All kinds of pain this week. All different kinds. Two days of a lot of walking on a foot with some kind of verruca wart thing (apparently picked it up from walking around in the showers at the gym...ugh...never had one before and it's quite painful...not to mention kinda gross...and the treatment isn't all that nice either...just ARGH all the way around).
Though the walking itself was nice -- old friends from Florida (now in Saudi) were in town and I took them around. Had a good tour around Soho/Covent Garden/Chinatown one day and then around Portobello the next.
Then back to the gym as per usual but I tried my free monthly massage with a new girl and told her deep tissue was fine...but now I regret it. I hurt like someone beat me silly. It's ridiculous. I feel black and blue. Purple. I still went back this morning or my normal workout, though I seriously contemplated chickening out. I managed. But I hurt, O I hurt.
But I'm so close to losing a bit more weight and I just can't be this me anymore, so there I went. I'm at a frustrating point -- thinner than I've been in quite a while and a better body shape (hello, waist, there you are) BUT also still in the clothes I consider my "fat clothes." I'll take a picture one day and think, okay, I'm not that bad and then another the next day and feel that crushing despair of oh fuck I'm old and ugly. Trying to just be Go, me! Keep myself going. Already planning on how to keep up the schedule while I'm in the US.
And hubster doesn't help. He spews out insults so casually sometimes. And I can take a lot of things, but the thing that bothers me the most is when he calls me stupid. That's the one that gets under my skin. Says talking to me is like talking to a brick sometimes. Not the first time he's said it, either.
I'm not a stupid person. I've got an IQ of 149. Everyone else manages to carry on a conversation with me without calling me stupid.
I know I shouldn't dwell on it, but after so many years, I think he knows how to hurt me. I'm just not sure why he wants to.
Well. You know what? Gonna stop there because I'm just making myself sad and it's a beautiful day outside.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Saturday, March 23, 2019
In Need of Romance 3
Hubster went to bed super early and I'd finished Romance is a Bonus Book, so I thought I'd try and find something new that was more romantic than not and without any of the crime-ish type stuff that's in You're All Surrounded (still making my way slowly through that). I found a random blog site that had a bunch of dramas rated therein and picked out an "A+" one that was already on my list -- In Need of Romance 3 (the reviewer said it was the best out of the In Need of Romance dramas).
I watched the first episode last night. The blurb was basically that an older woman (Shin Joo-Yeon played by Kim So-Yeon) who used to babysit this guy (she was 7 when he was born) has turned into a cynical person who no longer believes in love due to the relationship experiences she's had. The younger dude (Joo Wan played by Sung Joon) has returned to South Korea after years away in the US and is looking forward to connecting with her again (likely a "my first love" thing). She called him sweet potato when he was a baby. I don't think they've seen each other since the younger dude was probably 8? 10? Anyway, supposed to be the classic (I imagine) I'll teach you to love again thing.
Which sounds reasonable, yeah? The kind of thing I'm looking for?
Well. I don't want to rehash all of it as I am so often wont to do. I'll just cover what I do like and what I don't.
Do Like...a) Sung Joon (Sung Jun?) as Joo Wan (or Allan something because he uses an English name). I like his character. I like his voice. He's got a great voice. No, I mean, really. I may wind up watching this whole thing purely because of this guy. Listening to him reminds me of playing Mystic Messenger.
And...dammit. I was going to put a b) but I really don't have one. If I stretch, I guess I could say b) would be that it's a noona romance?
Don't Like...a) the leading lady is just...such an asshole. She's abrasive. And I realise she's supposed to be to give her a character arc to travel...but, honestly, she's kinda so bad in the first episode that I really, really didn't like her. Like, the only redemption at all is in the flashbacks to when she was the babysitter. There you can see why the guy liked her and has fond memories of her. But the current her is just...ugh. And, yeah, she had some crappy relationships but that doesn't mean she has to be a total bitch all the way around (including to Sweet Potato).
b) The girl from Panda and Hedgehog is also in it as a kinda self-absorbed sort-of nympho and so far, her acting doesn't seem any better in this than it was when she was Panda. So that made me cringe. Actually, all of the supporting female characters all feel really shallow and gossipy and exactly the kind of women I won't be friends with.
c) Namgung Min is also in this as the bitchy lead's boss. And...well...I kinda liked him in Beautiful Gong Shim but he also kinda annoyed me by the end of that one. His goofy smile was a draw at first, but then it because a little too goofy. Does that make sense? So my first reaction when I saw him appear in this was Oh! Then Eh... I don't actually know whether to list this as a do or don't like. Maybe it's more of a I'm not ready to watch you again yet thing. That might be more about my feelings about the plot in the last half of Beautiful Gong Shim.
d) Based on what I've seen of the plot so far, it looks like it's going to be a lot of bitchy people being bitchy to each other, other than Sung Jun's character (and maybe Namgung Min's too). They are the only ones that seems like decent people so far.
So...for now this is going on the Currently Watching list but I honestly don't know if I'll finish it. Maybe I'll just watch Sung Jun in one of his other dramas.
Which sounds reasonable, yeah? The kind of thing I'm looking for?
Well. I don't want to rehash all of it as I am so often wont to do. I'll just cover what I do like and what I don't.
Do Like...a) Sung Joon (Sung Jun?) as Joo Wan (or Allan something because he uses an English name). I like his character. I like his voice. He's got a great voice. No, I mean, really. I may wind up watching this whole thing purely because of this guy. Listening to him reminds me of playing Mystic Messenger.
And...dammit. I was going to put a b) but I really don't have one. If I stretch, I guess I could say b) would be that it's a noona romance?
Don't Like...a) the leading lady is just...such an asshole. She's abrasive. And I realise she's supposed to be to give her a character arc to travel...but, honestly, she's kinda so bad in the first episode that I really, really didn't like her. Like, the only redemption at all is in the flashbacks to when she was the babysitter. There you can see why the guy liked her and has fond memories of her. But the current her is just...ugh. And, yeah, she had some crappy relationships but that doesn't mean she has to be a total bitch all the way around (including to Sweet Potato).
b) The girl from Panda and Hedgehog is also in it as a kinda self-absorbed sort-of nympho and so far, her acting doesn't seem any better in this than it was when she was Panda. So that made me cringe. Actually, all of the supporting female characters all feel really shallow and gossipy and exactly the kind of women I won't be friends with.
c) Namgung Min is also in this as the bitchy lead's boss. And...well...I kinda liked him in Beautiful Gong Shim but he also kinda annoyed me by the end of that one. His goofy smile was a draw at first, but then it because a little too goofy. Does that make sense? So my first reaction when I saw him appear in this was Oh! Then Eh... I don't actually know whether to list this as a do or don't like. Maybe it's more of a I'm not ready to watch you again yet thing. That might be more about my feelings about the plot in the last half of Beautiful Gong Shim.
d) Based on what I've seen of the plot so far, it looks like it's going to be a lot of bitchy people being bitchy to each other, other than Sung Jun's character (and maybe Namgung Min's too). They are the only ones that seems like decent people so far.
So...for now this is going on the Currently Watching list but I honestly don't know if I'll finish it. Maybe I'll just watch Sung Jun in one of his other dramas.
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
There's too much me, here.
I'm finding Romance is a Bonus Book w-a-y too relatable. Every episode there's something that speaks to me and my life...except for being even older than the oldest character. Jesus. When did I get this old? How did it happen? I feel like the last 15 years were a blink. I don't feel as old as I am. When I think about it, I feel a bit hopeless. All the nevers. Never wills. Never haves. The didn'ts. The won'ts. The should'ves.
And, for the most part, they are getting the publishing stuff right. The heartbreak of shredding un-read and damaged books. The debate over how many copies in a print run. The sadness of poetry. I appreciate that. Maybe nearly 85 to 90% of the publishing stuff is actually correct. The only bit that blatantly wasn't is that the show covers about 6 months and one book project goes from receiving the handwritten (!) manuscript to book launch/in book stores during that time. No freaking way. It's never that fast. Ever.
I'm halfway through it now. It keeps making me cry. The last episode had three of the women drunk and commiserating: our heroine (wherein her husband cheated on her), a co-worker (who recently divorced her husband because she was exhausted and he never put her first), and the boss (lonely and a bit bitter after having walked out on her own fiancé years before). I feel like I need a friend to cry on like that sometimes, but I don't have anyone like that. The closest thing I have is the dog and let's face it...he's smelly. And not much help.
The romance part is a bit bittersweet -- There's Lee Jong-Suk's character Eun Ho who has loved Dan-i for years but he's never come out and said it after holding his tongue when she got married. So she's always thought of him as her younger brother, though he's been dropping more and more clues because her proximity is testing his limits. I'd say she was thick to not be getting it, but I think that, after 20 years of thinking one way, she's having a time adjusting to the idea. And she's been through a lot in the last year.
And the second lead guy, played by Wi Ha-Joon is very sweet too (other than he's got some kind of weird obsession with a writer who was/is Eun Ho's dad (?) -- not that Ha-Joon knows that) and I feel a bit bad for him because you know where the show is headed. But I suspect he'll get the second lead girl in the end.
So...I'm enjoying it but it's also wrecking me. It's too close.
Edit: on episode 15 now. Wanted to talk about some of the nice bits...
When Eun Ho is talking to Dan-i about how she doesn't really actually like poor second lead guy in a romantic way...she just likes his interest in her and going out on dates because it's been so long. That's a true thing.
That moment when the Kim Sun-Young character (I've seen her before in a few things as a character actress, sometimes in really bit parts...this is the most I've seen of her and I like her style) has to miss a work event she'd been planning because she was at the hospital with her son (who apparently had meningitis) and how she'd always lied about where she had to be when things like that happened because it's always the mom that's called, it's never the dad. It's always the mom's job, no matter that the dad worked at the same place. That's another true thing.
That it didn't take Dan-i too long to figure out she did love Eun-Ho as more than a friend; that the "what if we break up and I lose you" thing was just a hiccup and not a huge catastrophe in the storyline. That their love was always there and reasonably believable. The age gap wasn't even a big deal. They could have made this into the angst fest stumbling block, but they didn't.
And this is my first Lee Jong-Suk drama and now I'm getting it. There's other actors that I'd say are more classically handsome but there is something about him that's very lovable. I like him. Am liking Lee Na-Young too and will have to look up other things she's in, though this particular character has this weird dichotomy of been quite tough/feisty sometimes and then falling quiet.
Edit: Finished it. I would say that I really liked this one. There weren't too many things that were weak, though there were a few.
One, the disappearing daughter. Actually, you can see that they tried to work in mentions of her a few times, but let's face it, they barely did. Which wasn't overly realistic. During the six month timeframe of the show, they should have at least had her come home once or had more phone calls or something. They could've done a great comedic bit where Dan-i has to explain that Eun-Ho is something more than an honorary uncle now. So it was a wasted opportunity. The character was really treated as more of a plot convenience (make the divorce more bittersweet, give more umph to Dan-i needing money).
Two, the actual physicality of the romance. Does that make sense? They had some quite cute and adorable scenes hinting at things, like Eun-Ho asking if he can spend the night in her room, but it was all so sweetly innocent to the point that it's literally the door shutting in the viewer's face. Not that I'm saying we needed to actually see that, BUT for as much in love as Eun-Ho is with her and has been for years, their kisses were too...I dunno...weak? Tame? The still lipped/freeze-framed kind of thing. More on her part than his. Maybe it was on purpose. I don't know. But there were only hints of the chemistry they had and it felt a bit lukewarm. Like there should have been more.
Three, while I've actually been looking for relatively angst-free things to watch, it did flounder a bit in that there really weren't any high (or even medium) stakes in the latter half of the plot. Really, the only tension is in the beginning when Dan-i is struggling so much, but that's essentially solved as soon as Eun-ho knows her situation because you know that no matter what, once he knows he's going to take care of her. There's never really any danger that the situation with the writer/mentor/father figure of Eun-ho and the thing with second lead guy was going to actually cause any problems. So...while I appreciate that on one hand, as a writer I'm also kinda, meh. Any of my past editors would have yelled at me and told me to beef it up. There wasn't enough conflict.
So...am I glad I watched it? Yeah. I am. Would I have been more critical if I a) hadn't seen so much of myself in it and b) didn't have a vested interest in stuff set in the publishing world? Probably. But that's me, so... I did really like Lee Jong-Suk though and am glad I watched it just for him. I'm gonna bump up some of his other dramas on my list. Will I watch it again? There's a good chance of that. I think it will always leave me wanting a bit more, but overall I really liked it.
And, for the most part, they are getting the publishing stuff right. The heartbreak of shredding un-read and damaged books. The debate over how many copies in a print run. The sadness of poetry. I appreciate that. Maybe nearly 85 to 90% of the publishing stuff is actually correct. The only bit that blatantly wasn't is that the show covers about 6 months and one book project goes from receiving the handwritten (!) manuscript to book launch/in book stores during that time. No freaking way. It's never that fast. Ever.
I'm halfway through it now. It keeps making me cry. The last episode had three of the women drunk and commiserating: our heroine (wherein her husband cheated on her), a co-worker (who recently divorced her husband because she was exhausted and he never put her first), and the boss (lonely and a bit bitter after having walked out on her own fiancé years before). I feel like I need a friend to cry on like that sometimes, but I don't have anyone like that. The closest thing I have is the dog and let's face it...he's smelly. And not much help.
The romance part is a bit bittersweet -- There's Lee Jong-Suk's character Eun Ho who has loved Dan-i for years but he's never come out and said it after holding his tongue when she got married. So she's always thought of him as her younger brother, though he's been dropping more and more clues because her proximity is testing his limits. I'd say she was thick to not be getting it, but I think that, after 20 years of thinking one way, she's having a time adjusting to the idea. And she's been through a lot in the last year.
And the second lead guy, played by Wi Ha-Joon is very sweet too (other than he's got some kind of weird obsession with a writer who was/is Eun Ho's dad (?) -- not that Ha-Joon knows that) and I feel a bit bad for him because you know where the show is headed. But I suspect he'll get the second lead girl in the end.
So...I'm enjoying it but it's also wrecking me. It's too close.
Edit: on episode 15 now. Wanted to talk about some of the nice bits...
When Eun Ho is talking to Dan-i about how she doesn't really actually like poor second lead guy in a romantic way...she just likes his interest in her and going out on dates because it's been so long. That's a true thing.
That moment when the Kim Sun-Young character (I've seen her before in a few things as a character actress, sometimes in really bit parts...this is the most I've seen of her and I like her style) has to miss a work event she'd been planning because she was at the hospital with her son (who apparently had meningitis) and how she'd always lied about where she had to be when things like that happened because it's always the mom that's called, it's never the dad. It's always the mom's job, no matter that the dad worked at the same place. That's another true thing.
That it didn't take Dan-i too long to figure out she did love Eun-Ho as more than a friend; that the "what if we break up and I lose you" thing was just a hiccup and not a huge catastrophe in the storyline. That their love was always there and reasonably believable. The age gap wasn't even a big deal. They could have made this into the angst fest stumbling block, but they didn't.
And this is my first Lee Jong-Suk drama and now I'm getting it. There's other actors that I'd say are more classically handsome but there is something about him that's very lovable. I like him. Am liking Lee Na-Young too and will have to look up other things she's in, though this particular character has this weird dichotomy of been quite tough/feisty sometimes and then falling quiet.
Edit: Finished it. I would say that I really liked this one. There weren't too many things that were weak, though there were a few.
One, the disappearing daughter. Actually, you can see that they tried to work in mentions of her a few times, but let's face it, they barely did. Which wasn't overly realistic. During the six month timeframe of the show, they should have at least had her come home once or had more phone calls or something. They could've done a great comedic bit where Dan-i has to explain that Eun-Ho is something more than an honorary uncle now. So it was a wasted opportunity. The character was really treated as more of a plot convenience (make the divorce more bittersweet, give more umph to Dan-i needing money).
Two, the actual physicality of the romance. Does that make sense? They had some quite cute and adorable scenes hinting at things, like Eun-Ho asking if he can spend the night in her room, but it was all so sweetly innocent to the point that it's literally the door shutting in the viewer's face. Not that I'm saying we needed to actually see that, BUT for as much in love as Eun-Ho is with her and has been for years, their kisses were too...I dunno...weak? Tame? The still lipped/freeze-framed kind of thing. More on her part than his. Maybe it was on purpose. I don't know. But there were only hints of the chemistry they had and it felt a bit lukewarm. Like there should have been more.
Three, while I've actually been looking for relatively angst-free things to watch, it did flounder a bit in that there really weren't any high (or even medium) stakes in the latter half of the plot. Really, the only tension is in the beginning when Dan-i is struggling so much, but that's essentially solved as soon as Eun-ho knows her situation because you know that no matter what, once he knows he's going to take care of her. There's never really any danger that the situation with the writer/mentor/father figure of Eun-ho and the thing with second lead guy was going to actually cause any problems. So...while I appreciate that on one hand, as a writer I'm also kinda, meh. Any of my past editors would have yelled at me and told me to beef it up. There wasn't enough conflict.
So...am I glad I watched it? Yeah. I am. Would I have been more critical if I a) hadn't seen so much of myself in it and b) didn't have a vested interest in stuff set in the publishing world? Probably. But that's me, so... I did really like Lee Jong-Suk though and am glad I watched it just for him. I'm gonna bump up some of his other dramas on my list. Will I watch it again? There's a good chance of that. I think it will always leave me wanting a bit more, but overall I really liked it.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Sorry we missed you
The birds are chirping. It's a lovely Spring has Sprung kind of sound. Their warbling notes are drifting down the chimney. Birdsong.
I hate it.
I'm not sure which sound is more annoying at the moment -- the birds or the snoring dog.
There's a book I used to read little dude when he was a baby called City Lullaby by (I think, if I remember correctly) the lovely Marilyn Singer. It's kind of a counting book, where basically there's someone taking a sleeping baby all through the city and nothing wakes it up -- not garbage cans being bashed together or taxis honking or dudes playing basketball. But just one bird starts twerping and boom! Baby wakes up.
That's so true.
It's very me. I loved that book.
I realise that this blog often sounds very depressing and self-involved and introspective lately but I am just talking to myself. Since I turned off the ability for the site to be crawled by search engines, it really does get no visitors other than an occasional blip from someone on Reddit reading a post on otome. Not even sure why I'm justifying this to myself. Hello, self? You've wandered off topic again.
Hmmmm. I think I'm talking to myself.
Anyway, I had a list of things to do today and didn't get very many of them done. I did do a long session at the gym, so that's something. And some painting on Etsy wand orders (weirdly, have received 3 in the last week or so). But I'm so tired. I feel defeated. I feel like giving up. I'm not even sure what I'm giving up on. I need more sleep.
I want someone to look at me and see me. I want someone to ask me a question and want to know the answer.
Maybe I'm supposed to be that someone.
Yah. Seriously, I need to get out of my head. Next post I will talk about something fluffy and non-consequential.
I hate it.
I'm not sure which sound is more annoying at the moment -- the birds or the snoring dog.
There's a book I used to read little dude when he was a baby called City Lullaby by (I think, if I remember correctly) the lovely Marilyn Singer. It's kind of a counting book, where basically there's someone taking a sleeping baby all through the city and nothing wakes it up -- not garbage cans being bashed together or taxis honking or dudes playing basketball. But just one bird starts twerping and boom! Baby wakes up.
That's so true.
It's very me. I loved that book.
I realise that this blog often sounds very depressing and self-involved and introspective lately but I am just talking to myself. Since I turned off the ability for the site to be crawled by search engines, it really does get no visitors other than an occasional blip from someone on Reddit reading a post on otome. Not even sure why I'm justifying this to myself. Hello, self? You've wandered off topic again.
Hmmmm. I think I'm talking to myself.
Anyway, I had a list of things to do today and didn't get very many of them done. I did do a long session at the gym, so that's something. And some painting on Etsy wand orders (weirdly, have received 3 in the last week or so). But I'm so tired. I feel defeated. I feel like giving up. I'm not even sure what I'm giving up on. I need more sleep.
I want someone to look at me and see me. I want someone to ask me a question and want to know the answer.
Maybe I'm supposed to be that someone.
Yah. Seriously, I need to get out of my head. Next post I will talk about something fluffy and non-consequential.
Friday, March 15, 2019
Boom boom pow
Feeling both old and young this week. Haha, who am I kidding? Mostly old. But progress. Have lost a bit more weight and (once again) am the least amount of me I've been in years. Did the gym Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (with boxing), and Friday (with boxing). I've fallen into a bit of a routine, though it's a routine I know will need to change once I actually hear from my editor (sigh) and can get started on book two. I haven't been doing much writing. Mostly doing life things and trying to get in better shape. Because the shape of me has not been great for a while.
My used-to-be fat jeans which I couldn't even fit into until recently are now starting to be loose. Which is progress. And the jeans I'd really like to get back into I can actually get into...but it would be a crime to wear them out in public. But they do zip up, so that's something. So on the one hand, I feel better. But then I remember that they're supposed to be my fat jeans and I get kinda down again. I know, I know, baby steps. Thirteen more pounds to go. About 6 kgs. Fifteen pounds lost so far. Nearly 7 kg. Dammit, I really can't think in kilos.
Also had a physio appointment this week wherein they checked me out for the back/leg/sciatica pain. Basically gave me some stretches to do and wants me to go to their back therapy class, but it's at 8 AM on Thursdays when I'm supposed to be dropping little dude at school. So have to work that out. But some general progress on that -- the days where I exercise actually mean less leg pain at night. That's why weekends have been worse...I've only been going to the gym during the week. The left wrist pain has been bad too (and no why for that pain, which is annoying). I can't do push ups anymore. But I did some shopping and got a wrist brace for it and that helped while punching. And I got a leg/knee pillow for sleeping and tried it out last night too and it seemed to help.
Though the damn thing smells like a chemical factory explosion. I had to open a window and the door -- which meant that the dog wandered in and farted on me all night. It was toxic.
And I picked up a TENS unit thing like they used to use on me when I first had my back problems. I'd never thought about getting one because I thought they would be really expensive. And maybe they were before, but now they're pretty damn cheap. I got one for £26. Tried it last night too, left it on while watching Star Trek. And all in all, everything was better last night. So that's all good. The pain has been waking me up every night for a while now. That'll make you feel old, my friend, let me tell you. My body is a traitor. It's been one for a while. The bastard thing.
Anyway, I had a weird moment/realisation while doing the personal training/boxing session today that's made me think. My trainer dude (a lovely funny young guy way taller than me, with a cool dragon tattoo and a bizarre sense of humour--which is probably why I like him better than the kinda grim Slavic lady I tried out first who only did "normal" gym stuff with me and not boxing) stretched out my shoulders at the end of the session. He hadn't done that before, probably because this is the hardest he's worked me so far. I punched a lot. We did some new combos. Ended with some rapid-fire punches that nearly killed me. Boom. Boom. Pow. And two sessions in one week (well, I get a free hour a month, but we split it into two 30 minute sessions this time -- I do 30 minutes on the cross trainer first and then go boxing with him and it wound up both being in one week).
Anyway, it's this kind of awkward stretch where I'm standing directly in front of him, back to his chest, and he's right behind me, pulling my shoulders back, moving my arms, etc.. And I had that moment of huh, this is, like, the first time in maybe 28 years that another dude has really touched me (other than the awkward kiss-kiss greetings you do in Europe and periodic hugging a friend hello). Not that it was even remotely sexual--it totally wasn't. I was gross and dripping sweat, muscles twitching and so, so tired. And I'm not sure how old he is, but I could probably be his mom. But I'm talking really any kind of touch/contact. And husband doesn't really hug me much any more. Almost never holds my hand, as he's always walking ahead and complaining I walk too slow. He sleeps in another room (we snore. we both do. it's life.). I've been trying to initiate more contact, but, eh, it's hard sometimes. Life and tiredness and whatever is often in the way.
I was so touchy-feely in high school. I always had more guy friends than girl friends (I've always sucked at girly things), but all of us, we'd hug. We'd massage each other. We'd dance. I was a theatre kid. It wasn't weird to touch someone. And it really just hit me that I don't actually really touch people much anymore. Maybe I miss that. I dunno. Just touch. Not in a sexual, dating kind of way, but just in a feeling another human being kind of way. Is that weird? Do all people get like that? Is it just me? Do other people still manage to touch each other more as life goes on? That tactile feel of skin on skin? Or, you know, not in a creeper way, but through clothes? Whatever. I fear I'm not making sense.
It wasn't exactly an epiphany or anything. Just a weird moment. Maybe it's also a product of having had only one real partner my entire life. Hubby and I have been together since we were 18 and I never really was serious with anyone before that. That's a long time. My niece sometimes asks me for love-related advice and I'm, like, probably the worst person to ask. Everyone I know has had more partners than I have.
Totally rambling now. But it was stewing in my brain, so I wanted to get it out. No conclusions or anything. Just a thing. Another thing that makes me feel old and disconnected. I think I need a hug.
My used-to-be fat jeans which I couldn't even fit into until recently are now starting to be loose. Which is progress. And the jeans I'd really like to get back into I can actually get into...but it would be a crime to wear them out in public. But they do zip up, so that's something. So on the one hand, I feel better. But then I remember that they're supposed to be my fat jeans and I get kinda down again. I know, I know, baby steps. Thirteen more pounds to go. About 6 kgs. Fifteen pounds lost so far. Nearly 7 kg. Dammit, I really can't think in kilos.
Also had a physio appointment this week wherein they checked me out for the back/leg/sciatica pain. Basically gave me some stretches to do and wants me to go to their back therapy class, but it's at 8 AM on Thursdays when I'm supposed to be dropping little dude at school. So have to work that out. But some general progress on that -- the days where I exercise actually mean less leg pain at night. That's why weekends have been worse...I've only been going to the gym during the week. The left wrist pain has been bad too (and no why for that pain, which is annoying). I can't do push ups anymore. But I did some shopping and got a wrist brace for it and that helped while punching. And I got a leg/knee pillow for sleeping and tried it out last night too and it seemed to help.
Though the damn thing smells like a chemical factory explosion. I had to open a window and the door -- which meant that the dog wandered in and farted on me all night. It was toxic.
And I picked up a TENS unit thing like they used to use on me when I first had my back problems. I'd never thought about getting one because I thought they would be really expensive. And maybe they were before, but now they're pretty damn cheap. I got one for £26. Tried it last night too, left it on while watching Star Trek. And all in all, everything was better last night. So that's all good. The pain has been waking me up every night for a while now. That'll make you feel old, my friend, let me tell you. My body is a traitor. It's been one for a while. The bastard thing.
Anyway, I had a weird moment/realisation while doing the personal training/boxing session today that's made me think. My trainer dude (a lovely funny young guy way taller than me, with a cool dragon tattoo and a bizarre sense of humour--which is probably why I like him better than the kinda grim Slavic lady I tried out first who only did "normal" gym stuff with me and not boxing) stretched out my shoulders at the end of the session. He hadn't done that before, probably because this is the hardest he's worked me so far. I punched a lot. We did some new combos. Ended with some rapid-fire punches that nearly killed me. Boom. Boom. Pow. And two sessions in one week (well, I get a free hour a month, but we split it into two 30 minute sessions this time -- I do 30 minutes on the cross trainer first and then go boxing with him and it wound up both being in one week).
Anyway, it's this kind of awkward stretch where I'm standing directly in front of him, back to his chest, and he's right behind me, pulling my shoulders back, moving my arms, etc.. And I had that moment of huh, this is, like, the first time in maybe 28 years that another dude has really touched me (other than the awkward kiss-kiss greetings you do in Europe and periodic hugging a friend hello). Not that it was even remotely sexual--it totally wasn't. I was gross and dripping sweat, muscles twitching and so, so tired. And I'm not sure how old he is, but I could probably be his mom. But I'm talking really any kind of touch/contact. And husband doesn't really hug me much any more. Almost never holds my hand, as he's always walking ahead and complaining I walk too slow. He sleeps in another room (we snore. we both do. it's life.). I've been trying to initiate more contact, but, eh, it's hard sometimes. Life and tiredness and whatever is often in the way.
I was so touchy-feely in high school. I always had more guy friends than girl friends (I've always sucked at girly things), but all of us, we'd hug. We'd massage each other. We'd dance. I was a theatre kid. It wasn't weird to touch someone. And it really just hit me that I don't actually really touch people much anymore. Maybe I miss that. I dunno. Just touch. Not in a sexual, dating kind of way, but just in a feeling another human being kind of way. Is that weird? Do all people get like that? Is it just me? Do other people still manage to touch each other more as life goes on? That tactile feel of skin on skin? Or, you know, not in a creeper way, but through clothes? Whatever. I fear I'm not making sense.
It wasn't exactly an epiphany or anything. Just a weird moment. Maybe it's also a product of having had only one real partner my entire life. Hubby and I have been together since we were 18 and I never really was serious with anyone before that. That's a long time. My niece sometimes asks me for love-related advice and I'm, like, probably the worst person to ask. Everyone I know has had more partners than I have.
Totally rambling now. But it was stewing in my brain, so I wanted to get it out. No conclusions or anything. Just a thing. Another thing that makes me feel old and disconnected. I think I need a hug.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
This isn't what I was going to say
I've been feeling fairly poetic.
My poetry is not polished. It isn't something I labor over. I don't spend hours upon hours tweaking lines and pondering the imponderables. Pretty much...I write it. First go. Brain Dump Poetry, if you will. I've had a few poems published over the years, but I haven't even tried to get anything accepted anywhere in eons. It's not what I do. I don't ever write it, really, for other people to read. It's mostly my brain needing a small outlet and -- poof! -- a poem.
It does happen more often when I'm feeling introspective or pernicious or pensive or any number of other random feelings/words that people don't often use. And I've been feeling more and more that way for a while. There is a hole in me.
Not the Black Horse and Cherry Tree kind but a hole nonetheless. An emptiness. I'm not sure what to fill it with. I've been pouring things into it but nothing is filling it up.
This all sounds like a great deal of nonsense.
I think I'm lonely.
And...little dude's club has been cancelled, so I gotta go pick him up early. Maybe I'll write a poem later. Finish the one I was thinking about a few days ago, that I didn't really write down.
My poetry is not polished. It isn't something I labor over. I don't spend hours upon hours tweaking lines and pondering the imponderables. Pretty much...I write it. First go. Brain Dump Poetry, if you will. I've had a few poems published over the years, but I haven't even tried to get anything accepted anywhere in eons. It's not what I do. I don't ever write it, really, for other people to read. It's mostly my brain needing a small outlet and -- poof! -- a poem.
It does happen more often when I'm feeling introspective or pernicious or pensive or any number of other random feelings/words that people don't often use. And I've been feeling more and more that way for a while. There is a hole in me.
Not the Black Horse and Cherry Tree kind but a hole nonetheless. An emptiness. I'm not sure what to fill it with. I've been pouring things into it but nothing is filling it up.
This all sounds like a great deal of nonsense.
I think I'm lonely.
And...little dude's club has been cancelled, so I gotta go pick him up early. Maybe I'll write a poem later. Finish the one I was thinking about a few days ago, that I didn't really write down.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Romance is a Bonus Book
Romance is a Bonus Book is still airing, but it's almost finished, so I'm breaking my rule. Though I also started watching it because the saved episode I had of It's Okay, That's Love wouldn't play for some reason today while I was out at lunch after the gym. I'd been looking forward to this show, partly because it has an older female lead character (she was born in the same decade as me! woot! eh, whatever...I'm old...but still, one can't help but look for oneself in the media one consumes...) but also because it has something to do with publishing (the lead dude is a writer and she's a copywriter) and even though shows generally always get that stuff wrong, I'm always curious about how writers are portrayed. I knew going in that she was having money/job troubles and that she somehow winds up hiding out in his house? Welllllllll....
Yeah. I have to admit up front that this first episode depressed the hell out of me because I can see myself way too well in her character. Not that I'm in her situation, but it's a situation I can imagine myself in. Let's start over.
Turns out the two leads were friends from way back. The show opens with Kang Dan-yi (played by Lee Na-Young, who I haven't seen in anything before, but I like the look of her) about to get married. Cha Eun-Ho (played by Lee Jong-Suk, who is quite a bit younger in real life and an actor I've been wanting to check out since everyone enthuses about him so much and is totally broken up over him entering his mandatory military service this month) is there to play the piano, but you can sense that he's very ambivalent about her getting married. Well, so is she. She runs and hides out in his car. They've been friends a long time. But he takes her back and she winds up marrying the dude.
Flash forward years later (11? more? I'm not sure.) and she's been divorced from her cheating husband for a year but Eun-Ho somehow doesn't know this. I don't think she wanted to burden him. Maybe she's embarrassed. She has no money. Her kid is in some boarding school that she doesn't have the money to pay for (which also conveniently gets rid of the kid for the purposes of the show, but gives a big reason to need money). She's literally camping out in her previous house, which is now a foreclosed upon wreck about to be demolished. She can't find a job because her skills are out of date (she was a stay-at-home mom, though she used to be a successful copywriter) and she's competing with all these young, fresh-faced graduates. She's cleaning Eun-Ho's house on the sly and he doesn't even know it's her, thinking it's some woman she recommended...you get the feeling that's the only place she's getting regular meals, though there's a montage of her at some part-time low-paying jobs too. She's desperate.
So. This is a bit too real for me. Too close to home. I mean, I'm not divorced, but things aren't always good (that's life, yeah) and he's said things before, things he probably doesn't mean and maybe doesn't even remember saying, but they still go right to your heart, you know? There are times when I don't think I've heard a kind thing in ages; when I feel ugly and invisible, like I am the equivalent of furniture you keep around because you've always had it. I am the elephant of relationships sometimes; I don't forget. Can't forget. I know that happens to everyone. That is life. There are also times when everything is good, of course. Not saying there aren't.
But I haven't worked a regular job since 2005. Yes, I just sold two more books but writing kids books is not any way to make a living by any stretch. I've mostly been a mom who also writes. Every now and then I think I should get a job again, now that little dude is older, but it's just not feasible. My tech skills are WAY out of date. I can't go back to my old industry. Most anything I can get wouldn't pay for the childcare or it wouldn't work around it. Hell, it wouldn't pay for little dude's schooling. I've looked, most recently with the latest employment hiccup. Sent off a resume or two and never even got a response. What would I do if we did get a divorce? Or, the thing that really worries me, something happened to the husband? Because that's life too. Shit happens. Accidents. His aunt had a heart attack when she wasn't much older than he is now. That is my realest of real worries. Maybe it's also because I have no backup in this country. All our family is in the US. And I can't go back there anymore, not to live. So if something does happen, that's it, it's just me. And little dude. So, yeah, this episode messed me up a bit. I didn't expect it, which probably made it more so. Sometimes, it isn't good to see yourself.
Anyway, back to the story. Though, in a way, that kind of sums it up for now. I mean, I know that she'll wind up working at his company somehow and that he'll sooner or later figure out that she's crashing at his house (her old place did get demolished) and that they'll fall in love. It's bound to end happy. And I like the leads together. It'll be okay. Because it's a show and it's not life. I will watch it, but dammit, I think this one will mess with me. I'll write more about it later after I've watched more.
Yeah. I have to admit up front that this first episode depressed the hell out of me because I can see myself way too well in her character. Not that I'm in her situation, but it's a situation I can imagine myself in. Let's start over.
Turns out the two leads were friends from way back. The show opens with Kang Dan-yi (played by Lee Na-Young, who I haven't seen in anything before, but I like the look of her) about to get married. Cha Eun-Ho (played by Lee Jong-Suk, who is quite a bit younger in real life and an actor I've been wanting to check out since everyone enthuses about him so much and is totally broken up over him entering his mandatory military service this month) is there to play the piano, but you can sense that he's very ambivalent about her getting married. Well, so is she. She runs and hides out in his car. They've been friends a long time. But he takes her back and she winds up marrying the dude.
Flash forward years later (11? more? I'm not sure.) and she's been divorced from her cheating husband for a year but Eun-Ho somehow doesn't know this. I don't think she wanted to burden him. Maybe she's embarrassed. She has no money. Her kid is in some boarding school that she doesn't have the money to pay for (which also conveniently gets rid of the kid for the purposes of the show, but gives a big reason to need money). She's literally camping out in her previous house, which is now a foreclosed upon wreck about to be demolished. She can't find a job because her skills are out of date (she was a stay-at-home mom, though she used to be a successful copywriter) and she's competing with all these young, fresh-faced graduates. She's cleaning Eun-Ho's house on the sly and he doesn't even know it's her, thinking it's some woman she recommended...you get the feeling that's the only place she's getting regular meals, though there's a montage of her at some part-time low-paying jobs too. She's desperate.
So. This is a bit too real for me. Too close to home. I mean, I'm not divorced, but things aren't always good (that's life, yeah) and he's said things before, things he probably doesn't mean and maybe doesn't even remember saying, but they still go right to your heart, you know? There are times when I don't think I've heard a kind thing in ages; when I feel ugly and invisible, like I am the equivalent of furniture you keep around because you've always had it. I am the elephant of relationships sometimes; I don't forget. Can't forget. I know that happens to everyone. That is life. There are also times when everything is good, of course. Not saying there aren't.
But I haven't worked a regular job since 2005. Yes, I just sold two more books but writing kids books is not any way to make a living by any stretch. I've mostly been a mom who also writes. Every now and then I think I should get a job again, now that little dude is older, but it's just not feasible. My tech skills are WAY out of date. I can't go back to my old industry. Most anything I can get wouldn't pay for the childcare or it wouldn't work around it. Hell, it wouldn't pay for little dude's schooling. I've looked, most recently with the latest employment hiccup. Sent off a resume or two and never even got a response. What would I do if we did get a divorce? Or, the thing that really worries me, something happened to the husband? Because that's life too. Shit happens. Accidents. His aunt had a heart attack when she wasn't much older than he is now. That is my realest of real worries. Maybe it's also because I have no backup in this country. All our family is in the US. And I can't go back there anymore, not to live. So if something does happen, that's it, it's just me. And little dude. So, yeah, this episode messed me up a bit. I didn't expect it, which probably made it more so. Sometimes, it isn't good to see yourself.
Anyway, back to the story. Though, in a way, that kind of sums it up for now. I mean, I know that she'll wind up working at his company somehow and that he'll sooner or later figure out that she's crashing at his house (her old place did get demolished) and that they'll fall in love. It's bound to end happy. And I like the leads together. It'll be okay. Because it's a show and it's not life. I will watch it, but dammit, I think this one will mess with me. I'll write more about it later after I've watched more.
Thursday, March 07, 2019
You're All Surrounded
I did make it to the gym today even though I'm not 100%. Did a slow hour or so on the treadmill and a bit on the weight machines. Was a bit dizzy. Headache-y. Dodgy throat. My only hope is that if I get sick again that I lose another 5 lbs. Ha. Anyway, I was feeling like It's Okay, That's Love was about to go into the depressing angst-y phase (I'm about to start episode 12 out of 16 and it's about that time) and I wasn't quite up for it, so I started You're All Surrounded because it looked like a silly buddy cop/ensemble type of thing from the clips I'd seen.So. Well. It mostly is that, I guess, but it's got some dark undercurrents too. Seriously. Are ANY of the Kdramas that appear to be silly ever JUST silly? NO. NO, they are not.
Ah, anyway. It's billed as the story of four rookie detectives on the Criminal Investigation Squad (not a place you normally find fresh recruits just out of the academy, but there was a crackdown on corruption and the turnover at Gangnam station was big.)
BUT it looks like the main plot thread is really the story of Eun Dae-Goo (played by Lee Seung-Gi, another singer/actor type who I haven't yet managed to see in anything else, though he's in a few things that are on my list). Eleven years previously when he was in 8th grade/final year of middle school/about 15/16), his mother, a school nurse, was supposed to testify in a case. She was murdered to prevent her testimony and he was there to witness it (Dark, I'm telling you). Seo Pan-Seok (played by Cha Seung-Won, who is actually older than me (!) and quite the dashing looking devil in most pictures) was the detective working on the case and due to some suspicious circumstances, Dae-Goo (this name/identity is a disguise) thinks he might be involved somehow. So he disappeared way back then and did who knows what for 11 years, to pop back up now.
The girl also knew him then, though they weren't on the best of terms for silly reasons. She's Eo Soo-Seun (played by Go Ara, who I also haven't seen in anything before, though she's in a lot of things in my queue). She's obviously destined to be Dae-Goo's reluctant love interest at some point. She also witnessed something the night Dae-Goo disappeared/the night his mother died. As a character, she's hard to get a handle on so far as she seems rather clueless but determined. Since we last saw her as a 16/17 year old wanting to be a singer, no idea why she's become a detective other than to throw her into the mix. If there's not a real reason for it that works plot-wise, I'll be annoyed by this. PLOT CONVENIENCE IS NOT A REASON, KDRAMA WRITERS.
One of the other rookies I have seen before -- Park Tae-Il (played by Ahn Jae-Hyun). He was the little brother still in high school in My Love from the Star. So it's interesting this was filmed right after that and now he's the "handsome detective" part. AND it looks like this was only his second part, My Love from the Star being his first, which is interesting as I liked him in that. He's 31 now, so was mid 20's when this was filmed. Still looks like a baby. Anyway, no idea why he's a detective either as he's obviously got some money based on his outfits in the show.
The last rookie is the comic relief guy Ji Gook (played by Park Jung-Min, who looks to have been in a load of movies). Can't say much about him as yet other than that he's the puppy of the show (character-wise, not age-wise).
Anyway, the rookies all have good hearts but keep screwing up. I've watched two episodes so far and I think I like it, though I honestly would rather have not had that whole depressing back story. Just a buddy cop show would've been fine, thanks very much. I don't think Seo is a bad guy either, but there was definitely enough circumstantial evidence to make it appear so. And how a 15 year old with no family or money or ANYTHING when he ran off (covered in his mother's blood) survives on his own and manages to get a new identity is beyond me. But I'll reserve judgement on that for now, I guess. He's obviously the clever character. I also hope that Soo-Seun doesn't prove to be a total idiot. Is it too much to ask for a competent female lead?
Edit: 1/3 the way through episode 4 and dammit if this show isn't way too effing depressing. How come every clip I saw (including the montage one) made everything look light and fluffy??? Probably going to pause it for now and come back to it later. Or alternate with Waikiki or something.
Edit 28 March: Have made it through episode 13 out of 20. I have some thoughts. Overall, I'd say that I'm liking it. It's not nearly as funny as the clips or description would have you think and the pace is kinda slow. Some of the reveals are taking too long when anyone who has ever watched ANY television before knows from the first episode that there's gonna be some kind of "birth secret revealed" thing -- it still hasn't happened, though it's been teased as a kind of joke by the Superintendent played by Im Won-Hee (did I mention he's in this too? He's one of the reasons I thought this show would be funnier than it is -- he's always completely ridiculous...he kinda makes me inwardly cringe as he's so over the top BUT seeing him usually means there's a good amount of funny). It seems like it should have been more like the normal 16 episodes. I don't know why it's 20.
That's not to say that it's bad. It's just taking too long. The most egregious bit is that we've known for AGES that Soo-Seun (who, happily, hasn't turned out to be a total idiot, though she does trip over her shoelaces an inordinate amount of times for an adult) has the missing pendant but has never told anyone else about it, even though just about ALL else has been revealed about Dae-Goo's past. Considering that she's even taken it out to look at it and has reminisced about her report to the police way back when, it seems ridiculous that it hasn't come up yet.
But, it's not a bad show. The romance part is VERY slow burn and low key, which isn't necessarily bad -- it is, after all, mostly a mystery/cop show. So I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it. Though it'd be nice if that was sped up too, along with the plot...especially because Dae-Goo really seems like he wants/needs a hug and Soo-Seun's mom has already basically adopted him.
Interestingly, the younger actors are so much better than the older ones -- the Big Bad Assemblyman played by Jeong Dong-Hwan (and perhaps the father or grandfather of Dae-Goo? Or something...I'll find out whenever the birth secret is finally revealed.) basically seems to want to convey any emotion by widening his eyes. He's very one note. He's been in about a billion things so I'm assuming he isn't always like this, but not impressed with him here. Moon Hee-Kyung as his evil bitch daughter isn't really any better. Maybe it's the evil character thing in this show. They seem very transparent and same-y and their motivations aren't really all that complicated. Basically, as bad guys, they're just dicks and very flat, even the conflicted Chief of Police who's in it with the Big Bad but has also protected Dae-Goo for years is just...eh...kinda generic bad guy.
My guess is that Dae-Goo is the son of the husband of the evil Assemblyman's daughter and his mother was that guy's real love. We'll see if I'm right or not.
Anyway. Liking Go Ara and Lee Seung-Gi a lot. Actually, all the "kids" are doing a good job. Dammit, I'm old. Also, Song Young-Kyu (who plays the former cop turned bad dude who killed Dae-Goo's mom) has a ridiculously good voice. I gotta see if he's in anything else where he's not a bad guy.
Edit: Through episode 16 and...ok, it's generally good still but man it definitely is too long. And they've finally sort of gone over Chief Kang's motivation -- apparently, 27 years before when she was a young detective, her partner killed herself after some corrupt prosecutor failed them on a rape case. So her whole goal has been to get this independent investigation thing going by supporting current evil assemblyman/former upright police chief dude. So...um...how exactly did this noble goal morph into let's kill people and cover crimes up? It doesn't seem to make any sense to me.
On a side note, poor Tae-il got stabbed and beaten up and I'm watching the scene just going Oh no! Not the handsome baby! Stop!
Continued in this post...
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Someone New
I'm loving this song by Hozier right now because it's me (in so many ways). I love to people watch on the Tube and on the street, earphones in my ear and music playing. I can't hear them, but I watch them. People. I love strangers, the stranger the better. Someone new every day. The people I most like talking to on the Internet are people I've never met, some of whom I've "known" for years, some for no time at all. I like the world at a little bit of a distance. I like first meetings. I like random encounters. I like anonymous banter. I like to play at questions. I regret nothing. I regret everything.
Honestly, I've been feeling very disconnected lately. Like...the conversations I have with family, with friends, all those in-person words exchanged...it's all about nothing and no one. Repetition (yes, I heard you). Agreement (yes, I see). Inconsequential, transient. The little man upon the stair who wasn't there (still the saddest story I've ever read, thank you very much Mr. Brown). I don't feel like I have real conversations any more. I don't tell anyone my dreams. I live in my head too much. Obviously. And I do crave connection, I suppose, but I also keep it at arms length. But every day, I fall in love just a little bit. Just a bit.
Someone New
Honestly, I've been feeling very disconnected lately. Like...the conversations I have with family, with friends, all those in-person words exchanged...it's all about nothing and no one. Repetition (yes, I heard you). Agreement (yes, I see). Inconsequential, transient. The little man upon the stair who wasn't there (still the saddest story I've ever read, thank you very much Mr. Brown). I don't feel like I have real conversations any more. I don't tell anyone my dreams. I live in my head too much. Obviously. And I do crave connection, I suppose, but I also keep it at arms length. But every day, I fall in love just a little bit. Just a bit.
Someone New
Go take this the wrong way
You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you
Only blue or black days
Electing strange perfections is in any stranger I choose
You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you
Only blue or black days
Electing strange perfections is in any stranger I choose
Would things be easier if there was a right way
Honey, there is no right way
Honey, there is no right way
And so I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
Every day with someone new
I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
I fall in love just a little ol' little bit
Every day with someone new
There's an art to life's distractions
To somehow escape the burning weight
The art of scraping through
Some like to imagine
The dark caress of someone else I guess any thrill will do
To somehow escape the burning weight
The art of scraping through
Some like to imagine
The dark caress of someone else I guess any thrill will do
Would things be easier
If there was a right way, honey there is no right way
If there was a right way, honey there is no right way
Saturday, March 02, 2019
It's Okay, That's Love
After quitting early on with two different dramas and not feeling like going back to a few others because of their angst and/or silliness levels (gotta be in the right mood), I thought I'd try something new! Because that's what I wanna do in life, but can't, so this is my substitute for living. Wow, that's kinda sad. Kinda true, but kinda sad. Anyway, I went for It's Okay, That's Love. I'd seen a clip that intrigued me a while back because it featured a character with Tourette's. I knew he wasn't from the main love story or the focus of the show, but I found him interesting (even if the girl kissing him is Lee Sung-Kyung and I'm kinda full up on seeing her...but I think she's just a bit part in this). And the leading lady is Gong Hyo-Jin from The Master's Sun and I did like her in that. Here she is playing Ji Hae-Soo, a more no-nonsense psychiatrist.
Hmm, let's cover the cast in order of the picture. The first guy is Jo Dong-Min (played by Sung Dong-Il) and he's also a psychiatrist. It seems (as far as I can tell after the first episode) that he and the first three are currently housemates. He is Hae-Soo's senior but they also seem like good friends. Next guy is Park Soo-Gwang (played by Lee Kwang-Soo) and he's the guy with Tourette's. No idea what he does or how he fits in exactly other than living in the house with them.
Third is the leading lady, who I already talked about. I do have to say that so far I am liking the vibe of this character for Hyo-Jin more than the one she played in The Master's Sun. I don't want to use the word stronger, but there it is. Anyway, other things we know about her so far...she's about to have her 300th day with her boyfriend, who we also know is cheating on her (and leading man happened to witness the cheating, though he doesn't yet know that the dude is her boyfriend). However, there's not much feeling of serious love between them, exactly. I mean, she said the words and you get the feeling the inevitable breakup will be not good, but also that it will maybe be a superficial wound. Maybe. We'll see. I could be extrapolating because I also know she'll wind up with fourth dude in the lineup.
Who is... Jang Jae-Yeol (played by Zo In-Sung). He's a successful novelist AND a DJ and has a bit of an "I'm so cool" complex, but that's probably also because everyone fawns over him like mad. Except Hae-Soo, when they meet as adversaries of sorts as guests on a talkshow. It also looks like he's in the middle of breaking up with his girlfriend. There's some weirdness there, but no idea what exactly yet. Like, they made a point of him locking the bathroom door and some other things and I'm just not sure what's up with all that yet. Something a little off. I must admit that I very much like the look of him, even if he is playing it a bit smarmy. And at least he's over 35.
Last dude is Han Gang-Woo (played by Do Kyung-Soo). He's a member of the Kpop group EXO in real life and at first I thought he was Shin Won-Ho from The Legend of the Blue Sea. Same kind of innocent puppy dog vibe. Anyway, he seems to be a writer and has some kind of bromance/mentor/hero worship relationship with Jae-Yeol. Other than that, no idea. Why are almost all the young idol boys like puppies when they're in dramas? I mean, really. You want to pet them and give them treats.
Okay. Anyway. So that's the main people I know of so far.
Here's what Viki says as a show description:
Let's go with that. Anyway, so far, the first episode was very unexpected. It begins with some kinda scary looking dude being let out of jail. Then it hops to a party where Jae-Yeol is DJing and having a good time, kissing his girlfriend, etc, lots of champagne. Then the prison dude leaps in out of nowhere with a fork and starts stabbing him like a madman. Seriously. I'm sitting here thinking WTF is going on? Right before he passes out, Jae-Yeol is thinking to himself something along the lines of, oh, that idiot.
Yeah, so prison dude is his older brother. Why he wants to kill him, I dunno. Time jump to months and months later and the brother is back in jail, Jae-Yeol is breaking up with his girlfriend, and he and Hae-Soo wind up at odds on a talk show facing off against each other. She seems to intrigue him with her I'm not impressed by you attitude. For her part, she used to like his books, but thinks his latest ones are all kinda crap and just full of psychopaths now and that he appears to think way too much of himself (he does).
They coincidentally run into each other at a club later that night. He's trying to chat her up. It's not working. Then a former patient of hers with schizophrenia goes apeshit and tries to kill her. Jae-Yeol gets the guy off her, but she hits Jae-Yeol on the head to stop him from attacking the patient (because she can see the dude is obviously off his meds and having a full blown attack). Trying to make an already long story shorter, the two of them wind up in pursuit of the guy and through way more action-y car chase stuff than I had imagined would be in a show like this, they get the guy stopped. Ambulance takes him away, leaving our two potential lovebirds alone in the middle of nowhere.
He's kinda torn between WTH lady and being attracted to her. She's trying to fix his head, but can't use one arm because of the attack before (maybe broken, maybe dislocated shoulder, dunno). Then she passes out. End scene, he's trying to carry her back, wondering where the hell the ambulance they called is, and then he passes out too.
Yeah, I didn't expect any of that. That was a whirlwind. Whew.
Anyway, production value = good. Acting = good. Lead chemistry = good. Side characters = intriguing. I'm looking forward to this and hoping that it doesn't get screwed up somehow as my luck hasn't been very good with my latest picks. I'd really like a satisfying story here, please.
Edit: After episode 3. So, still liking it, I think. It has funny moments but it's definitely also about broken people. They've all got something wrong with them. Hae-Soo has intimacy issues (and hadn't ever slept with her now ex-boyfriend of 300 days...er, 299 days) because of her witnessing her mom's possible/probable affair with her dad's friend (her dad seems to have some kind of serious disability to the point where the sisters have to bathe him and he can't talk/acts a bit like a young child...guessing something happened to him at some point, no idea exactly what or when, but let's be honest, I can see where the mom is coming from if that's the case--she's still taking care of him, but there wouldn't be a relationship anymore...but I don't have all the facts there, so withholding judgement...though I can see how seeing her mom kissing some other guy when she was a kid traumatised her too).
But even though Jae-Yeol seems to have nothing more serious than OCD, I think there's a lot more to it than that. I'm starting to wonder if the EXO dude character Gang-Woo actually exists or if it is some kind of Fight Club manifestation of Jae-Yeol. Gang-Woo seems to be a high school student with issues (father beating him and his mother--echoes of what probably happened to Jae-Yeol) but I don't think I've seen anyone else interact with him. Just a thought. We'll see. And there's the stuff with the older brother in prison who insists that it was Jae-Yeol who killed whoever it was he was put in prison for killing (bad dad?). And the Gang-Woo/Kang-Woo character supposedly wrote a book (even though he's supposed to be in high school?) where it posits that Jae-Yeol is the killer and not the brother (which is what the older brother also insists on). So I'm guessing that Jae-Yeol may have actually been the one to kill the dad? And has compartmentalised it? Maybe it doesn't go that far. I dunno. But if Gang-Woo really doesn't exist, that's a pretty broken psyche right there and would take something big for a schism that big to happen. It could have just been the whole trauma of witnessing his brother kill the stepdad + whatever beatings he/his mom/his brother were getting.
I did look up whether or not the show ends happy and it looks like it will (I tried not to get any spoilers other than that...but I can't take an unhappy ending right now). But it does seem like even with as much humour as this show has, there's gonna be some dark times ahead because everyone is broken. So maybe Viki's description isn't that far out of left field.
Edit: End of episode 4. Now I'm sure. Gang-Woo doesn't exist. Jae-Yeol either killed his stepdad, who was probably beating the family, or witnessed his brother doing it or maybe they both killed him. Why the mother allowed the older brother to go to jail without any testimony is weird. I mean, there's something off about Jae-bum or whatever psycho brothers name is too, and I dunno that it's just the being in jail thing. Sigh. I'm liking the show overall but this is a higher level of drama than I was really wanting.
Edit: In Episode 8. Had to stop and take a picture. Remember how Jae-Yeol is a writer? They're in an airplane, going on a trip to Okinawa. He said he'd write in the plane while she rests. She won't shut up. Some of the other writing/publishing stuff may be off (unless the Korean publishing world is VASTLY different than the US/UK), but he's definitely got the correct face here. It's the FFS I'm trying to work here face. No one takes you seriously when you're a writer.
Edit: part way through episode 10. I'm very up and down with this show. Maybe the biggest thing is that it's hard to imagine any of the people who play psychiatrists are actually doctors. I mean, okay, I get it...they're supposed to be "human" too but they seem to make such poor choices, even in their treatment methods of patients. And I find myself a bit annoyed at the nature of Hae-Soo and her anxiety disorder even though it's the one that's closest to me. After the stuff that happened to me as a teen I still (even today) have issues about some things. It took me years before I could sleep without a bra on at night. There are times I still cringe. I can be very uncomfortable in my own skin. But I still find myself annoyed at her. Maybe some of it is that, at this point in the story, only the viewer knows just how screwed up and in trouble Jae-Yeol is. No one else knows that Kang Woo is all in his head. That he's hallucinating, putting himself in danger. But, at the very least, they do all know about how screwed up his family is; that his brother tries to kill him every chance he gets. And the mom! She's nice now, I suppose, but she was a shitty excuse for a mom back when. She was getting beaten up and I get the battered spouse thing, but then she was beating her oldest son. And (perhaps) inadvertently pitting her oldest vs. her youngest when she treated them so differently and beat the older one. And allowing the stepfather to beat her kids. That's the thing I really can't stand. Let's be honest. I could put up with a fair amount of things, right or wrong, directed at myself. But if someone laid a finger on little dude, that's game over.
That's a brain dump of feelings, I guess. But, dammit, eh, I dunno. I am enjoying Zo In-Sung though. As stereotypical as that is, he's my "type" -- tall, thin, hair made to be mussed up, and I love those moments when he's lost in the music. My sister wasn't totally wrong when she always thought I'd wind up with a musician type with lots of hair. Heck, I thought I would too. Ha. I thought I was going to be living in NYC in some kind of warehouse a la Flashdance, except without the dancing naked part. Hell if I know what I thought I'd be doing. And now I watch that movie and want to smack some sense into that girl. And the guy. They both kinda suck. But there's a part of me that will always wish I'd been some kind of Bohemian manic pixie dream girl kind of girl. Or maybe just with the eyelashes that go with that.
None of which has much to do with this show, I suppose. Just my reaction to it.
Also SO not liking Lee Sung-Kyung in this and her bit with the Tourette's guy was what made me start this show. But I didn't know that she was still a student (a drop out and 19, but still--she's too young for the dude, not just age but with mentality) or that she was such a manipulative get.
Edit: Just one episode left. Whew. This one really is way more depressing than I had any reasonable suspicion of it being. I mean, it's good overall but geez. Also, pretty sure all the characters playing doctors would be disbarred or whatever it is you do to doctors for the stuff they do. Very ethically ambiguous, shall we say.
Also, I feel sorry for the Exo dude who has had to spend the entire freaking run of the show without shoes on.
Edit: Finished. At least it ended well (& happy) and they provided closure for all the characters. It did have the forced separation thing but I think it kinda worked here -- it allowed Jae-Yeol's character to learn to live with his schizophrenia and how to manage it by himself and Hae-Soo to do the work she'd wanted to do and for her family to get over themselves. Not entirely sure it was necessary story-wise, but since this is, like, THE trope that will not die in Kdramas, at least it was reasonably used here.
Overall, I'd say I liked the show, but I do wish it had been more comedy/romance rather than tragedy/romance/comedy. That's probably more my current state of mind than a commentary on the show, though. I did really enjoy Zo In-Sung and all the housemates and I'm still liking Gong Hyo-Jin overall too. It was good to see her inhabit a very different character than the one in The Master's Sun. Would I watch this again someday? Um, I'm guessing no. Generally, if I re-watch something, its because of the touchy-feely moments, those pure feel-good scenes. And I wouldn't say this show had a lot of that exactly. That's not to say it wasn't romantic just...eh, I dunno. Just not a lot of those brilliant moments that make you smile without knowing it. Does that make sense? Maybe. Don't care. Am I glad I watched it? Yeah, I guess so. Discovered a new actor or two. Reasonably solid storyline (though it wasn't what I expected). So, yeah.
The real test, I suppose, is whether I look back on it with fondness in a few weeks.
Third is the leading lady, who I already talked about. I do have to say that so far I am liking the vibe of this character for Hyo-Jin more than the one she played in The Master's Sun. I don't want to use the word stronger, but there it is. Anyway, other things we know about her so far...she's about to have her 300th day with her boyfriend, who we also know is cheating on her (and leading man happened to witness the cheating, though he doesn't yet know that the dude is her boyfriend). However, there's not much feeling of serious love between them, exactly. I mean, she said the words and you get the feeling the inevitable breakup will be not good, but also that it will maybe be a superficial wound. Maybe. We'll see. I could be extrapolating because I also know she'll wind up with fourth dude in the lineup.
Who is... Jang Jae-Yeol (played by Zo In-Sung). He's a successful novelist AND a DJ and has a bit of an "I'm so cool" complex, but that's probably also because everyone fawns over him like mad. Except Hae-Soo, when they meet as adversaries of sorts as guests on a talkshow. It also looks like he's in the middle of breaking up with his girlfriend. There's some weirdness there, but no idea what exactly yet. Like, they made a point of him locking the bathroom door and some other things and I'm just not sure what's up with all that yet. Something a little off. I must admit that I very much like the look of him, even if he is playing it a bit smarmy. And at least he's over 35.
Last dude is Han Gang-Woo (played by Do Kyung-Soo). He's a member of the Kpop group EXO in real life and at first I thought he was Shin Won-Ho from The Legend of the Blue Sea. Same kind of innocent puppy dog vibe. Anyway, he seems to be a writer and has some kind of bromance/mentor/hero worship relationship with Jae-Yeol. Other than that, no idea. Why are almost all the young idol boys like puppies when they're in dramas? I mean, really. You want to pet them and give them treats.
Okay. Anyway. So that's the main people I know of so far.
Here's what Viki says as a show description:
Our interest in our own bodies is near obsession. However, how many of us have interest in our own minds? Have you ever thought that your mind was acting strange and against your will? Everyone wants to be happy, but how many people disregard the importance of their own minds when the key to happiness lies in there? This drama portrays the story of people who are scarred because they do not realize or have hidden their mental illness. Through one another they learn that they are not the only ones hurting. They learn that they are not the only ones suffering and alone. They realize that humans are lonely and that they want to live, not die. This is a warm-hearted story that shows that everyone is special in their own way, and not at all strange.What the fuck is that on about? No idea. Netflix's description seems a bit more...er...succinct: Successful novelist and DJ Jae-Yeol and psychiatrist Hae-Soo are constantly at odds, but that changes when they start living in the same house.
Let's go with that. Anyway, so far, the first episode was very unexpected. It begins with some kinda scary looking dude being let out of jail. Then it hops to a party where Jae-Yeol is DJing and having a good time, kissing his girlfriend, etc, lots of champagne. Then the prison dude leaps in out of nowhere with a fork and starts stabbing him like a madman. Seriously. I'm sitting here thinking WTF is going on? Right before he passes out, Jae-Yeol is thinking to himself something along the lines of, oh, that idiot.
Yeah, so prison dude is his older brother. Why he wants to kill him, I dunno. Time jump to months and months later and the brother is back in jail, Jae-Yeol is breaking up with his girlfriend, and he and Hae-Soo wind up at odds on a talk show facing off against each other. She seems to intrigue him with her I'm not impressed by you attitude. For her part, she used to like his books, but thinks his latest ones are all kinda crap and just full of psychopaths now and that he appears to think way too much of himself (he does).
They coincidentally run into each other at a club later that night. He's trying to chat her up. It's not working. Then a former patient of hers with schizophrenia goes apeshit and tries to kill her. Jae-Yeol gets the guy off her, but she hits Jae-Yeol on the head to stop him from attacking the patient (because she can see the dude is obviously off his meds and having a full blown attack). Trying to make an already long story shorter, the two of them wind up in pursuit of the guy and through way more action-y car chase stuff than I had imagined would be in a show like this, they get the guy stopped. Ambulance takes him away, leaving our two potential lovebirds alone in the middle of nowhere.
He's kinda torn between WTH lady and being attracted to her. She's trying to fix his head, but can't use one arm because of the attack before (maybe broken, maybe dislocated shoulder, dunno). Then she passes out. End scene, he's trying to carry her back, wondering where the hell the ambulance they called is, and then he passes out too.
Yeah, I didn't expect any of that. That was a whirlwind. Whew.
Anyway, production value = good. Acting = good. Lead chemistry = good. Side characters = intriguing. I'm looking forward to this and hoping that it doesn't get screwed up somehow as my luck hasn't been very good with my latest picks. I'd really like a satisfying story here, please.
Edit: After episode 3. So, still liking it, I think. It has funny moments but it's definitely also about broken people. They've all got something wrong with them. Hae-Soo has intimacy issues (and hadn't ever slept with her now ex-boyfriend of 300 days...er, 299 days) because of her witnessing her mom's possible/probable affair with her dad's friend (her dad seems to have some kind of serious disability to the point where the sisters have to bathe him and he can't talk/acts a bit like a young child...guessing something happened to him at some point, no idea exactly what or when, but let's be honest, I can see where the mom is coming from if that's the case--she's still taking care of him, but there wouldn't be a relationship anymore...but I don't have all the facts there, so withholding judgement...though I can see how seeing her mom kissing some other guy when she was a kid traumatised her too).
But even though Jae-Yeol seems to have nothing more serious than OCD, I think there's a lot more to it than that. I'm starting to wonder if the EXO dude character Gang-Woo actually exists or if it is some kind of Fight Club manifestation of Jae-Yeol. Gang-Woo seems to be a high school student with issues (father beating him and his mother--echoes of what probably happened to Jae-Yeol) but I don't think I've seen anyone else interact with him. Just a thought. We'll see. And there's the stuff with the older brother in prison who insists that it was Jae-Yeol who killed whoever it was he was put in prison for killing (bad dad?). And the Gang-Woo/Kang-Woo character supposedly wrote a book (even though he's supposed to be in high school?) where it posits that Jae-Yeol is the killer and not the brother (which is what the older brother also insists on). So I'm guessing that Jae-Yeol may have actually been the one to kill the dad? And has compartmentalised it? Maybe it doesn't go that far. I dunno. But if Gang-Woo really doesn't exist, that's a pretty broken psyche right there and would take something big for a schism that big to happen. It could have just been the whole trauma of witnessing his brother kill the stepdad + whatever beatings he/his mom/his brother were getting.
I did look up whether or not the show ends happy and it looks like it will (I tried not to get any spoilers other than that...but I can't take an unhappy ending right now). But it does seem like even with as much humour as this show has, there's gonna be some dark times ahead because everyone is broken. So maybe Viki's description isn't that far out of left field.
Edit: End of episode 4. Now I'm sure. Gang-Woo doesn't exist. Jae-Yeol either killed his stepdad, who was probably beating the family, or witnessed his brother doing it or maybe they both killed him. Why the mother allowed the older brother to go to jail without any testimony is weird. I mean, there's something off about Jae-bum or whatever psycho brothers name is too, and I dunno that it's just the being in jail thing. Sigh. I'm liking the show overall but this is a higher level of drama than I was really wanting.
Edit: In Episode 8. Had to stop and take a picture. Remember how Jae-Yeol is a writer? They're in an airplane, going on a trip to Okinawa. He said he'd write in the plane while she rests. She won't shut up. Some of the other writing/publishing stuff may be off (unless the Korean publishing world is VASTLY different than the US/UK), but he's definitely got the correct face here. It's the FFS I'm trying to work here face. No one takes you seriously when you're a writer.
Edit: part way through episode 10. I'm very up and down with this show. Maybe the biggest thing is that it's hard to imagine any of the people who play psychiatrists are actually doctors. I mean, okay, I get it...they're supposed to be "human" too but they seem to make such poor choices, even in their treatment methods of patients. And I find myself a bit annoyed at the nature of Hae-Soo and her anxiety disorder even though it's the one that's closest to me. After the stuff that happened to me as a teen I still (even today) have issues about some things. It took me years before I could sleep without a bra on at night. There are times I still cringe. I can be very uncomfortable in my own skin. But I still find myself annoyed at her. Maybe some of it is that, at this point in the story, only the viewer knows just how screwed up and in trouble Jae-Yeol is. No one else knows that Kang Woo is all in his head. That he's hallucinating, putting himself in danger. But, at the very least, they do all know about how screwed up his family is; that his brother tries to kill him every chance he gets. And the mom! She's nice now, I suppose, but she was a shitty excuse for a mom back when. She was getting beaten up and I get the battered spouse thing, but then she was beating her oldest son. And (perhaps) inadvertently pitting her oldest vs. her youngest when she treated them so differently and beat the older one. And allowing the stepfather to beat her kids. That's the thing I really can't stand. Let's be honest. I could put up with a fair amount of things, right or wrong, directed at myself. But if someone laid a finger on little dude, that's game over.
That's a brain dump of feelings, I guess. But, dammit, eh, I dunno. I am enjoying Zo In-Sung though. As stereotypical as that is, he's my "type" -- tall, thin, hair made to be mussed up, and I love those moments when he's lost in the music. My sister wasn't totally wrong when she always thought I'd wind up with a musician type with lots of hair. Heck, I thought I would too. Ha. I thought I was going to be living in NYC in some kind of warehouse a la Flashdance, except without the dancing naked part. Hell if I know what I thought I'd be doing. And now I watch that movie and want to smack some sense into that girl. And the guy. They both kinda suck. But there's a part of me that will always wish I'd been some kind of Bohemian manic pixie dream girl kind of girl. Or maybe just with the eyelashes that go with that.
None of which has much to do with this show, I suppose. Just my reaction to it.
Also SO not liking Lee Sung-Kyung in this and her bit with the Tourette's guy was what made me start this show. But I didn't know that she was still a student (a drop out and 19, but still--she's too young for the dude, not just age but with mentality) or that she was such a manipulative get.
Edit: Just one episode left. Whew. This one really is way more depressing than I had any reasonable suspicion of it being. I mean, it's good overall but geez. Also, pretty sure all the characters playing doctors would be disbarred or whatever it is you do to doctors for the stuff they do. Very ethically ambiguous, shall we say.
Also, I feel sorry for the Exo dude who has had to spend the entire freaking run of the show without shoes on.
Edit: Finished. At least it ended well (& happy) and they provided closure for all the characters. It did have the forced separation thing but I think it kinda worked here -- it allowed Jae-Yeol's character to learn to live with his schizophrenia and how to manage it by himself and Hae-Soo to do the work she'd wanted to do and for her family to get over themselves. Not entirely sure it was necessary story-wise, but since this is, like, THE trope that will not die in Kdramas, at least it was reasonably used here.
Overall, I'd say I liked the show, but I do wish it had been more comedy/romance rather than tragedy/romance/comedy. That's probably more my current state of mind than a commentary on the show, though. I did really enjoy Zo In-Sung and all the housemates and I'm still liking Gong Hyo-Jin overall too. It was good to see her inhabit a very different character than the one in The Master's Sun. Would I watch this again someday? Um, I'm guessing no. Generally, if I re-watch something, its because of the touchy-feely moments, those pure feel-good scenes. And I wouldn't say this show had a lot of that exactly. That's not to say it wasn't romantic just...eh, I dunno. Just not a lot of those brilliant moments that make you smile without knowing it. Does that make sense? Maybe. Don't care. Am I glad I watched it? Yeah, I guess so. Discovered a new actor or two. Reasonably solid storyline (though it wasn't what I expected). So, yeah.
The real test, I suppose, is whether I look back on it with fondness in a few weeks.
Friday, March 01, 2019
Fall in Love with Me
Fall in Love with Me is the second Taiwanese drama that I've tried, but also the second featuring Aaron Yan, weirdly enough. I didn't make it onto episode 2 of the other one (Just You) but that was more because of the female lead than the male. So, when I got a warning from Netflix that this one is soon to disappear (though I can't find that notice now and have no idea how long I've got to watch it), I thought I'd try it out.
I'm mid-way through episode two. It is better than the other one, though still a bit over the top and exaggerated. So...Yan plays a high-powered, super-talented, big ego ad exec but he's burned out and not feeling his creative juices anymore due to the kinds of clients, etc. that he's been dealing with. He announces that he's taking a three month hiatus to reassess. He runs away in a disguise to escape his employees (this kinda makes no sense to me...he's the boss, right?) and stumbles into a filming shoot and helps out after being mistaken for a volunteer. It's the girl's shoot.
So, the lead girl is the owner of a small ad firm. She had an accidental run-in with Yan's character in the very beginning that doesn't go all that well (when he looked like his normal self--she thinks his dressed down self looks like his real self, but he convinces her it's just a coincidence). But, it turns out that she's also the younger sister of the guy that inspired Yan to get into advertising to begin with and is now running big bro's company. And there's all this childhood connection stuff wherein her big bro actually died because of an accident while saving young Yan from running out in front of a car (his name isn't Yan in the show, but I'm too lazy to go look it up right now) and his butler knows her parents and the dad invested in the small ad company after the brother died to help them out. Whew.
So Yan's character wants to help out the struggling small ad company. OZ. But when he tries to buy it and calls on the 30% that he owns, her family basically wants to kill him. Granted, I don't think he explained himself very well; from their point of view, he wants to take over something that they want to keep alive in brother's name.
So...he winds up going kind of undercover as his dressed down self (with butler's help) to help out OZ. And, of course, there are shenanigans.
Weird things...I've watched too much Korean and Japanese stuff and Chinese (Mandarin) sounds so weird to me now. Which makes me kinda sad, since it's technically "my" family language (except it would be Cantonese, which wouldn't be spoken in Taiwan, so not exactly). I do recognise a few words (mostly "thank you" and food terms). But it sounds so strange. So much more xi/sh sounds.
Story-wise, I think this one is very typical. On the plus side, for once the disguised character is actually different-looking enough that I can see why people buy it. Because he does act differently when he's "dressed down" as well. Normally, I'm often going COME ON! but it works okay here.
The characters all seem okay and not so flail-ing about as in the other Taiwanese one I tried. The acting is acceptable but not great from a lot of them (including the lead girl, who's acting is quite awkward). Yan's character this time is more likeable over all than the episode I watched of Just You.. Even his "stuck up" self isn't necessarily a bad guy, though he does a pretty good imitation of one. The story/plot is pretty ridiculous, but, hey, that's how these things are.
I do like the OZ cast, as they are like a family. And the Butler. He's weirdly weird, like if Alfred were awkward and geeky. On the other hand, I dunno that it's grabbing me as a whole. I wonder if what I need to do is try a recent Taiwanese drama instead of an older one?
Edit: Er, okay. I got most of the way through episode 2 while I was at the gym. Then I was still feeling kinda waffle-y about it, so I thought I'd look up a bit of a review/recap and...yeah. I'm glad I did. I read through episode 4 and was, like, meh...it sounds okay but not great, not really feeling it. I skipped to a recap of episode 10 and was, like, whut? So I found a recap of the last episode and uhhhhhhhhhhh. No. Just so much NO. Like, the Yan character winds up marrying the second lead girl (who's in a wheelchair now??) because reasons or something, but in the last episode she gives him up and lets him marry the lead girl. And there's all this stupid family drama stuff and Evil Mom stuff and none of it really makes sense. I mean, I'm sure some of it doesn't make sense because I just skipped through some recaps and didn't watch it all BUT...NO. I don't want to watch the dude get married to the idiot second girl (you do meet her in episode 2 and she seemed like a total basketcase) nor do I want to sit through a bunch of family/corporate drama that sounds like the kind of blah from Secret Garden. So, yeah, I'm not watching any more of this one.
I'm mid-way through episode two. It is better than the other one, though still a bit over the top and exaggerated. So...Yan plays a high-powered, super-talented, big ego ad exec but he's burned out and not feeling his creative juices anymore due to the kinds of clients, etc. that he's been dealing with. He announces that he's taking a three month hiatus to reassess. He runs away in a disguise to escape his employees (this kinda makes no sense to me...he's the boss, right?) and stumbles into a filming shoot and helps out after being mistaken for a volunteer. It's the girl's shoot.
So, the lead girl is the owner of a small ad firm. She had an accidental run-in with Yan's character in the very beginning that doesn't go all that well (when he looked like his normal self--she thinks his dressed down self looks like his real self, but he convinces her it's just a coincidence). But, it turns out that she's also the younger sister of the guy that inspired Yan to get into advertising to begin with and is now running big bro's company. And there's all this childhood connection stuff wherein her big bro actually died because of an accident while saving young Yan from running out in front of a car (his name isn't Yan in the show, but I'm too lazy to go look it up right now) and his butler knows her parents and the dad invested in the small ad company after the brother died to help them out. Whew.
So Yan's character wants to help out the struggling small ad company. OZ. But when he tries to buy it and calls on the 30% that he owns, her family basically wants to kill him. Granted, I don't think he explained himself very well; from their point of view, he wants to take over something that they want to keep alive in brother's name.
So...he winds up going kind of undercover as his dressed down self (with butler's help) to help out OZ. And, of course, there are shenanigans.
Weird things...I've watched too much Korean and Japanese stuff and Chinese (Mandarin) sounds so weird to me now. Which makes me kinda sad, since it's technically "my" family language (except it would be Cantonese, which wouldn't be spoken in Taiwan, so not exactly). I do recognise a few words (mostly "thank you" and food terms). But it sounds so strange. So much more xi/sh sounds.
Story-wise, I think this one is very typical. On the plus side, for once the disguised character is actually different-looking enough that I can see why people buy it. Because he does act differently when he's "dressed down" as well. Normally, I'm often going COME ON! but it works okay here.
The characters all seem okay and not so flail-ing about as in the other Taiwanese one I tried. The acting is acceptable but not great from a lot of them (including the lead girl, who's acting is quite awkward). Yan's character this time is more likeable over all than the episode I watched of Just You.. Even his "stuck up" self isn't necessarily a bad guy, though he does a pretty good imitation of one. The story/plot is pretty ridiculous, but, hey, that's how these things are.
I do like the OZ cast, as they are like a family. And the Butler. He's weirdly weird, like if Alfred were awkward and geeky. On the other hand, I dunno that it's grabbing me as a whole. I wonder if what I need to do is try a recent Taiwanese drama instead of an older one?
Edit: Er, okay. I got most of the way through episode 2 while I was at the gym. Then I was still feeling kinda waffle-y about it, so I thought I'd look up a bit of a review/recap and...yeah. I'm glad I did. I read through episode 4 and was, like, meh...it sounds okay but not great, not really feeling it. I skipped to a recap of episode 10 and was, like, whut? So I found a recap of the last episode and uhhhhhhhhhhh. No. Just so much NO. Like, the Yan character winds up marrying the second lead girl (who's in a wheelchair now??) because reasons or something, but in the last episode she gives him up and lets him marry the lead girl. And there's all this stupid family drama stuff and Evil Mom stuff and none of it really makes sense. I mean, I'm sure some of it doesn't make sense because I just skipped through some recaps and didn't watch it all BUT...NO. I don't want to watch the dude get married to the idiot second girl (you do meet her in episode 2 and she seemed like a total basketcase) nor do I want to sit through a bunch of family/corporate drama that sounds like the kind of blah from Secret Garden. So, yeah, I'm not watching any more of this one.
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