Saturday, July 27, 2019

INTERVENTION??


I am totally beginning to think that I must need some sort of intervention, given my most recent addiction. Or, at the very least, maybe a recovery program. HELLO. MY NAME IS LINDA AND I AM AN ADDICT. HI LINDA. WELCOME.

To what am I addicted, you may ask? Easy. To a movie. My latest alltime favorite movie ever. About the life of my alltime favorite rock star.

Freddie Mercury.

OMG. Bohemian Rhapsody is a film for which I had been waiting an entire year before it’s release. I just could not believe this movie was actually being made, paying tribute the THE most fantastic rock performer ever. In my mind, Freddie’s talent is unparalleled. Plain and simple. And trust me… I’ve heard and seen plenty of rock stars in my day.

Naturally I saw the film on opening day and then… this is where the addiction begins… three more times afterward! In the theater that is. Then, several months later… moving on in to the Academy Awards time frame…  I could rent the film on Directv, which you can be sure I did.

Oh, the glory of it all. The music! The acting! The story! The entire experience thrilled me beyond belief. This is about the time I was beginning to worry myself. I never understood the Star Trek groupies, for instance. I mean seriously. Just how many times can a person SEE Star Trek let alone relish in it?? Have these people no life whatsoever?? Well guess what…

While the question still mystifies me, I am beginning to understand, but in a minuscule way. For after all… Trekkies are kinda nuts and obviously, I’m not. Yet, my addiction still stands and I own it proudly. 

It was the first weekend in July that I had to admit to a Higher Power I had a problem. For during that weekend and the following days in July too, Bohemian Rhapsody was on HBO. In fact, it was showing throughout the entire month, but the weekend showtimes worked best for me. All day long on Saturdays, for example, the movie was playing on all different HBO channels. So basically… it’s kinda not my fault. How can you NOT watch it, over and over and over? So… watch I did, as I was puttering all through the house, doing my different chores. Sometimes I literally sat in my recliner just to watch. I simply couldn’t turn on another channel and instead… listened to the fabulous music, happy as a little lark, time and time again. Ergo: my addiction problem.

Now I do have to say that I ALmost think maybe I’ve gotten my fill by now. Although last night I got in bed and just happened to check to see if it was playing. I hit pay dirt! Yippee. Sure enough, one of the channels was playing the film yet again, so although I came in during the middle of the movie, I still stayed up til past midnight to watch ONCE AGAIN. I swear… I think I’m this far from having to call a sponsor to help see me through all this. 

I have also watched several DVDs about Freddie so I know alot about his life, way beyond BR. I’ve also read some biographies. Needless to say I’ve watched plenty of videos on YouTube to see Queen perform live. My favorite is the one which shows Freddie and Montserrat CaballĂ©, singing the operatic BARCELONA. It was tottttally the highlight of his life to be able to sing with his alltime favorite soprano. This STILL gives me chills everytime I watch it: Yay Freddie!. Anyway…

I also naturally adore Queen’s Live Aid performance which btw… I watched live in 1985. My other fav is The Great Pretender: Yay 1950s!. All these videos merely play into my addiction to watching Freddie perform but… as I said…

I think I may finally be getting myself under control, here. Thank God. As for any NEW rock groups in this day and age… I have no clue who they may be nor what they may sing. I couldn’t even name one if you paid me. But… I could almost promise you… they can’t possibly hold a candle to my revered Freddie.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

PRIME

It could be argued that I’m sorta still in the prime of my life. I particularly love prime steaks and I love lots of prime time TV shows, too. But MOST OF ALL… I love Amazon Prime!

It is by far one of THE best inventions ever. Seriously. Ever.

To me… anyone who isn’t a prime member by now, totally has to maybe be… well, let’s see. How can I say this kindly? Uh… maybe be a loser of sorts?? I mean, really. It’s like they are still living in the past century or something… although I will admit the whole Prime deal was launched in 2005 so okay. Perhaps just a partial loser. And btw… for those of you doing a school report, Amazon itself came into being in 1994 so you’re welcome for the info. And btw… I myself have been an Amazon customer since 1998.

Frankly, I am not even sure I can live without Amazon. My first Kindle was purchased in 2007 and I paid major bucks for it, but it was soooo worth it. In fact, again for those doing school reports, the first Kindles were sold out in 5 and 1/2 hours and took another five months to restock it. Now THAT’S what I call a retail winner.

Nor can I live without Amazon Prime. I click a button and it arrives at my doorstep in 48 hours?? What the hell can possibly be BETER? Nothing! That’s what. I use Prime for everything from toilet tissue to vitamins. I love never having to go to a store for non perishables. Like dog food, lets say. Or personal hygiene products. Or my favorite lip stick. Or gift wrap items. Or linens. Or ANYthing. Not to mention, techie toys.

Additionally... I ADORE my Echo Dot. I have two of them, actually, and use it almost everyday. Goodbye alarm clock. Goodbye cooking timers. Goodbye radios. Goodbye home weather stations. Goodbye LOTS of things. The best part? Listening to Sirrius satellite TV stations! Plus… Alexa is a pretty kind lady. She’ll tell you to have a nice day if you say Good Morning to her. Or Sweet Dreams if you say Good Night. Okay… those last two make me laugh right out loud but still… she’s a really kind person. What?? Alexa isn’t real?? Talk about living in the Age of the Jetsons. Oh yeah… I love when she gives me phone numbers although using a phone book is something I stopped using years and years ago. Oh and get this…

Amazon's Prime Day sales begin tomorrow!  All KINDS  of Amazon Deals for Prime Members are being provided. As if 2 day shipping isn’t enough, right? Already I purchased  four items for my dog from their Early Day offers and guess what. Boom. The  items are sitting here in the house, before Prime Day even begins. Man. What a set up, is all I can say. 

And yes, I get it that Amazon has driven plenty of stores and companies out of  business. And yes, Jeff Bezos probably breaks every privacy law known to man but… would I give up my Amazon account or Prime Membership??? Absolutely not. I’m not only hooked. I’m grateful, too.

For a lazy ass lady like myself, this concept of online shopping is sooo up my alley. I’m just totally sorry I won’t be around to see what OTHER fantastic technical ideas are coming down the pike. Unfortunately I’ll be on the other side of grass in what? About 10 more years? Which means: I’ll miss seeing some even GREATER inventions. Damnit.

Of course, I’ll also miss seeing Prince William become King which trust me… breaks my heart but PLENTY.


   

Saturday, July 13, 2019

OCD

I think I may have written something about this before but I then figured, if I can’t remember, then I suspect you can’t either. So with that in mind…

It wasn’t until I was about 60… 11 years ago now… that I began to develop crazy ass behaviors that I’d not had before. Case in point… when I turned 60, boom. All of a sudden I became spooked by other people’s germs. Seriously. I would NEVER take a grocery cart today without first wiping it down with those fantastic little sterile wipes they offer us at the cart stands. Actually, it could possibly be THE most perfect invention ever. Before I was 60, no problem. I’d touch every cart in the store if I wanted… all without sterilizing the handles. TODAY however?? No way.

At 60, I also began my first entry into the world of OCD. Like… after my housekeeper leaves my house when she is finished cleaning, if there is even one item not placed exactly as I had it on a table for instance, it takes me no time at all to put it back, facing it in it’s original position. Like my Mother’s photograph, let’s say. I need her frame to be facing at a very specific angle and if when cleaning, my housekeeper puts it in a DIFferent direction, then I have to correct it the moment I see it.

Oh man. This type of deal can go and on in my house for all kinds of things. My eye has to have THE  exact spatial relationship and direction in which I originally placed an item. And, if you think this is an easy behavior to maintain, trust me. It’s not. On the other hand…

I’m not really too too crazy with my OCD. I mean… there are people who are WAYYY into all kinds of bullshit compulsions but luckily I’m not one of those. I don’t go check locked doors over and over again before I leave the house or anything like that. Granted… I won’t put up with men who come to my home and leave the toilet seat up but actually, I suspect that that disorder is covered by my germ phobia, so I’m kinda good to go.  Regardless…

My latest OCD problem??? You will never believe this! It began about 2 months ago and frankly, it’s become a major pain in the ass! Yet now, it’s officially and permanently ingrained in my OCD list of crazy ass everyday funtioning. Want to know what it is?? Sitting down???

As of about 8 weeks ago… I now HAVE to set the volume of my TV on even numbers ONLY! Seriously! IT’S NUTS! Watching a progam set on a volume number of 35?? Absolutely not! It now has to be set at either 34 or 36. Can you even IMAGINE?? Where the fuck did this new behavior even COME from?? For my entire life, I was able to set the volume, happily I might add, at 29 with no problem. Two months ago however?? Jesus. It has to be set at 30. Or 28.

I HAVE by the way, TRIED to do odd numbers, but something in me just won’t allow it. I know. I’M READY FOR THE FUNNY FARM and I’m not particularly pleased about it, either. If someone else had told me they just HAD to do this crazy volume control deal, I’d tell them to check into an institution immediately, But since it’s me, I just tell myself: Hey… do what you have to do and deal with it. End of funny farm worries. Oh yeah. And btw... what's with this every channel having a different volume level altogether?? No wonder I'm going nuts.

Which reminds me. Is the whole country having to go without Directv's CBS at the moment?? It's blacked out all over?? I can't believe I'll have to forego CBS Sunday Morning yet anOTHER week! It's maybe the finest show on the airwaves and bingo. It's gone! 

For which maybe I should be happy. At least there is one show for which I don't have to worry about volume numbers. The only problem is: I'm not happy. BRING BACK CBS, please! My addiction to Sunday Morning needs feeding.