This has been something of an odd spring break. It started a bit early, right at two weeks ago, with the arrival of a few-days-late, multi-wave storm. And so most of the first week of break involved lots of overcast skies and rain. That and trying to get the driver’s license renewed (without an appointment) and getting the car checked out and safety-checked. The rain lasted until a couple of days ago (you likely saw some footage from various parts of this island in the news: it was that bad in lots of places) and still shows up here and there. But this week we’ve had significantly more sun. This week has allowed for a little more spring break routine (particularly in the mornings) as well as a series of long lunch conversations. The evenings have remained nice and chilly, which has been great for sleeping.
I’ve been turning my attention to two books this break. First is Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. Spufford is a British writer best known for Unapologetic and The Boy That Books Built. Those two books are non-fiction, but most of his recent output (including Nonesuch) has been fiction. Nonesuch is a great read: lots of world-building, though not in a traditional genre-fiction way. Set in World War II, the story has been slower than normal but fascinating in its own way. Beyond that, my bus-time reading has been Henri Nouwen’s The Genesee Diary. Nouwen wrote the journal over a seven-month period at a Trappist monastery. If memory serves, I bought the book a few years ago at Laity Lodge and got through the first three chapters before putting it aside. (The only real evidence I have for this is the presence of a prayer bookmark with the Laity Lodge logo on it.). It’s been an encouraging read, particularly when he mentions the spiritual direction he received while there.
The movie of the moment is Project Hail Mary. I read the book when it first dropped a few years ago (I loved The Martian but then skipped Artemis for some reason). In many ways, PHM is the perfect movie. As always, though, the book is better. I did see it in IMAX, though I’d suggest that any big theater screen with decent sound will do. It’s very much an “experience it with a crowd” kind of movie, especially when the loud scenes go silent and you’re (almost literally) left floating there together. This looks to be the last big movie for a while.
Beyond that, I enjoyed Young Sherlock on Prime much more than I had anticipated. It’s no Cumberbatch/Freeman show, but it has its own pleasant quirks. The Scrubs revival has been great: it shows the aging of things quite well, I think. And the Masterpiece Count of Monte Cristo is off to a solid start for Sunday nights- it’s a serious, sobering show that I hope can match the gut-punch of the Caviezel movie from 2002.
There are a few days left before spring break wraps up. I’ve got a few things lined up to (like visiting my favorite Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf before it closes forever). And I’ll ease my way back into classroom mode (though it took me longer than usual to “leave” it last week). Hoping that it stays sunny and slightly chilly for a little while longer.
(images from christianbook.com and imdm.com)
Like lots of other people across the country, I spent my New Year’s Day watching the series finale of Stranger Things at a local movie theater. It was a great way to wrap things up: big screen, comfy seat, a $20 food voucher (which took the sting out of adding a hot dog to the mix). Sure, there’s always the fear that people will treat the the theater like their living room, but that wasn’t the case much for my experience (except for a few times with the people to my left who came in late and who whispered through things a bit more than I liked).
Space Enough, and Time 