Posts Tagged ‘conundrums’

TWO WEEKS  till Christmas! YIKES!

To my fellow procrastinators out there, you can do this! I’m used to winging it at the last minute… bet you are too!

The RETRO CUSTOM VIEWFINDER available on Amazon is a great gift for lucky DIY recipients who love to relive memories. They simply upload their choices of personal pics and soon after VOILA! A disc to pop into their new viewfinder arrives in the mail.

I want/need this POLAROID INSTANT CAMERA with auto focus, a set-timer, in a really cute color. Plus there’s a great deal on Target.com right now.

Honor your favorite dog lover with a gift to the AMERICAN HUMANE SOCIETY, or even better, volunteer!

From CREATIVE COCKTAIL GIRL, IG’s Liv.yah. Her garnishes are to die for! She has gorgeous cocktails including the Christmas Mohito and Virgin Christmas Colada. Check her out. She has lots of cool ideas!

Brie Christmas Trees look delish from IG’s Vickyskitchan. Make them if you’re having friends over or going to someone’s home for the holidays. You’ll earn lots of “yum”s and “ooh-and-ahhh”s.  Looks easy. I’m definitely trying it!

Realsimple.com has sooooo many good ideas you can create last minute for Christmas. I might buy myself the Polaroid camera and make Christmas ornaments for friends and family. Yeah, that would be a win/win for everyone, right?

Happy, Merry, HO HO HO

xo/Evie

But how do I know if we’re both wearing masks?

The vibe’s different now. Covid’s basically under control and the staff isn’t freaking out about Monkey Pox, but MASKS are still required.

I miss SMILES… connecting with SMILES… getting feedback from SMILES… I especially miss  smiling with Dr. Privacy and seeing HIS smile. I hadn’t realized how important smiles were to my ER life because I took them for granted.

Sadly this is so not happening!

Mira says I’m totally overthinking this. She insists that he can see my eyes smile, but Mira’s like the ideal volunteer who always says and thinks the perfect thing — she’s like Mother Theresa’s daughter. When I look in the mirror, I don’t see smiling eyes. No, I see a fugly mask that goes yuckily with my fugly hospital smock. Guess I should be happy none of my fans can recognize me. WAIT! Do I even still have them?

Conundrum: How can I #BeAuthentic if I’m masked?

FACIAL FEEDBACK shows friendliness (or not) —

Facial expressions help us read and understand each other. If I can’t see someone’s face and vice versa, I go into a funk. It’s kinda like going to an audition where the CD has a blank face. If I can’t see someone’s facial expression it’s hard to get a sense if I’m nailing it or failing it.

I feel like masks zap the warmth from everyday life at the hospital. It’s impossible to look cute with a mask.

I guess I can try to be the reason someone smiles today… even if I can’t see it. But it’ll be a challenge, trust me.

I know — I’ll study up on body language before my next shift. I’ll make eye contact and mirror Dr. Privacy. Maybe that’ll  bring back the spark we felt before Covid — or was it just me? Maybe I’ll start with the patients — they’ll be more receptive.

Aha! I just sneaked one in. Removing my mask is the NEW NAUGHTY!

embrace it!

I’m a huge fan of Jason Katims. HUGE. His shows have so much heart they always stay with me after. He was a big part of making two of my all-time faves, the faves of so many… Friday Night Lights and Parenthood.

AS WE SEE IT:  a Comedy? Drama? Dramcomedy? Comdrama?

AS WE SEE IT  on Amazon Prime has the heart and soul of Katim’s trademark, but with lots of twists and turns. I’ve never seen a show quite like it. And you don’t have to take just my word for it, it has an audience score of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s about three Autistic Twentysomethings trying to figure out how to fit in. And it’s actually played by three amazingly-talented actors who are on the spectrum themselves. I know it sounds serious, but it’s not. It’s funny and charming and very real and relatable… we all want to fit in, right?

AS WE SEE IT’s Harrison, Violet and Jack

Wants and Needs —

• Harrison (Albert Rutecki) wants to stop being afraid to leave house.
• Violet (Sue Ann Pien) wants a boyfriend
• Jack (Rick Glassman) wants to take care of his father who is taking care of him.
  (And I want it to already be the second season, so there’s more to watch, haha.)

Mandy (Sosie Bacon) plays the Den Mother/Aid with never-ending compassion who’s running away from her own life — or at least trying to figure it out. I first noticed Bacon in MARE OF EASTTOWN. With talent-genes from her parents Kyra Sedgwick & Kevin Bacon, Sosie shows all of the layers of Mandy in AS WE SEE IT.

Adapted from the Israeli comedy series “On the Spectrum,” AS WE SEE IT is lightness and laughter as Harrison, Violet and Jack face their fears —  frequently with catastrophic results (something else I totally relate to).

As I see it, everyone should give AS WE SEE IT a look… It’s that good!

I barely feel like an Actress or an ER Volunteer…

Remember how they said ER Volunteers could come back to my hospital last month? Well, we’re still not back.

Waiting for my COMEBACK!

Charlayne, my supervisor, had us take a brush-up written test. Did that. Aced it. Then a health check-up. Did that. Then we had to get a flu shot. Did that.

Then she sent an email about a mandatory Booster. Have that.

Then she added a Zoom meeting to go over all over the new Covid rules. Sat in on that.

We learned how we must now enter the hospital through a tent, then wait in line for a temp check, then pick-up two hospital masks (to be worn at the same time) and then get a daily badge to wear in addition to our regular badge. Haven’t done any of that yet, because Charlayne’s now supposed to tell us one-by-one when we can go back.

This is starting to feel like waiting for a callback…

To make things worse… haven’t heard from Dr. A in forever...

Or my Agent!

I’m SO OVER IT!

Oh, and I can’t take my homemade goodies to the doctors and nurses anymore because now the staff isn’t allowed to eat in the hospital!) But, it seems like the hospital isn’t the only organization that keeps changing its mind because the CDC is continually Covid-confused too.

On the good side…

Since I’m not doing anything I haven’t made any MISTAKES lately. haha.

And since I’m on auto-Purelling as a way of life after working in the ER for so long, I haven’t gotten Delta, Omacron or any kind of Covid yet. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and I’ve been going on okay-during-Covid-WALKS with a really cute boy in my neighborhood whose name I’m keeping private at the moment;) Not exactly romantic, but at least we don’t have to wear masks and he can see my smile:)

Hang in there Evie, haha …

Yes it’s last-minute — Christmas is almost here…  but no, it’s not too late. Here are some great gift subscriptions guaranteed to bring smiles, month after month … just a click away.

Something Special for Someone Special…

FLOWERS-BY-THE-MONTH from Bloomsybox  ($45-55 per as many months as you decide)

Unexpected flowers brighten a gloomy day, spiff up any room, and add a little fancy to everyday life.

SOCKS-WITH-A-CAUSE BY-THE-MONTH from Society Socks($20.00 per month)

Haven’t tried this one, but it looks wonderful and they donate to different charities so it’s a gift for many.

MASTERCLASS-BY-THE-MONTH from Masterclass ($15 per month)

Business, Home & Lifestyle, Music, Design, Science & Tech, Wellness and Style Inspiration from the experts in every field. An awesome gift to give or receive.

CHOCOLATE BY-THE-MONTH from Compartes  @$50 per month

Each month is different: January delivers exotic tastes of gourmet chocolate bars with flavors from all over the world. February brings Valentine sweetness, March bring Easter goodies. Compartes is yummy and addictive for all chocoholics. Don’t say you weren’t warned, ahaha.

FACIAL MASKS BY-BY-THE-MONTH from Facetory in Japan @$19.90 a month

Always different, always fabulous, and it’s so much fun to try all of the different beauty masks. This is an awesome gift for women of all ages — an easy, quick beauty routine that never gets boring. (My friend Rachel is really into skincare — she’ll love this.)

BOOZE-BY-THE-MONTH from Mash & Grape ($69.00 – $79.00) 

I gave a 3-month Bourbon subscription to Niles last year and he totally luvvved it — and it’s not-so-secretly on his Wishlist for this year;) The quality of Bourbon, Whisky and Scotch are the highest and the bottles are beautiful. You must be 21 to order. Hint… be sure you navigate the website carefully because it takes awhile to get customer service on the case.

There are so many more I’d love to to write about, but we are running out of time, so I’d better get this posted.

Happy, Safe, Merry EVERYTHING xx/evie

It’s so hard to get back to —

• Love Connections
• Work Connections
• Friend Connections

It’s as if we’ve been on another planet for what feels like almost two years now that we’re rounding around the holiday bend.

Everything and Everywhere feels DISORGANIZED

I just got back from Austin where a friend had a film premiering at the Austin Film Festival. He was so hopeful about premiering there, but sadly the fest was short-staffed, overwhelmed and underprepared. Some of the panels were really interesting, but the festival “directors” gave  a lot of mixed messages without the proper prep and support. It looked like crowds were light. It was my first time in a movie theater, so I’m sure others were a little scared to go to a film festival after being so careful. I talked to a producer who said it’s been like that for all of the fests recently. She said “SXSW” was a disaster. Guess you can blame it on Covid.

Luckily productions are picking up, so I’m hoping-wishing-praying that some acting gigs are in my future. But the tragic news about Halyna Hutchins puts chills through anyone who’s ever been or will be going on a film set. Sloppiness about protocols, an overwhelmed and underprepared cast and crew… a tragedy that could’ve been avoided…  If only there were more people paying attention. I want to go back, but I want to be sure people are paying attention.

Who knows how long it’ll be before we recover from all of the effects of Covid — not just health-wise but people-wise.

Just got an email from the hospital where I volunteer asking if we want to come back, if we’ve been vaccinated, blah, blah, blah. We’ve been furloughed for-covid-ever, but it looks like we’ll be going back sometime in the near future. Yay! At least I can help people-wise at the hospital and do some good. I need to get back to some sense of normal.

Can’t wait to connect with friends in places other than on screens. Enough with the Instagram, Zoom reality!

I don’t know if I’ll ever feel a sense of normal again. Get me to the hospital STAT! I need a dose of Dr. A to find out, haha!

2021 will be better… it must!

Since this year is different from all other years (except maybe 1918) here are 5 superstitious ways to welcome in 2021.

1. OPEN YOUR PANTI DRAWER —

Normally there are many considerations as you select your 12/31 panties. Even though red is for passion and pink is for love, tonight BLUE is the clear choice.

BLUE panties bring GOOD HEALTH, and that’s the #1 need for ourselves, our loved ones, our country and our world. So get out your blue panties to parrr-ty — alone, or with someone in your bubble. (I know, I know, it feels depressing, but guys — next year will be better.)

2. GRAB A SUITCASE —

After we get through the contagiousness of Covid, we’ll all need to get away. Tonight at midnight, lug a piece of luggage around the block. Make sure it’s packed with your needs for a dream vacay. (Let’s plan it! Woo-hoo!) Read the rest of this entry »