Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 98

Agent Carter FTW!

So last night I tuned into actual live TV to watch the season premiere of Agent Carter.


Ms. Carter has been sent to Los Angeles because her boss in New York wants her out of his hair and wants the glory from the case she was working on. Of course, it backfires on him, and he loses the suspect and Peggy stumbles into something as equally sinister as what she left.

Is it completely realistic? Of course not--it's a comic book brought to life so there are fantastical elements, but that's what makes it fun. Peggy Carter, though, she looks like a 1940s woman should with all those lovely curves.

One of things I enjoy most about the show is the relationship between Peggy and Mr. Jarvis, her unlikely backup. James D'Arcy is fantastic as Tony Stark's prim and proper butler and right hand man. Peggy's free-spiritedness and independence and Mr. Jarvis's uptightness play well against each other.



Have you checked out this show? What do you think?

All of a sudden...

I feel like there's not enough time in a day...

I have things I *need* to do and things I *want* to do and things I *don't want* to do and I am at war.

When I feel overwhelmed, I rely more heavily than ever on my trusty TO DO list. I just have to make sure it's as complete as I can make it, and I have to ensure that if there are due dates, which there are for many things, that I keep them in mind as I pick and choose what to get done.


No matter how many things I have to do, I never fail to take down time to read. Of course, I have to be careful, because it's so easy to sink into the reading abyss and I have SOOOO may fics in my to-be-read folder that sound fantastic.

Several years ago, I was president of my writing group and of the band booster for about six months. That was a challenging six months, but I was also super productive because I prioritized every day the things that had to be completed that day or the next. And day by day I got things done and made it through. Of course, I hadn't discovered BBC Sherlock fan fic at the time, so it might have been much harder with all that ficcy goodness tantalizing me from the Internet.

How about you...how do you handle an overabundance of things to do?

Another death hits the U.K and the general entertainment industry...

There's a Starman Waiting in the Sky...

The world lost one of the most influential British musicians ever this past Sunday when David Bowie died after a secret 18-month battle with cancer. He released a final album Friday, January 8th--his 69th birthday.


I wasn't a huge fan... That is to say I knew who he was and, as a teenager of the 80s, was familiar with a handful of his songs. You remember the red shoes silliness of a few months ago? Yeah, that was from David Bowie's 1983 release Let's Dance, and that's primarily why his death was a such a shock to me.

(This video, while strange, does not feature any sort of phallic symbols!)

Some may also recognize him as Jereth the Goblin King in the fantasy action film Labyrinth...


On a more personal note, though not quite as sad as David Bowie's death, I dropped Sonshine off at the airport yesterday afternoon as it was time for him to return to Seattle. It was a nice visit and while I wish he still lived at home/close to home, I'm also a bit glad that life is returning to normal. I like routine and I've gotten used to a quieter existence as well as a house that stays tidy for days on end as opposed to just a few hours. :)

Any David Bowie fans among my followers? Do you have a favorite song?

(The post title is a reference to a very early part of Bowie' career...) 

2016 Goals -- Appended

I've thought of a few more things to add to my list...

The most important one being to start writing to my grandma again. She lives in Denmark in an assisted living facility and I haven't seen her in years. I haven't written more than a note on the flower delivery card in years either, although fewer years than since I've seen her. And I feel guilty about that, so along with the phone calls to the moms is a monthly letter to Grandma.

(Image courtesy of FOTOSEARCH)

In addition to the writing group treasurer job, I am also paid to update the group's website. I'll admit I haven't been as diligent as I ought be about that, so...pledging to do better with that as well.

And as part of that weight loss line item, I'm adding "get healthy and well" back. Not so much emotionally, because I'm fine with that, but physically. I sit so much between work and home and my body just feels blah. It's hard to explain, but I know it's because (even though I walk on the treadmill) I don't use a lot of different parts of my body. All the other things I've planned on doing will help, but I'm adding the potty break calisthenics back in. For as little time as they take, they made a huge difference to me way back when I started this journey FOUR years ago. Going back to basics rarely hurts.

I'm glad to have the goals list a little fuller. It felt incomplete for some reason.

Time to get started!

The Abominable Bride - the BBC Sherlock special in the theater...

The much anticipated Sherlock special aired New Years Day in the late evening, was shown in theaters around the world on the 5th and 6th, and will be re-aired on PBS Sunday January 10th at 9pm locally. Check your PBS station for time if you're so inclined!

I watched it on New Year's Day, I saw it in the theater this past Tuesday, and I will be re-watching on Sunday. And chances are great that I'll be buying the digital copy through iTunes here in the very near future. Yes, I'm that fan. (Though not as *that fan* as some people I'm acquainted with online.)


The film was a one-off special taking Holmes and Watson back to their Victorian roots. Mostly. It wasn't supposed to have much to do with the contemporary plot lines of the series in general, but...it did. A bit.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie tremendously. While it had a lot of gothic-horror-type elements, it wasn't graphic and it was quite funny. The writers poked a lot of fun at their contemporary version and there was a reason for that.


There were two things I specifically didn't like, although one is attributed to the above-mentioned "reason" and I can accept that, though I don't like it any better. The second thing, while somewhat understandable, I just hate that the writers went there, and I think it was completely unnecessary. But I'm not Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt--two of the most prolific, popular, and successful writers for TV in Britain at the moment. So what do I know?

If you are a fan of the show and have seen the special--what did you think??

Nothing New Under the Sun

My Sonshine came home for a visit last week and it's as if he hasn't been away for a year and a half. I still miss him dreadfully sometimes, but it has gotten easier.

The Brown Eyed Girl and her significant other came up from Houston this past weekend as did DD and we celebrated Christmas. Everyone seemed pleased with their gifties. I think the best loved gift was an elephant lamp given to the Brown Eyed Girl. My favorite gift was just having everyone all together for a while visiting and we even played a little Rock Band. (I do so miss that...maybe I should add that to my goal for the year.)

My Brown Eyed Girl has come a long way from just a few years ago and I'm so happy that she's happy and healthy and doing well for herself. She recently got a promotion into a supervisory position. Her boyfriend is a clean cut young man, very handsome, and sweet. (Man--I should have gotten a picture of them...)

(Okay, stolen from her Facebook page :)--more than one way to skin a cat...)And here's Sonshine and my Brown Eyed Girl...
No pictures of DD because she rarely lets anyone take her picture.

It's sad sometimes to consider that all my babies are actual adults. But on the other hand, life is good. 

Happy 2016!

Welcome to another new year! It's time to put the new goals out there for all the world to see...I usually try for ten, so let's see how many I can come up with. In no particular order...


1) call my moms once a month, both of them -- Yeah, I was really horrible about keeping in touch and now that I'm getting older and my kids are gone, it's hitting home a little harder--also one of my moms complained. :)

2) write -- specifically finish the BBC Sherlock/highlander AU fic, polish and submit the cowboy romance I wrote last year, write a 10K to 15K word story for a Christmas box set my critique partners want to put out into the world next Christmas.

I don't know...should I break these out? I mean, will I not get to count this one as reached if I don't complete any one thing? Technically, yes, I suppose. Well, I'll make them A, B, and C...

--> 2A) finish the BBC Sherlock/highlander AU fic
--> 2B) polish and submit the cowboy romance I wrote last year
--> 2C) write a 10K to 15K word story for a Christmas box set my critique partners want to put out there next Christmas

3) read -- I blew last year's goal out of the water. Final word count was 13,612,336 read. My problem is, though, that I read so dad-gum fast, I rarely remember a fic once I've gotten two or three more under my belt. Only the truly remarkable ones stand out. So I think part of my goal is going to be to re-read some of what I read last year. There's no way to not read new stuff though. And I'm giving up on the official Goodreads challenge. I don't think I've technically won that challenge since I started trying. This year's goal will be easy to reach because I can't not read. But let's give it a number--five million new words and then whatever I re-read...

4) create pod fic -- What's pod fic you ask? Well, it's an audio "book" created for a fan fic. I've been wanting to give it a try as a way of forcing myself to slow down and really read and contemplate a fic (see the above item). I suppose one pod fic would render the goal reached, so let's say I have to create five of them. (Even if I choose really short fics...)

5) reach the 120lb. mark (for real this time) -- I got into the spirit of things again finally at the end of October, but there just wasn't enough time left to lose the last 20lbs. I made great progress, but I just waited too long.
I'm on a roll now, and I've got a new Wii Balance Board coming from Santa so that I can change up the treadmill with Wii aerobics. I'm also planning on (see #8) walking the dog three or four times a week.


6) keep crafting, do a wider variety of crafts -- I did a lot of cross stitching in 2015, which was fine. I enjoyed it, but at Christmas it seems as if I always branch out a little and try new things, so instead of waiting till next Christmas, I'm going to try random things throughout the year. I've got a couple of friends who were inspired by my various Christmas projects, so I may try crafting dates.

7) get my house clean -- Yeah, it needs a thorough cleaning and bad. I mean it's not crusty or anything, but the windows need cleaning, the door jambs and base boards need wiping down, the floors needs a good mopping. One room a month? Eh...I don't know. If I get the living room and kitchen done, I'll call it a win. :)


8) walk the dog, walk to the post office -- Rayna needs more exercise too and I need to add some variety to my routine. I'm shooting for three or four days a week. In addition, the walk to the P.O. box on the three days I work at the office helps me get outside and get some sunshine. I credit it with keeping me on the right side of the line back in 2010. I've gotten away from it, but I think I need to add it back in. Not because I'm riding any lines these days, but because it's a mood booster and healthy.

9) be a better treasurer/stay on top of treasurer duties for my writing group -- I did okay last year, but there's always room for improvement. So this means catching up paperwork on a monthly basis rather than every few months in a flurry.

10) er...

I usually shoot for ten. It's a nice number. I'm drawing a blank, however. I've given up on fixing up the yard for the time being. Money has just been too tight for too long and my hopes have been dashed. :)

I guess I'll stick with nine for now and if I think of something, we'll revisit!

How about you? Have you thought about what you'd like to accomplish in 2016?? Do share!!

Happy New Year

Happy 2016 Friends! I hope your New Years Eve was everything you wanted it to be. Mine was as expected. :) I was at the fireworks store selling fireworks to the masses of central Texas!! It was special because Sonshine timed his visit home so he could go and work with his Dad and me.

Turns out we had a bang up sales day--exceeded expectations by a wide margin considering the sales on the 30th were pretty abysmal.

But today, for the first time in probably over twenty years, I watched the Rose Parade. It was a New Years Day tradition when I was growing up although Mom and I never actually went to one in person.








I remember loving the marching bands most of all as a kid and now I have even more reason to enjoy them. In fact the first band I saw upong turning on the TV was from Allen, Texas!

Anyone else out there, besides Mom, who's a Rose Parade watcher??

Final Roundup of 2015 Goals

Well, the year is just about over. It's time for a final recap of my goals, which can be found just to the left.

1) Do more crafts--lots of cross stitching done and then some other random things for Christmas.

DONE!




2) Self-publish a book--I wrote one, but lost confidence and interest in getting it revised.

NOT DONE :(

3) Research degree programs--never got past the "yeah, I should do that" phase

NOT DONE :(

4) Work on the yards--um...we hired a guy. Does that count? They always look nice now.

DONE!

5) Ramp up the proof-reading business--I did great through May. Then I lost interest in it. But the goal was technically accomplished.

DONE!

6) Clean up/clean out the house--did some random things, but not enough that I count this as accomplished.

NOT DONE :(

7) Get healthy and well--considering where I was last year at this time and well into the new year, I count this goal met.

DONE!

8) Writer 2500 words a week--despite the book I wrote and the fan fic I wrote in November & December, I fell way short of the mark.

NOT DONE :(

9) Read 3 million words--yes, yes, and OMG, YES! Final tally came in at 13, 497,481. I reached the 3-mill mark some time in February. Yeah I did A LOT of reading last winter and throughout the year.

DONE!

10) Reach the 120lb. mark--alas, I waited too long to get serious about this. This past Monday morning I weighed in at 135lbs. I have a ways to go, but the progress I've been making for the last couple of months will carry me forward into the new year.

NOT DONE :(

So I had a 50% success rate. But I feel pretty good about everything and that's the point. The things I didn't accomplish, well... the blog title is "A Time for Everything," so...just not time yet??

What about you?? Did you have goals for the year? If so, how'd you do??

Have a fun and safe New Year's Eve!!