Part Christmas movie, part enemies to lovers, and part rich author can’t write. (I’ve released 6 books in six years. When are the talk show interviews, international renown, and castle buying money supposed to kick in?)
The story is simple and not very original, but that’s part of it’s charm. If follows through with all its promises and it’s certainly a feel good movie.
Score: 0.5
Characters
It’s nice to see a love story without mocking about two 50+ characters / actors. They are roughly the same age (thank you for not making her 21) and other than her having an adult daughter, age isn’t mentioned.
The main cast play their roles perfectly. The reticent author, the grumpy Scot, and the new best friends are all fantastic. I like the relationships made throughout the movie. Also nice to see a guy friendship with no toxicity in it.
There were a few times it felt forced or scripted and it threw me out of the movie.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
One of my English teachers told me that every type of love story is based off one of Shakespeare’s plays. This one has all the sass and quipping of Much Ado About Nothing. I love the interactions between characters and the quick, simple wordplay.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
It’s hard to beat the setting of a Scottish castle. They filmed it perfectly to bring out the beauty of Scotland, and the set dressing for the Christmas scenes was over the top in the best way.
The music was lovely, especially the choice of songs.
Score: 1
Fun
Both kids sat for the whole thing, although I bribed them with chips (don’t judge me, please). It was exactly what I wanted to watch and exactly what it said on the tin. I laughed, cried, and smiled a lot.
Score: 1
Overall
With two veteran actors hamming it up, this movie couldn’t be anything but entertaining. If you like romances and Christmas movies, you’ll like this one. It’s a lot fun.
I had less than half an hour to play today. I played the two Halloween-ish songs from my app, which made the kids happy.
I played my song twice… My allergies are really bad today so my voice sounded terrible. It was kinda funny.
Then I played a couple songs from my song app. Pegasus was very happy to hear Puff the magic dragon. It’s one of his bedtime songs.
Oct 13: New song!
I played about five different songs in the learning app. The two Halloween ones, of course, and then I played a Mozart and a couple Beethoven. Lots of fun. Very hard. But fun.
Then I played my song, and a few others.
Lastly, I messed around with different chords for a NEW song that I wrote last night. I don’t have a tune for it yet, so it’s coming together quite different than the last one, which felt like it popped into my head fully formed. Should be interesting.
Oct 14: Playing for fun
I played a challenge on the learning app and did decently. It was called Skeletons.
After playing a few other songs from the learning app, I moved on to the other app and asked my son which song he’d like to hear.
He requested Puff the Magic Dragon. Zero surprise there lol!
I’m rather impressed with how much easier that song is to play now. Especially the strumming. It’s feeling so much more natural.
I played my song once. I still love it.
I didn’t work on the new song today.
Oct 15: Repeat
My practice session today was almost identical to yesterday’s, except I did worse on some songs and better on others. I had forgotten how frustrating Youcisian is as an app for chords. If you’re not perfectly on the string, it doesn’t register properly.
I played my song twice because I felt like the first time wasn’t good enough.
I sent my new song off to a musician friend to look the lyrics over. I’m not going to start trying to put music to it until I get feedback from her, because I told her that I wasn’t attached to it. Once I start memorizing it, I will get attached.
I’m going to need to name these songs so you won’t get confused.
The first song is called Get to Know You.
The second song doesn’t have a name yet, so I’ll refer to it as The Wedding Song.
Oct 16: No playing
I didn’t play today.
Sorry.
I’ll try to make time tomorrow.
Oct 17: Today
I played a bunch today to make up for not playing yesterday.
I started on the learning app, played a bunch of the classical stuff. It was fun.
Then I played Get to Know You twice. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting worse at it…
I then played a bunch of other songs from my uke app and guitar app. I consider this to be strumming and chord change practice.
Samantha’s Sandwich Stand by Sonia Saikaley and illustrated by Nathan Caro Frechette (children’s picture book)
Samantha is bored. It is summer and her friends are on vacation. When she sees a lemonade stand, she wants to open one but her father convinces her to sell something different: her mother’s homemade Lebanese cream cheese and cucumber pita sandwiches. But can she convince others that her sandwich treat is just as refreshing and delicious as lemonade? When her friends return from their holidays and offer to help her, along with a very hungry eagle, will customers finally come and buy her sandwiches? Samantha’s Sandwich Stand is an inspiring story about believing in yourself, accepting help from others when something doesn’t succeed at first, and celebrating each other’s differences.
Coffee Shop Between The ‘Verses by Éric Desmarais (YA)
Jackie sometimes likes to have conversations with the characters, and as he reads five novellas in the small Ontario town of Baker…
In The Ridiculous Adventures of Felix Felicitous, the grumpy Felix is thrown into an adventure through time, despite his protestations.
In Only Human, Rachel has accidentally signed up for the University of Monsters.
In Wargrave Island, Inspector Riko Dulac has to find out who’s killing all her former high school classmates before there’s no one left.
In Database of the Ageless Kings, Sophia rebuilds an alien ship, only to find the galactic prince still inside.
In Devices of Desire, follow Artemis, Diana, and Ezekiel as they navigate secret identities, demons, and love in the kingdom of Cillian.
Are the characters Jackie is talking with real? Is he just talking to himself? Or is something else going on?
Beyond the Stone by Jamieson Wolf (queer paranormal romance)
After a schism renders the world unrecognizable, Magic comes out into the open.
Bane is a Supernatural who works for the Clocktower, the organization that is supposed to protect mortals from themselves. Jackson is able to teleport long distances and is also a clairvoyant, something that no mortal should be able to do. That’s the least of their troubles, however. Sparks fly when they meet, even if relationships between mortals and Supernaturals are frowned upon.
When they learn that the Clocktower is keeping mortals and Supernaturals prisoner, Bane knows that they will have to go against the Clocktower in order to break them free… but will they break themselves in the process?
Dissatisfied Me: A Love Story by Bruce D. Gordon (humour)
Rick “Dickie” Duncan is turning fifty. Meh.
On the eve of this mid-century milestone, he finds himself alone in his mother’s Ottawa basement, surrounded by gaudy decor and a carpet that hasn’t been raked in years. Grabbing some brews and frozen hotdogs, Rick rummages through the clutter that’s made up his dissatisfied life.
From the death of Santa to the last days of Scottish Rot, Rick meanders through the decades, mapping his existence amid the pop culture of the ’70s to the present day.
Marking key moments of his unsated misadventures and real-life dating disasters, Rick reminds himself that his journey is a love story. Sort of.
Artificial Divide, edited by Robert Kingett and Randy Lacey
Step into a world of rogue screen readers, Braille in fantasy worlds, a friend meeting an acquaintance after several years, and more.
This #OwnVoices anthology features fiction by Blind and visually impaired authors showing readers how they thrive, hurt, get revenge, outsmart bullies, or go on epic adventures. Artificial Divide is an own-voices story collection that captures the many layers of Blindness and, for once, puts visually impaired protagonists in the driver’s seat, letting us glimpse their lives.
When we think about it, we’re not really divided.
With stories by: Eunice Cooper-Matchett – Anita Haas – Rebecca Blaevoet – Tessa Soderberg – Laurie Alice Eakes – Melissa Yuan-Innes – Jamieson Wolf – Ben Fulton – Felix Imonti – Niki White – M. Leona Godin – Ann Chiappetta – Lawrence Gunther – Heather Meares – Fabiyas M V – Jameyanne Fuller
Shifting Trust by Madona Skaff-Koren
Tyler Demir left the RCMP after an undercover operation he was in charge of turned deadly. Refusing to make life and death decisions anymore, he now works as assistant head of security for a military funded Canadian nano-tech company. But when one of their scientists is kidnapped, the military send Tyler to England to retrieve him.
Not sure who to trust, Tyler uses contacts from his undercover days to get the scientist to safety. At every step, he sees the rescue crumble around him and again he has blood on his hands.
How the hell did he manage to go from a stress-free job, where lives didn’t depend on his split-second decisions, to this?
Boy have you grown in the past six months. From partial sentences to full conversations and descriptions. You are utterly adorable. You’re also a little terror at times, but that comes with big ideas, big emotions, and trying to deal with them.
Last Christmas, you didn’t seem to understand what was going on; this year you don’t know what is happening, but you know you should be excited about it. You asked for a cash register from Santa. I’m not sure if that’s because you wanted one or because Dragon had once mentioned she wanted one.
Right now, I take care of you while I work and I sometimes feel like I don’t give you enough attention, but that’s the way things have to be for now; soon things will change again. Your sister got her first vaccine and hopefully you’ll have yours early in the new year. That means that Dragon should be going to first grade in person. Then you’ll have Mum and I for most of the day.
When someone opens something you chant, “What is it, what is it, what is it?” in the cutest voice filled with excitement.
You’re starting to do imagination play where you make figures talk to each other and make up little stories.
You give the best snuggles.
You are terrible when you’re hungry or bored. You’ll scream and refuse to clean up. Just the other day, I was explaining other religious holidays to Dragon and you were bored so you just screamed. So frustrating.
There are 3 search and find books that you love and I swear they are the most soul sucking experiences. You’ve memorized all the locations of the stuff so you get bored part way, but insist on having me read them to you and then you just drift off. Sigh.
Overall, you are a wonderful little person and I’m proud to be your Papa. I hope you have fond memories of the holidays and I can’t wait to spend them with you for years to come.
Today we’re talking about the 2006 film The Holiday.
Story
The movie is easy to brush off as another rom-com holiday movie, but it has some surprising depth to it’s story and insights on love. The parallel structure both between the stories and between each pair of lovers is amazing.
Score: 1
Characters
Despite some exaggerated characteristics, the characters are well grounded and relatable. Each actor is at their best and it shows that the characters and roles were written for these specific actors. I still think it would be nice to see Jack Black in more romance roles.
Score: 1
Dialogue
There’s a wonderful balance between mid-aughts slang, romance tropes, and dialogue inspired by classic films. It gives the film a historic and timeless feel.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
Between this viewing and the last we upgraded from a DVD to a Blu-ray and upgraded our TV to 4K. The jump in colour and depth was amazing. This movie looked foggy and grey before and now looks vibrant and sharp.
With the upgraded tech, I can see the impressive camera work and hear the music better. The music goes the extra mile to give each character a theme and even make it so that they are played at a different tempo and key depending on the situation. Example, when they’re having a hard time, things go minor. Another cool trick is the melding of the romantic lead’s themes when they’re being romantic.
Score: 1
Fun
I always expect to find this movie long or get annoyed with the plot, but I don’t. It’s a story that makes me sad and happy and leaves me feeling satisfied. It’s just enjoyable.
The kids, however, got bored. It’s a little more talky and emotional than they fully grasp right now.
Score: 1
Overall
This movie plays on the actors’ strengths and develops believable and lovable characters. It’s got just enough of a classic movie feel combined with a good romance to make it unique and fun to watch.
Definitely a feel-good movie with lots of depth.
Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5*
*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.
That probably isn’t a word. But you all know what it means.
I’m even more nervous than I was yesterday.
Today, during my practice session, I played several different classical pieces. My favourite is Night on Bald Mountain. You probably know it as the song in Fantasia with the devil.
My children dance while I play it and it’s hard not to laugh because their actions resemble the demons in the movie.
Then I played my song multiple times. I’m really happy with how it went today.
I really hope it goes as well tonight.
Oct 7: Performance complete!
Thank you for following me on my journey from first picking up a guitar to a performance for my writer’s group. I will continue to post updates, but last night was what I had been preparing for for three months.
How did it go?
I made several mistakes, missed the strings once on a strum, discovered that it’s really hard to play a chord when my hands are shaking, and it was LOVED by the writer’s group.
So I’m going to call my first performance a win.
Next up, preparing for a live performance in a year and a half. (If the book is accepted by the publisher.)
Also, I have another song that I get to write for book 2. I’m going to try to write the music for it too, but I’m sure I’ll need help from my music mentor for that. I still want to try. I understand how it works a lot better now, so fingers crossed?
Today, I played a bunch of classical songs, which was fun. Then I played my song twice and recorded it once. My kids sang along. (They’re 5 and 2)
Talk to you tomorrow!
Oct 8: Relief
I am feeling a lot of relief today. Like I’ve climbed a mountain and found that I didn’t tumble down the other side.
I played a few songs from the search function in the app, mostly Halloween songs. They’re fun.
It gave me the idea that I could play from my Christmas songbook I’ve got for flute once it’s time for that kind of song. It’ll give me practice with the names of the frets AND practice with the names of the notes on the staff. I’m looking forward to it.
I played my song once and then played a bunch of other songs. It’s nice to just include it on the rotation of songs rather than play it over and over again.
Oct 9: Over an hour
I played way too long today. My fingertips are tingling. I really enjoyed it, though.
I feel like my strumming is improving.
I played several songs from the app, including the two Halloween songs I found the other day.
I also played my song twice. My son sang along. A few seconds late, but that’s still amazing for a two-year old, imho.
Oct 10: Break
No guitar or uke today. Too busy with I’m not even sure what… Kids, I guess?
Hopefully I’ll pick one up tomorrow.
My fingertips don’t sting too much today, so that’s awesome.
Oct 11: Uke duets
Today, I played the soprano uke while my husband played the tenor uke. We had a lot of fun, although husband says that I didn’t count in (I didn’t, but he didn’t ask me to until after we’d finished for the day).
It was nice to realize I hadn’t forgotten all the uke chords, although our app is great and has the chords at the top of the song. I miss that feature in the guitar app I have.
Both kids also played with the ukulele. They’re so cute.
Pegasus with the soprano ukulele. He needs to work on his left thumb positioning.
I’m not sure when it happened, but I became one of those people who has trouble not doing something. I’ve always fidgited and couldn’t fully sit still, but at some point my inability to sit still went from physical to mental.
I do a lot of things for various projects, jobs, etc. There’s always something to do. Because of that, I’ve had a hard time reading for pleasure.
I completely stopped during university and was fine until parental leave. There’s not much I can do on the bus other than read, video games, or emails. I tried writing, but it wasn’t easy. So for the past fifteen years I’ve read on the bus and it’s worked really well, allowing me to read an average of 20 or so novels a year.
A tired author wearing a shirt that says, “So many books, so little time.” On the shirt is an octopus with glasses holding a cup of tea and reading two books and holding another. Shirt available at Tee Turtle.
Since my second parental leave, I’ve had a lot harder a time. There are three reasons:
The first is simple and is just the lack of bus and forced time set aside.
The second will sound petty, but it’s my kids. I love my little Dragon and Pegasus, but they don’t seem to like me reading. Pegasus will physically put himself between me and a book or my kobo. Then when I put it down, he’ll go away and do something else.
He’s older now, so hopefully he’s getting over it, but I still have this weird instinct of not reading around him.
The third is something I’ve been been struggling with for a while. When I read, I feel like I should be doing something else. That’s how my relaxing evening reading turned into writing (that worked out for writing). There’s a kind of guilt and panic when I read that I’m having a hard time getting over.
I need to keep telling myself it’s okay to do things that aren’t productive. It’s okay to take ten or twenty minutes to be a little selfish. The other things will wait.
It’s okay to do things for pleasure and not production!
Maybe if I say it enough times it’ll sink in? I detest that I can know something intellectually and somehow not actually believe it deep down.
