Home Again!

There's a ton of markers in Boise and the rest of Idaho showing where the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through lo, those many years ago. I won't bore you, but if you're a history buff, I highly suggest the trip.

The expedition had its difficulties passing through the high desert of the Rockies. On the other hand, their ankles didn't swell to the size of an elephant's by flying from the mountainous desert to the humidity of Ohio in July.

After yesterday's return flights and the two-hour drive home from the airport, I spent the rest of the day on my recliner, princess puppy in my lap, going through mail (both email and snail mail) from the last two weeks.

And I got up this morning, and I'm still going through stuff.

Some of it's fun, like the artwork for the 10th Anniversary Editions of the Justice series coming out in a couple of years. (I'll have maps!) Some of it, not so much. Like bills. *sigh*

However, I feel pretty good about how much I got accomplished writing-wise on this trip. Heck, I even went to a Starbucks and wrote for the first time since March 16, 2020, the day Governor Dewine issued the COVID-19 shutdown order for Ohio.

I'm in my recliner for a second day, the princess pup in my lap, and DH swearing up a storm in his office. Yep, things are back to normal at Casa Harden.

Monday Movie Mania - Spider-man: Homecoming

This is the film where I'll finally forgive John Francis Daley for leaving the cast of Bones for a screenwriting career. Yep, that's right. My favorite on-screen FBI criminal profiler was one of the writers of the latest Spider-man flick.

And this one finally gets everyone's, okay, my generation's favorite web-slinger right. This is not to blame Tobey or Andrew's performances in the previous five films. I'm talking about the writing. I'm talking about the sheer joy Peter had as a teenager in being Spider-man.

I'm talking about the fact that we didn't have to live through Uncle Ben's death AGAIN!


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SPOILERS!


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PROS
1) Tom Holland's charm as the wall-crawler in Captain America: Civil War was not a fluke. He really is that adorable!

2) There are just the right amount of Robert Downey, Jr., in the movie. Enough to spice things up, but not enough to overwhelm Peter's story.

3) Both the writers and Michael Keaton brought a vulnerability and everyman quality to Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture. You actually sympathize with a fellow resident of Queens, who's just trying to support his family.


CONS
1) I still have an issue with a woman my age playing Aunt May. I own it. But after thinking about it, maybe it's more than our perspective regarding aging has changed over the last fifty years. I look at pictures of me now versus pictures of my grandmothers at the same age, I look a lot younger. It's not vanity talking, but an acknowledgment that I had much better healthcare and nutrition than my grandmothers did. But deep down, I have an issue with Aunt May looking "HOT".


Re-negotiating the licensing for the Spider-man franchise is one of the smartest moves Sony's made this century. Marvel Studios have deftly folder our hero into the MCU, and made the franchise fun again.

I give Spider-man: Homecoming 10 out of 10 stars.