Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy
Posted on Written by Diane
The Editing Room’s abridged script.
Indiana Jones and Nuke the Fridge
(Yes, I know this is all about a movie that is already out of theaters, but I have to put these links somewhere, so I remember where to find them.)
I don’t put Indy 4 on the same level with The Phantom Menace — that is, the movie in no way affected my enjoyment of the previous movies. But man: it definitely was doubleplusungood.
(Otto insisted I change “massive” to “epic” in the title.)
Posted on Written by Diane
Everybody who knows me knows I suffer from exhaustion. I’ve been to endocrinologists and have had my blood tested and got the meds for thyroid difficulties. For a couple of months when I first got on the meds, I felt fabulous (and started losing weight steadily, and started having more energy—not amphetamine-level energy, just “It’s 3pm and I’m still awake” energy). Then the effect wore off, even though my blood work showed that my thyroid levels were now normal.
Endless exhaustion makes for a boring day and even worse conversation with friends, so I don’t make it a topic of conversation constantly. A few times I’ve solicited ideas for things to try. One friend recommended acupuncture highly, and so I went in for a few treatments…which did, as far as I can tell, absolutely nothing. I’ve begun running again, and, while I have recovered some from my long running layoff, exercise still makes me tired. (Seriously, the next person who cheerily says, “Oh, isn’t exercise just the best for giving you energy!” is going to get slapped.)
My running bud Rob suggested two things, neither of which I really wanted to do: give up coffee (my only caffeinated beverage) and go on a low-carbohydrate diet. I don’t mind giving up starches, but I really, really like my desserts.
You can get to the point, though, where you’re willing to do and try anything. Which is why I now take several fish oil capsules a day, to get a lot of Omega-3, in addition to several other pills: amino acids, vitamins, etc. And I drink raw milk (1 cup every day, to wash down said vitamins and minerals and amino acids) and I’m avoiding white bread (not all that hard) and I have no sugar in the afternoon (harder). I still drink coffee but probably much less than I have been, and if my local coffee place doesn’t get Yrgacheffe in soon I’m going to find it easy to avoid making it at home.
I’m feeling a little better. I don’t feel like running a marathon come 3pm, but I haven’t curled up on the couch for a nap recently either.
I still like a croissant from Fleur de Cocoa now and again though. I wonder if I could get to the point where I punt that too.
Posted on Written by Diane
I read a book last night—it’s either marketed paranormal romance or urban fantasy; those seem to be the same categories these days—that was okay. I think it suffered a lot from sophomore-itis, and that’s a problem a lot of authors run across. Three years for first book, eight months for next one. So, I can live with that.
However, one of the scenes in the book featured one of the most disturbing sex scenes I’ve ever read. I myself don’t find vampires at all sexy— hello, they’re DEAD—but this scene was, I think, supposed to be uber-sexy and I was simply appalled. You know how drinking blood is supposed to be the equivalent of sex to a vampire? Take that to the nth degree. I’m wondering if I’m going to pick up book 3 because not only was the scene icky (it’s a technical term) but it made me dislike the characters.
I don’t think all sex scenes have to be sexy. All they have to do is move the plot along (which, come to think of it, this scene didn’t do either). But I wondered if there was a serious disconnect between me and most readers of paranormal romance/urban fantasy, because none of the reviews on Amazon mention this particular scene in the book, and it’s all I remember.