A few snowflakes are enough to transform not only the city, but also its inhabitants. People have to look up from their damn screens, walk a bit slower, and awkwardly smile at each other while they navigate the slippery pavement. Drivers remain as much a menace as ever, but at least their ugly hunks of rolling metal are suddenly useful as snow-collecting devices for kids of all ages. (Nothing brings me more joy than watching arthritic grannies trounce raucous teens in a snow fight.) In the evening, even the most brutalist buildings look like glowing Advent calendars – what mysteries lurk behind their doors? Unfortunately, this wonderful interlude only lasts a few hours nowadays. That’s all the more reason to enjoy it while it lasts.
Books
The Impossible Fortune (A Thursday Murder Club Mystery #5) by Richard Osman. At this point, reading Richard Osman is like drinking café au lait in your comfiest chair near the radiator, which is exactly what i did while reading The Impossible Fortune. Was the main story a bit wonky at times, the subplot unusually weak, the Townes and the Tia storylines rushed to the point of being useless, and the near absence of Chris and Donna a damn shame? Yes. Did i thoroughly enjoy spending more time with my four favourite crime-solving pensioners and their growing cadre of accomplices? Also yes.
Links
Here are a few “let’s ditch our smartphones and blog like it was 1999” links for your consideration:
- “Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards” by Elizabeth Lopatto
- “These College Students Ditched Their Phones for a Week. Could You?” by Callie Holtermann
- “The Case for Blogging in the Ruins” by JA Westenberg
- “A website to destroy all websites” by Henry Desroches
Movies
My Old Ass by Megan Park. I’m torn about this story featuring a 39-year-old woman. On the one hand, My Old Ass is a devastating film about the midlife crisis of a “very young adult” masquerading as a charming coming-of-age story. On the other hand, it’s also a terrible bait-and-switch about a young lesbian who suddenly discovers that “dick sex” with the dorkiest man alive is the only true form of sex.
The Life of Chuck by Mike Flanagan. I’m torn about this story featuring a 39-year-old man. On the one hand, The Life of Chuck is a faithful adaptation of the novella of the same name, which might be one of the best things ever written by Stephen King (in large part because it’s also one of the shortest). On the other hand, it’s also all tell and no show, almost like an audiobook masquerading as a movie.
TV shows
Solar Opposites by Justin Roiland & Mike McMahan. Like Rick & Morty, if Rick & Morty was still funny and culturally relevant.