People in public pet peeves. A lot of this is probably going to make me sound old, but I have a few pet peeves regarding how people behave in public. I dislike when people use their phones without headphones, be it for TikTok videos or just phone conversations. It’s very rude and annoying. I personally don’t like it when people talk on their phone in public in general. I know cell phones make it possible, but I think too many people do it too often, and for too-long conversations. As if everyone else on the bus needs to hear about your plans for the evening, Denise.
I’ve also noticed and dislike when people assume public toilets are automatic. I don’t need to go too into detail with this; you get the idea. I’ve stood in restroom lines at venues before and realized that several of the toilets in the restroom weren’t broken, they just hadn’t been flushed. 🙄 Not every toilet is automatic. We’re not living in that utopia yet.
The Odyssey reaction. Wow. I went into it without knowing very much. I never read it in school, so I only knew about things like the cyclops and the Trojan horse because of pop culture references. I was very enthralled by the movie. It’s a great story. It doesn’t even feel like it’s nearly 3 hours long. All the actors in it are great, the practical effects are amazing. I think it’s my favorite Christopher Nolan movie. I’ve seen most of his movies without setting out to do so. I also love The Prestige.
When it got to the army of the dead scene, I was very excited. I didn’t know there were also zombies/ghosts in it! That story really does have everything. I’d watch it again. Though probably at home so I can pause to go to the bathroom. I went at a perfect place where I didn’t miss anything, though! There seems to be one place where you can do that, because so much happens and you might miss something if you go at a different time.
I’ve seen some people saying it’s a good introduction to the story for people who aren’t familiar with it. I’ve also seen a lot of “purists” complaining that the movie has changes from the original story. I watched the Crash Course episode on The Odyssey after seeing the movie, and I think the changes enhance the story and give reasons why I should care about the characters.
Thoughts on Every Version of You. I finished reading it yesterday and I enjoyed it! There are lots of twists, some of which I predicted and some of which came out of nowhere. It kept me guessing, which is great. There’s also a little side plot with a cat, and I died in that part. It comes together so sweetly. I’m glad I got myself a copy as a comp, because I think I’ll read it again someday. It’s inspiring for my own writing, too, which is a fun little extra perk.
Writing update. My writing spurts are starting to take me less than thirty minutes to get to 500 words. I’ve put a lot of thought into this story, so writing it so far has been a pleasure. The other day, I thought, “Oh no, I still have two thousand words left in this chapter!” and then I immediately figured out a scene to stick in that moves the plot forward and even adds some foreshadowing. I love foreshadowing.
I’m looking forward to being finished so I can read it and see how it all fits together. Hopefully it’ll make as much sense as it does in my head. I expect to spend a few years on this one. I have realistic expectations for once!
Sara Mazariegos 