By: Revanche

The fun we had: Winter 2017

March 29, 2017

What fun we had in Winter 2017

The past three months haven’t been exactly rife with fun and jollity, between spending January in and out of court, February dealing with meetings and paperwork, and March, well, March has been more paperwork. But we still had a few bits of downtime. More and more, I see the importance of having some fun to balance out all the work, not just collapsing when I run out of steam and calling it a day.

My prescription for a more fulfilled life: more belly rubs for Seamus, more ticklewars with JuggerBaby, more reading time, more relaxing with PiC. This is some of it.

What I watched

City in the Sky: Airbus 380

Everything I didn’t necessarily want to know about airports and the building of the Airbus. Flying was a bit of a mystery to me, and not having had anxiety about the mechanics about it, I was satisfied to leave it that way for the nonce.

But we couldn’t get PBS to cough up any of the Masterpiece shows we wanted to see, not without paying a premium, and so PiC got to pick his free show instead.

It was actually a good documentary. I just didn’t necessarily want to know that a single misplaced rivet could mean a plane is torn apart mid-flight. I wasn’t worried but NOW I am!

Happy Feet

I was expecting something cute with penguins. But it also felt vaguely racist and we both came away from it with these faces: -__-

Babe

That’ll do, pig.” Now, Babe, that’s a movie that’s really held up over the years. I’ve been quoting it for as long as I can remember.

What I Read

Guards! Guards!

I’ve been in a mood for Pratchett more and more, lately. I need the humor to break off the spiral of negativity that suffuses our days with the political atmosphere and not being sure how it’ll affect my career in the next few years.

Ms. Marvel

I’ll read anything G. Willow Wilson writes and this is absolutely no exception. Her version of Ms. Marvel, a Muslim Pakistani girl named Kamala Khan, is wonderful and I can relate to her version of the 1st generation immigrant’s kid’s experience, even though I’m neither Muslim nor Pakistani. The parental concerns, the preservation of culture worries, they’re the same. And a kid taking on way too much, that’s a familiar story too. The difference is that Kamala is occasionally smart enough to ask for help, I wasn’t.

The View from the Cheap Seats

I’d been saving this book for a special read, and managed to bury it under the pile of packing things. Luckily, I uncovered it when most of the book shelf was packed away and have been curling up with it for a little while each night.

They’re a collection of Neil Gaiman’s speeches and talks and forewords, random things he’s shared over the years that weren’t published in books or comics or made into film. It’s nice to read them and catch glimpses of his thoughts in the past.

What I ate

I’ve had a vague hankering to try my hand at making St. Patrick’s Day corned beef and cabbage dinner for ages. This was the first year I actually made it a point to do recipe research more than a week ahead, and pick up the ingredients on the actual week of. We haven’t a drop of Irish in either of us, but I just like trying new-to-us traditional foods.

Since I was more confused after the recipe research than is usual for that stage of cooking, I hied me to the local (fancy) butcher to get meat that was definitely going to be good and they sent me home with a fine corned beef, a bag of spices they premixed, and instructions on how to prepare it.

Verdict: Wow but I underestimated the level of saltiness we’d be facing! But it now makes sense why all the sides are plain and boiled. PiC enjoyed it, JuggerBaby was indifferent. Ze tried everything with a bit of a shrug and neither loved nor hated it. Ze was also singularly unimpressed by the fantastic tiny red potatoes I’d splurged on. Some days it makes me wonder why I try.

Oh, because it’s entertaining, that’s why! It was a fun experiment and we’ll probably do it again.

What was your entertainment of choice this quarter? What should we put in our queue for movie night?

 

15 Responses to “The fun we had: Winter 2017”

  1. I watched my mom make corn beef and cabbage while she was here and it seemed pretty easy. Just boil it for a long time yes? It’s yummy, but yes salty.
    Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Creating a Frugal Garden & SanctuaryMy Profile

  2. Joe says:

    We haven’t made corned beef in a few years. We usually make Reuben sandwiches with them, good stuff.
    I like Babe too. It’s one of the first movies I watched with Mrs. RB40 when we were dating. Our kid doesn’t care for it, though. He’s into Star Wars now…

  3. Did you soak the corned beef before cooking? That’s an effective way to reduce the saltiness. My mother would soak it overnight.

    Amazon Prime has had a view shows, I guess, that were entertaining enough. They don’t seem to compare with Netflix, but maybe that’s because I’m usually working in front of the fake television and so not paying much attention. I can’t even remember any titles.
    Funny about Money recently posted…How Much Is Your Privacy Worth?My Profile

    • Revanche says:

      I didn’t! That wasn’t a step any of the recipes mentioned so I’ll keep it in mind for next time.

  4. Ooops! That’s “a few shows”… What a strange slip!
    Funny about Money recently posted…How Much Is Your Privacy Worth?My Profile

  5. Sense says:

    I’m reading Grit. (I’m certain that you don’t have to. :)) Easy read + skilling up in personal growth = win.

    Just finished The Circle by Eggers. Easy, good read, a little scary how easily that could become our reality, but unrealistic in that there weren’t protests about privacy, etc. mentioned in the book, as there are in real life right now. It’s gonna be a movie soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCOXARv6J9k

    TV shows: I am liking The Mick. Bawdy and absurdly funny.

    Movies: still recommend Hidden Figures if you haven’t seen it yet.

    • Revanche says:

      I’ve had that recommended in the past as a good read, though! I may read it even if I don’t NEED it ๐Ÿ™‚

      I still haven’t seen Hidden Figures – still want to!

  6. Linda says:

    I have been thoroughly enjoying a new book series: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s. I plowed through books 1-5 in a month, and have now decided to slow down since there are only a couple left. The first book is available on the SFPL’s Overdrive, so you could check it out for free and see if you like it. Just don’t blame me if you get hooked and want to track down the rest in short order. ๐Ÿ˜‰ (Luckily, I’ve had a gift card and was able to purchase the rest of the series for my Kindle guilt free. Most are only $3.99.)

    Movies and TV haven’t been quite so enthralling. I’ve watched most of Victoria on PBS (thank goodness for the DVR since PBS app doesn’t keep them long). Started watching The Expanse on Amazon. Also watched The Dressmaker on Amazon. All have been entertaining, but none makes me shout from the rooftops or anything.
    Linda recently posted…The housing updateMy Profile

    • Revanche says:

      Oooh that’s awesome, I love SFPL! Thanks for the recommendation. I won’t hold you responsible. Too much. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  7. On my recent “round the world” work trip (aka SFO to Tokyo -> Frankfurt -> London -> SFO), I watched about a million movies. So, recommendations include:

    -The Accountant
    -Girl on the Train
    -La La Land (didn’t like it, so adding it here for commentary. Everyone else loved it, so I’m probably an outlier)

    Dang, there was definitely another movie I wanted to recommend, and now it’s slipped my brain.
    Hawaii Planner recently posted…Frugal FridayMy Profile

  8. March has been about my mom’s declining health and her move into an assisted living facility. So not a fun month for me either. But I did discover “Call the Midwife” on Netflix. And I am reading Persuasion with my Jane Austen Book Club – consisting of teen girls from around the world – at my high school. As for food, I’m trying to be very, very good. I’ve been eating my emotions lately, and they’ve been calorie rich. Time to undo the damage.
    Fruclassity (Ruth) recently posted…Being Able to Retire Doesnโ€™t Require MillionsMy Profile

    • Revanche says:

      Oh I’m sorry that you had to take care of that last month, I do hope that she’s comfortable.

      Here’s to a better April for both of us!

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