Each month I do a sum-up of what I’ve been doing in my personal life. In February I posted half-way through the month, so this is how the last two weeks went.
Viola Desmond postage stamp (Photo: thechronicleherald.ca)
Nova Scotia has a new holiday in February. Until now there’s been no statutory holiday from New Year’s Day until the Easter weekend. Our first Nova Scotia Heritage Day was in honour of Viola Desmond. I liked that the first honouree was African Canadian and I hope she won’t become the token Black in a holiday that is later white-centric.
RealEyez (Photo: cbc.ca)
Yesterday I saw an up-and-coming R&B/hip hop singer called RealEyez. She was astounding and deserves to be heard! Queer-friendly artist, too, I might add.
I watched the recent James Brown movie on DVD, Get On Up: the James Brown Story. Chadwick Boseman was excellent in the title role and I loved the scene in which he met Little Richard! (I was happy to see that a Little Richard movie exists and it’s on YouTube, so now it’s on my to-watch list).
This month my book club read Breath, Eyes, Memory, a 1994 novel by Edwidge Danticat, set in New York City and Croix-des-Rosets, Haiti. The book made a big impression on me. It’s about immigration and assimilation, mothers and daughters, being haunted by the past and bound by tradition. No matter how kind your mother is, it’s easy to relate to mother-daughter struggles and the quest for liberation. I loved it.
In other news…
- I made blueberry pancakes for dinner for pancake day
- I greatly improved my agility by walking and driving on ice every day, following our series of ice storms
- My fitness also improved through shovelling snow and chopping ice on a daily basis
- I was extremely impressed by my staff who made superhuman efforts to come to work in hazardous conditions
- I swooned over Amanda Palmer’s book The Art of Asking which will join Patti Smith’s book Just Kids on my “life as an artist” bookshelf
- I finally watched Season 4 of Game of Thrones (Ding Dong the Witch is Dead! – do you know who I mean?)
and I spent lots of time reading, as ever.
Tell me about your February!
An Exacting Life 
My February was just plain weird. We started the month with spring-like weather that lasted for about 10 days or so. It was FABULOUS, but it was only a tease. Winter then came roaring back and Denver set an all time record for the snowiest February ever! Go figure.
I’ve been reading Naomi Klein’s book “This Changes Everything” which is infuriating, depressing and inspiring all at the same time. And I saw two wonderful movies (along with a number of mediocre ones.) If you like quirky comedies I highly recommend “The Whole Nine Yards” and I also loved “Edge of Tomorrow” which was sorta like Groundhog Day meets Aliens.
BTW, have you seen “Searching for Sugar Man?” I think you’d really like it.
I tried to read one of Naomi Klein’s books (No Logo) but found the writing style difficult. Not sure if I should try again. I loved Sugar Man 🙂
I loved Searching for Sugarman. My South African friend is mad for him and saw him when he toured Oz last year.
Thanks for the wrap up of your February.
I’m counting down the days to the next GoT season. I think I will struggle having to go a week between episodes!
February was a busy month for me. I started by handing in the final assignment for my summer subject at uni. I was worried I wasn’t going to pass the subject, but ended up 1.5 marks under a distinction and thinking “If only I had put in another hour”. Oh well, at least I did better than I had feared!
We had a trip away for my husband’s baby brother’s 18th birthday. Youngest of 7, it was a “must be there” moment. Luckily, we also needed to be in the area for a friend’s wedding the following weekend. Made the 2200km+ trip worth it. I don’t want to look at the car again!
The last weeks of our month were spent worrying about housing and job uncertainty. Hopefully everything will be sorted out by next month. The job situation is looking hopeful (just waiting on paperwork to go through). Now we just need to work on the backpay that is owed for February….
Congrats on finishing your class and getting a good grade! 18 must be legal drinking age? (It’s 19 here). Driving trip of 2200 km, wow, I’d think you were Canadian! Wishing you all the best for the job, pay and housing situation…not fun.
You always have the best book recommendations and I’ve requested all 3 from my library. My February was slower than I like so I’m glad it was short!
We are all ready to put Feb behind us because of the weather. Good reading time, though! I also read The Organized Mind, Diet Success Strategies and The Indifference League. But they were not as good as the ones I posted about!
Spent the month of February with my candy-stripes on taking care of Donna and her new heart valve. We still don’t have a TV, but we have Amazon Prime and watched all of the Transparent episodes and streamed/rented a few movies on the computer and iPad. Haven’t done much reading – can’t quite get my brain to quiet down (but I’m putting “The Art of Asking” on my list for when I start reading again).
I second the suggestion for watching “Searching for Sugarman” and will also throw “Keep On Keeping On” into the must watch list.
I accidentally discovered that Hulu+ has 900 classic films of the Varda, Bergman, Fellini, Truffaut ilk and Donna is making her list of must watches for our future. Looks like we will be subscribing to that instead of Netflix. Grainy black and white is in my future.
We don’t get Hulu or Amazon Prime in Canada, just the Canadian version of Netflix (which is not as good as yours). I loved the Sugarman movie. Thanks for the tip re: Keep On Keepin On! Would love to see Transparent eventually. Hope you are both recovering nicely!
Did February happen? – I think I missed it as I cannot remember very much other than the funeral. Definitely must be working too much it is all just a blur! You sound like you had a good balance of fitness and culture but a bit heavy on the bad weather – we have snow here at the moment – not deep snow just that on / off kind that makes you wonder if you will get home after work if it gets any worse and then it fizzles into rain.
I started the month reading a newish Joanna Trollope book something about Balancing but only a few pages in and I have dropped it already in favour of Kondo! Still it is getting my drawers and cupboards sorted. (I cannot believe how many views my underwear has had LOL!!)
I will look out for the Art of Asking I am intrigued. Have a great March – we have the Christening of baby L coming up soon.
I look forward to walking on pavement at some point 🙂 We will all be celebrating the big thaw this year, whenever it happens. I hope everything is better for you in March!
Thanks Dar – I am trying to stay positive and in fact getting stuck in to a bit of decluttering is taking my mind of things. We have got that on off snow in the rain type stuff at the moment. Can’t make its’ mind up!
Happy to hear you made in through February safe and sound! We had a few ice storms here too. I requested “The Art of Asking” when you first mentioned it and just got the email today that it came in at my library (super fast turn around!) so I’ll be reading that as soon as I finish “Salt, Sugar, Fat”. Not sure what season of Game of Thrones will be on TV next month – but Mr. G is already pumped about it. 🙂
I could not quite bring myself to read Salt Sugar Fat because then I would have to do something with my new knowledge! Was it a good read, though? I look forward to hearing what you think of The Art of Asking. GoT Season 5 is coming up in April – but I won’t be seeing it until the DVD comes out next year!
I’d rate it a 3/5 so far – it’s very informative, but some parts just drag on forever, and there’s a lot of repetition (because basically he goes from 1900 – present and tells about food companies adding sugar, then 1900 – present about food companies adding fat, then again with salt). I don’t think you’d change your diet as a result of reading because your diet is vegetarian and focused on whole foods cooked at home. The main message is about eating fewer processed foods (and holding food companies responsible for all the unnecessary ingredients they’ve added) and rarely eating foods that are super high in sugar, fat, and/or salt (like bacon).
Now that I have tamed my candy compulsion (for the time being), I might be able to read it! I think the only food I like that’s high in fat is the occasional piece of cheesecake!
Love that you turned your ice around to how it has improved your balance and physical fitness.. 🙂 I was outside today chopping ice when a neighbor stopped to introduce herself and ask if I needed help. I declined I was much too happy to have something to do outside without freezing to death.
Our temperatures have improved, at least.
oooh. I heard about the James Brown movie way back when it was in production & then sort of just forgot about it. I didn’t even know it came out. Will try to see if I can find that on Netflix or someplace. 😀
It was in league with Ray (Ray Charles movie) or Walk the Line (Johnny Cash movie) and had lots of good performances, and great music all the way through!
I’m glad you had a good February! Sounds like the snow and ice was a big part of your month (“I greatly improved my agility by walking and driving on ice every day” this was funny!). I can’t even imagine how cold it is where you live! Hope you March is even better!
Hey April, my sister is in Nevada for a few days on a geocaching trip. Hope someday I’ll visit too.
Hooray for GoT Season 4!
You continually inspire me with your viewing, reading, listening and cultural events. The Viola Desmond history makes very interesting reading. I also love the idea of improving fitness and agility with ‘real world’ tasks (I don’t have the self-discipline needed for gym work – though I know you do well with that as well!)
No public holiday here in Feb. We have Australia Day in the end of Jan and then nothing till Easter. Can’t see any of our governments ever declaring a new day, and especially not for a minority group.
This is a provincial holiday, but each province seems to have established one in February. There was a lot of public interest in having our declared Viola Desmond Day on a permanent basis, but the govt decided it would honour a different Nova Scotian each year, opening the door to having it honour privileged white folks from now on 😦
Your February sounds lovely. I should read more. I’ve lost the habit. I always read at night in bed and find it hard to do with bifocals now. Now – I listen to old time radio programs on my Kindle Fire.
My February was good. I made good progress toward my goals. Decluttering work in the house is going well and my Sunday coffee and progress status sessions are helping to keep me focused. I decluttered and organized the utility closet and worked on the laundry closet. Still more to do on it.
I bought a 36″ rustic dimensional barn star and put it together (it came in pieces) then hung it on my living room wall. I had to scrub the wall before hanging it. But I’m happy with the results.
I won the LIVESTRONG.com 2014 Fall I’m a Quitter Contest. The prize was a $250 Visa gift card. I quit smoking October 27, 2013 with the help of the LIVESTRONG Quit Coach app. The online community there made my quit easy and even fun. I no longer need the support but I’m addicted to the community now. I spend a little time there every day. With the prize money – I had my teeth whitened! I had the Zoom treatment in my dentist’s office. It included a maintenance whitening kit with a custom made “tray” made from a mold of my teeth. I’m very pleased with the results. I caught it on sale at $295. Thought it was a nice way to spend the money.
And… I played with art. Practicing drawing – from YouTube videos. (I call it YouTube University.) I began doing some mixed media art – working on 3×5 index cards. A mixed media artist – Tammy Garcia holds an ICAD (index card a day) challenge each year starting June 1st on her blog – Daisy Yellow Art. I plan to participate in the challenge this year. The point behind the challenge is to feel free to experiment. Index cards are cheap and small enough to make it less intimidating and less expensive to experiment. It helps to get my creative juices going and I’m learning a lot about different products. It’s fun!
Our teenage chickens grew up and began laying. When hens first begin laying – the eggs can be really small and sometimes they’ll lay larger double yolk eggs. We have one hen who is laying double yolk eggs. Large ones! At the end of February she laid one weighing 110 grams (3.9 ounces). Here a “Jumbo” egg is an egg weighing greater than 71 grams (2.5 ounces).
And finally… I got my walking mojo back! I was walking 4-5 miles daily until a knee injury last August. I had knee scope surgery in November and it’s been a battle to get back into the habit of walking every day. Fortunately one of my LIVESTRONG quit buddies hosted a challenge thru FitBit and several of us former smokers joined. The challenge was to meet our individual daily walking goals every day Monday – Friday. It worked to get me back on track. Today is the last day of the 2nd such Workweek Hustle challenge. I love my Fitbit fitness tracker. My diet is back on track also. Yay!
Ginger, someday when I am working less, I want your life! It’s great that you are getting back into activity after the knee surgery. Congrats on a year and a half as a nonsmoker! I have put off buying a Fitbit but I really want one! When my non-work commitments die down a bit, I am looking forward to drawing and art projects. Thanks for telling me what you are up to!