Lots of Laughs

Friend Zone is a Thai movie that had me alternately laughing and groaning basically throughout the film. It's slightly raunchy, funnier than anything I've seen from the east, and a touching look at the friends to lovers trope.

Alot of credit goes to the leads, who did their jobs and then some. This story revolves mainly around Gink (beautifully portrayed by Baifern Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul), a Thai girl whose life we see from high school to adulthood. She's best friends with Palm (wickedly handsome Nine Naphat Siangsomboon, whose mother was Miss Thailand World back in 1988, and she gave him all her good genes), who is secretly in love with her. Gink has friend-zoned Palm, however, so all he can be is her very good, patient and generous friend as she goes through her parents' divorce and then two romantic relationships that fail.

I have no idea why Palm was in love with Gink; she's crazy, rude, selfish and completely oblivious to how Palm feels for her (and how gorgeous he is, for that matter.) But as I always say, you don't get to pick who you love, so it works. The comedy is constant, especially surrounding Gink and her hijinks, and sometimes a little over the top (which is common for Asian comedy-romances.) Although it takes almost to the end of the movie to resolve the conflict, it was an easy watch, and lots of fun. Available on Viki.com.

Handy

I have taken to wearing a bracelet on my left wrist these days. I've never liked wearing a lot of jewelry, so it isn't that. It's to remind me not to use my left hand, which I now do unconsciously all the time for some weird old person reason. This also means I fumble, knock over and drop a lot of things, because my damaged left hand only has about 30% function due to damage from past surgeries. My grip also depends on how much my arthritis is flaring, which is a lot these days.

I'm not bitter; I'm grateful I still have a hand. I'm just being practical. My brain wants me to use the left because I'm a southpaw (and apparently I always will be) but I know that's not a good idea. Hence the bracelet.

Last night I got a relatively better night of sleep by strategically adding a pillow to slightly elevate my head, take some of the pressure off my neck, and create more side space for my damaged left shoulder. I'm a side-sleeper and there is only one position that is comfortable for me, so I use pillows to try and keep myself in that position. I have arthritis in my neck and shoulder that is steadily growing worse, too, so this doesn't always work. Sometimes I have to take naps during the day because I didn't sleep well.

I'm fine with that, as I've been living with arthritis since I was twenty-eight. If I can get four or five hours of good sleep a night, I'm grateful for that as well. Last night I got seven. That's like getting an early birthday present.

When I was younger obviously I could do more, and sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. I'm a person who likes to do a lot of things. When I become depressed over what I can't do anymore, I remind myself that I'm still here, I'm still mobile, and I am lucky that I can work out ways to manage my impairments and still do some things. Staying positive makes every day an early birthday present.

Image credit: Steampunk hand image created by Hotpot.ai's art generator.

Little UFO

While sorting through an old project bin last month I found three patchwork blocks and matching backing fabric that I never finished making into a runner. I decided that should be the finish UFO would be the next square I tick off on my art quilter's bingo card.

I had enough of the backing fabric to make my own binding, so I did that, too.

It turned out imperfect but pretty (still having trouble putting the binding on with the sewing machine.)

I do like the colors very much.

Before I put it out on the kitchen wall for which it was intended, I added feather stitching all along the inside edges.

Now I can check off one more space on the Art Quilter's Bingo card. :)

Garden Update

We're now enjoying veggies from the garden pretty much year-round, but late spring is when everything starts producing like crazy. Our patch of corn here will be ready to raid in a few weeks (alas. none of the corn made it thanks to poor growth and lousy polination. We're ready to give up on corn.)

The arugula, which I asked my guy to plant for me over winter, loves both our soil and the heat (which is weird, because it's not supposed to like the latter.)

The green beans and radishes are doing well and adding lots of freshness to our dinners every week.

The watermelon always tried to bust out of its bed and take over the yard, but we're keeping it in line, and hoping it will produce more of the sinfully sweet fruits we enjoyed last year (another bust as of June 26th, all the melons we grew burst one by one.)

We've also planted bell peppers and cucumbers, which should start producing soon, so we're quite happy. There's hardly anything to complain about in the garden.

Well, not counting the caterpillars, which apparently love my fennel JUST as it's going to seed, which I have been waiting months for it to do (I only use fennel seed in cooking.) But if that's all the trouble we have, I'll be happy.

Autographed

During my spring/Swedish Death cleaning I gathered and shelved together all the books people have signed to me, two I bought that were already signed, and two ARCs that found their way to me and hallmarked an important moment in my career.

I rarely donate signed books because I know exactly how it feels to find out someone got rid of the books they asked you to sign, but there were some that had bad memories asssociated with them that I needed to let go. I did contact one author to ask if they wanted a bound ms. ARC of their work from 2005; they instructed me to dispose of it.

Considering how long I worked in Publishing (26 years), doesn't seem like much, does it? Ah, well. I'm still glad I have these. :)

Thrifted Kicks

I wanted a slightly lighter weight pair of sneakers for summer, and watched ShopGoodwill.com until I saw a pair of Skechers that seemed to fit the bill. I bid on and won the sneakers for my minimum bid, which was perfect. They arrived last month still in the original box from Kohl's.

Here's why I bid on this pair of shoes: the display circle tag, which means one of them was set out as a display in the store for a time, and the original hefty price tag: $64.99.

One of the sneakers (no doubt the display shoe) still has the clear plastic display insert still inside, and the other has tags attached to the heel loop.

Their immaculate condition tells me that they have never worn or even tried on. I paid $9.99 for them, so I'm delighted. Savings: $55.00.

Handwritten History

While performing my spring/Swedish Death cleaning I destroyed a bunch of journals that I really didn't want anyone to read after I'm gone. At the same time, I saved a few for posterity, like the one I wrote when my Dad passed away. I think how I dealt with losing him might be helpful to my favorite person when the time comes for me to go.

I found a little journal filled with poetry that I wrote twenty-four years ago that someone might enjoy. Unlike my high school attempts, the verses aren't half-bad, either.

Even in one of my menopause years journals I put things that were beautiful, like this peacock feather. I can't believe I liked writing on black paper so much (what was I thinking?) but I appreciate how hard I tried in most of my journals to find and appreciate beauty. Maybe the ones I do leave behind will help someone else do that.

Cleaning to Death

What I've been calling spring cleaning included something else that might seem a bit grim. The concept is called a Swedish Death Clean, and you can read more about it here, but basically you donate, discard and otherwise rid yourself of things you own so that your heirs don't have to do that after your death. It's the ultimate and a very permanent form of cleaning and organizing.

I focused on my favorite person's things first, but once I finished sorting through and donating her possessions from college (with her full knowledge and blessing, btw) I did the same for all the boxes and bins of things I've been storing from my past. Basically I let go of about forty years of records, writing, journals, possessions and other reminders of my past so one day my favorite person won't have to.

Since the first half of my life was spent in poverty, obeying a strict religion while dealing with continuous family troubles, I wrote a great deal about it in my journals to cope. I've always kept the worst details of my life secret, and unfortunately there are many. I don't want to be remembered for what I endured, or strike back at everyone who hurt me in the past.

It was difficult, I admit. I felt at times like I was erasing myself. Yet I am not vindictive person, and once I finished it felt incredibly freeing. Now all that pain has been reduced to memories that will die with me, and I can see that there is no better way to deal with them.

Delicious

Earlier this month I tried this recipe for a skillet sausage and pasta dish that turned out to be very tasty, and just enough for two hungry people. You do have to reduce the broth-based sauce twice, but it's not that difficult to manage.

Mostly out of necessity I did make some tweaks: I used mild Italian chicken sausage instead of spicy (my ulcer is still acting up), grated parmesan-romano cheese blend instead of parmigiano-reggiano cheese (they don't sell that kind of cheese here in the country), medium pasta shells instead or orecchiette pasta (ditto on that oddball pasta) and regular chicken stock instead of low sodium chicken broth.

I was delighted to use fresh arugula from our garden in the recipe, but honestly, I couldn't really taste it. I think the next time I might add some diced tomatoes and some crushed fresh garlic as my guy likes both in his Italian dishes.

Second Lot

This is another lot I thrifted for a minimum bid at ShopGoodwill.com. All of the clothes arrived spotless and in new condition with the price tags still attached. These are Coldwater Creek linen trousers that retailed for $79.95.

Blouse by Rebecca Malone; retailed for $30.00.

89thMadison pants; retailed for $48.00.

No-name brand trousers; retailed for $7.99.

Another no-name brand slacks, retailed for $14.99. Total retail value of the lot is $180.93.

I paid $9.99 for the entire lot. Savings: $170.94.

Hmmmm

Sometimes the book is better than the movie, and Thomas Harris is always better on paper. He's one of the most talented writers in the biz, although like Stephen King his story choices make him a hard read for me. Like King he also takes great pleasure in things I do not find amusing or entertaining in the least, so keep that in mind as we move along.

I haven't read anything by this author since Hannibal, the ending of which deeply disappointed me. I knew there was another Lecter book that came out (Hannibal Rising?) after the one I disliked so much, but I was done with the author anyway, so no big deal. Until my guy and I were out with our nephew at a bargain outlet store, and I saw a remaindered copy of Cari Mora on display in the book section.

I've never seen Thomas Harris's work remaindered anywhere before that moment, and I haven't heard a peep about this particular title. Since the author is a hugely successful writer, and yet rarely publishes anything, that seemed weird to me, but okay. Since this gem was obviously not going the way of Silence of the Lambs, I decided to buy a copy and see why.

Cari Mora is a lot like Red Dragon (another Harris novel), if you turned the story inside out and sprinkled a little Silence of the Lambs in it. The title character is a former Colombian child soldier, and among many other jobs she housesits a mansion that once belonged to drug lord, cartel king and terrorist Pedro Escobar (yes, the same Pedro Escobar from the real word) where he supposedly buried half a ton of gold under the house. Cari is a world-wearier version of Clarice Starling.

Hans-Peter Schneider, the Hannibal Lecter of this story, wants the gold and comes after her for her knowledge of the house. He plans to chop her up and sell her body parts, or perhaps creatively mutilate her for the pleasure of richer men, and he spends a lot of time fantasizing about this, to my eternal disgust. Happily she manages to slip through his fingers (at first). Hans-Peter, Cari and a motley crew of other characters then get caught up in trying to get the gold and stay alive. Not all succeed.

There's not a wasted word in any Thomas Harris novel, and as a writer I appreciate that. That's about all the positive in this book for me. The story, the characters, and even the ending didn't move me. That's definitely due to the subject matter, but also because I've seen this story before from the author, in different incarnations. I didn't care for it the other times I read it. It's obvious now that unlike Stephen King Thomas Harris is very limited on what he can write, or he's not interesting in exploring new story territory. Anyway, I think if he publishes again he'll likely go on telling the same story with the same characters, plot and twists, just dressed up as different. Some readers enjoy that, but it's not my cup of tea.

Thrifted Versus Retail

All of the clothes in this lot at ShopGoodwill.com were new with tags, my size and spotless, so I put in a minimum bid and won it with no challengers. Let's start with this sleeveless linen-like white top from Ross; retail $6.99.

89th Madison white shorts; retail $52.00.

Old Navy jeans; retail $34.99.

Colorful sleeveless top also from Ross; retail $11.99. This is the only piece from the lot that I didn't keep.

Maroon sweater from Jouica; no price tag but I saw similar online for $35.99.

Flora bathrobe from a 3-piece set that retailed for $70.00, so we'll price it at $23.00.

$164.96 total for these clothes if I had bought them retail. I thrifted the entire lot for $9.99. Savings: $154.97.

Smalls

Before I lost the use of my left hand I was a pretty dedicated painter. One thing I liked to do was paint miniature portraits of characters from my stories on bits of tile, shell and agate.

I often tried to paint as small as possible.

I found all these in an old sewing bag, where I stashed them after I gave up painting. Glad I never threw them out.

Lucky 13

I won a lot of vintage patchwork for a minimum bid, and that pleasant surprise arrived last month.

There were thirteen big blocks in the lot, and they were all on the primitive side.

All of them were sewn to backing but had not batting, so either the original maker wanted to turn them into pillows, or planned to join them together as a summer quilt.

All the hand embroidery on the applique pieces wasn't expert, but still very nicely done.

I'll have to dream up something special for these.

Stick a Fork in Me

Once I finished cleaning out and reorganizing my book/sewing stuff closet last month, I finally accomplished all of my personal spring cleaning goals (the rug cleaning is my guy's job, but I will help him with that.) That took from the beginning of April (I did a bunch of planning and prepping before I began the real work) until the middle of May, or about six weeks. I promised pics, right? Click here to see my spring cleaning album.

Peachy Keen

One bit of history I could not toss out during spring cleaning was this sign I stitched when I was eight years old. It's the very first thing I ever embroidered, and I made it in art class at school.

I've gotten a little better at embroidery since 1969. :)

On the day I found that ancient embroidery I crocheted this peach. She illustrates how I was feeling after accomplishing all my major spring cleaning goals. Very happy with what I was able to do, thank you, universe.

Old Loves

While I've been spring cleaning I've been parting with some quilts I can't use anymore, but this is one I'll always keep. It's very heavy, worn, and presently too fragile to be used for anything but display. Despite those limitations this is one of my favorite quilts of all time.

The reason I love it is that it's the first hidden quilt I ever found. This quilt was batted with an older quilt that is hidden inside.

Using old, worn-out quilts as batting for new was a frugal way for makers to source batting. It also preserved quilts that were probably much-loved. I had a conserrvator look at this one and she estimated that it dates back to the 1930's, so it's almost 100 years old.

The maker sashed her blocks and created backing out of flour and feed sacks, too, which only adds to the charm of the quilt.

I have no idea what the quilt hidden inside looks like; I've never taken it apart. The quilting is pretty dense, and I'd have to pick that apart. Since the fabric is super fragile I'd likely tear it. I don't want to destroy the quilt just to satisfy my curiosity, so I'll just enjoy owning what is forever a mystery.