(no subject)
A well known UK actor has died and then we've lost Mary Tyler Moore. Both actors were aged. People are already moaning about this being a repeat of 2016 when we lost an inordinate number of famous people. Time will tell but when someone is over 75 you aren't as surprised or shocked to hear they've died. With the population getting older, so many baby boomers and more reaching 70 and over, it's inevitable that there will be more and more. It's the younger ones that shock you, that leave you reeling. Even someone in their 60s like Bowie, Fisher and Rickman is young these days. As I get close to 60, as well, these people are more or less my contemporaries. I've already lost 2 or 3 people my age over the past 10 years. My good friend and coworker Carole died nearly 10 years ago and we lost another coworker a year or so later. He was also in his 50s like she was. My cousin Eddie died at the age of 50, a year older than me at the time. You expect you will see people your parents' age go, and indeed the parents of a lot of my friends and what remaining aunts and uncles I have are in their 70s and 80s and the health of a number of them is visibly failing. People my age, late 50s, they're having more health problems, too. It's inevitable, I guess but it's scary too.
When I was 20, i had a grandmother in her early 60s though my other grandmother was 20 years older. Both seemed a remote age but now I'm almost caught up with the younger of the two. I don't mind admitting how old I am. What bothers me is how long ago everything seemed to happen. I certainly don't "feel" this age. What's that supposed to feel like anyway? Do I act my age? I don't think I act the way my parents, aunts and uncles did at this age. They were more serious, responsible, (notwithstanding their senses of humour of course), But then they had harder lives, raised kids (often quite a few). But I"m also looking at them from the perspective of a much younger person than they were.
You know them as your parents, but did I know them as people? They didn't confide in me as to their dreams, worries and hopes, not then. I saw one side of them but there were other sides they only showed to each other or their peers. I know that now. Maybe they felt the same way about life as I do now. I do realize that, not having raised children, I don't have that sort of responsible side to me. Raising children certainly would change you and add sides to your personality that I will never have. Nobody depended on me in that way. I didn't have someone to protect with my life in that way that you do with your children.
Anyway. I didn't mean to get all philosophical here.
Still book blogging, still enjoying it. I see topics all the time that inspire me to write. I hope people don't think I'm just copying ideas! I've been posting fairly frequently so far but I know that will ease back once the novelty wears off. I don't post as much to the travel blog lately but that's because I hadn't been traveling or planning a trip. Now we are gearing up for our visit to the west coast in November and trip to Hawaii. I booked our flights to Vancouver using Aeroplan points and I had to do it in business class. There wasn't really anything available for coach class for the dates or even close to the dates were needed. Luckily I had more points than I needed even for business class though I had hoped to be able to fit two free trips in. Doesn't matter. Points add up and I'll get there eventually for something else. Traveling in business class for that distance is very comfortable. Even managed it for all the flights. Sometimes you get BC for the flight to Toronto and coach the rest of the way due to availability but they still charge you the whole amount of points for BC even if you only use it on some of the flights. I wouldn't waste them if that was the case. But I got lucky with the availability and we're going BC on both flights out and back, and the return from Vancouver to Toronto is an overnight flight so that will be very nice! Flying BC also allows us to use the Maple Leaf lounges in the airports, much nicer atmosphere to wait between flights nad there is enough time to take advantage.
My friend's husband offered to get the Hawaii flights through his connections so I"ve sent him the details. If he can still do it, then we will know the exact dates for Victoria and Vancouver and can go ahead and decide on hotels etc. Don't need a hotel in Victoria, We'll be staying with my aunt and uncle there at least. Might get to stay overnight with a cousin in Vancouver as well. Don't like to invite ourselves but if she offers, we'll take a night there as well. That means I can start looking at potential hotels for Vancouver and Honolulu and planning things to do! Yay!
Time to start the annual book list. I'm going to link to the reviews on the new book blog instead of Goodreads this year.
1. Christmas at Pemberly - Regina Jeffers
Started before the New year but finished in early January. Fans of Pride and Prejudice will likely love it or hate it! I liked it well enough. It's written echoing Austen's style but with more modern style as well where we hear more of the characters' thoughts and feelings.
2. Garbo Laughs - Elizabeth Hay
Really liked this. Tells the story of a family in Ottawa where most of them are passionate movie fans, new movies and especially older and classic ones. It's not a "plot" type story, not a mystery, just family, people dealing with each other and with friends and relating it all back to their favourite movies, that's how into movies most of them are. But it's not superficial, it's very well written and I'll be reading more by her.
3. Coronation Street Blog: The Book - Glenda Young
That's the book the editor of the Corrie blog I co-edit and contribute to put together, with all of us on the writing team contributing our favourites of our posts from over the years. Only really going to appeal to a Coronation STreet fan.
4. The Game by Ken Dryden
Excellent book on (ice) hockey, the players, the teams, the life of an athlete. Ken Dryden played goal for the Montreal Canadiens in their glory days of the 1970s and I loved it because I was a fan of that team back then and followed their victories closely. I remember most of the players he talks about including those from other teams. Great insight. Good book for sports fans even if you aren't a fan of hockey.
5. The Best Kind of People - Zoe Whittall
Really liked this one too. Shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Seemingly the perfect family but what happens if someone is accused of doing something inexcusable? Do you support them? Do you believe them? If it's true, will you ever be able to trust them again or anyone else for that matter because if the person you trust most ever can be keeping those kinds of secrets, maybe everyone does. How do your friends, neighbours and family treat you because of what your loved one has allegedly done? How could you not have known?
6. Stalin's Daughter - Rosemary Sullivan
A detailed biography of Svetlana Alliluyeva, aka Lana Peters, who was Stalin's only daughter. She defected to the US in the late 1960s but her life was quite a roller coaster. Life inside the USSR and what it's like after when you're pretty sure the KGB is aching to get you back, because it was a PR nightmare for them! Interesting. A long book even with the 25% of it being footnotes and bibliography.
When I was 20, i had a grandmother in her early 60s though my other grandmother was 20 years older. Both seemed a remote age but now I'm almost caught up with the younger of the two. I don't mind admitting how old I am. What bothers me is how long ago everything seemed to happen. I certainly don't "feel" this age. What's that supposed to feel like anyway? Do I act my age? I don't think I act the way my parents, aunts and uncles did at this age. They were more serious, responsible, (notwithstanding their senses of humour of course), But then they had harder lives, raised kids (often quite a few). But I"m also looking at them from the perspective of a much younger person than they were.
You know them as your parents, but did I know them as people? They didn't confide in me as to their dreams, worries and hopes, not then. I saw one side of them but there were other sides they only showed to each other or their peers. I know that now. Maybe they felt the same way about life as I do now. I do realize that, not having raised children, I don't have that sort of responsible side to me. Raising children certainly would change you and add sides to your personality that I will never have. Nobody depended on me in that way. I didn't have someone to protect with my life in that way that you do with your children.
Anyway. I didn't mean to get all philosophical here.
Still book blogging, still enjoying it. I see topics all the time that inspire me to write. I hope people don't think I'm just copying ideas! I've been posting fairly frequently so far but I know that will ease back once the novelty wears off. I don't post as much to the travel blog lately but that's because I hadn't been traveling or planning a trip. Now we are gearing up for our visit to the west coast in November and trip to Hawaii. I booked our flights to Vancouver using Aeroplan points and I had to do it in business class. There wasn't really anything available for coach class for the dates or even close to the dates were needed. Luckily I had more points than I needed even for business class though I had hoped to be able to fit two free trips in. Doesn't matter. Points add up and I'll get there eventually for something else. Traveling in business class for that distance is very comfortable. Even managed it for all the flights. Sometimes you get BC for the flight to Toronto and coach the rest of the way due to availability but they still charge you the whole amount of points for BC even if you only use it on some of the flights. I wouldn't waste them if that was the case. But I got lucky with the availability and we're going BC on both flights out and back, and the return from Vancouver to Toronto is an overnight flight so that will be very nice! Flying BC also allows us to use the Maple Leaf lounges in the airports, much nicer atmosphere to wait between flights nad there is enough time to take advantage.
My friend's husband offered to get the Hawaii flights through his connections so I"ve sent him the details. If he can still do it, then we will know the exact dates for Victoria and Vancouver and can go ahead and decide on hotels etc. Don't need a hotel in Victoria, We'll be staying with my aunt and uncle there at least. Might get to stay overnight with a cousin in Vancouver as well. Don't like to invite ourselves but if she offers, we'll take a night there as well. That means I can start looking at potential hotels for Vancouver and Honolulu and planning things to do! Yay!
Time to start the annual book list. I'm going to link to the reviews on the new book blog instead of Goodreads this year.
1. Christmas at Pemberly - Regina Jeffers
Started before the New year but finished in early January. Fans of Pride and Prejudice will likely love it or hate it! I liked it well enough. It's written echoing Austen's style but with more modern style as well where we hear more of the characters' thoughts and feelings.
2. Garbo Laughs - Elizabeth Hay
Really liked this. Tells the story of a family in Ottawa where most of them are passionate movie fans, new movies and especially older and classic ones. It's not a "plot" type story, not a mystery, just family, people dealing with each other and with friends and relating it all back to their favourite movies, that's how into movies most of them are. But it's not superficial, it's very well written and I'll be reading more by her.
3. Coronation Street Blog: The Book - Glenda Young
That's the book the editor of the Corrie blog I co-edit and contribute to put together, with all of us on the writing team contributing our favourites of our posts from over the years. Only really going to appeal to a Coronation STreet fan.
4. The Game by Ken Dryden
Excellent book on (ice) hockey, the players, the teams, the life of an athlete. Ken Dryden played goal for the Montreal Canadiens in their glory days of the 1970s and I loved it because I was a fan of that team back then and followed their victories closely. I remember most of the players he talks about including those from other teams. Great insight. Good book for sports fans even if you aren't a fan of hockey.
5. The Best Kind of People - Zoe Whittall
Really liked this one too. Shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Seemingly the perfect family but what happens if someone is accused of doing something inexcusable? Do you support them? Do you believe them? If it's true, will you ever be able to trust them again or anyone else for that matter because if the person you trust most ever can be keeping those kinds of secrets, maybe everyone does. How do your friends, neighbours and family treat you because of what your loved one has allegedly done? How could you not have known?
6. Stalin's Daughter - Rosemary Sullivan
A detailed biography of Svetlana Alliluyeva, aka Lana Peters, who was Stalin's only daughter. She defected to the US in the late 1960s but her life was quite a roller coaster. Life inside the USSR and what it's like after when you're pretty sure the KGB is aching to get you back, because it was a PR nightmare for them! Interesting. A long book even with the 25% of it being footnotes and bibliography.