March Update...and a bit of Spring Break

 Spring is officially here but is it really here? I'm not so sure...I think the groundhog meant 8 weeks more not 6. Snow flurries were seen by me outside my window this afternoon. At least it's not sticking for very long.

We've been busy with house stuff and DH's birthday. I made beef stew and Irish soda bread for St. Patrick's Day. I hosted an Oscar-viewing party and a friend's birthday party, all-in-one! Oh and more house stuff...

I have not been able to read as much as I would've liked this month. Only two so far but I'm hoping for one or two more by months' end.

A MONTH LATER....

We have been mad people getting our house ready to go on the market! Lots of cleaning and repairing and moving junk out. We finally got our house up last week and had an open house Saturday. Nothing came of it yet but it's early yet...But we have to have our cats out when we do showings and it is so hard to figure out what to do with them! We went to the park and had them on their leashes but they were scared by all the noises and people and dogs...so it's not a permanent solution. I'm hoping our place sells quickly so we won't have to do too many...

Spring break was spent cleaning and moving and patching but we did manage to see a couple of movies together as a family and I took G bowling with a friend early in the week. Not quite how we wanted to spend it but it is what it is. 

G also got visited by the Easter bunny with some cash and jelly beans...plus we did take the time to decorate a few eggs the night before and G even made the crepes all by himself! Also...Moving is hard!

Books Read:

Dawn (Night Trilogy #2) by Elie Wiesel

Thoughts: All of Wiesel's three books are about the hard truths of living after surviving the Holocaust and how it isn't really living. There are no lessons to be learned or easy answers and silver linings. Not easy reads but very powerful.

Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz

Thoughts: I loved the way she threaded grief over the death of her loving father and the finding of the love of her life all around the same time. It's truly a beautiful book and one I'll return to again.

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

Thoughts: Mary Oliver has a way with words. You can tell she worships Nature and she writes to us because she is a disciple and has much to tell and teach us. I'd like to read one of her books of poetry as well.

A History of Fear by Luke Dumas

Thoughts: This was a fun and quick read about a man who kills a fellow classmate because he says the Devil actually made him do it. It's clever because he's very much an unreliable narrator and so everything is very ambiguous. Is it really Satan? Or is he just a severely mentally ill person who had a psychotic break? And it takes place in Scotland so another bonus.

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

Thoughts: This is the second book in his horror series. I loved the first one but had a harder time with the sequel. I listened to it and that may be why. The narrators jumped around a lot and I think it would have been easier to follow had I read the hard copy. I'm even unsure about the actual ending...I'll probably have to reread it before the final books comes out next year.

Day (Night Trilogy #3) by Elie Wiesel. See Dawn above.

Currently Reading:

The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth by Jonathan Rauch

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

The Revolt of the Public by Martin Gurri

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

TV

The Last of Us: (HBO) Fascinating look at mushrooms taking us out in their zombie apocalypse! That finale, whew!

Poker Face (Peacock): Can't wait for season two. Best show for me in a long time!

Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+): I am loving this season. Best Star Trek in a very long time.

Star Trek: TNG (rewatching. Am on season 7 now.)

Star Trek: DS9 (I am watching in tandem with TNG cuz I'm nerding out.)

Perry Mason (HBO): Started season two which is really good.

Oscars: Nothing crazy this year. Pretty nice and mellow.

NCAA men's and women's basketball aka March Madness. I didn't see every game but I saw many and I was not disappointed. 

This month is the NBA Playoffs.

Movies

I spent one weekend watching as many of the Oscar movies as I could. The only two I didn't see for Best Picture were Avatar: Way of the Water and All Quiet on the Western Front.

Elvis: Very weird and Bazzy but that was to be expected. I actually really enjoyed it.

Triangle of Sadness: Not my cup of tea. Meh. Rolling of eyes a lot. And that sea sickness scene was just too long.

Women Talking: I enjoyed this a lot more that I expected. I had heard it was really boring or that it felt more like a play. But I didn't feel that way at all while watching. I was intrigued the whole time and it ended up being one of my favorites of the year so far.

The Fabelmans: Interesting take on a fictionalized version of Spielberg's childhood. Seth Rogan was not my favorite in it. I felt he detracted from the story, unfortunately. Overall, it was just OK for me.

Theater: I saw Scream VI with a friend, John Wick 4 with DH, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and The Super Mario Bros. Movie with G and DH last month and last week. I think that's the most I've been to a theater in the last 3 years? All were pretty entertaining and glad I saw them!

The rest of April will be pretty chaotic. Until our house sells we are on notice for a showing anytime during the day and evening...G's final weeks of school are counting down as well....Looking forward to a time when we're in our new home and we can settle down again!

Joining up with Deb from Readerbuzz and her Sunday Salon.

February! Where did you go? G's Birthday and Life...

 I kind of checked out a bit in February. Between the winter blues, health issues, life, ugh...whatever. I just didn't get on here. Anyhoo, G had his 14th birthday last month! What? It is hard to realize how much time has passed and how little there is before he starts making his way in the world in one form or another. 

I just love G and who he is and who he's becoming! We found out about a new conveyer belt sushi place nearby and G said that is where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner. We haven't been to a place like this as a family since we moved back from Japan so it was a real treat! 

The next weekend we took him and a few of his friends to a trampoline place and they went crazy for hours!

The other big stuff is the storms...wow, and we didn't even get hit like other states...we have not had this much snow since 2007?!

I also attended Sundance online and attended one movie with the family at the end of January. I am so happy they allow for the hybrid model since the pandemic.

Also got out of the house to snow shoe with my friends! Gorgeous. 


Movies at Sundance I really liked:

Going Varsity in Mariachi: This was a fantastic documentary on a specific mariachi high school band in Texas. I had no idea this was a thing and it was amazing to watch these extremely talented young adults work hard and love on their mariachi culture. If you get a chance to see it, please do it!

The Amazing Maurice: We saw this one in-person as a family and with my friend and her family. It's based off of one of the Discworld books The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. 

Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls: Was a weird gem! Kind of a horror-comedy but not scary at all. If you like weird probably soon-to-be cult-classic films this one's for you.
Fancy Dance and The Persian Version are honorable mentions.
Books Finished in February:
G agreed to do Battle of the Books with a group of his friends at school so I've been working through a few of them alongside him.

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen-
I really liked this simple yet powerful story about Hannah, a modern Jewish girl who is transported back in time during the Passover. What's to remember during the Passover? Turns out a lot. Hannah experiences first-hand what it was like to be captured brutally with her people and thrown into concentration camps. I'm truly amazed how she was able to capture full-fledged characters and the awful history of the Holocaust into such a short book for middle schoolers.

A Divided Nation by Jennifer Nielsen--
Gerta and her family live in East Berlin, controlled by Russia, in the early 60s. Her father and her brother Dominic are in West Berlin during the night that East Berlin began putting up wired fences and then eventually the Berlin Wall.
Nielsen gives us a peak into what life was like for those who were caught on the wrong side of the wall through Gerta and her brother Fitz. Neighbor turning against neighbor as the Stasi listens in and demands obedience.
It's a great introduction for kids into what that time was like and hopefully after reading it will want to learn more!

Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational by Michael Shermer--
I really enjoyed the deep-dive into the psychology of conspiracism, how it works, and which conspiracies actually turned out to be true, like the conspiracy that started World War I. He also gives a pretty detailed analysis of some of the common conspiracies of our time like JFK's assassination and 9/11. He also gives us a lesson on common cognitive biases and how we can think through them as much as possible. It's a great book to have on the reference shelf.

Persuasion by Jane Austen--
This is a reread for me...third time! It's my favorite Austen. It was her last book before she died and it shows. I really feel it's her most mature novel. Harvard Press has released big annotated hardbacks for each of her books over the last few years and I am working my way through them! Pride & Prejudice was last year and this year Persuasion started me off.
Lots of interesting details about archaic English words and phrases. Info on what the different carriages were and looked like. And analysis by various people on why Austen said what she said or what things might mean. A whole new worlds opened up to me about the aristocracy and the Navy. They also talked about her more religious side coming out in particular in this novel...maybe due to her declining health? All stuff I would have had no idea about otherwise.
It's time to re-watch all the Persuasion BBC versions....

Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi (Aru Shah #4)--
I read this one aloud to G. We're now on the final book 5!!!!
This is my favorite series. Great character development. Wacky fantasy plots and hijinks. Kids who don't know what they're doing but trying to pretend they do and are so anxious about every choice and action and yet they still get up and try and forgive and laugh and cry. I love it!
Currently Reading:

I'm listening to Don't Fear the Reaper (The Lake Witch Trilogy #2) by Stephen Graham Jones. I didn't realize this was going to be a trilogy after I read the first one My Heart Is a Chainsaw. It was so good. So I am lapping this one up. It's an all-star cast! Different voice for each character. It's a slasher series so not for the faint of heart...
Upstream by Mary Oliver. I read her memoir/essays in the mornings to give me a good boost. Can she write or can she write? I can't even imagine having a brain like hers and absorbing all that information and spitting it back out. Wow. This is my first dive into Oliver and it's not going to be my last!
Fourteen Talks by Fourteen: The Essential Conversations You Need to Have with Your Kids Before They Start High School by Michelle Icard. G isn't out of middle school yet so I have time....
The Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman. I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. The Nineties were my formative years and it's time for the walking of the memory lane...
Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz. I'm over halfway now and I'm really enjoying her framing of the death of her beloved father and finding the love of her life, and now her wife.
Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality (Aruh Shah #5) by Roshani Chokshi. Final book, which is awesome and  also sad...
TV
DH and I have jumped on the bandwagon for The Last of Us. Never played the video game nor DH but everyone says it's pretty true to storyline. I'm loving it!
Picard is in its final season but everybody from TNG is back! Well, except for Wesley...I am loving every second of it. I'm also working my way through TNG. I'm on season six and halfway through the season the first season of DS9 premiered so I've challenged myself to rewatch that series alongside TNG. 

Poker Face (Peacock)--Natasha Lyonne is so good in this. Murder/mystery solve each week. New locales each week. New people she grows to care about...it's so different and yet familiar. I can't rave enough about this one.
Those are the highlights...whew.
March look ahead...
DH's birthday is this month. It's the big 5-0 and he is not looking forward to it but we're celebrating with friends anyway! There's St. Patrick's Day. And let's not forget it's the start of spring!!!! I am so excited to be done with this winter. It'll be miserable and cold for another month or so but still...
Also...we are planning to move in the next few months or so. We're frantically getting our house ready to put on the market. We're moving up in the world. We've been wanting a house for awhile now and even though we should've done it last year for the best bang for our buck with interest rates and all that...it is what it is. A lot of our time is going towards this goal. No crazy out of state move, thank goodness but we are excited to find something a bit closer to DH's work.
Bookwise...I hope to read a book or two by an Irish author like maybe Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan or a murder mystery by Dervla McTiernan...

October and the Spooky Season

 I say this every month...but what happened to September?

Lots of spooky fun plans this month. We just did our annual Fall hike (check). The soup season is in high-gear. Fall break is next week and we are actually heading out-of-state to meet up with our friends who moved out-of-state a few years ago. Outdoors, friends we haven't seen for awhile, and relaxation! The Haunted Forest is our annual "haunted" house we go to as a family...we'll be heading there soon too.

G has picked out his costume. This is the first year where he plans to trick-or-treat on his own! DH and I are planning on getting out the firepit and enjoying the evening with some yummy cocktails and spooky snacks with some neighbors. Hopefully the weather holds up!

Also, I'm so grateful my friend and her family are safe after Hurricane Ian hit. They were further inland but they were directly north of where it landed. They lost power and just got it back yesterday. Their fences are ruined and some plants did not make it. But other than that they fared well. All the neighbors came together and offered each other what they had. Just so grateful they're OK.

I've been full-tilt on reading and watching all the horror. I just have not been great at getting up my reviews...

Where's G? This one makes me chuckle...

I just love the fall colors so I'm sharing a few from our hike!

It's been hard to find the time as much as I'd like for my spooky reviews. My mom has been in and out of the hospital this last month, once with Covid and the second time with a severe bladder infection. So yeah, life gets crazy. 

So...onto the good stuff!

Books...I finished 7 books in September! Granted, I didn't start all seven in September but I'll take it.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. Lots of body horror in this one. I loved the creep factor and yet how funny it was. She does a good combo of both.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Question by Michael Schur. I read...well, listened to this one, with my friend for our philosophy club. And I highly recommend listening to it. Schur is the creator of The Good Place and he gets the whole cast to help him read it. It's a hoot. And he really dove into moral and ethical philosophy for the show and he gives us a rundown in his book. One of the most funny and concise lay-person philosophy book I've ever read. While, I didn't necessarily draw every conclusion he did, he sure got me thinking. Which is the actual point of philosophy and thinking about ethics and values is the actual point of moral philosophy. So go listen and be entertained and edified!

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab. I am really enjoying this fantasy series. I'm taking a break this month but I will finish off the final book in November! Very excited to see how she wraps it all up.

Last of the Sandwalkers by Jay Hosler. This is a middle-grade graphic novel that follows a group of beetles (who are scientists) who are on an expedition to find out what the world's like outside their tiny city. It's funny, heart-warming, and full of science. This guy loves his beetles. There's even an endnotes section for all your extra beetle and/or bug facts. Love these little gems.

Gallows Hill by Darcey Coates. This book felt like a movie in book form. There was non-stop creepy action. I had to keep reading in order to get away from super creep factor. I am now a fan! Coates is a prolific author and I can see why! She knows how to keep the terror amped up. This book has curses, ghosts, and zombies, plus a haunted house. What's not to love?

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden. This is a young adult graphic novel with lots of heavy stuff to deal with. I love what she tries to do here...she blends the fantastical with grief and trauma. I had a hard time following some of it. And it's definitely not for everyone but very interesting.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. I really enjoyed the premise of this murder mystery. An author is sending her preliminary chapters to an online acquaintance. We only see his emails to her and then the next chapter of the author's story. So there are two layers here, the fictional author and her fictional story...well, I guess three if you count Gentill as the original author of all! It's one of those meta-mysteries that Anthony Horowitz has made so famous recently. It did feel a bit rushed towards the end. But overall, it's a very quick and fun mystery.

Not bad for my first month of horror!

With Interview with the Vampire TV series coming out, I decided to finally read the original book. It's pretty interesting so far. And I am loving the updates to the plot the TV series has done! 

I am currently reading: The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle, Ghost Story by Peter Straub, Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films by Nina Nesseth. And I am listening to The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling.

TV...DH and I are watching Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. We both are really enjoying it. It's funny and beautiful. 

We also binge-watched One of Us Is Lying on Peacock a couple of weeks ago when we were recovering from our Covid booster jabs...silly but addicting. He said he would NOT be watching season two with me when it drops later this month...ha ha!

I finally finished Shining Girls on Apple TV+. That was a difficult one to get through. It's very dark with really no light until the actual final episode and not much is revealed but why or how with the fantastical elements. So while a quality series, I don't think I'd actually recommend it.

I've started Yellowjackets (Showtime), Dexter: New Blood (Showtime), and Interview with the Vampire (AMC+).

And of course all my cooking shows for Halloween are back on...Halloween Wars, The Great British Baking Show (Netflix), etc.

I'm also looking forward to The Midnight Club which drops later this month on Netflix. It's by Mike Flanagan who did The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass, and Hush. He also did Oculus...which scared me silly when I first watched it. Love everything he does.

Movies...The Northman: Watched with DH. I really liked this one. A lot more than I thought I would. Great storytelling, acting, action. Very impressive.

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel and Hell House III: Lake of Fire. The original Hell House went kind of viral and that was one creepy movie! I had a few nightmares from that one. Two was terrible and the third one wrapped it all up in nice paper bow. But it had some good scares. Watched the whole series with G. He really liked them!

The Boy Behind the Door (Shudder). This was a fun surprise. Two tween boys are kidnapped. And it's up to one to rescue his friend and outsmart the kidnappers. Very intense but it ends well!

Nope. I was really looking forward to watching this after loving Jordan Peele's first two horror movies. But meh. I wasn't overly impressed. It was pretty. The cinematography is amazing. But the story was all over the place, messy. And only one cheap jump scare...

Lou (Netflix). This was a fun one! Allison Janney kicks booty and the story has layers. Pretty tight pacing. It was dark, though. Kind of hard to see what was going on half the time. Why can she kick booty? Who's the prey and who's the hunter?

Sissy (Shudder). Yes, to this movie. Bloody and twisted. Great new horror. An influencer runs into her old friend at the drug store and is invited to her bachelorette party weekend...is she an old friend cuz she was also her tormenter? 

Yes, most of my movies are of the horror variety! Tis the season!

I hope to see Barbarian and Smile this month!

Week-in-Review: Happy Valentine's Day

 Happy Valentine's Day! OK, I'm late but that's how I roll...

G had his best friend over for a birthday sleepover so the fun just kept going. Lots of pizza, cupcakes, VR, Minecraft, and Nintendo Switch fun were had by all. I even got them to go outside and run around with Nerf guns for an hour so me for the win! 

One more birthday celebration this weekend with the grandparents. My mother isn't very mobile so we go to her and my father and bring the fun to them. It'll be more pizza and ice cream cake and a small game or two.

We had a freak snow storm blow in for a few hours Wednesday but it didn't stick but I know the mountains got hit with some moisture and it is sorely needed. We haven't had a drought this bad for 800 years!

Sunday we spent some time with my parents. We brought pizza and cake and sang happy birthday to G again! He's had a month-long celebration.😎

Also, happy Presidents' Day! G has enjoyed his much-needed day off. While DH and I did our taxes, got the car into the tire place, and drove through a little snowstorm...it has made it a rather cold, dreary, and gloomy day. On the bright side, we are watching my friend's two kitties while she and her family on vacation this week. More kitty time is always a plus!

We're planning on a game night this weekend with my nephew and his wife. We haven't done this since before the pandemic so we're very excited to get that going again.

I can't believe February is almost over...

Currently Reading:

Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The Once and Future King by T.H. White 

Serafina and the Seven Stars by Robert Beatty (with G)

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. du Bois

Books Read:

The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator by Jaokim Palmkvist / 2017 / 314 Pages / Audiobook / Scribd

Goodreads Summary:

In late summer of 2012, millionaire landowner Göran Lundblad went missing from his farm in Sweden. When a search yielded nothing, and all physical evidence had seemingly disappeared, authorities had little to go on—except a disturbing phone call five weeks later from Göran’s daughter Maria. She was sure that her sister, Sara, was somehow involved. At the heart of the alleged crime: Sara’s greed, her father’s land holdings, and his bitter feud with Sara’s idler boyfriend.

With no body, there was no crime—and the case went as cold and dark as the forests of southern Sweden. But not for Therese Tang. For two years, this case was her obsession.

A hard-working ex-model, mother of three, and Missing People investigator, Therese was willing to put her own safety at risk in order to uncover the truth. What she found was a nest of depraved secrets, lies, and betrayal. All she had to do now, in her relentless and dangerous pursuit of justice, was prove that it led to murder.

My Thoughts:

I first caught wind of this sordid crime during the Sundance Film Festival in January. They premiered the first three episodes of this 5 episode limited crime series called The Dark Heart. And wow it was good and it had me hooked. But as such is the nature of premieres--there wasn't a distributor yet for the rest of the series...so I looked and found...a true crime book talking about it. I needed to know what happened!

The book is a little bit dry. The TV series takes its liberties but that makes sense. But the book lays out the location, characters, and we get a tons of information on how the Swedish legal and criminal justice system works and I loved that! Fascinating stuff. And it just goes to show that dark hearts are everywhere.

Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud / 2013/ 440 Pages/ Own

Goodreads Summary:

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

My Thoughts:

G and I overall had a fun time with this one. It's a very imaginative world but also a very confusing one. Stroud has a whole glossary in the back for all the terms of ghosts and the business behind hunting them. He just has you jump on in and hopes you look in the back of the book for context. I'm a sucker for ghosts and a good mystery.

I don't think this has anything to do with Stroud but the American publisher. They tried to Americanize the language from England and it just kind of made it weird...like I kept thinking it was in the U.S. but it wasn't. G didn't care or notice so I think it's only adults who would care about that! But it was a bit annoying.

Overall, a fun ghostly mystery with more to read in the series!

Movies Watched:

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (Shudder) directed and written by Kier-La Janisse / 2021/ Documentary / Horror

Plot from IMDB:

• WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED explores the folk horror phenomenon from its beginnings in a trilogy of films - Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General (1968), Piers Haggard's Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man (1973) - through its proliferation on British television in the 1970s and its culturally specific manifestations in American, Asian, Australian and European horror, to the genre's revival over the last decade. Touching on over 100 films and featuring over 50 interviewees, WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED investigates the many ways that we alternately celebrate, conceal and manipulate our own histories in an attempt to find spiritual resonance in our surroundings.

My Thoughts:

I loved this weird and very long documentary on the history of folk horror cinema from around the world. They provide around 100 clips of various movies and there are so many I need to watch now! If you love cinema and horror this is a must-see. Maybe break it up into two or three watching blocks!

They Live in Grey (2022) (Shudder) written and directed by Abel and Burlee Vang / Horror

Plot (from Letterboxd):

While investigating a child abuse case, Claire discovers that the family is being tormented by a supernatural entity. In order to save the family, she must confront her own fears and use her emerging clairvoyance to stop the malevolent force.

My Thoughts:

A very strange horror film. It was way too long and it was a basic rip-off of "The Sixth Sense." While there were some interesting twists and some horrific visuals and jump scares, overall it was a letdown. But it wasn't a bad way to cure some insomnia...

TV Watched:

Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max): This is a new dramedy starring Bridget Everett. It's brilliant! Touching and funny and those are the ones that are dear to my heart.

The Super Bowl LVI on NBC: That was a great game! I made teriyaki chicken wings, pigs-in-a-blanket, and nachos with sides of hummus, pretzels, naan bread, and a veggie tray. Our friends came over and brought some yummy beers and jalapeno poppers. A good time was had by all!

The Gilded Age (HBO Max): Just started this one and it definitely looks promising. It has all the peeps I love. I've been wanting to watch a good period piece and this looks like it will do that!

Joining up with Deb from Readerbuzz and her Sunday Salon.

Week-in-Review: Happy Birthday!

This year's been tough so far. I've been dealing with some health issues and helping my mom, and you know, pandemic stuff, and life. So blogging about it all hasn't been a top priority but here's a little update. 

We celebrated G's 12th birthday last week! Where does the time go? I do not know. It was just our little family, Minecraft decor, and cupcakes. G got some books and Minecraft and Roblox-related items and he was happy as a little tween clam. He's a good kid and such a trooper with this pandemic.

We also celebrated the Chinese New Year, year of the ox. DH was born in the year of the Ox. We made some yummy gyozas by hand, curry, and chicken karage.

We've been getting a ton of snow so we spent an afternoon making snow angels and snowmen! It was nice to get outside. We're quite the hermits right now.

Things I'm Grateful For:

1. My son. He's such a good kid and I'm just lucky to be apart of his life!

2. The Japanese candy Hi-chews. They've been a life-saver this week. lol.

3. I don't have to drive a lot in the snow this winter. I've been very thankful for that this week with all the snow storms we've been having!

4. That I got my dad in for his first vaccine jab! He goes in for his second dose in two weeks. One more things of the plate.

Reading:

Books finished:

• You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe
• Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon
• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
• On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss
• A Voice of Her Own: Candlewick Biographies: The Story of Phyllis Wheatley, Slave Poet by Kathryn Lasky
• Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
• Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
• Black Heroes of the American Revolution by Burke Davis
• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
• Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by Hope Larson
• Goldie Vance Vol. 2 by Hope Larson

I'm currently reading The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Tales by Oliver Sacks, Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor (with G), The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson.

Classics that I'm reading: Still working on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I'm enjoying taking my time here. It's been a long time and it's the perfect classic to read as the weather gets chilly and the holidays approach. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas for my 1000 Books Project challenge and my Back to the Classics 2021 Challenge (19th century classic). I also started Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin for my Back to the Classics Challenge.

Philosophy: We are reading The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. 

Listening to:

Wow, No Thank You: Essays by Samantha Irby. Hilarious. I love her. Also reading for my 2021 Nonfiction Reading Challenge, essay prompt.

  Watching:

Movies:

So many movies...Sundance Film Festival...check out my reviews and lists. I've also been trying to watch the movies on the awards list too.

La Llorona (Guatemala)

Director: Jayro Bustamente

Written by Jayro Bustamente and Lisandro Sanchez

Starring: Maria Mercedes Coroy

Tagline: The past will haunt you

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this horror on sins of the past and if you don't deal they literally come back to haunt you. I watched this on Shudder. Glad it's nominated for best foreign film.

Sound of Metal

Director: Darius Marder

Writers: Darius Marder, Abraham Marder

Starring: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke

Tagline: Music was his world. Then silence revealed a new one.

My Thoughts: Riz Ahmed is amazing in this. Fantastic movie. Watched this on Amazon Prime. Definitely recommend this one.

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Director: Aaron Sorkin

Writer: Aaron Sorkin

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Sasha Baron Cohen, Alex Sharp

Tagline: In 1968, democracy refused to back down.

My Thoughts: Another great movie for awards season. Well-written and paced. I didn't know anything about this story and so glad I know now.

The Life Ahead (Italy)

Director: Edoardo Ponti

Writers: Ugo Chiti (screenplay), Romain Gary (book)

Starring: Sophia Loren, Ibrahima Gueye

Plotline: In seaside Italy, a Holocaust survivor takes in a Muslim immigrant boy who recently robbed her.

My Thoughts: Beautiful Italian film on unconditional love and finding one's true family.

Wolfwalkers

Directors: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart

Writers: Will Collins (screenplay), Tomm Moore (story)

Starring: Honor Kneafsey, Sean Bean, Eva Whittaker

Tagline: Be fierce. Be wild. Be free.

My Thoughts: Such a great movie. They can't make a bad one yet! I hope this one wins best animated feature. Hands down one of the best I've seen in a long time. 

Judas and the Black Messiah

Director: Shaka King

Writers: Will Berson and Shaka King

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons

My Thoughts: I'd heard about Fred Hampton's murder but I didn't really know about it. Wow. This is a powerful film. Horrifying and tragic. The performances of Kaluuya and Stanfield are truly Oscar-worthy. They just get better and better.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Director: George C. Wolfe

Writers: Ruben Santiago-Hudson (screenplay), August Wilson (play)

Starring: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman

Tagline: Everything comes out in the Blues.

My Thoughts: Fantastic performances! It was so sad watching Boseman's last performance. Just heart-breaking. But I found the film a bit hard to follow. I'd rather just see it on the stage, in person. But no denying the acting chops of these two amazing actors.

TV:                           

Finished off the fourth and final season and was not super impressed. It was a bit thrown together. Not its best season. 

Surprisingly really good! I watched it while I organized a bunch of stuff in my living room.

Best light-hearted and endearing series! Loved everything about this adorable feel-good show.

This just gets better and better! I keep reading all the fan theories...

Looking forward to a Skype get-together with friends on Sunday! It's the little things...

*all images for movies and TV were taken from IMDB

Joining in with Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon