving over bridges and it really hit home with me. Watching the horrific bridge collpase in Baltimore this week didn't help either. Driving over bridges freaks me out, especially ones that are high, over water, and narrow. When I lived in Philadelphia and New Jersey, I drove over the Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman bridges all the time with no problem. Those bridges didn't bother me. Why? Because they had multiple lanes in each direction and I felt comfortable enough on them to get in the middle and cruise to the other side without fear that I would go over the edge. Thankfully, I don't have to drive over many bridges now. There's one around Perdido Key in Florida that I have to drive over to get to my time share in Gulf Shores, Alabama when I go there in the fall. It's high, narrow, and has only one lane on each side. I have to psych myself up to get over it. It's not a long bridge, but it's still a white-kunckle drive for me. I have to pray and keep my eyes on the vehicle ahead of mine. At least no one can come on the side of me and run me off the road since it's only one lane each way. 

When I was younger, I don't recall being afraid of driving across bridges. I don't know when the fear set in. Middle age, I guess, but the fear is real. Driving across some bridges immediately makes my heart rate increase. I hate driving like a nervous wreck, but that's what happens when I have to encounter a bridge. 

Years ago, when I moved from central New Jersey to Brooklyn, the movers wanted to follow me in my car to my new apartment and they wanted to take the Verrazzano Bridge. Yeah, no. I'd driven across the Verrazzao before but I wasn't planning on driving across it again. I told the movers I'd meet them at the apartment in Brooklyn because I'd be taking the Holland Tunnel to the Battery Park Tunnel instead (and that's what I did). 

(Not) Scary Movies

I love a good scary movie. Unfortunately, it's been a long time since I've seen one that was truly scary. Earlier today, I saw the new movie Late Night with the Devil. The trailer seemed interesting because the film's plot involved the whole satanic panic frenzy from the 1970s and threw in some Exorcist-like possession. I'm not a fan of devil movies, but this one looked to be a step above the usual demonic movies out there. Unfortunately, the movie didn't deliver for me. I was falling asleep during it and actually drifted off for a few minutes. It had a decent plot, but there were too many scenes of people talking that didn't move the story forward. The story also got convoluted at the end. Was the talk show host's membership in some weird, cult-like group responsible for everything that happened? I don't know and, by the end, I didn't really care. The only good thing that came out of seeing Late Night with the Devil was seeing previews for two other scary movies that actually looked scary: Cuckoo and In a Violent Nature. I'm also looking forward to the Beetlejuice sequel (not because I expect it to be scary, but because I liked the first Beetlejuice movie.) 

Random Questions and Observations

I was trying to think of a theme for this blog post, but I couldn't come up with one, so I decided to go with some random questions and observations.

1. When will Andy Cohen's days of fame be over? Surely, someone else who's more professional and more personable could be at the helm of the Bravo enterprise (or whatever you want to call their current lineup).

2. Who, exactly, is JLo's current audience? People her own age? Younger people? 

3. Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" performance at the Oscars was really great. It was just what the show needed to give people something fun to watch and enjoy. As someone who saw the Barbie movie and thought it was good, but not great, I did like Ryan's pink suit and all of the ridiculousness of his Ken performance Monday night.

4. Jon Stewart is a welcome presence as the Monday night host of the Daily Show. 

5. Enough about the Royal Family already. Jeez. They're in the news more than the Kardashians these days. 

Too Much Time on (Your) Hands

I watched two Netflix docu-series over the past few weeks. The first one, called Lover, Stalker, Killer, centered around a guy who was stalked by a woman he dated. The second one, called American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, focused on a journalist who supposedly committed suicide, but many believed he was murdered because he was looking into a software program that the US government used supposedly to spy on other nations. Both of these series seemingly don't have anything in common, but I realized after finishing the second one that they did have a common thread. In the first one, a woman spent an incredible amount of time and effort stalking a guy. In the second one, a reporter spent an incredible amount of time and effort trying to figure out of a guy was murdered. Watching both series made me wonder, Who has this kind of time on their hands??? I can't understand how some folks go so far down the rabbit hole with stalking or obsessing over celebrities or trying to figure out who really shot JFK that their lives are seemingly overtaken by their obsessions. Don't they have day jobs? Bills to pay? Family obligations? Lives to live? Maybe I'm just too lazy to take on a task like trying to solve a murder or stalk a dude who dumped me. I can see teenagers or young adults being wrapped up in the life of a celebrity. (Look at the Taylor Swift fandom, for example.) But I don't get adults in their 30s+ doing this kind of thing. It's like having another job. Yeah, I worked 8 hours for some corporation and now I'm going to put in another 6-8 hours stalking my favorite celebrity/the one-night-stand who dumped me/the weird guy in my apartment building/whoever. I don't get it. Aren't you exhausted enough by life in general? Apparently not!

Bama BS

Once again, government leaders in my ancestral home state of Alabama are showing why the state frequently ranks near the bottom of all of the United States in terms of education. By declaring that embryos are children, they're effectively restricting people whose only means of having children via IVF from doing just that. So stupid. Alabama politicians frequently make decisions that go against its own interests and this ruling is just another example of that. Alabama also doesn't have a state lottery. They'd rather have their citizens drive across the border to Georgia to play the Powerball or Mega Millions (and put money in the peach state's coffers) than have their own state lottery that could fund much-needed educational programs in their own state because they're against gambling (or some nonsense). More BAMA bullshit logic. 

My father is from Alabama. My grandparents had a farm there and I've grown up going there all my life. I have a love/hate relationship with the state (and right now the hate is strong). Every time I think about retiring to Alabama (because, let's face it, the cost of living is low there), the state does some backwards shit like the embryo ruling and I change my mind about relocating there.

Financial Foibles

After hearing about Donny T's most recent financial judgment against him, I found myself wondering if Don the Con would finally be taken down a peg this time. Because he's so hung up on being a rich guy, having his finances take a hit may be more damaging to him than other accusations he's faced. (On a side note, has anyone noticed he's stopped talking about E. Jean Carroll? I guess after that $83 million kick in the balls, he finally learned to shut his mouth about her.) 

Money is a difficult subject for some people to discuss. Some people are very hung up on the kind of financial picture they present to others. I know people who live above their means because they want to project an image of financial security that they don't really have. I'm not one of those people. I've said this before, but I'll say it again. There are things that may shame me in life, but money isn't one of them. I have no problem telling someone I can't afford something. I'm not the kind of person who would buy a $3,000 bag and then not be able to pay my bills for the next two months. I've lived hand-to-mouth and it's not something I share a lot with others, but it's not something I'm ashamed of either. I've come a long way since then and I try to live within my means. When I bought a car last summer because my used Volkswagen was having more issues than it was worth, I purchased a car I could afford, a Nissan. Yes, I would have liked to have bought a new Volvo, but I didn't have Volvo money. I did have Nissan money, so that's what I went with. When I moved from New York to Illinois about 10 years ago, I downgraded my cost of living significantly and I was able to save some money and buy my own place. When I bought my co-op, one of my aunts asked why I didn't buy a house. I told her, "I can't afford a house in the area where I live." And I couldn't! Even rinky-dink houses here cost over $300K and I don't make the kind of money to afford a mortgage like that. 

New York Magazine has a story in its current edition about a woman who got scammed out of $50K. This woman is a financial writer and she got scammed. The story was ridiculous for many reasons but, for me, I just couldn't figure out how this woman actually thought that someone from Amazon would put her in touch with the CIA when they suspected she had fraud on her account. Bezos is not working in tandem with the CIA, lady. Give me a break. The US government doesn't care about your Amazon account. There were other red flags this woman ignored, but that one stood out to me. We all need to be smarter about the financial decisions we make in life. You live and, hopefully, you learn from your mistakes.

Stuff I've Been Watching

I said I was going to drop my Amazon Prime subscription after they announced that their videos would have ads included (unless you want to pay not to have them), and I followed through and dropped that service earlier in January before Bezos could get in my pockets again for the next billing cycle. I don't miss it at all either. I have more than enough to watch on other services. 

Speaking of those other services, I've been watching the new season of True Detective on HBO/Max. It's okay, but not great. It is holding my interest enough to continue watching it. I had seen the previous seasons of the show except for Season 2, so I watched that over the past couple of weeks. Oy vey, what a mess. I enjoyed Season 1 when it came out and Season 3 was good also, but Season 2 was no bueno. Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams were miscast. I didn't buy either of them in their roles. Colin Farrell was good. I saw him in New York at a Dunkin' Donuts once. True story! I was waiting for my coffee and donuts and he came in with a woman. I thought, That guy looks like Colin Farrell. Then he opened his mouth and spoke and I realized, That IS Colin Farrell! But, back to True Detective Season 2. Too much sleaze and bad dialogue and not enough of a decent plot. Season 4 has an interesting mystery, but Kali Reis isn't working for me and I don't think she can hold her own against Jodie Foster. (Another case of an actor being miscast for the role in this series.) I'm going to see it through to the end (like I did with the awful Season 2), but I'm watching with lowered expectations.

I went to see the movie The Zone of Interest earlier today because I'd heard it was good and I wanted to see if I could understand any of the German dialogue since I took 16 weeks of German lessons last summer. Yeah, I can safely say that most of my German has gone out the window. Other than recognizing basic terms like children, hello, thank you, goodbye, and some numbers, I didn't remember jack. I watched this movie and walked out of it wondering, Who is this movie for and what was the point of it? It was ghoulish. That's the best word I can use to describe it. Was the filmmaker just trying to let the audience know that some Germans went about living their normal lives while the Holocaust was going on? Duh, I think we know that. I didn't get it.

Pathetic Primaries

When is the US going to get smart and stop letting Iowa and New Hampshire have caucuses and primary elections ahead of others in the country? When's the last time Iowa picked a winner? Two of the most non-diverse states in the country get to set the tone for the national elections and candidates rise and fall based on these two states and their voters. It's ridiculous. At least South Carolina (a state I hate with the fire of a thousand suns) that comes in third for its primary after New Hampshire has a more diverse population. It's time the United States changed things to allow more states to have their primaries early. Why should Iowa and New Hampshire have so much power? Ugh. 

Cold Snap

We're having a "real" winter now here in the Chicago area with temps below zero and snow. Over the long MLK weekend, I spent most of my time indoors watching movies via On Demand incluing Anatomy of a Fall, that was interesting. I can't get that steel drum version of 50 Cent's PIMP out of my mind because of that movie. Oy vey! The movie is about a married couple who has a son and the husband ends up falling out of a window and he dies. But did he commit suicide or did his wife murder him? One of the more interesting parts of the movie happened during the wife's trial and one of the attorneys tried to argue that the wife, a writer, had actually planned her husband's murder because of something similar in one of her fictional books. (Both she and her husband were writers but she had been more successful in her writing than he had, thus yet another issue in their already troubled marriage.) I would hate for someone to look at something I'd written in one of my publications and deduct that a character's behavior mirrored my own. That's a stretch. I love all of my characters, the good ones and the bad ones, but to say I'd behave in the same way as a fictional character in one of my books is ridiculous.

Over the holiday weekend, I also watched Oppenheimer. It was good and a wee bit too long, but still good. Everyone and their mother popped up in that movie: the guy who's NOT Matt Bomer from the USA Network White Collar series (Tim DeKay), Rami Malik  (from the USA Network series Mr. Robot), Casey Affleck, Tony Goldwyn in addition to Matt Damon and an unrecognizable (for me anyway at first) Robert Downey, Jr., who's getting awards and high praise (rightly so) for his role. Cilliam Murphy is great and the movie deserves all of the critical acclaim and awards it's received. 

Hello, 2024!

We're five days into 2024 and so far so good. I told a friend who asked if I had any resolutions that I didn't but one of my goals this year was to try not to lose my mind. Seriously, just staying alive and in my right mind this year would be huge accomplishments. Stressing out has done me no good and I'm really making an effort to keep my stress in check this year. It's hard to do with so much bad news in the world and idiocy in my workplace, but I'm determined not to pull my hair out over things I can't control. 

One thing I plan to do this year is drop one of my streaming services and, since Prime is about to start adding advertisements and their lineup of movies and shows isn't great, I'm kicking it to the curb this month before my renewal date comes up. I hope they ask me why I'm dropping the service so I can tell them I'm tired of lining Bezos's pockets each month to the tune of $14.99 each month. I'll continue to be an Amazon customer, but Prime can kick rocks. It's just not worth it. Netflix is aiming to be next on my list of cuts, but I haven't let go of that yet because the plan I have is so cheap that it doesn't even exist anymore and if I drop it, I'll never get it back. I was a Netflix customer back in the "old" days when they sent you DVDs in the mail. So much of their programming is garbage right now, but I'm still managing to find something to watch every few weeks, so it's staying...for now.

I had to give up on the current season of Fargo despite the fact that I'm a huge Jon Hamm fan (and I like seeing him slightly chunky in this season). But I can't deal with him being a wife-beater. Ugh. When the eighth episode came on this week, I watched the first five or ten minutes and bailed because I just found it too disturbing. I read recaps of the episode and felt I made the right decision. Nothing against the actors, but I just can't deal with that negativity and bad behavior in something that's supposed to be entertaining right now. I'm sure Jon's wife-beating character will get his comeuppance in the end, but I'm not willing to watch the rest of the episodes to see that happen.

Moving on in 2024!