Day 53, Level 1: Lazy Sunday, Netflix, turquoise and pasta

Sunday 29th November 2020

Good grief, we're almost into December. It doesn't seem possible but it's true. 

I actually had a lazy Sunday! I had a lie-in, read the papers online. I tried to stay away from my laptop as much as possible although did have work to do here and there. 

It was quite windy and annoying drizzly rain came through around the middle of the day. 

I decided I'd watch some Netflix. People have mentioned this show and that but none of it has really taken my fancy. I've watched a bit of this and that over the year - and two episodes of Season 1 is usually enough for me to go "Well, I tried it, but it didn't fit". I never got why people raved. 

Today I tried two shows - Schitt's Creek (Canadian about a wealthy family that lose everything and have to go and live in a godforsaken town they bought years ago as a joke). It's won all sorts of awards, and it does have it's moment, but when the internet crapped out and it disappeared off the screen at the beginning of episode 3 I was happy enough. Again it was a case of "I tried it and it didn't fit quite right". It amused me for a short while but ... next!

So then I tried Ratched - a sort of prequel to Nurse Ratched of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Now that is a great film and that nurse can never be forgotten, so I thought I'd give it a go. 

OMG the colours and the cinematography had me enraptured from the get-go. Vibrant colours against muted and sophisticated backgrounds. The nurses all wear turquoise uniforms that are so saturated with colour it's almost obscene. That's a trademark of Ryan Murphy direction. Sarah Paulsen wears vibrant orange, startling emerald-trimmed black, mustard that somehow makes mustard appealing. Dusty pink that simply can't be called dusty but is. Yellow that makes canary as a description seem insipid. 

And seriously, that turquoise is reminiscent of the deepest clearest ocean and a sea of nurses is looking immaculate wearing it. Nurse Ratched drives a car that can't possibly be that shade of green and walks down hallways that are whiter than the whitest white while wearing a coat of impossible fluoro coral trimmed with just the right amount of black that somehow balances it all. The muted yet intense blue backdrops only serve to heighten the awareness of colour. It's a clever and mesmerizing ploy.

Amongst all this colour-filtered fashion glory set amongst a sumptuous backdrop that is supposed to be a psych hospital (looks more like a ritzy hotel), are scenes of murder, experiments, skull drilling and menace. What kind of mind dreams this stuff up? Scenes that are stunning to look at yet utterly depraved; sumptuous in colour and setting yet completely demented. Acting that is on point and spot on yet characters that are unsettling and  off-the-wall nuts. I watched two episodes and I'm not sure I'll be going back for more - but I might! It's those colours that will draw me in again - visually, it's stunning. The acting is great. But plot-wise it's out-there crazy, got a lot of holes and is a tad boring. If I feel like a dose of intense turquoise and macabre antics then I might tune in again, otherwise it goes in the back drawer. 

I'd tried Shameless (the US version) a while back during lockdown - I watched a few episodes. But to be honest, watching such chaos and nonsense just does my head in. Who dreams up these things? Who funds them? Why fund them? 

At least I'll now know what people are talking about when they mention these shows. 

But overall, I realise that Netflix binge-watching and I don't really go together - and that's no surprise, it's why I haven't been lining up to watch to date. 

I think I potentially just wasted a few hours of life today!!! 

So I got back on my laptop. Much more purposeful! 

Hmmm, I finish one project and another few are always waiting in the wings. Tonight I wrotes speeches and guest speaker intros for a big function I'm fronting in a couple of weeks (750 people). Liaising with people and overseeing that everything is in order. Will share more nearer the time, but meanwhile all the prep work is in full swing. 

In between all this, I was liaising with locals around more local info for the newsletter - there's no end to the info, and there are so many stories to capture - but I've got to put a stop to it somewhere for this particular tale. Phone calls and people popping in - asking and answering questions, getting detail just right. Listening to historical details and piecing together bits of the past in a coherent way. I do enjoy it but I really do feel washed out. Those who have reviewed my draft history article of the people of Omaha have given it a huge tick. Phew. Tomorrow I can hopefully go "tick" and send off it off for layout. 

I didn't get to the beach today - should have, but was blobbed on the couch watching shows that didn't really do it for me! Or it was raining. This evening was really nice - Full Moon coming tomorrow, and tonight's almost Full one bodes well, although the moon was a little hazy around the edges. More about the November Full Moon in tomorrow's post ... it's a micromoon.

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Pasta Salad ...

A couple of days ago I made a big pasta salad - am glad I made such a big one as it has lasted me through these past days. I finished the last of it tonight for dinner.  The flavour gets better with age. 

This salad is a bit of a favourite - great as a side dish but just as good as a meal on its own. Has a delicious soy dressing. And nuts. Finito.