This is a family pic from the start of the year, 2019 when we went to
some beautiful rice fields in Bali.
Some months are sooooo long, and January has been one of those months! It started out just superb; I mean we couldn’t have gone wrong with a new year beginning in Bali. (See some beautiful rice fields here and an exotic water palace here.) However, ever since we’ve been back from that wonderful, very relaxing vacation, life has been a whirlwind! I can barely keep track of all that I’ve done, but I’ll try…
BOOKS
I mentioned Where the Crawdads Sing in my December recap, yet I finished that book in January. Wow! I can’t give it enough praise. It was really, really good. Luckily my follow up books this month have been worthy of reading after such a great piece of work.
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
What a great story by Julie Murphy! We need more plus size protagonists in both young adult and adult literature. Dumplin’, more formerly known as Willowdean, is not a typical, skinny, Texan beauty contestant, yet she is beautiful, confident, and brave. With a mother as a former beauty contest winner and coordinator of the town’s beauty contest, she could have tough shoes to follow–if she chose to. Rather, Dumplin’ is her own woman, confident in her own skin, and brave enough to enroll herself in the contest regardless of her size. It’s only when a boy, a very good looking young man, likes her, a lot, that she starts to doubt herself. This story was so good. I highly recommend it to any woman of any age. (Now I’m just waiting for Netflix Hong Kong to add the movie to its list, so I can compare the movie to the book. You can guess what I think usually wins….)
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
To follow up this great YA novel, I read some poetry. I finally got my hands on Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur–it happens to always be checked out it’s that good! Wow. Can this woman string together words. To top it off her illustrations encapsulate her message so well.
Circe by Madeline Miller
I am currently cruising through this unusual tale. Circe by Madeline Miller is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s a Greek story, so aside from being entertained, I’m also learning a ton about the Greek gods–both the Olympians and Titans. Circe (pronounced sir-see) keeps switching gears; it’s completely unpredictable. The great thing about it is I’m grabbing for it when I go to bed at night only to wake up and do the same. I’ll be finishing this fantastical story real soon.
TV
Oh boy, did I get sucked in hard to a couple of series this month. That might be why I didn’t read as much. I will say though, when I finish an amazing book–like Where the Crawdads Sing, it’s hard to follow up with another good book. Luckily I hit the jackpot follow up book with Dumplin’. However this month on Netflix, there were two very binge worthy series that I cruised through–op, I mean three! And all three of them were a bit edgy with some sex and swearing. It would seem my tolerance for rated R content has become a little lax with the rise of Netflix.
You
Does this guy look like a killer? No, not at all. He looks like the guy next door. He’s handsome, polite, intelligent. He’s humble and caring. Joe by all appearances seems like the ideal guy. Yet, his mind inside is talkin’ some serious crazy talk. I was so addicted to this show. You was scary but not hide-behind-the-pillow scary. Rather it’s a creepy Norman Bates scenario that had me intrigued within the very first episode. I went through this series rapidly.
*Note: very graphic with violence, sex, and language.
Sex Education
After I finished You, I started seeing Sex Education appear in my Netflix suggestion feed. I watched the pilot and again I was instantly hooked. While You was psychologically thrilling, Sex Education was hilarious. But be forewarned: it is about sex education–at a somewhat sexily advanced and rather explicit high school. But imagine, being a 16 year old teen with a sex therapist mother. I mean I think my kids have it bad with a mom as a librarian, but sex therapist? Yikes. While I want to push books on my kids, Jean wants to push talking about sex and the teen issues this poor kid Otis is experiencing. Oh, I loved this show. And I already miss Otis, Eric, and Maeve so much. Season 2 can’t come soon enough!
*Note: very graphic with sex and language.
Derry Girls
All the shows that I watched were a little naughty in some way. You had violence, sex, and language, Sex Education had sex and language, then the Derry Girls had the language. But, oh, was it hilarious!! I mean the entire family was laughing out loud at this one. The show follows four high school Irish gals and one British bloke during the 90s in Ireland. Times were tough during this period of history, and this show does an exemplary job of illuminating this time while providing a good laugh at the characters. I seriously can’t decide which gal I like best: Michelle, Erin, Clare, or Orla. Then there’s James; my heart just goes out to British James who is not gay and will continually try to convince his community otherwise. I think if you can handle the Irish way of swearing, out of all three I watched this month, this one is a definite winner. Again, I can hardly wait for season 2.
*Note: very graphic (Irish) language.
MOVIES
We were so busy this month we didn’t go to the movies once! This is very unlike us. I did manage to watch a couple of movies on my own via Netflix.Birdbox
There was so much hype about Bird Box this month, so I wanted to try to watch it. The trailer was terrifying, so I asked Kevin to sit with me through it. (I’m a real ninny when it comes to scary stuff.) The thing about Bird Box is it wasn’t actually that scary; in fact it was kind of dumb. I found the book Station Eleven to be a much more realistic apocalyptic story. Yes the idea that looking at something would make one’s fears come about is terrifying, it was not at all realistic–not that sci-fi should be. But in an apocalyptic story, there’s gotta be a bit of realistic truth to the concept in order for the fear to really sink in. The saddest part about Bird Box was that people started imitating the blindfold concept which is pure idiotic and makes me angry at society. But, what can I say… people can be real dumb sometimes. Interested to see where you fall in the Bird Box group? Take this quiz. I’m Malorie!
Lucy
Lucy was a movie I started with Gigi. Like me, she’s a ninny when it comes to scary movies, and we had to turn it off. Yet, I still wanted to finish it–obviously I wasn’t too scared. I really enjoyed this movie: the heroine Lucy ends up with a smuggled drug inside of her that changes her reality completely. Morgan Freeman and his hypnotizing voice play a part in helping Lucy cope and ultimately die (or maybe live on) because of his brain research. This is an action packed, sci-fi, super hero (sort of) story that I enjoyed. It was right up my quirky alley, and in comparison to Bird Box it was so much better! Oh, I also commend Scarlett Johansson’s acting in this one. The evolution of Lucy was quite interesting and very believable.
*Note: very graphic violence.
SHOPPING
I know. I know. I have enough cowboy boots, so it’s stupid for me to have ordered another. Want to know what’s worse?! These cowboy boots were supposedly delivered to my workplace, but unfortunately they’ve gone missing: I can’t find them anywhere. Oh, I conducted a proper investigation–complete with CCTV coverage and everything. I have no idea where they went. But now my question is…do I buy them again?
CONNECTIONS
Lisa Von Ortenberg
During December there were tons of Christmas bazaars. The first one I went to was the very best one: at this event I met Lisa, the owner and designer of LvO Boutique. I passed by this amazing stall filled with unique dresses all in beautiful silks with great patterns. The styles of all the dresses were each so special. I can remember hovering at this stall until this beautiful blond was free. I could tell she was running the stall, and I really wanted to meet her. I’m so glad I did. Lisa is a true gem. We have so much in common, and yet we’re very different at the same time. I enjoy this new friendship I’ve made and can’t wait to get to know Lisa even better. It’s like we’re kindred spirits.
Nick Knight
In January, Lisa invited me to an event at the swank Café Gray Deluxe at the Upper House. Of course I said yes: I was so excited! Well, the event was out of this world. We listened to very famous, very renowned fashion photographer Nick Knight. Wow. WOW! First off, this man is so humble–even though he’s taken the portrait of the Queen, David Bowie, and Alexander McQueen. His wife was there in attendance and we could all see the twinkle of love from each of their eyes, and she was an ordinary woman. He was asked a pretentious question like, “Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with, dead or alive?” His first response was a repairman! But then he answered honestly and said it didn’t really matter. As long as the person wasn’t a psychopath, he enjoys meeting all individuals. He enjoys all of humanity and finds beauty in all of us. It was such a refreshing experience. As he was such a wise individual, I took plenty of notes from him. To see an example of his talent, take three minutes to watch some behind the scenes with Nick Knight. (He’s the very tall and thin, handsome bald man.)
*Note: if you love different art, then I highly recommend visiting Nick’s website. After looking at the images–that are a amazing! click on the menu bar and head to the film section. His videography is just as sensational as his photography.
SPECIAL GUEST
My niece arrived on January 31st! We’re so excited to have Maeve here. Elle, her older sister, visited back in 2014. Maeve has a full itinerary while she’s here: this week, we’ll take her around Hong Kong. The second week she’ll go to school with our kids. Then the third and fourth week she’ll be volunteering at two local schools. I’m so excited for this opportunity; I feel very proud to be able to host my sister’s kiddos and share with my own kids’ cousins a bit of what life is like for us. You will definitely see more of Maeve on the blog during February!
This Time Last Year
I always enjoy checking out the same month the year before. Take a look and click away to old posts….
FOR FEBRUARY
I tend to fill this “What I’ve been up to” post with lots of media. Maybe in February I’ll try to do more culture and less screen. Of course books will be included, but maybe some of the online reading and viewing might make this post…
Here’s to a great Feb!
I celebrate my 47th year…EEEEK!
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