Movie Weekend

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to see 2 movies that were complete opposites of each other. The first is In Bruges where two hitmen are told to take a break in the small town in Belgium and are to wait for further instructions. One enjoys the small town charm and history while the other dislikes it completely and prefers the city life much better. It has a dark humour about it, but it was also very bloody.

The other movie I went to see is The Other Boleyn Girl where we encounter the life of the Boleyn sisters, Anne & Mary and their lives in the England court with King Henry VIII as they both compete against each other to obtain the king's affection.

To Kill A Mockingbird

I recently took a little break from the book The Sea, The Sea to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is one of those great American Classics, and I absolutely loved it!

I am interested to see the 1962 film and see how well Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch. He was my favourite character in the novel, because he showed so much class and dignity and was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in.

The story takes place as Scout Finch, Atticus' daughter, narrates her views about growing up in a small town with African-Americans being treated unfairly. Her father, a lawyer, has been ordered to defend an African-American man for a serious charge where, if found guilty, the mandatory punishment is death. Scout ends up learning what is right and what is wrong with the help of her father and her older brother. She learns to face her fears and to be kind to everyone, despite what the people in the town tell her.

I am currently reading books from the "Rory Gilmore Book Club" where Rory Gilmore was a character on The Gilmore Girls that I admire and am fascinated with the books on that list.

But, I am always open to any other books that I may come across (or that have been given to me as gifts). I am now back to reading The Sea, The Sea and will keep you updated on my status.

Snow!

I love snow! I love watching it fall from the sky! I find it very magical and enchanting to see snowflakes outside. I'm not a skiier, or a snowboarder, I just like snow. I like it much better than rain, which I'm sure we'll be getting lots of this spring. There's no snow puddles, and snow doesn't make you drenched when you're outside for 2 minutes.

Lately we have been getting a lot of snow and it seems that everyone is frustrated and sick of it. I don't think we'll beat the record snowfall in one season (which currently stands at about 444cm from 1971) but we are pretty close. After last night's snowfall, we are now at about 358cm, which is now 2nd place.

It's been forecasted that we are to be hit with another big storm all the way from Texas and some meteorologists are predicting that we could get 50cm of more snow in a 36-48hr time period.

It must be pretty chaotic being someone that works in the snow plowing business, or who works for a major city as they have no time to rest before the next snowfall comes in, yet again.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I have just finished reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and found it very entertaining. I loved how one character could change the views of so many people inside an asylum and forced them to become independent again.

Next book: The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

Winter Weather

This is a map, as per the Environment Canada website, indicating weather warnings in different parts of the country today.

The red part means there is a warning, and the beige part means there is no warning in effect.

The weather has been so crazy lately with super-low temperatures in the Prairies, to ice storms in the Atlantic.

Luckily, we've had mild-like weather here in Ontario, and I've appreciated it. I'm now bracing for the 20cm of snow we're about to get tomorrow! I'm so excited about it!

Happy 50th Birthday LEGO!!

Australia

I had just heard on the news this past week, that Australia's foreign affairs had issued a warning to travellers coming to Canada. They were warned by posting a 'proceed with caution' list:

- risk of a terrorist attack

- pick pocketing

- earthquakes

- avalanches

- spontaneous forest fires

- extremely cold weather (wind chills)

- heavy snowfalls/ice on the roads

- wildlife watching

- demonstrations/protests

Every country is unique. You can't dwell on the negativities when contemplating visiting another country. There is always a risk in safety, no matter where you travel. It just seems a little over the top as to how many warnings have been said about a country like Canada.

The Bell Jar

I have just finished reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (her only novel written). The story is about a girl named Esther who is put through many different emotions, and is eventually sent to an asylum to help her to get some sleep and to stop her from wanting to commit suicide. She describes her insomniac depression as the feeling of being trapped under a bell jar, struggling to breathe. I love how the story ends in a quizzical way, leaving the reader to determine what should become of Esther. The book ends with Esther walking into an interview room where it will be determined whether or not she needs to be in the asylum anymore.

I recently learned that the book is semi-autobiographical and has many similarities to the author's real life, excluding the names of people and places.

Next book: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

The Secret Life of Bees

I have just finished reading a book I got for Christmas. The Secret Life of Bees is a story about a girl who is faced with hard times and has to make some tough decisions while learning about her past, and enjoying being a beekeeper at the same time. The book takes place during the time of the Civil Rights Act in South Carolina and forces the reader to deal with the controversy that people were facing at the time.

I love this book and I loved the main character, Lily, as she was led down certain paths, meeting really nice people that helped discover who she was.

Next book: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

Christmas

I have been finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit. I don't know why. It's not like the weather last year where it was sunny and green everywhere.

We most definitely will be having a WHITE Christmas this year!

I'm not the type of person that buys presents in October, nor do I buy them Christmas Eve, but this year I just can't get myself in the mood to go out and shop. I keep thinking there's lots of time, when in fact - a week today is Christmas Day!! Plus, I'll have to wrap everything in time also.

It just doesn't feel like it's the right time to be doing all this. Maybe I'm just focusing on all the snow and everything that has been going on the last few weeks. I think I'm just distracted from what I need to get done.

Hopefully (and I know that Steph is thinking this too) I'll head out the next few days and finish everything off in one big swoop so that I'm not stuck in a store with lots of people and line-ups and full parking lots with aggressive drivers. And then I'll lock myself away for a few hours to make those presents pretty and inconclusive to the recipient.

I will be spending lots of time with family and hope you will too. Happy Holidays!