Tag: blogging

If Only I Could Spell “Annihilation” I’d Review It

Studly Doright was busy working on Tuesday morning, so after I ran a couple of errands I took myself to see the film, Annihilation. I knew Studly wouldn’t want to see this movie. You see my big strong man doesn’t dig entertainment that makes viewers squeal in horror or recoil in disgust. That’s my bag.

I haven’t yet read the book, but I’m eager to download it now. The author, Jeff Vandermeer, lives in Tallahassee, and I hear he frequents Wells Brothers, one of my favorite burger joints. What I wouldn’t give to pick his brain!

Y’all know I don’t really do movie reviews, but I loved everything about this film: The strong female cast led by Natalie Portman, the jaw dropping suspense, the special effects, and pitch perfect soundtrack. And the ending! Holy cow. But spelling “Annihilation” is a bitch. Spell check kept laughing at me as I struggled to write this, offering no viable suggestions.

Go see this film anyway, one doesn’t need to be able to spell Annihilation in order to enjoy it. Then send me a message. I need to discuss it with someone. Hurry.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 6

On Day Six of March I offer up a row of Reader’s Digests ready to repose in the recycling receptacle or in a rheumatologist’s waiting room. Radical, right?

Does anyone think a book titled Dumbed Down: Alliteration for Dummies is marketable? ‘Cause I might have mastered the art. Or not.

Bright Lights, but no Sushi

A Meetup friend and I made plans to eat sushi at Izzy’s, a restaurant in Tallahassee’s trendy midtown area. I’d never heard anything about the food at Izzy’s, but my friend said they had trivia on Monday nights, so I jumped at the chance to go. We invited others from Meetup, but in the end it was just “Shirley” and me who were able to make it.

Izzy’s had a cool vibe, and the place was hopping when we arrived. Shirley and I ordered drinks, an appetizer, and a sushi roll and settled in to play the game. The crowd was considerably younger than we were, so when we had to choose a name for our two-person trivia team we came up with “Not Your Moms,” to the delight of everyone in the restaurant.

Our drinks and an outstanding appetizer of hummus and warm naan bread arrived fairly quickly, and we ate as we played the first couple of rounds. At the end of those rounds we were in fifth place out of seven teams, ahead of a group called “Boy” and another I never could quite understand.

By the third round, Shirley and I had given up on our sushi roll ever being delivered. We kicked butt on questions in that round, though, so all was good. We ended up canceling our order, and that was a crying shame. It looked amazing.

After the fourth and final round, “Not Your Moms” was in third place! Not too shabby! And I made friends with one of the players from team “Boy.” His name is Ross and he gave me his door prize, this stunning necklace of Christmas lights.

I really needed that necklace, you know. What a fun evening. I’m glowing.

The high point of the night, though, was my correct guess of Weezer during the music round. Not bad for an old broad.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 5

On day 5 of March, I turned to the recycle/reuse cabinet of my kitchen. And what did I find there? Plastics. Plenty of plain, plastic repositories for putting away paltry paraphernalia. Plastics.

Side note, the tall container was the jug I mixed the nasty liquid laxative in preparation for a colonoscopy I had several years ago. What kind of person saves her colonoscopy prep bottle? Don’t answer that.

https://media2.giphy.com/media/l41Yzjtm0YbybMLHG/giphy.gif

Peace, people.

Photos from Birdsong

On Sunday I met up with members of the Tallahassee Women’s Meetup group for a visit to Birdsong Nature Center outside of Thomasville, Georgia. This was my second visit to Birdsong, and I had eagerly anticipated the trip.

http://www.birdsongnaturecenter.org

Anticipation can sometimes be the enemy, and leave one feeling disappointed by reality, but Birdsong delivered the magic once again.

Here are just a few of my extremely amateurish photos.

Dogwood in bloom:

A titmouse at the window:

A bright red cardinal:

Wild azaleas:

A nice fat woodpecker:

An even fatter squirrel:

The Listening Place:

And one more cardinal:

What a glorious day!

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 4

On the fourth day of March I elected to purge the gossipy, publicity periodical, People. Please, no applause.

A World With Guns Poetry Readings

Occasionally I write poetry, and when the spirit moves me these poems deal with the horrors of gun violence. When I came across a piece on Facebook about a series of poetry reading events across Florida to keep the conversation surrounding gun deaths front and center, I thought to myself, “Oh, I’d do this if an event was scheduled for Tallahassee.”

Scrolling down the list I read:

Oh. I see there is one here. Deep breath. Myself isn’t feeling all that cocky right now.

The thing is, I don’t know if any of my pieces are good enough to present. I’ve only ever read my own works in front of an audience once or twice, and then I shook so hard my teeth rattled.

What say you, friends? Is this one of those things I should allow to fall by the wayside, or should I jump in with both feet? Awaiting the wisdoms of my readers, especially the poets among you. Please be honest. I’d rather not make a fool of myself at this event.

Here’s one for your consideration:

Guns in Church

Will we take our guns to church now?

Jesus take the wheel, but leave me my pistol

Dylan Roof opened fire in a South Carolina prayer meeting

Now more dead occupy the pews in Texas

Just wondering which firearm goes best with Psalms.

Yea, tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil,

For I am armed with an automatic weapon.

No doubt lawmakers will offer meaningless thoughts and prayers

Their mantra sounding weaker by the hour

Who will answer for these deaths?

And here is another:

Guns and Thorns

the fetishists have cried,

“leave our guns alone!”

when no one has called

for their removal.

paranoid fools who fail

to see or care, cry time

and time again that any

move breeds futility

while still more innocents

die and we offer up only

thoughts and prayers.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 3

March 3: A trio of tired tops; two are too tight:

Dinner with Ms. NRA

For several months now I’ve been attending MeetUp functions with women in my area. Various members of the group get together for wine or lunch. Sometimes we go for leisurely walks and visit historic landmarks. I always enjoy myself.

I’m beginning to get to know some of the women who attend, and find some of us have a great deal in common. On the whole, we tend to be a fairly progressive group. Even those that tend to be more conservative politically are appalled by the antics of our current potus.

One evening last week seven of us met for wine and dinner at a local restaurant. I knew three of the women in attendance, but three were new to MeetUp.

One of the first timers bristled a bit when the talk turned to the need for action on gun control. The shootings in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day are still very much on our minds.

“Well!” she huffed. “I’m a member of the NRA, and we can’t ban assault rifles.”

I restrained myself–you all would’ve been proud of me, but she also announced that she was carrying (a gun, I suppose, but might’ve been drugs, the terminology is similar), so maybe it was fear and not restraint that kept me silent.

We turned the talk away from guns, and someone else mentioned the Me Too movement. Again this woman spoke up, “Just ridiculous. These women parading around with hats shaped like vaginas…”

“I have one of those. I wear it proudly,” I said.

“Well, it’s so vulgar and extreme,” she countered.

“Sometimes, we have to be extreme to make a point,” someone else added.

The conversation was steered away again, and we continued to drink our wine and snack on appetizers. We even found things we had in common with Ms. NRA. I don’t want to know if she voted for trump. I don’t want to discuss women’s issues with her. I definitely don’t want to take up gun control when she’s in the room. But, if she’s at any future MeetUps I’ll strike up a conversation with her. Maybe I’ll wear my pussy hat.

Peace, people.

March Minimalist Challenge, Day 2

March 2nd, on which I quickly had to find two things to purge in an alliterative manner:

A pair of pink plastic pretties, purchased, not purloined. Peace, people.