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Jan. 19th, 2012 09:05 amThe movie The Artist is opening in Halifax this weekend. It's got a lot of very positive buzz. It's black and white and is partly a silent film, taking place in 1927 just as the talking pictures are coming in. I think i would like to see it. Not sure if i'll get there this weekend. We've also got a Corrie ping on Sunday so it would have to be Saturday if i went.
this week at work has been meeting after meeting. Tuesday, there was one all morning, and i was booked for one all afternoon though i knew i might not have to be there the whole time. I left at 2:30 and when i got back to my desk, i saw a request for one at 3 so i ended up going to that one, too. Then another one yesterday morning for an hour or so and one before that for a half hour, just a quick one to one chat. I see there's another one on my calendar for this afternoon. Sheesh!
Talking to my coworker, the subject of age came up and I realized she was born the year i graduated high school. It's things like that which make me feel old, not the actual number of my age. Mind you, when I think that i'm going to be 53 on my birthday, I can't quite believe it. It just doesn't seem possible. When did that happen? No philosophical discussions now, but it just boggles my mind sometimes.
We've got to get Graham's flight booked soon. Since my aeroplan miles will be used, i guess i should get on that in the next few days. Then once that's sorted we can look at the overnight train tickets. they aren't cheap for the sleeper car but on the other hand, even though we arrive in Quebec at 5:30 a.m. we'll be a lot more comfortable if we can stretch out for a few hours than if we were trying to sleep in a regular train seat.
2012 books
6. The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This is a book about forgiveness and about relationships between mothers and daughters. Victoria was abandoned as a baby and has been brought up in a series of foster homes. She grew to know that she was not wanted and made sure each subsequent home would reject her by using bad behaviour as a catalyst. Then, when she's 10, she is taken to the home of a woman called Elizabeth who runs a vineyard. Elizabeth resists all of Victoria's attempts to be pushed away. Elizabeth has been cut off from her own family for years but Victoria's presence, and the new feeling of family Elizabeth has, has her reaching out to her long estranged sister.
The book alternates between the present day and the past, Victoria's past with Eizabeth and her attempts to make a life for herself. It seems she was taken away from Elizabeth but we don't know why until later in the book. She grew up in group homes after that and as the book opens, she's 18 and is released from the system. She meets Renata who owns a flower shop and takes her on. Victoria has a love for flowers and the Victorian language of flowers that Elizabeth taught her and brings that talent to the flower shop.
The Victorians were fond of sending messages by flowers, each one conveying a different message. When combined in arrangements and bouquets, they speak volumes and Victoria's talent with this brings much happiness to her clients.
But there's also a lot of insight into her emotional state. She's a loner, isolates herself, she has no social skills. She meets a man at the flower market who has ties to her past and is himself emotionally damaged from hiw own past. They make a connection but will it be one that brings hope to both of their futures in the end?
I liked the book a lot, the characters of Victoria and Elizabeth were very well developed and we saw little by little why Victoria and Elizabeth both are the way they are. At one point, you find yourself thinking Victoria is on a very slippery slope downwards and you almost hate to keep reading because you think it's going to end in disaster. You ache for what she goes through. The book ends with hope and healing relationships and forgiveness and you think, it's going to be ok.
7. Life Itself - Roger Ebert
Autobiography of the well known film reviewer who had a television show for years with fellow critic Gene Siskel. The author is now unable to speak or eat due to multiple surgeries for cancer around the thyroid gland area but he still writes his reviews and has released his autobiography. It's quite interesting and very detailed in some areas. Some of it is about his life and some of it is about famous people he's interviewed or known, sometimes but not always how they affected his life personally. It was nice to get a personal view of a few of these people, such as Lee Marvin and John Wayne. He is very honest about his shortcomings, his alcoholism (sober for over 30 years now) and his personal life.
this week at work has been meeting after meeting. Tuesday, there was one all morning, and i was booked for one all afternoon though i knew i might not have to be there the whole time. I left at 2:30 and when i got back to my desk, i saw a request for one at 3 so i ended up going to that one, too. Then another one yesterday morning for an hour or so and one before that for a half hour, just a quick one to one chat. I see there's another one on my calendar for this afternoon. Sheesh!
Talking to my coworker, the subject of age came up and I realized she was born the year i graduated high school. It's things like that which make me feel old, not the actual number of my age. Mind you, when I think that i'm going to be 53 on my birthday, I can't quite believe it. It just doesn't seem possible. When did that happen? No philosophical discussions now, but it just boggles my mind sometimes.
We've got to get Graham's flight booked soon. Since my aeroplan miles will be used, i guess i should get on that in the next few days. Then once that's sorted we can look at the overnight train tickets. they aren't cheap for the sleeper car but on the other hand, even though we arrive in Quebec at 5:30 a.m. we'll be a lot more comfortable if we can stretch out for a few hours than if we were trying to sleep in a regular train seat.
2012 books
6. The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This is a book about forgiveness and about relationships between mothers and daughters. Victoria was abandoned as a baby and has been brought up in a series of foster homes. She grew to know that she was not wanted and made sure each subsequent home would reject her by using bad behaviour as a catalyst. Then, when she's 10, she is taken to the home of a woman called Elizabeth who runs a vineyard. Elizabeth resists all of Victoria's attempts to be pushed away. Elizabeth has been cut off from her own family for years but Victoria's presence, and the new feeling of family Elizabeth has, has her reaching out to her long estranged sister.
The book alternates between the present day and the past, Victoria's past with Eizabeth and her attempts to make a life for herself. It seems she was taken away from Elizabeth but we don't know why until later in the book. She grew up in group homes after that and as the book opens, she's 18 and is released from the system. She meets Renata who owns a flower shop and takes her on. Victoria has a love for flowers and the Victorian language of flowers that Elizabeth taught her and brings that talent to the flower shop.
The Victorians were fond of sending messages by flowers, each one conveying a different message. When combined in arrangements and bouquets, they speak volumes and Victoria's talent with this brings much happiness to her clients.
But there's also a lot of insight into her emotional state. She's a loner, isolates herself, she has no social skills. She meets a man at the flower market who has ties to her past and is himself emotionally damaged from hiw own past. They make a connection but will it be one that brings hope to both of their futures in the end?
I liked the book a lot, the characters of Victoria and Elizabeth were very well developed and we saw little by little why Victoria and Elizabeth both are the way they are. At one point, you find yourself thinking Victoria is on a very slippery slope downwards and you almost hate to keep reading because you think it's going to end in disaster. You ache for what she goes through. The book ends with hope and healing relationships and forgiveness and you think, it's going to be ok.
7. Life Itself - Roger Ebert
Autobiography of the well known film reviewer who had a television show for years with fellow critic Gene Siskel. The author is now unable to speak or eat due to multiple surgeries for cancer around the thyroid gland area but he still writes his reviews and has released his autobiography. It's quite interesting and very detailed in some areas. Some of it is about his life and some of it is about famous people he's interviewed or known, sometimes but not always how they affected his life personally. It was nice to get a personal view of a few of these people, such as Lee Marvin and John Wayne. He is very honest about his shortcomings, his alcoholism (sober for over 30 years now) and his personal life.
