Pick-Me-Ups

/ SueBC

One of my stocking stuffers at Christmas was a copy of Hello! Canada. The horoscope, unfortunately, resonated with me:

“The task that lies before you may look so vast that you’re tempted to give up, but …you can throw your pessimism away. So roll up your sleeves! There’s work to be done and you have the expertise and energy to do it. It’s not like you to feel defeated. Beneath the surface of doubt lies a bright spark of hope. You might need to give yourself a good talking to, and if you succeed, you’ll make excellent progress…” 

Dirty Laundry RoséThere’s definitely work to be done and I have the expertise to do it (at least, most days I think so), but I’m so worn down by the never-ending volume and intensity of work that I’m having trouble finding that spark of hope. The week before last I was feeling really, really defeated and in need of some pick-me-ups. So, a week ago Friday, I dragged my husband and younger son to a local family restaurant. I had a delicious candied salmon spinach salad and a cold glass of Dirty Laundry dry rosé. (The winery was named for its close proximity to a former legendary laundry operation that was a front for a brothel and gambling establishment!) Somehow, I still felt crappy, so I bought myself a cappuccino and a chocolate muffin. Still felt crappy and also way too full. When I got home, my husband said, “Oh, you’ve got mail….from Ireland!” Now that was a pick-me-up! Straight from the Guylty Treasures Workshop, whose world-wide charitable program is designed to RAise the spirits of down-in-the-dumps fans! Thanks, Guylty! The postcard and the badge came just when I needed them!

Surprise from Ireland

Now, wouldn’t it be great if someday I needed the badge for a fan meet-up? That’s another thing that picked me up over the last week — all the wonderful pictures of a certain bearded, leather-clad actor and the lucky fangirls who attended the Red Dragon convention! Checking out all the tweets preserved and presented by Serv starting here left me feeling much better, and from there I got really lost browsing pictures by @teeth233 as compiled by Veloce. More recently, I’ve started combing through the pictures and impressions recorded by Guylty, and I see to that her travelling companion, Kate, is feeding us her experience bit by bit. Nice to have all of this to pore over when I have a few minutes free from work.

Medium from iMDB

From IMDb

I can’t seem to focus on books, but I have a favourite TV show on DVD that I watch. You wouldn’t think a show about murder would be relaxing, but somehow Medium starring Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber is that for me. It’s something about the way that the medium, Allison DuBois, and her husband, Joe, are just so normal, in spite of her dreams that help to solve murders. Their arguments are so true-to-life, as are their problems with their kids and the fun that they have together. And I love that Patricia Arquette was allowed to have her weight fluctuate and just look like a normal-sized working mom. A couple of years ago, I used some birthday money to buy the whole series, most of which I haven’t seen, and I watch it an episode at a time. With 130 episodes, it’s lasting me quite a while!

A Star Is Born from IMDbOn Tuesday, I guiltily stole some time for myself and went to see A Star Is Born, which is still in one of the 19+ theatres in the area. Unfortunately, I got there just as the movie was about to start, so I wasn’t able to get a glass of wine, just popcorn and a pop. Why did I think that a tragedy would pick me up? Frankly, I was thinking more about the music and the love story, and I wasn’t disappointed. It really is a good movie and deserves all the award nominations that it is getting. By the time the tragic events came, I was feeling them like a gut punch.

The acting was convincing, with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (channeling his inner Kristofferson) having great chemistry, and Sam Elliott and Andrew Dice Clay were believable too. I enjoyed the soundtrack (La Vie en Rose is fabulous) and thought that Bradley Cooper did a fine job with the singing. And I’d forgotten just how good looking he is — I didn’t even think about RA once that evening! I’m looking forward to seeing Cooper and Lady Gaga singing together at the Oscars. They had a trial run of it at her Vegas show, where in a turn-about from the movie, she was the big star inviting the newer singer up on stage with her! The chemistry they have together is evident here (he starts singing at around 1:20):

Russian Doll capFinally, the other thing I did this week was binge-watch Russian Doll on Netflix. (Thanks, Serv, for putting the idea in my head!) It’s a dramedy created by and starring Natasha Lyonne, with Charlie Barnett. It took me half an episode to get into it, but then I became seriously addicted! Good thing it was only 8 half-hour episodes! Basically, we meet Nadia in the bathroom at her 36th birthday party and follow her through her evening until she gets hit by a car and dies! And then it starts all over again at the same place, but with variations. It is so addictive because you have to see what will happen each time and whether she will unravel the reasons behind the endless loop she seems to be stuck in. A really unique show that is fun to watch.

So, am I out of the funk that I had fallen into? Well, I feel a bit better and maybe more resigned to just trying to get through all the work. Hopefully, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel and it won’t be a train!

47 thoughts on “Pick-Me-Ups”

  1. oh i love Medium! and I adore Joe and Alisons relationship! and Bridgette-she was my absolute favourite! it was a really god show, i like a bit of the esoteric-not saying i ultimately believe in that stuff but i find it intrguing.
    hope life starts to settle down for you soon

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Yeah, I really like their relationship, too. Bridgette is funny! I like it, too, that they’re just normal kids. I’m not sure what to think about mediums. When I watch shows like Long Island Medium, I always think that maybe she is a mind-reader, rather than a medium, because she never seems to tell them anything they don’t already know. But a medium helping the police (since it’s based on a real-life person) seems like they are telling things only the dead person (or the killer) would know.
      And, thanks, I hope so too.

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  2. Sue I think you bring up a great point you have to look for inspiration around you b/c it’s there sometimes hiding in plain sight. I’m glad you saw Star Is Born when I went you were one of the people I thought about that should really see it. I hope Sam Elliot wins but I don’t think so. I hope your work load lightens up and
    You get time to blog more. I love your posts and you always illuminate things and make me smile!! ❤️❤️❤️😘

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    • Thanks, Michele. I was thinking about you when I went, because you had been saying that I really should see it. I don’t think it was perfect (like to me it wasn’t really evident that time was passing between scenes), but I really did think it was good.
      Thanks for the encouragement. I actually always feel better after I write a post, so maybe I have to try to find the time/energy somehow.

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      • Oh Sue I was so happy to read your blog today. I thought about you when I went to see the movie w my girlfriend who is a huge Bradley Cooper fan. I thought you would love the music and the atmosphere and it reminded me of our Lady Gaga conversation last year when I first started commenting. My second blog post was on the movie!!
        I don’t have a family kids husband so it’s easy for me to say write a post we love your creativity and writing which we certainly do! Writing definitely makes me feel better and I like coming up w new posts I find inspiration certainly among the other wonderful blogs as well as movies,books , politics 😘👍but we love your posts 👏👏👏

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        • Thanks, Michele. I’ve never really gotten into Lady Gaga, but I really liked her in this — so low key and natural.

          Well, I’m going to try to post more… I keep saying that, right? But basically I’m working 7 days a week and generally long days, and when I’m not, I’m driving my son to hockey or shopping or cooking. Luckily my husband keeps the house going while I’m at work.

          Blogging is fun, though, right? Hopefully we can both keep at it.

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  3. Aw, thank you for the lovely shout-out here, Sue. And I do hope that you are soon coming out of the fangirl/general funk. Could it also be the time of year? I know that for me, February is always a really bad month. Here in Ireland it is wet, cold and grey, and the lack of Vitamin D really manifests itself in some sort of winter depression. Which is why I try to schedule nice trips for February every year. This year, the trip was very early in the month – RDC – so I am drawing the whole write-up out forever, just so I can beat the winter blues that way 😉

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    • Thank you for the nice note, as well as the card and badge!
      It could be the time of year, although I hadn’t thought I was affected by that. But I think this may have been the most depressed I’ve been. Somehow, I feel at least a bit better now. I wish I could schedule trips during February (as does my husband), but it’s always my busiest time at work with major deadlines — even before I had the new boss. Not only that, but my son has his hockey playoffs now too, so that will take up several of my evenings each week! Tonight I have to do the scoresheet at the game. Hope it’s not too cold in the box.
      I haven’t even found time to read all of your RDC posts yet! I’m stretching it out a bit too! I’ve mainly been looking at pictures so far.

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  4. Thanks for mentioning me (thus far meager) contribution to the RDC5 roundup. I’m trying to add to that, but I can also feel the February funk at the moment and coupled with the never ending cold, motivation is really difficult atm. I hope your situation relaxes very soon and that the vicarious Con goodness can help tide you over until things brighten up!!

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    • Thanks, Kate. I’m hoping to hear about the Gymkhana encounter soon! (No pressure.) Sorry you’re feeling the funk, too. Not much fun. It’s actually been below freezing here the last week (unusual), and apparently there may be snow coming. We have only had a dusting so far. Not that I miss it for my drive to work!

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  5. Thanks for the Las Vegas clip. Bradley seems a tad bit nervous. I believe that ‘A Star is Born’ has now left the big screens in Toronto. Wished that I would have seen it again. Back in high school saw the Streisand version 9 times.

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    • Did you really? Wow! I saw it once, but that’s all. I do really love Streisand, though. Yeah, I think I probably caught the last week of the one theatre that’s still showing the new version. It is worth seeing, though, I think even on the small screen. I agree that Bradley is nervous in the clip. I think that this is way out of his comfort zone, and he said that he was really worried about ruining it after Lady Gaga had just been amazing for two hours while he sat in the audience. I’m looking forward to the Oscar performance, but it will likely be more polished and less sweet.

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  6. Wow, you finally hit on a TV series i have seen (Medium). I can’t remember why I was watching it, but I did see the first season and really liked it. I also have a generally positive opinion of Patricia Arquette. Maybe I will try and watch more of it. Although I still haven’t watched anything in the Netflix queue I built when I resubscribed in October, including Castlevania 2, which was why I resubscribed. (Or Russian Doll — but I am glad you liked it. That seems to be the general opinion of my RL friends, too.) I am so done with remakes, though, so no A Star is Born for Me. If I need to see that story I’ll stick with Garland or Streisand. My Feb. “pick me up” was a long trek to see “The Madness of King George III” with Mark Gatiss in NT Live transmission, but I was so exhausted I had a hard time processing it. Nonetheless I would recommend it strongly even though I am an emphatic non-fan of Gatiss.

    I wish I could give you a mystical prophecy about how everything will improve at work, but in place of that I will express my solidarity. Sending you hugs.

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  7. Où je retrouve les notions de synergie ou d’ enthalpie POSITIVE. Le début de l’année semble donner une ambiance positive, un mouvement positif dans les commentaires des RAfans. Merci à toutes de refléter l’état d’esprit général +++ avec vos remarques personnelles bienveillantes et dynamisantes.

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  8. I’m so sorry work is getting you down! I know you’ve said before on my blog that you’re looking for other options but it’s not so easy. I just hope it gets better for you, one way or the other. Work is a big part of life and if it gets you so down, it’s hard… Rooting for better times for you and that you can do something to change the situation!
    What a lovely postcard you received with your badge! Yes, that would pick me up too.
    As for Bradley and Lady Gaga, I’m sure you’ll have seen that electrifying Osscar performance by now. Yeah, Gaga was great and I thought Bradley was just phenomenal in ‘A Star is Born’. I would have wanted him to win the Oscar over Rami Malek. Oh well…

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    • The problem right now is that there are multiple deadlines and multiple major projects. There is no downtime and no real end in sight. I haven’t even been able to do laundry for two weeks. Just started it tonight at almost 10 pm, since I’ve run out of anything to wear. There are some plans to change my workload, but it could take a few months yet…. unless I drop from exhaustion before then. Hope not.
      Yes, that Oscar performance was something else! My hubby is convinced that they’re in love… although Lady Gaga says it was just acting.

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