Tag: Movies

Time, time, time, see what’s become of me.

Sara Mazariegos

Dolly & Tim. Last week was rough. I desperately want to be eloquent about how wonderful and beloved both Dolly Parton and Tim Curry were, but it is hard to find the words for two people who meant so much to so many around the world.

Dolly was an angel on earth. She was loving, supportive, generous, fiercely loyal, open-minded, and of course talented. She was an example to all of us of how to be a good human being. There’s a reason people from all walks of life loved her, and why everyone was sad when we found out she passed away. I hope the number one thing we take away from her passing is that we can all be more like her. Life is not often fair or easy on us, but it makes everything better if you’re kind and gracious to everyone. We should remember that, and make Dolly proud.

Tim was unique and always seemed larger than life to me. I’ve been a fan of his since I was around eight years old. He’s great in every role he was cast in. Seeing his big, toothy grin and hearing his booming voice with that outlandish, affected accent was always a joy. My earliest memories of him were Fern Gully and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We used to watch the latter every Halloween when I was growing up. I think it helped me grow up a more accepting person. Sure, it’s a strange movie full of bizarre characters, but that’s life, too. I believe seeing that movie at such a young age meant that I grew up respecting other people and fully embracing if someone was LGBTQ+. In fact, fully embracing myself for being a part of that community.

Wear the fishnets, Brad. You look good in them.

I’m going to be sad for a while about Dolly and Tim, but I am so glad we got to have people like them in our world. I think others will come along who take up their mantles, at least a little.

Last days of the longer commute. Finally, the days of this hellish commute are nearly at an end. I only have to deal with crossing the street to catch the bus and riding the Metro into the city from Wheaton for two more days. After Friday, we’re going to celebrate.

Luis has been coming with me for the last of it, and it has been nice seeing him in the early mornings. It makes my days start out more cheerfully. The bus drivers on the other end of the line have been friendly and nice, and the train has been fine, but it has been draining. Next week, everything will hopefully feel much easier again.

It’s funny, because it wasn’t long ago that my commute shifted to slightly later when my job changed. At least, as Luis pointed out, that was a change I signed up for. The long Metro maintenance is not the way things were supposed to go. I won’t be complaining about it anymore, though. It’s finally at an end!

The sagging middle. I’m working on writing the part of my novel that’s referred to as “the sagging middle” because it’s the second act of the story and a lot of tension can be lost in the plot, etc if a writer’s not careful. I’ve thought of a few twists to write in here to keep the story from losing its momentum and intrigue. One thing that amuses me is that, as I write in my little 500-word sessions, it seems like the story is slow-going, but it’s only because I’m taking my time to write it. Once I’m in editing mode, it will be interesting to see what the pacing is actually like.

Another thing this story’s made me realize is the kind of guys I used to be attracted to. As you know, if you’ve been paying attention to these parts of my blog, I’m writing a story involving going back in time. So I’ve made a love interest that’s sort of based on a combination of all the guys I ever had a crush on. It’s amusing how my tastes have changed. No offense meant to the guys I used to like. I never told any of them, so they’ll never know I wrote about them.

It’s gonna take patience and time to do it right, child.

Sara Mazariegos

Days off in the middle of the week. Last week, I had Tuesday and Wednesday off and it was so nice to have a break in the middle of the week. It gave me some much needed rest, even if I did wake up early both days to get Disney reservations. It gave me more time with Luis, which is always wonderful. And it made the weekend come sooner. The only downside is the weekend ends up feeling too brief. But then, weekends are always too brief, arent they?

I do intend to keep this in mind, though. Having days off on Monday or Friday to stretch out the weekend is good, but there’s something to be said for having the middle of the week off, too. Especially when I’ve been as tired out as I have been during this summer’s Metro construction. Only twelve more days until things go back to normal and I get to have my shorter commute back! Yes, I’m counting the days.

Spider-Man and potlucks. We were planning to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day again last weekend, but our movie theater unexpectedly closed for maintenance. I was really looking forward to seeing it again (especially not so up-close this time.) We ended up having a nice brunch instead, and watching Jaws, which was nice. There was a “Vinyl Day” at the library nearby, and I’m pretty sure it had a huge turnout because people couldn’t go to the movies. Could’ve been worse. It’s good to support your local library.

Also on Saturday, we went to our neighborhood’s block party. Luis made tostadas that were a big hit. It was nice to see everyone, but we are the neighborhood shy people, so we mostly sat quietly and ate food together. Some ladies introduced themselves and were very into talking about their fresh bean orders online, which was amusing if a bit strange. We have a friendly neighborhood. Oh wow, that’s what I could’ve called this section. “Friendly Neighborhood + Spider-Man.” D’oh!

Disney excitement. On my days off last week, I watched some YouTube videos on how to walk from our hotel to the Magic Kingdom, and how to take the Skyliner into Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. I love that there’s a video for everything these days. The hotels in the videos I found are even the exact hotels we’re staying at, so we don’t have to try to transpose the information for ourselves. There’s a delicate line between avoiding spoilers and knowing what we’re doing so we don’t arrive and feel lost. I love being in the know about stuff. It makes me even more excited. And I also feel dorky watching a ride-through Skyliner video, because it’s literally just a gondola on a line going from a hotel to a theme park gate. But I like to be prepared!

Planning our trips is sometimes more exciting to me than actually being there and doing the things. Sometimes, the being there and doing the things part is more stressful, but imagining doing the things is fun. Also, everything happens so quickly when we’re actually there. But in the twoish months leading up to it, I can daydream about all of the things we’ll do. At the same time, I cannot wait to be at Disney again and experience the new things and the old things we love!

Telling myself the story first. One of the more frustrating things to get in my head is that writing the first draft is me telling myself the story first. It comes out as the messiest version. It’s basically improv so far, making it up as I go along with the aid of some notes/prompts. I’m getting the thoughts and ideas written down so future me can go in and make sense of it. Then the second draft will presumably be better. And then the third draft, etc.

This is the first story I’ve written from the beginning in a long time, because the last two stories I wrote came from previously-written drafts that needed to be heavily rewritten. This time, I’m starting from scratch. And it’s scary. It’s daunting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought, “well, this is hard. I don’t have to keep writing it.” But that is the trap! Every novel starts out in the frustrating, ‘this isn’t coming out the way I envisioned’ phase. Every author goes through this, probably with every novel they’ve published. It’s hard to imagine, and hard to feel like pushing through the self-doubt and the “grr, this needs to be better” will eventually be worth it. But I know that it will. And then I’ll have a completed novel I can be proud of.

And maybe eventually send to agents. But I’m taking the pressure off myself. For now, it’s best to focus on the enjoyment of writing and discovering things as I draft it all out.

Do you think time would pass me by?

Sara Mazariegos

After-work drinks. On Friday, we went out for drinks and dinner with some of Luis’s friends from high school. It was nice to meet up in the city and go out instead of doing the usual routine, although I did end up quite tired when it was over. We stayed up until one in the morning! What are we, college kids?! We did spend a lot of time with his friends talking about high school people and experiences. I felt so old. 😆

And then, when Luis took the train to Wheaton with me, the scary elevator didn’t seem so scary, and I don’t really remember the bus ride. It was much nicer to have him with me. Only 20 more days of this longer commute for me! Can you tell I’m looking forward to things going back to normal?

Spider-Man summation. Luis and I saw Spider-Man: Brand New Day on Saturday. The theater was more packed than I’ve seen it in a long, long time. We had to sit in the second row, and my shoulders are still sore from looking up the whole time, but it was worth it. It brought back memories of seeing Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey McGuire with my sister, and us having to crane our necks the whole time/not be sick when he was webbing through NYC. I think Brand New Day is the best Marvel movie in a long time. I’m already looking forward to seeing it again. Preferably a little further back in the seating rows.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t go into detail. Just know that it surpassed my expectations. I think Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man in the movies. He’s the right mix of jokester and dork. And he’s so agile! It’s funny how the Barbenheimer this summer is two Tom Holland movies. I enjoyed both of them, and one of them is clearly going to win a bunch of awards, but man if I don’t enjoy a fun Marvel movie.

Dumb & Dumber all these years later. On Sunday, we watched Dumb & Dumber. I don’t think I’d seen it since I was a kid, and Luis hadn’t seen it before. There were quite a few things that I remembered. They were somehow lodged in my subconscious. “I like it a lot.” It’s a pretty cute movie, which is funny because the Farrelly brothers are known for being ‘gross out.’ It’s not actually even that gross by today’s standards. I think, after watching The Boys, nothing is that gross.

I loved Jim Carrey when I was a kid, and he is super cute in D&D. It also aged better than Ace Ventura, so that’s a plus. I’ve never seen the sequel, but I have a feeling it might not be worth it… Not everything needs a sequel.

Disney planning is part of the fun! Luis and I are going to Disney World and Universal in October. It feels like forever ago that I mentioned it, because he booked our Disney tickets and hotels as a Christmas present. It’s finally getting close enough that we can start cementing plans for things like which parks we’re going to each day, which restaurants we’re booking {hopefully}, and how we’re getting around. I’m so excited to be staying at Disney resorts the whole time this time, so we can go into the parks early each day, and make use of the close walk to Magic Kingdom, and then use the handy Skyliner and buses the rest of the time. The Skyliner is a ride in itself and, yes, I’m a little scared to ride it. We may ride it once and then decide we prefer the bus. Heh. Heeehh. But if we’re riding the Tower of Terror, the Skyliner should be a piece of cake.

I watched a lot of videos on YouTube recently in preparation. There are even videos that show you exactly how to walk from one specific hotel to the transportation, so we don’t have to get there and try to guess the right way. Theme park YouTubers can be kind of irritating sometimes, but I really like the ones that are just trying to be helpful for people. The logistics can be a real nightmare if you’re not prepared, especially nowadays with all the new technology and available options. I just have to be careful not to watch too many videos, or else I get frustrated that I’m not already able to just do the things!

I guess I’m a ‘plantser.’ I’ve known this for a while, but it’s not like I think about it a lot. I make outlines for my novels, but they tend to be loose. A few sentences per chapter. I fill in the details and scenes as I go, with only a general idea of what I want each chapter to have in it. I guess I initially try to imagine the big picture of the story, and then as I actually sit down to write it, I hone in on the scenes and characters in more detail. At least in the first draft. And then the first draft kind of becomes a long outline for the later, better drafts.

As I’m writing my latest novel, there are many things I know I’m going to need to change. Somehow, knowing it needs work makes me feel better about it. It feels like growth to me, not expecting it to come out perfectly at first and not putting so much pressure on myself to get it well-written and finished within a set time frame. I even fully intend to finish it and leave it alone for months before reading it.

I’m working harder at taking my time.

Where lovers steal and beg for time.

Sara Mazariegos

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!

If I could turn back time, if I could find a way.

Sara Mazariegos

Wildfire smoke + anxiety = not fun. A lot of wildfire smoke came down into D.C. from Canada last weekend. Combined with my anxiety about suffocating, it wasn’t great. On Thursday, I was on a crowded train and I briefly worried about there not being enough air on the train for us all to breathe. It was fleeting, but then I wondered if it was because of the smoke. A Nerdfighter friend pointed out that smoke wasn’t even in our area yet. Oh. Just plain old boring anxiety then. But on Friday it was actually smoky. Like, making my esophagus hurt, eyes watering smokey. The commute home wasn’t dreadful, though, because a lot of people work from home or don’t work on Fridays, so I avoided the extra suffocatey feeling. It was actually better to be in a ventilated train versus walking outside.

A lady who lives in Canada posted that, as bad as the smoke was trickling down here, it’s been much worse where she lives because they’re still dealing with the actual fires that have killed people and animals… So it puts it into perspective. I hope the fires are out soon and everyone will be okay. 🖤

World Cup reaction. With the scores being as high as they were in the England vs. France game, I feel like the final between Spain and Argentina was a little anticlimactic. It was a good game in that Argentina prevented Spain from scoring for most of it—largely because my favorite player, Dibu Martinez, is an amazing goalkeeper—but Argentina didn’t seem to have the drive to try to win. They didn’t even attempt to shoot, and they kept losing the ball. I’m not sure what happened. But, like I’ve said before, Spain is another team of players we really like, so we’re happy for them. I just feel like the last game was the least exciting of all the World Cup games this time. It’s funny how that worked out. Well, funny but in a sad way.

Also, what was that halftime show? That was a mess. I think it should’ve just been Shakira and BTS. Even the Muppets felt like too much extra for no reason. There really was no need for a halftime show. It ended up underlining how meh of a game it was.

Ace Ventura as an adult. We watched Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as my latest movie pick, since I’ve been strolling down memory lane with some classic Jim Carrey movies. It is…woof. Well, it has a lot of classic Jim Carrey one-liners. There’s a raccoon in it. There’s also a lot of football stuff, which I remembered as the reason I didn’t like it as much as its sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

But the worst part is that the villain and the ending are all kinds of transphobic. It didn’t age well at all. And it doesn’t honestly make much sense. I wish I could rewrite it. Something similar happens in Soap Dish, and it’s just like, why? Why was that the go-to joke? Thankfully, the majority of people have evolved since then. But it does make those movies cringey to rewatch, which is unfortunate because most of those two movies is otherwise funny and they have actors I like in them.

Novels that try to do too much. I’ve noticed in the novel I’m currently reading*—that I really like, don’t get me wrong!—there’s starting to be a little too much going on. There’s a romance but there’s also a crazy time travel plot and there’s also a trying-to-stop-something-from-happening subplot. It all feels a bit heavy. I suppose it’s good to have more than just the romance, because that can get boring if there’s nothing else happening. But suddenly all these new characters have been introduced in the middle of the book, which I was not anticipating. I’m curious to see how it all comes together. I’m always impressed when authors create these worlds and these complex scenarios. I can’t wrap my head around it when I’m reading it, and it’s got to be even more difficult to write!

That being said, it’s something that’s difficult to do well. I hope the author pulls it off. I feel like she will. So far, I’ve adored the romance plot. It flows very naturally and the characters are cute and funny together. I look forward to their scenes.

Writing update. Writing my latest novel has been so fun. I promised myself it would be, and I’ve completely leaned into it. I’m trying to just enjoy writing it without thinking about trying to get it published, even though of course it is my long-term goal to get published someday. So far, I think this story I’m telling has a lot going for it.

One good thing about my extra long commute these days is that I can think of ideas while I’m traveling, especially when I’m traveling home and can get writing not long after I get there. I’ve been daydreaming about my novel quite a bit, which I think is a good sign.

* I’m not going to name it right now, because this could be slightly spoilery, though you don’t have to search far on my site to find mention of which book it is

I’m having such a good time; I’m having a ball.

Sara Mazariegos

Independence Day celebrations not on Independence Day. I have a pet peeve about holidays: I dislike when they’re celebrated not on their respective date. I get that Independence Day is on a Saturday this year, so we get Friday off from work. That makes sense. It can’t be given off if it’s a Saturday. Fine. Thanks. However, the 4th of July is on the 4th of July so celebrating it on the 3rd makes no sense. Also, wouldn’t you rather celebrate on a Saturday, well-rested after having the previous day off? It’s the same with Halloween. It always bothers me when Halloween is on a Saturday and people choose to celebrate it on a Friday instead, or it’s on Sunday so people celebrate it on Saturday. It’s so baffling to me. Celebrate holidays on their actual days!

That being said, we’re not watching the thing in D.C. on the 4th of July. We’re watching the pre-recorded PBS Capitol Fourth show that has to happen on the 3rd because we live in a dystopia. And then of course we’ll watch the World Cup game, too, because that will be a jolly good time. France might cream Paraguay, but this has been an unusual World Cup, so anything could happen. It’s been amazing.

Streaming shows schedule. To keep up with shows and not binge them, Luis and I have scheduled what we’re currently watching on our calendar, and it struck me that it’s not much different from the television schedules of yore. Except there are no commercials and we can switch around the order of things if we want to. For a long time, we did what a lot of people do: we watched shows we like all the way through, watching them every day. I think it’s better to space them out and watch each show weekly, especially because we can then savor them. We still binge a few shows, mainly true crime shows because I just wanna know what happened!!, but for the most part we stick to our schedule to give each show its allotted attention.

For example, it’s been fun having “Bear Thursday” to look forward to each week. …It’s not what it sounds like.


World Cup feelings are taking over. We were planning to see Supergirl last weekend, but then we just couldn’t bring ourselves to. It got bad reviews, the trailer wasn’t very inspiring or original, and it seemed like Krypto isn’t in it much, and he’s the main reason I care, so… We went and had a nice lunch and watched movies at home this weekend instead, along with many more World Cup games. It’s been nice to catch as many games as we can in the evenings and on the weekends, even though they can be random teams we haven’t really been following. The game with Paraguay vs. Germany? WHAT. And then Canada and South Africa on Sunday was crazy. And then Netherlands vs. Morocco? Oh. My. God.

My childhood crush reborn. We watched Liar Liar on Sunday as well, because Luis hadn’t seen it before. I was a little worried it wouldn’t hold up, because sometimes movies from the 90s can be pretty icky, but it is still good. Jim Carrey is so talented. I saw that movie in the theater for my 10th birthday, with a group of my friends. A few of my friends’ parents wouldn’t let them go see it with me because it’s a PG-13 movie, and I remember thinking they were silly and not fun. Now as an adult, I can see the issues. I still think they should’ve been allowed to come, but it makes more sense to me now. A lot of the sexual innuendo went over our heads when we were kids, though. I mainly remembered him beating himself up in a bathroom to try to get out of his court case, but then he can’t lie to the judge and say it’ll prevent him from working the case, so he badly beat himself up for no reason. 🥲

I want to rewatch a lot of the Jim Carrey movies I loved as a kid now. I know there are lots of classic movies I still need to see, but sometimes rewatching old favorites is just nice.

Writing my next novel starting next week! I’ve been stressed out by the looming Metro construction and having to get up earlier to take an alternate route and stuff, but I am genuinely looking forward to starting to write my next novel next week. I hope my brain won’t be too distracted by the stress and I can take the writing time as a time to relax and have fun. That’s my goal anyway.

I worry so much about not having enough time. The commute home is going to potentially take longer, so I’m fretting. I look at our calendar and I think we’re not going to be able to do much together in the evenings, and it makes me sad. We’re probably (hopefully) only going to lose maybe 30 minutes per day. But that does add up. I’m glad this won’t last longer than a few months. I’m also curious to see if I really will be going to bed at 11pm each night. I’ve never been a fan of going to bed early.

But, in a way, being worried about running out of time fits in perfectly with my novel. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to share it with you so you can see for yourself.

All the times that I’ve cried, keeping all the things I knew inside.

Sara Mazariegos

Haha, I just realized I used a “Father and Son” lyric for this entry. I did not plan that. I love that song, though. It always makes me think of Rocket Raccoon because I’m me.

Father’s Day funtimes. We had a mini-Father’s Day get together last Friday with Luis’s stepdad when we went to a bar and saw the US vs. Australia game. Then we celebrated Father’s Day with my dad, with margaritas and Tex Mex and 1 1/2 World Cup games as well. Both events were fun, and much soccer was viewed. My dad even agreed to let us watch at least the second half of the game on the 4th of July (the one in Philadelphia, because it’s the perfect location for the 4th of July, provided we don’t have to actually be there in person.)

It was nice to have a long weekend to celebrate and spend time with family. We spent the evening of Juneteenth watching Rustin, which is about a civil rights activist who was also gay, performed by Colman Domingo. I love Colman Domingo. It was a busy weekend, but it also felt productive and fun!

My Toy Story 5 thoughts. On Saturday, Luis and I went to another bar to watch the Netherlands vs. Sweden, and then we saw Toy Story 5. Remember me promising we’d see it because Conan O’Brien is in it? I really enjoyed it, and not only because of him. He was in it way more than I thought he’d be, though, which was great.

I love that it focused on Jessie, and it reminded me a little of Inside Out because Jessie worked very hard to help make her kid happy. We got to see more of Bonnie than we ever really saw of Andy. And the message that technology isn’t completely bad but it should be used sparingly, especially for kids, is a good one. I was sniffly in several parts. I kind of want to see it again.

Going to events as an adult with a job. Luis has a new work schedule, so meeting in DC to go to events is harder. We’re going to see Rush in October, and we’re navigating the best way to swing getting dinner and being there at showtime. He may end up working at least some of the day in my office, so we can leave together on time. At least my office isn’t too far from the arena. It’ll be nice to work together. We never get to do that anymore! But of course I’m also worried about the timing of things, because I’m me.

John Green is going on a book tour for Hollywood, Ending in September/October as well, and I really hope to see him, but it’s going to be tough. It may not be at an easy-to-get-to venue, and it may also be while we’re off on our anniversary trip to Orlando. I feel like I always run into this “I dunno if we can make it” situation and then it works out, but this year feels like it might be different, and I’m pre-sad about it. We’ll see, but…

It’s great to have jobs and be able to pay for goods and services, but it’s a bummer to have to miss out on things because of work hours. I wish all events could be on weekends. Then again, I’ve worked jobs with weekend hours in the past. (Hopefully never again, because that is the worst.)

Sometimes reading counts as writing. I’m looking forward to writing my next novel, but I’m also a little nervous. I guess I’m always like that when I start a new project. Luis told me to have fun with it instead of giving myself deadline pressure that doesn’t exist, so I’m going to try. I’m in a good place with the outline I have and the ideas I’ve written down. I’ve been thinking about it a lot before starting, which I can’t say I always do, so hopefully it’ll help me get started on the right foot.

I finished reading my comp novel, the ARC novel I shouldn’t talk about until July 7th when it’s released. Just know that I love it very much. It’s in the spirit of my story, and it’s been a great motivator as I think of ideas for my own novel. My story is not the same, but it would fit on the same shelf, if that makes sense. I’m getting another comp novel next month, too, so stayed tuned for my reactions to that one as well!

Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.

Sara Mazariegos

Still processing the end of Hacks. I was excited to watch the final episode of Hacks last Friday, but it was surprisingly sad. I should’ve seen it coming—there were hints—but I didn’t think they were going to go that route. The final season felt like it went by entirely too quickly. I enjoyed it much more than the final season of Mrs. Maisel, that’s for sure. They could easily make a spin-off series about Jimmy and Kayla, though I’m not sure what the main plot would be.

I’m going to miss that show. I miss it already.

We’re going to pivot to watching Andor on Fridays now. We’ve tried starting it several times, and we haven’t gotten into it, but Jessica Williams convinced me to give it another chance. Diego Luna is awfully cute. The actor, not the soccer player.

Speaking of Diego Luna and soccer… Luis and I have been watching the World Cup whenever we get a chance. We predominately cheer for Argentina and Spain, but I also like Netherlands and Morocco. On Friday this week, since it’s a holiday, we’re going to watch the US vs. Australia at a sports bar with his family. We’re also going to try to convince my dad to let us watch the second half of the game on the 4th of July, but we’ll see about that.

So far, it’s been pretty unpredictable, with a lot of games unexpectedly ending in 1-1. The usual “underdogs” are doing well this go-around. It makes it more exciting to watch than if the big European teams just dominate like always. And how about that US vs. Paraguay game? I did not expect them to win 4-1. I don’t hugely support the US team, but it’d be nice to see them do well, especially since they didn’t even make it in back in 2018. This year, Poland didn’t make the cut. I wish all countries could participate (except for like Russia because they don’t play fair,) but then it’d go on for five months.

Three Ds: Dentist and Disclosure Day. On Saturday, we went to the dentist. I always get anxious about it, but my teeth are still going strong. I do in fact have a tooth under my last baby tooth, but the dentist is going to leave it alone as long as it’s not bothering me. I also need to get a night guard. Apparently I grind my teeth in my sleep, but I’ve never noticed any pain or anything. I’m mostly going to pretend I have braces when I have it in, because I never had braces. (I don’t want braces.) Just have to get over the anxiety that I won’t be able to swallow while it’s in, and then it should be fine!

We also saw Disclosure Day on Saturday. I really liked it. I’m glad I didn’t know too much going in, because it would’ve killed a lot of the fun mystery. Emily Blunt is so good in it. I wonder if she’ll be nominated for awards for it. How often does sci-fi win Oscars? I also adore Colman Domingo, who seems to be in so many great things lately.

The Fox and the Hound isn’t a great date movie. My original short movie pick was A Hard Day’s Night, but Luis deemed it too long because it’s an hour and a half, and that’s normal movie length. His short movie choice was Duck Soup which is only like an hour long. So I chose The Fox and the Hound, which we haven’t watched together yet. It’s an hour and twenty-three minutes. I can’t help it that most animated movies are also normal movie-length!

We watched it on the 14th, which is our special date. It’s so sad. The animals are cute and everything, but the tone of it is so dark and cold. Tod and Copper basically have one fun day together, and then they’re not really friends for the rest of the movie. Also, aside from “The Best of Friends,” the songs in it aren’t very good. They’re mostly spoken rather than sung. And it’s weird because Pearl Bailey was a great singer. I used to be obsessed with that movie when I was a kid, but it was purely because the animals were cute. Now that I’m older, I see all the flaws.

My writing brain is getting antsy. Last week, I wrote a query letter draft for my new story, since I’m thinking about it. Other writers have said it’s a good idea to write the query letter before writing the story, so the most important beats are there before it’s even been written. I have the general idea down, so sharing what my novel is about is fairly easy and concise. Then I’ll get into the weeds with it when I’m actually writing it.

The novel I’m currently reading (the ARC one I can’t tell you about until July 7th) had something happen in the plot that aligns with something I’m planning in my novel, which gave me a boost! I feel like the outline I have for this new story is great. I just have to make the actual execution of it as good as possible.

Two more weeks, and then I’ll be writing again!

Time, he’s waiting in the wings.

Sara Mazariegos

Love-Hate relationship with the Metro. Next month, the DC Metro is going to be shutting down 4 stops along the Red line in order to do some big construction for the new Purple line and some needed repairs. I take the Metro into DC for work every day, so this has been a source of stress for me. Luis pointed out that I can take a bus to the opposite end of the Red line and go to work that way, avoiding the points where I’d have to exit and take a shuttle. I’m relieved to have that opportunity, but I’m still dreading it. Commuting is so draining.

The other morning, my train was delayed for half an hour because someone was on the tracks. Police came and escorted them off the tracks, and I’m very glad the person wasn’t hurt, but a whole lot of people were late to work because of that. Thankfully, because I’d caught an earlier bus, I ended up only being about ten minutes late, so it could’ve been much worse. But this is a week in the life of a DC Metro rider.

I am very grateful to have access to a rail system that fairly reliably gets me where I need to go. I also appreciate that many other people in this area see the value of it. Fewer people drive around here, which is better for the environment and safety of others who have to be on the road. I wish more people had reliable rail and bus service in their areas. The Metro has a lot of issues, but hopefully a lot of them are being worked through this summer while the crews work on the several stations that will be closed.

Das Boot has nothing to do with German footwear. Last weekend, we watched Das Boot, Luis’s long movie choice. We took a break in the middle (it’s about three and a half hours long) to go have pizza and a peach margarita (for me) at an Italian restaurant near our house that we’ve never been to. The movie is really good, and definitely claustrophobia-inducing. I’d never want to go into a submarine. I told Luis, I wouldn’t even want to go down the ladder. The subs in World War II didn’t even have screens or windows to look out of, if the movie is accurate. They had to rely on sonar and physically going up to see what was around them. I would hate to be in an enclosed space with zero windows. I remember staying at the Z Hotel in England and our room didn’t have a window. Thank goodness it was only for one night. I would’ve lost my mind if it was for longer. I didn’t sleep very well. When the guy lost his mind in Das Boot, I totally understood, although he wasn’t going crazy because of the tight space; he was going crazy because the Allies were torpedoing his U-Boat. Which…fair. He was my favorite character. He reminds me of Andy Serkis.

It’s about a German U-Boat in World War II, so you can’t completely cheer for them, but it’s interesting to see that perspective. It’s not like all German soldiers and naval officers were Nazis. A lot of them were, but the guys in the movie (minus one) aren’t really into that stuff. Anyway, it’s a really good movie. We watched in in German with subtitles, so it was completely authentic. I’m interested in reading the book it’s based on now, but I have so many books to read. It’s not like Hamlet, which feels more like a “duh, you should read it at least once” kind of book.

Local Pride events. On Sunday, we went to our local Pride event with some friends, and saw one of our friends perform some original songs. It was nice. We got a lot of swag. We also got Lebanese Taverna and margaritas. It was very hot outside, so it was good to be able to take a break inside. I’m glad it wasn’t raining. There were some brief thunderstorms during Das Boot, which was thematically appropriate, but if it had rained on Pride it would’ve been sad.

Getting into Hamlet. I checked out Hamlet from the library and I’ve been reading it on the Metro (when I can manage to get a seat.) Watching the Kenneth Branagh movie and having it fresh in my mind is the best way to read the play, in my opinion. I can still hear the inflections and imagine the characters, which makes it easier for me to follow. I definitely think that reading Shakespeare can be tough, and seeing it can make it clearer, so seeing the plays and then reading them might be the best way to understand and appreciate them.

There’s a part early on in the Folger version of Hamlet that I borrowed where the editing team basically wrote “there’s no consensus on what this means.” 🤣 Great. Love that.

Writing <break> update. I’ve still been enjoying my break from writing. I have ideas I’ve written down, and I’m thinking about my next novel a healthy amount. My goal for writing the first draft is to try and take it a chapter at a time, instead of pressuring myself with lots of future ideas. I tend to get ahead of myself, particularly when I’m excited.

During my break, I’ve been enjoying the ARC novel I mentioned last week—the one I can’t tell you anything about yet—and I’m dreading finishing it because, like I said, once I’ve finished it I’ll never be able to read it for the first time again. I told my sister-in-law about it and how much I love it, and she asked to borrow it when I’ve finished. But she has to give it back to me and be gentle, because it is precious to me.

Reading has been helpful in relaxing my brain while simultaneously inspiring me and awakening my imagination for my next writing project. I haven’t been reading as much as a writer, since I’m taking a break, and I think sometimes it’s better to quiet the analytical thoughts and let the story take me for a ride.

I’m counting out time, got the whole thing down by numbers.

Sara Mazariegos

Holidays can make people go crazy. Last week, Memorial Day was on Monday and a bunch of our clients either don’t celebrate the holiday because they’re not in America (fair) or they just assumed we would be working on a holiday. So we had a stressful Tuesday of explaining our closure to a lot of people, and dealing with a big influx of tasks and things. Things were still pretty nuts on Wednesday. Then I felt sick, so I took a sick day. I came back to work on Friday and everyone seemed to still have lost their minds.

Sometimes our little team takes a holiday. We deserve breaks.

They’re going to go crazy again on Juneteenth, because that’s a recently-added federal holiday. I can already imagine the impatient emails and messages come the following Monday. 🫩

Luis said, “Pick a long movie.” So I chose Kenneth Branagh’s William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. His response was not, but it was practically, “Not like that.” Given the fact that I’ve been thinking about hosting a Lord of the Rings weekend in which we watch all three of the movies—in their extended versions, because the other versions cut out way too much!—he shouldn’t have been surprised that my choice for ‘long movie’ was Kenneth Branagh’s extra-long treatment of Hamlet. It’s been on my watchlist for years, mainly because of Robin Williams. I remember my parents seeing it when it was in theaters. I was around nine years old, and I really wanted to see it, because of Robin Williams, but my parents said no because it’s too long, violent, Shakepearey, etc for a nine-year-old.

I probably would’ve fallen asleep.

But you never know! I may have loved it! Anyway. I’m glad we finally watched it. It’s not even particularly violent. It’s rated PG-13. It’s available on YouTube, so it’s easy to find. I was surprised to learn it was a flop when it came out. I guess because it was so long. I checked out the book version from the library so I can read it for the first time. It’s easier to read since I just watched it; the actor’s inflections are still fresh in my mind. It may be a long movie, but I think it does a fairly good job of making Shakespeare more accessible to audiences who might not understand it otherwise.

Next weekend we’re watching Das Boot for Luis’s long-movie pick. Notably not as long as Hamlet, but twice as many Nazis.

Finally some good news! Without going into detail, again because it’s personal stuff I don’t want to share on a public blog, the situation that was stressing Luis and me for months has finally been resolved. He’s done a lot of hard work for several months, and it’s paid off. So we can finally relax now, which feels amazing. It doesn’t even feel real yet, but it will soon. I’ll be able to write more about it in a few months, once everything has settled down.

I love a book I can’t talk about. Luis was able to use his producer magic to get me an advance reader copy of a book, and I have been loving it so far. I read it a bunch this past weekend and I wish I could just sit for hours reading it. But I also don’t want to read it so much that I finish it, because then I won’t be able to live in its world anymore, and reading it a second time won’t be as magical as the first time when I don’t know what will happen next. I have a feeling I will read it a second time, though.

It will be a perfect comparative title for the next novel I’m writing. That’s why I wanted to get a copy; but I love it beyond being similar to a story idea I have. I can’t talk about it for now, because it’s not out for another month and I haven’t finished reading it yet, but I’ll be publicly singing its praises as soon as I can!

Writing update! I finished writing my novel draft last Thursday! I feel free to move on from that story now and write other things. I may circle back to it and reshape it into something new, but for now I’m thinking about my next novel, which is exciting. I have a document of my outline plus notes, and I’ve been adding to it as I think of new ideas. It’s going to be similar in some ways to the novel I just finished, but it’s also going to be so different. I’m looking forward to writing the first draft.

At the same time, I’m enjoying taking a break from writing. I’ve had more time to read, which is lovely. I’ve also had more time to let my imagination run wild a little bit instead of constantly trying to stay on one track with one story idea.

Probably by the end of June, I’ll be chomping at the bit and anxious about getting started with my next novel, but for now it’s nice to not feel pressured to write or stick to a schedule.