What would possess anyone to think that putting cayenne pepper in a lovely delicate thing like cheddar cheese shortbread is a good idea?

Books, movies, tv :  I really dislike flashbacks

Netfilx: TV: Signs

I did not enjoy this, in the main because I just did not like the characters.

I would spare Ada's husband and Maria's mother but I would have been happy to see all the other main characters killed off in the final episode.

Also the final episode left things ready for another season (which I believe is coming to Netflix) but I most likely will not watch.

Another problem was that the "reveal" at the end was so brief and shadowy that I had to search around on Google to confirm what I thought I had seen.

Netflix: TV: Flowers

This is a British series about an eccentric British family, as only the British can be eccentric.

The first season really grabbed my attention and led to a lovely and moving final episode.

The second season was eccentric beyond even my tolerance, but again the final episode was good, although it left things unresolved.

I checked on Wikipedia and it does not look like there will be a third season.

July 29, 2020

It's hard to believe that July is almost over.  In some ways it seems like a long time that I've been distancing yet at the same time it feels like a week.

Over the last several years as I've aged into my seventies I've often found myself remembering incidents and whole periods from my past.  Some things that I regret, more so in what I did or didn't do for other people than in decisions I made about myself.  Some things that I'm proud of, moments when I stood up for something, or picked the hard but "right" choice, or was simply kind.

But just in these last few days I've been thinking back about the person I was at various times in my life, which tends to feel almost like someone else.  And when I do look at that person I'm feel such compassion for him, for what he was and for how difficult it was for him to deal with the world, how overwhelmed he often was, how lonely, how hard he was trying.  I would just like to be able to give him a hug and not so much tell him that it would be all right but that he would survive and that someone understood.

In many ways that person is still me.  I still find it difficult to cope with the world and unfamiliar situations, I'm still very socially awkward, still largely alone.  The big difference is that I am retired and don't have to face going into a job and coping with supervisors and co-workers and all the other difficulties of the workplace - and while I have health issues they are all currently under control.  Also, I no longer torture myself with doubts about whether I'm doing the right things or if I'm wasting my life.  

Overwhelmed

I don't have enough time in the day.

I spend time with podcasts, and reading, and Great Courses, and Netflix and other video material, and internet news etc.

Somehow I have to squeeze in cooking and grocery shopping and laundry and housework.

How did I ever hold down a fulltime job for all those years?

Re Netflix

I've had Netflix for two months now so the novelty has worn off and I think I pretty much know how I will be using it going forward.

I had expected far more movies, at least movies that I actually want to watch, than there are.

There is far less gay content than I had hoped.

I have very little interest anymore in science fiction (20 years ago I would have been thrilled with all there is on offer). 

I have no interest in shows about people with supernatural powers, or superpowers in general.  Or magic.  Or time travel.  

I don't much care about sex comedies.

I like murder mysteries but not spy stories or secret government agencies or violent vigilantes.

The Nordic countries seem to do the best job of creating these.  

I wish they would do series based on one year at time.  I hate cliffhangers, especially when it turns out they don't do the next season and you never know what happens.  Doing more than one season is ok, but I prefer it when each season is it's own story - things can carry over from a previous season but each season should be complete in itself.