Slowing Down – But Not in a Bad Way

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The Husband and I are trying to get consistent in our nightly walking.  We tend to go in spurts, being Good Doobies for months, then getting waylaid by rain or Santa Ana’s (wind conditions) or cold (yes, it goes into the 40’s in So Cal) (and yes, we’re weather wimps).  We also do various floor and strength exercises because we want to keep active and healthy for as long as we can.  It’s probably more important now than ever.

I also go through my meditation phases.  When the least little thing sets me off like a rocket and I’m constantly tense, I know it’s time to light a candle, sit cross legged on the floor and get myself quiet.  I think meditation is highly individualized and we should find our own method to give ourselves the peace we need.

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Things I Like Thursday – Miranda vs Call Me Kat

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I’ve been enjoying Mayim Bialik’s show, Call Me Kat, an American series based on a British series.  I got curious enough to find the British show, called Miranda, on Britbox.  Miranda Hart, the star, writer and producer of Miranda also has a producing credit on Call Me Kat, along with Mayim Bialik and her old fictional boyfriend from Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons.  Entertainment seems to be a very small world in this case.

Spoiler: I like them both!

Mayim Bialik (left) and Miranda Hart (right)
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Betty White’s Big Secret

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I believe in the afterlife, Heaven, whatever you want to call it.  I believe that there is more than just this life and time we live on earth.  But fear of the unknown, the bane of all introverts times a million, has always tinged the notion of The Great Beyond with anxiety and dread for me, like a party where you haven’t seen the guest list and there isn’t a clear dress code.

So, when I read an article about Betty White recently, this excerpt gave me an excellent framework for upgrading the way I feel about continuing the journey.

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Things I Like Thursdays – My Top 5 Magazines

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So, it comes as no surprise that I love to read.  From Seventeen to AARP, this girl has always had piles of magazines almost as high as her towers of To Be Read books.  I’ve been trying to curb my magazine buying because 1.) who has time to read them all and 2.) they’re getting ridiculously expensive.  I’ve finally weened myself off the most expensive craft and British women’s magazines, often $15USD a pop!

So, here are the magazines I’ve deemed worthy of my hard earned dollars, in no particular order:

Magnolia

I never really got into the whole Gaines empire but I do love the magazine.  Every quarter, there’s a different theme, like Delight or Mindfulness, with corresponding articles and photos.  Flipping through Magnolia is like taking myself to a spa—it’s soothing and positive and relaxing.  Sometimes I just need a break from social media, news…  ya know, real life…  Magnolia gives me a restful place to go.  Usually with a cat on my lap…

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My iPhone 13 Saga

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5G

A simple number and letter.  That cost me a ridiculous amount of money, buying a new iPhone 13.  It had to be a 12 or 13 to be able to access the new 5G when 3G goes the way of dinosaurs, tv tubes and Howard Johnson restaurants.  Maybe I could have gotten away with something a little cheaper but I figured if I get top of the line now, I won’t have to buy another for a very long time.  Yeah, yeah, I know—in technology time, that’s probably 3-5 years, if I’m lucky…

Even when you’re dealing with technology…
The graphic on my home screen.
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Things I Like Thursdays – Literary Pins

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I collect pins.  Pretty much everywhere I’ve traveled, be it museum, historic site or tourist attraction, they all have pins.  And they’re easier to pack and display later than t-shirts, figurines or even books (but you didn’t hear me say that!).

Later in the year, I might start showing some of the hundreds of pins I have on a denim duster that hangs in my hallway, but for now, I’m showing off a small collection of literary pins I’ve gotten in the last few years.  To keep them all together, they normally live on a gray wool motorman’s cap.

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Irreplaceable Martin Luther King Jr.

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When I think about the 1960’s, it brings back memories of death and funerals.

I was 11 years old when the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis.  I would have sworn I was watching The Girl from U.N.C.L.E on a black and white tv in my room but it turns out it was probably The Flying Nun, which just illustrates my faulty recollection.  I also thought his was the funeral that involved a train journey but no, that was RFK a few months later.

ATLANTA, GA – 1960: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preaching from his pulpit circa 1960 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Dozier Mobley/Getty Images)
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Things I Like Thursdays – Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant

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As I’ve been laboring over a Christmas romance novella I hope to have ready for this fall, I’ve been thinking about what readers want most when they pick up a book.   Snappy dialog, action, romance, suspense.  A few laughs, a few tears.  Any combination of these can make a passable story.  But what I really want when I read is someone I can root for.

Tessa Johnson is definitely someone to root for.

Sixteen-year-old Tessa, who’s moved not only to a new city but is also the new girl at a prestigious arts school, has to prove to herself, more than anyone else, that she’s a romance writer.  But that’s hard to do when your words suddenly ghost you and your best friend is hundreds of miles away, even in this technological age.

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Things I Like Thursdays – The Cleaner on Britbox

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When I first heard of The Cleaner, the premise of a crime scene cleaner originally had me prepared for CSI style storylines.  But I wasn’t disappointed to find stories centered on the living, not the dead.  So far, there are six half hour episodes of this British series told through the experiences of Paul “Wicky” Wickstead, as he goes about removing the signs of violent death.

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