melworks

Bunch of new #1s came out today: Archie, Legion of Super-Heroes, Teen Titans, Doom Patrol.

Not very impressed with any of them.

I don't suppose any of them will be around for long.

Very disappointed with the Legion book. :(

I was driving home from the grocery store this afternoon when they announced on the radio that country music star, Dolly Parton, had passed away at the age of 80. My immediate response was a long and plaintive, "Oh no!" Followed up by a series of "Damn! Damn! Damn!"

I genuinely liked Dolly Parton. I liked her music and her performances, and admired her philanthropy. She had a big heart and did a lot of good in the world.

Now she's gone and the world feels a little less bright.

I know a lot of other people are feeling sad about Ms. Parton's passing too. Accolades and expressions of sympathy are pouring in from everybody. The websites handling Dollywood and dollyparton.com have both crashed because they've been overloaded with people rushing to the sites. President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. flags be lowered to half-staff across the country for the rest of the week.

Dolly Parton made an impact with her kindness, her honesty and her generosity. I'm sure she had her burdens, but she seemed to bear them well, and I hope that wherever her spirit has ascended to, she is happy and at peace.

R.I.P. Miss Dolly.

The world will always love you.

Today, I was semi-productive.

I got up, got dressed, and was going to (1) get the oil changed in my car and then (2) go grocery shopping.

Instead, I did (a) grocery shopping and then (b) laundry.

If I'd been REALLY productive, I'd have cleaned the bathroom and vacumed the bedroom. But I just didn't feel that motivated.

I'll go get the oil changed tomorrow and then I'll head to Ye Old Magick Shoppe and get the goatmilk soap I like that doesn't make my skin go all creepy and flaky.

And then, maybe, I'll go and see Spider-Man.

Maybe.

Who knows? I might wind up doing something completely different.

As of today, I've been on this low-sodium, no caffeine diet for one month. Last month by BP was 160/101. This morning it was 151/88. So, improvement! Hurrah!
So I guess I'm staying on this diet for a while.
:)

A while back my right shoulder and arm started to ache, expecially when I lifted said arm above my head. After a few weeks with no real improvement in sight, I broke down and went to the doctor. I was fairly certain I didn't have any rotator cuff injury, but thought it possible I might have torn a muscle. After an examination, the doctor suggested that it was tendinitis, brought on by a lot of repetitive motion. He wrote me a perscription for industrial-strength anti-inflammatories and suggested I check out some shoulder-specific physical therapy videos on YT. He asked me to call him back in a week and let him know how I was doing.

While I was at the doctor's I discovered, unsurprisingly, that my blood pressure was sky high. Now, my entire family runs high en regardes to blood pressure, but this was high even for me. The physical pain was probably spiking it, but I decided that I should do something to get it down. So, enter the low-sodium diet. Pheh.

I've been on the diet for about four days now - and gave up caffeine as well - and I am incredibly sick of my food choices already. Because not only do I have to watch out for sodium, but oxalate in my foods as well. Processed foods are mostly out, but I HATE to cook. So I've mostly been eating microwave rice with various vegetables added, and whatever low-sodium proteins I can find.

My poor stomach is like, "What are you doiing to us?"

Buddy, I wish I knew. I really wish I knew.

Honestly! Where does the time go?

So far, this month has been okay. Gas prices have dropped. My banged up arm is slowly healing. Things at The Store have been okay.

Pride is upon us again. OutFest is coming up and one of my coworkers is involved in it and she won't stop bitching about stuff. In her defense, complaining is her default state, but she's like a broken record. I want to take her hands, look her in the eyes and say, "Honey, I just don't care. Go find a therapist to vent to, because I'm tired of hearing you complain."

What's the line from the Austin Powers movie? "If you have an issue, here's a tissue." Blot those eyes, blow that nose and get the fuck on with your life. Ugh.

On a positive note, I've managed to save up about $6000 for a newish car. Yay! Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong before then. *knocks on wood*

I have been watching the anime, Witch Hat Atelier, but I do not know if I'm going to continue watching it.

The animation is lovely.

The worldbuilding is sublime.

But . . . the story and the main character are just super irritating.

*sigh*

I don't know. :(

I had the strangest dream last night. I was at my old job, trying to take the elevator to the floor that I worked on, but the elevator never stopped at the right floor. It was super frustrating and I woke up in a not so great mood this morning. That's why I sat down this morning and vented my spleen by writing really, REALLY darkfic. Which, once the mood was exorcised, I immediately deleted. Which also, weirdly, made me feel better.

Later in the afternoon I went and saw 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' at my local AMC Theater. I think it will be a while before I go there again. The lobby was a madhouse and there were screening problems in the theater.

As for the movie? Meh. It was okay. I enjoyed the first one, but this one felt toothless to me. They sort of neutered the character of Miranda, by making her more aware of corporate HR. In meetings, she had her assistant sit next to her and quietly correct her when she made an inappropriate remark. I know that's more reflective of contemporary corporate culture, but it just didn't feel like something the character of Miranda Priestly would give a fuck about. I will say this, they did give her more layers than in the first movie and Meryl Streep played her excellently.

Anne Hathaway's Andrea "Andy" Sachs character has not developed at all in the twenty year span since the first movie. She's supposed to be this experienced, wordly journalist, but the minute she comes face to face with Miranda it's like she's reduced to a wide-eyed, self-conscious waif.

Stanley Tucci's Nigel remains unchanged from the first movie. No real character development, but then, you don't really feel like he needed any.

Emily Blunt's character, Emily Charlton, is the only character aside from Miranda who seems to have changed since the first movie. She's still the same essential Emily from the first flick, but now she has goals and ambitions of her own since leaving Runway and getting out of Miranda's shadow. Indeed, her current position gives her a considerable amount of influence over Runway, as she contributes quite a bit to their advertising budget.

Overall, the movie was okay. It was worth paying matinee prices for, but as I left the theater, I couldn't help but feel like I could have watched this movie on The Disney Channel. The plot felt childish, the characters mostly two-dimensional, the world they inhabit more corporate gray than glamorous pastel.

I'd probably give it 2 out of 5 stars. Matinee worthy, but not really date-worthy.

And now I have to find something to watch tonight. On a related note, I've seen some clips for 'Citadel' that stars Stanley Tucci as a spy. It looks interesting. I might check that out.

So, I've been using talkai.info as an editorial aid for a while now, but when I went there today I saw they've put a limit cap on the number of questions you can ask the free version.

Ah well.

This is probably a good thing. Unless you specifically specify the type of feedback you want to receive (objective, concise, etc) it tends to gush positivity at you.

Today, I was at The Store.

I might as well have stayed home. I only had five people come in and we barely cracked $300.

I was soooooooo bored!

I don't remember last Easter being this slow, but I'm also aware that more people seem to be traveling this weekend than last year. *shrug* Whatever.

Happy Easter.