Apparently red poppies became the symbol for Memorial Day because of this 1915 poem. I share today with many thanks to the men and women who have served and sacrificed their lives in protection of our country.
Which is like regular cheese but baked to give it a custardy inside and bread-like texture on the outside. I cut it into strips and toasted it on my George Foreman grill. One website described it as “grilled cheese without the bread” and I think that’s a great comparison.
Yesterday I saw a performance of Hunchback, a theatrical rendering of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. My assistant directed the play and half the legal department starred in it, including my housemate. For something I’ve had literally no role in, I feel intimately connected to this play. I knew which music would play before the show started, what crate the stage-hands kept forgetting to move off-stage, and which actors had to step into the role last minute.
Heck, as we were sitting in the audience, my other housemate kept loudly whispering: “He’s been in our house. And she’s been in our house. And is that…ooohhhhh.”
Ooooooh, indeed.
This was a very intense play. It involves lots of dark themes, as you might expect from Victor Hugo, but manages to balance with some lighthearted moments and colorful characters. But this is definitely not the Disney movie you grew up on.
It was ambitious and dark, but held together with some strong acting from the main leads.
My housemate, obviously, stole the show as Crowd Person #4.
Me: “After my allergy-induced sinus headache and all these other allergy issues, I stocked up on allergy medication today. You have a symptom? I have a solution.”
Roommate: “Oh, what do you have?”
Me: “I’m glad you asked! I’ve got this prescription from my doctor, and some Flonase spray, and Zyrtec syrup which is supposed to work better than Benadryl, but also I have Benadryl, and I have DayQuil for the Guaifenesin, and I have Xyzal, and knock-off Claritin. And green tea! Did you know green tea is an antihistamine?”
I’ve been carefully waiting to celebrate passing 4,000 books on Goodreads. Now granted, this is total books and not books read. It therefore includes the 900 books on my to-read shelf and the 6 on my currently reading. But there is still something very appealing about being able to say: “I’ve interacted with 4,000 books on Goodreads.”
Except I looked at my profile today and I’m at 4,017.
Soooo….clearly I’m not paying as close attention as I think I am.
When I first told my Wisconsin doctor that I was moving to Virginia, she quipped: “What are they going to do? Put you in a giant, plastic bubble?”
As someone allergic to “everything that floats through the air” (grass…trees…pollen…mold…) Virginia has not exactly been a safe haven and this past spring in particular has been rough. (Like, ‘why does my throat feel funny I am eating a carrot?’ rough. Oral allergy syndrome, apparently. That will make grocery shopping more fun.)
BUT turns out the real winner of Things Amy Is Allergic To? Dust.
After giving me an allergy test today, the nurse informed me my reaction to dust mites was “incredible.”
On the bright side, I learned that oral allergy syndrome “probably” won’t kill me and that my lungs closing up when I go for walks is not asthma. My body just really, really hates pollen.
I did it! I finally completed a K Drama on Netflix. It only took one based on one of my favorite webtoons to make it happen.
Business Proposal is a Korean Drama based on a webcomic, also named A Business Proposal.
The story follows Shin Ha-ri, a regular office worker who agrees to put on a disguise and replace her best friend on a blind date in order to sabotage it. Things go awry, however, when the CEO of her company turns out to be the date! And worse, he’s determined to make things work for motives of his own…
The show ends up differing at several key plot points from the webtoon (at least, what I remember of it) but still retains much of the story’s charm.
The oddest part, at least in my opinion as someone who has been watching K Dramas for a decade now, is how much the humor echoes old K Dramas. This is what I would categorize pre-obviously-trying-to-appeal-to-Western-audiences humor.
There is so much toilet humor. Never the main couple, but side characters frequently run to the bathroom or make comments about the state of their bowels.
The drama also relies heavily on many of the standard stereotypes, like disapproving in-laws, sudden and life-altering diseases, and phobias from childhood.
It is nothing terribly egregious and ending at 12 episodes means the show cuts much (but sadly not all) of the “filler” typically associated with later episodes. I wouldn’t give this a super high rating, maybe 3/5, but it is worth a try if looking for something lighthearted. (Or you could read the Webtoon instead!)
Fernweh's Call 