Worlds Apart

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Having finally caught up on the Marvel movies online…I think…and whilst I’m waiting for more Oscar nominees to be streaming, I went in search of a new binge.

Because I’m a multitasker, even in spite of the “experts” that tell you it can’t be done, I need to keep busy while I’m watching television. I mean, I can sit still in a theater, but when I’m at home, I feel like I’m wasting time if I’m not multitasking.

So, while I’m writing, or doing some creative project like the #100DayProject, I try to keep busy doing something creative that allows me to both watch and keep myself occupied.

So, when I knew I was beginning the current #100DayProject I went looking for new shows to binge.

I wound up watching both The Gilded Age on HBO, and 1883 on Paramount.

Two dramatically, if you will, different shows. But set only a year apart.

The Gilded Age stars Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon.

1883 stars Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, as well as Sam Elliot.

I’m enjoying both. Although I did break my self-imposed rule of not watching a new series until all the episode of a season have aired. I’ve never liked waiting for the next weekly episode, and thanks to streaming, I generally don’t have to. Except that I am.

I’ve been a fan of Christine Baranski since her days on Cybil. I’ve loved her in just about everything I’ve seen her in, with the exception of Mama Mia, and that’s because I just didn’t like the whole movie. While she’s brilliant in this role, I do think she does comedy better.

She will forever be in my heart as Martha May Whovier.

Kudos to Hill and McGraw for branching over to acting from music. As for Sam Elliott, this sort of redeems him from his time on The Ranch.

While catching up on both series over the weekend, I realized that I was spending my time in the latter 1800s but in two different worlds.

There’s the upscale world of the rich and nouveau riche in New York. And there’s a family trying to survive the hardships of travel in a wagon through Comanche territory accompanied by a group of German immigrants who don’t speak English and have no idea of how to get where they want to go.

I’m enjoying both series. But I’ve been struck by the vast differences between the two.

Money and power in New York. Struggle and hunger on the western plains.

I don’t have enough years left to learn all the history I’d like to learn. But I’m trying.

Sure both of these shows just scratch the surface of what life was really like.

There’s political commentary here, but I’m not inclined to write it, other than to say that we have a vast and varied history. It has taken all kinds to bring us to the country we are today.

Read into that what you will.

Just read about it.

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American actor, singer, and politician, Sonny Bono, was born on this day in 1935. (d. 1998)

 

THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

TIPP Poll: Two-Thirds of Dems Say Hillary Clinton Should Be Investigated
NewsMax
A full 66% of Democrats want to see Hillary Clinton investigated for any role she might have had in trying to manufacture former President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia in an attempt to smear him, according to a new poll by TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics (TIPP). Read More.

Durham probe: Media outlets avoid, downplay latest developments implicating Clinton campaign
FOXNews
Liberal media outlets have largely downplayed or otherwise ignored the court filing from Special Counsel John Durham as part of his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. Read More.

Ratcliffe Reveals More on Durham Probe Including Biden Connection as WH Dodges Questions
RedState
Ratcliffe also noted that not only was Obama advised on the plan in 2016 in the Oval Office, but Joe Biden was, too, as well as members of the national security team. So, Biden knew about the false plan and “everything that happened after that..is one of the reasons that John Durham is investigating,” Read More.

Hillary Refuses to Answer Questions About Her Own (Worse) Watergate
RedState
The media, unable to ignore the story any longer as indictments continue with the threat of more to come, is beginning to ask the former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate exactly those questions. And she’s not talking. Read More.

A Counterintuitive Cure for Burnout
The Art of Manliness
An absence of consensus around burnout also makes it difficult to disentangle it from other conditions that manifest in similar ways. Are you burned out or just bored? When is burnout different from simple tiredness or stress? Is someone burned out, or are they actually depressed? Read More.

How to Sell Your Novel: Learn Essential Steps Here
selfpublishing.com
To sell your novel like a pro, there are several things you MUST get right before you even think about publishing.  Read More.

ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1893 – Katharine Cornell, American actress and producer (d. 1974)
1903 – Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist and actor (d. 1978)
1909 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor and director (d. 1982)
1921 – Vera-Ellen, German-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
1926 – Margot Frank, German-Dutch holocaust victim (d. 1945)
1957 – LeVar Burton, American actor, director, and producer
1959 – John McEnroe, American tennis player and sportscaster

WHAT I’M READING

 

BENEDICTION

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20–21