#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

I'm afraid I haven't been very good lately about flagging interesting/relevant articles & posts that I've read to share with you all here. A couple recent ones of note:  

• Pronatalism much??  I remember thinking that when I read a few weeks ago about the U.S. Department of Transportation's new order to give funding priority to communities with “marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.” (!!)  I filed it away mentally to include as an item in a future blog post, and was reminded of it again when Lyz Lenz drew attention to it in a recent Substack post:  "Make America Isolated Again."  Have a read (but take your blood pressure medication first!)(joking/not joking). 
• Pronatalism much (part 2)??  As has been my habit since I was, oh, about 10 years old, I watched the Oscars on Sunday night (even though I'd only seen one of the nominated movies, "Conclave").  I mostly enjoyed the show, with one major exception. I hear "A Real Pain" is really great, and that Kieran Culkin deserved the Best Supporting Actor statuette he won -- but did anyone else cringe when he called out his wife in his acceptance speech and reminded her that she now "owes" (!) him not just one but TWO MORE KIDS?? (!!) Ugh...
• I've been enjoying Lisa Sibbett's Substack, "The Auntie Bulletin." A recent post outlined her strategic plan for 2025 & beyond. Worth a read, and lots to look forward to! 
• Friendship issues are huge for those of us living without the children we wanted: navigating the inevitable changes that happen when all our friends are having babies (and then grandchildren...!), how to make new friends when your old friends seem to abandon you for other mothers, etc.  This Substack post by Hailey Caulfield of "The Waiting Room" addresses some of these issues: "The space between us: Friendship, change, and the unspoken grief of growing apart." 
• Life coach & podcast host Lana Manikowski also has a Substack: "Childless. So Now What?" Most of the posts I've read to date are short but very much on the mark. From a recent post, "Never Be the Same":  
  

People love to say, “Everything happens for a reason,” but I found no comfort in those words. The truth is, some things just happen. Some dreams don’t come true. And sometimes, life takes a turn we never saw coming. But does that mean we’re destined to live a mediocre life? To settle for a version of ourselves that feels lesser than?

No. Absolutely not.

• Glynnis MacNicol (who is childfree by choice and wrote the wonderful memoir "No One Tells You This" -- reviewed here) revisits the 1978 Jill Clayburgh movie "An Unmarried Woman" in this Substack post.  (I remember seeing it, years ago, albeit not a lot about it, other than that it was really good.  I'd love to see it again although, as MacNicol points out, that's sadly easier said than done.) Says MacNicol: 

One of the reasons I keep returning to it, is that it’s one of the rare films, or television series, that allows a woman a happy ending that doesn’t involve marriage or a child. Another is that it’s a near perfect film. Jill Clayburgh’s performance is one of the best.

(FYI, Clayburgh's character does have a daughter in the movie. Also of note: she was nominated for an Oscar for the role, but lost to Jane Fonda in "Coming Home.")   

On another note, you'll be seeing fewer gift-linked articles from the Washington Post from me in the future.  I recently cancelled my longtime digital subscription to the paper. I've been meaning to do so ever since the publisher killed an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris before the election. Several other things have happened since then to reinforce that decision, including the departure of several writers I respected, and the publisher's decision to kill an editorial cartoon. 

I thought I'd wait until closer to when my current subscription rolled over in May to unsub (any cancellation on my part would not kick in until then) -- but the straw that broke the camel's back was the resignation of the editorial page editor, after the publisher announced a new direction for that section, one that would advocate “personal liberties and free markets” -- but not publish opposing viewpoints on those topics. 

It made me sad (for one thing, it was a very cheap subscription -- if/when I ever wanted to subscribe again, I could wind up paying up to 10 times more!). There are still some writers there I enjoy reading, and I love their Friday books newsletter.  I grew up worshipping Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein from the Watergate era;  I read Katharine Graham's memoir, "Personal History," years ago (a great read!), which only increased my admiration for her.  I'm sure she would be rolling over in her grave if she knew what's happened. :(  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.

Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

February was (like January) grey, chilly -- and snowy. The first week of February hadn't even ended, and dh & I were admitting to each other that we'd already had enough of winter!  Mother Nature, of course, always gets the last laugh.  We had about 60 cm of snow -- about 2 feet! -- in the space of one week, mid-month -- more than we had all of last winter, and the most we've had in several years!  It's taken forever to get everyone dug out -- and we've had more snow since then too!    

It was also a pretty dark month, in terms of current North American & world events.  :(  

Pandemic diary/update: February was month #59 (marking almost FIVE full years, going on SIX!) since the covid pandemic began in March 2020. :(   We (still!) remain covid-free (so far as we know... knocking wood, loudly...).  We still mask in stores, malls and (most) other such indoor public spaces hereabouts, especially if/when there are lots of people around. (Well, I do -- I know dh does not, when I'm not around to hand him a mask...!)  

Among other things we did this month, we: 

• (I) Appeared on the Full Stop podcast (along with the lovely Sandra McNicol) to talk about pregnancy loss & childlessness!  (The episode was actually recorded in late January, but I didn't want to post about it here until it was "live" -- which was on Feb. 2nd.)  
• Went to the nearby mall to do some walking and shopping (then returned home for lunch) on Feb. 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th. 
• Made a trip to the bookstore (mostly to shop for Valentine stuff for the great-niblings, as well as some cards), with a stop at the drugstore en route home (Feb. 6th). 
• Picked up SIL & drove up to see Older Nephew & family for the afternoon, including the baby (Feb. 9th). (BIL was in NYC with friends to watch the Super Bowl!)  
• Stopped at Canadian Tire for a few things (it's more than just tires!) en route home from the mall, and then at the drugstore to pick up dh's prescriptions (Feb. 11th). 
• Went out for brunch on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14th -- first meal in a restaurant with just the two of us in quite a while! -- see "Eating," below), followed by a stop at the bank, a browse at the bookstore, and a stop at the supermarket (which -- Friday, Valentine's Day, long weekend, etc. -- was an absolute NUTHOUSE!).   
• Stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few groceries and some takeout soup for lunch, en route home from the mall (Feb. 18th & 25th). 
• Went to BIL's on Saturday, Feb. 22nd:  Older Nephew & his wife were going out for an early dinner & asked his parents if they'd look after the kids -- and they called us to come over. Enjoyed spending time with both Little Great-Nephews! (I even got to hold LGN #2 for almost an hour!)  
• Went to a nearby community centre to vote in the Ontario provincial election on Feb. 27th, and then to the supermarket to pick up some takeout soup for lunch.  

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 4 books in February (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books"):  

• "The Mad Woman's Ball" by Victoria Mas -- the March book for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club. (3-3.5 stars; my review.) 
• "The Mermaid of Black Conch" by Monique Roffey, the April selection for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club. (4 -4.5 stars; my review.) 
• "Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney, the current book for the Culture Study (Europe) online book club. (The story of how I came to join yet ANOTHER book club is included in my review, here. 4 stars.)  
• "The Wedding People" by Alison Espach. (4-4.5 stars; my review.) 

This brings me to 7 books read in 2025 to date, 16% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) on track to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J. G. Farrell -- the first new Footnotes and Tangents slow readalong for 2025, which started Jan. 13th, for 9 weeks, ending in March. Currently 75% completed. 
• "Peter West" by D.E. Stevenson -- the one DES book my group has NOT read together, in its 25+ years of existence! I read this in advance of our group read, which began Jan. 13th and runs through late March. Currently 70% completed. I'll count this one as a re-read when we're done. (2-2.5 stars; my review.)  
• "Anne of Windy Poplars" by L.M. Montgomery (called "Anne of Windy Willows" in the U.K., with some text variations). My L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group started reading & discussing this book together today (Jan. 6th). This will be our last book with our wonderful administrator of the past five (!) years, Andrea, who is moving on to other projects. I just (re)read this one right at this time last year, so I chose not to read it through (again) on my own first (as I normally would), but I will count this one as a re-read when we're done. (My previous review here.) Currently 39% completed. 
• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  I'm once again taking part in a chapter-by-chapter group read of this CNBC classic!  The most recent Zoom meeting covered Chapter 7.  This is the 5th (!) time I've read this book, or the earlier version of it ("Rocking the Life Unexpected").  (Most recent review, with links to earlier reviews, here.)  
• "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through, in between the other books...! 

Coming up: Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and listing them here helps me keep track of what I should be reading next. ;)  

• For my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club:  Books for May and onward to be determined. 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2025 or even into early 2026!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered shortly after I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• Miss Buncle Married (original 2015 review here). Starting in March/April. 
• The Two Mrs. Abbotts (original 2015 review here).
• Crooked Adam
• The Four Graces (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs planned for 2025 include:
• "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel -- starts May 5th, for 20 weeks. 
• "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe -- starts Sept. 29th, for 5 weeks. 
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- starts Nov. 3rd, for 7 weeks. 

(Simon is a big fan of the late great Hilary Mantel, and the other books he's selected were all ones that she loved, so he figured they would probably be worth reading!) 

• Culture Study (Europe): next book TBA. 

A few recently purchased titles (all in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):  

• "The Right Kind of White" by Garrett Bucks 
• "The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon 
• "Brothers" by Alex Van Halen 
• "A Nation Worth Ranting About" by Rick Mercer 
• "Saturday Night" by Doug Hill & Jeff Weingrad 
• "Who Could Ever Love You" by Mary L. Trump 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Watching: 

• Way too much CNN and CBC News Network!!  :p  (Trying to pare back, for the sake of my mental health...!) 
• A new season of "Finding Your Roots" on PBS. 
• Figure skating: Bits of the European and Four Continents championships. (Worlds coming up in March!)  
• A Ken Burns two-part documentary about Thomas Jefferson on PBS, first shown in 1997 but recently digitally restored. 
• The "Saturday Night Live" 50th anniversary special on Feb. 16th (all 3.5 hours of it!!), which I wrote about here.  (Also the SNL music documentary produced by Questlove,  which was shown on TV in late January.) 
• The Oscar-nominated movie "Conclave," starring Ralph Fiennes & Stanley Tucci, on Amazon Prime, while at BIL's on Feb. 22nd (waiting for the kids to arrive!). Excellent performances all round -- and the setting!!  

Not watching: The Canada/US matchups at the Four Nations Cup (a new international all-stars tournament) -- and especially the final game on Feb. 20th, which went into overtime (!). Given the current political environment, this game had huge emotional significance for my country (even more so than a hockey championship game usually does -- which is always a lot! lol), with national pride on the line. 

I couldn't watch -- just too much tension and anxiety -- but when my phone started dinging with notifications, I knew the game was over. Canada won! and dh & I rushed over to the TV set to see who had scored the winning goal -- or, as I said to him, "Who was Paul Henderson this time??"  (Answer:  Connor McDavid!)  (And if you don't get the Paul Henderson reference, Google "Canada Russia Summit Series 1972" -- he's responsible for one of the greatest moments in Canadian sports history.)  

Listening: 

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of Feb. 28th: 
• Heardle 60s: 76.3% (650/852, 253 on first guess), down 0.4% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 77.8% (459/590, 258 on first guess), up 0.2% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 38.7% (170/463, 67 on first guess), down 0.9% from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
• Heardle 90s: 29.7% (168/566, 34 on first guess), up 0.4% from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections:  
• By Jan. 31st, I'd completed 187 games and won 80% of them, including 107 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors. I increased my maximum winning streak from 15 to 21 (and counting!).  :)   
• By Feb. 28th, I'd completed 215 games and won 81% of them, including 78 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors. I maintained my maximum winning streak of 15.  :) 

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  

• Late in January, we achieved our goal of lowering our cholesterol levels after less-than-stellar bloodwork last fall earned us both serious chats with our doctor. (We'll be doing more bloodwork later in the year to check again.)  Since then, we've continued our efforts to eat healthier -- reduce our portion sizes, cut back on fatty & processed foods (fewer casseroles, more chicken and beans/lentils), eat more fruits, vegetables and fibre, snack less (and make better snacking choices), and be at least a little more active. 
• Since then, I've yo-yo'd a bit, but ended the month another 1.2 pounds lighter.  I'm down more than 9 pounds since our chat with the doctor last October, and 21.6 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
• We went out for brunch on Valentine's Day -- less crowded and a whole lot cheaper than going out for dinner! We don't eat out too often these days, so this was a treat! (We both had omelettes -- a western for him, ham & cheese for me -- and the waitress brought us a complimentary mini-pancake shaped like a heart, warm off the griddle, dusted with icing sugar and a couple of cinnamon hearts).  
• Some notable recent takeout meals: a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket (with baked potatos & veggies, made at home) -- lots of leftovers for another dinner plus sandwiches!; soup and pizza slices from the supermarket takeout counter.

Wearing:  Same as last month:  Long-sleeved tops (and sometimes a cardigan over that), yoga pants, socks AND slippers, inside the house.  

Buying (besides books, lol):  

• More Canadian products (as are many of my fellow citizens), in light of the threats a certain U.S. politician (cough!) has been making against my country recently.  :(  
• Valentine and Easter goodies (already collecting those!) for the great-niblings, as well as birthday presents for Little Great-Niece.  :)  
• A couple of sweaters at AE, on sale.  
• Some more masks from a supplier than Turia recommended to me during the pandemic, during a recent sale. (I particularly like these ones.) 

Enjoying:  Reading more books again this month (and some really good ones too)! 

Appreciating:  My country, now more than ever.  :)  

Trying: To reconcile myself to another 4-5 years of our provincial government, which won (another) majority in our recent election. (Sigh.)  

Noticing:  Although there was a provincial election campaign going on, there were barely any signs on people's lawns or street corners (maybe because there was so much snow??). I saw a few posts on social media from people who noticed the same. Some people were complaining they hadn't received their voting cards in the mail before election day (although you don't actually need them to vote;  you just bring ID to the polls), and others said they hadn't had anyone knock on their doors.  I'm not sure if it was the weather or the snap election/tight timeframe or...?? 

Turnout was, sadly, abysmal. :(   

Prioritizing: Buying Canadian, wherever & whenever possible. (See "Buying," above.) (Although the tariffs Trump seems determined to slap on us aren't slated to kick in until March 4th now.)  

Wondering:  If & when my to-do list is ever going to get shorter...! 

Wanting:  Someone to tell me it's all going to be okay. (Unfortunately, I know nobody can truthfully tell me that.)  

Loving:  Seeing the weekly photos that Older Nephew's wife has been posting of Little Great-Nephew #2 every Friday. (He just turned 10 weeks old yesterday!)  Always a day brightener!  :)  

Feeling: Like winter is never going to end...!  Apprehensive about the state of the world right now. :(  (Very!) Happy that we're going to see the nephews and their families this weekend for Little Great-Niece's birthday party.  :)  

"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach

I first heard about "The Wedding People" by Alison Espach from Modern Mrs. Darcy, who highlighted it in her summer 2024 book preview last year. Since then, several people (both inside & outside the CNBC/blogging world) have recommended it (including Mel and Jess -- the link goes to her review), and Jenna Bush Hager chose it for her Read With Jenna Book Club) (August 2024 pick).  When I recently found myself (finally!) clear of book club priorities (for the time being, anyway...!), it was the first book I reached for in my "priority TBR" pile.

Even so, I approached it with some trepidation. For one thing, even when people whose opinions I respect tell me they've enjoyed a book, I'm always just a little afraid that maybe I won't. I also was a little leery because while I've heard some reviews describe this book as "chick lit,"  I knew it touches on a serious topic that one wouldn't normally associate with that genre.  

Phoebe Stone arrives at the Cornwall Inn, a swanky, scenic hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, without luggage, wearing a green dress and gold high heels. Within the first few pages, we learn why she's there. **CONTENT WARNING & SPOILER ALERT:** She's flown there from across the country on an impulse, intending to enjoy an evening in a place she's always longed to visit -- before she commits suicide. Her life is a mess:  her marriage has fallen apart; her husband left her for someone she thought was a friend (a colleague AND a mother to boot!), following repeated (unsuccessful) rounds of IVF, a miscarriage and the prospect of permanent childlessness -- not to mention the death of her beloved cat and general career burnout.   

However, Phoebe soon discovers the entire inn -- aside from her suite -- has been booked for a week-long wedding celebration. In short order, she unexpectedly becomes the unlikely confidante of the chatty young bride (Bridezilla??), Lila (who is horrified when she learns of Phoebe's plans -- not so much by the thought that Phoebe wants to kill herself, mind you, but that doing so will ruin the vibes of her carefully planned wedding week!!).  And she finds herself drawn further and further into the lives of "the wedding people." 

Obviously, there's some serious stuff covered here, and the book touches on a lot of sensitive themes/realities that the many of us -- especially in the CNBC community -- will relate to. There are some sharp observations about marriage and weddings, about grief and loss, about friendships and how they change over time.  

At the same time, it's also a fast and often very funny read.  I'd go from literally laughing out loud (dh will confirm!  lol)  to reaching for tissues a few pages later.  I don't know anything about Alison Espach and her life -- but she gets us.    

(As often happens...!)  I struggled a bit with how to rate this one. There was something a bit Hallmark-movie-ish about it (and I wouldn't be surprised to see an eventual movie adaptation). And there were a few plot twists that I really should have seen coming (maybe?) -- but I liked that I didn't, lol.  

But overall, I loved it. :)  I loved having such a great CNBC heroine at the centre of the story, I loved the fantasy/wish fulfillment  elements (the lavish wedding in a spectacular setting, etc. -- and really, who hasn't secretly dreamed of just chucking everything and running off to a luxury hotel?)(albeit hopefully not with suicidal intentions...!). And I loved that the ending retained just a bit of ambiguity as to what will happen next. 

5 stars was very tempting. I settled on 4.5 stars on StoryGraph, rounded down to 4 on Goodreads.  

I'll be recommending this one for our Childless Collective Nomo Book Club.  

This was Book #7 read to date in 2025 (and Book #4 finished in February), bringing me to 16% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) on track to meet my goal.  :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2025 tagged as "2025 books." 

#MicroblogMondays: She'll be missed :(

When you've been around the blogging community as long as I have, sadly, inevitably, you wind up saying a permanent goodbye to some of the friends and acquaintances you've made along the way. 

(I still think about Emilie of Lemmondrops, whose husband made a final, poignant post on her blog to announce her death at a far-too-young age on Christmas Eve 2008, early in my blogging career.  Her baby would be would be almost through high school now -- yikes!) 

Earlier this week, I learned (via Facebook) that fellow blogger and CNBC friend -- known to many of us here in the CNBC corner of the blogging world as Bamberlamb from "It's Inconceivable" -- died on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14th), after living with cancer for the past several years.   

I got to know Bamberlamb via her blog, and also through Mali at No Kidding in NZ, who knew her for many years, pre-blogging, through their volunteer work for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust in the UK. (She's written her own lovely tribute on her blog, here.)  When I joined the Gateway Women online community about 10? years ago (now called Childless Collective), I was delighted to find Bamberlamb there. When Jody Day created a sub-group there for Childless After Babyloss in 2021, and asked me and Bamberlamb to co-host, I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather share the job with. 

(I was curious just how long I'd known Bamberlamb -- I thought at least 10 years, possibly longer. There wasn't an easy way to see just how long she'd been writing her blog -- no complete list of blog posts to click on, as there is on mine. I wound up clicking back and back and back on individual posts -- hitting "previous post" on each one! -- until there were no more. So far as I can tell, she started her blog in/around January 2016 -- and I found a few of my own comments on those early posts too. So it hasn't been QUITE 10 years that I've known her, more like 9, but that's still a long time!)   

Bamberlamb was feisty, funny, frank, and often hilariously profane. She loved her husband, their "tin tent" (camper trailer, or "caravan," as the Brits call it) and animals. (I knew things were not going well when she had to rehome the little dog she'd been fostering and then adopted.)  I had a standing invitation to visit her, if and when I ever got to the UK. She promised to take me to Stratford-on-Avon to see Shakespeare's cottage, and on a tour of traditional British pubs.  

Sadly, that's not going to happen now. But if/when I ever find myself in England, I'll be sure to raise a glass at a pub in Bamberlamb's memory while I'm there.  

Bamberlamb was proud of her Irish roots. Her funeral will be held on St. Patrick's Day. Her husband has asked her friends to wear her favourite colour, purple.  I won't be able to attend the funeral, but I will be wearing purple (instead of the traditional green) that day for her. 

There's a saying in the Jewish community, when someone passes away: "May their memory be a blessing."  In response to Bamberlamb's death, I saw someone posting simply, "Her memory is a blessing."  

Yes, it is.  She will be missed.  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.

"Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney

Just what I needed, right? Yet another book club in my life, lol.  (Because I clearly don't have enough to read & otherwise keep me busy, right??  lol). 

This particular book club grew out of the monthly "What Are You Reading?" subscriber threads on Anne Helen Petersen's Culture Study Substack newsletter. A couple of her readers suggested forming a book club to read & discuss some of the books we'd been chatting about there. There are actually two clubs:  one based in North America and one in Europe. 

Somehow I wound up with the Europeans! ;)  They meet once a month on Google Meet, weekday evenings their time, which is afternoon my time, but still do-able since I'm retired. ;)  I'm not sure I'll join in every month -- it will depend on the book and what else I have going on -- but if it's a book I want to read, why not take the opportunity to do it now and then have a good chat about it with other readers, right??  ;)  

The first book I'm joining them to discuss (during the first week of March) is "Intermezzo" by Sally Rooney. I haven't read Rooney's previous book before this one, "Beautiful World, Where Are You" -- yet? -- but I read (and re-read) and loved "Normal People" a few years back (and gobbled up the TV adaptation!), followed by her first novel, "Conversations With Friends" (reviewed here -- and here, after re-reading -- and here, respectively). 

"Intermezzo" is the story of two brothers, mourning the recent death of their father. There's Peter, a 32-year-old human rights lawyer, who can't quite quit his longstanding relationship with Sylvia, a literature professor who is unable to have sex with him since a car accident left her in chronic pain. (The exact nature of her injuries is unclear.)  Meanwhile, he's become a "sugar daddy" of sorts to Nina, a much-younger girl who sells racy photos of herself as a side hustle to keep the landlord at bay.   

Then there's Peter's much-younger brother Ivan, a geeky 22-year-old chess prodigy who becomes involved with 36-year-old Margaret. Margaret is separated from her abusive, alcoholic husband, wary of the age difference between her and Ivan and leery about what people might say if/when their relationship becomes public.   

The two brothers are very different -- and grief, and their different ways of dealing with it, has only emphasized the chasm that's grown between them over the years. 

I'd heard raves about this book before picking it up -- so I was a bit surprised to find it a little hard to get into.  It moves between Peter and Ivan's viewpoints (as well as Margaret's), with a clear shift in the writing style for each character. When we're inside Peter's head, the prose is staccato -- short, choppy sentences -- and it's sometimes hard to tell who he's referring to.  Ivan's sections are written in long, detailed, rambling paragraphs. He clearly has anxiety issues, and I wondered whether he was "on the spectrum," as we now say.  

Nevertheless, I stuck with it, and although I had my doubts at the outset, it ultimately won me over -- particularly in the final 1/3 or so, as the brothers begin to realize the toll that their grief has taken on them, and on their relationships, with each other and others. I started off thinking 3 stars, max.  By midway through, it was more like, okay, 3.5, rounded up to 4.  By the end:  a solid 4 stars, and I'd probably rate that last section at 4.5.  I still have a very soft spot in my heart for "Normal People" (which I rated at 4 stars), but this one ranks right up there too.  

4 stars. 

(P.S. & FYI: The steamy sex scenes that seem to be a staple of Rooney's books are also present here in abundance!)(lol!)  

This was Book #6 read to date in 2025 (and Book #3 finished in February), bringing me to 13% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) on track to meet my goal.  :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2025 tagged as "2025 books." 

#MicroblogMondays: 50 (!) years of SNL

I watched the Saturday Night Live 50th (!!) anniversary special last night -- all 3.5 hours of it (!).  (Dh went to bed before it was over.)  I was 14 when SNL made its debut in October 1975.  I did not see that first episode, but I most certainly did start watching that fall. These days, I'm usually too tired to watch the entire show (although I sometimes stay up long enough to catch the opening sketch?) -- but where I grew up, in Manitoba, SNL started at 10:30 PM on Saturday nights (vs 11:30 here in southern Ontario).  I was at many a party or other gathering of friends in my teens and early 20s that wound up with everyone gathered around the TV set to watch the latest antics by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner & co.  

A couple of observations from last night:  

• I was taken aback by the airing of a 1978 short SNL film, "Don't Look Back in Anger," -- introduced by 88-year-old Garrett Morris (!) -- featuring John Belushi as an older version of himself, visiting his former co-stars -- in the cemetery (!). "I'm the last one," he says -- before proceeding, at the end, to dance on their graves (!).  
• Kind of chilling, especially considering that he was actually the first one of them to die, at age 33 in 1982 -- and that all the rest of them, other than Gilda Radner, are still around, 50 years later.  
• (I may have seen it before, but if I did, it's been a while, because I certainly did not remember it!) 
• I was especially touched at the very end, as the cast crowded onto the stage, to see that someone was holding a large black-and-white photo of Gilda Radner aloft.  (I later learned it was her co-stars Jane Curtin & Larraine Newman -- there's a photo of then circulating on social media.)  Gilda was childless-not-by-choice, and died in 1989 at the far-too-young age of 42 of cancer, after trying to have a child with her husband, Gene Wilder. A quote from her memoir, "It's Always Something," appears on the right hand of this blog page, and I wrote a post about her back in 2012 ("It's always something...").  
• Related:  I loved this recent (gift-linked) post from the Atlantic:" Do It for Gilda." (Subhead:  "The too-short life of a comedy genius is a reminder to the rest of us to make good use of the time we are given.")
• The evening started off with 83-year-old Paul Simon singing "Homeward Bound" with young Sabrina Carpenter, and ended off with 82-year-old Paul McCartney (who else??) and his band doing the closing medley from "Abbey Road" -- "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End." Which says (of course): "And in the end/The love you take/Is equal to the love you make."  
• Yes, neither man's voice is what it once was -- but it's not about their voices. It's about them, the music, the memories, and what they have meant to us all for so many years.  I saw more than one person on social media commenting that they were moved to tears by McCartney's opening line ("Once there was a way to get back homeward")... especially in the context of our turbulent times.  
• Cherish these guys, while they're still here with us. 
• I saw Paul McCartney with my sister in Winnipeg in September 2018, and posted about it here. 

Did you watch?  What did you think? Highlights?  Personal SNL memories?  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

Odds & ends: Canadian edition

• I had to change the title of a recent post ("Dodged that...")(although the original is still evident in the post's URL...!). (Admittedly, I could have chosen a better title to begin with...!  But headline-writing was never my forte in journalism school or at work, lol.)  I was horrified to check my comments the morning after I posted, only to find a spam comment offering guns for sale (!!).  It was written in Spanish (!), but I got the gist of it (and deleted it immediately). (For one thing -- handguns are illegal in Canada.)  
• I got a letter in the mail from Service Canada recently. Wasn't sure why, until I opened it and started reading -- and got the giggles. I recently celebrated my 64th (!) birthday, and the letter was informing me that my Old Age Security payments will begin in February 2026, one year from now, i.e., the month following my 65th (gulp!) birthday. I guess that makes me officially old??  (Almost, anyway...!)  
• I WAS expecting to get a letter/notification -- dh got one before HE turned 65, a few years ago -- but I thought it would come later in the year.  
• I have ZERO interest in the Super Bowl, and I wasn't really paying attention while dh watched. But I did catch a few of the ads. ;)   We don't get to see many of the (in)famous U.S. ads here, because of Canadian content regulations -- the broadcasters substitute ads for Canadian companies instead, even if you're watching a channel/network from the U.S. (Although we can view most of the U.S. ads on YouTube and elsewhere online, of course.)  I must say Canadian companies have really stepped up their game -- there were some really good ads from them this year (and a few questionable ones...!).  A few notables: 
• Doritos (which is, of course, an American product, by an American company) did an ad obviously specifically produced for the Canadian market, poking fun at the Canadian penchant for saying "sorry."  (Personally, I'm not sure whether I like it -- but, nice try!)   
• There was an ad for Rogers (telecomm company) starring Keanu Reeves (! -- he is, of course, a Toronto boy!).  (Couldn't find a clip for that one, though.) 
• There was a hilarious Crown Royal ad starring Dave Grohl. (I think that's an old one, though?) 
• And there was an ad for Tim Hortons (coffee/doughnut shop chain, founded by and named for a hockey player -- how Canadian can you get, right? --although it's now owned by a Brazilian conglomerate)(!!), set to the tune of Stompin' Tom Connors's much-beloved anthem "The Hockey Song" -- but instead of "oh, the good old hockey game," they were singing "oh, the good old football game." 
• I was HORRIFIED:  "For an AMERICAN FOOTBALL GAME?? WTAF, Timmies?? (Where was this ad when the Grey Cup was on??)"  
• Then I saw the ad a second time -- and realized:  instead of "Oh, the good old hockey game/It's the best game you can name/And the best game you can name/Is the good old hockey game" the words were now "Oh, the good old football game/It's the second-best game you can name..."  The frame at the end reads "Sorry not sorry. (We're Canadian.)" (Inside Canadian joke there.)  
• I did have to chuckle at that. (Although I do think you could have made it third-best -- there  IS the Grey Cup, after all...!)  
• Needless to say, we Canadians are just a LITTLE sensitive when it comes to Americans co-opting our culture at the moment...!  
• The YouTube clip of the song I linked to is a live performance Stompin' Tom gave, near the end of his life, on a 2012 episode of the Conan O'Brien show shot here in Toronto in front of a cheering, standing crowd. (I have to admit, I got a little misty-eyed!)  
• Here's another great clip of Tom performing the song at the 1999 closing game at Maple Leaf Gardens (before the Leafs moved to the new Air Canada Centre, now called the Scotiabank Arena).  The song gets played at every Leafs home game. 
• In a slight twist, the province of Ontario (where I live) ran an ad on U.S. networks during the game, touting our longstanding relationship, which Yahoo News Canada described as the "most politely aggressive Super Bowl ad."  (This ad/Similar ads have already been playing frequently on network TV, including CNN, for the past few weeks.) 
• In a similar vein -- I was amused, earlier in the month -- following certain-- ahem -- statements about my country from the new U.S. president -- to open the Kobo.com/ca/en home page (for ebooks) and discover a raft of new featured categories that include: 
• eBooks made in Canada: The True North strong and well-read – show your true patriot love and dive into a homegrown read.
• Finished Onyx Storm? Try these Canadian authors next:  Find your next Canadian read full of romance, magic, and fantastical creatures.
• Top Canadian eBook Pick (there were several of these) 
• Best Canadian eBooks of the Month
• Homegrown stories with glowing hearts: Learn about the experiences of being Black and Canadian.
• New Canadian authors we can't wait to read
• Made in Canada: Audiobooks by Canadian authors.

You might expect to find something like this in/around early July, i.e., Canada Day -- but February??  My reaction ranged from amused -- people think Canadians aren't patriotic?? -- to slightly annoyed at this blatant corporate attempt to cash in on the current surge of patriotism.  Although I guess if people are looking for more Canadian authors to read...!