Runoff primaries

Early voting starts today for the runoff elections in May. I have to double check that I remember which candidates I support for school boards and such.

Meanwhile Macron won his election in France, which is good news. He even admitted that he needs to address his liberal critics.

Also I rewatched Everything Everywhere All at Once, and enjoyed the beginning part I missed. Really great movie. I've been trying to watch other movies on HBO Max lately, but for some reason it's not working on my devices, even after I sign out and sign back in. I guess I'll try to see some still in theaters like The Batman.

hobbies

Thousands of Etsy sellers were on strike, so I didn't buy anything there for that week. There's been no news that Etsy changed its fee hike, though.

Lately I've been doing more sewing and even bought a dress form off ebay, though it's not my size. I'm thinking of sewing a belt-ish thing to pin on it and increase the waist. I do have some leftover cotton stuffing and some fabric to make it. Basically I'm short and the clothes I want to wear are too long, so I have to hem them or even redo the waistline because it's up to my bust. I recently mastered a rolled hem, which is an easy way to hem some fabrics. Not sure if I'll spring for a sewing machine yet. All my stitches are by hand right now and I really don't remember how to use a machine, though I'm sure they covered it in my high school home ec class.

Meanwhile, Barbie sent two dolls to space, and there's been a lot of news about casting the Margot Robbie movie. I'm interested to see it and hope it will be fun and subversive. I bought another doll recently, as well as a tiered cart to sort my collection in. I also put together a desk too and brought out a ladder to change LED light bulbs in my ceiling lights. I still hate the stupid overhead lights that my house came with, because I need like three hands to hold the heavy glass and screw in the tiny screws holding up the glass. Why can't they be some type of snap-lock fastening?

Texas

This year Passover, Easter, and Ramadan coincided. I don't celebrate any of those holidays, though I don't mind others who do. But on Saturday in the grocery checkout line, I heard one woman say, "Happy Resurrection Weekend" to the cashier. Is that a thing that people are calling Easter now? Is it like evangelical Christians who say that slogan about "the reason for the season" at Christmas time? And who was she to assume that the cashier was Christian like her? He could have been Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, etc. So weird.

In other news Greg Abbott finally backed off his wacko border security inspections; rather than recognizing federal authority, he claims that he has made agreements with governors of four Mexican states. Since when does a governor in the U.S. get to negotiate security agreements with leaders in foreign countries? What the fuck? I heard that Mexican truckers were doing blockades in protest of Abbott's absurd policies. This was all just a publicity stunt for Abbott, who's up for election this year. He and Dan Patrick need to go!

Also, after all the outcry, the district attorney dropped the murder charge against that Texas woman who was arrested for having an abortion. But how many other women will go through this in other states? Blue state people who tell Texas Democrats to move away just don't get that no state will be safe. If Roe V. Wade gets struck down, Republicans are going to continue trying to pass worse and worse laws. Not just against abortion, but against trans rights, civil rights, education, etc. No place will be safe.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

I finally finished Our Flag Means Death, but it wasn't as lighthearted and celebratory as I'd hoped. Yes there are queer couples on the show, and we do get onscreen kisses, but the season ended on a downbeat cliffhanger. From the way that fans raved exultantly, I thought we'd get a happy ending. Instead we get couples being split up, and a crew stranded to die on an island. Worst of all, Izzy Hands didn't get thrown off the ship or killed off for his betrayal. I'm so fucking tired of his negativity and would have rather lost him than the other pirate. So anyway, yeah it's enjoyable enough for an absurdist comedy, and I did like seeing Joel Fry as Frenchie, but I was disappointed after all the hype. Reminds me of how Arrested Development did that great Gob/Tony Wonder romance, but kept splitting them up, undid Gob's coming out, and denied us a happy ending. Plus the writers left in the Narrator insisting that the magicians were just friends, so us Blunder shippers still gotta argue with other viewers about whether the romance was even real. Fuck!

Anyway, I also saw Michelle Yeoh's new multiverse movie, and it was wildly manic and original. At first I thought that Lana Condor was playing the daughter Joy, but later I learned she was actually Stephanie Hsu, who I've only seen as Soo, the married friend in Shang-Chi. Joy is a much bigger part for her, and she was very good at playing the wide range of emotions from terrifying to vulnerable despair. I came in a little late to the beginning, but was able to follow most of the plot. I might rewatch to see the beginning..

TV stuff

I finally got my taxes done last week after putting them off so long, so I should get my refund soon.

Meanwhile, the CW announced the premiere date for Tom Swift for May 31. I'm just glad the show didn't get canceled due to the pandemic. I finally watched the Nancy Drew episode that introduced him. I wonder if his relationship with his father will still be strained or not. Lots of gadgets including his AI assistant voiced by Levar Burton. I hope it will be a good show, and not get tiresome like Nancy Drew did, with its endless ghosts. Maybe they will do the futuristic high-tech stuff that they tried to do with the Painkiller spinoff.

Also, I've been hearing a lot of praise for HBO's pirate show Our Flag Means Death, but haven't watched it yet. It's apparently got a gay romance at its heart, and I recently saw screencaps showing that Will Arnett is in it too. So I'll have to see that soon. I could use something lighthearted and celebratory in these days of so much anti-LGBT legislation.