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Forgive me if I answer this with Sondheim first (the song in question starts around 4:40 if I goofed that link up): I can't think of any major decision in my life that I haven't second-guessed at some point. Hardest, imo, was coming to the conclusion and accepting that I'd probably do most things the same, even knowing how some turned out. But I don't fret about any of them - there's just one life, and we do the best we can. There may be Martinas in parallel universes who took different decisions and now live lives radically different from mine, but I'm okay with my place in this one.

Because the Witcher wasn't supposed to be pretty. People were closing doors, dogs barked and cats hissed seeing him. Scarred, sinewy, with a nasty smile. Cavil is a big puppy, not a monster killer. And his wig comes from a totally different fairytale, as people say in my country.

My Christmas card this year, starring my cat, Pepper. Hope you all had a good one!

It strikes me more as synthetic news -- a conglomeration of comments about the show so far, snippets of old interviews, extrapolation, and hopeful thinking. Lot of that going around these days, due to the scarcity of new news. But who knows, it may turn out to have been some good guesses.

Whaaaa...Have I ever been obnoxious with pun?? Tsk tsk... that accusation... Why am I worried that this guy is up for something? And sorry doggie, I know this is embarrassing but

It is, isn't it - who knew Jon Cryer could sing? Not me, anyway, at least not before stumbling over that version of Company a couple years ago. I have it on DVD and I'm quite fond of it - there may be more artful performances out there, but Neil Patrick Harris puts not only skill but also so much raw emotion into Being Alive that it's easily my favourite.

I would say the people expecting you to respond are the rude ones, then. Unless it's a genuine emergency or work related, your time is your own.

I know, it's the story I'm interested in.

I think I might prefer "What if Superman were (except for his superpowers) a fairly typical human being, warts and all? (Sort of like Peter Falk's description of Columbo as a perfectly average fellow, except that he's the world's greatest detective.) That would interest me a whole lot more than the gory version!

Same here, I love it too but I definitely think we should keep it to festivities only. There are far too many people who buy them with no with no knowledge of which are "decent" or simply don't care.

I still say cats invented yoga -- and I have no idea why that pose is called the Downward Dog. Obviously it should be the Downward Cat! *grumble* *grumble* *grumble*

Twilight for boys - that's a good one. It's hard to judge for me. It's the same problem old Holmesians have with Sherlock or old Tolkienists with LOTR and Hobbit. I cannot say I grew up with the books, they came when I was… 18? 19? and they were companions in my early 20s. They are part of my mental DNA though and it's hard to have an independent opinion, esp. on how others may receive the films. Plus: I don't know the PC games, which for many are the "canon" Witcher. What I surely miss in the adaptation, is the tone of the novels - the kind of playfulness Sapkowski dealt with the material, his self-irony. I fear it's something that gets lost in translation already. I've read some parts, don't remember if it was German or English and they didn't have the same feel. I'm afraid you will have to see for yourself.

Most items are not made to last which is absolutely criminal considering the price of appliances. When I was shopping for my fridge I was shocked at the prices! I started housekeeping 25 years ago with my mother's appliances which she had owned for several years. Except for the dryer this year and a refrigerator a few years ago, the stove and washer are still working, although the stove is showing its age. My appliance plan covers everything regardless of age and it's been a life saver. I've had my furnace/ac unit replaced a few times as well as my hot water heater and some plumbing issues addressed. I don't know how long the new items will last but I'm sure it won't be as long as the ones they replaced.

That's something I've never figured out how to do … trim my own hair. How the heck do you get it straight? Besides, if I'm too lazy to go the hairdresser, I'm definitely too lazy to do it myself.

We were recently watching some show where they were singing "Puttin' on the Ritz" -- and every time they got to a spot where Peter Boyle had a line in Young Frankenstein, I'd burst out laughing. He has totally ruined it for me as a serious song. *snicker*

Excerpt: Frank Renfield is seen sitting in his car completing a cryptic crossword. He reads aloud the following clue: ‘Unscrupulous doctor deployed tanner’s knife (12)’ The solution to the clue is Frankenstein (‘unscrupulous doctor’ is the definition and ‘deployed’ is the anagram indicator for tanner’s knife, which rearranged, makes the name Frankenstein) If that was meant as an Easter egg, it's a pretty damn cryptic one! (And that sort of clue is why, although I love challenging crossword puzzles, I skip right over the cryptics.)

It was kind of a weird weekend at work. One of my co-workers, who just finished her licensing last month after 3 years of schooling, decided she didn't like the job anymore and quit. She's planning to buy a van and travel the country with her boyfriend. So that was sudden. On Friday there was a snowstorm, so Michael (my boss) let everyone go home early to get ahead of it. I still had to go in that evening, and when I got there, I noticed a small drinking glass sitting by the fireplace. I only took a quick glance before continuing with my work, and saw it had something blue and red inside, which I assumed was a small sponge or some other item soaking in it. A few hours later I decide to move it to the coffee room, and when I pick it up, to my surprise, the blue and red thing is a betta fish. Poor lil' guy had been in that tiny glass in the cold building all day. I texted and called all of my co-workers trying to find out what the deal with this fish was, but no one would answer me. I was feeling bad for him, so I hopped across the street to the convenience store and picked up a bottle of spring water, cleaned out a large vase I found in the company garage, and transferred him to a bigger space. I could tell he was hungry, 'cause he kept booping to the surface with his mouth open, so the next day I bought him some betta food. So all weekend I got to have a little fish friend. He would watch me work and swish his tail around when I talked to him. I was thinking of bringing him home, but eventually Michael came in and said the fish was his. He'd bought it for his son's birthday, but forgot about it in the car, where it almost froze to death. He put it in the glass by the fireplace hoping that would save it (which worked I guess, but poor fish). Then he forgot about it again when he left on Friday. I sure hope the fish made it safely home with him... I miss my fish friend at work, I'm a little sad now without him.

I kind of agree...I just want them to say so!

Don't quote me on it, but I'm pretty sure they've confirmed that it won't be based on the Silmarillion (which mostly takes place in the First Age, from what I remember). Now I have to Google... There are several articles about it, but here's an excerpt from one of them: ...

You are welcome to quote my comment to them.

One day as I drove through our neighborhood road, I saw these two guys on motorcycle. It's typical carefree people; very casual clothing, no helmet, and.. they carried one big pole with moving wooden two-bladed propeller at the end. The full length of the propeller could easily be 1.3 - 1.4 meter (4 - 4.5 feet?). The rider rode slowly, while it's obvious that the pillion was struggling for a bit, because the propeller..was moving like a helicopter blade above their heads. It's a challenge itself to balance this long device, not to mention it's full blown against the instability of the wind. That is not a smart way to carry that thing! They could easily tied the blade to keep it still instead of balancing it while it's moving. Nevermind, stranger things have happened before. So I drove slowly around them and hoped they didn't harm any chickens dogs or cats or humans along their way. Maybe about two three weeks later, I saw the same guy. This time he was alone, riding with one hand and balancing yet a propeller with the other hand. WHAT? Now the task seems more ridiculous without someone to help him. But he looked like he was enjoying himself and rode slowly but in constant speed. Nah. It was quiet afternoon anyway, maybe this guys was living the dream of riding helicopter. Then another week or so passed by, and I saw him again, still balancing the propeller with slight or great difficulty depending on the wind that that time. Good God! I am a curious person, would anyone explain this or do I really need to ask him? Now it's intriguing and if I knew his reason and if it's good enough, maybe I would volunteer helping him holding that bloody propeller. Gah gah gah. But I had to live with that question. Until another week after. When I passed by another neighborhood and I saw this familiar wooden propeller, rising and moving against the wind majestically higher up there, decorated a house in a way people decorated the front yard with flag. I think it's something the locals enjoy that I didn't notice before. That guys was probably a propeller crafter doing the 'test drive' for his handmade product. Mystery solved, there is no need to call Sherlock.

Cruelty to animals!!!

Yes I thought I should maybe have employed an emoticon...in my unfortunate exchange with the facebook friend. Anyhow, our mutual friend got back to me... She says she unfriended that particular individual ages ago: yes, knowledgable nurse, but thinks she's an expert in everything and absolutely no sense of humour...

That is one problem when my hair is shorter; the static electricity is always dragging it into my face. I believe that's why God invented ponytails.

You don't think it's interesting to see how those governments come to their budget decision? I think it'd be hilarious!

Meh, I’ve seen it done. I don’t think the OG Superman is all that superhuman in terms of wants and needs and emotions anyway. He’s about as human as anyone.

Neither -- I meant the questions. If they had omitted words like usually or rarely, I would have found it a lot easier to apply the five-point scale. But with those words included, it felt like the thing was already quantified, and I was expected to add another layer of quantification. Plus, with my usual reluctance to say always or never, I was already working with a mere three-point scale anyhow.

^ I agree. I think that celebrations are important for the human psyche, so I don't advocate their disappearance. But I don't like hearing backyard fireworks every night for weeks around Independence Day, often into the wee hours. My dogs don't scare at them unless they're very loud, but even the slightest boom gets them barking, which can get very frustrating night after night, hour after hour. No one sets off New Year's fireworks where I live, it's too cold, lol.

Good luck to you! (And you too, Arcadia!) I'm not strictly self-employed but I have been freelancing off and on for about 10 years, and I'm trying to transition out of it for awhile. I'm burnt out on contract work, and would like to find something more stable and consistent, if that still exists.

And C) because they think it's funny.

If someone else will do the Feats of Strength.

For clarity's sake, the majority of the anger is over the alleged "queerbaiting", rather than the end/pause of the show.

That is just plain ridiculous. Sure, I hope they'll do more Sherlock, and the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned -- but not till they've regained their enthusiasm for it, 'cause halfhearted Sherlock wouldn't be any fun. How would those people like it if there were an online demand for them (i.e., those Tumblr posters) to stick with a certain job (or a certain club, or a certain fandom) for the rest of their lives? Liking someone's work doesn't give you the right (or, thank goodness, the ability) to dictate their decisions. Sheesh -- people!!!

I saw him! *panting* I saw Dracula!! *falls over to the floor*

Ha! It worked!! (pats self on back)

Season 1 of Moftiss' "Dracula" is up on Netflix! I'm currently making my way through season 3 of "The Crown" (its best season yet in my opinion), but "Dracula" will be next. (Judging from the trailers it looks pretty gross, I hope it's not unwatchable.)

We still have our lights in place and turned on, if that makes you feel any better. We typically have them on between Thanksgiving Friday and Groundhog Day.

Let's face it, folks, she just REALLY REALLY wanted to sit through the whole 20 minutes.....

Ah, you mentioned the WPA murals and that does ring a bell, there are some in that style. Good eye! Stop me if I've told this story before ... a friend and I were driving to Maine a few years ago, and I discovered the hard way that she was a terrible navigator. (ahem) Anyway, we ended up on some road at rush hour (my memory says the Taconic Parkway, but don't quote me on that) that had nightmare traffic; we were inching along. After a while I started noticing the bridges crossing the road -- they were all strikingly different and quite unusual. Somehow we discovered they were all WPA projects, each one designed by a different architect. It was beautiful and fascinating; we probably wouldn't even have noticed them if we'd been going at speed. Almost made the nightmare journey worthwhile. No, my friend was not allowed to navigate on the way home. I love that I'm so close to the Skyline Drive/Parkway … views aside, the road itself is quite beautiful (for a road). All those rock walls and tunnels built by the WPA. My uncle worked up there, somewhere. Amazing project.

Happy New Year *hic*! I hope you're all feeling the wine the way I am.

"Bed 'n' Breakfast." A friend just posted this on Facebook. Cute, but … really, would you want to take your bread out of the breadbox and find this? Eek.

It's actually 117 years and it's a classical one with a wire. https://www.centennialbulb.org/cam.htm

What's Disney Day?

Is that what it is? I used to think so, but now I'm wondering if some people just don't simply enjoy being a**holes. They're such pathetic little souls that they think it empowers them to put down someone else. Yeah...… 😞

I finally had the last conversation with the temporarily replacement of my social assistant, I am SO glad my usual social assistant is coming back from her maternity leave next month. The temporarily replacement was lousy, stupid and incompetent, there were multiple times I wondered how she ended up with a psychologist degree. She constantly criticised how I run my household, she pulled the family card, she said I just needed to take more initiative to talk to my colleagues on my internship when it's a two way street and she was convinced I could ask on a job interview to change a full time job to a part time job, which is something you can't do, bye Felicia.

Oh yes, she would gladly challenge you to thumb war or debate like a third grader.

That's terrible, I'm sorry for you and your friend, and your mom. I do part-time work in a funeral home, so I see a lot of sadness and death under sad circumstances. Last week we had a 17-year-old girl who took a nap after school one day and never woke up. They think it was complications from diabetes. Before that there was a young man's suicide, a young woman who overdosed in a hotel room, and a baby who hadn't even been named yet. We see more deaths the closer to the holidays it gets; that's our "busy" time of year. We're not even allowed vacation time because of how busy we'll be. It's just all very sad.