Book 13: The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

I really enjoyed this book until the last 50 pages or so. I became interested in Anne Neville after reading other Philippa Gregory novels and watching television adaptations of her work. Last year I read a biography about Anne.

This book begins when Anne is 11 and she is presented to the Edward IV's new queen, Elizabeth Woodville. Their marriage is an embarrassment and an affront to Anne's father, the Earl of Warwick who was negotiating a marriage between Edward and a French princess.

Gregory captures the thoughts of a young girl as she plays as being queen with her sister Isabel. Anne also calls Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI the bad queen and sleeping king.  

But Anne has to grow up fast when her father decides to support another candidate as king and uses Anne and Isabel as his tools to make new alliances. 

I disliked the emphasis on witchcraft especially at the end of the novel. Even after she is crowned queen to Richard III,  Anne is haunted by fear of Elizabeth Woodville's curses. 

I still enjoyed this book. 

Let's Go Mets!

As I mentioned recently, Jeff and I had a lot of trouble getting TV access to the Mets. On Friday, we watched our first Mets game. We had only seen a few innings here and there before. The Mets now have many new players that I don't even recognize. The Mets have been horrible--just hearing about them has been depressing. 

Yet this weekend, I didn't miss a beat. It felt completely natural to watch and root for the Mets. Even though I didn't recognize half the players.

I guess being a Mets fan is more ingrained than I realized.

Checking Things off the To-do List

Sometimes I get overwhelmed when I have a long to-do list. Sometimes I even get overwhelmed with a short list. 

I recently said that I just wish I could get up in the morning and not have a million things to do. So, in effect, I took a little time off last week. I still did the things I had to do--like food shopping, cooking, and cleaning--but I figured I could take a little longer to make doctors' appointments, research hearing aids, and do some paperwork. 

I meant to turn things around this week, but I didn't get off to a good start in terms of productivity. Yesterday, I was up early journaling and made a Thursday to-do list and completed each item.

• MLB: Jeff and I have been trying for a month to get the Mets TV channel--SNY. I won't detail all the issues, but I got it straightened out yesterday with a helpful ESPN customer service rep.
• Living room screen: The previous condo owner took the screen to be fixed, but it wasn't ready when she moved. I called and discovered it was still at the shop (and picked it up today.)
• My Eye Doctor: I made appointments for both Jeff and me. Since we went to My Eye Doctor in Connecticut,  the new doctor will  be able to access our records. 
• Healthcare Powers of Attorney: I edited and submitted Jeff's. (I couldn't complete mine because I needed a new copy and my contact was out of the office.)
• Clean bath: no need to elaborate.
• WRITE:  (in all caps as written in my journal. It may not have been many words (around 100 words) but it's writing and I'm happy with that for now. 

I just need to keep it going. 

March Miscellanea

 I always look forward to March--it feels good to get out of February. It's been a hard winter. Snow from the January storm took a month to (mostly) dissipate. There are still small patches and large snowplowed piles. But, at the end of February, I began to catch a whiff of spring and hear birdsong. In the final weekend, temperatures rose to the high 50s. Jace and I returned to the trails and the boardwalk.

That didn't last, of course. The following Monday, it snowed for several hours and left a coating on the ground. Luckily, that snow dissipated quickly. I'm waiting for the 70s predicted for a few days next week.  

Jeff and I have tried a few more restaurants. One was a breakfast and lunch place with good steak sandwiches. We also went out for a good seafood dinner with friends. We have many other places to discover. 

We watched some of the Olympics in February. I'm most interested in figure skating. I saw the men's and the ice dancing competitions, but somehow missed the women's and the pairs. Oh well. Now, some of our other shows have returned, such as Matlock and Ghosts. 

We also rediscovered Nancy Drew--a series that we had started to watch on the CW back in 2019. We had seen most of the first season, but the show went on hiatus or the timeslot changed, and we never got back to it. We found it on HBO Max recently and watched the first two of four seasons. TV Nancy is not much like the Nancy Drew I've read. In the premiere, she's having sex with Ned (now called Nick) and he's black. Nancy's mysteries also involve the supernatural: ghosts, witches, wraiths, and the like. 

Most of our days revolve around medical appointments. Jeff has physical and speech therapy each week. We've also scheduled other medical appointments. Plus it's tax season. I spent most of last week stressing about getting the tax documents together. I got them to the accountant on the 28th.

Then there's still unpacking and organizing. I got a lead for someone who can install wooden bookshelves in our dining room. I haven't figured out exactly what I want, but it's a start. 

The Dread Before the Storm

Forecasts are dire and the weather media seems to relish the worsening reports. 

In our first winter in Essex, we've experienced the coldest December in twenty years. Now, this weekend may bring the biggest snowstorm in 20. Bad timing for us, or maybe a neighbor was right when she said I brought the cold from Connecticut. 

I ran most of my errands yesterday, including the second grocery run of the week. I missed a few things when I went shopping on Monday. Plus, I figured I should stock up--I won't be driving anywhere until at least Monday. The best errand was going to the Essex Library. I got a library card and three books. 

I admit I'm worried about losing power and being unable to cook. I'm used to having a gas stovetop. It could be lots of peanut butter sandwiches. Good thing we love peanut butter. 

What We're Watching

The Running Man 2025: I liked the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, and read the 2025 adaptation is more faithful to the Stephen King book. I never read the book, so can't comment on that. This version is dark  I may like dark, but I don't particularly like this film. It's too long and has too many action scenes. Maybe I'm just too old for this shit.

The Pitt Season One: Jeff suggested this show; it's very good. I tend to think that I don't like medical shows, but I'm enjoying this as well as Watson. Each episode is one hour in a shift and each season is one day. I like this format--it gives you time to live with the characters and let the stories develop. That's one of my favorite things about soap operas though they often failed to do that. 

Vanderpump Rules 2.0

Five episodes have aired, and I've watched them all. I guess it's a kind of habit--the show is still on our recording list. That's not the only reason. I wanted to check it out to see if it would work. 

Based on what I've seen so far, no.

These people are messy, but they're not funny. They are petty and whiny. That could be okay if any of them were funny or had a modicum of charm. None of them are nice. I had hopes for one of the women, but she blew it in episode five. 

Will I watch again? Maybe. Probably. I'd probably be better off watching the original. 

Happy Festivus to All!

I wonder if the Seinfeld cast and crew had any idea how many people would embrace Festivus and make it a part of their lives. 

Even if it is just us crazy people.

Re-Read Three: Neptune Noir Edited by Ron Thomas

After I finished Catherine of Aragon, I caught up on magazines. Then I picked up this book as I was going through some bookshelves. 

 

Neptune Noir is a collection of essays about Seasons 1 and  2 of Veronica Mars. Topics include: father-children relationships, LoVe--the Logan-Veronica romance, comparisons between Veronica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Veronica's loss of innocence. 

Now I'm thinking about renewing or restarting my rewatch. 

TV Talk: What We're Watching

It's been a few months since I've posted about TV. So, here it is.

Outlander: Jeff got a special promotional price for a year of Starz, so we finished Season 7.  My main issue with the show is that I don't care much about some of the younger characters. I'm ambivalent about Brianna and Roger. I was intrigued by the Jem kidnapping, but that fizzled out. I like Ian, but his wife Rachel does nothing for me. I dislike William Ransom, Jamie's son. I have no interest in the sex scenes of Roger and Brianna and Ian and Rachel. 

Squid Game: I had trouble getting into Season 2 until they returned to the actual game. This time, a group of players tries to stop the games, but there's a traitor in their midst. 

Nobody Wants This: We've been fans of Kristen Bell since Veronica Mars. I also heard or read that this was a good show. We agree. Bell is a sex podcaster dating a rabbi (Adam Brody.) It's cute (though I hesitate to use that word) and funny.

Only Murders in the Building: Again, we heard or read that this was good, so we tried it. We just started the fourth season. 

Matlock: I like Kathy Bates, and we tried this on a whim. It has a similar structure to that of Veronica Mars: a season long mystery with cases of the week. I'm enjoying both the weekly and seasonal stories. 

I've been watching a few things on my own.

The White Queen: Another Starz series and a re-watch from 2013. I've always been into the Tudors, but the Plantagenets are fascinating on their own. 

Miscellaneous Tudor history series. These shows have historians discussing the various people and places with actors dramatizing some scenes. There tend to be three episodes per show. The first, The Private Life of the Tudors, focused on Henry VIII. 

Another Henry VIII series was called something like, Man, Monster, Myth .A third I just started was about the King's men--the men who influenced Henry VIII. One name (so far) surprised me--Anthony Plantaganet. He was Henry's mother half-brother. The historian made a point to mention twice that he was illegitimate. I also saw a program about Lady Jane Grey. (Why don't they call her Queen Jane, anyway?) 

In my viewing, I learned something about Jane Seymour. Male doctors were allowed in the confinement chamber when she gave birth to Edward. A historian believes Jane may have died because the doctors didn't have experience in delivering children. They should have listened to the mid-wives. 

What We're Watching

Jeff and I record The Daily Show, Jeopardy, and The Simpsons. I guess we're recording The Simpsons more out of habit, but it's still worth a laugh or two. As I mentioned recently, we've been watching Dark Shadows to the end. So, we were ready to move on to new shows. 

The Bear. A fine-dining chef returns home to take over his brother's sandwich shop after his brother commits suicide. The characters are complicated, and the actors are excellent. We just started the third season with the opening of the renovated restaurant.

Watson: Sherlock Holmes partner, Dr. Watson is back practicing medicine after Holmes's death. There was a surprise appearance by Professor Moriarty--who was also supposed to be dead--at the end of the pilot episode. We've only seen the pilot, but it looks like the focus will be on medical mysteries. I'm not sure I want to watch that. But I do like Morris Chestnut as Watson.

We also watched two movies over the weekend.

Star Trek: Section 31:I'm a big Star Trek fan, but this was just okay. Michelle Yeoh was terrific as Philipa Georgiou, the emperor of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe who has traveled to the Prime Universe. My biggest problem is that the beginning of the movie considers Georgiou the evilist evil that ever eviled. By the end, she's just another one of the team. Yes, she helps destroy the Godsend weapon, but it just seems too pat. 

Gladiator II: Another okay film. Hanno is a prisoner who trains as a gladiator, but is actually Lucius from the original movie. Even though one of the last lines in Gladiator is "Lucius is safe," his mother sends him away from Rome to save him from assassins. It's also revealed that Lucius is the son of Maximus. I didn't like either change mainly because they arbitrarily change the original film. I've written before about how I dislike the secret  son tropes. Here it's a secret parent, but it's the same idea to increase the stakes for the hero--a cheap trick. Overall, meh. 

This is why I keep watching classic films.

The End of Dark Shadows

Last night, Jeff and I finished watching Dark Shadows:1245 episodes and 20 storylines (according to the Dark Shadows wiki.) We didn't watch every episode--I skipped around in the early storylines, and Jeff watched fewer episodes than I did. But we did watch all episodes of the last several storylines. 

The last storyline was Parallel Time 1841.The start of this storyline is kind of jarring: a wounded Lamar Trask stumbles into the mysterious room that is a portal to Parallel Time, is trapped there, and apparently dies. In all the other time travel storylines on Dark Shadows, one of the original time line characters make the trip with us.

This time, we are suddenly following new characters in a new timeline including Bramwell Collins, played by Jonathan Frid, the portrayer of Barnabas Collins. The backstory is that Frid was sick of playing a vampire and wanted to play multiple characters as the other actors did. 

Parallel Time 1841 concentrated on a family curse and a lottery where a member of the family had to spend a night in a terrifying room. A subplot was a Wuthering Heights-type romance. 

The last scene of the storyline was discovering that Melanie Collins had been bitten by a vampire. It felt like a return to the basics. But no. The show ended with a voiceover from Thayer David that it wasn't a vampire bite after all. Everyone lived happily ever after and there were no more dark shadows. A disappointing end in a whimper.

What We're Watching

Will all the TV shows, mini-series, and movies available, we are watching Dark Shadows. It's funny to admit that. I started a Dark Shadows rewatch about two-and-a-half years ago, watching in spurts. When we got to the Leviathan storyline, Jeff started to watch every episode with me. 

We didn't particularly like the Leviathan story, but were determined to get through it because the Parallel Time storyline was coming up. Years ago, Jeff and I watched a few episodes of Parallel Time, but the show suddenly stopped. Apparently, the provider didn't have rights to the following seasons. 

Recently, we've watched Parallel Time 1970 and The Destruction of Collinwood 1995. We're almost through 1840. After this, there's only one more storyline: Parallel Time 1841.

At this point, I guess we're just want to finish the series. I've been watching along with this website.by Danny Horn. Danny does a commentary on each episode beginning with Episode 210, when Barnabas Collins first appears. He lists the blunders of each episode, facts about the actors, and inspirations behind the storylines. Occasionally, he'll discuss other pop culture topics such as Dark Shadows films and comic books, Dr. Who, and comic books. 

The End of the Road for Vanderpump Rules 1.0

I read about the end of Vanderpump Rules and discuss its reboot here.

It's time for a retrospective. 

A big reason for the show's initial success is that five of the original six cast members were already friends and co-workers (Stassi, Jax, Kristen, Tom Sandoval, and Katie.) The new girl Scheana was the exception

Cast members were (relatively) real--they weren't trying to put on airs and pretend to be more than they were. They were waitstaff and bartenders with dreams of acting, music, and writing. Main storylines focused of three best friends (Stassi, Katie, and Kristen) dating three best friends.(Jax, Tom Schwartz, and Tom Sandoval.)

Their fights were ridiculously, stupidly funny. 

Kristen getting mad at Tom because she ran into someone (on a modeling job) that Tom slept with before they met. 

Jax and Stassi's breakups and their rebound flings with other SURvers Laura Leigh and Frank. 

Jax crashing Stassi's Las Vegas birthday party where a chunky sweater was torn off before a fight and a beer was poured on someone's head. Abandoned by her best friends, Stassi hosted a brunch of her second tier friends the next day.

They were messy and ridiculous and genuinely funny.

Over eleven seasons friendships shifted, and romances heated up and burned out. Cast members were spending less and less time at SUR and with Lisa Vanderpump; they were making money elsewhere. Some cast members quit or are fired. Some new cast members came aboard.

Onto Season 10 and Scandoval. The scandal broke just as the season started airing. Fans could watch the affair unfold on the air, looking for clues.

I suddenly became interested in social media posts and stories about the VPR cast. When production was rushed for Season 11, I learned more about the show from these stories than from the episodes themselves. That upended the normal viewing process and made it less enjoyable, though I still kept watching.

Over the last few weeks, I've been rewatching the early episodes--the first season and a few episodes of the second. The show is still messy fun, but I am beginning to see patterns in relationships that will manifest themselves over the next several seasons. I'll keep up my re-watch. 

As for VPR 2.0? I'll definitely give it a try.  

Christmas 2024

The attack on Jace certainly screwed up our Christmas spirit. But he is resilient and strong, and doing well.

Jim came over for Christmas Eve dinner. On Christmas Day, Jeff and I ate some delicious leftovers (beef tenderloin) and watched Christmas movies (It's A Wonderful Live, Christmas in Connecticut, The Man Who Came to Dinner, even National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.) The last one won't remain in the Christmas rotation. 

It's been a cold few days, warming up to a few rainy days starting tomorrow. I've been happy to be a homebody.

Happy Festivus!

It's for the rest of us. This holiday is based on a family's tradition and was immortalized in a Seinfeld episode. Here's our own Festivus pole; it's now part of our holiday decorations. 

Three Days Without a TV, a Land Line, and a PC

The condominium had new smoke detectors and alarms installed on Tuesday. We learned today that the installer cut our wire for our Internet and land line. A technician came yesterday afternoon. He figured out the problem but couldn't resolve it. He returned today with two other workers. They made a temporary repair but the entire floor will need to be rewired. Apparently, we're in the middle of a conflict between our Internet company and its contractor. Oh, joy.

It's not like we were completely cut off from the outside world--our cellphones had intermittent Internet access. We also have a radio, and, of course, could have gone to the library or a cafe for Internet access.  

It was weird to be without television and consistent Internet. We've had power outages in the past, but none lasted three days. As I said to Jeff, I guess we're addicted. 

I did a lot of reading over the past three days. I had already been in a reading mode over Thanksgiving weekend, so it was easy to continue. Waiting for the technician yesterday, I put up our Christmas decorations, except for the tree. 

As for tonight, we're catching up of our recordings: The Daily Show and What We Do in the Shadows. 

Book 22: The Entertainment Weekly Seinfeld Companion Atomic Wedgies to Zipper Jobs: An Unofficial Guide to TV's Funniest Show by Bruce Fretts

I bought this book for my brother, but I'm a big fan of Seinfeld too and read it yesterday. It took about an hour-and-a-half.

Most of the book is a glossary of specific Seinfeldian phrases, such as "Aggravation Installment Plan With Interest That Will Compound For Decades" as well as common terms such as "Air Conditioner" as it relates to several Seinfeld episodes. 

I was surprised that there were no entrees for "The English Patient" and "Yada, Yada," Then I realized that that the book ended with the fourth season. There were nine seasons in full. 

I might not have bought the book if I had realized it only covered four seasons. But, it's still a fun read. 

Late Thursday Thoughts

I've been meaning to write a version of a post for the past few days. But I've been in a prolonged writing slump. I've written only two posts this month. I haven't journaled since we were in Sea Isle City--about six weeks ago. Needless to say, I haven't done any serious writing. At least, I've been thinking more about writing, but that is obviously not enough.

Jeff and I have been dealing with various health issues and doctors' appointments over the last week-and-a-half including my colonoscopy on Monday morning. There were two days last week when I felt so bad, I could barely walk Jace and throw some meals together. I hope the colonoscopy resolves what's been wrong with me.

I don't think the Mets are going to make the playoffs. Today they lost a series to the Oakland As. At the beginning of the month, they lost a series to the Angels. The Mets are currently two games behind Atlanta for the last playoff spot. They have a three-game series against the Marlins--who are lousy against every team except the Mets. Then they play the Orioles, Padres, and Diamondbacks. It doesn't look good. New York Mets, please prove me wrong.

I found a Vanderpump Rules marathon on tv today--the season that ended with Scandoval. I watched around doing the laundry, walking Jace, taking Jeff to the doctor's. It reminded me that I never wrote a post about the latest VPR season. Maybe that will help me break out of this writer's block.

The Heat Is On...

Again: hot, humid, poor air quality. 

After I needed an hour to recover on a midday walk with Jace, I made some changes in our routine. I've been driving him to a park for morning walks: Mathews Park to Oyster Shell Park, or Taylor Farm. I need to get up earlier to make this more efficient and cooler. I've shortened our other walks. Even though Jace is always game to go further, it's not good for him. 

I'm always psyched to see our doggy friends on walks like Dylan, Ruby, Holly, and Poppy. I was happy to see the beagles, Julie and Jerry at Oyster Shell Park yesterday. Today we passed Poppy on Maple Avenue--that made my day.

We've been watching a lot of Olympic events. It's been kind of haphazard, but fun: gymnastics and swimming, track starting today. I even saw some shotput today. I've also been re-reading some Preston & Child books. I finished the latest today. The new book will be published August 13th. I hope I am first on the waiting list. I'll have to go to the library that day. In the meantime, I'll do some re-re-reading. 

Today I met my friend Chris at the Sono Arts Festival. It's so small--a shell of its former self. We lucked out with a break in the weather, and it was nice to hang with Chris.