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shadowkatMy big accomplishment today was putting together the new piece of home exercise equipment that was delivered at 1pm. I was pleased with Amazon - they actually delivered it to my apartment door - and didn't leave it in the lobby. Because there is no way on earth I could have lugged it up the elevator and into my apartment without assistance. Lugging it from the door of my apartment and through the foyer and into the living room was difficult enough.
Between interruptions from Mother (phone - she lives on an island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, I live in NYC - about the distance of Greece to Britain or Denver to Tucson, Arizona), I managed to assembly the base of it. I only had to screw on the base and the pedals, not the wheels, etc.
It's a peddler - low impact, helps with balance, stamina, and overall cardio workout, without being disruptive to the neighbors. Also fits in small spaces.
***
Finished Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan which has been adapted into a film by Cillian Murphy, starring Murphy. I'll check it out tomorrow, I think.
The book is brilliant. Best thing I've read in a long time. (Granted my reading material hasn't exactly been stellar of late. But this is a beautifully written book that packs a punch.) It's a character study, and not all that long - 116 pages, in a small little hard back book that can fit in a purse. About the size of a Kindle.
Here's the review I wrote on Good Reads:
A beautifully written novella, scant 116 pages, that everyone should read. And every word precise and penetrating.
It's at its center a character study or slice of life - of a man, circa 1980s, with five daughters who owns and runs a coal delivery business in Ireland. And on one of his deliveries, at Christmas time, he runs across a situation that tears at his conscience, and he has to make decision - a difficult one - does he take action or does he look away?
The best stories take us into a point of view other than our own, and show not tell the difficult emotions and thinking behind various actions. They neither condemn, nor sanctify the characters, but show us their lives as mirrors to our own.
This is one of those stories. Even though this fictional story takes place in the 1980s, it still holds up today and resonates long after.
It's among the few books that I've read (and I've read many books) that I feel the need to recommend highly to everyone.
Also finally got around to renting Conclave on AppleTV for $5.99 (far cheaper than seeing it in a movie theater - in NYC, movies cost between $15-20 possibly more depending on where, and not nearly as comfortable. Plus I have a big screen tv and this movie doesn't require a huge screen.)
It's brilliant. I highly recommend everybody see it. The set-up? A pope dies and the Managing Cardinal or Dean of the Conclave must manage the selection of the new pope. It's a bit of a thriller - and there's a mystery at the center of it, along with some interesting twists and turns that comment heavily on our current political situation. I don't want to say more than that - since it is best to go into it blind? But it like Small Things, is a beautifully filmed story that shows not tells and pulls us into another point of view, brilliantly.
Ralph Fiennes is excellent in it, as is the supporting cast, in particular Isabella Rosellini, and the actor who portrays Benitiz. John Lithgow is almost unrecognizable in his role - took me a minute to realize it was him.
Beautifully filmed, and scored film, that is quietly moving and poignant.
Between interruptions from Mother (phone - she lives on an island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, I live in NYC - about the distance of Greece to Britain or Denver to Tucson, Arizona), I managed to assembly the base of it. I only had to screw on the base and the pedals, not the wheels, etc.
It's a peddler - low impact, helps with balance, stamina, and overall cardio workout, without being disruptive to the neighbors. Also fits in small spaces.
***
Finished Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan which has been adapted into a film by Cillian Murphy, starring Murphy. I'll check it out tomorrow, I think.
The book is brilliant. Best thing I've read in a long time. (Granted my reading material hasn't exactly been stellar of late. But this is a beautifully written book that packs a punch.) It's a character study, and not all that long - 116 pages, in a small little hard back book that can fit in a purse. About the size of a Kindle.
Here's the review I wrote on Good Reads:
A beautifully written novella, scant 116 pages, that everyone should read. And every word precise and penetrating.
It's at its center a character study or slice of life - of a man, circa 1980s, with five daughters who owns and runs a coal delivery business in Ireland. And on one of his deliveries, at Christmas time, he runs across a situation that tears at his conscience, and he has to make decision - a difficult one - does he take action or does he look away?
The best stories take us into a point of view other than our own, and show not tell the difficult emotions and thinking behind various actions. They neither condemn, nor sanctify the characters, but show us their lives as mirrors to our own.
This is one of those stories. Even though this fictional story takes place in the 1980s, it still holds up today and resonates long after.
It's among the few books that I've read (and I've read many books) that I feel the need to recommend highly to everyone.
Also finally got around to renting Conclave on AppleTV for $5.99 (far cheaper than seeing it in a movie theater - in NYC, movies cost between $15-20 possibly more depending on where, and not nearly as comfortable. Plus I have a big screen tv and this movie doesn't require a huge screen.)
It's brilliant. I highly recommend everybody see it. The set-up? A pope dies and the Managing Cardinal or Dean of the Conclave must manage the selection of the new pope. It's a bit of a thriller - and there's a mystery at the center of it, along with some interesting twists and turns that comment heavily on our current political situation. I don't want to say more than that - since it is best to go into it blind? But it like Small Things, is a beautifully filmed story that shows not tells and pulls us into another point of view, brilliantly.
Ralph Fiennes is excellent in it, as is the supporting cast, in particular Isabella Rosellini, and the actor who portrays Benitiz. John Lithgow is almost unrecognizable in his role - took me a minute to realize it was him.
Beautifully filmed, and scored film, that is quietly moving and poignant.