April 2025 - Commonplace
BOOK REPORTS
This movie should come with a big disclaimer at the beginning. Some may find the sex trade scenes disturbing, and this movie is full of them. I almost gave up on it, but the storyline changed, and then I got interested. It was not my favorite of the 2024 Oscar nominees.
After hearing the buzz around this limited series, I knew I had to watch it. (I’m a big fan of Stephen Graham.) It tells the story of a thirteen-year-old boy arrested for murdering his classmate. The series demonstrates the collateral damage from the accused’s side. It also portrays social media influence and anger issues among adolescents. I highly recommend this series.
It felt like the second (and final) season of this Yellowstone prequel took forever to complete. It seemed to drag on way too long. The final two-hour episode was crammed full of the rest of the story with inconceivable endings. I was disappointed, but the acting is tremendous.
This was the second and final season of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France. You know I can’t pass up a good historical fiction story, and this one was a visual treat. I enjoyed this production.
BOOK: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
Pronounced: ee-key-guy (Purpose or reason for living)
I cannot remember how I found this book, but the timing (with Lent) was perfect. Ikigai is a Japanese model of living a long, healthy, and happy life. Many older adults were interviewed and shared their secrets; the common theme was consistency and simplicity. (We could all use a little more of those two things.)
MOVIE: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare on STARZ
I was looking forward to this movie, knowing it was based on a true story of the real-life British Military group tasked with a major operation to slow down Germany’s dominance in the Atlantic with U-boats in World War II. I will read the book. (A friend is bringing it to me.) But I was disappointed in the movie. It’s listed as an action comedy, but I found it cheesy.
This movie was one of the 2024 Oscar nominees on my list, and Joan and I finally got to it. It is the story of two American cousins who travel to Poland to see the house where their Holocaust survivor grandmother was born and raised. When the scene changed to their Warsaw hotel, I immediately recognized where they were! That portion of the movie was filmed in the same hotel where we stayed during our trip in April 2024.
I loved this often funny, often sad movie. It was poignant and moving. I highly recommend it. (And visiting Poland.)
COMMONPLACE
“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” — Pope Paul VI - Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975
A programmer and writer who goes by Loopy, on the difference between preparing to do it and actually doing it:
"Things that aren't doing the thing:
Preparing to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Scheduling time to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Making a to-do list for the thing isn't doing the thing.
Telling people you're going to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn't doing the thing.
Writing a banger tweet about how you're going to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn't doing the thing.
Hating on other people who have done the thing isn't doing the thing.
Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn't doing the thing.
Fantasizing about all of the adoration you'll receive once you do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Reading about how to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Reading about how other people did the thing isn't doing the thing.
Reading this essay isn't doing the thing.
The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing." — A programmer and writer who goes by Loopy, on the difference between preparing to do it and actually doing it.
"I can only make sense of my unaccountable good fortune by assuming that it means I am under special obligation to make good use of it." — Novelist Marilynne Robinson on how to handle good luck.
"Sooner or later we all sit down to a banquet of consequences." — Robert Louis Stevenson, Novelist
"Focus on the things you are for, not the things you are against. Many people spend large chunks of their day thinking about what they hate. They are always telling you about something they dislike: this food, that subject, this political party, that coworker. You are more than your frustrations. Build your identity around what you love." — James Clear
"Initium est dimidium facti" - “Once you've started, you're halfway there." — Latin Proverb
