Day 27

May 2022. This is a post from the beginning of the pandemic. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for more than two years now. I am publishing it without revising, so please excuse its first-draft form.

The work rhythm felt good today. I took a break at 10 and dug out some of the worm bin.

Matt and his family are finishing up their trivia game. It’s fun to hear the questions and contribute when I can.

Cleaning today on my 10-minute breaks was also awesome. The vent hood over the stove has not been so clean in years.

I still am loving this social isolation. Loving it!

Day 25 When I Face That I Tired Myself Out

May 2022. This is a post from the beginning of the pandemic. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for more than two years now. I am publishing it without revising, so please excuse its first-draft form.

It’s Saturday and I had an unproductive Friday. I managed two hours of Keen Eye work, I dug two rows for potatoes, and listened to a 1.5 hour resume/cover letter workshop (which was great) and then I retreated to the couch for the rest of the day.

I love that, given all the time in the world I have over packed my schedule. Part of the problem is my many interests. I’ve got an 8-hour day with just the five things I want to concentrate on during my unemployment. That doesn’t include cooking, gardening, phoning, errand running.

I’m going to shift some things around (applying for copyediting jobs now goes under office manager/unemployment work time) and reduce some other things (the writing and editing of novels). I’m also going to try and get outside for gardening around the noon hour, rather than after work in the evening.

Today I’m going to finish up mask making and hem the dish towels I cut down to make the masks and then put away my sewing stuff. I think that clutter is defeating me.

And I’m going to do my best to both cook AND rest this weekend.

Fingers crossed.

Twenty Years on, Memento is Worth Watching

Memento

The review:

Twenty years later, Christopher Nolan’s Memento is just as good as it was in theaters.* Aside from the puzzle-piece nature of the film, Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano are the reason this film is still so good.** It was also made just in the nick of time as devices were on the horizon that would have eliminated the need for the tattoos and the Polaroids.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: free via Kanopy the library’s streaming service
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I remembered the backward format and the spitting-in-the-drink scene and not much else. I think this has to do with so much of my brain being taken up with trying to piece together the story.
**Whereas Following had so-so acting, Nolan gets three people who are perfect for their roles.

Questions:

  • What do you think the story with Teddy was?
  • Would you ever watch this film in chronological order?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The book that Leonard’s wife is reading, which begins, “Two years have gone by since I finished the long story.”, is Claudius the God by Robert Graves.

Memento

Lady Macbeth: Great Acting; Good Scenery

Lady Macbeth

The review:

William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth is a great opportunity for Florence Pugh to dazzle you with her acting, and for Ari Wegner to dazzle you with his cinematography. It was one of those movies where early on I didn’t go for a plot turn,* and thus didn’t believe the rest of the movie was possible. It was also fairly unpleasant subject matter** which made for a tedious viewing experience punctuated with great sweeping views of the English landscape.

The verdict: Skip

Unless watching for Florence Pugh’s acting.

Cost: Free via Kanopy, the library streaming service
Where watched: at home.

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*And worse, the turn in plot had me asking, “Did a man direct this film?” He did, as it turned out, but a woman wrote it.
**To be fair, they gave me fair warning with the title. It’s not like Mr. Macbeth was a cheery cruise ship director-type. And I read a synopsis of the 1865 novella the movie is based on,*** and this seems to be a much briefer portrait.
***Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov.

Questions:

  • Did I miss a switch from revulsion to attraction? Did you see it?
  • What do you think happened after the film ended?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

iFeatures is a joint collaboration between the BBC and the BFI. Every year, they produce three feature films for £350,000 as a springboard for first-time directors. Lady Macbeth (2016) was chosen out of over 300 applicants.

It looks like Oldroyd hasn’t directed anything since, which is too bad. I would be willing to watch something else he directed.

Lady Macbeth

Day 23. When I think about rejiggering my day.

May 2022. This is a post from the beginning of the pandemic. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for more than two years now. I am publishing it without revising, so please excuse its first-draft form.

I’m pretty tired. 9 hours of work today. I might have a midday break and do some gardening and/or short bike ride.

I’ve also decided to block out an hour weekly to make phone calls. You know, the kind where you have to follow up on some boring personal thing. I hate making phone calls and at least there will be a regular time.

Also today I applied for a full-time remote copyediting position with very clear instructions about what the subject line should be: first name last name – position you are applying for.

The second after I applied, I got an auto responder that asked me to record a Zoom video, again following an explicit script. And also to answer 9 questions. So I recorded that video (I had to change my shirt) and set it off.

I then immediately received an auto responder with a link to a YouTube video explaining their recruiting process.

It was kind of cool. I’m still in the mood to jump through hoops.

And it was better than the copyediting job I applied for yesterday that had an “overwhelming response” and had us fill out a Google Survey. The last question was what was my score on an assessment I did not take. Poor form!