Guilty Pleasures: Bridgerton

 Being a stressed out bunny at present, I need something simple, fluffy and pretty to look at to keep me from going ga-ga. 

My drug of choice is Bridgerton. 

If you've not caught the Bridgerton bug yet, be warned. It's addictive. Like Turkish Delight Easter Eggs or curried egg sandwiches. 

Basically, it's a series based on a set of fluffy romance novels. The Viscount Bridgerton and his large family are sort of all looking for love in Georgian England. 

Of the family there is: 

• Anthony - the current Viscount - oldest brother. A bit of a rake. 
• Benedict - the arty second son, who marches to the beat of his own drum (I'm definitely Team Benedict)
• Colin - the people pleaser who likes to eat and falls in love easily.
• Daphne  - the eldest daughter, protagonist of the first novel - a bit too gullible for her own good. 
• Eloise - the iconoclast, feminist and somebody who would be my friend. 
• Francesca - the sister nobody knows much about because she's always away in Bath with relatives
• Gregory - he's a kid and he's short. 
• Hyacinth - the baby, who's a bit lippy. 

Oh, and there's Mum, Violet, who keeps her brood in check. Oh, and the Featheringtons, three rather drab sisters and their parents who provide quite a lot of comic relief. 

Look, it's great. There's lots of wonderful costumes, eye fucking, longing looks, silly situations and a poison pen gossip writer mystery going on the in the background. 

If you're looking for a bit of fluff to keep you from going completely insane, knowing that this isn't anything close to reality, that doesn't have a heap of bloodshed or violence, this is a good alternative. 

It's that, or Sanditon...

Jane Austen, eat your heart out. 

Today's song: 

Emergency Brownies

 I have no sweets in the house, unless you count the candied ginger and smooshed lychee ice blocks I have in the freezer. 

Tonight I'm trying everything in my power not to make Nigella's Emergency Brownies. 

I mean, I'm here on my work computer, actually working. Oh, what fun, at 9 p.m. 

And I don't need these at all, but I like the though of making a small amount of brownies. 

I think of what  I have in the cupboard at the moment. 

50 grams soft unsalted butter   - CHECK

50 grams soft light brown sugar - CHECK

1 x 15ml tablespoon maple or golden syrup - CHECK

3 x 15ml tablespoons plain flour - CHECK

3 x 15ml tablespoons cocoa - CHECK

¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes - CHECK (Himalayan rock salt will suffice)

1 large egg (at room temperature) (CHECK)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract - CHECK

50 grams walnut pieces - CHECK

50 grams dark or milk chocolate chips (as wished) - BUMMER, No.

Oh well, no chocolate chips. 

I'll just have to get my sweet jollies from the smooshed up lychee and passionfruit ice blocks in the freezer. 

Much better for me. 

Maybe during tomorrow's team meeting I'll go for a walk down to the supermarket to get some chocolate chips. 

I'm just trying to keep myself happy for a bit. 

Today's song: 

The Poke Bowl

The best thing about working from home is the ability to cook lunch,

Today, I'm having one of my eponymous Poke Bowls. 

In this, there is: 

• Half a cup of brown rice (microwave pots are the best)
• Half a marinated Teriyaki chicken breast 
• A couple of spears of asparagus - blanched
• A couple of spears of broccolini - blanched
• 40 g or edamame beans - also blanched
• 1/4 a Haas avocado
• 20 g of pickled ginger
• A drizzle of Kewpie mayonnaise

This lunch makes me happy. It's substantial. It's tasty. It's easy to throw together. The only thing missing is the dried seaweed, which I ran out of as I've taken to eating leftover Nori sheets as chips. 

When I don't have chicken, I've been known to throw in smoked salmon and a boiled egg. 

It's yummy, very easy and I like it. 

I'm also edging to get some of these bad boys in me - peanut chilli noodles. 

How does this sound? 

You need:

• A pack of instant noodles (but I think I might go the soba kind - love soba noodles)
• Some oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp of sesame seeds
• 1 heaped tablespoon of peanut butter
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 1 tbsp of dark soy
• 1 tbsp of honey / maple syrup.

You basically cook the noodles, fry off the garlic and sesame seeds, then add the rest to the hot pan off the gas and stir.

Might have to give these a try. 

Anything quick and easy is a good thing.

Must get back to work and stop thinking about food. 

Today's song:

I must learn how to say No

 Today, I started work at 8 am. 

I moved away from my work laptop at 7 p.m.

I went to the gym. 

While I was at the gym. I received three messages from work. I responded that I might have a look at this when I got home, or maybe early tomorrow morning. 

In my defence, we are at the very pointy end of the project at the moment, the software is going live over ANZAC Day weekend. 

I had my boss having a rant during our catch up. My day was hard. Her day was worse. 

And now, it's 11.15 p.m. I didn't look at the queries - I'll do that in the morning. 

But I am now sitting here doing paperwork for the Masons for a big meeting we have tomorrow night. 

And I'm just over sitting in front of a computer. 

I have to learn to say no. 

I really do. 

Today's song: 

Movie Review: The Lost City

 Movie N0 14 of 2022

The Film: The Lost City

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Stars: 4

Sometimes you just need a silly film to lift your spirits. A film which is that ridiculous you just have to sit back, enjoy and ponder how much sillier it can get. There are some great caper / treasure hunt films. I think of The Hunt for the Wilderpeople - which has to be one of the greatest caper films out there. There's Romancing the Stone - and the Indiana Jones movies. 

The Lost City isn't of the calibre of these films, but it's still a decent, funny enjoyable diversion. The fact that it takes the piss out of itself is its saving grace. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum take all this in their stride - and they look like they're having fun. 

The plot, according to RottenTomatoes.com is as such: "Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city's lost treasure from her latest story. Determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her."

That about sums it up. Loretta and Alan have to trudge through the jungle to try and escape the dastardly Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe, with the feminine junior name - and he's great as the unhinged Fairfax. Hmm, Fairfax, media tycoon - funny that). Oh and there's Beth (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), Loretta's hardworking agent who tries to find her from when she realises that Loretta has been taken. 

For an action movie based around the opposites attract trope, I loved the fact that a lot of the humour came from site gags and pure silliness. Bullock and Tatum milk the silly from a folding chair, some cable ties, a wheelbarrow and a very stupid magenta, sequined jump suit. 

Another awesome feature of the film is a ten minute cameo by Brad Pitt, a self-help guru who comes to Alan's aid. He's hysterical - even funnier than his cameo in Deadpool II. He rather steals the movie. 

Okay, this is a lightweight film, but when you have Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum together, were you really expecting to get Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or The Cherry Orchard? 

This was the perfect foil for a Sunday movie when you've been working a lot of the weekend and you just want to turn off. There's just enough laughs to keep you going, and not so strangely, Channing Tatum, with his shirt off, is still good to watch. 

Today's song: 

Sunday Stealing: Thought Provoking Questions

 Another weekend of work, and another Saturday night when I'm doing the Sunday questions. I was supposed to be going out to dinner tonight. I'm a bit headachy and throaty - the RAT test came back negative, but I don't want to risk it. Such is life in this new Post-COVID world. 

Questions, as always, have been provided by Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. Do you own your things or do your things own you?

I own my things. I do like things (particularly my books) but they don't own me. I could do without a lot of them. 

2. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

I don't think I'd sign up for either. Your old memories make you who you are. And making new memories is all part of the fun of having fun. So I'm going to say neither. 

3. When you are 80-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

That I have my health, that I am secure and that I have friends. You need all of these things to live past your 70s. 

4. What do you have that you cannot live without?

My friends. 

5. When you close your eyes what do you see?

Light. It depends on the amibent light around the place as to how bright the light is. 

6. What sustains you on a daily basis?

Writing, film, friends and music. I need all of these things to keep me sane. 

7. What are your top five personal values?

• Be kind, always
• Be loyal
• Be generous with your friends
• Be curious, but not judgemental (thanks, Ted Lasso for that one)
• Keep on searching. 

8. What personal prisons have you built out of fears?

Probably my fear of intimacy and commitment. They're fun. I'm working on them. 

9. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?

Walk the full length of the Camino de Compostella di Santiago in Spain. An 800 kilometre walk. Fun, eh? 

10. If you haven’t achieved it yet what do you have to lose?

I've been waiting for the time where it's a bit safe  - I was looking at doing it this year, but there are some health issues that need seeing to. That and I need 6 weeks to two months off work to do this. And I need to get a new passport - my old one is about to expire. 

11. What three words would you use to describe the last three months of your life?

• Work
• Work
• Work

It's not been fun. It will hopefully be changing bigtime after ANZAC Day when the project goes live. 

12. Is it ever right to do the wrong thing?  Is it ever wrong to do the right thing?

Yes. Not often, but yes. 

13. How would you describe ‘freedom’ in your own words?

Walking barefoot down a beach, listening to the ocean, not having to be anywhere and just enjoying what is in front of you, without feeling disadvantaged in any way. 

14. What is the most important thing you could do right now in your personal life?

Let myself be open to more opportunities in all sorts of ways. 

15. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

I'd probably still be a writer. 

Today's song: 

Today's song: 

The worst ear-worm

 One bad movie. One bad song. It's been in my head for a week. 

I walked in on the movie which was playing on the telly when I came in after a night out. I avoid this movie. It's not a great movie. But it's avoided because there are two awful songs in it which get stuck in your head and don't leave. 

The movie is Music and Lyrics. It's a blink and you miss it rom-com starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. 

This mock video clip starts the movie. 

Hugh Grant has a cute bum - well he did 15 years ago when this was made. I'm not sure what it's like now he's a bit older. (though I LOVE his Cockney accent). 

But this song has been in my head for about a week know and it is driving me troppo.

Please send another earworm to get rid of it. 

Here is some Florence and the Machine to get rid of the residual sounds. 

Today's song: