The Recap: April 2020

And just like that April is done. How strange to have spent a month with every day following a similar pattern. It’s not been bad, it’s not been good, it’s been odd. We are lucky to have each other, lucky to have the dogs to keep us entertained and give us a focus, and lucky that we both have our health.

A lot of my downtime has been spent consuming, but also reflecting. I’ve written little but meditated, exercised, and started a gratitude journal. Little things, but they are making a difference.

And on we go.

Watched

Amongst a swathe of TV shows, and previously seen movies, here are the new things I watched this month.

  • The Last Dance – Documentary series covering the end of the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls years. Fascinating insider view of the greatest player of all time.
  • Three Identical Strangers – a documentary that just gets more and more intriguing. Will get you right in the feels, in many ways.
  • Minimalism – documentary about minimalism, timely given we are spending so much time surrounded by our stuff.
  • Beastie Boys Story – Told live, in a theatre setting, a remarkable story of a (still) remarkable band.
  • Game of Thrones – a rewatch for me, because Becca hasn’t seen it before.
  • And because we got Disney+
    • Moana
    • Hercules
    • The Jungle Book
    • Oliver & Company

Read

  • Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman – No spoilers but whenever I read two thirds of a book only to have a twist based on the lead character suddenly appear I always feel a bit cheated. That said, imaginative thriller, and despite the oddly stitles dialogue at times it rattles along smartly enough, just leave your disbelief at the door, or better still, burying it in the ground…
  • Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne – Whilst somewhat dated in tone, and of language, the eccentric vagaries of a Mr.Fogg are not to be ignored. A calm soul amongst the ravages of travel, across the wonderful continents of the world, it is no less a surprise to discover if he did, or did not, succeed in his challenge!
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – The language may well be dated but perhaps this short read is all the better for it, richly describing the simple enough tale that most of us already know. In fact in reading this for the first time now, will full knowledge of the gruesome twist, it is the prose that becomes the focus.
  • The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling – Far more than just Mowgli, these stories explore many worlds rich in colour and wild in adventure. Read to explore the story Disney took, and read on for many more tales from the vivid jungle. Glorious.

Started but Won’t Finish
Stories We Never Told by Sonja Yoe – a bit too rambling and didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Listened

Mostly Radio 2, or this playlist I cobbled together from a few different source:

Wrote

  • The Other Side – Wasn’t much writing going on but I was glad I was able to gather my thoughts for this piece.

My Favourite Photo