Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts: Holiday Decoration Time!

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

It’s been a couple of weeks since I participated in this meme. So, this one may be longer and slightly less focused than usual.  You have been warned.

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts: Sci-Fi Month Reflections

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

1.  One of my entry points to sci-fi fandom was (like many) Star Wars.  I remember the first action figure my parents got for me was an R2-D2.  R2 used to have a ton of adventures on our swing set and took a lot of abuse going down the slide. I know Star Wars action figures are worth a nice sum of cash today, but none of mine were in any kind of collectible condition after all the years of playing with them.
2. Another factor in the lack of collectibility value of my Star Wars figures was we lived in Hawaii for a while growing up.  And the Air Force engineers dug a ditch in our yard. If you don’t know, Hawaii has red dirt that stains EVERYTHING.  And this ditch made a GREAT alien world for my action figures.  So, they were pretty stained up by the time I was done with them.
3. I also kept all my action figures in an old Star Wars lunchbox. Ahhh, the days when we had metal lunchboxes.
4. As much as I enjoy Star Wars, I still haven’t had time to watch Rogue One. It’s not lack of interest so much as lack of time. Or the feeling that I want/need to commit two plus hours to it. And with Shortcake, that isn’t always possible. And, so far, she has shown next to no interest in Star Wars.
5. 

   A good friend sent Shortcake this onesie so we could have matching outfits! I’m totally saving this photo for the montage at her wedding!

   On the other hand, she enjoys Star Trek and will look at the screen when the theme for Original Series or Next Generation comes on. Her Daddy couldn’t be more proud.

6. When she was smaller, we used to “swoosh” across the living room when the Enterprise swooshed by in the opening credits. And she loved that too.  She’s not too big to do that still.  I think I may have to try it again with her before she gets too big.
7. Speaking of Star Trek, I can’t believe this week is the mid-season finale for Discovery.  Man, the first nine weeks have just zoomed by!
8. I’ve got the first tie-in novel for Discovery sitting on my TBR pile, just mocking me. I think I may have to read it during the hiatus.
9. Starting to catch up on The Flash this season and I’m loving season four. Only up to episode three, so if it all goes to heck in a handbasket, don’t tell me.  It feels like the whole show has found its balance again and I’m loving it.
10. So, it’s Sci-Fi Month and I’m trying to read/watch stuff in the sci-fi world.  Any recommendations from anyone?

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts: Henry Winkler is Cool Edition

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

1. 1. Shortcake was the cutest Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween.
   2. Is it sad that entering the fourth quarter of the UT vs Kentucky game last weekend, my thought was, “What new way will they find to disappoint me this week?”  And then, they went and found a new way to just exactly that.
   3. Just saw the news that The Orville has been renewed.  I’m happy for the show and reminded that I’ve got four (soon to be five) episodes sitting on the DVR, waiting for me to get caught up.
   4. Just when you think Henry Winkler can’t get any cooler, I read this interview where he says, “When I go into a school, the first thing I do — whether there are 100 or 500 children — is ask, ‘Anybody here know what they’re great at?’ Every hand goes up. Every child knows what they’re great at. Whether they are learning-challenged or not. Our job as adults is to make sure they meet their destiny, every single one of them.”  I love it and I hope I can do that for Shortcake as she grows up.
   5. On a related note, Henry Winkler has a series of books for kids that has spun-off into its own TV series. How did I miss this?!? I hope we have the Universal Kids channel on our cable package so I can watch this with Shortcake.
   6. The Fonz had many cool moments on Happy Days. But one of my favorites is this one from season four’s “They Shoot Fonzies Don’t They?” After agreeing to be Joanie’s partner for the big dance marathon at Arnold’s, his motorcycle breaks down on the way back from Chicago.  Exhausted from pushing his motorcycle to the Cunningham’s, Fonzie won’t let anyone tell Joanie he’s exhausted.  At the dance contest, Joanie’s nemesis (who kept her off the cheerleading team) bets that she and her partner will beat Joanie and Fonzie. If Joanie wins, she’s a cheerleader.  If the other team wins, Fonzie gets a crewcut. It all leads to this moment…

 

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts: Wish I’d Thought Of It!

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

1.  Finished a short story in Hugh Howley’s new collection, Machine Learning, in which a Roomba helps bring about the end of civilization as we know it. The story itself is pure and total genius and makes me wish I’d thought of it!
2. In honor of Halloween, I’m listened to the new audio version of The Dead Zone. And reminded again of just how much I love Stephen King when he’s at the top of his game.
3. Also reading Sleeping Beauties, King’s collaboration with his son Owen. I’m far enough into the book now that I am just enjoying the story and not looking for signs of who wrote which section.
4. Free comic books on Saturday! Our library participates, so we plan to drop by with Shortcake Saturday morning.
5. Was sad to hear of the death of Robert Guillaume earlier this week. I have fond memories of my dad letting me stay up with him to watch Benson on Tuesday nights when my mom went to choir practice. I watched all the way to the end and am still kind of sad we never found out how the final cliffhanger turned out. Benson was running against Governor Gatling to be the governor and just as the results came in, it said “To Be Continued.”  Part of me always hoped we might get a reunion and find out someday. Guess that won’t be happening now.
6. What does it say about me as a person that I judge all politicians by whether or not they measure up to Governor Gatling? He had a story for EVERY occasion.
7. So, Tennessee’s best player on offense got busted for possession and is suspended for this weekend’s game against Kentucky. I foresee mocking texts from my cousins who pull for UK headed my way late Saturday evening.
8. It’s getting to that point in the television season when I have to decide what stays in my watching rotation and what goes. I’ve got a couple of things stacking up on the DVR and trying to get to them isn’t always easy. That said, I’m catching up on The Good Place, which has been even better in season two (if you didn’t watch season one, go and watch it now while avoiding SPOILER) and I’m caught up on Star Trek: Discovery and Impractical Jokers. 
9. Can we talk about The Big Bang Theory for a minute? I still watch because my wife enjoys it, but I’ve got to say my enjoyment is rapidly dropping. I’ve noticed a pattern in long-running Chuck Lorre shows. The first few seasons have the characters digging at each other, but there’s still a heart to it and I feel like these people care about each other. Now, I just feel like it’s people yelling and being so hateful to each other that I question why they’d hang out at all any more. Anyone else feel like this or is it just me?

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts: YA Edition

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

1.  Finished John Green’s new novel, Turtles All the Way Down, last night and I’m having mixed reactions to it.  On the one hand, the way Green puts us inside the head of his OCD character makes it a compelling, fascinating read.  On the other, it feels like a  YA novel where the teens are far too precocious and witty for their own good.
2. Finally closing in on the end of the audiobook of One of Us Is Lying.  It’s entertaining enough, but I’ve got some issues with parts of it.  If you’re not familiar with it, the premise is that five kids walk into detention and only four walk out.  One kid dies from an allergic reaction to peanut oil and the other four are left looking like suspects.  Told from shifting first-person perspectives of the four surviving students (each one out of a John Hughes movie), I can’t help but get a bit frustrated at the adults in the novel, especially the police.  They’re fairly ineffective and seem to not be investigating anything beyond our four suspects for long stretches of the story.  Meanwhile, our suspects band together and start to Scooby Doo what’s really happened and happening.  I wonder if the audiobook with its ten-hour runtime is contributing to this.
3. I see that One of Us Is Lying has been optioned as a tv-show.  I think it would work as a single-season mystery.
4. Finally starting to get over the cold that Shortcake brought home from daycare.  It’s not been fun.  I hate taking prednisone because I feel like I’m about to bust out my skin and then I have insomnia.  I sometimes wonder if the cure is worse than the disease.
5. The Vols need a new head football coach.  I like Butch Jones, but after Saturday’s debacle, I can’t see how he stays.  Nice guy who is going to get fired. That said, I do NOT want Lane Kiffin to come back like a subset of Vols’ fans want.  He’s a violation waiting to happen and he dumped us in the middle of the night to jet for USC.  I can forgive, but I won’t forget.
6. After a week off from exercise due to illness, I got out and ran for the first time yesterday.  And it was glorious. Great weather for it.  Alas, my phone reset in the middle of my run, meaning that RunKeeper didn’t track the whole activity, thus bringing up the age-old dilemma of “If I ran but RunKeeper didn’t track it, did I really run?”
7. So many shows I want to catch up on, so little time.  Seriously, I need to make a list and just starting being intentional about what I watch and catch up on.  First up may be finishing Stranger Things season so I can watch season two when it drops next week.  I’ve also got to find time for Bosch, The Man in the High Castle, most of the Netflix Marvel shows that aren’t centered on Daredevil and 13 Reasons Why.  And this list doesn’t include Game of Thrones (I stopped in season four)!

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts, The George Constanza Edition

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

1. 

   

   

   Saw a cool hash-tag challenge on Facebook, #TheDaughtersChallenge.  While I’ve only been a father for a year and a half now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.  Shortcake has changed my life and I love watching her grow up and explore her world.  I sense there will be a gratuitous montage of Shortcake photos with this post.

2. If I ever doubt how much E loves me, I will always remember that we celebrated our anniversary Sunday watching the Titans game and the debut of Star Trek: Discovery. 
3. Star Trek: Discovery has debuted and I’m annoyed at my fellow Trek fans.  It’s been over a decade since we had new Trek on our television screens and too many of them are complaining about the distribution model.  Here’s the thing. Thirty years ago TNG debuted in first-run syndication.  At the time, that wasn’t a guarantee of success for the show.  But it worked and we had new Trek on our screens for close to two decades.  Now, Discovery is experimenting with the distribution model and fans are up in arms because they don’t want to pay for CBS All-Access to get it.   It’s why we can’t have nice things.
4. Can’t decide if I want to read the new Discovery tie-in novel or not. My Trek tie-in novel reading has declined a lot in the last decade.  Maybe this is time to jump back in and enjoy the novel.
5. Reading Sally Kilpatrick’s new novel, Bless Her Heart and really, really liking it.  I swear she’s putting in Easter eggs for those of us who have had the privilege of knowing her in real life.  (We matriuculated through the University of Tennessee together)   
6. I swear I’m becoming more like George Costanza/Larry David with every passing year.  One thing that bugs me about a lot of my fellow inhabitants of this planet is how we’re all convinced the rules apply to everyone else but you.  I see it a lot, from people parking in the no-parking zone (or as I call it the “no one but me parking zone”) to motorcycle riders who zoom up between rows of traffic on the congested interstate.
7. Impractical Jokers is the funniest show on TV, hands down.  I laugh every time I watch it.
8. My local library has started up a group to discuss graphic novels.  I’m intrigued by this and may have to participate.  Alas, I forgot that the meeting was tonight.  Maybe next month.
9. Saw an article the other day that suggested that the BBC remake the lost episodes of Doctor Who since there David Bradley is doing such a great job of emulating William Hartnell’s work as the first Doctor.  And while part of me would LOVE to see these episodes sitting happily on my DVD shelf, I’m still wary.  I’m only for it if they don’t re-edit them (as they did with the animated “Power of the Daleks” where part one had a cold open and then rolled into the credits), the episodes were filmed in 4×3 as they were originally shot and the photos from that era were used to get as close as possible to the original look and feel of the show.  I wouldn’t be shocked to see the BBC try to recreate episode four of “The Tenth Planet” so it could be shown and re-released on DVD.
10. Cooler weather is forecast for this weekend!  I am so excited about this.  I love summer but I’m ready to pull out the long-sleeved portion of my wardrobe.

Bookish (and Not-So-Bookish) Thoughts

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. share exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they’ve encountered during the week, etc.).

Saw this and thought I’d give it a try. Get ready for some totally random thoughts!

1. Star Trek: Discovery finally debut this weekend and as a huge Star Trek fan, I am pretty excited.   It’s been intriguing to see the backlash by critics who aren’t getting screener copies of the two-part premiere.  Many are assuming it’s going to not be good and that CBS is hiding it from us.  I just can’t help but wonder if Trek learned from the debut of Next Gen thirty years ago when “Encounter at Farpoint” got bashed by critics.
2. Trying to decide where is the best spot to publish my thoughts on Discovery — here, my original series re-watch blog or both?
3. Finally got to watch the second episode of The Orville.  And I’m still on the fence.  Feels like the MacFarlane type of jokes really take me out of the show.  I wish the show would find a tone and stay with it.  A much longer rambling on the second episode should see the light of day later today.
4. Shortcake is figuring out this whole walking thing.  And she loves it.  I’m delighted for her but it’s bittersweet because my little girl is growing up too fast!
5. Reading wise, I feel like I’m a bit of a slump.  Lots of stuff I want to read but nothing that’s really grabbing me.  New Stephen King book comes out next week, so that should help.
6. My lovely wife and I celebrate six years of marriage this Sunday.  Can’t believe she’s put up with me for as long as she has. I’m truly blessed.
7. Spent some time this week out looking for rocks.  The newest fad is creating, leaving and finding Kindness Rocks.  What at first seemed like a low-tech take on Pokemon Go! instead, has a much kinder significance to it.  I ramble on a bit about it on my Confessions of a First-Time Dad blog.
8. Still sad my Vols lost to Florida last week.  So very sad.  Butch Jones is a nice guy, but I’m afraid he’s going to get fired.

So, that’s about it for this week.  This was fun and I may have to add this to my regular rotation!