Adios, 2023!

As 2023 draws to a close, I've been thinking about how the year went for me personally. Not bad, although it started on a bad note. I had Covid at the start of the year. Thankfully, my symptoms were mild because I'd been vaccinated. After that, the year was largely okay. I traveled within the country to see family and friends in Alabama, Michigan, and New York. I worked my day job. I bought a car (because I was tired of sinking money into my 11-year-old Volkswagen). I took German classes and tap dance lessons. I lived my life. As 2024 approaches, I'm going to make an effort to do more reading this year. I keep track of my reading on Goodreads and I finished 35 books this year, better than the 29 I finished last year. I'd like to improve my numbers for next year. I also want to get more exercise in and eat better. I'm not making resolutions, but I'm just going to try and work on those goals. One thing I really want to do in 2024 is travel out of the country and I'm going to try and make that happen. I took German lessons over the summer with plans to travel to Germany this year, but I don't see that happening. I can't find a trip that I can make work in terms of the time and money, so I'm considering other locations and hope to get that nailed down early next year.

I'm looking forward to 2024 and hope I don't have any major health problems in the coming year. I also feel like something might change with my day job and that may not the be the worst thing in the world. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally and financially if my day job decides to reorganize and boot me out. I've been at the same company for 17 years now, my unit has been downsized significantly since I started, and I could see them cutting me loose. If that happens, I'll just have to roll with the punches and get something else. I'm too young to retire, so I have to keep working. I also need health insurance. I do feel that I've downsized my life to a point where I can get by with less if I have to. I will say that leaving New York in 2013 was good for me. If I was still living in Brooklyn, I wouldn't be able to get by with less. Moving back to the Midwest and buying a co-op here were great decisions for me. I miss New York, but I can always go back and visit. It's not going anywhere!

So adios, 2023 and welcome 2024!

Smoke Them If You've Got Them, Darling

Over this holiday weekend, I'm planning to do three things: read, write, and watch TV. So far so good on both. (The writing could be going better, but it's happening...slowly.) The reading is going well also and I'm trying to finish two more books to add to my Goodreads list for 2023. As for the TV watching, I finished watching Maestro on Netflix this morning (after starting it last night). 

Despite all of the brouhaha over Bradley Cooper's fake nose, I found myself forgetting about that early into the film and focusing instead on the excessive smoking. I could probably count on one hand the number of scenes where someone didn't have a cigarette in their hands, between their lips, whatever. I realize people smoked heavily during the time period the film covers, but in Maestro, it became a distraction for me. Another thing that bothered me was the language of the film and the cadence of that language. The Trans-Atlantic accents drove me crazy, darling. So over the top. The movie was interesting and Matt Bomer looked lovely in it (even though his screen time was brief), but was it the best film I've seen this year? Does Bradley Cooper deserve an Oscar for his directing and/or performance? No and no. As far as acting goes, DiCaprio was better in Killers of the Flower Moon. Movie-wise, the only movie that really got me thinking after I'd seen it and riled me up was Passages and that's not winning any Academy Awards. 

I'm about an hour into the film Saltburn and that's turning out to be a disappointment also. Did we really need another retelling of Brideshead Revisited? I don't think so. Plus, Barry Keoghan is so physically off-putting to me that I'm finding it hard to focus or care what happens to his character. I don't know why this actor's face bothers me so much in this film, but it does. I'd seen him in other films and didn't have an issue, so I can't explain why he's bothering me so much in this particular movie. Sometimes things just don't make sense. 

Not Sweet Enough...Available Now!

My new book Not Sweet Enough published today. (Finally, right?) You can link to the JMS Books website via the cover in the sidebar. It's a prequel to my last book Ray's Friend (also available from JMS Books).

Here's the blurb:

Case Larson is restless. Although he has a loving boyfriend, contractor Ray Burch, he often feels neglected in their relationship because Ray is too busy with work to spend time with him. So Case decides to spend a little time with Luke Mills, a handsome guy from his gym. Case’s hookups with Luke help to calm his restlessness and feed his need for the attention he’s not getting from Ray. But Ray finds out about Case’s cheating and their relationship implodes.

Case quickly realizes he made a huge mistake in cheating on Ray and tries to repair the damage he’s done. But making things right with Ray means cutting ties with Luke, a job easier said than done. Luke refuses to go away quietly and he’s determined to make Case pay for using him. Case goes from having a stud to a stalker in his life and he has to find a way to stop the harassment, win his boyfriend back, and maintain his sanity all at the same time.

I hope you enjoy it! It took me far too long to finish it, I know!

Godzilla Minus One

Being the huge Godzilla fan that I am, I saw Godzilla Minus One earlier today and largely enjoyed it. The non-monster parts dragged a little for me and Godzilla himself could have used more screen time, but when he was on screen, he did not disappoint! Godzilla was kicking ass and he was radioactive, too! This particular Godzilla was really ugly. He had a huge body and a small head and his skin looked worse than ever, but he was radioactive. That monster was glowing! I enjoyed the thought that went into the plan to try and bring Godzilla down. No spoilers, but Freon was involved. It was nice to see an old-school Godzilla movie that took place in Japan and had subtitles for Americans like myself. 

Konnichiwa, Godzilla, and welcome back!