Christmas Tree Syndrome

Do you have a living Christmas tree in your house? Think again!

HERE is an article about mold issues and Christmas trees.

No mention of the pesticides that are used on them. Although I don't know what organic tree farm uses to control insects, I was once told without some kind of bug control Christmas trees are covered in aphids. I would not want a bunch of bugs crawling around in my house either!

Artificial Christmas trees made with synthetics and plastics offgas toxic fumes. Some of these synthetic materials are also coated in lead-based plastics for strength that come off on your hands. This is a common material for Christmas light wiring. Over time these materials start to disintegrate leaving toxic dust all over the house. Check the labels on the boxes for health and safety warnings.

Again, only California cares about the health and safety of American citizens!

My little fake Christmas tree is made with bendable wire and synthetic needles. It doesn't stink.

I think metal Christmas trees are the answer. They don't smell as good, but they are safe. Hang some fancy glass ornaments and good to go!

The Vatican is So Cool

When it's time to re-paint the Vatican, they use non-toxic, earth-friendly milk paint! It's made from the pope's cows' milk with non-toxic pigments and hand sponged right onto the buildings. Wow! Besides being environmentally-friend and concern for the safety of their employees and visitors, this is an age-old practice from a pre-chemical period in history that has withstood the test of time. You can read the article and watch the video HERE

They clean the statues in the Vatican garden with essential oils. Yeah, if you read my blog you know I hate essential oils. It seems oregano and thyme from Sicily kill mold and mildew. I knew that. I used essential oils to kill the mold under my house with some Thieves Household Cleaner.**

Excellent!! Too bad all this environmentally friendliness, common sense and compassion isn't more wide-spread. Governments and corporations could learn a thing or two from religion. (Who would have ever thought?)

**OK, I admit here there is some value to essential oils. Besides mold killing concoctions, I also use peppermint essential oil to keep spiders out of my house, but I still stand by the fact they should not be used on human bodies as perfume or in spaces as air fresheners!

The Christmas Carrot

I dug up the last of my carrots today. The bounty always lasts until December and it's so nice to eat fresh, tasty, beautiful carrots through fall and into the winter. In previous years I made the mistake of leaving the carrots out in the monsoon rains - the dirt gets soggy and they split creating all kinds of problems. This year I covered them and they were perfect.

Look at this GIANT one! Hooray! And beautiful. I wonder if I'd let it continue to grow how big would it get? Next year I'll try that just for a fun experiment, but I'm going to need a new raised bed as the old one's floor fell out of it.

So much healthier than cookies, but not nearly as tempting....

Christmas Cookies Make Me Fart

So, my Christmas spirit is rampant and I was eager to try out a new gluten-free recipe for gingerbread cookies. To be clear I wasn't making them for myself, but for my library as I think I need to show gratitude for all the help those women give me all year long.

The challenge with this recipe is one needs to mix the dough and place it in the refrigerator overnight so it's easier to roll. That's just too much dough at my fingertips (literally) for some snacking. Initially, though, I thought I should try the cookies before I gave them to people to make sure the gluten-free option was edible.

I took a tiny bit of dough and rolled it out, baked, ate. Wonderful! How nice it is after five years to be able to make Christmas cookies. Later that night with weakened willpower I tip-toed back into the kitchen, unwrapped the refrigerated cookie dough, and extracted some more. Yum.

All hell broke loose at bedtime. My colon was rumbling loudly as if I had some alien trying to break free. And then large bursts of untethered flatulence expelled from my body so violently the walls of my bedroom vibrated. This continued until 6am. Around 2 am I got up, checked ingredients, and looked online.

Xanthan gum is evil. I seemed to remember someone telling me this once, but failed miserably at information recall as I blindly and single mindedly planned my Christmas cookie baking indulgence. Xanthan gum is commonly used in gluten-free products as a thickening agent and that's exactly what it does in the colon...it thickens everything.

From www.webmd.com:

People who are exposed to xanthan gum powder might experience flu-like symptoms, nose and throat irritation, and lung problems.  It can cause some side effects such as intestinal gas (flatulence) and bloating. Nausea, vomiting, appendicitis, hard stools that are difficult to expel (fecal impaction), narrowing or blockage of the intestine, or undiagnosed stomach pain: Do not use xanthan gum if you have any of these conditions. It is a bulk-forming laxative that could be harmful in these situations.

All night bouts of uncontrollable farting tend to deflate one's Christmas spirit. Can you imagine if the library ladies would have eaten them??? I'd be on their shit list for sure.

I'm ready for Christmas to be over....

Forget BAKING my own cookies! I'll buy them:

THEY SMELL SO GOOD!!!
Especially the chocolate chip ones.
Oh! The green striped ones smell like peppermint!
I have been told the green stripped ones have a gooey chocolaty middle. ARGH!
FML.

November Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

Baywatch  Brainless entertainment. It had some funny moments. I liked it when the Rock told the perpetually shirtless Zac Efron he had a man-gina and kept referring to him as a boy band.  The story started out fun introducing some of the more interesting beach characters and showing what superhero-lifeguards do, but then it took a dive into a drug ring plot with these lifeguards playing detective in order to save the world. Not very realistic. Most of the stunts were not very realistic either but used to increase the entertainment factor. This is a movie I might not have selected had there was anything else available. The very sweet librarian had it in her stack to take home and felt sorry for me for having nothing to watch so she gave it to me. She said it might be good eye-candy.  She loves The Rock. I couldn't get through it. I just got bored. I think it would have been more interesting had they focused on the lives of the lifeguards and the people they save, but obviously someone thought that wasn't superhero-ish enough. *

Ben-Hur Ooooh! The 2016 remake!  The star (Jack Huston) is gorgeous. The chariot races were gruesome and thrilling, but the violence tolerable with not too much gore. Jesus was handsome. Those white horses were magnificent. Performances excellent. Morgan Freeman was awesome. It was delicious. ****

The Big Sick was about a Pakistani stand-up comedian (Kumail Nanjiani) who meets and falls in love with a quirky American girl (Zoe Kazan) while his parents keep trying to fix him up in an arranged marriage with Pakistani women. He can't tell them he's in love and he can't commit to the girl because his parents would disown him for rejecting his traditions. I didn't quite see where this was going so at the break-up fight I put it on pause and did some other things. I came very close to turning it off. It wasn't funny, or romantic, but the cultural aspect was interesting. Then I returned to it and after they break up she ends up in the ICU with a life-threatening infection and he goes to be by her side bonding with her parents.  This added some intrigue, but only enough to keep it turned on. **

Cleveland Abduction is the story of Michelle Knight who with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were kidnapped and held captive for eleven, ten, and nine years, respectively. Very disturbing. Besides the daily rape, violence and mental abuse these women endured, how is it that his neighbors didn't notice anything or become suspicious? How is it when the police were called because a neighbor heard screams coming from the house they just drove away after saying, "Well, if you hear screams again call us." Or the police lack of involvement when the mother reports her missing, "Maybe she just ran away [because we are too lazy to get off our asses and make an effort]."  I was absolutely horrified this woman who survived only because she wanted desperately to see her son again was denied seeing him because he had been adopted! Yes, I understand it might have been disrupted to his new life, but he was 16 years old and deserved at the very least to know his mother didn't abandon him. Such a horror story. And that lunatic committed suicide...was no one watching a prisoner? He should have been in chains doing hard labor 20 hours a day. Eye for an eye.  It makes me so angry this happen so easily and went on for so long. Are we just blind and apathetic to people around us? Excellent movie, although very disturbing. ****

Eat Drink Man Woman is a Taiwanese movie with English subtitles about a chef and his three adult daughters who still live at home. Their lives are a mix of tradition and modernity with relationship challenges. Every Sunday they gather for a family dinner.  The food looked amazing, but I kept wondering how much of it was gluten-free. LOL. ***

The Edge of Seventeen is about a seventeen-year old (Hailee Steinfeld) who is going through those teen years. Woody Harrelson plays one of her teachers and he's hilarious. Kyra Sedgwick plays her neurotic mother. Outstanding writing. I've never been a fan of Steinfeld as I find her skills to be substandard, but in this movie she was exceptional. ****

Eyewitness was an incredibly low-budget film with second-rate actors who were embarrassingly bad. It might have been made for television. It was about a mother-daughter pair who go river rafting and come across escaped convicts looking for their loot. Typical plot, cliché in every way, really pathetic, but I lasted through the whole thing. Beautiful California scenery and lots of running up and down river banks, through fields, up hills. **

Get Out was fascinating in a really bizarre, frightening way! It's about an African American man who goes with his white girlfriend to stay with her parents for the weekend.  Unfortunately, that's all I can say without giving away the plot. Outstanding performances. Excellent story, but it is truly creepy and gets creepier as the movie progresses. Great ending. Just saying...I was so afraid it was going to end badly. The "alternative ending" in the bonus wasn't so good.  Very creepy. Then I watched it again to see what I missed. *****

How to Be a Latin Lover is about a Latin gigolo who decides when he is a boy he doesn't want to work for a living. The black humor at the beginning sets the stage. As a gorgeous young man he woos older, filthy rich widows and marries one which enables him to live a life of luxury for twenty-five years - until she dumps him for a younger man. He decides he needs another woman, preferably older and richer than the last one and goes on the hunt while moving in with his sister (Selma Hayek) and her 10-year old son who has a crush on a girl at school. He begins teaching his nephew lessons in how to romance women. Rob Lowe plays his best friend who is also living off an older rich widow and Kristen Bell plays a cat woman working in a yogurt shop. It has some funny moments, but most of it was goofy. **

Jackie was Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy during the assassination and the days that followed. Portman was great except the voice was a little weird, but I think Jackie kind of talked with that weird wispy breathy sound. Loved the costumes. Was Jackie really that crazy with grief? I always felt sorry for her being kicked out of the White House so soon after and it's hard to imagine how anyone would deal with watching your husband get assassinated. ***

Manchester by the Sea was about a strange, anti-social man (Casey Affleck) who's brother dies leaving in his will custody of his sixteen-year old son. Unfortunately custody involves moving back to this hometown which would force him to confront his demons, demons which made him strange and anti-social. It was a little slow. Michelle Williams was excellent, as always. **

Office Christmas Party I thought this would be really stupid, but it was actually tolerable and with an all-star cast: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, Kate McKinnon, and Jennifer Anniston. About an internet company that's about to be shut down if they don't get an account so they go against the CEO's orders not to spend money on a Christmas party in order to impress the account representative into thinking they have an outstanding office culture with happy employees. Wild party, crazy with some funny bits. I love McKinnon. ***

The Ottoman Lieutenant was a love story about a young Christian American nurse tired of the racist, sexist agenda of the United States heads to Turkey at the outbreak of World War I to help in an American hospital. She falls in love with a dashing Turkish Muslim officer. Rare are the movies that address World War I in Turkey. It was OK. The plot was too much like a romance novel complete with a love triangle for some extra drama: the good Christian doctor is her perfect match, yet she falls for the bad boy who's too gorgeous to really be that bad. The lead actress was a little bland in her emotional interpretations. Even the narration she did was lacking luster as if she didn't get enough read aloud practice in grade school. ***

Sleight is about this young guy who was supposed to go to college on a scholarship but needed to  take care of his little sister after his parents die so he becomes a drug dealer. He also does magic tricks on the side and appears to have telekinetic powers of some kind. His situation escalates when his boss starts expecting him to carry a gun and go after the competition, chop off their hands, etc. He gets into real trouble and has to come up with $45K as payback, but doesn't have it. Interesting movie, but a little unrealistic. I think it would have been a better movie if he really had telekinetic powers and could smack the bad guys down with a flip of a finger...or something. **

Snatched is stupid humor as only Amy Schumer can do. It's about a woman who is incredibly useless in typical Schumer style: drinks too much, acts like an air head, repeat, repeat. The opening scenes are unusual, cleverly written and humorous, but after that it becomes cliché.  The alcoholic imbecile takes her mother (Goldie Hawn) to Ecuador on a non-refundable vacation after her boyfriend dumps her. Schumer meets a handsome man and she gets drunk, again, of course. Why do people think drunken behavior is funny? Eventually the girls get kidnapped by Ecuadorian terrorists and run barefoot through the jungle. Not sure why terrorists are funny either. It has a great cast. Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack are hilarious.  Goldie Hawn has had too much cosmetic surgery which is very wrong. Her face was like a plastic mask. What happened to her smile? I struggled to find some resemblance to a woman who used to be one of my favorite actresses. We really need Hollywood to age gracefully so there are role models. It's very disappointing. The movie was tolerable. Had some funny moments, but still stupid. **

Steve Jobs Creepy movie about a very creepy guy. Was he that much of an ass? I couldn't get through it. *

These Final Hours is an Australian apocalyptic movie about the final 12 hours of the world with a play by play of which continents have been annihilated. Our hero leaves his pregnant girlfriend to head to some end-of-the-world party at his best friend's house. His best friend's sister is his other non-pregnant skanky girlfriend. Along the way he comes across two ugly men hauling off a ten-year old girl who is screaming for her father.  He can't turn away and rescues her, continuing on his journey with her in tow hoping to find her father.  He stops along the way to check on relatives. It's was an interesting story about priorities and the crazy things people might do when the world is about to end. A little unrealistic at times and some of the scenes were a little irritating like when he shows up at this wild, orgy-, drug-fest of a party leaves the little girl alone with crazy people and decides to follow this idiot girlfriend for some mindless sex? Really? He doesn't have better things to think about? I guess that was the point...the end is coming in a matter of hours why not be mindless? Or at the beginning when he takes off in his 1965 (?) attention-getting bright orange Chevy (?) with people wandering the streets carrying guns and looting, cars in the middle of the street on fire, and he doesn't for a minute think driving the only car that is working maybe he should lock the car door or carry a weapon? He runs for too long from a guy attacking him with a machete...a machete? Why not bash the guy over the head and take it from him? And who the hell is on the radio giving an update? Nothing else is functioning but some guy on a radio knows what is happening in the rest of the world? The last scene with the little girl was written poorly and the writers were confusing her with an adult. She wouldn't have behaved that way. A little melodramatic, unrealistic, some of the performances were good with moments of not-so-good, but it kept me watching and wondering what I would do if I knew I only had 12 hours to live.  ***

Why Him? James Franco plays an incredibly immature, dysfunctional, wealthy tech developer who is in love with a much younger Stanford college student. The girlfriend invites her family (Bryan Cranston, Megan Mullally) to his estate to meet him over Christmas. He wants to ask her to marry him, but only with her father's permission. It was very stupid humor, but I think James Franco must have had a lot of fun playing that part. Wouldn't it be nice to be that rich and carefree? **

Deck the Halls...

Every Thanksgiving it is my tradition to cut some branches off my neighbor's pine tree (LOL...) and make myself a wreath. Last year I forgot. And when I finally remembered I decided I just didn't care. I could live without a wreath. This year I am not feeling as apathetic although I admit I have no patience for Christmas music on the radio lately. Donning garden shears I attacked the tree with new-found vigor. I even added some holly from my holly tree:

I didn't stop there! Hmmm...time to dig out the Christmas tree. It's fake and small. I haven't set it up for years because it just seems like such a waste of energy, but I did it anyway. Not sure what is possessing me.

Then I went to the Black Friday sales and bought some new Christmas lights. I love Christmas lights and they were cheap:

Oddly enough, I'm even considering making Christmas cookies this year. It might be dangerous. I used to make decorated sugar cookies and give them away, but since starting the gluten-, sugar-, dairy-free diet, I fear I wouldn't have the willpower. We'll see.

Smart Doctors Have One of These...

But then there are doctors who have not one, but two of these posters hanging in their office, yet scent their offices with essential oils. Wow. It pays to ask specific questions. I understand she's more of a "Chemical-Free Zone" person, but stink is stink and her posters should be clear.

You can buy your own poster at Mariposa Naturals For A Toxin-Free Experience

Festival!!!

I've had this little shelf for years, nearly my whole adulthood. One early morning as I was driving to work I past my apartment complex's garbage dumpster, there this little shelf stood looking neglected and unwanted. I slammed on my brakes. It was painted a strange bright red paint that looked like an oil gloss or auto paint. It had heart stickers on it. I loved it immediately and threw it in my back seat. I loved the red and the mangled stickers that screamed, "I have a history!" so I didn't strip and paint it for a long time.

I used to display my ceramics on it. Then years later used it for my art history books until my collection got too big. For the past twelve years it's been in my kitchen filled with cookbooks. I have red accents all over my kitchen because of this shelf. It's such a whimsy little shelf, so I put a whimsy little design on it with curly leaves. No red though. I hope I can cope. I guess I should buy new dish towels....or move it to another room. I don't think it matches any of my rooms!

My house is looking so cheerful!

Happy! Happy! Happy!

Flourless Cashew Bread (Recipe)

This is a gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free recipe. It does have eggs and yogurt so it's not dairy-free. It was posted by GirlAlive on her blog, TheRighttoBeAlive. She made it with her fancy Thermomix machine, but the recipe works fine using old-fashioned mixing and stirring. I had grave reservations it would turn out as I'm not good at baked goods and I had to convert the measurements from grams to cups so I was afraid it would be a little off. All is good.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups cashew flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup apple juice
coconut oil

If you can't find cashew flour, you can make it yourself by grinding raw cashews into a fine meal using a blender, grinder or food processor. Mix the cashew flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Add egg yolks, yogurt and apple juice, mix completely. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites into stiff peaks. Fold them into the batter, mix thoroughly.

Grease a pan with a little coconut (or other) oil. I used a 10" x 10" baking dish because it seemed like I had way too much batter for a small loaf pan, but the batter condenses while baking so a large loaf pan would work wonderfully. Pour batter into greased pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for one hour, then 10 minutes at 350 degrees for a golden brown.

For a gluten-free, grain-free bread, it has a lovely texture and wonderful taste. Because I used a larger pan, once I cut them into squares it was almost like eating soft cookies, but this bread is not sweet so don't let it fool you.

The only problem is you might be tempted to eat the whole thing in one sitting. Easy to do. I'm trying really hard not to do this right now!

Thanks, GirlAlive. Great recipe.

Yum.

A Day of Firsts...

Actually I wasn't looking this
calm at the time and I
definitely wasn't sitting up.

First time to ever call 911 in an emergency.

First time to ever to be hauled out of my house on a gurney. (So embarrassing.)

First time to ride in an ambulance.

First time to ever go to a hospital's emergency room.

First time to reach my insurance deductible. (Ouch!)

First time to ever ride in a police car.

It also felt like the first time I realized my friends suck, however, I already knew that. My friends deserted me a long time ago when I first became chemically sensitive. So I replaced them with people who I had hoped were better. Some of them are even fragrance-free which even makes them safe, but in a crisis, no one is available. No one is there to help. No one is there for support. It's very humbling.

I kept thinking if I ever got a text or call from a friend who is in the hospital and clearly crying, I'd be putting on my coat and running out the door before the conversation was over. But most of my friends are married. They aren't going to call me first. Or second. Or a week later. They might not call me at all. I am a non-entity which is probably why when I called them the crisis didn't even register. However, I don't use phones so getting a call from me should have been a huge red flag. My friends are colorblind. I also realize living in the middle of no where is not helpful if you are in need of support.

It makes me think those of us who are chemically sensitive need to organize and support each other better. We need to be advocates for each other in emergency situations when the doctor is so incompetent someone with a clear head can ask questions and demand action. We need to help each other when the going gets tough or someone needs assistance. Not sure how to do that since we are spread out all over the world and hiding in isolation, but I'm thinking on it.

Any ideas?

I am happy to report only one person in the whole ER stunk. One of the radiology technicians was bathed in some kind of scented lotion. Everyone else was fragrance-free and the rooms didn't stink of chemicals. That was really helpful. My stress level was already high, but I can't imagine how the day would have gone if I were poisoned as well.

Now I'm going to go binge watch Game of Thrones. I deserve it.

October Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

Absolutely Fabulous was absolutely the worst! Incredibly stupid British comedy. I think British stupid comedy is worse than American. I could never tolerate all those Austin Powers movies either. I lasted about ten minutes. *

Allied is about a French Resistance woman (Marion Cotillard) and a Canadian Intelligence Officer (Brad Pitt) who meet in Casablanca during WWII to assassinate a German officer. They fall in love, have a baby, then his commanders inform him his wife might be a German spy. He doesn't know if it's for real or if they are testing him and his loyalty. Very good. Excellent performances. Outstanding costumes. Great photography. This was quality Brad Pitt which has been missing for a long time. ****

All Nighter is about an awkward banjo-playing boyfriend (Emile Hirsch) who has little ambition and a whole lot of love for his girlfriend. He meets her dad (J.K. Simmons) at dinner and fails miserably every time he opens his mouth. Six months later dad shows up at his apartment looking for his daughter only to find they broke up months before. He enlists the ex-boyfriend to help find her, searching Los Angeles while following leads from one place to another all night long. It was rather entertaining and sweet. Performances were great. ***

Amateur Night was about a clean-cut, straight-up, unemployed father-to-be architect (Jason Biggs) who needs a job to pay for the hospital bills. He answers an ad for a delivery man job and ends up delivering hookers to their jobs. It's a comedy.  ***

Annie 1981 with Carol Burnett who is outstanding and hilarious. Also with Bernadette Peters, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry and Albert Finney. Excellent version, exceptional music, outstanding performances by all. That cute little Aileen Quinn is a perfect Annie. I've seen this move a dozen times but it's been a long time. I love a classic that stands the test of time. *****

Beauty and the Beast The one with real people and lots of well-known actors and actresses like Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Emma Watson, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline. I didn't realize I've never even seen the cartoon. This was typical Disney: beautiful sets, great music, classic plot. Loved it. ****

Black Beauty I thought Black Beauty was shipped to India, in a shipwreck, on an island, and rescued by a kid...or something. This was the life of a horse and the horse narrates (with Alan Cummings' voice). It was a sweet story. The horse was spectacular. Kids would love it. ***

Closure is about a young African-American woman who was adopted as a baby by a couple  who adopted eight (?) others. At the time doctors thought she would never walk and didn't know how extensive her disabilities would be. She ended up being a basketball player! She started asking questions about her birth family when she was about 12 and begins searching when she was about 25 years old. All she has to go on is a short summary given to her adopted parents when they adopted her with their last names obscured with white out. It was superb. Very moving. ****

The Comedian stars Robert DeNiro as an aging comedian who was once a popular sit-com star a character he can't shake no matter where he goes. After assaulting an audience member and spending time in prison, he does community service in a soup kitchen where he meets Harmony (Leslie Mann). It's a quirky non-love story. All-star cast with Danny DeVito, Edie Falco, Charles Grodin, Cloris Leachman, Patti Lupone and Harvey Keitel. Even Billy Crystal makes an appearance. Great scenes of rainy, snowy New York City with a jazz soundtrack. ***

Do You Take This Man is about a gay couple getting married and the 24 hours before the wedding as they find out things about each other they didn't know, question issues of trust,  feelings of stress and wondering  how to make it work. It's very sweet and romantic. ***

Equals was very interesting. It's a futuristic, sci-fi about a community devoid of emotion. There is some indication there was a big nuclear explosion or some catastrophe that changed civilization. There are now two areas, one with the Equals where no one feels anything and the other called the province (?) where hoodlums and those emotional people live. If you contract SOS and start feeling emotions, you are doomed. The "disease" has stages. Early stages and you are prescribed an inhibitor, later stages and you are carted off to the DEM to be exterminated. There are "hidders" people who are afflicted who pretend they are not, but if anyone sees signs of emotion in anyone they are to report them. Then there are "couplers"...no one is allowed to touch so sex is out of the question. Lots of people who become emotional don't understand their feelings and think they are doomed so they commit suicide. One man who has beautiful blue eyes (Nicholas Hoult) begins feeling emotions and starts noticing a woman (Kristen Stewart) who seems to react to things although secretly. Mesmerized, he starts following her around. They begin meeting in secret. It was rather interesting. Stewart is always really good at acting tormented so this was a perfect role for her. The photography was great with zoom-ins on emotional body language, especially eyes. The climax is edge-of-your-seat suspenseful. ****

Final Girl is a bizarre story about four teenage psychopaths who have been murdering women by hunting them through the woods. Veronica (Abigail Breslin) has been trained since a young girl to take them down. Not sure of the timeline here...if these boys have been murdering for the last twelve years and they are still in high school...hmmm... Anyway Breslin is kick ass and turns the tables on them by hunting them through the woods. It's gory...and strange. ***

Gremlins What a weird movie! It starts out feeling like a children's movie with kids and cute stuffed-animal looking creatures that coo and sing. Then it all goes wrong when they turn into these evil little beasts with fangs, red eyes and claws. Very violent. Then the girl tells why she hates Christmas - her father dressed in a Santa suit, thought he'd surprise them by crawling down the chimney with toys, and broke his neck...they found him a few days later when he began to smell. GOOD GOD! Definitely not a children's movie! And there was absolutely no reason for that story. So weird. Substandard performances by all. **

I'm Not Ashamed is the story of Rachel Joy Scott, the Christian girl who was killed at Columbine High School who professed her faith right to the last moment of life. Sweet story, all God-talk and cultish. I think kids who are in pain migrate toward something outside themselves that will give them strength and hope, and therefore, they are the most impressionable and easy conversion targets. I know I was as a teenager. Religion is all about how to survive suffering, or more importantly, how to make sense of and accept suffering. The lead actress was really outstanding. Some of the script was cliché and tired, but it was a good movie. Mass murders are senseless and it gets really tiring to hear how everyone should pray for the victims and their families as if that really does anything to promote change. The world sucks right now in so many ways with so much hate, disrespect, and apathy. ***

Into the Forest is a futuristic apocalyptic movie about a man and his two daughters (Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood) who are living up the woods somewhere, three days walk from town. The power grid goes out, no gas, no internet, no cell phone. They stock up on food and have chickens, but why they never fixed the roof which drips water constantly I can't figure out. Then the father has a chainsaw accident and dies. The girls are on their own but learn through books how to identify plants, herbs, etc and learn to store food. A sleazy man shows up for some drama. It was a nice movie about sisterly devotion and dedication. Yay, girl power! ****

Jack Reacher I've never been a Tom Cruise fan, but the sequel of this movie looked interesting so I ordered both. It's about an ex-military police officer highly trained who goes off the grid, but somehow knows when he is needed. I like a character with superpowers and this guy can take out a whole group of men in a matter of minutes. That was fun. And the character has moral conviction - another trait I admire - battling corruption and sleaziness. The story was OK although a little unbelievable, the dialogue was at times unrealistic with long dramatic speeches, the performances were adequate, the chase scenes with that Camaro were really good. Robert DeNiro has a small role and he was great. ***

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back This one had a slightly more interesting story centered on government and military corruption. And a kid to add some intrigue and emotion. They sure did run a lot in this movie, all the time. It was exhausting. I just don't care for Tom Cruise. ***

Keeping Up with the Joneses is about a middle class couple (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) living on the perfect cul-de-sac working their mundane jobs, living their mundane lives and then the new neighbors (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot) move in. Can Hamm and Gadot be any more gorgeous?  The neighbors can't help but watch them and feel envious at their romance and supposedly exciting jobs until they start acting suspicious...like spies. It was cute and funny and I could look at Jon Hamm for hours without getting bored. ***

Patriot's Day was about the Boston Marathon bombing. All-star cast with Mark Walberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon and others. Excellent story. Great music. Superb performances. During the bombing scenes it was like horror movie music. ****

Silence is about the last Christian missionaries in Japan during the 1600s and the persecution of Japanese Christians who converted. Adam Driver was rocking some serious cheekbones. Both he and Andrew McCarthy must have lost a lot of weight to play those parts. The story was very disturbing. The martyrdom of Christians was ruthless and exceedingly torturous. The Christian devotion shown right to the end is zealous and ignorant. Beautiful scenery, excellent performances, disturbing story. ***

The Space Between Us was about a kid born on a space station on Mars and because his fetal development took place in zero gravity, he is incompatible with Earth. So he's stuck. At age 16 he meets a girl online who is on Earth, and with a photo of his mother and father decides he wants to risk his life, go the Earth to meet the girl and find his dad. It was a sweet story and fun to see him amazed by Earth since we all take it for granted. Some of the lines of teenage love were a little corny, but I think kids are corny anyway. ***

Split was about this guy (James McAvoy) who has 23 split personalities and he kidnaps three teenage girls. Two are debutante types and the third is strangely anti-social and odd. She gives us flashbacks of past trauma incited by present trauma, but her story is unclear to the end.  Psycho-thriller. McAvoy was outstanding. Betty Buckley played his therapist. ***

Whiskey Tango Fox Trot is about a reporter (Tina Fey) stuck in a rut in NYC and opts to take an assignment in Afghanistan. It was an interesting drama with humor thrown in for fun. There are scary people in the world. ***

The Wiz Live! is a live television production of the Broadway musical The Wiz from 2015. All-star cast: Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Amber Riley, David Alan Grier, Ne-Yo, Uzo Aduba, and Stephanie Mills came back as Auntie Em. The sweet thing who played Dorothy had an outstanding voice and spirit. I had no idea that Uzo Aduba could sing that well. I loved the 1978 movie with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson and I used to have the soundtrack.  One of my favorite songs, if not my favorite song of all time is "Home." Excellent. Loved the "Making of the Wiz Live" bonus. And then I watched it all again...*****

The Zookeeper's Wife is about how the Zabinska family, owners of the Warsaw Zoo after the zoo was destroyed and the animals shipped off or killed by the Germans, started a pig farm as a cover to smuggle Jews out of the Warsaw Ghetto. Excellent story, great performances. I hated Jessica Chastain's fake accent...it just seemed wrong, but other than that it was excellent. All and anything could be forgiven with one glimpse of those snuggly white lion cubs. ****

The Laundry Goddess

I have never in my life loved to do laundry. Until now! I am the proud owner of a new washer and dryer! I have done at least ten loads in the last 24 hours. It gives me great pleasure.

I've had one, cheap, used washing machine for the last 12 years. I've never really liked it. It was incredibly small, didn't clean the clothes very well, and lacked in choices. I've never had a dryer. They are energy suckers for sure, but more importantly they will damage clothes forcing the owner to shop too often. However, going to the laundromat to dry comforters, blankets or pillows that won't air dry fast enough is a health hazard. To survive the laundromat experience, I have to take a little plastic bag with a towel soaked in vinegar and wipe down the dryers in hopes of removing any fabric sheet or fabric softener residue. It usually worked...a little. I vowed if my washer went out while I'm still in this house and there is no hope to move in the near future, I'll buy myself a dryer along with the new washer.

Tiny Lone Washer
Perfect for Tiny Laundry Room

A month ago the washer died. It was 12 years old which is a good life for a washer and shows how incredibly patient I am (or cheap) to wait so long with a substandard appliance.

I started going to a laundromat that always had few customers and was rather clean, but I had a problem with a faulty machine which gave me pause. And then a friend was telling me her friend is very susceptible to athlete's foot and every time she uses a laundromat she gets it. Eeeeewww! Unless you are running the machines on hot water or filling them with bleach, you can get any kind of bacteria...or bed bugs. So I collected piles and piles of dirty clothes in the kitchen for a month. I was more than excited to get a new washer and dryer set, and the piles of dirty clothes motivated me. However, shopping always poses challenges for anyone who is chemically sensitive.

Living beyond civilization is the first challenge. No one wants to deliver. They won't even take bribes to deliver. They just don't want to deliver to the edge of civilization. I finally did find one store willing to venture out of their area for a price, but dealing with Home Depot is never a good experience. When I ordered from the stinky salesperson I was told it would take 7-10 days for it to be delivered to the store. Don't count on it. None of their customer service emails were managed, the "track delivery" didn't work, and most of their phone lines wouldn't let me push a department number. What a hassle!

After too much stress, the washer/dryer set was delivered. The delivery guys stunk. They hooked everything up, push the buttons and the dryer refused to work. They look. They check. Oh well! It must be the electricity! Not our problem. And left. Before they left they said, "If it's the dryer, MAYBE Home Depot will exchange it?" Remember the days when delivery was free and they actually made sure everything worked before they left? I was in a panic since contacting Home Depot and expecting to get a response is the hope of fools. I called my electrician instead and it was the electricity. My electricians are incredible, adorable, friendly, and totally fragrance-free, just expensive.

So I get everything working. The dryer stinks to high heaven. Modern appliances are made with a lot of plastic parts. It stinks like the new Cadet heaters, but I have run out of vinegar. I run it on high, open the window, and put the fan on high. We'll see. I have hope. And a headache.

So awesome to get new appliances! I've not had fluffy towels for 12 years! And these appliances are HUGE! I can fit two sets of sheets in the washer at a time! But it also has a sensor so I can also wash one pair of socks and the water only reaches to the socks. Technology is so incredibly. I feel like I've come out of the dark ages!

HOORAY FOR SPENDING MONEY!

HAPPINESS!

I CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE MORE DIRTY CLOTHES!

50 Handmaids in 50 States

I participated in the 50 Handmaids in 50 States demonstration. This event was to protest gender inequality, gender identity, defunding of Planned Parenthood, along with Black Lives Matter, indigenous rights, healthcare and well, anything you wanted to protest with a women's rights theme. There would be an hour of silence, speakers, and a protest march down to Planned Parenthood.

They suggested we sew our own capes and caps although I didn't find out about it until late. OR one could rent the capes and caps. OR just dress in all black which is what we did. We were the chorus. Background performers. Unfortunately, they ran out of "handmaids" and asked if any of us black-clad participants would like to don a red cape and white cap. SURE! They waived the rental fee. My friend kept saying, "Hooray! We have a walk-on part!" LOL! "I'm ready for my close up!" Unfortunately, due to our roles of just standing in silence, I couldn't take photos of the actual silent protest, but you can find them online.

I didn't realize the hour of silence was more than just silent protest - it was a photo op. There were professional photographers and filmmakers snapping photos and filming us walking in twos and standing on the steps of the capitol in silence. One of the photographers was from the New York Times. Oddly enough, I've never seen this television show so I was at a loss for what it was about or what one was supposed to do to be in character. I acted shameful and submissive. After about five minutes of standing still I found out later most of us were thinking, "Has it been an hour yet??" LOL.

After we listened to speakers, we marched through town to Plan Parenthood to overtake the Pro-Life demonstrators. It must have been frightening for them. There were two of them and about 80 of us. LOL! More photos were taken and then it was over. So fun.

Protest season has finally returned. So glad.

Canary Singles

For years I asked various MCS groups to create and promote a relationship-seeking site for those of us who are single and would like to connect with others, but most rejected my idea telling me it would dilute the socio-political message and public education is the priority. So many of us are isolated without a support system, without family, and sometimes without friends with suicide the number one cause of death for the MCS community. To me connecting with others is a priority. Most of us can't even fathom an actual romantic relationship as just surviving daily can be so stressful. For those ready and willing to take the plunge, where would one find a single, safe, fragrance-free person? We can't even find MCS friends!

So here it is!  Canary Singles There is a free 30-day trial then after that you pay to flirt. One month costs $9.99, three months $19.99, six months $29.99 and one year is $49.99. Payment is made through Paypal.

No, I have not yet joined.

I did look at the menu. If I'm reading the locations correctly there are actual some men close to me (which is odd thing to discover), but I think I'll wait until more members join to make it cost effective. I'm not sure if I'm a dating site kind of girl. And just the thought of a man in my life exhausts me. Just the thought. So much work. So much effort. I like my singlehood. My autonomy. My independence. Why would I want a man to mess it up? Hmmmmm...I'll ponder that.

September Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

The Book of Love is about a girl who's dad died at sea and a man who's wife recently died and how they come together. Great potential. Jason Sudeikis is a great actor, but some of the other performances weren't so good. Or maybe it was the script, or the direction. The music was composed by Justin Timberlake and although it was nice, it was a little too epic for the simplicity of the story. **

Deepwater Horizon is based on the true story of an oil rig in the middle of the ocean, corporate greed (BP has got to be the worst company in the universe, maybe even worse than Monsanto), and the disaster that follows as it blows to smithereens killing too many people. Great cast: Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson (Oh, I'm just now realizing these two were in a movie together! Funny.), Mark Walberg,  Gina Rodriguez, and John Malkovitch. Sometimes the Louisiana accents were hard to understand. Typical disaster plot - they spend the first half hour introducing the characters so you feel emotional about them, then the next half hour showing the camaraderie between them, next fifteen minutes to showcase how sleazy BP is, and then the big bang and survivor rescue. Good story. ****

Hacksaw Ridge Incredibly violent war scenes. I'm not sure if they were the worst I've ever seen, but very graphic with guts all over, body parts, half faces, large black rats eating the bodies. Pretty gruesome and incredibly realistic. Great story. Andrew Garfield was superb. It's about a young man who is a conscientious objector, refuses to even touch a gun, but he enlists to be a medic so he can save lives not take them. Of course, he gets a lot of grief for being the odd man out. In the end a lot of his comrades were really glad he was there. I like a story about moral conviction. ****

Hello, My Name Is Frank...I Have Tourette's was a strange little movie with poorly written dialogue and substandard performances. Obviously it's about a man with Tourette's Syndrome, more about the girl who just graduated from high school. Her mother was Frank's caregiver for most of her life and she is torn between her future and caring for Frank herself as a promise to her mother. On top of that she has plans to visit the grave of her best friend on the best friend's birthday although their relationship was unclear. She and her two friends along with Frank travel across three states (!) to get to the cemetery, again, not sure why the best friend lived so far away. I didn't like the ending as it really made no sense along with the rest of the movie. Too many loose ends when what should have happened seemed clear to me. **

Jaws What a classic! It's now 40 (?) years old and it's still great. Of course, the first time I saw it I couldn't sleep for nights because of the nightmares and for years I never went into the water. Love Richard Dreyfuss. When so many movies from the 1970s seem intolerably dated, this movie can stand the test of time. Such a classic. *****

Lolo is a French movie about a sociopathic mama's boy who sabotages all of his mother's relationships. She meets a man in the country who is moving to Paris. He is sweet and naive, and way too trusting. It has some funny lines, especially when the women get together and talk about sex. **

Looking Both Ways is an Australian movie about people preoccupied with death: a woman who's father just died, a man who has been diagnosed with cancer, a reporter convinced most deaths are suicides, the girlfriend of a man who was hit by a train. This plot was supported by flashes of headlines, television news casts, and articles. The woman who's father just died is an artist but sees disaster around every corner anyway. As she walks down the street she imagines the subway above her going off its rails and crashing, or the man walking his dog as a rapist...and this plays out in her imagination as art. The art/cartooning is really spectacular. The man just diagnosed with cancer sees the disease eating away at bodies. He imagines the smoker next to him with skin cancer cells or he reads that masturbation and sex eat cancer cells so as he's kissing the woman, he sees his cancer cells disappearing. Loved the art and the death theme, but it seemed as if there was too much going on, too many non-death-related storylines diluting the plot. It needed more focus. Still, it was interesting. At times a little slow. Lots of scenes with birds flying in the sky. The DVD was slightly damaged so I had to suffer through skipping every now and then which didn't help. ***

Loving is about the interracial couple who defied the system and changed the law allowing interracial marriages. The racism is so disturbing and more disturbing that it persists in modern society. Will we never evolve? ***

Maximum Ride is about a science gone-wrong that created a bunch of hybrid humans as weapons. They were kept in cages and experimented on as children, transported to a mountain cabin to emotionally mature, recaptured. Not-so-good script, not-so-good acting, but it was an interesting story. **

Priceless is about human trafficking, stealing girls and making them prostitutes. It starts out with a man who needs a job and agrees to transport "cargo" for a night. Accidentally he finds out the cargo are two Mexican sisters who believe they are coming to the United States to work off their father's debt as maids or waitresses. It has a lot of God-talk, great looking lead actor, the dialogue is staged and mushy. But interesting. ***

The Take was about an American pick-pocket (Richard Madsen from Game of Thrones, I didn't recognize him...) in Paris who steals a bag that has a bomb and when it goes off he is blamed as the terrorist. CIA agent (Idris Elba from Star Trek) finds him and uncovers the plan. Great story, very intriguing. Lots of scenes of fancy fighting that went on too long at times. ****

Twentieth Century Women was about a single, divorced woman (Annette Bening) in 1979 trying to raise a teenage boy. She feels she can't do it alone and asks her two roommates to help guide him to be a better man. Annette Bening was great, but the story was strangely unappealing and her character oddly unlikeable. **

ONLY TWELVE  MOVIES??? ONLY!!! Lately my library sucks at courier service. It's taking way too long to get deliveries. Not sure why, but I'm going days without any movies. Very frustrating.