Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
73/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This issue I really enjoyed Mary Robinette Kowal‘s “Marginalia” and Alex Jennings‘s “Lest We Become Posessed”, a review of Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, co-edited by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams, which has been added to my “keep an eye out for” list.
Day 237: The Christmas Day pile o’ presents! After a nice quiet morning with breakfast in front of a fire (in a fireplace, not just some random fire), we dove into the present unwrapping. Tip we discovered this year: Instead of wrapping paper, reusable gift bags are wonderful! Easier to “wrap”, and no waste when unwrapping. We’re definitely fans.
72/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It felt rather rushed and busy for a good portion of the book, as there were several different threads going on that the authors switched among rather quickly, and while the details took some time to come to light, the basic mystery as to what was going on wasn’t all that mysterious, being obvious to the reader (if not the characters) within the first couple chapters. Not a stinker, but not a standout, either.
Day 236: It’s a cookie baking day! There have actually been several of these over the past week, but those took place while I was at work; today’s batch of gingerbread I was of (some) assistance in creating. They’re quite tasty, too!
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): ⭐️⭐️
Having now watched the purported fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, the best thing I can say about it is how glad I am that, much like Star Wars, the creators knew that they could never recapture the magic and success of the originals and never tried to make anything beyond the original trilogy. (Highlander also falls into this category, though it had a single self-contained story rather than a trilogy.)
Too long (that did not need to be a nearly three-hour movie, and tightening it down to right around two hours would have helped the pacing greatly), not nearly the humor of the originals, and felt very much like it was made due to cynical studio greed in an effort to pander to Gen X-ers rather than out of any real love for the franchise or strong belief in having a good story.
Really, the best thing about this is that I now know that when I get around to upgrading my Indiana Jones DVDs to Blu-Ray or 4K, I can just get the trilogy films individually and not bother with any sort of full collection box set. Might save me a little money that way.
Day 235: Classic vs. Old Fashioned: What’s the difference? Seriously, I haven’t got a clue — aside from different names with essentially the same meaning, they appear to be identical, even down to the marketing copy on the side of the carton (though I’ll admit, I didn’t do a line-by-line check of the ingredients). I ended up choosing by which one had the most forgiving expiration date.
Day 234: Pre-holiday-break week work shirt number four: peekaboo Santa (the creepy ol’ stalker!).
71/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
According to my reading history, I read this 13 years ago. I have no memory of this, even while reading it this time; and after reading it, I’m not terribly surprised that I don’t remember it. Not that it’s bad, it’s just…not really my thing, I guess? I’ve enjoyed urban fantasy, and noir, and noir urban fantasy, so I don’t think it’s the parts, but they’re not summing up as well as they have in other books I’ve read. It was entertaining enough that I’ll likely read at least another one or two in the series to see how it progresses; this is a first book, after all, and the series has gone on long enough and has enough fans that there’s a chance I’ll find later installments more engaging.
Day 233: Pre-holiday-break week work shirt number three: Holiday gifts, Santa hats, gingerbread people, candy canes, mittens, hot chocolate mugs, and snowflakes.
Day 232: Pre-holiday-break week work shirt number two: poinsettia, holly, and candy canes.