Coin laundry

Found via Loobylu's tweet.

Not so much

Chinatown is one of those classics that I'd never gotten around to watching until the other night. I should have known better.

Despite an excellent cast, this film did not wow me. I blame it on my lack of love for film noir. The characters just left me cold. The mystery was interesting, but I never felt all that invested.

The only noir film I can recall adoring is Brick. Does that mean I should write the whole genre off or is there another hidden gem somewhere I might appreciate?

Inspired

These sculptures by Matt Stephens make me want to make things. Aren't they fantastic?

Honest effort

I gave Hospital and honest effort. It's nonfiction - all about the behind the scenes operations of a hospital. My first twinge of doubt was when I opened the book to find a four page list of names and descriptions of who they are. That's a lot of folks to keep track of, but, hey, at least theirs a reference.

Then I read and read and waited for it to get to the interesting parts about what it means to serve a really diverse population of patients from all over the world. What I got was politics and in-fighting. Not a fun or engaging read so I did not finish. I give it a 1 star - cause the title is interesting.

Fruit themed clothes are a-okay with me

Love the ribbon trim on this skirt.

Leaves

This dress is so summery.

Crochet

What a lovely idea.

Genius

I need to keep my mind open for ways to add some extra flair to my feet. Painting and adorning shoes is so so clever.

Hard

Now and then I Netflix something that I know is gonna be hard to watch so it sits for far too long on my mantle. But I always get around to watching it.

Waltz with Bashir was one of those. It's an animated recounting of Israeli soldiers' recollections of the Lebanese War. It's brutal and eye-opening and damn hard to watch. Just as it should be.

I give it a 6.

Addicted

I have to say that I'm utterly addicted to the show Dog Town, all about dogs in need of homes at Best Friends Animal Rescue in Utah. No matter how much eye-rolling my husband does.

I must admit though that the show equally gives me hope for my bad bad Winifred dog and makes me feel like the laziest pet owner ever. Still, I'm hooked!

Chips

I watched the Masterpiece Theatre version of Goodbye, Mr Chips the other day. I firmly believe that the book is better - more charming. However, there's a scene calling out the names of men lossed in the war that choked me up. And Chips' wife is so perfectly cast.

I give this a 6.

Too much cable tv

Oh de Lint, what's become of you? You've written such lovely and imaginative stories of Newford for so many years, and now I can't help but feel that there's some grasping at straws going on.

I was pretty disappointed by The Mystery of Grace, but I knew within the first chapter that something was off - like maybe someone watched WAY too much Discovery Channel. The writing is about a woman who is in to ink and hot rods. She is immediately compared to Kat Von D - I am not shitting you. Shortly into the story, Grace, the Kat Von D chicky, is killed and the story is about how she's trapped in an afterlife limbo or sorts and madly in love with a man she can only see twice a year when ghosts can visit the living.

Poor de Lint seems to be trying overly hard to be hip instead of writing what he knows or what he imagines. The constant trend-mentioning in this novel is gonna date this one fast too. Here's hoping that he takes some time to write more true to himself novels instead of grasping so hard for materials. He's still one of my very favorite authors though; I just need to forget I ever read this one. It squeaks by with a 2 out of 10 from me.