Philomena Cunk, the funny, Amelia Bedelia-like character played by Diane Morgan first became popular on TikTok with clips of her funny one-liners bringing attention to the show.
She asks experts silly questions while also imparting some knowledge. She takes us to the Great Wall of China, Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 20th Century, and the Cold War.
Going into this show I didn’t expect wanting to know the answers to her questions nor did I expect to see her get emotional over something that I never would have thought to ask about. While this is no National Geographic, it still entertained me and I do hope for another season.
This show, 1899, created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, recently made it to Netflix and after watching the trailer I knew it was right up my alley. Since I’ve finished watching it, I have not been able to stop thinking about it and what the next season might bring.
We start out following Maura who seems to be the main character, though we do get other characters perspectives. From the first couple of minutes, I understood that this was going to be a psychological show that twisted your sense of self.
Maura boards the Kerberos in the hopes that she will find her brother who she thinks sent her a letter about something their father did. Ciaran never showed up at the meeting point and has been missing for four months, the same amount of time that another ship, the Prometheus from the same company, went missing with over a thousand people on board.
As I got farther into the season, there were seemingly paranormal events happening that does not make sense for the time period (1899) and most certainly confused the people on board. Things amp up when the Kerberos gets a message from the lost ship, the Prometheus. Against everyone’s wishes, the captain tows the Prometheus and turns around, going back to Europe. Chaos ensues with this decision and a series of events happens.
From the other perspectives we learn that Maura isn’t the only one reliving their past and being deeply affected by it. Though everyone’s story is compelling, Maura, her father, a stranger, and a boy are the key to the situation.
This show takes many different turns and just when you think you have it figured out you start doubting yourself, just like the characters on the ship are doubting themselves. The ending really puts things into perspective but also leaves me with more questions. I can only hope that season two comes out soon so I can get some answers.
A comedy that takes place in Northern Ireland, Derry Girls is absolutely hilarious, fascinating (as an American), and in some ways still relatable.
I have to mention that I only started watching the show because I saw clips of it on TikTok and thought it was fantastic, specifically Sister Michael and her comments. I ran through this show in no time at all seeing as how there are only three seasons, twelve episodes in each, and between twenty and thirty minutes long.
The cast includes Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton), Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn. These main characters traverse their way through high school at a private all-girls Catholic school. They battle boys, war, and not having enough money to buy the things they want.
I seriously enjoyed it and their shenanigans and I believe you will too.
This manga series, written by Naoshi Arakawa, was tame in comparison to other manga’s that I have read in the past. If it were a novel, it would be a contemporary slow-burn teen romance.
Our main character is a boy with a serious gift for the piano who combats his inner thoughts throughout the story. Kosei lost his mother, seemingly before the story starts, and has not touched the piano in some time out of grief and maybe out of spite. He only gets back into playing when a capricious girl confronts him and gets him to resume is piano-playing.
There is a love square included, though most of the characters in the love square do not even realize it, and a string of characters that seem to revolve around Kosei. As the reader gets further into the series, a serious health issue arises with one of the characters that sends Kosei and everyone else into further turmoil.
The entire manga series is eleven volumes and a pretty quick read. I rate it a total of three out of five stars. It was memorable, but not five stars (incredible) for me.
Technology has not really changed my job but I would still like to respond to this prompt in some way so here is my response.
Technology is a double-edged sword. It can be equal parts amazing and terrifying. On the pros side, technology can link us to people from around the world. It opens up opportunities that may not have existed before. In my small world, the internet has allowed writers more availability in getting their work to readers because they don’t have to wait for a publisher to see the value in their work, they can just publish it themselves. On the other end of the spectrum, the negative side, technology opens up the road to identity theft. We can also fall prey to the easiness of it and fail to talk to our coworkers, friends, and family in person, therefore inadvertently pushing them away or taking them for granted. I doubt the internet is going anywhere and technology is only getting bigger and better so I try to see the best in it and hope that if the list of cons grows, there are way more reasons that technology makes the world a better world to live in.
I went roller skating with a new friend and we went to Skate America in Grove City, Ohio. Until entering the establishment, I had no idea that I had been there before as a child. I recognized the place as soon as I stepped inside, it was hard not to as the place hadn’t changed at all.
I was feeling good about skating after a fifteen year timeout but I also knew I was never brilliant at it before. I couldn’t do tricks but I could stay on my feet. I’ve never fallen while ice skating nor while roller skating before and I didn’t want to end the streak. Let me tell you, when I stepped onto that small floor…I was humbled.
My shins were aching, my back was aching, and my hands were in a permanent state of “grab ass”. I must have looked quite a sight because a young teenage girl came up and asked if I was okay because I looked quite startled.
My friend, who downplayed her skill in roller skating, was doing pretty well and I started to get more comfortable as time passed. I was doing the “whip” and the “naenae” to the DJ’s beat and loving it. An hour and a half into our three hour time slot, I wiped out. I was skating along, nothing too fancy, and boom! I was on the floor with a sore arm, sore coccyx, and a sore pride.
After taking a moment to sit, I jumped right back in because that is what you do when you get hurt, you go again so you don’t become scared of it for life. Needless to say, we didn’t make it until ten because we were sore from muscles not used in a while.
I already want to go back but let me tell you, I was feeling that fall for days so I might have to wait and let my twenty-seven year old body lose the rust.
I want to start by saying that I am by no means a wine expert. I’ve read a book about it and am willing to sample many different wines in the hope that I can start to discern the different flavors and essences. Until then, you’ll just have to deal with an amateur lover of wine.
I picked up three different wines from Kroger. The first was a Duckhorn Vineyards, Napa Valley, Merlot 2016 and it was $28.99 (single serving). I found this wine to be a not too dry, smooth red wine. Out of all the notes listed I tasted black cherry the best. While it ran on the more expensive side (for me), I quite enjoyed it.
The next wine was Kendall Jackson, Vintner’s Reserve, Chardonnay 2021 at $6.02 (single serving). I thought this wine was almost sour and I was not a big fan.
Lastly, I tried the Ogio, Sparkling Rose which was $4.99 (single serving). It describes itself as extra dry but I did not get that when sampling it. It had a peculiar taste (to me and my taste buds) that reminded me of sour dough bread. As you can imagine I wasn’t going to add this wine to my bar cart any time soon.
Try these wines for yourself…or not, it doesn’t matter to me, but if you do, let me know what you think!
Ali Hazelwood is quickly becoming a favorite. Though her books, so far, have been the same trope, I find her characters unique and loveable and it also doesn’t hurt that I love the grumpy-sunshine trope, hate(?) trope, and the science included in each of her books.
In this particular book, we have Bee and Levi who have had several run-ins with one another and always seem to end up leaving upset. Bee is a positive thinking woman who happens to pass out when scared and is also vegan. Her twin is not and though she isn’t the priority here she is a total vibe:
“When I frantically explained that ‘pigs have families, too’… She just nodded thoughtfully and said, ‘What you’re saying is we should eat the whole family?'”
Bee is a scientist and so is Levi, though in different areas, so science is a big part of these books. I actually enjoyed that aspect and I thought that it wasn’t too vocabulary-heavy so people who aren’t scientists can understand. There are some minor “surprises” in store, though I wouldn’t say I was that surprised, and Levi ends up being a pretty well-rounded character himself.
I also have to say that Rocio, Bee’s assistant, is a whole mood and I am obsessed with her.
I am also obsessed with the Harry Potter and Star Wars references. That is a quick way to my heart. There are also some fantastic quotes like this one:
“I’ll let any dude buy me dinner until the gender pay gap is ungapped.”
Fair. That’s cool with me.
Aside from the romance, there is a little mystery as to what is going on with their project and who would sabotage their success. It was tied up in a neat little bow at the end with a happily ever after, just what I like. I can’t wait to read more of her work.
If anyone is interested, I suggest reading her other book, The Love Hypothesis. They aren’t a series so you can read whichever book first. Enjoy!
Written by the daughter of James Lee Burke, Alafair Burke, Dead Connection is about Detective Ellie Hatcher who ends up knee-deep in a murder case. Ellie plays the game and I like that. She knows how to be a team player but also works well alone. She doesn’t usually react to something right away, she thinks it through and she isn’t too hardened by what she sees on the job. I appreciate that we are also watching her grow into her job, she is an unfinished character.
In this particular installment, several women have been murdered and it seems like a dating website is the conduit for these crimes. I will say that I thought it was a pretty simple crime and I thought I had the answers but then it turned out I didn’t. The culprit isn’t too out of the realm of possibilities, I was just feeling lazy and didn’t want to think and this is a great book to do that with.
Despite this book being about murder, it was a rather pleasant read. There were pop culture references (Dwight Schrute, lol) and I actually quite enjoyed Flann’s rhetorical questions. I will say that I was a little sad about an event that takes place and still can’t quite believe it. I suppose the good thing about that is the fact that the secondary characters weren’t as two-dimensional as our main character. I tend to like it when the supporting characters are just as lovable and that wasn’t really the case in this book.
The book actually starts to pick up towards the end.[Insert sad event here]. It becomes a little thrilling and the capture of the murderer is satisfying. I will be reading the rest of the series so I hope that the characters become more complex and interesting. Also, don’t like the love interest so I will be crossing my fingers in the hope that she finds someone else.
Emma's Niche 