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I hadn’t been to the Louvre in thirteen years. This was my second visit, the return trip that this time included my teen daughter. I was psyched. This was a Wednesday in September, so by my calculations, the crowds should not have been too bad. Most people were past their summer holidays and kids are
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My good opinion once lost is lost forever. In 2005 Elizabeth Bennet was reincarnated on the silver screen yet again. To some of us, this seemed wholly unnecessary since it had only been ten years since the BBC delivered Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth to us on a delicious silver platter and, with apologies to
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It was an age of disco and punk, wide lapels, and hairspray. 1981. Ireland. Friday, 13 of February, in a northern Dublin suburb called Artane, The Stardust nightclub held a Valentine’s Disco Championship Dinner. The girls and women glammed up and the young lads mostly donned jackets and ties. This was the place to be
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UPDATE: 2024 Below is my personal analysis and theories relating to the horrifying murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork, Ireland, 1996. This was an article that attracted the attention of the case’s prime suspect who reacted to it personally on Twitter in a less than favourable light (as you can read at
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Fuzzy of sight and thought, my work brain was struggling to stay focused on the spreadsheet ahead of me. I just wanted my Christmas break to begin. I had been caffeinating all day to sharpen my attention but it was hardly working. My eyes fleetingly rested on the Coca Cola Zero can in front of
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It’s November. A chill is in the air and the fire is crackling. That can only mean one thing: it’s time to uncork unscrew the cap from a bottle of wine and turn on the ultimate Thanksgiving movie: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. If you haven’t seen this 1987 classic, you’re in for a holiday farce
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Hello creatures of the night. Rocky Horror Picture Show is the sublime, weird mass freakout that so many of us voluntarily join at least once a year. Unless you’re a Virgin, then you don’t realize what you’ve been…missing. If you’ve tried to throw a special Rocky Horror event, then you might have recognized a few
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If there is one card game that has been played across the rural pubs of Ireland for generations, it is 25. Late at night you can still spot local men crowded around tables with pints, slinging cards quickly and collecting their winnings. It isn’t as common as it should be though–it’s a dying part of
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Fulton County walked a fine line. The press and the public demanded a mugshot and full booking info just like any other accused criminal. But there had to be pressure. Of course there was–almost certainly from powerful and wealthy players. Release the info, but his team gets clearance first. If you doubt for a second
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It’s summertime right now, almost exactly 30 years–down to the day–when Sleepless in Seattle was released in American theaters. Yes, summertime. In the 90s that usually meant big budget alien-fighting movies, disaster movies, and then a few sports ball movies. And somehow studio executives sat down and decided that a romantic film centered around Christmas
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Summertime is absolutely the right time to listen to Tom Hanks urinate while people yell “dirt in the skirt!”. It’s been that way for at least 30 years now, ever since the release of the blockbuster 1992 film, A League of Their Own, starring Geena Davis and Lori Petty. If you haven’t seen this frothy
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Bogey, my orangutan plush doll from the Shirt Tales TV series sits on my arm chair, staring at me. He is my buddy and a comfort when I need to hide from the world, yes even as a grown-ass adult. His stare is discomforting. Does he remember that I just accidentally let him fall behind
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When it comes to the supernatural I am, by nature, a skeptic. I’d prefer to investigate and discover the rational, if improbable, explanation for strange happenings. And I’ve taken great comfort in knowing that I’ve lived in many different places where I had absolutely no suspicions of paranormal phenomena. In fact, I’m pleased to say
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Guys, it’s been (nearly) 30 years since the greatest St. Patrick’s Day/wife murder movie of all-time, The Fugitive, was released in theatres. Endlessly quotable and completely star-studded with incredible before-they-were-big bit parts, if you haven’t been watching this on the regular, you are missing out on a major part of the human experience. Picture it:
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Wizards, goblins, werewolves, fireballs, banquets, swords, and poltergeists. The wild world of fantasy literature is as varied as it is magical. Yet there has been a persistent vision of dividing the genre along two general, somewhat vague classifications: “High fantasy” and “low fantasy.” Let’s just admit right now that these labels, to which I’m curiously
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One of the greatest Christmas classics of all-time is the 1980s hit horror film, Gremlins. Thanks to my impressionable young age at the time of its release and my mother’s repeat viewings of it every December, I grew up terrified of the song “Do You Hear What I Hear” and always thought there was something
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OR, “Ye Olde Deaths in Times of Yore” Genealogy research has forced me to brush up on my medical ailments of centuries past to understand what horrible diseases befell my poor ancestors. Physicians of yore had all sorts of colorful ideas and terminology relating to the body, and its functions and diseases. It’s been an
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ALTERNATE TITLE: “Your Mother’s Just Tired” My mom has dementia. We live an ocean apart, but thanks to video chat it feels like I am sitting in her bedroom up close, witnessing my mother’s mental decline. She knows who people are, but she loses all concept of dates or times, hatches zany schemes, has forgotten
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Back in ye olde days of the most recent Christmas season, I randomly had a calling, as if from some powerful ethereal force, to launch Stardew Valley and start a new farm, finally playing the game through ’til the end. Then praise be to the gods of mistletoe and cookies, I discovered that by sheer
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Sometimes I cannot explain my fixations with history, nor my devilish need to mock it. I could argue that certain topics, such as Roman Emperors, are discussed with such reverence and so little endeavor at levity, that there is a vacuum of historical entertainment. I am painting these men as mortals, defying the dusty, pretentious
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I wait all year long to watch classic Christmas movies. And I mean classic. None of that bullshit inside Hallmark jargon. Sorry, I was way forcing that quote and I didn’t pull it off very well. I just can’t help myself, I am THAT in love with real classic Christmas movies that teach us morals
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Sweeping landscapes, luscious costumes, and pretty people were so enchanting in the most recent film adaptation of the novel, Rebecca, that I frothed at the chance to see the plot unfold. The Netflix production value alone promised decadent wickedness and a gorgeously ghoulish tale that could sweep anyone on to the lawns of the seaside
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Welcome, friends to a fantastical dinner party of your own making and imagination. Yes, it’s time to play a grand game and intellectual exercise, somewhat akin to the lunchroom game of Stranded On a Deserted Island. However, instead of imagining implements of survival, escape, and spiritual fulfillment, you are being asked to host a grand
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I’ve finally cracked it, people–the previously inscrutable code of cat archetypes. Cat-kind has long been deliberately enigmatic. Such a nature is what makes them endearing, yet dangerous companions/overlords. I have spent forty years (yes, I confess this to you in the name of science) observing cats in their natural elements: Blankets, laps, sunny windows, keyboards,
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I can’t be the only one who is charging through (yet another) re-watch of The West Wing right now. The TV show’s peppy little theme song and rosy outlook on the political landscape and condition of America is just what we need to deny reality with zeal and vigor. And since we’re all imbibing as
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Percy Shelley. You know him as one of those poetry dudes. He was a privileged young English poet in the 1810s, who had a progressive, yet romantic voice that attempted to influence religion and politics. But, his very brief life was full of secrets and intrigue that eclipse anything he put down on paper. Percy Shelley
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Most series finales are awful. Seinfeld was absurd. The Sopranos left us edgy. And Game of Thrones didn–Bran did not have the best story and that is NOT why you make someone a king, especially because he was the villain the whole time and they’re all going to suffer and die now and it’s the
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We all love our Gilmore Girls. Even Rory. A trip to Stars Hollow is magically full of vegetable-shilling troubadours, Bjork snow women, Kirk’s doggy daycare, and Taylor’s sexy beard. There’s nothing like it. But let’s be honest, as enchanting as the show may be, it is completely riddled with problems and things that make no
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The ol’ pub game of darts is the sophisticated gentleman’s game of precision and gentility refined over many generations…no, just kidding. It’s just simply the best game you can possibly play over a pint. Or gin. Or rum. Or pretty much anything. It’s fun, global, and it gives you something to do when the booze
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Confess it now, I am registered as a Democratic voter in America. And if you’ve ever loved a sports team that consistently chokes in the playoffs, then you understand what it is like to support a party that struggles with its conscience so acutely. For every apology and resignation, for every political bean that wobbles
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We all love Gilmore Girls, right? It’s sweet, peppy, and oh so innocent. Remember Rory’s first kiss? Jess knocking down a snowman? Lorelai sewing costumes for the school play? Yes, the WB/CW really had us believing that the streets of Stars Hollow were made of cotton candy and the Gilmore Girls lived in a house of
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Or “The Political Dichotomy of Ebenezer Scrooge as Depicted by SJW Charles Dickens” Welcome to the holly jolly time of year when we all smile a little brighter, we all drink a little more eggnog, and we all (oh so briefly) smile at the sight of snowflakes. And while we drape our tinsel and wrap
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I have a very special story for you about Star Trek: Voyager and how my life inadvertently imitated a holodeck fantasy. Gather ’round. The tale of my holodeck-style adventure starts not terribly long ago when I moved my little family to Ireland. One night shortly after our move, my husband and I lay in bed,
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Ever wondered about the props in Goldfish Gail’s fishbowl? I have answers. Fans of The West Wing know a little secret: C.J. Cregg’s pet goldfish, Gail, often has her bowl decorated with props that wink at episode themes. Panda bears, cash, flags, cabbages, flamingos, a love bed, a space shuttle, a telephone, and a fire engine.
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From the recesses of the Delta Quadrant, comes Star Trek cat! Very little needs to be written about the following images. My senior Tonkinese cat, Maisy, decided to assist (or sometimes surprise) the crew of Voyager.
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Remember when Craig’s List was a legit thing? There was a time not so long ago in a galaxy not so far away that Craig’s List was a legit and kinda safe place to find bargains in your community. It was, like, 2008. I remember it well. See, I had a toddler back then, so
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As a consumer, student, employee, and citizen, we all get a little screwed sometimes. An important measure of any institution–be it a business, school, or whatever–is how they try to rectify a mishap or misdeed. In spite of that truism, the cold reality is that your reaction to getting screwed is the critical catalyst that
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Brought to you by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia…and Boss Hog. UPDATE, September, 2021 In honor of the glorious ongoing pandemic, I have uploaded new and improved Rules and Cards. Collect them all! If you’re reading this, you probably are familiar with the notorious cure for boredom that was conceived by the assholes from It’s
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Parental LEGO freedoms are vital part of our society. It’s summer vacation right now and I couldn’t be more thrilled that my daughter is rifling through my old-school 1980s red plastic LEGO briefcase and assembling new sets. But she is a pain in the ass. I say this with love. I can spend my entire
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First Lady Melania Trump has a fondness for large sunglasses that hide a third of her face. I appreciate her wont to be shielded not only from the sun, but also the direct gaze of her companions. That’s only natural, if not also subliminally indicative of her culpability in her husband’s reign of terror and
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Some weeks are harder than others. Tuesday The weeds are everywhere in the gravel driveway. I’ve jammed my fingers into the pebbled earth to rip their roots, but there are just too damn many. I had to arm myself with a spray bottle of vinegar and lemon juice and spritz them, plant by plant. Hunched
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The Game of Thrones finale. It wrapped the season that Benioff & Weiss wrote strictly by writing character names on slips of paper and pulling them from a drawstring bag like a raffle. “The person to kill Dany will be….[crinkle, crinkle]…..Jon Snow!” “Okay, next up, the person to sit the throne will be….[crinkle]…wow, it’s Bran!”
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Our watch is ended. The eighth season of Game of Thrones, which at times seemed to have been penned by Benioff & Weiss as a sort of Westerosi Mad Lib, has aired and we now know who wins…the equivalent of the Iron Throne. Brandon Stark. Bran the Broken.Bran the Staring.Bran the Evil. I’ve been saying
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Sometimes the universe sculpts an entire day out of mockery and disillusionment. Today I was asked to herd cattle for the first time in my life, which is a very Green Acres experience for someone who has only seen a real living cow up-close at the zoo or (once or twice) at a petting farm.
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A card game for 3-8 players that is good for a quiet evening at home, or some time ’round the campfire. Many years ago I went on a camping trip with a friend’s family to a remote cabin in the Canadian wilderness where you could see the stars at night and smell the fish during
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The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most peculiarly loved films of all-time. Something about a clever man dreaming behind bars speaks to more people than I would’ve ever thought possible. But Rita Hayworth and I have one little question about a pivotal plot point: Was Andy Dufresne’s tax advice to the Captain Hadley bullshit?
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Katie Using Words 