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Meddling Too Much

Watching the Chinese racing romantic drama Speed and Love took a while for me, frankly, because aside from the length (29 episodes) the storyline had an abrupt disjointed remaking of itself about two-thirds of the way through which almost ruined it for me. I came away thinking someone majorly messed with the script at that point to make the series something else, and it suffered a lot because of it. The premise is the story of two non-blood-related siblings Jiang Mu (Esther Yu) a pampered little girl, and Jin Zhao (He Yu), an abandoned boy who becomes her older brother. Mu's parents get divorced, and her dad and Jin Zhao move to Thailand. As soon as she grows up, Mu heads to Thailand to find her brother, who is now a really handsome thug who races cars and fights in underground boxing matches. The attraction between them abruptly shifts from siblings to lovers, and then Mu learns that Zhao is risking his life in dangerous races for very noble reasons. Up to the point wh...
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Wear Whatever (But . . . )

I started watching a video on YouTube by a woman warning other women over 50 about what not to wear. Sometimes these fashion no-nos are funny, but this time it really annoyed me so much I shut it down after only a couple minutes. Why do women always try to establish rules to make other women feel bad when they're doling out advice? I'm a be comfortable, live-and-let-live non-fashionista. My wardrobe is basically jeans, sweat pants, leggings and oversize t-shirts, all of which I thrift now. I do have a few dusters and dresses I can wear for formal occasions, but I don't have to deal with many of those any more. I could care less about what other people, especially other women, think of what I wear. That said, I also have some opinions. I think a lot of women of a certain age (why can't we just say older women?) try to cling to their long-lost youth with how they dress. I know someone in RL (who shall remain nameless) who is my age but dresses like she's ...
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Nearly There/Done

Last night I finished the embroidery on my January tote, which due to my diminished dexterity took a couple weeks. I think I'll have to be a little less ambitious with embroidering in the future. It's actually a little easier to see the stitching from the back. :) I'm quite happy with it, although I have only three days left for the beading. Hopefully I can wrap it up before February 1st, but if I go over a few days it's okay. I don't think the calendar project police will throw me in jail. :) Added on February 1st: Going right down to the wire, I finished beading, lining and assembling the tote at 11pm on January 31st. I am very happy I completed such am ambitious design, especially considering how messed up my hands have been with all the winter arthritis flares. I'll probably try something a bit simpler for February's tote. :)
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More Shiny

I finally watched all 36 episodes of the Chinese office romance drama series Shine on Me , which really did teach me more than I ever wanted to know about the photovoltaics industry. It also does qualify as one of the slowest of slow-burn romances with one major misunderstanding, a bunch of minors, and a very odd secondary romantic plotline that still seems a bit enigmatic, and that is something the Chinese are definitely not known for at all, so there you go. Song Wei Long did a fantastic job as Lin Yu Sen, a former neurosurgeon and member of a high-powered family, who is haunted by the accident that ended his career. He blames Nie Xi Guang (Zhao Jin Mai), the beautiful daughter of another high-powered family, for the accident, as he was going to meet her when the crash happened. This is the major misunderstanding, btw, and it's kind-sorta plausible, although it casts Nie Xi Guang in an unfavorable light for rather too long. Meanwhile, Xi Guang has this whole other un...
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Secrets in Tapestry

Anyone who embroiders and loves history like me has heard of the Bayeux Tapestry. An embroidered length of linen that is 20 inches wide and nearly 230 feet long, the tapestry dates back to the 11th century, within a few years of when William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England and became king. Technically it's not a tapestry, but an embroidered cloth, but everyone just calls it that, so okay. Tubi has a free to watch documentary about the conservation and research being done on this marvelous and mysterious artifact, so of course I jumped right on that. The documentary is absolutely fascinating. I had no idea the French and other researchers were actively researching the tapestry, or what they've been able to accompish. Seeing the tapestry in its original colors was stunning. So was the fact that these folks have managed to save a cloth that is basically a thousand years old, and one of the oldest embroidered works still in existence and intact. The only down side for...
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By Any Other Name

I seem to be in the mood for a mystery binge, as I thrifted a copy of Real Murders by Charlaine Harris (the author of the books that inspired HBO's True Blood .) I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, but I do like this author, who is a very accomplished and quite readable writer. The premise: a small town librarian, Aurora Teagarden belongs to a club of townspeople who study and discuss true crime, and as she's preparing to take her turn in presenting a case she discovers the body of one of their members, a victim of a copycat murder. One by one the members start dying, and Aurora must solve the mystery while being romanced by a handsome cop and a suspicious novelist and dodging at least one attempt on her life. My thoughts: it's a fairly generic mystery, but well-written enough to keep me engaged. I kept stumbling over the protagonist's overornate name in the text, so that didn't work for me (that's my problem; I am very picky about names.) I also tho...
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Last Month

To start off 2026 I finished the fifth and final project of 2025 for my day job almost exactly at midnight on New Year's Eve. I crocheted a big beautiful basket out of scrap variegated yarn to hold some thrifted skeins I want to work with in January. I crocheted a shelf liner basket out of thrifted bulky yarn to hold my blood glucose log and testing supplies. I completed my first big crochet project for 2026, this throw made from seven skeins of thrifted Mandala Ombre yarn in Serene, which really set the right tone for the year. Among other things during my annual spring cleaning I got my home office sorted, tidied up and reorganized. I discovered how many emotional support chickens I can crochet out of bulky and super bulky yarn in one night: three! I crocheted a big white cat stuffie out of blanket yarn. I made a big beautiful crocheted basket out of variegated yarn in colors I'd likely never otherwise use plus some white to hold some yarn for Val...
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