Binge Watching Nonsense

A while back I blogged about not being able to find anything to watch on TV despite paying $600 a month for streaming services and having over 10,000 channels at our disposal. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the drift. Finding a new movie or series sometimes takes some trial and error. Unless you’re looking for a little something to watch just for the fun of it.

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Who Would Play You In the Movie? (Part Un)

I think it’s fairly safe to say that every writer at one point or another has imagined one of their books becoming a movie. I know lots of authors already have experienced this on small “made-for-TV” stations, like the Hallmark Channel, etc. and those are always fantastic. In fact, Harlequin has created their own television network specifically for producing movies based on the millions of Harlequin books already in existence. They are also looking for new script writers I hear.

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Did They Think No One Would Notice?

Are you observant when you watch TV? I think most writers probably pay closer attention to things than the average person. Like a lawyer notices things about courtroom shows and cops notice things about police procedure and nurses notice things about medical shows, writers notice discrepancies in storylines, characterization, etc.

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Cooking For The Stars

Thanks for sticking with me. I hope my teaser last week inspired you to come back today. Cooking For the Stars is a little like Dancing With the Starts, except it’s cooking instead of dancing, and “for” instead of “with,” and there’s no audience phone-ins, or Judges scores, or a giant set, or dazzling bright lights, or microphones, or celebrity hosts, but other than that, it’s exactly the same. So, since I promised good things, let’s not waste any time.

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Blonds Are Disappearing From TV Land

I’ve noticed lately a strange phenomenon when I watch TV. There are very few blondes in any of the shows I watch on a regular basis. This led to a more extensive investigation on my part. I started randomly watching shows I’ve never watched before just to see what the main characters look like. The phenomenon continued. Hardly any blondes.

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Do You Ever Wonder?

A week or so ago I was watching one of those crime shows on TV, you know the ones where they have an agent/detective go “undercover” and spy on someone? In this show, the gal was sitting on a park bench with ear buds, bopping along to some unheard tune when this jogger stops and plants himself on the bench next to her and starts up a conversation. Now, this gal didn’t want to converse, yet neither did she want to appear as though she were spying on someone. So, she provided the occasional nod or “um hm” while continuing to watch her target from the corner of her eye.

That scene got me to thinking – which can be a scary thing I’ll admit. I wondered if this had ever happened to me. I mean, I’ve been known to strike up a conversation with a totally random stranger if the mood hits me. Yet I wondered, have I ever intruded in a clandestine spying operation? Have I ever encountered a completely random person, who appeared to be sitting/standing idly, yet was really annoyed because I was distracting them from their bad guy’s activities with mindless chit chat?

Seriously, how many of those mornings at Starbucks or the gas station or the grocery store have I talked to an undercover law enforcement person doing their surveillance job?

That in turn got me to wondering other oddball things. Like, have I ever had in my possession counterfeit money? Have I ever spent counterfeit money passed on to me from some other source?

Have I ever happened upon a drug deal without even being aware it was happening in my presence?

Has a late night sting operation ever had to be aborted because I happened along for a snack at a convenience store? Gosh, I hope not. And yet . . . hmmmm?

How many people do I talk to every single day are hiding concealed weapons? Being from Mississippi I’m sure that number is quite high.

There are just so many things that could be happening right in front of my nose. I know that from now on everyone is going to look suspicious to me. How about you?

Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong – or maybe right – time? What sorts of clandestine things have you interrupted? Come on – please share. Have you ever wondered if you’ve thwarted a crime just by showing up some place? Surely this isn’t just me.

Word of the day: Ididem

Fun fact about me: I’m tap dancing again.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, October 2017. Photos courtesy Google Images.

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And Then . . . There Were None.

We’ve all heard the expression silence is golden and I happen to believe that is a true statement. I love quiet. I look forward to that special time of the day, right after breakfast, when all of my guests have either checked out for other exciting places, or gone out exploring for the day, and my husband leaves for work. I feel like I have space to move and I can breathe.

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“I’m Watching That!”

So I’ve recently discovered that my husband has a super power. He can see through cement walls. I didn’t know this about him until we moved into the new house, which is primarily cinderblock on the bottom floor, the floor with the living room and t.v.

You see, at my house, whenever my husband is home, the t.v. is almost always on, whether he is watching it or not. I do not understand this habit, but I have learned to live with it. I prefer quiet. No t.v., no radio, no talking. It’s blissful. (Plus it helps me hear the voices in my head, which, as you authors know, is vital if we want to succeed.) But, I love my husband dearly and so I’ve learned to accept the constant yammering away from the black box in the living room.

Here’s where I get a little cranky about the constant presence of the t.v. – when he’s not even in the house! I’m not talking about the minute or two jaunts when he goes outside to get firewood in, or to take the trash out. No I’m talking about when he goes out to mow the lawn, or play with the dog, or talk on the phone. (You see, he has to go outside to talk on the phone because it’s easier to hear outside without the t.v. noise distracting him.) Hmmmm.

But, I digress.

So out he goes to mow the lawn, which I love about him. He takes awesome care of the lawn and yard. But . . . turn the damn t.v. off when you go! He’s outside for half an hour or longer if I’m especially tolerant, when I’ve finally had enough and turn the set off. Two seconds later he comes barrelling in the front door. “I’m watching that!”

Really?

How the hell did he even know I turned it off? It’s ah-ma-zing! Every time. Whether I turn it off or just mute it, he always races in and proclaims that he is completely aware of what’s going on with the game, the race, the movie, whatever. Even the debate where everyone is talking on top of everyone else, he knows exactly what’s being said.

Which leads me to believe that apparently when this super power kicks in, it is accompanied by bionic ears because he is also able to hear despite the whirring of the lawn mower. They are apparently conjoint super powers, but only work in an exact set of circumstances because the heightened sense of hearing does not seem to work when I speak to my husband from another room. Perhaps it’s the sound of the lawn mower that engages this united super force.

It’s scary really. I’m a little creeped out by it. Especially since he can’t find anything in the refrigerator or pantry even if it’s right in front on the top shelf. With his uncanny sense of x-ray vision, I’d think he’d be able to see just about anything in plain sight. Perhaps I’ll put the refrigerator behind a cement wall. And turn on the lawn mower when I have something important to say. Hmmm.

And because I know my husband reads my blog (he’s awesome that way), I’m reiterating that I love him very much. He’s just got his . . . quirks.

So, how about you? Does your spouse have a super power? Does your significant other always have the t.v. on? Does it bother you? Do you prefer quiet, or do you need white noise? Inquiring minds want to know.

Word of the day: kibitzer

Fun fact about me: I know all the lyrics to the Pirates of the Caribbean song.

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