Discovering Alexis Ffrench

Credit: Alexis Ffrench and SpotifyMy time at Glen Eyrie was very well spent. I took scads of photos, but haven't had a chance to go through them yet. Once I do, I'll share some and post some thoughts.Until then, here's a music recommendation for you in terms of something soothing that aligns with more of a self-care mindset.I love piano music, always have. But I tend to forget that I love it until...

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Self-Care: Staying at Glen Eyrie

Photo Credit: Not MineI am doing something for myself that I have literally never done before. I've dreamed of it, hoped to do it, but never actually acted on it. I am going to stay at Glen Eyrie Castle for three days.All on my own. Alone, with no work obligations and next to no plans other than to just be at the Glen, walk the trails, and spend time reading (both Biblical and fictional), knitting,...

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World Mental Health Day: Develop Relationships of High Acceptance

I'm sitting in front of my keyboard, pondering what exactly to write. I'm a little rusty, if you can't tell. The pandemic years were so difficult, in many ways, and I feel like even though I've started finding myself as a person, I lost some of the floweriness and bubbliness that I used in my writing. Or maybe that's something that just comes with age.If there's one thing America does poorly, it's...

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Retro Family Lesson Time

It's so sad to me when "modern" women decide they're going to make judgement calls on women from the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. Like, on a picture where the husband is sitting in an armchair reading and she's vacuuming. I heard today a comment that he's sexist. WELL, looking at the illustration (which I don't have a copy of unfortunately), it's clearly from the 1940s. Which means he's worked all day...

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Book Review: Fair as a Star by Mimi Matthews (2020)

Fair as a StarVictorian Romantics: Book Oneby Mimi Matthews2020✯✯✯✯✯ I've put off reading any of Mimi Matthews' books. It sometimes happens for me that when an author is surrounded by so much hype and enthusiasm, that I end up crushingly disappointed in their work. Thankfully, that is not the case with Fair as a Star.She handles the topic of melancholy/clinical depression with a delicate...

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Japanese Drama Review: Seigi no Tenbin, Season One (2021)

Seigi no Tenbin (The Scales of Justice)Country: JapanYear: 2021Episodes: 5 episodes, 50 minutes eachGenre: Law, Drama, CrimeStarring: Kamenashi Kazuya, Nao, Oshima Yuko, Omasa Aya, Kitayama Hiromitsu, Satoi KentaMy Rating: ★★★★★Click to read more of my reviews for Japanese entertainment. Watch Seigi no Tenbin through the fansubber's site, MiaMaw Fansubs. You can go the softsub/raw method...

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When an "ISFJ" realizes they're truly an ISFP

Yamapi dancing at a party, which, yeah, of course I had to.

I retook the MBTI test associated with the 16 Personalities website, and here are the incredibly accurate and helpful results.

Okay, so there is nothing weirder than an ISFP spending more than a decade being mistyped as an ISFJ. These two personality types are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I actually thought I was just a crap ISFJ and spent so much time and effort for years trying to get better at being one. Turns out, I'M NOT ONE! I'm an ISFP, better known as the Adventurer, and oh my gosh, friends, it makes so much bloody sense!

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Watching F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers: Episode 2 (spoilers)

 F4 Thailand: Boys Over FlowersEpisode 2Country: ThailandYear: 2021 Watch F4 Thailand on YouTube with English subtitles.Read my post about episode 1.Thyme starts to realize that not everyone can be bought or placated with money in the place of an apology. It might just be one of his first encounters with real people in real life. Boy, does he live in a silver palace.The...

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Watching F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers: Episode 1 (spoilers)

F4 Thailand: Boys Over FlowersEpisode 1 Country: ThailandYear: 2021 Watch F4 Thailand on YouTube with English subtitles.Read my post about episode 2.The Boys Over Flowers franchise (or Hana Yori Dango) is my most hated franchise in Asian entertainment.But I wanted to give F4 Thailand a chance since I've heard that it takes the story in a less toxic direction (although I didn't...

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Japanese Fansubber Highlights! - Irozuku Fansubs

Irozuku Subs is an incredible Japanese drama fansubber with an ever-increasing body of work. I love their subtitles, but also appreciate the respect they show official streaming platforms when a popular drama is picked up that way. They've actually stopped subbing dramas once VIKI has approved it (like Black Cinderella and Peanut Butter Sandwich), and I respect them for that choice since it shows...

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Rewatching Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs in 2022

I rewatch Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs (1970) every year. I suspect it's one of Brooks' lesser known comedies, but it's the only one of his films that I religiously watch because it has the least amount of crude content. Go figure!The setting is 1927 Russia, a decade after the revolution. It's a satirical look at Russia, featuring three lead male characters whose ultimate goal is tied to...

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Homemade Coconut Pecan Cupcakes

My sister had 2 baking tries tonight, one a super weird fail and then this one, a rousing success. She went with her old standby 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook, changed up the flavorings,  and yum, delicious cupcakes with homemade vanilla frosting. My favorite thing about historic cupcake recipes is that the crumb has an amazing spring to it, which you can kind of see in the second photo. I...

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Woodworms, barking dogs, The Lord of the Rings, and more

Garfield and I have so much in common. It's a blustery day in Colorado so I'm praying that we don't have any trees blow over. That happened right before Christmas with a terrible windstorm. A neighbor of ours lost 3 of their gorgeous trees, part of their fence, and a bit off their roof, so it was some intense wind.Just a couple more brief life updates.1) Dad's surgery is going ahead as planned,...

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Work Changes, family update, and overall restlessness

 I don't know about all of you, but exhaustion seems to be the order of the day for me. Part of it is the continued reality of Covid and how it is has changed the emotional landscape of all our lives. Now, a large portion of it is the invasion of Ukraine. As you already know, yes, I am in support of Ukraine in this conflict. I can't be anything else. I have an issue with unprovoked invasion....

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Ukraine: How did it come to this?

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Never before has Theoden been more relevant than he is today. This is where Ukraine stands right now. A tiny kingdom in Europe with its people fighting back invaders.Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Theoden King in our modern age. Some things never change. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings as a reflection of the wars in Europe that he miraculously lived through....

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Happy Valentine's Day!

&nb...

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Yokohama Ryusei and Yoshitaka Yuriko star in the charming age-gap Jdrama Your Eyes Tell (2020)

Your Eyes TellCountry: JapanYear: 2020Length: 120 minutesGenre: Romance, Melodrama, Life, Sports, Age GapStarring: Ryusei Yokohama, Yuriko YoshitakaMy Rating: ★★★★★Click to read more of my reviews for Japanese entertainment. Many thanks to RJGMan56 Subs for the fansubs! It's because of folks like this person that we're able to watch quality Japanese content with subtitles! You can either...

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Takahashi Issei excels as the quirky male lead in the Jdrama We Are Made of Miracles (2018)

Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite IruCountry: JapanYear: 2018Episodes: 10 episodes, 46 minutes eachGenre: Animals, Life, School, Eccentric Male LeadStarring: Issei Takahashi, Nana Eikura, Jun Kaname, Honoka YahagiMy Rating: ★★★★★Click to read more of my reviews for Japanese entertainment.  Subtitles download is available through the fansubber SuG on the D-Addicts forum...

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Just discovered Japanese Rock band SUPER BEAVER

One of my absolute favorite Japanese dramas is Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite Iru (also known simply as Miracles or We are Made of Miracles). I literally had a spiritually transformative experience watching this drama, I'm not even kidding! Apart from the amazing story that absolutely captured my heart, hope, and imagination, the music of this drama is also hands' down, some of...

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Rest in Peace, Sir Sidney Poitier

 My dad first introduced me to Sidney Poitier when I was about 16-years-old. We watched Lilies of the Field and I have loved Sir Sidney Poitier's work ever since.The world has lost such an incredible trailblazer. I highly recommend watching his films if you haven't already done so, and here are some of my personal recommendations:A Patch of Blue (1965) - I can't fully articulate...

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