Tag: movies

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the Harry Potter problem

I have a troubled relationship with Harry Potter. On the one hand, I love the magical world and all of the people who occupy it. On the other hand, there’s the world’s creator, who has shown herself to be…well, a terrible person.

Yesterday, I watched the reunion special on HBO Max, because despite that woman and her TERF views, the movies have been a big source of comfort in my life. I watch them when I need something familiar and yet not real, I can immerse myself in that world and forget the real world exists.

However, I am very aware of her problematic, and vocal, opposition to the notion that transwomen are women. As a part of the LGBTQA+ community, and as someone with transgender family and friends, I simply can’t abide those who would punch down at an already marginalized group of people.

I will never understand how having a penis or not having a penis matters to anyone other than the owner of said penis.

Oh, my, I think I’m getting derailed. Back to Harry Potter…

For the most part, the reunion was a lovely trip back in time, and we get to watch those kids grow up and become amazing actors. I’ll admit to crying when they memorialized those who had died since they were at Hogwarts…to be fair, I was pretty weepy anyway for some reason. Watching them talk about what the movies meant to them, how they became the characters, and what they took away from the experience was moving.

And then there were those clips of her. I mean, sure, she created this world for us to enjoy, but I think I’ve come to a place where the books belong to her, but the movies have a life outside of her, so it felt odd to have her there, even if the clips were from 2019.

I refuse to give up the movies because of her, much as I refuse to give up Buffy because Joss turned out to be an asshole. She can have the books. However, I will not spend another penny on merchandise that will continue to fill her pockets.

Fancy a trip to Hogwarts, Readers? I think I do. It’s a cold day here, perfect for cuddling kitties, drinking tea, and curling up under the electric blanket with some magic on the television. It’s the last day of vacation as well, so I aim to relax. Tomorrow it’s back to work.

Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

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Christmas in the time of covid…

Christmas is just a week away. It doesn’t feel like Christmas though. I don’t know if it’s the exhaustion of the last two years, or the continued and continuing pandemic, or just my own general malaise, but this holiday season seems so…flat.

I’m not a huge Christmas fan anyway, at least not like I was back when I was younger. I had been planning to decorate, but then decided I need to move, so I’m packing instead of unpacking. There was a time though when I decorated EVERYTHING. I spent a lot of time and money covering our house in lights, putting up our tree with the carefully curated stash of homemade and personalized ornaments, even set up a ceramic Christmas village, in which every house was hand painted.

Since I moved out of my mother’s house, I haven’t much bothered with decorating. I haven’t had the space for a tree or the village. Every few years I’ll put out porch decorations and lights.

I’m not a big fan of most Christmas movies either, for any number of reasons. I’ll usually try to watch Die Hard on Christmas Eve though. Yes, I consider it a Christmas movie. And no, Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween watch, not a Christmas one.

And Christmas music makes my teeth hurt.

But I’m not trying to be a Debbie-Downer. I mostly keep these things to myself. In fact, what I’m searching for right now is the things that do make me happy at this time of year. I love the cooler weather. I love wearing flannel shirts and hoodies. I love the general feeling in the air this time of year, the casual greetings of people you pass, that kind of thing.

I do enjoy the cooking/baking for the holidays, again, with nowhere near the ferocity of it in my 20s and 30s…but I do still enjoy prepping for a big meal, making cookies to share with friends, and all that.

And gift-giving. I love giving gifts. It’s a big part of my personality. Chances are good that if you have known me for more than a little while, you have experienced my love of giving gifts, especially the unexpected kinds. That much still holds true.

But all my gifts are bought and wrapped. Sometime today I will move them to the trunk of the car so that they’re out of the way as I continue to pack stuff.

May your holiday season be filled with kindness, Readers. Some good food, good friends and good health.

Photo by Tessa Rampersad on Unsplash

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stitching it together

I spent my weekend split between writing and watching whatever random thing caught my attention on Netflix/Prime/Disney/Hulu while crocheting. I’ve had trouble finding a pattern I liked for a sweater I want to make, so I’m embarking on the path of creating one. Not sure how that’s gonna work, but I’m giving it a go.

In what I was watching…Saturday was an afternoon of movies on Netflix. I enjoyed “What Happened to Monday” which is a near future sci-fi sort of thing involving a world where the law dictates one child per family and a set of identical septuplets. I also watched a biopic on Helen Reddy. Like I said, it was all very random.

Yesterday though I indulged in a marathon of “Whitechapel” which was a British cop show a few years back.

I needed the break from the onslaught of news.

My usual outlet for finding my center on the dark days used to be helping others, usually with buying breakfast for some homeless folks or giving away stuff I’ve made, but since I’m not leaving the house, that path is not open to me. I think maybe that’s part of what has made this time so dark for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still giving, it’s just at a distance these days which kind of minimizes the internal reaction I get from a stranger’s smile or from talking with someone who most people ignore.

Creating is what is getting me through though, whether I’m crafting with words or with yarn or with paints and oil pastels. It also helps to have work during the week. It gives me focus.

Right now I need to focus on getting coffee and breakfast into me before my first conference call of the day. Happy Monday, Readers! Lets make it the best we can in these circumstances. Stay home if you can. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Be kind.

Cover Photo by Olliss on Unsplash

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the bored and the restless

It’s been a tough week, Readers.  I’ve had some really down days and I am struggling my way out.  I am currently fighting off a serious restlessness.  This is the time of year when I most crave travel.

I want to throw some clothes and road food into the car, pack up my camera and go find some off the road hidden hideaway, picnic beside the ocean or a waterfall, fill up a memory card with pictures of moving water and sand and rocks and green, green grass.

Alas, it isn’t happening any time soon.

Instead, I’m tripping my way through various “virtual tours” of places I long to go, and I’m puttering around in my “garden” on my patio.  I have containers filled with succulents that have been loving the rain and not-too-cold temps, plus one salvia that got a little battered in the winds this past month and a lily of the valley that is finally blooming.  Oh, and a couple of containers with gladiolas that my mother gave me last year.  No blooms on them yet, but I’m hopeful.

I think I’ve probably watched every documentary on history or crime or nature or any mix thereof available on Netflix or Amazon.  I think today I will turn to Disney+ for my entertainment.

How are you coping, Readers?  Is there a great book you’d recommend?  Or maybe some documentary or “based on a true story” movie I might have missed?  Do you want me to do another poetry reading?  Maybe some Edgar Allan Poe?

I have to admit I have a deep and abiding love for the way Mr. Poe put words together.  I often read him aloud just for myself.  There is a story of his that I rediscovered recently that I am consider reading on a Facebook live called “Some Words With a Mummy” and I would love to share it with all of you.

For now though, I will return you to whatever you were doing, and I’ll head out to try to find something I haven’t watched yet…or fall back on rewatching old favorites.

Please be safe, stay home, wash your hands and do something kind for yourself today.  I love you all.

Cover Photo by Océane George on Unsplash

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Today’s the day!  It’s Star Wars day!  I have a ticket to see The Rise of Skywalker at 5pm tonight.  I am super excited, and also fairly anxious.  I mean, this story has been a part of my life since I was 9 years old.  It has helped to shape who I am as a story teller, as a writer.  It has helped shape me, how I look at the world around me, how I stand up for what I believe in, how I resist and rebel.

It will also be the final movie to have Carrie Fisher in it.  I’m excited to see what they have done with the footage they were able to piece together, but I know that I’m going to be a weepy, crying mess of a geek right from the start.  In fact, I tear up just thinking about it.

In other Star Wars news, there is a very talented lady in the Phillipines who creates portraits from a picture you provide, but she makes you into a Star Wars character.  I asked her to draw me as General Organa, as we first see her in The Force Awakens. This was the result:

me as leia.jpg

Isn’t it fabulous?  Her name is Danielle Balanga, and you can find her on Facebook.

With that, I should get myself back to work on the day job.  And my coffee.  Always my coffee.  I shall leave you with this, dearest Readers:

MTFBWY