Fri-Yay 10

This week has been so loooong. I don't know why it took forever but I guess because I've had small (but things that took a long time) chores so it felt like I was working forever and getting nothing done. 

I have read a lot of books. Well, "read." Like, if I'm not feeling a book I'll read through to the end and then count it as "read" but I discovered after reading through a Goodreads forum that other people don't do that and feel there should be a "DNF" shelf (DNF = Do Not Finish). Ah...oh well. I'm not going to change my habits now. 

Sadness, one of the cats that works for the UK government is retiring. Oh no! I love the cat workers of Whitehall and wish the U.S. had a chief mouser. A White House Cat so to speak. A First Feline. Right, back to the UK, Palmerston the Cat, chief mouser to the Foreign Office put in his "resignation" letter the other day.  

Listening: 

I've started tuning into Spotify's "Daily Wellness." It's a mix of songs and meditation and motivation talks. Well, today's wasn't a fabulous one but the rest have been spot on. My only complaint is that one of the talk hosts has a very rushed and not pleasant meditation/motivation voice. He'd be fine with another field but that's just me. There's a woman that's lovely and an Irish guy that has a soothing voice. Sometimes the series is a bit...saccharine? It's okay though. I have the Calm app as well so meditation does well with me. They have a news and podcasts option as well but sometimes with the news (because it accidentally turns into the top story over and over) I have to quit it. 

I downloaded "What What Crappens" podcast. It's a Real Housewives (and other Bravo shows) podcast that isn't produced by Bravo (so it's good). So far I quite like it but because I can't figure out if Spotify will let me mark multiple podcast episodes I have to fast forward through hundreds of episodes to get to the seasons I know of. This is with every podcast though. Spotify doesn't seem to think this is super important...which is a bit of a bummer. 

Other podcasts I'm thinking about adding are "Son of A Hitman," "Foundering,"The Piketon Massacre,"Phoebe Reads a Mystery," and "The Michelle Obama Podcast." Lots of murder in that group. 

The Eurovision Song Contest is coming to America. It's called The American Song Contest. I'm not against it but I'm not someone who can watch Eurovision sober. Granted, I'm sure more people will know about Eurovision (in America) because of the Will Ferrell movie. It could be a smash. 

Reading:

Goodness, I've read some stinkers this week and a bunch of just "eh" books. I did read two classics, Gulliver's Travels and Treasure Island. I'm not going to talk about the bad books because I'm sure some people really would enjoy them. I just need my romances to be less....sweet (?) or less purple prose-y. 




Longforms I've read this week: 
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• The Guardian: The Last of the Zoroastrians - I learned about this religion in college, it's super interesting. Here, the author talks about his grandfather, a practitioner of the faith, and the culture he came from. 
• Longreads: The Endgame of the Olympics - The cost, the citizen pushback, and the human derision that can follow the Olympics. This wasn't too shocking, I remember reading that the reason the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics was successful was because it actually made money. 
• Vice: Simon Biles Would Like to Thank Herself - Biles is such a delightful athlete to watch and this article is from an interview with her that talks about the amount of work, planning, and practice goes into her craft. 
• High County News: Unraveling the Mystery of A Stolen Ceremonial Shield - a bit of a historical mystery as the shields originally disappeared in the 1970s only to turn up in 2016 in Paris. Far more interesting than anything I could write about, this article also explores the difference of art, artifacts, and cultural ideals between countries. 

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Watching: 

Not Mulan. No offense to Disney but I hate their live action movies. I was willing to tolerate the live action Mulan as they've changed it a bit (although I did like Mulan's OG love interest that was written out) but when the Chinese government got involved and the actress came out with her parroted statement I was done. I'm not interested in Chinese governmental excuses propped up by mediocre actresses. Fuck off Mulan.  It's $30 for a rental after a Disney+ subscription (I don't have this subscription). All the other live action movies suuuuucccckkkkeeddd. Such a cash grab. I do think it'll probably do decent though. Kids + pandemic + easy entertainment = (probable) win. 

I have Chinese friends but I don't like their government at all. Apparently (according to them) this is not an unusual feeling. Before I get angry emails--I don't like my own government at the moment so we can all hate together. 

Speaking of people I'm starting to hate--Youtube jerkoffs. How hard is it not to be a total jackass? Like, don't pretend to rob a bank! They're facing felony charges and I just don't feel bad for them. Also in "idiots who shouldn't be famous or have a platform" news, whatever reason the FBI had for raiding Jake Paul--it sure as hell wasn't for guns or robbing one store. They'd send the sheriffs for that. It has to be a full on federal crime. Drug trafficking or human trafficking or something internet related (child porn). Maybe embezzlement? I don't know what he did or is accused of doing but that's pretty freaking serious. I guess I shouldn't say 100% that I'm right on this...but I'd be shocked if it wasn't more serious than robbing a store in the mall. 

Stop making stupid people famous!


So I'm watching nothing new. 

Buying: 

I haven't pulled the trigger on these yet, but they might be in a future order. Even if I'm not wearing lip gloss/lipstick right now. This too shall pass! To be fair, I know the product is decent and I love the packaging. They're the Maybelline Lifter Gloss Lipgloss. The website linked is another beauty website I check for reviews--even though the writer has different likes/dislikes and skin color than I do. She seems like a good egg. 

Stamps from the post office. I've upped my letter and postcard writing to my friends and I need more stamps! I'm going to get some cute ones. I'm quite fond of the American Gardens series 

I also finally put my Ted Baker Comforter on my bed. I bought the High Grove pattern with matching shams and then I also bought the blue coverlet (the same fabric as the blue pillows in the picture). I haven't bought a new bedroom set in about ten years so it was time (plus my cats destroyed my last one). This one is super cute and as a fantastic bonus--was on sale. Bed, Bath, and Beyond as well as Bloomingdale's have it for sale. I put a sale alert on my phone and checked it every time it dinged until it came to a price I was comfortable with (around 150 if I remember correctly). I really like Ted Baker designs but I cry paying for it. 

Anyways, it's cotton and the design is printed on the fabric. It's really beautiful and I've used it a couple of times for a backdrop already.