Nope Movie Review Listen below now or on your favorite streaming platform ! Nope opened with 44 million at the box office. It reunites Daniel Kaluuya with director Jordan Peele since their huge break-out film, Get Out . Peele went on to release US before reuniting with Kaluuya again. I am no longer a huge horror film fan so I had to get my mind right to watch this. However, when I saw that UFOs were in it, I adjusted my thinking. I did not see it as a horror movie but thought of it as a science fiction suspense film.  Thank goodness I did because as a horror film, it failed in my opinion. As a science fiction film, it was okay. I thought there were a lot of missed opportunities where suspense and a little thrill could have been injected as the storyline was being built.  Those missed opportunities took Nope down a few notches for me. The horror categorization needs to be removed completely.  Nope finds itself in the interesting valley where all the elements of a...

Thor: Love and Thunder Scroll down to listen to Podcast instead Thor: Love and Thunder starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tessa Thompson reunite some of the MCU's favorite and familiar faces. I have to admit, I was nervous when I first saw the teaser trailer and the first few trailers that were put out. It seemed a little too quirky and over the top. After watching, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness I don’t know how much more over the top I could have handled. I also was not sure about the whole Jane as Thor thing.  After watching it, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised at the final outcome of the film. It was fun and quirky and corny but in an endearing way. My daughter actually had to remind me that, it kept in line with the Thor series. Now, I know there were some complaints about the CGI, and the only time, for me, that it was most notably not great was in the very beginning … well, and some parts in the middle.  All of the elements that make a ...

You are a Badass Everyday Part 3: The Spiritual Gym Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Have you read You are a Badass Everyday by Jen Sincero? She really is a badass. This is my third installment regarding what I have learned from reading her book. All in all, this will most likely be a 5 part series. Below you will find parts one and two.  You Decide: You are a Badass Everyday by Jen Sincero Part 1 You are a Badass Every Day Part 2: Success This reflection on her book is particularly interesting because it directly ties in to managing stress and building your stress management toolkit. If you have been in any of my workshops, you would have learned that I do not believe in reinventing the wheel. I scour books, the internet, and articles for the latest on stress management so I can share what I have learned with my readers/listeners so that together we can move a little less clunky through life.  When Sincero writes about the importance of a spiritual gym in our badass ques...

  Mr. Malcolm’s List Scroll down for podcast Mr. Malcolm’s List based on the same-titled book by Suzanne Allain was released in theaters this weekend. I went to see it for a couple of reasons. The first one is that I am a huge fan of cheesy historical romance novels. I used to devour them in my younger years and every now and then I indulged in them when I am not listening to an audio nonfiction book. Secondly, I had to go see it because they are clearly trying to capitalize on the whole Bridgerton diverse casting trend, and a diverse cast it was. The weekend box office just touched 1 million with it being in about 1,300 theaters.  If you are a fan of historical romances, then you will enjoy the film as I did. These novels and therefore movies are very formulaic and predictable. Every now and then a plot twist slightly surprises me but the ultimate outcome is the same. Guy meets girl, guy loses girl in some preventable conflict and guy gets girl back. Mr. Malcolm’s list was no...

Stop Policing How People Deal with Events in Life Tragedies are happening all over the world at any given point in time. According to Georgetown University’s Bioethics research data, 120 lives are lost every minute. Loss is a part of life. Tragedies are something millions of people have to deal with on a regular basis. Mass casualties are even more taxing on a community. With the growing use of social media and its burgeoning worldwide popularity, we are able to connect even more when tragedy strikes. More than that, we are able to imagine ourselves in those dire situations. Sometimes social media, with the aid of the mainstream media, serves to lengthen our exposure.  However, It seems that with this comes criticism of how people choose to deal with the pain or the difficulties of various tragic situations. This is primarily a social media phenomenon in which people will criticize what another person is posting about. Can we stop it? People are allowed to deal with and manage trag...

The Book of Answers for Stress Management You can also listen to the podcast The Book of Answers by Carol Bolt was originally published in 1999 and has since sold over one million copies worldwide. The best way to describe it is the book version of the eight ball. You know the black ball you ask a question and then shake it to get an answer. Except the book has pages and pages and pages of potential answers. All in all, it is a simple, lovely way to be encouraged to self-reflection. The instructions are easy enough. Think or visualize your questions while holding the book until you sense it is the right time to open it, finding the answer to your closed-ended question. I would take it a step further and use it to help you journal your thoughts and feelings. Personally, there is nothing special about the book unless you are like me and find words to be beyond magical. In that sense, The Book of Answers is remarkable in its simplicity.  This is a book of encouragement. When you get y...

Moonfall  8/10 If you are a science fiction fan and you passed on watching Moonfall because of the critics you would be missing out. It is a conglomerate of some of my favorite science fiction themes rolled into one. You’ve got aliens, end of the world level destruction, space exploration, and artificial intelligence all on board. I absolutely did not mind that Moonfall completely ignored the whole pick-a-lane concept.  Moonfall is about a washed-up astronaut played by Patrick Wilson (who is completely underrated in my humble opinion) and the world on the brink of experiencing an extinction-level event by way of the moon crashing down to the earth. The film also stars Halle Berry as Jocinda and John Bradley as KC Houseman. Donald Sutherland made a cameo and I am still trying to figure out what his purpose was. Now let me be straight up. There were some holes in the storytelling. It could have been a little tighter. If they wanted this could have been two movies: Moonfall 1 and...

  Music Musings: Cool People by ChloeXHalle The music musing pick is Cool People by ChloexHalle Music is a wonderful tool for helping us build our stress resilience and get through tough times, and this song definitely got me through some difficult moments. I am sure most people think of romantic love when listening to this but that was not the case for me.  I was an only parent raising two teens and there were moments when the little boogers were trying all of my patience. The dynamic can be slightly different for a widow trying to do it all on her own and doubting herself every step of the way. Teenagers aren’t the most selfless beings when they are trying to figure their own life out. If you can imagine, I wanted to strangle my then 13 and 15-year-olds, but this song saved us all.  I would just let it play and it reminded me of how precious and awesome they both are. It brought me back to when they were babies and made me think about them growing up in this very differ...

Journal Prompt: Healing vs Bullying When do you stop being bullied by your parents? So I am watching Sweet Magnolias and a particular mother is rude and overbearing with her daughter. Her daughter is now a grown woman and her mother is still trying to bully her into doing what she thinks is best.  There are instances in my past where I have felt pressured to make certain choices and in some instances I resented it and in others, I have thanked God for my mother’s foresight. As a parent now, I find myself not always giving direction but sometimes being forceful. It is difficult not to get into “mommy mode” and ruin the vibe. I find myself teeter-tottering on being helpful and just being annoying. However, bullying instead of teaching and nurturing is not the message a parent should send out.  Was there ever a time, you felt bullied by your parent/s? Was it a one-time thing or was the entire relationship that dynamic? I would like to think that we can learn and grow from the tou...

Cheslie Kryst RIP: Be Outraged Listen to the podcast or keep scrolling to read the post. Cheslie Kryst, 2019 Miss USA, lawyer-activist and entertainment correspondent, dies today after jumping out of a building. She posted a fun TikTok just a few days ago and her last post on Instagram as seen below is leaves a haunting hurt behind for anyone who views it and now understands that she was saying goodbye. CDC sites that “suicide affects all ages. It is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34, the fourth leading cause among people ages 35-44, and the fifth leading cause among people ages 45-54.” Do not be shocked. Be outraged about the suicide rates and statistics in America that you do something about it. Be outraged enough to stop stigmatizing and making fun of mental health issues. Be outraged enough to take care of yourself and pay attention to the people around you. I obviously do not know her story. But I know mine, as a person who lost a loved one to sui...