Monday Morning Musing: The Super Bowl

 

Football is not my game. When Hubs watches--college football, usually--I read or play computer games. Except when it comes to the Super Bowl. Do I watch the game? Sort of. I watch the commercials. 😊

Am I alone?

Last night, we went to our son's. While he and Hubs watched the game, our daughter-in-law and I critiqued the commercials. Most were meh, some stood out.

The Budweiser commercials usually rate pretty high with us. But we agreed that the wounded Clydesdale, while heartwarming and memorable, was too short. 

Doritos commercials are always worth a good laugh. No exception last night.

So did the Toyota truck commercial with the Joneses. Of course, it helps if you recognize all the drivers. You know you're getting old when you have to ask your son who people are. 

Still, my all-time favorite car commercial is the boy dressed as Darth Vader who tries to use "The Force" to start his dad's car, while Dad, in the kitchen, uses his remote. 

Sometimes, the thought-provoking commercials are the ones to remember. Ty Burrell buying everything he sees until he's broke was the point of the Greenlight commercial.

I googled the commercials to see if I missed any memorable ones, which is kind of contradictory, isn't it? I couldn't believe how many commercials I didn't remember seeing. I mean, we were with family. We talked. I played with the kiddos. But, sheesh, I missed a lot. Obviously, not memorable.

How about you? Game or Commercials? Your favorite/memorable?

Monday Morning Musing: Snow, Cabin Fever, and Snowpiercer

 

When we moved to the west side of Michigan, I expected snow. Our first winter (2012-14) we got over 350 inches. Yep, you read that right. It reached the top of our mailbox and you couldn't see around corners. You had to creep out and hope nobody was coming. I hope we don't see that much snow this winter, but the winds are blowing across Lake Michigan and bringing all the white stuff with it. We have a lovely neighbor who uses his snowblower on our driveway and shovels our sidewalk. What a guy! If we have to go anywhere, we can do so safely.

Cabin Fever is a common ailment in the Midwest in the winter. First, the lack of sunshine is a biggie. Something about all that water around us sends up enchanted clouds to block our sun. (That's the technical explanation. LOL) Then, there's lake effect snow. I heard about that the first time we moved to this side of the state. The wind blows cold, arctic air across the open water Lake Michigan creating snow. It's not a big band of snow, either. The farther you are from the lake, the less snow you get. It's common to see school closings scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen. Snow day, yay! Poor moms (and dads) who have to put up with kids who can't go outside and/or need sitters so parents can go to work. For us retirees, we enjoy staying home. But only for so long then, like kids, we get antsy. One good thing about west Michigan: we get so much snow, the county is prepared with heavy duty snow plows that keep our roads clear.

Speaking of snow. Have you seen the TNT presentation of "Snowpiercer"? The premise is that seven years ago, the world froze up, and the remnants of humanity are on a perpetual motion train traveling around the world. The very rich (those who could afford tickets) are in the front of the 1,001-car train. Class divisions all the way to the tail. Like any good post-apocalyptic story, politics, class warfare, and efforts to survive abound. I watched the first season, got sidetracked during the second, and today the third season starts. Guess I'd better catch up before watching the new season. With all the cold outside, I'm not so sure a frozen wasteland will be fun entertainment.

Keep warm and stay safe. 

 

 

 

Monday Morning Musing: 2022 the First 10 Days

 

Good morning! Last Monday, I wrote about my plan to be more active on my blog. I'm doing pretty good with a post here on six out of seven days. 

I also planned to write more on my work-in-progress, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker (An Alex O'Hara PI mystery). I only missed one day so far this year. Since I started at the beginning of the story so I could ground myself, I haven't written that many words. I've tweaked, added descriptions, and deleted the first two chapters. That hurt. I didn't just delete, though. I saved the chapters in my "leftovers" file. It was good stuff, but it felt like it was dragging down the story. I needed to get to the wrecking part sooner.

Like revisions and edits, this is taking a lot longer than writing new. Oh, well. It needs to be done to get me back in the story. What's also helping is that I'm using it for my snippets each weekend with the Weekend Writing Warriors. 

On Fridays, I'll be writing about my favorite things. (Did the Sound of Music just zing through your mind, too?) Last Friday, I wrote about my favorite quote, one from Stephen King. If you know me, you know that scary things and horror are not my thing, so you're probably surprised I'd chose a Stephen King quote. Check it out.

I'm looking at my nutcrackers and Santa figures on top of the bookcases across from where I'm sitting. I hate taking down Christmas decorations. They are such a reminder of the holidays. Our tree is still up, too. I didn't do much decorating this year. My grandkids helped bring up the nutcrackers and Santas from the basement storeroom. I was hoping they would be back to help take them downstairs. 😊  Unfortunately, the boys were sick and the others went back to school and all their after school activities. I can wait a while longer.

Procrastination is my middle name.

Hope you have a great week.

A New Year and a New Start

 image credit: poetryclubs.com

Monday Morning Musing

I love this graphic. Leaving 2021 behind and leaping into 2022. That appeals to me as I leave all the worries of the past year and look forward to a better one.

For the past two years, I've neglected my blog. I showed up once a month for Insecure Writers Support Group day (1st Wednesday of the month) and hosted authors with new books. Anything else was too much effort as we dealt with the covid pandemic and my husband's illness. As a full-time caregiver, my energies were challenged. I'm sure anyone who has been a caregiver knows what I'm talking about. But now that Hubs is better, I can focus on my writing.

I started the new year by rejoining Weekend Writing Warrior blog hop, where writers post snippets of their work. I shared the beginning of my latest Alex O'Hara PI mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. It begins with Alex and Nick's wedding. Such a happy and exciting time. From the title, you know something awful is going to happen. If you're interested, go to the previous post and read the snippet.

On New Year's Day, or thereabouts, it's tradition to set goals, make resolutions, or plan what to do for the year. Since I have two works-in-progress (full length novels) and a couple of novellas in the works, I plan to finish at least two this year. That means buckling down, BIC-HOK (butt in chair, hands on keyboard).

It also means being more active here. Today, I resurrected Monday Morning Musing. Tomorrow, I'm celebrating a friend's book birthday. I hope you'll come back and see what it is.

Starting out with plans is great. Following through is tough. I'll let you know how I'm doing next Monday. See you then.