Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 In the HBO limited series multiverse, there are two series that link up perfectly in locale, subject matter and vibe: Mare of Easttown and Task.   Now, it's not hard for me to go ahead and say Mare is my favorite and, I think, the better of the two shows.  The intricacy of this story and the acting are so good that I've watched it repeatedly.....even after the mystery was solved.  It kept me guessing right up until the very end and shocked me more than once.  I don't think I've ever seen anything with the lovely Kate Winslet that I didn't like (well......let's not talk about The Regime ) and I'm thrilled that she has become an icon for women of my generation. Task is a bit of a different animal, even though it is a very similar show.  Both shows rub up against Catholicism, the complicated struggles of family, giving and accepting trust in an untrusting world, and of course, the frailties of man against strong women.   Weirdly, I don't find m...

 After hearing several people, including my boss, talk about how awesome this show is....I finally had to give it shot.  And I was hooked. Within minutes.  I think I didn't expect to like it because I wasn't really a fan of Yellowstone, another well-known Taylor Sheridan joint.  But dare I say, this show has more heart?  It's more relatable?  The characters are move endearing?  I mean.....honestly.....that's all mostly true.  In Yellowstone, I really didn't think I had anyone to root for.  Well, besides Kayce of course.   It was also all the hub-bub of Sam Elliott's speech about aging and the breakdown of the body.  I kept hearing about it again and again so I had to look that up first.  After that short snippet, like any good first-time user I needed a bigger hit.  So I downloaded the entire first season. I did not realize this show has very nearly every goddamm thing I love about life: strong family ties, gorgeous a...

 Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays?  I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays.  I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive".  To me, most NYE parties feel that way.  The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds.  Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money.  AND you usually have to the leave the house.  ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late.  It's a big F.U. from me on all this.   I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone.  I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE.  I rememb...

 If this is the state of today's rom-com, I feel sorry for the current generation of romantics since I found this movie to be neither very rommy nor commy.  You won't find a Ronnie and Loretta or Frankie and Johnnie here. It's very modern and the problems are very eclectic of our current dating times.  Throughout, it feels very ham-fisted and without emotion.  To be sure, there are no warm fuzzies here, and in the end, the whole thing feels like one big settlement.   Also worth noting: height, age and weight are big deals in this flick so be ready to be triggered.  But if you've been dating for a few years, you already know this.  Lucy's big speech to John about her foibles did hit home for me and probably would for anyone who ever felt they fell short of a man who truly loved them in a way they didn't feel deserved.  I couldn't help feeling at the end that her choice was okay for that day, but wouldn't ultimately last.   But then a...

I really dug his first book with James Patterson , and I like this one pretty good too.  The only problem with this one is that I'm listening to it as an audiobook, and I don't dig all the voices.  A real first-world problem, I know.  And it's always kind of interesting to see how Bill is kind of spelling out how he sees himself in the world, or rather, how he wants to be seen.   This book by Rax King, on the other hand, makes it quite a joy to listen to her lovely voice as she reads her own, sometimes boring sometimes scary, escapades as a teenager and young adult.  Her full chapter on Creed makes the entire book with the read. For television viewing, I did enjoy the History Channel series of Thomas Jefferson, but got a little bored by the FDR episodes.  And that shocked me as I love FDR!  Something about the presentation and the actor portraying him looking a little too much like Kevin Spacey methinks. And even though I didn't see ANY of his mov...

 This has been a lifelong habit of mine.....falling down rabbit holes.  I discover a subject, and I go all in.  I've watched it happen with a few various topics, and then for my own amusement, I traced back how it all happened.   With Gary, it went like this....... I had been listening to a lot of audiobooks on my Spotify.  After a weekend of listening to early 80's New Wave and British New Romantics, I decided to give Gary's book a listen.  And so it begins...... I'd always heard the term "New Romantics" but didn't really know much about who or what it referenced other than Duran Duran and maybe Culture Club, so I found an awesome doc online explaining the musical movement including London Club, The Blitz, the significance of Covent Garden, The Winter of Discontent, Saint Martin's School of Art and on and on and on..... From there I learned that Spandau Ballet was basically decided to be THE band of the New Romantics/Blitz Kids scene.  And even t...

  If you're a single lady late in life, at some point Garrett Breedlove will land in front of you.  And no matter how experienced and cynical you might be, you will not be ready.   If you fell in love with Ronny Cammareri when you were about 14, you never had a chance anyway. Or Johnny Castle.  (BTW, do you know this photo is called "Johnny beckoning"? It has been burned on my brain for over 30 years now......geez.) And I feel like I can even really speak on Lloyd Dobler, Jake Ryan or even Blaine and Ducky.  And don't get me started on Yuri Zhivago, Nickie Ferrante or Rhett Butler.  I can't even go there.  Us girls.....Hollywood never gave us a chance, did it?

 Memes have become my new fortune cookies, daily horoscopes and fonts of wisdom.  My Facebook feed reads all of my moods to deliver just the right words for all my needs.  I save them, pass them on, and turn to them for exactly the motivation I'm looking for given the day's crisis and/or catharsis.   I notice a good bit of what I gravitate toward concerns renewal, forgiveness, and self care.  But some are just straight up funny and slide right in just when I need cheering up. A good many of the memes that slide to me are directly relating to heartbreak and romantic disappointment, because hey, we all know that Mark never stops listening!   Of course I follow a lot of "you go girl" and "woman power" sort of pages and groups, so those memes are pretty easy to spot.  But I don't diminish one bit of how important they can be for self-esteem, self-care and forgiveness. I'm also a huge fan of the "softness" memes.  Encouragement of embracing who ...