November 2020

My blog has predictably become something that no one reads, and something I struggle to update.  But I like to document books I read and movies I watched.

Best Photo

New movie recap

Moonlight (2016)

This was a Best Picture winner.  I have some mixed feelings about it.  A lot of the dialogue was really slow, and the movie lost its momentum.  The desire to do art got in the way of the plot. It just was not an enjoyable movie.  But somehow, still I know it was a great and special movie.

Dunkirk (2017)

Watched this by myself, since it was nominated for Best Picture, and I didn't think my wife would be interested.  It's really good, though seems a big unrealistic with the way people talked to each other, and how one person got into so many bad situations.  It did really convey the terrors of war, and how soldiers at Dunkirk were desperate. 7/10 stars

Lion (2016)

I had listened to the audiobook, The Long Way Home, by Saroo Brierley.  This movie was based on the book, and nominated for Best Picture.   This movie really touched me.  It was true to the book, and brought out all the emotions of Mr. Brierley's story.   My only problem with it, the relationship with the girlfriend has a too big of a role in the movie, and over half the time they are in bed together.  The brother is made to look really bad in the movie.  In the book Saroo didn't pick on the brother much.    I understand movies have to dramatize things.  Even so, this was a really good movie.    The 9/10 stars

The Eruption of Mount Saint Helens (1990)

There was some nice footage of the eruption in this old DVD, but the narration was overdramatic.  And there was no explanation of whether an eruption was expected soon, or any science behind it.  It was not that great.   2/5 stars.

Book recap

Where the Crawdads Sing (2018), by Delia Owens

(Spoiler alerts!).  4/5 stars

This was a well written book, and the audiobook reader was excellent. I was listening to it during the day with my earbuds, had to know what happened, and couldn't stop listening. I just think there were some odd things about it, some real head scratchers. I knew pretty much nothing about this book when I started reading it, and was pleasantly surprised in the beginning. Spoilers: [It's odd that an emotionally aware Tate would abandon Kya, and not see her for 5 years! That seems very unlikely. And then he claims to love her, and we find out later he has been her protector. It just makes no sense. And sadly his choice causes her life to spiral out of control. Her killing of Chase also is out of character. Where did she get costumes, if she hardly knew how to buy a bus ticket, and had never gone to a bigger city by herself, how could she pull all of that off? It was really well written though, I sure got fooled at the end.

What Time is Purple (unknown date) by Tom Hammond

2/5 stars

Dude was handing these out to kids on Halloween. Bonus star for not being from a cult. Lower stars for being fairly routine and basic apologetics.

1776, by David McCullough - written in 2005

4/5 stars

This book was a page turner for some reason.  I wish there were more books like this from other years of the Revolutionary War.  I would pull up Google Maps and look up all the places that were mentioned.   It was nice to read about George Washington and his army, which was a rag tag group of people who seemed unlikely to win a war against thousands of British troops that descended on America.  But the British were not aggressive enough.  If they had pressed forward, they would have won the war right then.  Which makes you wonder...what would our country look like today, if things had gone differently?   

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I thought the book was kind of dry and scientific. Since I am a thinker, I am often evaluating my habits anyway. For me, it wasn't a life changer, but might be worth revisiting.

Overview: A New Perspective of Earth by Benjamin Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a coffee table book that my wife gave me. Like all coffee table books that people give me, I make sure to read every word in there. The overhead photos of the Earth are amazing. It can be depressing though, since the author is focused on the harm that people do to the Earth. It's good to be aware, but it can get me down when I dwell on the problems we are causing. On the other hand, it's inspiring to see the engineering feats that humans have created.

Children's books:

I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906, by Lauren Tarshis.  (I Survived #5) 

(Written in 2012)

3/5 stars

My younger daughter thinks I like these, so she keeps passing them along to me. I thought the story was good, but of all the I Survived Books I've read, this had the least amount of information about the actual disaster.

The Great Chicago Fire, 1971, by Lauren Tarshis (I Survived, #11)

4/5 stars

I thought this story was more exciting than the San Francisco story.  I was actually interested in the characters, and learned a lot about how the Chicago Fire spread and eventually died down.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery


This was a good book.

My Music Playing

I took a long break from the Piano With Jonny piano lessons.  When I went to quit, they offered a video only subscription for less than $15/month rather than $40/month, so I went with that.  

Good/bad moment

I received a communicable disease from a family event in early November, and many family members also get this disease.  And some even spread it to other individuals who were not at the event.  No one got too sick, more than a common flu would cause, but it was concerning since this disease has caused death for some, and changed how people interact with each other across the world.

Good moments

-Went for a walk as a family at Cave Springs Park in Raytown.  I got really disoriented about where the trails went, but we had a great time.

-I spent a lot of time doing a workout called Ten Rounds.  It was a 30-40 minute workout, five days per week.  My wife participated as well.  The truth is, she picked it out, and I am more of the follower.

-Dad helped me work on the deck and replace or repair some boards that were bent or broken.  Now the deck can finally get stained when it gets warmer.

Negative moments

-I bought two bags of miniature Reese's cups, hoping to save money. I would have bought one bag, but there was a discount for buying two.   I would eat around 4 per day, and it would replace paying $1 at the vending machines.  The problem was I could almost not stop eating them, so I ended up spending more, and eating a lot more sugar.   So I made it through the bags, and decided not to do that again.

Parenting moments

Our older daughter continued her refusal to receive dental care, even when offered laughing gas and intravenous anesthesia.

Work moments

I've honestly been feeling really worn out from work.  There are endless things to do.  That is better than not having enough to do, but it can feel overwhelming at times.

TV/YouTube recap

I've been watching YouTube videos about growing grass, refinances, buying used cars...not much to speak about! For TV, I watched some playoff baseball.

New music that I heard

Didn't listen to music much, and didn't really go anywhere.