Random Ramblings

It’s still busy and I really should be concentrating on what I’m getting paid to do, but I don’t think it will hurt if I take a few minutes here and there as what I’m doing is pretty routine and my mind is once again taking flight.

 

The snobby snob in me can’t help but chuckle at the flogging of the dead horse and the utter ridiculousness that is the FOURTH installment in the 50 Shades phenomenon.    For those who pay attention to such things, I haven’t read the books, will never read the books, haven’t seen the movie, will never see the movie.  I’m annoyed at the fact that so many have read these books and the buzz has been out of this world for, from what I’ve read, is poorly written fan fiction.  There are so many fabulous authors out there who write well written books that will pass by completely unnoticed by the general masses who then read garbage.  To me it’s not unlike Keeping up with the Kardasians winning a Golden Globe for  best acting.  It’s wrong, it’s just wrong.

So I couldn’t help but laugh at the indignation of so many who are discovering that book 1, from Christian Grey’s POV is just one of three and the author has 2 more of the exact same book planned.  Good grief - talk about flogging a dead horse!! 

 

I read some reviews on GoodReads and word is – it’s garbage.  I can’t help but hope the author plummets down to earth where she never should have risen anyway.  I tell you, I am such a bitch some days.

 

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I’ve been designing – sort of – my own calendars for a number of years now through Vista Print.  Every month was a different scene from North and South each and every time the calendar ended in August with “The Train Scene Kiss”.  I brought it into work and as more and more people from work watched and loved it, I began to order more calendars for coworkers – just to share the love.

 

Well people, we have come to the end of an era I’m afraid.  For the first time since 2011, North and South screen caps no longer grace the months.  Nope, I’m figuratively doffing my cap and passing the calendar torch onto Outlander. 

 

 These are a different kind of calendars.  Instead of starting in January, as most do, mine start in September so it’s getting really close to time to order them.  Because we often plan schedules 2 weeks to even a month ahead of the current date, I have 2 of them on my desk, the current month and the next month.  So I’m needing September soon.  A few other people do the same thing and some of these happen to be fellow fans of Outlander.  So I’ve designed the calendar – just have to hit that pay button and the order will be winging its way to VistaPrint.  I just hope Richard/John will forgive for leaving him behind as I move on to Sam/Jamie.  I will love you always John Thornton and at least we have 2013.

 

Bet you all thought you'd never seen the day.

 

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I know I’ve bitched about this before but I will continue to do so until JUSTICE IS SERVED!!  They have a thread again at AAR for freebie or ebook sales.  There are a couple lately for books I would love to get and they are on for a great price at Amazon.  Amazon –dot COM that is!  It’s an entirely different story at Amazon.ca.  And of course it’s through my favourite publisher (not) Harper Collins/Avon. 

Sex, Lies and Online Dating by Rachel Gibson (love her books)

Amazon.com - $1.99

Amazon.ca $8.99

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Amazon.com - $1.99

Amazon.ca $8.99

Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase

Amazon.com - $1.99

Amazon.ca - $7.99 (squeal of a deal there she said sarcastically)

GRRRrrrrrr

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I received a mood calendar as a gift a while ago and I brought it to work.  I love this calendar and changed it every day to reflect my mood.  Coworkers are starting to check my mood before checking how I am.  Lately it’s mostly been on the negative side of things, but starting Thursday, July 2 (Wednesday is a holiday here in Canada) the calendar mood will be starting to change.  Why you ask?  Well, it’s cause then we will be into the actual month I head once again to RWA – this years in New York, to meet up with my people again.  I think anticipation is even higher this year as I missed last year, mostly because of the depression but also because I had another big project, new bathroom that I had to pay for.  This year I’m getting new siding but that’s not going to stop me from RWA.  There are SO many people I’m looking forward to seeing, but a special shout out to Wendy,SuperLibrarian.  We will be roomies again after several years apart and my first question will be “Wendy, Wendy, Wendy, what do you have against Jon Snow that you are glad he’s dead????” 

 

Mind you I haven’t watched Game of Thrones for a few seasons now, it became just to bloody bloody.  I have tried a couple of times over the other seasons since and then there would come a scene where someone got stabbed in the eye and that was all she wrote.  But from the first season that I was an AVID watcher, Jon and Daenerys and Tyrion were my favourite characters with Jon being #1.  AND THEY KILLED HIM OFF!  As if Ned and Robb and Catelyn all dying wasn’t enough.  As if what’s happened to Sansa and Arya isn’t enough?  I’ve lost track of the little boys.  So did they then have to go and kill of Jon??? Why, Why, Why?

 

 Then I can hardly wait to see Lisabea and Rosie – I hope Rose is going again!!  Of course there are so many other too, but the four of us seem to hang out the most.

Now back to the point – see how I ramble and get off topic?  So now that I will be in countdown mode, my mood will be picking up until I’m up to daily bouncy

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 This has nothing to do with anything to do with romance but it is a real bug-a-boo I have.  I’m on the phone a lot anymore at work.  And I can tell when the person is speaking on a cell phone.  Cell phone reception/quality is TERRIBLE a lot of the times.  I’m constantly adjusting my phone’s volume, calls cut out, they are mumbled and I can’t hear what they are saying, they are calling while in traffic and all I hear is background noise.  A lot of the nurses who call in have been issued cell phones and I think the company they worked for must have ordered the cheapest cell phones they could get.  It makes me so cranky (and then I have to change my mood calendar) whenever I get one of these calls and chance are when I’ve had to ask for the fourth time for them to repeat something that I can’t hear, an impatient tone in my voice may come through – not at the person I’m talking to, but the cheap piece of equipment they are using.  I’m cranky enough as it is since I don’t like talking on the phone, but talking on the phone and not hearing what the other person is saying, well, many of those kinds of calls a day and I really need to de-stress at the end of the day.

Anyway - that's all I have for now

'til later

 

Thought for the Day

I’m off and on with Twitter.  I’ve been off for quite a while and started making a comeback.  When did adds become such a big thing on Twitter?  I’m getting tweets for all kinds of products and I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt I never signed up for any of them.

Is there any way I can block them?  I find them annoying and they clog up my twitter feed.  And I just ‘followed’ Sam Heughan.  I can’t have any tweets other than those I choose to follow come between me and Sam!!

 

****warning – gratuitous pictures below*****

 

And in the same vein – while I will be watching, part of me is dreading watching the season finale.  I’ve been telling my fellow work/Outlander peeps that I’m going to find this the most terrifying hour and a half of TV – ever.  It’s really going to beat those flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I take these things too seriously and already a fellow watcher is trying to calm and reassure me it’s only a television show.  I just need to remember that around 10:30 ish when I'm white knuckling through the Outlander finale and poor, poor Jamie

 

'til later

Outlander - The Books vs The Series

I’m intimidated by big books.  Any book with over 500 pages scares me.  I like to read fast and with a large book, I know going in it’s going to take a lot longer to read.  So even after hearing so many wonderful things about Outlander, I still gave it a pass.  But after hearing constantly how Jamie Fraser was the perfect hero, I finally bit the bullet and read it.  This is probably going back about 10 years or so.  I read Outlander, skipped Dragonfly in Amber and skipped a good deal of Voyager and read the part where Clare and Jamie were reunited and I was all good.  I was never tempted to read any of the other ones. 

 

 

 

I heard talk over the years about how wonderful it would be to see the books be made into a movie and who should play what part.  I never really cared.  But then I heard Starz was going to make it into a series. A much better idea then say a three part movie franchise like they do with so many other books to movies.  And while I was ambivalent as to who would play Clare, when I saw who was chosen for Jamie, well, my hot actor radar kicked up big time and the more I read about it the more excited I got until I could hardly contain myself when it started playing in Canada on Showcase.  I love period piece movies series, North and South, Last of the Mohicans, Rob Roy, The Highlander (the television series – never did see the movies) and so on.  So I was ecstatic when I found out that yes, we would be able to see it in Canada.

 

I loved it from the opening credits, in fact I have the song now from ITunes.  I waited anxiously for 10:00 every Sunday night for it to start.  And oh my, the connection between Sam Heughan as Jamie and Caitriona Balfe as Claire!  Their chemistry leaps off the screen.

I thought three episodes in that since it’s been a while since I’d read it, I should do a reread.  And now that I had a Most Excellent Picture of Jamie – I think I didn’t really before as he was described as having red hair and

Carrot Top kept getting in the way.  I skipped the first part and started reading where the series was up to and kept reading until the end of the first series.  I figured I’d keep reading when the series had a break but that didn’t happen.

The second series started last Sunday – and hands up – who watched it??  I gave up smoking when I broke my leg but my heavenly stars I could have used one towards the end of the final scene. 

 

That was – as Jim Carrey says – SMOKIN’.  I was definitely breathing heavy.  Anyway – moving on – I figured I’d best get back on the book horse and start reading again.  And I hit a wall.  A huge wall.  I wall I don’t think I can climb and now I remember why I didn’t get caught up in the whole series like so many others have.

 

I Don’t Like Claire.  Oh no I do not like her at all.  While not as apparent in the series because I do like Caitrona playing her, in the book, I find her dreadful. 

***Rant about to begin****

I do not understand why she seems determined to press all of Jamie’s buttons. 

It seems like it’s almost out of spite.  Here she has this hot, young guy who is strong and brave and hot and patient and forward thinking for his time and hot and willing to risk his own life for her and hot and funny and protective and willing to take on the punishment of others and hot and a virgin no less but very good at it once he gets going and hot and between the Jamie in the book and the Jamie in the series just about the most perfect hero – evah – and Claire seems determined to rile him up in one way or another.  I get that she comes from the future and as a working woman is even more advanced than the usual housewife, but she’s not in her own time and so she shouldn’t play be the rules she knows.  In the past, she should be led by Jamie.  While I don’t agree with the controversial spanking, she did do an extremely stupid thing and as a result has risked the whole clan, not to mention putting a HUGE target on Jamie’s back.  She knows there are redcoats wandering about.  She knows that Black Jack Randall is after her.  And during their epic fight she had the nerve to call Jamie a sadist – when she had evidence herself and what she saw he had done to Jamie, that Randall was a sadist in truth. 

Yes, I get that she wants to get back to Frank - though why I don’t understand completely why when she has Jamie.

Yet despite everything he has done for her she accuses him of cheating.  She accuses him of marrying her for money.  NO, you stupid woman!  He married you to SAVE YOUR LIFE.  I don’t see a whole lot of gratitude for that either.  Sure there was some – but not much.  I swear Jamie has the heart of a saint to both get past his anger so quickly and forgive her so easily.

 Anyway, I’m going to have to give up on reading the book.  To do both would be a double negative on my feelings for Claire.  I would be so angry with her while reading and so angry while watching.  And because the series is so good and Jamie is so, um hot, I’m just going to stick with the series.

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And I need to update a previous post.  I was talking about getting invested in shows only to have them cancel before their time and I completely forgot about Copper.  This was another show that ran on showcase a couple of years ago about Kevin Corcoran,  a ‘copper’ from Ireland who helped police the slums of Five Points district in New York City just around the time of the Civil War.  He was a very intriguing character, a real anti-hero.  One scene he would do something heroic, the next something despicable.  It was a series done by BBC America and I loved it.  I was devastated when it was cancelled.

Well, that's it for today.

'til later