Goals 2019 -- December Edition

My December goal has been accomplished.  I ended up making four charitable donations.  I feel okay about this for two reasons:

1. Everyone can only do what they can do, and time is what I'm running lower on than anything.
2. Most places just want money anyway, and then they can do with it whatever they please.

It's probably more economical for the organization to amass multiple donations and put the job/project/task in the hands of one person who actually knows what they're doing than it is to have 20 people volunteering their time to complete a project but no one has a clue.

And look at that -- I'm wrapping up the year on a successful note!

Christmas Wrap-Up

I'm sure you were all wondering how I could possibly make it through a Christmas season without seeing Love Actually.  Rest assured, no such catastrophe occurred!  I watched that, as well as a PBS broadcast of Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir. 

S and I had a great time opening presents, cruising around on the golf cart, and ate delicious steaks -- preceded by delicious cocktails -- for dinner!

Happy Birthday to Me!

The Art of the Handwritten Note -- Take 2

I've been on several vacations lately, but The Art of the Handwritten Note never made the cut to take along with me.  It's a quick read (despite how long it took me to get through it), but not great for travel for two reasons: first, it's hardcover, and the added weight is always disfavored when packing.  Second, it's one I wanted to keep; abandoning it on a park bench or a coffee shop table upon completion was not an option.

I wanted to keep it because it has some practical assistance if you need to write a note but are struggling to find the words.  Sometimes it's helpful to have a few words to get you started.  So, back onto the bookshelf it goes for just those times, which are covered in the second half of the book.

The first half is focused more on the joy and importance of writing, as well as the choice of materials.  It was nice to read through, but if I could have just kept the second half, I would have; that's where the practical advice is.

What I'm Reading Now -- Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge

I don't know where I picked up my copy of Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge, but I am sure excited to read it. 

It's the non-fiction account of husband-and-wife avalanche researchers living in Alaska, who spend their summers rowing and kayaking along the coasts of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and other chilly and often unfriendly climates.  We'll see what kind of trouble they get into!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Celebrations!

Everyone who knows me knows that I love Christmas.  In preparation for the holiday, S did a wonderful job decorating the house!

And that's not all the celebration we've been doing: we have been wearing our Santa hats regularly; I have made 4 batches of cookies so far -- two each of molasses crinkles and Santa snacks; I have rotated through all the Christmas music in my record collection; S discovered the Season of Good Dog playlist on Spotify (which is hilarious); cards have been mailed; and movies have been watched.

So far, I've seen Christmas with the Kranks (which was a new one on me, although I had read the John Grisham book it's based on, Skipping Christmas), Little Women (not the new one -- yet), and It's a Wonderful Life.

We also had an early Christmas dinner with a quarter of the extended family, because we knew we wouldn't be able to get together for the holiday itself, and of course S and Z had their annual photo with Santa taken at the mall!  (The wives spent the hour-long wait shopping at the bookstore; no one was surprised by what we each bought.)

More Christmas celebrations to come!

What I Watched -- Captain Marvel

During the same trip to the library that we found Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, we found Captain Marvel, which is about as far from the former as one can get and still be in the movie universe.

And on the subject of universes, this is -- perhaps not surprisingly, given the title -- one of the many aimed-at-adults remakes of an old superhero comic within the realm of the Marvel Comics universe.

The plot doesn't matter much.  Good guy (or gal, in this case) trying to save the world from a bad guy; the usual stuff.  But it was funny in the way that all these movies are funny, and I very much enjoyed Brie Larson's turn as the title character.  She was fun and spunky but not in an annoying way.

Bottom line: exactly what you're expecting.  Not terribly memorable, but neither is it disappointing.

What I Watched -- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

S and I found Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee at the library.  I think it's safe to say this without spoiling anything, but it is exactly as sad as you would expected it to be.  Actually, perhaps sadder.

The movie is based on a book of the same name by Dee Brown, and looks at the complexity and tragedy of Native American assimilation into the ever-greedier settlers who are moving west and finding themselves in need of land.  The film portrays different responses to the government's attempts to purchase (or just take) Indian land, and plays out some of those responses to their ultimate -- and sometimes tragic -- conclusions.

Bottom line: in case I haven't said it yet, this is heartrendingly sad, but a worthwhile watch nevertheless.

What I Watched -- Rosemary's Baby

Every time the subject of disturbing movies comes up, C asks me if I've seen Rosemary's Baby yet.  Finally, I can say yes!

And now that I have seen it, I certainly concur that it fits into the category of disturbing movies.  If it had been a little bit less supernatural and into the occult, I probably would have loved it.  As it was, parts of it I liked a lot, parts of it -- though necessary in order for the movie to hold together -- were a little too out there for my tastes.

In case there is anyone else out there who has not seen it, here's the basic rundown: a young couple moves into a long-empty apartment in a building in Manhattan.  There are some strange things about the unit, including the neighbors, but they're excited about the find.  Rosemary becomes pregnant, but she starts to suspect that there is a cult at work in the building which wants to take possession of her baby for their demonic rituals.

So yes, it's a bit strange, but now I am part of the cul-- er, club.

Bottom line: it's a weird one.

What I Read -- The Road

I'm not sure why I take books on vacation when I have other work to do.  The book will always be more enticing, and becomes a great excuse for not doing the work.  "Just a few more pages," says I, "and then I will go back to reading that deposition transcript instead."  Except do you know what doesn't ever get read?  That's right!  It's the deposition transcript.

We were heading down to Florida for Thanksgiving, so I decided to take the bleakest, coldest, most miserable book I could find.  You know, just in case the sunshine and ocean breezes got to be too much and I was missing a good, old fashioned, St. Louis winter.

And if bleak was what I was looking for, I sure found it.  Cormac McCarthy is known for being a bit of a downer, but I'm not sure I've ever read something quite so unrelentingly grim as this.  Which is not to say that it wasn't still compelling (and not just because my alternative was actual work).  The anticipation of something terrible happening at any moment was more than enough to keep the pages turning long after I should have gone to sleep.

Goals 2019 -- November Update

K reported to me that she did not meet her daily water intake goal, but she did do substantially better at drinking water than she had before the month of November began, so that's improvement!

Additionally, for my part, I did get that last salad (in a manner of speaking)!

Goals 2019 -- December Edition

For December, K and I will both celebrate the holidays with four charitable actions.  It might be a donation, it might be volunteering, it might be something else, but we will make the world a better place in a few little ways.