by gina | No. 04
Issue No. 04
Happy new year and happy new decade everyone! How has the first 12 days of 2020 treated you so far? Between an assassination in Iran and a massive fire in Australia, I’d say this year is off with a bang!
Global activities aside, I have a feeling that 2020 will be a great year. Have you ever had that feeling when things seem like they’ll be good/great/epic? That’s how I feel about this year. There’s a certain kind of momentum I’m having and I’m doing my darndest to keep it alive.
Holidays with Friends
I’m so used to visiting Maryland during holidays that this year was a bit of a jolt. For Thanksgiving I flew out to California, and for Christmas, we spent the evening having dinner with a dear friend at his apartment. He made a magnificent dinner. I made dessert (peach and apple galette, and chocolate shortbread). I am truly grateful to the folks I consider family – friends and relatives alike.
For New Years, I reciprocated the cooking. We went back to the same friend’s apartment and this year there was a lot of homemade food. I brought ingredients over for a “beef pocket” dish that turned out chef’s kiss. We also brought over another shortbread recipe. There was also cauliflower mac n’ cheese, chips, and a rice-chicken dish. All in all it was a great way to close out the year and welcome a new one.
Watched & Read
🎬 The much-anticipated list of my 5/5 rated movies I watched in 2019 is published! In the post, you’ll also find a link to a list of all the films I watched in 2019. What were you favorite films in 2019?
The other day I finally watched Midsommar (2019, Ari Aster). Beautiful film. After watching Hereditary I went into Midsommar with a certain expectation – one that assumed the film would be just as horror-filled as Aster’s first film. A lot of the imagery in ads also suggested an intense horror-like film. Don’t get me wrong. It was very horror-laden but for different reasons than Hereditary. (And I’ll leave it at that.)
📚 My list of 2019 books is still in the works but why wait to talk about books? I recently finished Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth (2019). It’s a Norwegian novel translated into English, and follows the protagonist (written in the first person) as she reconciles her sense of being, her sense of self in relation to the rest of her family whom she’s become estranged. On the surface, it reads like a typical family-drama novel. It even reminds me of Paul Theroux’s Mother Land (2017) but on a deeper read, the story perhaps is more about “cleaving away” and becoming our own. It’s not a popular perspective, no doubt, but it brings up a critical question of who we are, who we are to become, and the decisions we make to get there.
If you don’t want to wait for my book review list, you can see all the books I read in 2019 here.
‘Til next time.
🚲✌️