"Darkest Hour" (& coldest!)

Dh & I went to see "Darkest Hour" Sunday afternoon -- about Winston Churchill during a few critical weeks in May 1940, between when he became prime minister of Great Britain and rallied his country to bring home the troops that had been stranded on the beaches at Dunkirk in France as the Nazis ran amok through Europe. The movie had already been & gone at the local multiplex, but happily was still playing at another multiplex about a 20-minute drive away.

UNhappily, when we arrived at the theatre, we were informed -- both by posted signs and by the ticket seller -- that several of the theatres, including ours, had NO HEAT.

"Ummm.... how cold IS it in there?" I asked.

"It's pretty cold," she said, but added, "Of course, everyone's tolerance level is different. You have 45 minutes to ask for your money back if you find it too uncomfortable."

We bought the tickets, bought our popcorn & went inside.

OK, it WAS a bit chilly. On the bright side, the weather has been slightly milder yesterday -- temperatures on Saturday were around the 8C mark (40sF), and just below 0C (32F) overnight -- so it wasn't as cold in there as it might have been. I was wearing a cozy sweater and a down-filled jacket, which I kept on (& zipped up). Eventually, though, my feet started getting cold, and my hands (even when I sat on them or tucked them inside my jacket pocket)(after finishing my popcorn, of course ;) ).  But it wasn't really cold enough to make me want to give up & leave.

Besides, we weren't the only people in the theatre -- and in fact, we were probably among the youngest, if not THE youngest there. We watched in amazement as two elderly ladies who looked to be in their 80s, one hobbling along with a cane, entered the theatre -- and then proceeded to navigate up the stairs, one step after another. Dh & I were sitting in about the 6th row up;  they wound up sitting right behind us. :) THEY weren't going anywhere (neither was anyone else); how could WE cut & run??  (The lady with the cane spoke with a British accent;  at the end of the movie, I heard her say, "I remember Dunkirk like it was yesterday!")

And we didn't WANT to leave. We'd been wanting to see this movie -- and it did not disappoint. I knew a fair bit of the history involved, but I still learned a lot. Gary Oldman (whom I always think of as Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols in "Sid & Nancy"!!) is amazing as Churchill, & completely deserving of the Oscar nomination he just got.

It was worth the chilly feet and icy hands. ;)

#MicroblogMondays: A reader's lament

Reasons/excuses why I haven't been reading as many books as I used to (even though I theoretically have all this free time because I don't have kids, right??):

• The Internet. (I suppose I could just stop the list right there, right??)  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogs & news articles online -- they all take up time that I once spent reading books, pre-Internet. 
• Indecision. I have SO MANY books in my TBR pile -- books that I WANT to read (FINDING books to read is NOT my problem!!) -- but which to read first??  I go from one to another to another, and wind up getting nothing read at all. Sigh... 
• I start one book, then another book comes along to grab my attention, so I put down the first book & start another one, and so on. I currently have at least four books that I've started but haven't yet finished. (I WANT to finish them... I INTEND to finish them... someday...) 

Things that help me read more books:

• Vacations. For whatever reason, I find vacations more conducive to reading, even when I have a laptop/cellphone at hand to distract me. (Fewer of the usual things to do around the house, I guess...) 
• Heading to bed earlier, but turning off my phone & then staying up to read a book for a while. 
• Bringing a book or my e-reader with me when I'm on transit or going to an appointment, so that I have something  (other than my phone) to read while I'm waiting. 
• Just diving in immediately when I get a new book. Sometimes I do get so absorbed that I don't get distracted by other things to read. ;)  
• Trying to get the book read before going to see the movie. (This doesn't always work -- sometimes I have to just go see the movie, or it'll be gone before I get the book read. But it's an incentive to read, because I find the book is almost always better. Plus it usually includes way more information that helps me understand the movie better when I see it.)  
• Belonging to online book clubs/discussion groups. (I imagine that would go for real-life book clubs too, if I could find one to join...!) I'm not always interested in every selection -- but knowing that we'll be discussing a certain book on a certain date is incentive to get it read. And I've discovered some great new books/authors this way, too!  
• Joining the Goodreads Reading Challenge, as well as reviewing all the books I read & updating my tally of books read during the year here on my blog. It reminds me when I'm on track to meet my goal (or not).  
• (I've never tried audiobooks, but I know some people swear by them, especially if they spend a lot of time in the car.)  

What are your strategies/tips for reading more books? 

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

A partial view of my book collection
(considerably downsized since we moved two years ago).
(I have four IKEA bookcases along one wall of our spare bedroom/office --
three full-sized and one half-sized.)

A Pinterest find

Oooh, I think I need to get one of these (or one like it)....

Great viewing from The NotMom Summit

If, like me, you weren't able to get to Cleveland last October for The NotMom conference (and have been kicking yourself ever since...), some good news!  :)  The two keynote presentations by Marcia Drut-Davis (representing the childfree by choice segment of the NotMom community) and Jody Day of Gateway Women (childless not by choice) are now available to view on YouTube -- in full (with Q&As) as well as excerpts.

I have not yet watched Marcia's presentation, but I watched Jody's speech earlier today. and I encourage you to carve out some time to watch, too. It's an hour & 10 minutes (40-45 minutes talk & a half hour of Q&As) very well spent! 

#MicroblogMondays: Gallery of memories

Mali's post about missing visits to the art gallery made me think about my own relationship to them. I have very little real artistic ability in terms of drawing & painting, etc. I don't remember art class being offered in school once I got beyond junior high and, growing up in small towns no closer than about 50 miles from the nearest city, art galleries weren't something I grew up visiting. (Museums, both large and small, were something we frequented more often.)

The first time I remember visiting an art gallery was when I was about 17. The Winnipeg Art Gallery was hosting a rare touring exhibit from the Hermitage in Russia -- this was in the late 1970s, peak Cold War years -- and one of my artistic friends was keen to go, so she, her sisters, mine & I all went. There were lots of Old Masters, names we'd only ever heard from books, and it was a pretty impressive experience.

As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate art & art galleries more. Living in Toronto, I've been to the Art Gallery of Ontario several times, usually when there's been an interesting exhibit on. (They will soon be hosting the Infinity Mirrors exhibit that Mel wrote about a while back.) I especially enjoy their collection of Group of Seven works, and they had an Emily Carr exhibit a few years ago that I quite enjoyed.

For some reason, I have known about the McMichael Canadian Art Collection since I was a kid. I think I saw a documentary about it on CBC television, and I was enchanted by the idea of a log house out in the country transformed into an art gallery. Since I moved to the Toronto area, I would see stories about it from time to time in the local media. Dh & I finally took a day off & went to see it one fall day at least 10-20 years ago, and we both really enjoyed the experience.

As I've mentioned in some previous posts, we now live within an easy drive of the McMichael. Last year, I decided to take out a membership, and I am so glad I did. Two visits per year, and the membership pays for itself. We've already been there several times to view new exhibits, attend lectures, and just stroll around the lovely grounds (the fall colours, in particular, can be spectacular). 

It occurred to me, as I was writing a comment on Mali's post (which currently seems to be languishing in moderation...! ;)  ), that Robert & Signe McMichael, the couple who generously donated their beautiful property & art collection to the people of Ontario (which became the McMichael Canadian Art Collection), did not have any children. I did some Googling and found Robert McMichael's obituary, which does not mention any offspring among his surviving family. (I also learned that Signe McMichael used to personally greet groups of schoolchildren visiting the gallery.)

But what a legacy!

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

Different realities

Dh & I were at a local mall yesterday, and there were signs in the parking garage, reminding drivers to lock their cars, check the back seat, etc. 

"They have to remind you not to forget your kid in the back seat??" dh remarked.  

"Well, it could be that,"  I acknowledged (we've all heard the tragic stories of babies & toddlers accidentally left strapped in car seats in cars on hot summer days...), but then I added, "but it could also be a reminder to, you know, check when you return to make sure nobody is hiding out there, waiting for you." 

HE HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS. Like, it had never occurred to him. EVER.   

I said, "Seriously??!" 

I think every woman old enough to drive has had this drummed into her head ad nauseum, don't you?  

It just drove home to me (certainly not for the first time) how men and women live in completely different realities sometimes...  

(I don't suppose he's ever walked through a dark street with his keys interlaced between his fingers either...?)  

Have you ever had any moments like this, when you realized what different realities men & women sometimes inhabit? 

"How soon is too soon?"

There was an interesting article in the Globe & Mail recently that posed the question "How soon is too soon?"  Apparently comedian Patton Oswalt is coming under fire for getting engaged (and then remarrying) a little more than a year after the sudden death of his wife at age 46.

There doesn't appear to be a concrete answer to the "how soon?" question, but if you cross that line, you'll probably hear about it...!

And yet... I keep thinking the people who are crying "too soon!" about adults acquiring a new partner/spouse are probably the very same people who would tell parents who have just suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth, "You can always have another baby" or "The best thing you can do is to get back on the horse (!) & have another baby as soon as possible."  (This used to be -- and might still be, for all I know -- common post-loss advice from doctors, nevermind your mother or best friend or neighbour.)  Right?

Thoughts?