Wake up to a cloudy day
books and movies that kept me going this week
What’s up, y’all!
It’s been a long week since we last spoke. The smoke here in Southern Oregon has kept us cooped up inside for far too many days.
But you know me – I focus on what I can control instead of what I can’t, and wildfire smoke is definitely beyond my control.
I decided to use this time as a break for both my mind and my body. I’ve been pushing myself to run longer and longer distances, while also pushing myself to build a steady source of online income, and, oh yeah, I’m also trying to sell most of what I own and move to a foreign country.🥴
So this week, I’ve been reading books that aren’t about personal development or building a business, and watching terrible movies. Though I did watch some good movies, too. I enjoyed John Wick 4, though not as much as I enjoyed The Matrix Resurrections. gnob had never seen the original Red Dawn, so we watched that one, too. Still not sure how I felt about the Chuck Norris flick, Missing in Action, think we’ll have to watch the whole trilogy before I can decide.
We watched the pilot episode of Airwolf (also known as The Airwolf Movie), and I was surprised at how well developed the characters were. Considering people mostly watched it to see a helicopter shoot up things, the plot had some actual substance.
But then, I didn’t stick around for the rest of the series, which went on for four seasons. Apparently in the last season, there was no budget, so they hired a whole new cast of actors who were much cheaper, and they didn’t even have a helicopter! They used a dummy helicopter body for interior shots and recycled the “flying & shooting” footage of the Bell 222 from the previous seasons.
Hmm. Wonder why it went off the air?😁
I have also been working my way through a fascinating, but long, book called What We Owe The Future by William MacAskill. It’s an interesting premise. His argument is that Earth’s future people – people that haven’t been born yet – will be affected by the decisions we make now, and so we should be careful what decisions we are making.
He spends a good bit of time projecting all kinds of doomsday scenarios, and how he thinks they would play out if they happened. For example, if a catastrophic asteroid hit to our planet wiped out 90% of the population, would the remaining 10% be able to recover and restore civilization to the technological levels we’ve reached today? What if only 1% of humanity survived? What would that look like?
Spoiler alert: MacAskill believes that even if only 1% of humanity existed, we could overcome our difficulties and flourish again, eventually. So that’s kind of a positive note.🙂
I can only read this one in chunks, it’s pretty dense and there’s a lot to digest. However, I can fly through a Mary Russell mystery, so I read two of those this week.
If you enjoyed the old Sherlock Holmes stories, then you’ll really enjoy this series. Mary Russell is a precocious teenage girl when she first meets the retired Sherlock Holmes. The two of them hit it off and go on to solve multiple crimes together.
The author, Laurie R. King, has done her Sherlock Holmes research. The new storylines weave around and through the original series, while remaining true to the original. Catching the references to Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories leads to a lot of “AHA!” moments.
I’ve been taking my time through this series because I HATE it when I catch up to the author and then have to wait for new releases, lol. That’s where I am with Jack Reacher, Cormoran Strike, and Aloysius Pendergast. Sadly, the two Mary Russell books I finished were the last two, and the new one isn’t out until next year. Such is life.
Hopefully, the smoke will clear out soon and I can get back to spending hours of my days running. Then time will pass quickly, and the newest book will be out before I know it. Speaking of which, I just checked, and the new Strike is out next month. Queuing up at the library right now!😃
Oh, if you’d rather see them in action, which I do recommend, Reacher and Strike each have a television series.
I’ll close here with a bit more fiction, a little thing I wrote the other day from a writing prompt.
See you next week!
He held her close as they danced slowly on the moonlit deck. The sea was calm, and the mood was perfect. He felt a shadow looming over him and looked up in time to see a rogue wave crashing onto the boat.
She slipped from his grasp as the boat capsized, and he desperately reached out, for the 67th time, his fingers closing on nothing. He sobbed with grief.
RESET.
As they danced closely on the boat’s deck, he felt the shadow of the approaching wave before he saw it. He held her tightly, determined not to lose her this time. As the wave crashed around them, she slipped from his grasp. He reached out for the 68th time, sure that he would catch her this time, but…still nothing.
He sobbed again, but this time, with gratitude.
He didn't wait for the reset, instead he ripped the neural link off of his head, still weeping. It had taken 68 tries, but he finally understood that her death wasn’t his fault. There was no way that he could have held on to her; the power of the sea was too formidable.
Feeling as if the doors to his own personal prison had just been flung open, he stood up and reached for his shirt, eager to leave the confines of the neural chamber. He was finally free of the guilt that had plagued him for years, and it was time to go live the life that she would have wanted for him.
Video of the Week
When gnob runs into trouble with a project, he doesn’t let it stop him, he uses his brain and whatever is lying around to get around it.
I have to confess, I had no idea that any of this was going on until I started editing the video. I know I’m married to the guy, so I’m biased, but damn, that man can find a solution to any problem.😍
Quote of the Week
That wraps up another week with Snale Racing! We’ll leave you with the quote that was most powerful for us this week. Peace!✌
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title track: I don’t like this song, but mostly because it’s true.
I enjoyed your bit a writing at the end. 😀