The Royals:

When this show was first announced, I had absolutely no intention of tuning in. In fact, I probably would never have watched, but a few weeks ago, I was absolutely exhausted after walking around Washington DC all day. So, I flopped up on the couch and kept up with the Kardashians for a while. I hadn’t done that for years, so it was nice to get back in touch with Kim and Khloe and Kris and Bruce and all. I couldn’t be bothered to turn the television off, since I was being lulled into a comfortable peace by the fireplace I was sitting in front of in my rented apartment. After the Kardashians were done discussing their very important lives, The Royals came on. I was going to watch it for a minute or two, but I sat riveted through the entire premiere.

It’s absolutely awful, don’t get me wrong, but it was so fun! The characters are all awful human beings, the writing is dreadful, the plotting is odd, but the interior design is magnificent. I want to be a member of the royal family more than ever…hey Prince Harry. I wouldn’t even mind being a minor duke or lord. It’s a real shame that we don’t have any aristocracy in this country. I’d do everything in my power to marry into it. Anyway, the show is quite the soap opera and it’s dreadful, but I love it. I have two episodes to catch up on this weekend, and I’m so looking forward to it. Tune in, readers!

Citation Generator:

[That’s just one of several websites I used. I LOVE THE FUTURE!]

I love to write. I could write all day. I write too much on here as it is, but I don’t much care for writing about technical matters. There’s no soul, and I can’t talk about myself. That’s difficult for me, reader. Sadly for my sleeping schedule, I have to write two research papers this week. It’s not that bad, honestly, it just takes forever to gather the documents to cite and then properly insert them in the paper as well as properly format the citation. I did quite a few by myself before discovering that there are websites that will do it all for you. I nearly wept. You simply type in the ISBN number of the book, hit a button, and suddenly you have a perfect citation in MLA format. The modern world can be delightful sometimes. I still have quite a few pages to go, but it shouldn’t be too much burden. Hopefully I don’t procrastinate too strongly for the next few days…who am I kidding?

Museo Egizio in Turin:

I have always been aware of the Museo Egizio in Turin. In the past, it was renowned as one of the finest collections of Egyptological materials in the Western world. The Louvre, the British Museum, the Neus Museum in Germany, and this one are known as the must-see destinations for scholars and Egyptian enthusiasts. As the years have passed, the museum in Turin has been forgotten somewhat as it aged and fell out of favor for any number of reasons. Happily, it has been completely renovated and more and more of the pieces put on display that had previously been kept in storage. And now, it’s open again, and the reviews are wonderful. I hear it is full of the finest exhibits, curated to the highest standards. There are tombs and mummies and all sorts of papyrus on display. I can not wait to see it! Then I will have seen 3/4 of the great Egyptian museums of Europe. Only the one in Berlin to go after Turin. I have had a great desire to go to Berlin for ages now to see the bust of Nefertiti with my own eyes, and I’m sure it’ll happen sooner rather than later. Museums are my favorite places.

The Manchurian Candidate:

I have never had any much desire to watch The Manchurian Candidate. I have no interest in political dramas or murder or things of that matter. I do have a great interest in Angela Lansbury, however. I never knew that she was in the film, but I recently watched an interview she gave to a local theatre program in Washington DC because of her magnificent turn as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. She said that her role in The Manchurian Candidate had her playing one of the most evil women. I was intrigued and put the film on last night.

I thought I would get some other work done whilst it played, but I was captivated from the start. I’ve never seen Fred Astaire in a serious role. I know him best from delightful musicals like my beloved Funny Face. BONJOUR, PARIS INTERLUDE!

He was tremendous, though. The entire cast was flawless. The story tells of Raymond Shaw, a veteran of the Korean War who has been brainwashed and is dealing with the consequences of this. I won’t say one thing more about the plot because it is one of the best constructed thrillers I’ve ever seen. Angela was absolutely incredible. Put this one on your Netflix queue immediately.

Ab Wheel:

I am sure, no, I am confident, that my love for the ab wheel is ephemeral and will not last more than a week. I used to say I enjoyed push ups. Remember that? Push ups are awful. All exercise is awful. I’ve been working on what my sister and I call The California Diet — which is nothing really, just a name for our failed attempts to be healthy in preparation for our summer holiday in that state. I’m starting to get a bit more serious about it, because I do enjoy — to a certain extent — being healthy. On my Instagram, one of the many models that I follow (Baptiste Giabiconi in this case, because he stole my dream life — working for Karl Lagerfeld, having Choupette’s sibling, living in a beautiful Parisian apartment…I could go on, but I won’t) showed some ridiculous looking exercise that involved an ab wheel. I was amused because it looked kind of fun to roll around on the floor, so I ordered one off of Amazon. It arrived the next day — bless Amazon Prime — and I nearly died the first time I used it. Here’s an actual photograph of me trying it the first time:

But now that I’m accustomed to the device, it is just as amusing as I anticipated it would be. You stretch your body out and it really targets so many muscles. Of course, I don’t have any abs, yet, or you’d see two hundred photos of them from every angle, but I feel as if I’m going to get there at some point. I have to stop eating pasta first, though…I don’t know if I can do that.