Binge-worthy Shows

Thanks for your patience while I took a sabbatical! I’m back and just want to share what shows I’ve been binging (and a few I’m excited about).

Hulu: (in alpha-order)

Bones: Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan and cocky F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth build a team to investigate murders.

Boston Legal: Alan Shore and Denny Crane lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and personal lives of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys.

Children’s Hospital: Childrens Hospital (originally titled Children’s Hospital as webisodes) is an American dark comedy television series and web series that parodies the medical drama genre, created by and starring actor/comedian Rob Corddry.

Claws: Five manicurists at the Nail Artisans salon of Manatee County, Florida enter the traditionally male world of organized crime when they begin laundering money for a neighboring pain clinic and eventually work their way up to controlling their own criminal empire.

Dave: Centered on a neurotic man in his late twenties who has convinced himself that he’s destined to be one of the best rappers of all time. Now he must convince his closest friends, because with their help, he actually might convince the world; based on the life of rapper and comedian Dave Burd, known as Lil Dicky on stage.

Dollface: The series follows a young woman (Kat Dennings) who – after being dumped by her longtime boyfriend – must deal with her own imagination in order to literally and metaphorically re-enter the world of women, and rekindle the female friendships (with Brenda Song and Shay Mitchell) she left behind.

Cake/ Drifters: Drifters is a season that I’m enjoying of Cake. The episodes of the series consists of multiple short subjects, both live action and animated. Each episode contains a season length “anchor” miniseries with various other shorts filling out the remaining time. The first season has been described by the creator as similar in tone to 500 Days of Summer with the second season having a more traditional comedy vibe.

Filthy Rich: A southern Gothic family drama in which wealth, power and religion intersect – more correctly, collide – with outrageously soapy results.

Gameface: Marcella is an aspiring actress recovering from a relationship break up. Despite her optimistic attempts, and with help from her friends, therapist and driving instructor, she is unable to get her life back on track.

Prodigal Son: The series centers on Malcolm Bright, a profiler and FBI consultant, whose father, Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen), is the infamous serial killer known as “The Surgeon”.

Netflix: (in alpha-order)

Blacklist: Raymond “Red” Reddington, a former US Naval Intelligence officer who had disappeared twenty years earlier to become one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, surrenders himself to FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. Taken to an FBI “black site,” Reddington claims he wishes to help the FBI track down and apprehend the criminals and terrorists he spent the last twenty years associating with: individuals that are so dangerous and devious that the United States government is unaware of their very existence.

The Chef Show: The Chef Show features director, actor Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi as they, experiment with their favorite recipes and techniques, baking, cooking, exploring and collaborating with some bold-face names in the entertainment and culinary world.

Good Witch: The series follows the residents of (the fictional town) Middleton, including Cassie and her daughter Grace as they welcome Dr. Sam Radford and his son to town. Cassie and Grace share a gift of enchanted insight and magical intuition.

Gray’s Anatomy: The series follows the life of Meredith Grey, the daughter of esteemed general surgeon Ellis Grey, starting from her acceptance into the surgical residency program.

Greenleaf: The show follows the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family with scandalous secrets and lies, their palatial family mansion compound, and their sprawling Memphis megachurch with predominantly black members.

La Reina del Sur: (in Spanish, novela) Teresa Mendoza begins her adventure as a humble young woman in love with a pilot employed by the Mexican cartels. When they execute her boyfriend, Teresa flees, desperate to avoid the same fate. Her escape takes her to the south of Spain where she tries to start a new life.

Mindhunter: Mindhunter revolves around FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, along with psychologist Wendy Carr, who operate the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit within the Training Division at the Academy. They interview imprisoned serial killers to understand how they think, with the hope of applying this knowledge to solve ongoing cases.

Sweet Magnolias: It’s the story of three friends, known as the Magnolias, who live in a small town and help each other in the many struggles they face.

The Vampire Diaries: It follows the life of Elena Gilbert Nina Dobrev) as she falls in love with a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore. Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan’s mysterious older brother Damon Salvatore returns, with a plan to bring back their past love Katherine Pierce (ALSO Nina Dobrev), a vampire who looks exactly like Elena.

Virgin River: Virgin River follows Mel, who answers an ad to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner in the remote California town of Virgin River, thinking it will be the perfect place to start fresh and leave her painful memories behind.

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I took, and am continuing to take, September off

COVID is a lot, I know you all get it so I’m not delving in to it.
Plus everything going on in America between the presidential campaigns, general politics, politics and general unrest of race issues (which is important and should be happening), and on and on. I, as we all do, am having individual stresses.

I’ve had a lot of stress from one job that I was doing full time hours at; always drama which is so draining even if you don’t get sucked in.
On top of that was a brutal schedule. I worked 5-6 days out of a 7-day week, so any 5 days from Sunday to Saturday. There was zero consistency in my schedule and I often worked Fri-Mon and/or 6 days in a row. I, personally, do better with a routine so this alone effected my sleep, sanity, and exercise.
The hours I worked, customarily, were noon to eight thirty PM. Those hours messed up my sleep. I’m much better as an early riser and getting off of work at at that hour didn’t give me the time I need to get a good night’s sleep. It would be early enough that I’d want to get things done around the house or do something for myself, but it was also too late for me to be getting energized. Plus, I’m on MST and my family is on EST. During the weekdays I couldn’t call until I was off of work, as at noon MST they are at work themselves, and by the time I got off it was past ten PM EST and wasn’t a good hour to call. Weekends, which I mentioned working almost every weekend day out of a month, still only gave me from when I could wake up to about two PM EST which really isn’t a great time frame or enough time.

I started a new job yesterday which I’m so excited about! I will start at part time hours, supplementing income with my other job, and as the location grows my hours will increase.
I am working on creating a more consistent schedule with better hours. Everyone at my new job has been super chill and nice and I’m really optimistic about my future there.

Previous weeks taken were due to last of muster. This upcoming week (or so) will be to make a new work schedule for myself, to acclimate to my new job, and to get a home-life schedule going as well.

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Cavy Shows: Basics for Beginners

The Wheekly Reader

Whenever the topic of my unusual hobby comes up among my friends outside the cavy fancy (Yes, I have friends, and not all of them have guinea pigs. Just most.) one question will inevitably arise: You show guinea pigs? Can they jump through hoops or something?

Young long-haired guinea pigs wait on the table for their turn with the judge.

A judge evaluates long-haired cavies during a best of show round.

Most of the time, I do everything in my power to avoid this question, seeing as the answer is often long and involved, generally provokes additional questions with long, involved answers, and because it has a bad habit of coming up whenever I’m in a hurry to get someplace — like a cavy show. But, for the sake of establishing what portion of my sanity remains, I will here explain, to the best of my ability, what exactly a…

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WWBC: I’ve Eaten Some Weird Stuff

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate including a full list of topics for the year, please click here.

This week’s topic is about the weird stuff we’ve eaten. I’m not sure how “weird” any food really is, but here’s a list of foods that have gotten surprised reactions from others.

Bacon Ice Cream

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Burger

Sea Urchin

Pickle Back (whiskey shot chased by a shot of pickle juice)

Wine Slushie

Barrels and Bottles in Golden, CO makes amaze wine slushies. Red, white, and swirl.

I also eat some Jewish foods that are interesting, and almost always try whatever seems fun and interesting at street fairs and cultural fairs. I don’t always like it, and I don’t finish what I don’t enjoy, and that’s okay.

Try new foods! Let your taste buds go exploring!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Exploring Wicca: Entities

I’m Jewish. I am proud of being Jewish. I also feel there’s more out there that I can add to my life to enrich my whole self.

I love nature. I miss the stars from a childhood camp with minimal light pollution. I feel connected to a certain rock from a hike and bring it home. Sitting on the beach and listening to the waves, feeling the sand, and enjoying the sun and the wind is calming and rejuvenating. In feeling this connection, and wanting to explore it further, I have begun researching Wicca.

I’m organizing my notes in OneNote because I love how you can create sections of the notebook, when you paste from the internet it also pastes the website, and it’s easy to organize with drag-able sections and easy editing and adding of pictures and tables. Please bear in mind this is research in progress.
To view the whole Notebook, click here.

“Most Wiccans believe that Deity is immanent (is right here, right now, and all-present in the world), and also is manifest in nature (is evident and easily perceived). Most believe that the web of life — everything that exists — flows or unfolds from Deity Divine . . . er . . . the Goddess, the God, the Gods, the Old Ones, the Great Mother, the Higher Self . . .” – Wicca and Witchcraft For Dummies

Everything that exists is the Goddess.

Everything that exists unfolds out from the Source, and then everything enfolds back into the Source, in a never-ending cycle.

Wicca is based on personal discovery and direct experience of Deity, as well as reverence for nature and the web of life.

Wicca and Witchcraft For Dummies

The Goddess is the feminine aspect of the Divine. She is known as the Great Goddess, Earth Mother (or Mother Earth), the Universal Mother, the Great Mother, the Lady, and many other names. She has been worshiped by many cultures throughout time. Maiden, Mother, and Crone In many traditions of Wicca, the Goddess is closely associated with the Moon. She often is viewed as having three aspects that correspond with the phases of the Moon.

The Maiden (the Waxing Moon) represents independence and youth. She is the virgin Goddess. She often is identified with a woman’s wild nature and is shown as a forest Goddess in the company of animals.

The Mother (the Full Moon) represents giving birth (not only to children but to ideas, insights, and projects) and also nurturing, sexuality, sensuality, and creativity.

The Crone (The Waning Moon) symbolizes age, maturity, wisdom, and the command for respect.

The God can be three-formed as the Hunter, Warrior, and Sage. In some beliefs, it is His travels to the Underworld to free His true love that cause the shift in the seasons.

In addition to the foundational Goddess, are other deities who are extensions of and still/always, the Goddess.

Amino Apps:
Elements – the actual, tangible elements of earth, air, fire, and water
Elementals – lower-level beings such as undines, sylphs, gnomes, and salamanders that reside on the elemental plane and are rules over by the guardians.
Guardians of the Watchtowers – higher-level beings who rule over the elemental plane.
The guardians of the watchtowers are the guardians and rulers of the elemental plane. Each guardian rules over a watchtower that corresponds with one of the four cardinal directions. Those cardinal directions also correspond with specific elements. During a circle, the witch calls in the guardians, creating portals to their realms at each of the four quarters.
Because the guardians rule over the elemental plane and rule over specific elements, they control the flow of elemental energy within a circle. Calling them in a circle opens a portal to their realm, allowing them to pull energy from the elemental realm into the circle and maintain the flow properly. They also protect the circle, reinforcing its borders and keeping it anchored.
Some traditions view the guardians as archangels. In some ceremonial magick traditions, they are used in extensive and elaborate rituals, evoked to lend immense power and knowledge. Other ceremonial magicians view the archangels and the guardians as two completely separate beings. In other traditions, they are advanced beings who come from other realms or other planets that have evolved beyond the need for a physical form. Some even believe they are souls that have become enlightened after several incarnations and have chosen to guide and guard others instead of joining the Divine source.

Quarters – the four cardinal directions, often marked at the edge of a circle by candles or a representation of the corresponding element. Each quarter corresponds with an element.
Air – in the east quarter
Fire – in the south quarter
Water – in the west quarter
Earth – in the north quarter

Like Wiccan Goddesses and Pagan Goddess names, the Wiccan Gods are derived from many different cultures around the world.
But the majority of the most common names for Pagan Gods come from the Greek and Roman pantheons, with a large dollop of Egyptian Gods and Hindu Gods as well.

Wiccan Gods’ Titles
Many times you’ll hear these used as names of Pagan Gods, but accurately speaking they are more like titles that can be used for multiple Wiccan Gods.

Child God — Title used for Gods in the form of infants, such as Gopala, Baby Jesus, Horus (also Son God).
Father God — Title used for Pagan patriarchs, such as Zeus, Dagda, Odin.
Green Man — Title used for the Earth Gods, such as Tammuz, Herne, Dionysus (also Green God).
Horned God — Title used for Wiccan Gods of the animals or the hunt, symbolizing virility and strength, such as Pan, Cernunnos, Herne, Pashupati.
Lover God — Title used for Gods who aspect as consorts of the Goddess and lover to his devotees, such as Krishna, Cernunnos, Pan.
Sacrificial Gods — Title used for deities whose ritual sacrifice provides life for the people, such as Osiris, Jesus, Adonis, and other Sun Gods and Green Gods
Sun God — Title used for Solar Gods, such as Christ, Sunna, Apollo, Ra.
Triple God — Title used for the godhead as a trinity, such as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. (Strictly speaking, the Christian trinity is not a Triple God since the Holy Ghost was a feminine energy, but it’s currently interpreted as masculine so I’ve included it here.)

Specific Deities (an abridged and incomplete list)
Apollo — Greek/Roman young solar God, God of light, truth and prophecy, God of archery, medicine and healing, God of music, poetry, and the arts
Anubis — Egyptian God of the Dead
Aten — Egyptian Supreme God, solar deity
Brahma — Hindu Creator God
Coyote — First Nations Trickster God
Cernunnos — Celtic God of the Wild Hunt, fertility and masculine energy
Dagda — Irish Father God, somewhat comical and bawdy
Dionysus — Greek/Roman God of wine, of ritual ecstasy, God of agriculture, music, and theatre, communication between living and dead
Eros — Greek God of sexuality and fertility
Ganesh — Hindu God with elephant head, remover of obstacles, God of beginnings, patron of arts and sciences, of intelligence and wisdom
Gopala — Hindu Child God, young Krishna, playful and mischevious while always aware of divinity
Govinda — Sikh God, preserver, protective father
Great Spirit — First Nations supreme Deity, Creator, Source
Hades — Greek God of the Underworld and Death
Hephaestus — Greek God of the Forge, of technology, craftsmen, sculptors, fire and volcanoes
Hermes — Greek God of boundaries and travelers, shepherds and cowherds, orators, writers and poets, invention, commerce, and thieves. Messenger of the Gods. Trickster God.
Herne — British God of vegetation, vine, and the wild hunt
Holly King — English God of winter (rest, withdrawal)
Horus — Egyptian Sky God, God of sun and moon, God of war and the hunt
Krishna — Hindu Supreme God, essence of all creation
Loki — Norse Trickster God, shape-shifter and gender-changer
Lugh — Celtic Sun God, God of smiths and artisans, harvest god
Mercury — Roman God of commerce, messenger of the Gods, speed and travel.
Mithras — Persian God of light
Oak King — English God of summer (expansion, growth, activity)
Odin — Norse Father God , God of wisdom, wealth, inspiration, poetry, battle, hunting, magick, prophecy
Osiris — Egyptian God of the Underworld and the harvest
Pan — Greek nature God, Horned God, god of shepherds and flocks, of wild forests and fields, virility, fertility and spring
Ra — Egyptian God, solar deity
Rama — Hindu God representing the perfect human man and husband
Set / Seth — Egyptian God of chaos, war, storms, desert
Shiva — Hindu God, the destroyer of obstacles, transformer
Sunna — Norse Sun God
Tammuz — Egyptian green God
Thoth — Egyptian God of magick and wisdom
Vishnu — Hindu God, sustainer
Zeus — Father God, Sky God

So there you have it. Plenty of deities to connect with, all connecting to and a part of the Goddess. It’s also important to not that as you grow, progress, and change, so can the deity you connect to.

This is also not a complete list of all the deities and no one can tell you who or how to connect to the Goddess.

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

WWBC: Fav Quotes and Why

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate including a full list of topics for the year, please click here.

1. My mantra
   Which I plan to tune up this month.
   It may not be a quote, per se, but it does re-center and motivate so it’s on my list.
2. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
   Originated from a famous Chinese proverb.
   You won’t get anywhere ’til you start, and we all start somewhere.
3. It makes sense if you don’t think about it.
   Supposedly from a commercial, I believe it was used in a movie prior to.
   Not everything has to make sense.
4. You catch more flies with sugar than vinegar.
   It’s not always easy to take the high road and it’s good to try anyway.
5. Knock me down 99 times but I get up 10.
   Cardi B song, Japanese Proverb
   What do we do when we fall off the horse? We get back on. – Maury Ballstein, Zoolander
   Try again. You don’t lose ’til you stop getting up.
6. Do good.
   Mr. Feeny, Boy Meets World
   Make the world better, be the change you wish to see in the world.
7. I found that if you have a goal, you might not reach it. But if you don’t have one, then you are never disappointed. And I’ve gotta tell you, it feels phenomenal.
   Peter La Fleur, Dodgeball (PS, I like goals, and lists, and I still love this quote)
   Not reaching goals is okay!
8. I always think everything could be a trap, which is why I’m still alive.
   Prince Humperdinck, The Princess Bride
   It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you.
   Harold Finch – Person of Interest
9. No man is an island
   John Donne’s Devotions
   We are all interconnected and there is always somewhere to turn
10. Hakuna Matata
    Disney’s The Lion King
    No worries, that’s the dream. Pure enlightenment, contentedness, and success.

BBH – Diverse Reading

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly, Friday through Thursday, question themed post. Originally created by Crazy for Books and reignited by Coffee Addicted Writer, its purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers their own blog.

This week’s topic (8/7-13) is “Do you read books by diverse authors or books with diverse characters (such as LGBT, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, etc)? If yes, do you have any book recommendations? Do you visit indie and/or used bookstores? Also, have you ever worked in any?” (submitted by Kristin @ Lukten av Trykksverte)

I believe I do, if only because I find books to read from so many different lists. I don’t know which books I’ve read by certain race, creed, or religion of author. I do know I’ve read books on characters of different faiths, books about faith, and characters of LGBTQ status.

I, for an LGBTQ category, recommend Gulliver Takes Manhattan. Warning, it’s R (maybe X) rated, and it’s so much more than a sexy book.

For an ethnic minority, definitely read We’re Going to Need More Wine. Gabrielle Union talks about what it means to be a black actress, a black woman, and a black (step) parent.

A religious book I’d recommend is Letters to a Buddhist Jew. While it’s a “must read for any searching Jew” I also believe it tells the tale that many of us struggle with when it comes to religion, any religion.

As for Indie Bookstores, I’ve been in so many bookstores, mass market retailers and small mom-and-pop shops. I love getting (and giving) books from (to) thrift stores and take-a-book/leave-a-book Little Free Libraries. I also attended the Annual Denver Book and Paper Fair. If there’s a place to get a book nearby, I’m there. I love to get books while I’m on vacation. I also read e-books which, thanks to Overdrive, are free through my library.

I love book recommendations, if you’ve got something I have to, or at least probably should, read I would love to hear it!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

What’s a Blog Hop?

I’ve been seeing some posts that have “blog hop” in the title or a thank you note at the beginning of a post thanking someone for tagging them or inviting them to a “blog hop”.

I don’t know what that is, so here goes nothin’!

“Blog hops are online networking events hosted by a variety of blogging communities. Their main goal is to connect bloggers in a specific niche, with a secondary goal of sharing readerships with those other bloggers.” – The Meisle 10/3/18

In WordPress Reader, “-click on the blog post and so on. (Important reminder: if you click to be redirected TO the blog, you will give the blog a visit. If you read on the Reader, you won’t pay the blog an actual visit and won’t even see the right formatting of the blog post.” – Drizzle and Hurricane Books 2/2018

Okay – so blog hopping is just getting to see, read, follow, post, or simply become inspired by reading other bloggers’ blogs. Organized Blog Hops have a list of link-backs to other blogs that bloggers can add their info to. They also often have a post theme or list for each blogger to post about.

In that sense, it seems I’ve been a part of blog hops and never realized it; TTT and WWBC.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate including a full list of topics for the year, please click here.

If you know of other great blog hops, please list them below!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

What’s in The Box?? / Gym Bag Edition

What’s in my Gym Bag? Not a whole lot, depending.

Right now, I’m remote so the gym isn’t before or after work so I don’t need a change of clothes.
I don’t like to wear my workout shoes for very long after I am done working out, but since it’s warm I can just use flip flops.

Also, I do better, if I’m not running, in a group workout.
I prefer yoga and spinning in group settings.

Always in my bag

• Spare socks (in case I forget them)
• Deodorant (in case I forget to apply before I leave)
• Water

For yoga:

• Yoga Mat
• Yoga cleaner and rag
• Yoga mat towel
• (If Hot Yoga) Change of clothes for after
• hand towel or washcloth for sweat

For spinning:

• Socks
• Change of socks if it’s cold

That’s it. I may not be minimalist all the time, but I am a minimalist at the gym.

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ARC: What Makes a Witch

What Makes A Witch by Linnea Capps will be published later this month on the 18th.

I liked it. It was a quick fun read that I truly wish was longer. I didn’t know, prior to reading as I hadn’t seen the cover, that the characters were animals which was a really fun take. I also felt there were true personalities for the characters, though Addison’s accent was difficult at times and I feel didn’t fit the reading level of the rest of the book. I did feel like there were many things I wish had been explained more, but they weren’t foundational to the story so I was okay with it.

Jumping from scene to scene, rather than transitions is probably my biggest critique. You could tell that you just jumped, and footing took a few sentences, but then I was back in grasp.

Spoilers
——->
—->

I loved the LGBTQ tones and messages and can’t wait to see more in books.

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*