Hello everyone. Today I’m sharing all my updates on the entertainment pieces I’ve watched and the hobbies I’ve partaken in this month as well.

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This post is technically covering from mid-January until today, as I was in Mexico for a bit last month and didn’t have internet access to update during my vacation. (You can ready about part one of my trip here and part two will be up on Wednesday.)

Books

The first book I read and finished during my trip is Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Abrom. This was a reread for me as I had previously read it in high school. I remembered I had liked it at the time, so much that I kept it to reread specifically, but couldn’t quite recall details of the story anymore. The book revolves around the writer, Mitch Abrom, as he reconnects with his favorite college professor, Morrie. They agree to meet on Tuesdays, hence the name of the book, as Morrie is nearing the end of his life due to a terminal illness.

The book is split into each “class” that Mitch and Morrie share, with Mitch’s memories or glimpses into his day-to-day life creeping in from time to time. It was short and sweet, showing Mitch more and more committed to Morrie’s well being and taking in Morrie’s final lessons on life. I did rate Tuesdays with Morrie four out of five stars.

Movies

The first movie I watched was Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I actually liked this movie and I hadn’t expected to. I remember hearing that the movie had some significant changes from the book, but I’d read the book a few years ago so I didn’t notice anything in particular but it was fun and interesting to watch. I would rate the movie three out of five stars.

The next movie I saw was Colonia. I mainly watched it because Emma Watson was on the images that come up on Netflix while reading the synopsis. It is a historical romantic thriller film and takes place in Chile during the 1970s. The film follows a young German couple caught up in a revolution and sent to Colonia Dignidad, which was basically a cult that served as a secret torture facility of those that opposed the government. It was so gripping and even though it was so dark we couldn’t stop watching at all. I would give this film five out of five stars because it was so well done.

After that I watched Pickpockets: Maestros del robo. This was also on Netflix and is actually also considered a thriller, although it is very different from the previous film. This one followed three young teens who are recruited and trained as pickpockets in Bogota, Columbia by a police officer who has a huge debt to pay. It was decent but so predictable. Even the twists at the end I could see coming from a mile away. I also didn’t think everything was fixed perfectly by the end and the characters acted sort of weird. For example, one of the teens looked and acted like the boys who were from poor families in Bogota but then it’s revealed that she’s actually from a wealthy family. Even when they figured it out though she continued to deny it and I don’t think she ever just admitted to it, so they just moved on. It was strange. I would give it two out of five stars.

Next up is The Walk. This was also on Netflix and is considered a biographical drama. I find it quite funny how these films are categorized sometimes. This one followed tightrope artist Philippe Petit, who walked a rope across the two twin towers of New York City when they were build in the 1970s. It was quite interesting but I thought the pacing was weird. Petit went from doing it as a hobby to being a street performer to being a student of the trade back to being a street performer back to being a student and then suddenly was doing it illegally for bigger stunts before jetting off to NYC for the twin towers. I felt like there was so much of the story that was pushed aside and given up in order to make the twin towers portion of the film way too overdone. It was interesting and really cool to learn about a story I didn’t know anything about so I would give it three out of five stars.

Two movies that I partially watched were Io and The Other Woman/ Mujeres al Ataque. I figured I’d mention them here because I don’t think I’ll finish them. We accidentally started watching Io which is a sort of post apocalyptic film taking place on one of Jupiter’s moons. We only watched a few minutes before going to the movie we meant to watch and while I love those type of films usually it just didn’t seem that interesting to look up again. If I change my mind though I’ll be sure to rate it in a future post.

I then also watched probably 3/4ths of the movie The Other Woman from 2014. It centered around three women who were all involved in a relationship with the same man. Once they learned about each other there’s an initial murder attempt (kinda) but they eventually form a bond through their focus on taking him down. I missed the start of the film so I looked it up and since I watched most of it I suppose I could rate this. I thought it was pretty funny and entertaining although a little too over the top at times. I would give it three out of five stars.

The last movie I watched was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. This move won a ton of awards a few years back so when I saw it as an option on the plane I figured it was a good time to watch it. The film wasn’t at all what I expected, but great nevertheless. It centered around a mother grieving after the rape and murder of her daughter who rented three billboards near her town of Ebbing, Missouri. She chose phrases aimed at the Ebbing police chief as no one had been arrested for the crime. This makes her a target of the town as they rally around the police chief but she stands firm. I would give the film four out of five stars.

TV

I watched the first two episodes of the show The Gifted on the plane home. It was pretty good and I really enjoyed them so far! I don’t think the show is on Netflix so I’ll have to see if I can rent the season through my library to finish it but that will have to be after the semester is over as I don’t have time now. The show is based on the X-Men, which is a series I’ve long enjoyed. It seems to take place sometime after the mutants at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters no longer exists thus leaving these young mutants to fend for themselves in a world that prosecutes them heavily for any public display of their powers. It was so interesting and I can’t wait to watch the rest!

Music

Well I have to mention Ariana Grande don’t I! I missed the release of “7 rings” while I was in Mexico last month so the first time I heard it was in the car on the way home from school over a week after I got back. I absolutely loved it and her new thank u, next album has a great sound. I haven’t listened to the album too many times yet so I need to go through it again. Once I do I’m sure I’ll have more faves from it!

YouTube

I’ve really been enjoying the channel The Royal Opera recently. They share rehearsals of their ballet classes and masterclasses of their opera singers quite frequently and I love putting them on in the background while working or studying. The videos are quite long so they’re great as I’m not distracted by trying to find a new video so much. Plus they are so interesting so I’ll watch some portions more carefully and get exposed to so many more great pieces of art.

A channel I’ve recently found is Mo Mo O’Brien. From what I’ve seen she does a lot of live action role plays of the renaissance, Harry Potter universe, and vlogs all about them. I was so fascinated by various of her videos and how she describes them!

I’ve also really enjoyed two YouTube podcasts, where they’re part podcast but they are recorded on video so they’re also on YouTube. First is Grace Helbig’s #NotTooDeep podcast on her YouTube channel. I really love watching her interview other online content creators and learn so much from them. They’re so fun as well, since she is a comedian and many of her guests are too. I loved the one she did recently with Lana Moore. I also enjoyed Nikki Limo’s Sh*t They Don’t Tell You with Meghan Batoon. They did a test to figure out their love languages, along with Nikki’s husband Steve, and it was so fun to listen to. I think it’s the first time I’ve listened to them so I’ll have to look at older ones to listen to and keep up with the future episodes too!

Oh! And I nearly forgot but I went on a Shane Dawson binge as well, watching a ton of his older videos. I didn’t really watch his content regularly until the documentaries he started doing so it was so fun to see what his life was like before and how his “squad” came together. But his top videos that I saw was the Conspiracy Theories with Shane Dawson series. Those are so fun to watch since he explains them and explores them! I will say the editing felt like it was a little much with it jumping all over the place all the time but it wasn’t terrible.

Podcasts

This month I’ve really enjoyed What You Missed in History Class‘ episodes on Mary, Queen of Scots. I haven’t listened to many more podcasts this month other than this and the ones I already mentioned above. This one was so fun and I ended up listening to an older re-release of their “Rival Queens” as well as the newer “The Trial of Mary, Queen of Scots”. I learned a lot and liked the format.

Video Games

I’m still going strong with Hogwarts Mystery! Ava Samwise Quagmire had a nice long two week vacation since I was in Mexico so now I’m super behind on the story (I think), plus the side quests have distracted me quite a bit too. Ava Samwise was really stressing about finding a date to the Celestial Ball. While I really want her and Barnaby to be happy together for ever, I was also quite disappointed that she was acting like it was the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD. Ava Samwise, you are a strong independent woman and I would like you to act like it. Anyway, she did eventually go with Barnaby so it worked out.

Otherwise, she’s currently raising a bowtruckle, has level 7 friendship with Badeea, level 6 for Jae and Liz (level 10 for the rest of the friends). Oh! Rakepick broke her wand when they “dueled” so Ava got a new one. I forgot which one it was already but there were three options and picked the one that sounded the most like her.

Other than that, I played more of Rise of the Tomb Raider on my PS4. It’s super fun! I did get through a good bit of the main story, then chose to stay in the valley area to finish some of the side quests that pop up. Specifically I was trying to do the flags challenge and any other tombs but ended up starting the Baba Yaga side quest. However I got the mission markers mixed up somehow and ended up getting I think halfway through the Baba Yaga story before accidentally going back to the main mission. I was going to give up on that and go finish the Baba Yaga one but decided to just keep going for now. I’m pretty sure I’m getting close to the end of the main story but with school starting up again it’ll be awhile before I play again I think.

Active Life

I haven’t had much going on here still. I was quite active while on vacation because I was walking everywhere and such but since then it’s been pretty quiet. I have been trying to practice at least some more simple ballet stuff but I haven’t done that as often as I would like.

Creative Life & DIY

I have a few ideas for stories I want to explore, but doesn’t everyone? I haven’t been thinking of anything since coming back to be honest, so I’ll continue to keep track of everything I come up with for after school!

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So those are my updates for February! It’s been a good one but I can’t wait to see what March is like.

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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