Photo Basics – Joel Sartore: Really enjoy this and I especially appreciated the tips for phone cameras as well, because I don’t have a DSLR as they are too heavy for me.
Slide:ology – Nancy Duarte:I really liked the overall look at creating effective Powerpoint presentations.
WATCHED
The Closer
7×12 You Have the Right to Remain Jolly: Love this episode
7×13 Relative Matters
NCIS
9×11 Newborn King: I miss Ziva.
10×10 You Better Watch Out
11×11 Homesick
12×10 House Rules: Well this seems the start of the episodes that were supposed to be Christmassy but were definitely not Christmassy.
NCIS LA
6×11 Humbug: And a humbug on Joelle, too
7×11 Cancel Christmas: I love Granger.
8×11 Tidings We Bring
9×11 All Is Bright: Nell is awesome.
10×11 Joyride: Christmas is not Christmas without Hetty
Grimm
4×07 The Grimm Who Stole Christmas: Love Trubel.
Major Crimes
2×16 Risk Assessment: I love when I rewatched programs that I remember how much I love them
3×15 Chain Reaction: Honestly, Raydor’s kids are the worst.
4×18 Penalty Phase
Home Alone: An important Christmas movie. However all the children in Kevin’s family are terrible.
The Muppet Christmas Carol:This is the way Charles Dickens wrote it. Accept no imitations.
Warehouse 13
3×13 The Greatest Gift: Words cannot express how much I love this show
Castle
5×9 Bad Santa: I was actually kind of surprised this show only had two Christmas episodes because it seems impeccably suited to Christmasepisodes.
Sorry again for another double-up, but we had an unexpected loss in the family. Some of these are episodes I’ve watched before, but we’re rewatching for Christmas.
READ
How to Make Money With Social Media – Jamie Turner and Reshma Shah:Interesting, but not something I’m really into exploring at the moment
Nine Pints – Rose George: This was absolutely fascinating and a little terrifying at the same time. I’ve noticed I read a lot of books like that this fortnight.
Twisted 26 – Janet Evanovich: This was great, and I loved having so much Grandma Mazur in it. She’s so much fun.
Daring to Drive – Manal Al-Sharif:This was interesting and terrifying at the same time.
Women and Power – Mary Beard: Taken from her lectures, this was an interesting read that looked at women’s power right back in the Western canon of literature.
Rosie with “The Witches Are Coming” by Lindy West
The Witches Are Coming – Lindy West: I loved this book and it was so interesting
The Joyful Frugalista – Serina Bird:Got some helpful tips from this book – not often you find one of these types of books that focuses on Australia.
WATCHED
The Flash
4×01 The Flash Reborn: Such a good episode
NCIS Los Angeles
11×05 Provenance: One of the funniest episodes they’ve ever done. When Sam picked up the art thief and she just kept running – we couldn’t stop laughing!
11×06 A Bloody Brilliant Plan: Loved seeing Jennifer Kim again
11×07 Concours D’Elegance – love Nell and Fatima. Liked seeing Katherine again.
11×08 Human Resources
Hawaii 5-0
3×17 Pa’ani: Loved this episode. The show is at its best like this.
Inspector Rex
2×07 Dangerous Hunt: Rex saves the day again!
Madam Secretary
6×10 Leaving the Station: Now THIS is the show I’ve been missing. The wedding was perfect. Bringing everyone back was great (still missed Kat and Nadine). So glad to see Chen there too. This is the show we missed. I’m just sorry it took until the last two episodes of the final season to see it again.
NCIS
16×08 Friendly Fire
According to Jeff Goldblum
1×03 Tattoos: I didn’t know about tattoos and the immune system, so now I’m even more freaked out about them.
CHRISTMAS REWATCHES
Hercule Poirot and the Theft of the Royal Ruby
First Christmas program of the season.
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
These are great little programs
The Addams Family
This is the 1990s version and the best. We always watch this at Christmas.
Major Crimes
2×15 Curve Ball – Christmas episodes! I love these dorks.
NCIS LA
1×10 Brimstone – I can’t believe how young they all are. It was nice seeing Nate and more of Hetty.
2×11 Disorder – Nell and Hetty are excellent together.
3×11 Higher Power – Nell and Hetty are the gift that keeps on giving.
4×10 Free Ride – Nell is elfin awesome
5×12 Merry Evasion – Nellverine in the field!
The Originals
2×09 The Map of Moments – I love this episode, even though we only get a glimpse of Freya.
NCIS
6×11 Silent Night
7×10 Faith
8×10 False Witness – Tony’s prank at the end gets me every time!
Hawaii 5-0
1×12 Hana a’a Makehewa
Warehouse 13
2×13 Secret Santa – I love these dorks
The Closer
3×14 Next of Kin
3×15 Next of Kin Part 2
6×13 Living Proof Part 1
6×14 Living Proof Part 2 – It’s fun watching Flynn and Raydor interact before they’re together
Grimm
1×07 Let Your Hair Down – First look at Monroe’s epic Christmas decorations
Double up this week due to much Christmas decoration on the 1st 🙂
READ
Rosie with “Confessions of a Public Speaker” by Scott Berkun
Confessions of a Public Speaker – Scott Berkun: I found this really insightful and helpful. I like hearing examples about this sort of thing, rather than just steps of what to do.
Sawbones – Jason and Sydnee McElroy:This book is based on a podcast, which I hadn’t heard of. But I am interested in medical history and some of the weird things that have been done, so I found it interesting. I did find the writing style a bit annoying, but still interesting nonetheless.
Four Princesses – Helen Rappaport: So much has been written on the Romanovs, but I’ve never read a lot about the other sisters (Anastasia is often written about). It was a fascinating look at the lives they led, and tragically they had so much to offer the world when they were killed. I also did not know that most of the loyal entourage – including tutors and guards – were also shot. The book reads to give the idea that the Romanovs had no idea what was about to happen to them the night they were shot, and I hope that was the case. It was fascinating to read about the princesses – Anastasia was a firebrand, Tatiana was an excellent nurse. I was also fascinated to read that Nicholas and Alexandra were determined their daughters should marry for love – so rare at that time. All in all it was an excellent book, yet tragic that such an unnecessary thing happened to them
Am I Ugly? – Michelle Elman: I went into this book expecting one thing and ending up with another. I have followed her on Instagram for quite a while. I was disappointed in her opinion on psychiatrists vs psychologists – I have had the opposite experience. It was a quick read – read it in one night.
WATCHED
According to Jeff Goldblum
1×01 Sneakers – I love Jeff Goldblum so I loved this. Fascinating by how much testing goes into a sneaker.
1×02 Ice-Cream – Yes. Just yes to this whole episode.
Deep State
2×01 So Nathan is basically a male version of Amanda Jones
2×02 Leyla is a badass
2×03 This show is getting weird
NCIS Los Angeles
10×15 Smokescreen Part 2 – Well this was a much less dark episode.
10×16 Into the Breach – Love Mama Deeks. And Nicole Du Champs is awesome
10×17 Til Death Do Us Part – All hail Hetty Lange. Great episode. I did and still do want a scene with just Hetty and Mama Deeks. Kindergarten Cop reunion, anyone?
10×18 Born to Run – Badass Nell is my favourite Nell. Also, Eric being upset that Nell kissed another guy was beneath that character. He knows she was on the run, trying to keep the asset safe.
10×19 Searching – Love Jake. Glad to see him back.
10×20 Choke Point – All Hail Hetty. Seriously, she’s fabulous.
10×21 The One That Got Away – I love Arkady! So glad we got to see more of him in this episode than the last one he was in
10×22 No More Secrets – Joelle and Anna hanging out together is creepy
10×23 The Guardian – The JAG theme playing as Harm appeared took me right back!
10×24 False Flag – The JAG theme playing as Mac appeared! I’ve missed these weirdoes. But wow – way to kill the Harm and Mac fandom’s dreams. Ouch!
11×01 Let Fate Decide – What kind of ending for Harm and Mac was that about? We only waited for them to get together for TEN YEARS. And then there was the 9 years that apparently they weren’t together. And now they’re not together again? COME ON!!
11×02 Decoy – This episode was okay, but it was very disjointed.
11×03 Hail Mary – This episode was hilarious. This is the show we need and the show I signed up for.
11×04 Yellow Jack – First of all, love Fatima and Navid. So happy to see them both again. Also, uh, Kensi and Deeks – shouldn’t you have had this kid discussion BEFORE you got married? Just a thought.
Madam Secretary
6×08 Ships and Countries: Who’s writing this? The Stevie/Dmitri argument was beneath this show and so is a lot of the things happening with Madam President
6×09 Carpe Diem – Oh look! This is where my show has gone! This is the first episode of this season that has felt like my show. The engagement! And the chanting – what Hilary deserved.
Elementary
1×06 Flight Risk – Ah, we finally hear Irene’s name.
1×07 One Way To Get Off
The Good Place
4×06 A Chip Driver Mystery – Oh good lord that book. Jason teaching Chidi to do something spontaneous was fabulous, as was his song. Bad Janet’s comment on people who don’t vaccinate their kids made me laugh.
4×07 Help is Other People – The line about Janet violently consuming Janet babies made me laugh out loud.
The Blacklist
5×06 The Travel Agency – Another not terrible episode. Keep it up.
5×07 The Kilgannon Corporation (No.43) – They’re still writing good episodes. I’ve missed this show being this good.
Heritage Hunters
1×01
Hawaii 5-0
3×16 Kekoa Damn Summer Glau can fight. I saw a bit of River (Firefly) and Isobel (Arrow) coming out there. Also, I love Kamekona.
Inspector Rex
2×06 The Blind Witness – Loved Rex helping the blind woman and so glad she got her own baby Rex.
NCIS
16×7 A Thousand Words – I loved the street art and especially Ritz’s painting of Gibbs and Bishop
Jane Austen at Home – Lucy Worsley: This was a really interesting take on Jane Austen from the perspective of the places she lived. I also learned a couple of things – like me, she had facial pain, and scholars believe it likely she had depression
Around the World in 80 Trains – Monisha Rajesh: I’ve traveled long distance by train once – 6 hours from Salzburg to Venice, through a blizzard. Not something I was interested in doing, but it’s interesting to hear someone who enjoys train rides go on a journey around the world in them.
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
5×14 Something Better
5×15 Between the Seats – This was a sad episode
5×16 The New Normal – Thanks for breaking my heart with Gordon
5×17 The Common Defence – VACCINATE YOUR KIDS!
5×18 Ready
5×19 The Great Experiment
The Originals (Parents First Watch)
4×13 The Feast of All Sinners – How am I crying the SECOND time I watch this?
5×01 Where You Left Your Heart – They like teenage Hope. And Caroline. And Amnesia!Elijah. They felt sorry for Marcel when Rebekah turned him down. And mum was a bit peeved when Klaus started killing off the roses by visiting Amnesia!Elijah
5×02One Wrong Turn on Bourbon – Felt so sorry for Freya. I love her friendship with Vincent. Mum was very sad about Henry.
5×03 Ne Me Quitte Pas – Mum likes Amnesia!Elijah piano-playing in France
5×04 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – They liked the teamup between Klaus and Marcel. And they feel Hope has a little of her father in her. They still haven’t guessed who has Hayley.
5×05 Don’t It Just Break Your Heart – Well they HATE Greta. And they were surprised by Antoinette’s and Roman’s connection to her.
5×06 What, Will, I, Have, Left – They were shocked that Declan was related to Cami!
5×07 God’s Gonna Trouble the Water – They didn’t expect the first-born curse of the Hollow. And they sincerely dislike Emmett.
Hawaii 5-0
3×14 Hana I Wa ‘Ia – So glad to know that Danny and Grace will stay together.
The Flash
3×23 Finish Line – Glad Iris and Caitlin are going to be okay. So glad we’re going to get to keep Killer Frost. I admit to shedding a tear when Barry went into the speed force with his mother.
Inspector (Kommisar) Rex
2×04 Deadly Seduction – I love how Rex is refusing to let that woman anywhere near Moser.
NCIS
16×04 Third Wheel – I don’t like Brooks horning in on my Gibbs/Fornell time. Also, Izzy can go away permanently.
NCIS Los Angeles
10×02Superhuman – That suit is terrifying. And while I love Admiral Kilbride, I miss Hetty.
The Veil – Chloe Neill:This was a really interesting novel set in New Orleans that had all kinds of supernatural beings. I really enjoyed it and have just gotten the sequel out from the library. Plus the main character is a redhead, which just makes everything better.
Rosie with “The Veil” by Chloe Neill
National Geographic – Rarely Seen:I love these photo books and this had some stunning photographs in it of things rarely seen both in nature and the man-made world.
Samurai in 100 Objects – Stephen Turnbull:A look at objects relating to the samurai, including armour, swords, screens and war fans. It was absolutely fascinating
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
5×09 Winter Garden
5×10 Family Separation Part 1
5×11 Family Separation Part 2 – If only fixing this problem in real life had been this simple.
5×12 Strategic Ambiguity
5×13 Proxy War
5×14 Something Better – Mr Panda was adorable.
Midnight Sun
1×07
1×08 – Well, that was a weird and sometimes disturbing ride.
Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure
1×04 Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan: Beautiful places. Uzbekistan’s metro is stunning!
The Originals (Parent’s First Watch)
4×08 Voodoo in My Blood – Well, they certainly didn’t expect Hollow!Sofya to stab Elijah in the back – literally!
4×09 Queen Death – They were both quite shocked by Elijah’s death.
4×10 Phantomesque – Oh, the red door is back. Joy.
4×11 A Spirit Here That Won’t Be Broken – They certainly didn’t expect to see Jackson – or that he would be Hollow!Jackson and evil.
4×12 Voodoo Child – I always have joy at Freelin. And we all agreed that Summer Fontana must have had so much fun playing evil as Hollow!Hope
4×13 The Feast of All Sinners – Okay, how am I crying at this the SECOND time I watch it?
NCIS
16×03 Boom – Uh, what the heck is going on with Vance’s prospective date?
Deep State
1×01 Okay…that’s the bad guy from Shazam! But he’s a good guy in this. I still expect to see his eye glowing, though.
The Blacklist
5×04 The Endling – What have they done to this show? I want the old writers back.
A short little book about witches living in New Orleans that preserve themselves in artwork.
Writers: Their Lives and Works – James Naughtie
A brief overview of several different authors, including some I was not aware of
National Geographic July 2019
Eye to Eye – Frans Lanting
This is such a beautiful book of photography from Frans Lanting. I particularly love his photos of elephants and the different wild cats.
Moscow: An Illustrated History – Kathleen Berton Murrell
This was an interesting short history (with black and white illustrations) of how the capital city of Moscow came to be.
Monster, She Wrote – Lisa Kroger and Melanie R Andersen
This is an absolutely fascinating book about all the pioneering (and a lot of forgotten) female writers of horror, ghost stories and speculative fiction. A lot of these women were sometimes the first in their fields, predating men who are often considered the pioneers.
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
4×15 The Unnamed – Well this had shades of Aung San Suu Kyi and the Rohingya.
4×16 My Funny Valentine – Puppies!
4×17 Phase Two
4×18 The Friendship Game
4×19 Thin Ice
4×20 The Things We Get to Say
The Originals (Parent’s First Watch)
3×05 The Axeman’s Letter – They completely agree Aurora is nuts
3×06 Beautiful Mistake – They loved Freya breaking the necks of all the Strix
3×07 Out of the Easy – They thought the Thanksgiving decorations and dinner were excellent, and were most approving of Freya breaking Aurora’s neck.
3×08 The Other Girl in New Orleans – They got quite the shock when they saw Finn!
3×09 Savior – They loved the Christmas decorations. Totally didn’t see the ending with Cami’s death coming. They also were quite shocked at Elijah having to dagger Rebekah!
3×10 A Ghost Along the Mississippi – Dad says this show has some of the best scriptwriting ever. They totally didn’t see Cami pulling the switch with Aurora and locking Tristan in the box coming!
Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure
1×01 Venice, Albania and Turkey – Utterly stunning scenery and fascinating information
NCIS
16×02 Love Thy Neighbour – This show is getting good again. So glad Maria Bello is in it. And this was an excellent piece of character development for Torres
The Team
2×05 I’m glad Tarek and Rasha are okay.
2×06 Seriously Nelly and Gregor? Did we HAVE to? Also, it’s like no one can kill the maniac birdwatcher!
2×07
2×08 I’m glad someone finally got the maniac birdwatcher. He was nuts!
Elementary
1×03 Child Predator – This episode was so good. Such twists!
The Blacklist
5×03 Miss Rebecca Thrall (No 76) – This show has lost something along the way. The writing is not as tight, and the characters are acting out of character.
Fascinating look at migration and how it affects the world.
National Geographic – September 2019
This was a really interesting issue not he Arctic, and how it is melting during climate change. It also had a fascinating article on the dangers of the permafrost melting.
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
4×06 Loophole
4×07 North to the Future – Kat Sandoval looks so smart in her suit.
4×08 The Fourth Estate
4×09 Minefield – I think Stevie would be an awesome President. Kat Sandoval is awesome.
The Team
2×02
2×03 – Is it really necessary for Gregor to hit on every woman he encounters? Also, I hope Helle did kill Morten because he is a creepy psycho Nazi
2×04 – So sad. Psycho Nazi lived.
The Originals
2×16 Save My Soul – Mum and Dad’s reaction to Vincent saying Eva was his ex-wife was hilarious
2×17 Exquisite Corpse – So huge grins and thumbs up when Freya breaks out of the magic binding chains and snaps Klaus’ neck. They also enjoyed her killing Esther, too.
2×18 Night Has a Thousand Eyes – They thought Dahlia was great fun and they were both glad to see the end of Mikael.
2×19 When the Levee Breaks – They weren’t particularly pleased with Dahlia when Aiden died, but boy did they get a huge shock when Klaus got daggered!
2×20 City Beneath the Sea – They both agreed that now that Klaus is awake, he’s going to be a tad cranky.
Inspector Rex
1×15 Under the Streets of Vienna
Arrow
5×20 Underneath – One of the best episodes they’ve done in a while! See, Arrow, this is what happens when you focus on the ladies.
NCIS
16×01 Destiny’s Child – Kayla Vance is awesome. And Jack laughing as Hakim ranted was hilarious.
Double shot this week because I had a migraine last week.
Read
When Everything Changed – Gail Collins
Rosie and Everything Changed by Gail Collins
A fascinating look at the way women’s rights have changed over the years.
Drop Dead Healthy – AJ Jacobs
This was an interesting read, but it’s hard to find any relevancy when you have chronic illness. Chronic illness makes it difficult to do any of the things recommended.
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
This book was interesting, because it kept you engrossed even though it was not a happy story.
Watched
Grimm
5×15 Skin Deep: It was like watching an episode of Botched. Also, Eve turning into Renard was beyond creepy
5×16 The Believer
5×17 Inugami
5×18 Good to the Bone
5×19 The Taming of the Wu
5×20 Bad Night
5×21 Beginning of the End Part 1
5×22 The Beginning of the End Part 2
6×01 Fugitive
6×02 Trust Me Knot
6×03 Oh Captain, My Captain
6×04 El Cuegle
6×05 The Seven Year Itch
Elementary
6×01 An Infinite Capacity for Taking Pains
6×02 Once You’ve Ruled Out God: I love this show. And their episode titles
The Blacklist
4×18 Philomena (no.61)
4×19 Dr Bogdan Krylov (No.29)
The Flash
3×16 Into the Speed Force
3×17 Duet: I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this episode and how much I didn’t expect to. Cisco can sing! Loved “Dads” Martin and Joe. Also, why is Kara awesome in every show except her own?
Inspector Soneri Fog and Crimes 3 – The Secret Room
Born to Drum – Tony Barrell: I LOVE to drum. I learnt in high school and I was quite good – I won two competitions and I was able to learn things by listening to them. Unfortunately fibromyalgia means that drumming is now very painful, but I still like to read about it and listen to other drummers play.
Landwhale – Jes Baker: Really great book. Very personal story but lots of things resonate
1,339 QI Facts
Watched
Grimm
4×21 Headache
4×22 Cry Havoc: Points to Trubel for finally knocking Juliette off
5×01 The Grimm Identity:Adalind has become remarkably less annoying as time goes on.
4×17 Requiem – Are we to assume that Kate’s version of the fire is the real version?
Elementary
5×22 Moving Targets
5×23 Scrambled
5×24 Hurt Me, Hurt You That reveal that the woman that has been kind of stalking Sherlock is all in his head was such a huge twist that I never saw coming. These writers constantly hit it out of the park!
It’s a special double issue this week because the ankle surgery has left me feeling a bit worn out. Enjoy.
READ
Rosie, Lamb Chop and Astrid Lindgren by Jens Andersen
Astrid Lindgren by Jens Andersen
The Durrells of Corfu – Michael Haag: I really liked this one because we got more information on things that Gerald didn’t write about. I had no idea that Gerry’s friend Theo studied radiology with Madame Curie! However I did not like that the author was so graphic with what happened to two of their dogs.
Himalaya – Michael Palin: Normally I love his travelogues, but this one bothered me. Not only did he ride on an elephant he watched a mahout hit an elephant with the front end of a bullhook. I really, REALLY hate that.
The Scarlet Pimpernel -Baroness Orczy: I mainly know this book from the mini series with Jane Seymour which I absolutely loved, but it was fun to finally read the book.
Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin – David Ritz: I had no idea what her life was like so this book was a real eye-opener.
Domino 1 – Gail Simone: Any comic written by Gail Simone (a redhead!) is a plus for me, so I knew I had to try this one out and I’m glad I did!
WATCHED
NCIS LA
9×13 Cac Thu Nhan
9×14 Goodbye Vietnam – having two episodes with Hetty’s friends was such a gift and I love that Linda Hunt got a great personal storyline
9×15 Liabilities – Hetty’s back! YAY!
9×16 Warrior of Peace – Nell continues to be awesome, but I found the story morally uncomfortable. Reminds me of an episode where they killed two Iranian security guards even though they didn’t have to.
9×17 The Monster
9×18 The Vendetta
9×19 – Outside the Lines: Nell’s in the field again! Rejoice!
9×20 Reentry
9×21 Where Everybody Knows Your Name: I’m glad Deeks finally got his bar. I think this will be great.
9×22 Venganza
9×23 A Line in The Sand: I’m totally with Deeks here. Mosley’s out of control and is going to get someone killed.
Hawaii 5-0 2×23 Ua Hala: The minute I saw Chin checking out Doyle from jail, I knew there was going to be trouble, and I was right. Also, Dad goes “I thought Steve’s mother was dead” and I said “Yeah, well when you see what she does, we’d probably all have preferred she was.” Plus, did Rachel really think Danny wouldn’t fight for Grace? The man literally uprooted his entire life to move to Hawaii just because she was there!
Grimm
4×4 Dyin’ On a Prayer
4×5 Cry Luison
4×6 Highway of Tears
4×7 The Grimm Who Stole Christmas
4×8 Chupacabra – we fast forwarded past the dog getting killed (why do people find it necessary to put this in shows?) but we enjoyed Wu finally finding out that Nick is a Grimm.
4×9 Wesenrein -Well there’s a terrifying parallel with the Ku Klux Klan if there ever was one.
4×10 Tribunal – Dear Wesen Council – stay away from Monroe and Rosalee. Also, I loved Juliette going all Hexenbiest on the Manticore – I hope she does the same to Adalind.
4×11 Death Do Us Part
4×12 Marechausse
4×13 Trial By Fire
4×14 Bad Luck
4×15 Double Date
4×16 Heartbreaker
4×17 Hibernaculam: Well that was weird
4×18 Mishipeshu: This is just getting really weird. And Juliette is out of control
4×19 Iron Hans
4×20 You Don’t Know Jack: And this is just bizarre
Black Lightning
2×1 The Book of Consequences Chapter 1 Rise of the Green Light Babies: Look if Jennifer wants to glow and float in her sleep, let her. And what would she tell a therapist? “I can self-immolate and I like to create growing protective bubbles?” Lynn annoys me.
Lego Masters
1×4
1×5
1×6
1×7
1×8 Not commenting on that final choice. David and G should have won.
Rizzoli and Isles
7×8 ZM7258-100: I know where this show is heading, and I’m not too happy.
