Answers and Stash

It seems like it's about a 50/50 split on the COVID cut question...some of you guys like getting stuff early, some prefer to wait. That's interesting to me. I've had a week to think about it, but I haven't really changed my opinion. I guess if they do the 6th season of Outlander justice, I'll be OK, but I just have a feeling...

On to other things though (because, if I get started on Outlander, I won't shut up!). I have been buying cross stitch patterns! I did look for Outlander patterns (yes, here I go again), but I couldn't find any really good ones. I did, however, OBVIOUSLY get a FanGirl Stitches one (because, well, obviously!), and some other quote ones for "Dinna Fash", which I thought would work well at work (obviously), but a proper full coverage one still aludes me at the moment.

I also got some Celtic ones (because I've been in the mood)

For the first time ever, I did a request a size from HAED, and had them do a supersize of a max color chart, although there was a bit of a snafu and they did it on the original chart first (so, for everyone who wanted a supersize of the original chart, your welcome!). I finally got it straightened out though, and here is the supersize, max color chart for US Travel Bookshelf (because I am definitely a US Traveler!). I want the World Traveler too, but I haven't done much of that...more on that in a minute.

So, speaking of world traveling, obviously, right now that's NOT a good idea, but once everything dies down (if it ever does), I've decided it's finally time to break down, stop all this Disney nonsense (and by that, I mean spending thousands of dollars to do nothin but go to Disney World and nowhere else) and go to Scotland! I've been talking to my Sister about it, although she doesn't seem excited. I may have to find another travel buddy for this trip, which is totally fine! I can do that, or even go on my own (although that may prove exponentially more difficult, but can be done).

I'm thinking I'll need three weeks, about the cost of one Disney trip, and I should be able to traverse about every major city, my family's homeland, and other key areas of interest (yes, I mean Outlander sites). It will take a LOT of planning, but I do tend to excel in that, once I set my mind to it. I would have to do England separately, and even probably in two separate trips, one for London, and one for everywhere else. Same with France, one for Paris, one for Disneyland Paris, and one for everywhere else. But again, I think each trip can be done for the price of a Disney World trip, if not cheaper. The amount of money spent on a Disney trip is outrageous, and I haven't been too happy with the way Disney has been managed as of late. Maybe it's time to step away until they "get their affairs in order", if you know what I mean.

So anyway, thanks to everyone for your votes and your opinions! I appreciate your feedback! I asked around work, but most of these people haven't even noticed it or I ended up starting some stupid political debate about the legitmacy of COVID. Seriously, I'm glad I'm learning Gaelic, I'm speaking it more and more in my daily life and no one can understand me! It's better than French, because, invaribly, someone around here had French in high school and can understand me a bit. NO ONE understands Gaelic! It's magical!

The COVID Cut

Just a quick (yeah, right!), side rant...have you guys noticed the COVID cut? By that, I mean, when your favorite shows come back, but the season is shortened, and, if they are based on a book, they have taken certain "liberties" with the story lines due to time restrictions due to COVID, because they just don't have the time to fit it in like they "normally" would?

This weekend, A Discovery of Witches started back on AMC+/Sundance/Shudder in the States (and I'll stop being lazy and italicize the show titles). We only got episode one, but all seven episodes were posted in the UK (it should have been a ten episode arch, but it was "COVID cut" due to the pandemic...oh, and someone "graciously", depending on your definition of the word, posted all seven eps on YouTube, more on that later). A Discovery of Witches is based on a triology of books, so season 3 was destined to be the final season. And yes, it has been almost two years since the finale of season 2, but again, we've been in a pandemic, so allowances must be given (although there was the same amount of time between season 1 and 2, so that might be questionable for this show).

This show, unlike Outlander, takes a lot more allowances from the books, and knowing it was a shortened season (which also meant budgetary cuts because they wouldn't have the crew due to COVID restraints), I knew the story would veer slightly more left than normal, but geez! Granted, I still loved it, but my early question to you is this: would you rather wait until the pandemic is over for your favorite show to return in all its glory, or have a shortened, possibly compromised season, so you don't have to wait?

Before you answer that, I need to admit that, yes, I went on YouTube and watched the leaked version of the rest of the episodes, so I have seen the entire season. I know I shouldn't give support to people who post videos like that, but I pay for the streaming service to see the show (and will continue to until my season airs in its entirety). I will buy the digital version when it's available, as well as the blu-ray version when it comes out. I pay for YouTube Premium. I buy Funkos, companion books, magazines with dedicated spreads...basically, they get their money back from me, one way or the other. Everyone else, well, that's their conscious, not mine. Granted, A Discovery of Witches doesn't have as much merch as Outlander, but when I get into a show, well, let's just say that a studio will get their money back from me, and then some. If Sony doesn't have enough of my money in just electronics, what I got deliveried today just in Outlander merch, probably paid for some poor sap's xmas bonus.

I need to also add that, I didn't hate season 3 of A Discovery of Witches, but it was my favorite of the three books, so I did have certain expectations in my head, even with the liberties of the show. I have the path of the show separate from the path of the books straight in my head and I was pretty sure the direction it was gonna go (or I thought I did) for season 3, but I was VERY wrong except for one story line (and I'm at least grateful they stuck true there, thank you Gallowglass!). I'm usually pretty spot on with my predictions, especially when I have source material to draw from. The COVID cut just butchered almost every story arc in ADOW (I'm gonna shorten A Discovery of Witches now, it's just too long to type) though...without true spoilers, big fights got dropped down to one-on-one's or cut entirely, major speeches became casual comments, and love scenes, became, well, love scene...singular (although ADOW has NEVER been Outlander).

I am not, by nature, a patient person, but I am used to British television, so two to three years in between series of a show isn't that big of a deal for me. I can get in an obsessive streak of a show, but I can still be pretty patient (considering) for the next series, sometimes just watching it on repeat is enough, no new material is needed. If I was given a choice between waiting another year and getting a potential longer season that could have fulfilled the story arc better, I would have glady waited the extra time for better material. And, I guess I should reitterate that, when I say "better", it wasn't horrible, far from it, I still cried like a baby, I just focused a LOT on the lost potential, more than I enjoyed all the good moments, which you really shouldn't do in the finale of a series, and I watched it four times all the way through, just trying to absorb all the little nuances they tried so hard to add in with what little time they had.

I get where people have to work and other fans might not be as patient, but what do you guys think? Have you noticed this trend? When the new season of Outlander starts in March, it will also be a condensed season, COVID cut, which means a lot of book 6 will have to be edited out due to time constraints. I would rather wait another year than have that happen, but apparently, I'm in the minority. I get that all of the movie/TV industry can't just stop, but maybe slow down a bit? If they have to cut things due to time or lack of people, then make season 6 half of book 6 and season 7 the second half of book 6 (each season pretty much follows the storyline of each book, ADOW did the same). Instead of condensation, lengthen it. They could have done the same thing with ADOW, since there are two very main story arcs in that book, one for Diana and one for Matthew, but now, it's too late and I have a lifetime of season 3 being, well, what it is, good, but with the potential of so much greatness.

I was going to make some comment about how I'm glad I don't watch a lot of television because, if I watched dozens of shows and they all came back like this, I'd be super pissed, but thinking on it, I honestly think it's worse when you only watch a couple of shows that you depend on for such high quality. It's not like I have those "burner" shows that I can say "well, I only watch those because there is nothing else to watch on a Monday night". I watch only one or two shows at a time, sometimes for a year at a time on constant repeat. Right now, it's Outlander, and has been for the past couple of months. Every waking home-life hour (which often means I sleep for the three hours my medication knocks me out, and then I'm back up again at 3 am until it's time to get ready for work) is spent watching Outlander, reading Outlander, watching YouTube videos about Outlander, and, when I'm at work, I play the scores to Outlander, all day long. The joys of OCD! But basically, a LOT of energy is spent on ONE show.

This weekend, with the premiere of A Discovery of Witches, was my first Outlander break since the end of November, but by Sunday night, I was back in Outlander world again, to take my mind off ADOW, but I just thought I'd drop you guys a quick (ha!) question blog to see if you've also noticed the COVID cut and get your thoughts on it! Maybe, with a bit of distance, ADOW won't seem so bad, and it might just be that Outlander, which ironically, I never noticed how similar the two actually are, is just higher up my totem pole right now and I'm trying to measure ADOW up to something it can't possibly compare to, at least, not at the moment. But for you guys that maybe watch a lot more TV (or maybe are like me and just watch one show), where do you stand?

Vacations and stitching!

Yep, you read that right...I stitched! Granted, it was VERY paultry, but I did it! I took last week off and spent most of the time sitting on my arse watching Outlander, reading the first two Outlander books, learning Gaelic with Duolingo (I now know my animals, food and some family members as well as greeings, big whoop, but you gotta start somewhere I guess), but I also stitched, on Tartan B, no less! And yes, in typical "me" fashion, I did most all of these things at the same time. I couldn't turn the TV off long enough to stop to do any one of the other things by themselves, so I was often reading during the parts of the show that I didn't like (like when Jamie and Claire were separated for various reasons), learning kiddie Gaelic (often while they were fighting over other things), and stitching (often while I needed to pay attention to the good bits of the show, and could look up at a moments notice at the "important" parts (and need I say what the "important" parts are?).

So, I left off on Tartan B back in December of 2017 here (yep, 2017...sad, but true):

Only three days of stitching, mind you, but I did make it here, which, considering how I used to stitch it, was about a year's worth of stitching, so I'm pretty proud of myself:

It actually looks like a "B" finally! I'm still gonna work on it for now. I don't know when my new part-time job will start, and I'm sure it's going to keep me from all these extracurricular activities (except at least watching Outlander...that particular OCD habit I won't be able to give up, I'm in too deep now and it shows no sign of letting up).

I wanted to watch the Harry Potter reunion, but I couldn't stop watching Outlander long enough to do so, so that will have to wait, although I need to do it soon so I can cancel HBO Max (too expensive and I don't watch it). I did manage to get my bedroom carpet steam cleaned, but nothing else got cleaned. I couldn't tear myself away any longer. No gingerbread house this year, no fancy vacation meals (but hey, I lost another 7lbs, so yeah me), and definitely no duckroom rearrangement with the new shelves I bought almost 10 weeks ago now. Oh well, I needed the time to just sit on my behind and relax (or at least that's the story I keep telling myself). I will say, that is definitely a life I could get used to!

I did update my ORT collection, and it is definitely verifiable that I did absolutely no stitching this year. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for the past week, it would be even more empty that it was before...most of it is the green thread from Tartan B! So here is my TUSAL collection total, with the bottom right being 2021. Sad and shameful!

If I do keep stitching, I'll post weekly updates here, but daily updates will be on my Instagram page @keeblesworld. And I guess that's it for the updates. I'm not gonna drag any of us down (especially meself, by discussing work, so we'll leave it at that! Here's hoping 2022 brings us a MUCH better year!