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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Al Purdy. I’ve been frantically trying to track down one. specific. poem. In the process, though, I took some time to finally read through the selected poems my parents bought me. It’s been a nice reminder of why I number him among my favourite Canadian poets. Watching… Bunheads. Guyyyyyyyyyyyyyys, how had I not watched this show before now!? Kelly Bishop is a goddess. And Sutton Foster is so fantastic in this show. And Amy Sherman-Palladino writes such fabulously smart and hilarious dialogue and creates quirky, delightful worlds. Plus, any Gilmore Girls devotee is going to love the number of actors who appear on both shows. Listening… “God Bless…
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Read This
As someone who knows I don’t want children, and has known as much from a fairly young age, I think about what it means to be a woman who doesn’t want children and how this impacts my life a lot. I’m at an age where the children issue is both something you confront on a daily basis — my friends are starting to have kids or discuss having kids with their partners, the ones who don’t have kids or a person with whom to have kids are starting to worry about timelines, and the question of children is actually something that arises in the dating world (and knowing you don’t want…
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Quoted
This is what separates artists from ordinary people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won’t wash them away. — Anne Lamott
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman. I actually started this book of short stories, the second from Mayhew Bergman, in the summer. I loved it so much that I bought it for one of my best friends this Christmas. Then the other day I was moving books on my nightstand and realized I HADN’T ACTUALLY FINISHED IT. So I’m making my way through the last couple stories now and still totally loving it. Mayhew Bergman creates truly fascinating characters in her writing, and her chosen subjects in this collection captivate me. Watching… Seinfeld. This show has been on my “to watch” list for quite some time now…
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Read This
Required Reading. 2015 was, for my family, a year of death. I don’t know why things seem to go like this. I don’t know why death occurs in clusters. I don’t know what exactly do do with the reality of death. I don’t know how to deal with loss and grief and the looming spectre of mortality while carrying on with several jobs and daily tasks. I think about it a lot these days. I don’t mean this to sound like a cry for help; it isn’t. Life’s just been hard and weird lately. I’ve been thinking a lot about this essay by Paul Kalanithi as a result. His story is…
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Quoted
There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it. — Mindy Kaling
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Reading Watching Listening
Reading… Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Yes, this is a children’s book. No, I don’t have a child. I do, however, have a deep love for Winnie the Pooh, so as soon as I saw this book I snapped it up. The story is both true and sweet, and the illustrations are beyond adorable. Watching… The Office. Canadian Netflix finally added this show, and I can’t get enough of it. Jim and Pam are pretty much all of my relationship goals. John Krasinski is adorable. BJ Novak is adorable. And Mindy Kaling is my spirit animal.…
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Read This
Required Reading. Sloane Crosley is hilarious. She is also whip smart. I mean, I’m going to be a huge fan of anyone who titles her first essay collection I Was Told There’d Be Cake. Similarly, anyone who opens said collection with an essay beginning with “As most New Yorkers have done, I’ve given serious thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during the day.” Her observations of her world are nuanced and hilarious and feel oh-so-familiar to this twenty-something dealing with the weird world of adulthood. In case I was wondering if it really made any sense for me to identify with her life, this New York Times essay…
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Quoted
If I stay long enough in the studio, just stay with the work even if it doesn’t feel great or seem satisfying or directional or conclusive, if I just stay to tend and garden, then my mind gradually yields control to the more automatic labor of painting, and with that comes a sweet spot in the process further down, a worn groove, a sense of ease. — Anna Schuleit
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Reading Watching Listening
Like the weekly reading series I introduced on Wednesday, this is another returning personal favourite series. Part recommendation, part record for myself. Reading... I’ve started some reading for a contract research position at a museum, so just yesterday I re-read Margaret Atwood’s “The Age of Lead” from Wilderness Tips. It’s a surprisingly touching story from a collection that I would argue is some of Atwood’s best writing. Watching… I started re-watching One Tree Hill over the Christmas break. Sometimes a girl just needs a good dose of teen-oriented soap opera-esque drama supported by a kick ass soundtrack and the prodigious use of “meaningful” quotations. I’ve also been actively trying to convince myself…