Disconnect is freeing

Two days before my B-day, I turned off my phone, iPad and computer. It was scary at first, you'd be surprised all the little things you use your phone for...like an alarm clock, checking security cameras, checking the weather, even just something simple like checking the time. But I did it. I had to turn it on the night of my B-day because I had to set my alarm for the next morning for physical therapy, but by the time I had to turn it back on, I didn't want to! I LOVED having it off once I got used to it! I read my usual Jane Austen's Persuasion (which I always read on my B-day), then I watched the movie (the Rupert Penry-Jones version), then I started watching a bunch of other stuff (more on that in a mo-mo). I just felt more free than I had in a long time, without the constraints of connections, if that makes sense.

I wish I would have stitched, but I didn't, sorry guys. I ended up watching a bunch of those historical dramas that I hate so much, like "The White Queen", and "The White Princess", and "The Spanish Princess". There is a reason why I don't watch that crap, but I had to see what all the fuss was about. My point is, if you are going to make a historical drama, sure, dramatize some of it, but at least try to be somewhat historically accurate! They merge characters (and by characters, I mean real historical figures), change names, add new ones, for the sake of drama, and knowing this history (because I'm related to most of them), it was hard for even me to keep up. I got Showtime to watch "The Tudors" (I watched it years ago when it came out and remember never finishing it back then), but it was so disjointed and so historically inaccurrate, I couldn't even be bothered and dropped it immediately. The show even opens with, "let's start at the beginning" and it starts with little 3 year-old Mary running around, Henry knocking up Elizabeth Blount in like episode 1 or 2 and Anne Boleyn lurking in the background plotting her course in ruin! Uh, wha?

For the record on the other shows, Elizabeth Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg (aka Lady Rivers aka the Dowager Duchess of Bedford) were NOT witches. Margaret Beaufort, the Queen Mother, was NOT responsible for the deaths of young King Henry V and little Prince Edward in the tower (Edward III killed them, numerous sources are documented to have verified that fact). She was too devout. There was no curse on Henry VIII and his offspring put on them by Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York. Katherine of Aragon's virture is probably not in question at the time of her marriage to Henry. King Arthur was frail from the off. Again, Katherine was a very devout woman and they took their religion VERY seriously. Funny how all these shows are supposed to "empower" women, but they all seem to villainize them. Witches, whores, schemers, and blasphemers, while the men are the innocent victims of the women's crimes? What I'm seeing is a bunch of male whores, scheming and blaspheming, and seeking magicians of their own. Things that make you go hmmm....

I'm still watching "The Serpent Queen", but seriously? Every Sunday, I'm like "why am I watching this shite?". Catherine de'Medici may have been a "difficult" woman who struggled with religious issues (OK, she slaughtered a bunch of people for religious persecution, but what leader didn't do that in the middle ages? Henry VIII? Mary I? Elizabeth I? What about the War of the Roses? The Bruces? Shall I go on?), but she was also responsible for a huge Renaissance movement and ran two countries at various times when women were thought of as little more than uteruses. She's just evil because she's a woman? And no, she wasn't a witch either. will draw the line at "The Crown" though...there is no way I'm watching that. There are a lot more of these shows, but frankly, I don't think I can take anymore. Give me a good old-fashioned documentary any day!

I may take all this a bit personally because this is my bloodline and I find it a bit offensive. Hell, to be honest, before I knew it was my bloodline I found it offensive! Get the history correct, is that so hard? It's like those serial killer dramas...why? Just tell the truth, it's just as juicy! It almost makes me wonder if this is not why fake news is so popular. People will believe anything you slap in front of them...give them a show and call it history, they will believe it's 100% history, give them a crime drama, same thing, why should the news be any different? It's almost like when I read a news article, I need to find three more sources to back it up! It's ridiculous! We knew in 240 BC that the world was round, but the number of flat-earther weirdos are growing coz they "read it on the internet". Sweet Christmas! Aren't we supposed to be advancing with time? It's like we're hitting a dark ages patch or something where everyone is going stupid. People are refusing to learn and, those who have learned, refuse to believe what they have learned! I just don't get it! My brain is still like a sponge and I keep soaking up as much new material as I can get, but I have noticed it's getting less and less. Science is getting weaker, Astronomy is making very little leeway considering the times, all I have is history and people are trying to rewrite it, or change it every single day. I don't understand.

Back to the main point though because that's a DEEP rabbit hole, let's try another one..."Outlander" does a pretty good job of getting history correct (or at least it did in the beginning of the show), but I haven't made it past book 4, so I don't know how the books do. Same with "A Discovery of Witches", those books are pretty spot on (minus the little add-ins for dramatic effect, which is how it SHOULD be, dramatic fictional touches you can easily determine from the fact), but it helps when you have a historian writing historical fiction (in the case of ADOW). They tend to get it right. I still have to be very careful with anything "Outlander"...that's a rabbit hole I don't want to fall down into again. It took me forever to break it last time. My OCD tendencies are getting worse as I get older, so I don't need anything to stir that up. I think that's why I'm watching things I know I won't get addicted to. Speaking of...

I did watch "Cranford" again, and "North and South" (the Elizabeth Gaskell version, that the crappy American "North and South soap opera) and I started "Lark Rise to Candleford" again, but I switched and I'm now watching Marvel shows I never watched, or never finished. I did "Legion" this weekend (horrible...seriously, the episodes that I could follow, I couldn't stand all the singing and dancing...why?) and "The Gifted" (which was really good, but unfortunately ended on a cliffhanger coz it got cancelled). I've restarted watching "The Runaways", which I started a long time ago, but never finished coz it sucked, and, once I'm done with that, I will need to restart and finish "Cloak and Dagger" (which also sucked) and that will be it, but I'm determined to finish them all. Maybe I just didn't give them a chance at the time. I may watch "Helstrom" again just because it's another Hulu show and it keeps showing up (and I really liked it...it's only one season, so it couldn't hurt), but we'll see how it goes. I just don't really want to end on "Cloak and Dagger" as my last Marvel blast on Hulu. "Helstrom" was an unsung hero and not enough people watched it. Shame that.

On to other things, this is my last week of PT. My insurance won't cover anymore. The joys of the American healthcare system. I also got pushed back from going back to work until the 17th. I do have to say though, all this time alone has calmed my mind quite a bit. If I didn't have to work, I could very easily live like this all the time. I do well alone. Maybe that's the way it was always meant to be anyway. When I go back to work, I will just go in, do my job, and come home. I'm going to save up all my money (the credit cards are almost all paid off, almost down to the last one), and then everything goes into savings for a downpayment on a house, no sister required (although it will probably take me forever because I'll have to pump a ton of it into this trailer to keep it from falling apart). I just have to decide where I want to live. By the time I save up, it may be retirement time, and I can move anywhere, that is if we still have a Social Security program in place by that time. If not, might be time to either go back to school again (I think I can go back here at 55 for free, so only 3 more years), although I don't know what I'll do with a degree at 60 (if I live that long). Be my luck, I'll get my degree, buy my house, and then drop dead!

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and B-day wishes! If I stitch more, I'll post it up! And, just a suggestion, if you do watch those horrible historical dramas, follow it up with a historical documentary, for my sake, 'kay? Their entertainment value is OK actually, but KNOW your history...actually, watch the documentary first, then the drama...yeah, that makes more sense. Then you can find all the historical errors and point them all out to your family. They will either think you are an insufferable know-it-all (like mine) or think you are brilliant. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the brilliant!