Shipwrecked & Comatose

Seeing ,  contrary to popular wisdom,  isn't believing .  It's where belief stops , because it  isn't  needed any more. - Terry Pratchett I am mostly deactivated on Facebook now, but I do pop in there occasionally to make announcements and link my blog posts.  When I reactivate, I stay on there for twenty-four hours to check out everyone's feeds and see how my friends are doing.  Most of the time I realize I'm not missing much by staying off.  Facebook has become like  Groundhog Day .  Everyone makes the same posts about the same stuff. (I would love to never see Baby Yoda ever again anywhere.) During one of my recent reactivations I saw a post that made me despair of how politics are now viewed in this country.  We have lost our ability to reason.  We don't base our votes on policy.  We don't base them on facts.  We base them on beliefs.   The post in question was a meme trashing the candidate one of my ...

I recently learned the movie High Fidelity was rebooted as a Hulu series with a gender swap and starring Zoe Kravitz.  I didn’t hate the original movie, but it was flawed.  For one thing it was too long and needed some more time in the cutting room.  Furthermore, John Cusack's character was often unsympathetic and rarely acknowledged his own shortcomings..  I still thought it was an interesting concept. The end of one relationship can bring on some introspection about where the others before it went  wrong. A breakup can force you to confront some ugly truths about yourself.   I understand Cusack's desire to spend that time looking backwards.  Why did breakups happen?  What was my role in each one? I have been happily married for over eighteen years, so I no longer have much interest in figuring out how my personal issues and actions contributed to past broken hearts.  I must be doing something right with the current man, and if it ain't...

Today I received an email in my junk mail box with the heading "Makeup as Nature Intended."  I didn't think makeup existed in nature, or that nature cares if we wear makeup or not. Can someone please explain to me this concept of "baked doughnuts"?  How can doughnuts be baked?  To me, part of what makes a doughnut a doughnut is that it's fried.  If you bake it, then it's not a doughnut.  It's a cupcake with a hole in the middle . When life give you lemons, make limoncello.  It's a bit of work that will occupy your mind and the anticipation of the finished product gives you something to look forward to.  I love the smell of libraries.  No electronic device will ever replace the comfort feel of old books . I want David Muir to read me a bedtime story every night.  His speaking voice is so beautiful, it makes me feel all is right with the world when I hear it. Someone explain something to me about this primary season.  We started ...

Did you read my last post?  When did you read it? If you read it yesterday it won't be the same post as it is right now.  The content will be the same, but you will see some newly-edited sentences and better organized paragraphs. When I write, I can never edit myself the way I need to.  To understand this fully, one needs to look at my typical blogging process. I come up with the idea for a post in my head.  I write the post mentally, but my thoughts always go off in a new direction.  I realize a post will never stay focused in my head, so I discipline myself to finally sit down and to write the post.  I consider every sentence carefully, editing as I go. I rarely ever finish a post in one shot.  I'll write only part of it.  I save it and come back to it anywhere from one day to several days later.  I read what I already wrote before continuing on.  I decide I don't like the phrasing of a few sentences, or that some of the larger p...

One advantage I had in marrying Kevin was that I was lucky enough to marry into his family.  I am a lucky woman indeed when it comes to my in-laws. A few years ago two of my coworkers were having a conversation complaining about their in-laws and asked me if I got along with my mother-in-law. I said, "I adore my mother-in-law." They were shocked and said, "Nobody adores their mother-in-law." I said, "I have an exceptional mother-in-law." Since the early days of our relationship Kevin's family welcomed me in and we never turn down a reason to spend time with them. So let's talk about Eleanor, this exceptional mother-in-law of mine.  She is a lovely woman who recently turned 94 years young.  Her mind is still sharp and her wit is intact.  Her good looks are still evident.  Her personal style is still exquisite.  When looking at, and talking to her, we see all we love about her sons. When you are in your 90s, every birthday is preci...

I started blogging sometime around the turn of the century.  I had a couple of homemade websites up using some elementary Microsoft hosting and then eventually I found MySpace where Shipwrecked & Comatose was born.   I still miss MySpace.  I liked the format.  The blog function made it easy for me to keep a daily journal of my mental flotsam and jetsam.  I could make every post public and open to all, open only to my MySpace friends, open only to certain MySpace friends, or private like a diary.  MySpace friends who liked my blog (and in those days I had my fans) could go to my profile and scroll through all the posts. I had friends who who visited it every day to see if I posted anything interesting. Open blogging did take a toll on me.  I wanted to blog about all the minutia of my life.  I sometimes felt as if I were living for the blog.  Every thought that popped into my head became a potential blog post.  Every event in my li...

Last night I had a really cool dream that was a mashup of Doctor Who and The OA .  The Doctor didn't interact with the OA herself, but was involved with the kids playing the video game and spent time in the creepy house.  She got a little distressed by it all.  I was afraid she would become so stressed out she would regenerate.  I'm not ready for a new Doctor yet.  I like this one. This made me think.  How many other TV shows would be cool with a Doctor Who crossover?  I know there are some Doctor Who comics that have Star Trek crossovers.  What about Doctor Who and American Horror Story ?  Doctor Who and Black Mirror ? How about The Doctor goes on shows that aren't SciFi or fantasy?  She visits The Brady Bunch .  She visits The Crown and wonders why the Queen looks so familiar.   I noticed game shows are giving away a lot of river cruise trips lately, especially Danube cruises.  I wonder if business for t...