Better on the Rewatch

Back when I first watched the Chinese drama You Are My Glory I wasn't all that impressed; I liked the actors and the romance but felt a lot of peripherals got in the way. Since the lead actor is gorgeous but has always been a little controversial, and lately is getting slammed by his critics for the poor quality of his performances and other issues (which frankly seem pretty contrived), I decided to watch it again.

I came away from it thinking better of the entire series. Part of that has to do with me becoming more accustomed to Chinese productions and the usual problems with them, just as I eventually got used to most Japanese dramas being overly arty, pointless and depressing. The other is I'm stepping away from my Westerner point of view and trying to see these series impartially -- which, I admit, I'll never be able to do completely -- and take away more about the story and less about the politics.

The story remains unlikely, but I liked it better this time. I ignored what bothered me during my first viewing and focused on the characters and how they were portrayed. I also followed the romance a little more closely and watched for signs that I might have missed. One thing I did notice this time is how conflicted the lead male is over nearly every aspect of his life outside aerospace engineering (and even at work he has a couple of moments of doubt and fear.) Since I've lived with the same barrage of conflicts with my work I sympathized more with him this time around.

The series still has the same problems, but it is well done, and if you can ignore the annoying elements is very absorbing. Available on Viki.com.

Comments

Old Loves & Such

My guy kindly bought me my favorite Chinese take out the other night, and my fortune cookie offered up an interesting story starter: This sounds sweet, right? Only the first thing I thought of was an old love coming back from the dead . . . . must be October. In other lovely news, my favorite hand-dyed thread artist, Lorraine from Colour Complements , is moving her business from Etsy to her own web site. Many of my favorite sellers on Etsy are leaving due to the whole "free shipping" coercion debacle, which has also soured me on the site. To show support I did a little shopping at Lorraine's web site and got in these: I love her threads and trims; you simply can't buy anything like them anywhere. Her work makes my specialty thread box look like a treasure chest: At night I'm spending just as hour working on quilting the scrap project runner, and I'm making slow progress: I'll keep quilting the runner while I try to decide on a design for t...

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.

T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...

Valerean

Search This Blog