What I'm Reading Again -- The Cellist of Sarajevo

I first started reading The Cellist of Sarajevo many years ago, on a trip to North Carolina to visit mom and E.  I had run out of my own reading material, so borrowed this book.  I didn't get too far into it before getting home, and then got busy with life and never finished it.

I needed something small and portable that I could carry around with me recently, and I found it when I was moving recently, so I decided to take it along.

I had to start over because, despite leaving a bookmark in the book where I had left off, I had little recollection of the contents of the first 30 pages.  I have made it about that far again, and hopefully I will get further this time!

What I Watched -- Loving

Loving is the personal story behind the United States Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia, which put an end to the state's ban on interracial marriage.

The film stars Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton and Mildred and Richard Loving, two unassuming people in love who want nothing more than to be left alone.  I find it interesting that such an American story is conveyed to us through two actors who were born in Ethiopia and Australia, respectively.  Before I knew that, I assumed that the relative lack of dialogue in the film was intended to illustrate that they were quiet, private people; perhaps it also had to do with difficulties with accents.

One thing I really liked about it was that there was very little between the two lead actors about the fact that one was black and one was white.  That's obviously the central difficulty in the movie, but -- as one might expect in real life -- by the time Mildred and Richard get around to getting married, it's just not something they talk about any longer.  It's simply a part of life that they have grown so used to that they hardly seem to notice it, even though everyone else does.

Bottom line: two wonderful under-performances carry a simple but powerful story -- and it's a history lesson, to boot.

What I Watched -- Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea is not a happy movie.  If you've seen or heard anything about it, you probably know that already.

Casey Affleck, everyone's new favorite sad guy, plays Lee.  Lee's brother passed away suddenly, and the childless Lee is thrust into the role of father for his nephew.  It becomes apparent early on that Lee left his hometown under mysterious circumstances, and the interesting parts of the move relate to figuring out what those circumstances were.

The power scene is a confrontation between Lee and Randi (played by Michelle Williams).  Her role in the movie is small but pivotal, and the scene is a great reminder of how good of an actress she is.

One probably would not be surprised to learn that a movie set in Massachusetts about a down-on-his-luck and misunderstood leading man was produced by none other than my boyfriend, Matt Damon.

Bottom line: dark, sad, and well done.

Goals 2017 -- May Edition

I've moved most of my belongings (except the rugs and big furniture) to S's house.  Now I'm on to the next task-- sorting:
     - What to keep;
     - What to sell;
     - What to give away;
     - What to throw away.

For all the stuff I'm going to keep, I have to decide where it's going to fit.

And I have a deadline!  K is graduating, and my mom, who has never been to S's house, is going to come visit for a night.  We have a guest room (L's Library) ready to go, but it's hard to get there on account of the boxes stacked everywhere.

So, that's the May project -- unpacking.

Goals 2017 -- April Recap

Phew -- what a busy month!

I got moved out of my condo, but the realtor asked me to leave the big furniture there for showings.  Not a problem generally, except it means I can't complete the setup of my sewing/craft area, because I'm going to use my current dining room table as my sewing table.  I also haven't moved my rugs, one of which I was going to use to define the boundaries of my craft room in the basement, so I am also without that. And since I don't have my notions cabinet in its final location yet, I don't want to fill it with a bunch of stuff that I'll just have to take out later in order to move it.

All in all, my April goal is a bit of a fail.

Nevertheless, I have some good news! S surprised me when I was super stressed out at work by building doors on my gardens!  Now it's easy to keep the vermin out but I can still get in without fighting with the chicken wire.

That was a wonderful treat, and made it much easier to plant my gardens, which has been mostly completed!  I have tomatoes and basil in the far one, cucumbers and peas in the second one, lots of herbs and stuff in the third one, and lettuces (as you can see) in the fourth one.  There is a little bit more room with the lettuces, so I may do some bush or pole beans.  However, it has been raining non-stop for about 5 days, so there is no planting happening anytime soon.  In fact, I'm having the opposite if my normal problem (forgetting to water), and my poor little plants are gasping for air right now!

What I Watched -- Hacksaw Ridge

There was a lot about Hacksaw Ridge that seemed overdone, overacted, or otherwise overly theatrical to me.  One thing that was awesome, though, was the story.  And it's a true story.

It's Desmond Doss's story.  He was a conscientious objector during WWII.  After the Army failed to run him out, he trained as a medic and was sent to Okinawa. After a brutal battle trying to take a ridge (Hacksaw Ridge, you might not be surprised to learn), the company fell back to the beach to await artillery strikes and reinforcements.  Desmond elected to stay, and the bravery and heroism he displayed was, assuming the events of the film are true, incredible.

There is a documentary about the whole event, which S has seen but I have not.  I think it's now on my list.

Bottom line: gruesome, but inspiring.

The Martian -- Take 2

I'm declaring The Martian to be a success.

I am also, perhaps surprisingly, declaring Overdrive to be a success.

The success of the former is without reservation. The book is funny, smart, and all-around entertaining. Even having seen the movie and knowing how it ends, it was still suspenseful. Plus I was thinking of my boyfriend Matt Damon the whole time I read it, so that's a bonus.

The success of the latter is qualified. It was nice to have a book always at my fingertips. I chose wisely, though I didn't know it at the time, with The Martian.

I think many books aren't suited for the type of e-reading that I do, which is extremely periodic. This book was great because it's not too serious in terms of requiring deep thought. Additionally, it's largely written as a journal, so there are stopping point aplenty.  As I discussed with K when she was in town last week, this format does not, at least for us, lend itself to an intense reading experience.

So, that's that.

Work

Ugh.  So much work.  I have never wanted so badly to have a few hours free just to cut the grass.

What I'm Reading Now -- The Martian

It's no secret how much I love (a) the library, and (b) paper books.  I've been hearing a lot about the Overdrive app, so I thought I'd give it a try.

For purposes of finding content, in case you're wondering, you might as well stick to the library's own app.  Overdrive is designed to give access to digital content.  I'm not much for ebooks, although I could see getting into reading magazines digitally. There so much ad content that is just wasted paper with a printed magazine!  Plus, the quality of the images on digital devices is great!

Anyway, I decided to test out the ebook service, and I know from my time at the bookstore that The Martian is a short one.  So I'm giving it a try.

Goals 2017 -- April Edition

Now that my notions cabinet is ready to be filled with sewing and crafting goodies, and since I will have all my stuff moved by the end of the month anyway, my April goal is to set up my sewing "room."

That's in quotes because it's probably just going to be an area of the basement, rather than a four-walled room.  Nevertheless, I will likely designate the space with a rug, and I have a table and chairs, my cabinet, lighting, sewing machine and supplies, etc.

Anyway, I'm excited about getting it all organized and finally moving my sewing machine off my desk in the office. Then I'll have a place to put my computer finally!