Finally. Next!Poppy - book 7, chapter 25, Advances - now posted in The Poppy Tales (link above). Enjoy!

Another quick catch up...

Picked up Ghostbusters and Star Trek Beyond at Tesco on Mon, and we watched the former after dinner (thought it would be a light-hearted way to end a bit of a grim, wet Monday). It's great fun! Follows the format of the original enough to be familiar, but with enough differences to be interesting. And Chris Hemsworth is hysterical in it! We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and I really hope it has at least one sequel. Star Trek, however...

I'd heard the aim was to have it feel more like an original episode this time around. It succeeded - but I want more than that these days. The tired old format left me yawning. The best thing about it is the Yorktown space station (why the hell didn't I think of that?!) which is glorious. The rest - meh.

Tuesday's Kabuki/Ukiyo-e ('pictures of the floating world') lecture was great, intriguing and informative. Ken and I both enjoyed it. I rather hope the lecturer will produce a book based on the new hand scroll (and that it's a bit cheaper than her others!) as I'd love to take a closer look.

Kai's haematology clinic appt on Wed went well. His bloods are normal, his health good (well, there's the endless winter bugs but these days that goes without saying. They're damned persistent this year, mine hasn't gone yet) and all in all they're very pleased. As are we all, needless to say.

Yesterday was my carers' meeting at the Vassall Centre - this time on Carers' Rights (10 - 3: a long day with free lunch included). Useful and interesting, and I'm still strongly tempted to volunteer as a Carers Rep. Will rethink come next year and see if I have any more time to commit to it (it looks like Ken's new meds are working, and Kai is slowly becoming more independent, so signs are good). I booked myself in for a 10 minute reflexology free taster session (Sensory Heaven - "Sensory Heaven specialises in holistic treatments including Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Reiki, Indian head massage, Baby massage, facials, manicures and pedicures, and waxing. Its therapists are expert in providing group work within day centres and residential homes, as well as private referrals. Sensory Heaven will be in Spur 8, where special dark and light ‘mood’ rooms are being created, along with a massage room and reception area") which was completely wonderful. I have a money-off voucher for a half hour carers' session (every third Monday of the month) which I might very well treat myself to in the New Year...

Then it was back into town to suffer the Black Friday crowds to find a couple of Yule presents, then Sain to pick up dinner (in-store made pizza last night, followed up by the 1978 version of Dr Strange, which I found cheap on amazon while trying to check when the new one will be available to buy. Adrian had transferred my ancient VCR tape of the film to disc for me, but the tape had been so old and overused the quality was poor. The official film was only released this Oct - presumably to take advantage of the interest the new film has garnered, I guess - and is still fun).

And so to today. Ken has gone to Westbury-on-Trym to photograph the tomb of an ancestor (I think!): Kai is getting some homework done (I hope!), and I'm about to get stuck into next!Poppy. I'd really like to post it this weekend...

Labels: busyness, films, medical matters, meetings, writing

Brief catchup while I continue searching for my will to live, which went AWOL after recent events (I am disgusted by and seriously ashamed of certain swathes of my adopted species...)

In no particular order: Gods of Egypt came up on Filmflex. Kai had I had seen the trailer and thought it looked like fun, so we hired it on Friday evening. It's not a great film, but it is loads of fun, very pretty, nice CGI, fun characters, reasonable story. Most enjoyable - we ended up watching it three times in the 48 hours we had it available and will pick up the DVD when it's cheap. Then Independence Day: Resurgence showed up unannounced at Sains. I suggested we catch it first on Filmflex then buy it when it came down in price (they all do, eventually), but Ken said since we would buy it anyway, and the cost would be about the same, let's buy it now...

It's dreadful. Really horrible. Hugely disappointing. I can't think of a single redeeming feature (well, maybe the CGI...)

Kai and I also watched Exposed (found it, unopened, in a charity shop for £1.50 and since I like Keanu Reeves...) Hm. Kai liked it a lot more than I did. Strange film.

Last venesection was quick and easy, though left him feeling more tired than usual (they took 500 mls instead of 450 - might have had something to do with it). His ferritin level is now down to 2013 - we're getting there!

I have a nasty cold and have lost my voice...

There's also been more gardening, more tidying up of cupboards, more shopping (Sains closed last Tues for its final bit of the refit, so Ive had to shop at Tesco. Sains should be open again this Tues, fingers crossed. Both supermarkets are about the same distance from us, but I much prefer Sains for quality and choice). Yesterday Ken and I went out: crickets for Rosa, Crystal Clear to arrange a visit to have the windows measured and quoted for, so we can see which we can have replaced first, Hurrans for new secateurs, then Toys R Us, where I found the figure of IDW Ultra Magnus (Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord) that I've been lusting after at nearly half price (£29.99 instead of the original £55) so he's now put away for my birthday. Or maybe Yule next year...

That's about it. I am still trying to get next!Poppy finished, but as I say, will to live diminished right now. I shall be ending The Poppy Tales in the current 'book' though. Gone off writing about humans.

(I've now set the blog to the recommended https settings, so if anyone has any problems viewing it, please let me know.)

Labels: busyness, films, medical matters, pissed off, political stuff

Ooops...

Well, needless to say it's been busy. The weekend 29th/30th saw us all in the garden at some point, with more tidying up/organising happening. On Mon I picked up the bike and walked him home: on Tues Kai had his first counselling session (went OK, enough that he's going again) and I did a little shopping during it (now have bike lock): Wed... I forget. Thurs too. Probably more housekeeping. Fri we watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and enjoyed it - it's quite amusing! Sat and Sun were in the garden again: the second raised bed is now built, though not filled yet, and K&K had a bonfire in the incinerator to get rid of all the old wood. It's a lot tidier and easier to get to things now.

Yesterday was a lot of shopping, and I picked up X-Men: Apocalypse, just out on DVD. Kai and I saw it at the cinema, but Ken hadn't , so we watched it after dinner. Fun stuff. Looking forward to the next now.

(Should probably also mention that over the last week we've watched season 2 of Dead Like Me and loved it! Ken found it and the later film, Dead Like Me: Life after Death which is loads of fun, dirt cheap in a charity shop. It's nice having complete sets of things.)

And today Kai and I went to see Doctor Strange. Lutra knows I've been havering about this, as the original comic book chara is one of my all-time favourite superheroes, but I find BC's face to be perhaps the creepiest I've ever seen. I haven't been able to bring myself to watch him in anything except the second Star Trek movie, which was hugely disappointing. I know I must be the only person in the world to feel this way, but I can't help it.

So it was with some trepidation I bought the tickets, sat down, and shoved on the 3D glasses...

Heh. I needn't have worried. While his face is still creepy (I think it's the eyes?) the film itself is a damn-near perfect retelling of the Doctor Strange story. And he plays the character perfectly. After a while I forgot about his face and just enjoyed it. Fabulous sfx of course, and wonderful characters. It's a fantastic ride and I can't wait for the sequel! (If anyone reading this is planning to go see it, make sure you sit through all the credits. There's a scene just after the main credits, as usual, to set things up for the sequel (probably!), but at the very end of the film there's another one that sets up a second story arc. Most intriguing!

Will try not to take so long updating next time. Main problem is when I have time to do it, I'm usually too tired...

Labels: busyness, domesticity, films, garden, sheeeeeep