Second Time's a Charm

Back when I first watched the Chinese drama You Are My Glory I wasn't all that impressed; I liked the actors and the romance but felt a lot of peripherals got in the way. Since the lead actor is gorgeous but has always been a little controversial, and lately is getting slammed by his critics for the poor quality of his performances and other issues (which frankly seem pretty contrived), I decided to watch it again.

I came away from it thinking better of the entire series. Part of that has to do with me becoming more accustomed to Chinese productions and the usual problems with them, just as I eventually got used to most Japanese dramas being overly arty, pointless and depressing. The other is I'm stepping away from my Westerner point of view and trying to see these series impartially -- which, I admit, I'll never be able to do completely -- and take away more about the story and less about the politics.

The story remains unlikely, but I liked it better this time. I ignored what bothered me during my first viewing and focused on the characters and how they were portrayed. I also followed the romance a little more closely and watched for signs that I might have missed. One thing I did notice this time is how conflicted the lead male is over nearly every aspect of his life outside aerospace engineering (and even at work he has a couple of moments of doubt and fear.) Since I've lived with the same barrage of conflicts with my work I sympathized more with him this time around.

The series still has the same problems, but it is well done, and if you can ignore the annoying elements is very absorbing. Available on Viki.com.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Better than Fried

I cut some chives from the kitchen garden to make garlic-chive baked fries for dinner. This is a great side dish for veggie burgers. Click here for the recipe from Taste of Home.com.

The Mercantile

If you don't mind walking 33K square feet in retail space, The Mercantile may be the vintage/arts store you'd enjoy visiting if you're ever in Orlando. I certainly did. Because it was busy I didn't take any photos in the store, but it's absolutely amazing and chock full of antiques and artisan creations, most of which were pretty reasonably priced. For $21.00 I invested in a picture of sailboats for the guest bathroom I'm redoing, and a fairy mystery jar of cool stuff. The jaw was hand-painted and decorated, and utterly charming. I think I wanted the jar more than the contents. As you can see the contents were both generous and pretty cool, too. I finally have some vintage gloves to use for my art quilter bingo challenge!

Rayen

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