January 3, 2018
6:44 p.m.

I just read my last couple of posts. Clearly I shouldn't be allowed to blog with a fever. Am I obsessed with candles, or what?
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I put the Christmas decorations away today and as soon as I can get someone to unplug the tree, back into its little box it will go. Then the top of my fireplace will look pretty plain.

The holidays are over for another year.

Well, until Valentine's Day.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, my daughter went shopping on New Year's Day and brought everyone back a little heart-shaped sampler of Valentine's chocolates! I kid you not. The rush the stores put on stocking for holidays is just ridiculous.

January 1st, people. Wow.

Want to hear the craziest part of this story? I still have chocolate left in this box. I've been sick. It's the only logical explanation.
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I was just surfing through possible shows to watch and came across "American Horror Story".

It has been awhile since I visited that particular series. I streamed the first season awhile back and found it to be entertaining, so I went on to the second season. I was still engaged enough after that to try the third, but as the series went on I found that the writers had less story to tell and instead went for the gross-out factor.

A word about the gross-out factor.

I am a huge Stephen King fan, and he once claimed that if he couldn't scare his audience he'd settle for grossing them out. He may have meant that at the time he said it, but I have really never read anything of his that relied on the gross-out factor to engage me. There's always a story there, scary or not, and if that story is there, and it's a solid one, the gross-out factor is just an additional feature.

"American Horror Story" apparently ran out of story, and decided to rely on the gross-out.

I think I made it--barely--through season three, and season four lost me after one episode. If I can't be engaged by story, the gross-out factor will never be enough to hold me.

This is why I was not at all entertained by the "Saw" movies. I was somehow convinced by my son that they were good, and I had to watch them, but after the first, it was just a gross-out rerun. Same with most slasher movies. The horny teens bite the dust, the virgin gets away--barely. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Tell me a story. If it's a real story, and the blood and gore fest make some kind of sense, more power to ya. If it's only blood and gore, I'm out.

Guess I'll get back to "Jericho" and season two. Spoiler: the lights are back on. I am never going to find out about the dang candles.
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Once upon a time, I had regular television. Then I got rid of that and entered the world of Internet only viewing. Then I got an Amazon Fire Stick, which would supposedly make viewing Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and etc. a snap.

Enter an end to net neutrality, and it's buffer, buffer, buffer. My Internet is dragging butt.

Gimme a break. I think I'll read. No one can slow me down in a book, man!
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9:30 p.m.

I must be losing my mind. I've started to check the time and sidetracked myself at least half a dozen times in the last half hour. I'm chatting with about five different people at a time and getting nothing of significance done, but I'm entertained!

The quest to get the toddler on a day/night schedule is underway, and she has actually gone to sleep. Hopefully she will not work it as a power nap and get up in two hours and keep me up all night. That's what happened last night. Ugh.
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10:30 p.m.

And she's up. Her daddy's working on it.
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Well, there's an ambulance and firetruck at the neighbor's. Doggone. I hope it's nothing too serious.
Lights are flashing in my window. My daughter-in-law couldn't resist peeking. But of course we know nothing. Just sending out positive vibes.
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Hmmm. I don't hear crying... I wonder if she fell asleep for her dad. I refuse to go look; if she's awake and sees me looking, things will get noisy.

This is so much fun. Ha ha.
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11:00 p.m.

I'm going to go spy on the neighbors.

Looks like a living being has been loaded into the back of the ambulance.  Whew! Hope it all turns out simple and easy.

And that is it for me, tonight. I am outta here.

Good night!