ingridmatthews

The horrific true crime miniseries Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer isn't the story of a pile of evil excrement aka Richard Ramirez ...

But is actually the story of a young Hispanic hero, a knight in shining armor named Gil Carrillo who like a knight of old, traveled the epic hero's journey to slay the dragon at great cost to himself but triumphs completely in the end.

If you watch it, watch it for him. It's not easy viewing but he makes it worth it.

Actually a writing Bingo Card using a virtual Bingo Card site and a random word generator.



Maybe 500 words won't be as daunting as they already look. But I need to flex the writing muscles again before they wither and die completely.

A fellow fan needs a few dollars to hold them over until their paycheck arrives in 2 weeks.

OBAEWANKENOPE
TEXT POST
I could do with a bit of help please. I don’t get paid for another 2 weeks. If you have anything to spare, me and my pets will greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

[paypal] [kofi]

Bridgerton is adorable, soapy goodness, hitting all those yummy Regency costume drama spots and my only complaint one episode in is that the characters I'm supposed to despise do their job a little too well.

And the costumes! The filming! So bright and beautiful!

And who doesn't love a Regency drama narrated by a mysterious gossip monger. Or is she the grand manipulator? Hmmmm ...

( Who is she? )

As for everyone it was a different Christmas in some ways better and in some ways sadder. I enjoyed how quiet it was with immediate family only and liked being able to cook two complete dinners versus a dinner and potluck mostly because I didn't have to bring the green bean casserole ... again.

But we all missed the chaotic fun of everyone around us, sober and drunk alike, some showing up at some ridiculous hour and ringing the doorbell when everyone was supposed to leave, the howling at gag gifts, the awww at a surprise announcement, the spillage of coffee meant to sober us up and failing. We took it for granted for so long but never again. I will appreciate, cherish and love every year I have left to enjoy Christmas that way again. Hopefully.

On the other hand, it was fun to make a new recipe for Christmas, Seafood Alfredo with far too expensive crab legs and shrimp, as well as the standard ham and yams on Christmas Eve. I made a Stromboli out of the ham leftovers with pepper-jack/white cheddar/fresh mozzerella cheese inside and it was the perfect Christmas Day brunch with a side of cocktail shrimps and ice cold prosecco.

My beautiful Sproglet is going to be 17 years old in a couple of months. He's a gift from God to us, a better, more honestly sweet, fun and smart young man you'll never find. I was actually inspired to write this post because my gift this year was a wonderful new sewing machine, nothing too fancy, an older computerized Brother but so much better than poor old Betsy a machine-gun rattling $79 special from years ago.

Tonight I said to him after the final unboxing of my new baby ... "I can't wait to make all handmade things on this."

He replied enthusiastically. "I hope I get one!"

Now I've already made this young man a quilt and pillow to his specifications but he wants another one and another and he wants all the hats and scarves and things that I make and I suspect it's not because he's in need of these things (he's not) but because I'm the one making them.

I can't tell you how good that feels, how big my smile is.

He's handling lockdown better than I have, he's made second honors in school this term and he's a constant help around the home doing a lot of the heavy lifting when sometimes we just can't. He's always on call to the neighbors, he's shoveled their sidewalks and moved their furniture for free and has the best sense of humor God ever gave a teenager.

And yes, we got him a new X-Box for Christmas. It was the least we could do.

But he told me tonight that a new quilt would have been just as good.

So honestly, I had a great Christmas, thank God and I appreciated it for what it was.

Post a list of five famous people you've been within a few feet of, and one you haven't. The challenge is for everyone else to guess the ringer.

Clint Eastwood (US actor/director)
Rudy Guiliani (US politician)
Paul McCartney (UK musician)
Andy Warhol (US artist)
David Duchovny (US actor)

So, who is the ringer? I'll spill tomorrow and feel free to steal and play on your timeline.

The Repair Shop has a fandom and fic. My life is now utterly complete.

The Repair Shop Fanfic on A03

( The UnFairness of It All )

Gillian Anderson looks like this ... now.

And I, after a year of quarantine look like an alcoholic Oompa Loompa. Which is pretty much what I am, but still. This is unfair and yet, not at all unexpected. And she played a convincing, if otherworldly, Margaret Thatcher so this is doubly unfair. Or something.

From Friday through Tuesday, it was a different house every night. Damn my sociable self!

It was actually a very relaxing holiday, everyone was quite mellow, no cutlery was thrown, not even once. Although one house had a 'Nasty Santa' game where you are supposed to steal other people's gifts, which I don't get -- why are you BEGGING for strife on Christmas??? -- but it went okay. I also got a nice Dutch oven out of it, so there's that. (No one else wanted to carry it home, it weighs about as much as a bag of bricks.)

Hope everyone else here had a fun time, whatever you did.

~*~

Tomorrow I hit Atlantic City. I've developed a fondness over the past couple of years for the craps tables as this is the only game I ever win at. Slots are boring to me, I lose my pants at poker and the clientele at the blackjack tables are incredibly annoying, between the screaming frat boys and the cigar puffing old guys, yelling at me that I 'stole' their card (really, is that what you think happens, dude, really?), blech. How I've dreamed of a women's-only casino and I know I'm not the only one.

I love the quick bets, the rolls, the yelling and screaming when you win. It also has the second lowest house edge (after Baccarat, which is usually set at $100/hand minimum so no thank you) so one tends to at least break even or better, win.

It's also a friend's birthday so there's going to be a high time in Sin Town this weekend!

Wish me luck!

~*~

PS: Writing is hard. Meh.

My winter bronchitis is one of the most constant things in my life and this time, hits the week before Christmas, when nothing is wrapped -- the tree isn't even up -- nothing is baked and there's nothing I want to do except go back to bed and play online blackjack.

I went to the doctor yesterday. He's been my doctor for nearly 20 years and is used to my rattling lungs, but this time decides I need a boost so he darts me with a B-12 shot, pretty much out of the blue. Nurse tells me later that he's been doing it to nearly all his cold patients this year, almost on a whim. Maybe he thinks he can get a longer holiday vacation this year if we get our vitamins?

Or is it a B-12 shot? Maybe he's creating his own pack of werewolves? If I start growing fangs and fur, I'll let you know.

~*~

fandom_stocking, where for art the rest of the stockings? I'm chock full of B-12 (maybe) and want to give some nice prezzies to my fellow fans.

By the time mine gets up it will probably be over. Because I'm lucky that way.

~*~

Still not able to access Pillowfort in any meaningful way. They closed down registrations due to server strain and TOS issues and supposedly they're going to get off the .io domain. I'm more concerned with their reliance on Paypal, but that might change too.

Right now though, I think the window of opportunity for them to become the next fandom platform has narrowed considerably. It still might happen in a few months if their Servers Become Robust and they work out all the fine print but for now fandom seems fractured and wandering, although for me, working between here and Twitter is just fine.

~*~

Actual fannish stuff here soon. In the meantime, have one of my favorite Christmas Youtubers:

Jolene Sugarbaker: The Trailer Park Queen's 30 Days of Christmas, filled with holiday recipes, crafts and fun.