As you can tell from the photo, assuming of course anyone can actually see the photo - one never knows with these FB links (annoying I know, but there it is), I took a two mile hike Prospect Park Lake and back. People and water fowl were out in force, mainly because they can't really frolic to the beach (dangerous rip tides) and it's Sunday. Sunday is never a good day to wander about the Park. Ran across my neighbor along the way, who recently retired from Crazy Org, he's loving retirement and says his social security check and pension check are bigger than his actual pay check was. I should be fine then, since mine is railroad retirement. But I want to live at 62. He left at 66, because his wife who is 14 years younger than he is, is still working and pushed him to work a bit longer.

By the end of the hike, my stomach has having a hissy fit, and I felt out of breath, perspiring, a touch off balance. I don't want to say light headed or dizzy, just like I wanted to collapse into a heap on the sidewalk. I did not. I made it home. And drank water instead. But, it made me aware of the fact that I can't do long hikes yet, and need to build up to them. Slowly. I may start with long walks to and around Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetery and my neighborhood on the weekends. And shorter walks during lunch. Also doing the eight flights of steps at 4th Avenue and 9th Street station from the R to the G/F line, except on bad weather days.
Also start doing more yoga exercises. (I don't like yoga - because I hate floor exercises - but I can probably do chair and standing yoga for a bit.)

I've requested to join "Trail Dames" on Meetups, which is a group of over 50, curvy women, who like to go hiking. It's not really safe to go hiking by yourself in the US, people do of course, but they usually know what they are doing, and don't have my health issues. Also, my cousin, who was thirty nine years of age, was killed on a solo hike. They'd found him dead on the side of the road with his head bashed in. He was an avid hiker, who did a lot of solo hikes near his home in Oregon, that had hiking trails in the backyard. It was tragic, and happened in 2022, the same year my Dad died.

Speaking of dangerous hikes. I was trolling about the internet at work one day and found a list of the most dangerous hikes, also HERE.

So, I asked my brother, an avid hiker, what his most insanely dangerous hike was - and he told me it was last week, hiking along a lake in Glacier National Park, where they came upon a mother Grizzly Bear and her cubs. The Grizzley became aware of them, they didn't sneak up on her (you never do that) and stood up on her hind legs. The walked quickly away and she pursued them for a good fifteen minutes before finally taking off into the brush. She was about fifty yards away.

Niece, also an avid hiker, most dangerous hike was probably Mount Silliman in the Sierras. Where she hiked off-trail and had to scramble up a sheer granite mountain face, with a thousand feet drop offs. It had beautiful views at the peak, but it dropped off in a 1000 foot cliff on the other side. The views were epic, but she doesn't do many dangerous hikes, preferring flora to epic views.

Epic view from Mount Silliman below:
( Read more... )
And a photo from the hike in Glacier, where alas, all the glaciers have melted long ago, along with most of the snow. Silly humans, if we'd been more careful and mindful of the environment, the glaciers would have lasted longer.
( Read more... )
Niece's need to travel overseas to Europe, ended, after she went to the Western United States and fell in love with the mountains. Our world is seriously awe inspiring. I'm in awe daily, just looking at the mountains of skyscrapers, ships, and harbor, plus lakes, trees, and bird. I would like to visit China - the pictures of China's landscapes and culture are mind-blowing.

My most dangerous hike - was most likely a tie between Barr Trial Hike on Pike's Peak with two girl-friends in undergrad (this was in the fall of 1988, I think) and a back-packing trip in Bandlier National Monument, where we hiked back country trials and ran into a black widow spider and a couple of huge raccoons. That was a wonderful trip. I did a lot of camping and hiking in my teens and early twenties, when I was in a lot better shape.

If you've made it this far? What were your most insanely dangerous hikes?

I want to visit Watkins Glenn and hike the seven waterfalls, which looks like it is right out of Lord of the Rings...but most of it is closed until the summer of 2026, so I have time.

Leaving with another pretty photo from my niece:

1. I've been following the Scalzi Kitten Saga - where Scalzi's daughter and her friend found four kittens behind her friend's apartment, living in his old car. Eventually one of them (black tuxedo kitten) expired due to the hazards of living outside, so they chose to snatch the remaining trio and put them somewhere safer - namely Scalzi's basement guest room. So Scalzi is asking if anyone wants them, or they'll most likely try to find homes for two of them, send them to a no-kill shelter, and possibly adopt the third.

I don't know they don't all look like kittens in those photos, they look like cats. The only one that resembles a kitten is the calico.

The Scalzi Kitten Saga

One person wanted the calico, and was arranging transportation to pick it up. But the rest were stating - eh, can't get to Ohio, or they have enough cats already, thank you very much.

I'm glad he's in Ohio. I do not need the temptation. Those kittens would be miserable with me. I have no space for cats. Or any pets for that matter.

2. Well, Eatly was a disappointment

Today was lovely, crisp blue sky, warm with a cool breeze, in the low eighties. I most definitely did not require the jacket that I was wearing. It had been in the upper fifties low sixties this morning, hence the jacket. I decided to get a salad at Pret (spinach, white bean pesto, walnuts, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and avocado), with a gluten free tiramisu for desert from Eatly. I first went back to my desk to eat the salad, and then took off for Eatly - basically for a walk, and to see what they had. I got back around 1:10pm, left at 12:27 pm. It was a 15 minute walk. But I also spent at least 15 minutes in the store, then took ten minutes to get back at a brisk pace. I got a denim tote with space to hold a wallet and phone, also the aforementioned tiramisu. It is ridiculously hard to find gluten free tiramisu.

I was disappointed in Etaly. ( Read more... )

Spent more than I should - but I liked the denim tote bag with the inside pocket. Very useful. I could use that for work.

3. How to get a television pilot for a historical series about a 16th Century Indian Harem made, when you are a fifty-something self-published writer and have just written your first television screenplay?

Ex-college roommate - you know the one who self-published the chronicles about the 16th Century Harem? She's now written a screenplay with help from a screenwriting mentor.

" So we finished writing a screenplay for the pilot. We have the whole pitch deck. An executive read it and gave us her feedback. Basically, she said it would be a hit, if anyone had the courage to produce it, which no one has (in mainstream media). Her suggestion - make it ourselves. Put it out on social media. Okay, then...next stop... Angel Investors!"

I considered advising her to try a Kick-Starter campaign, but decided against it. Everyone and their dog plus a few cats have attempted that to date. There's too many of them.

She has a web site, a blog about 16th Century practices and the research she's done on 16th Century India, and a couple of short stories if you want to check it all out for yourselves.
( Read more... )

I posted this - because I'm curious what other people think? What do you think about the possibilities of this working or taking off?

4. Department Q has been renewed for a second season! Netflix finally got around to renewing it.

Executive producer Rob Bullock said he had a "really wonderful response" to the news of the second series.

"It is going to be loosely based on the second book in Jussi's series," he said.

"And much like season one, we will take the book and the gold that's in that book but then go off and tell our own stories alongside it."

I'm happy about this. I liked the characters and wanted more story. It felt unresolved.

5. Mother informed me that the Australian Detective Series that TV Talk had rec'd and I couldn't find - has popped up on Hulu, High Country - I'm guessing this is part of Disney's distribution deal with the BBC, because they've picked up a bunch of other British BBC mystery series as well.
I'm happy, it means I don't have to stream Brit Box to see some of them.

And I really wanted to see High Country. They also have the Tunnel, and the Fall, and the Secrets of Mr. Whitcher.

6. Online - FB touted a new Disney Tween Buffy Series named Vampirina (not to be confused with Vampirella, which I, alas did) based on the acclaimed books, about a secret vampire girl who wants to go to a school for the performing arts to pursue music (yes, it's a musical). Accompanied by a 600 year old ghost. She's in secret. Uhm, how is this a Buffy show? It sounds more like Wednesday meets Hotel Transylvania by way of High School Musical? I don't see anyone over the age of 14 watching it?

Buffy was a show about a teen tasked with killing vampires and demons, while trying to juggle high school, but honestly, none of the cast were really teens (with the possible exception of 3 of them), and they only did high school for three years. So, it was about a young woman fighting vampires. It was targeted at teens, but since the writers were in their late twenties and early thirties, didn't really have kids or care, and were writing about their own nightmares - it was more twenty-something - thirty-something show about a young woman slaying her personal demons.

7. They cancelled Dexter:Original Sin on Paramount after one season. Not surprised. I watched an episode of that - it wasn't that good. Also, it's Paramount - which is undergoing a merger and shakeup. Also, Original Sin didn't do that well, and they brought back the original series - which did better, and had Michael C. Hall. Prequels are rarely successful. Let's face it - the audience isn't that interested. Also, in the case of Dexter, we already got the flashbacks in the Dexter series.

But, Gellar's television curse continues. Buffy to date is the longest series she's had on the air. Everything else she's tried since Buffy has either not flown/been picked up for full series, or was cancelled after just one season. The Crazy Ones may have made it two seasons? No, Williams committed suicide in the middle of it - it was one season. I don't have a lot of faith in the Buffy Revival entitled: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - New Sunnydale surviving, I may be wrong. Gellar's track record hasn't been exactly stellar. From the original cast? Boreanze has done the best, with Hannigan not that far behind. Everyone else, with the possible exception of Head, has stumbled. Let's face it - Television and Film are impossible industries. Few succeed in them.

***

It's late. Time for bed.

After a salad (heirloom tomatoe, power greens (spinach/argula), cucumber, and onion with some lemon juice (use it instead of dressing) - I took off to get a cookie. It was a gray day, cool, and I didn't feel like walking about seeing the sights at lunch. So I made an excuse to go and get a cookie. (I've gone from checking out matcha latte places to checking out cookie places).

I decided to try Flavors Cafe, which had gluten-free cookies. I wanted to try their chocolate chip along with their black and white (which is never a good idea for anyone with sugar sensitivities (it's 20 g of carbs), but you know...it is a NYC staple and rare to find gluten-free). Also this is a health food store - with probiotics in the cookies.

( The cookies )
I got hoodwinked. Again. It looked like a chocolate chip cookie in the store. But it was in reality an oatmeal raisin cookie masquerading as a chocolate chip cookie. And I idiotically did not look at the back of it.
I don't know why I didn't look at the back of it before I bought it.
Brain fog?

( the ingredients and type on the back )

I decided to eat the Black and White cookie - which was okay? But I prefer Meredith's. I won't get it again from either place, though. Too sweet and not worth the side-effects. (It's not good for blood sugar. My body wasn't happy with it at all. In short, I liked it, it didn't like me. The chocolate chip cookies that I'd had yesterday, on the other hand - didn't do a thing.) Note to self - stick with Insomina, and ditch Flavors.

They had other flavors available - tasty cookies - Caramel Chocolate and Chocolate Chip, along with shortbread, and Macademia White Chocolate Chunk, but they are not available as gluten free. I don't know why. But they aren't.

Oh well, grateful to at have at least found gluten free soft cookies. There was a time I wouldn't have been able to find any and had to make my own - way back in 2005. I've been gluten free for about 20 years this August. Diagnosed in and around August 2005, after a long and painful process. [The medical community in the US is horrible at diagnosing ceiliac disease. They don't understand it at all and don't really know how to treat it. I had to hunt for a primary care doctor who took it seriously and went through two gastroenterologist - before I got a clear diagnosis in 2017, prior to that I was told it was gluten sensitivity, now I know I have the gene.]

I've satisfied my cookie craving for the most part. Right now the best cookies I've had to date - are the gooey big ones from the Courteylou Road bakery and coffee shop about a twenty-thirty minute walk from my home.

****

August Question a Day Memage - I'm behind again and catching up:

16. It’s National Roller Coaster Day – are you a fan of roller coasters?

No. ( why )

17. Do you make your bed every day?

Of course. ( why )

18. When you are thirsty what is your beverage of choice?

Water. [Most of the time, all I drink is water.]

19. Do people shorten your given name, and if they do, do you mind?

Yes, all the time. Do I mind? Depends on how they shorten it. But No - if they use the gender neutral version (which most people do, once people get to know me - they use the gender neutral version or my actual name, nothing else. Close friends shorten it to the gender neutral version).
( Read more... )

20. Are you left-handed or right-handed? Would you like to be ambidextrous?

Right handed, but because I have a tremor and it is more predominate in my right hand, I can do some things with the left - and often use the left for things like holding glasses, holding cups, carrying things, stuff like that. I can type with both. And do type with both. But I don't write or type on my phone with the left. And I paint with my right hand. I may try to start painting with the left - because of the aforementioned tremor. So yes, on ambidextrous.

21. Do you live near any trees? What’s the tallest tree nearby?

Yes, multiple trees. ( Read more... )

***

Bonus questions:

Are you a forest or the trees type of person? Macro or micro? Big picture or details?

Forest, Big Picture, Macro thinker. Although, as you all know, I can do the nitty gritty details, because I have to as part of my job - it's required. But overall, I tend to think Big Picture in regards to most things. Or see the forest and how it all works together as a whole. ( Read more... )