Christmas can become a circle-cycle for you. You do certain things at a certain. For instance some are last minute gift buyers. Other people tend to have a certain routine like “we always eat at noon.” This year, hopefully you broke those routines and started new traditions.
There are so many Christmas movies and so little time. I mean there are country Christmases, urban Christmases, California Christmases, Alien Christmases. It goes on and on.
For me, this season the winner is Last Christmas on HBO.
This is the best, most fun movie I watched all the way through and only stopped once. Child of the 1980s that I am, it won me immediately with the George Michael music throughout the movie. And this cute little film from the UK reminded me why I love his music which set a certain type of mood for the film.
The well written script tells me the story in a manner that keeps my interest by making me wonder where it is going. Our main character is Kate, a young woman living in the UK with her parents and sister, all of which have immigrated from Yugoslavia during the critical time of Brexit. She is living the life of a normal twentysomething.
Emilia Clarke is so good as Kate, she is annoying. The first 40 minutes of this movie, I wanted to punch her myself. I was yelling “Girl, get a life!” Then the very charming Henry Golding shows up at Tom and starts me to wondering. First of all, why would someone like him be interested in a girl who wears an elf costume? I didn’t find this to be one of those ordinary Christmas stories.
The Emma Thompson plays Kate’s mother which gives you a glimpse into why Kate is so crazy. Thompson’s character is this older woman who has immigrated to the UK has lots of fears about it. She is a doting mother, but none make you hate her. Michelle Yeoh plays Kate’s boss who goes by the name of Santa and also gives you moments to giggle. Both women characters have that thing that happens after you turn 50 when you say whatever you think to the twentysomething in the room, like “that’s stupid.”
The screenplay was written by Thompson and Bryony Kimmings who were inspired by George Michael’s song Last Christmas. I enjoyed how they chose to tell the story. It was cheeky, funny, corny and endearing.
I like the story because of the set up. It doesn’t do anything that I don’t expect. It slides a few things in, like the Christmas shop that sells odd Christmas ornaments like the baby Jesus with a full set of teeth and a smiling donkey or a Christmas tree made from baby cabbages.
The thing I love is that it takes me one step deeper than most movies like it. It explains why. Life is full of people who do dumb stuff. Once you know why they do it, it changes everything. For that, this movie will go on my list of movies I will watch over and over. And Henry Golding is hot.
This July my photography will focus on some of my favorite roses. These are from my mom’s home. But these flowers remind me of summer. Big. Bright. Beautiful.
In June we will do things that make us better. This month pray for the Supreme Court of the United States. Pray that they will do what is right and just and fair. Pray that everyone in the United States will also do the same.
In June, I will celebrate with photos of art that allow us to reflect on our history.
This is a Boli Fetish Figure from the Bamana people of Mali in West Africa. It is referred to as a fetish because it possessed a magical power representing a spirit that controlled some aspect of their life. It would get rid of disease or punish someone doing wrong in the community.
It was created of animal bones, feathers, vegetable matter, metal, mirror, and other organic matter.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
So I am trying a few new things that I never would have had their never been a pandemic. I am testing the delivery services of places like Amazon, WalMart and Target. We are in a pandemic so I don’t have high expectations, but I want to see who does the best job.
First, I ordered groceries for delivery. Now, I realize that many people are doing this so I can expect some wait time. It was a five day wait for delivery, but I got to chose the time it would arrive.
I made sure I was up early, dressed and ready to meet them at the door. I got a text saying the driver would be there soon with my groceries. I received a text when the driver pulled up. They called when they were at the door. It was cool. They were polite and arrived on the top side of the hour verses the back.
I was nervous about ordering fruit, but I received some of the sweetest grapes I have ever tasted. Three of the things I wanted were not available, one was substituted. No big deal. I will do it again.
I have also ordered a variety of items from WalMart, Target and Amazon. ‘
By far Target is the best. First, there are not a lot of additional expenses when you purchase something. Right now, the shipping is free and the only other charge is tax. When I first pushed the order button, the delivery date was May something. I am in no hurry. I am not going anywhere. A day later the delivery date changed to two days from when I ordered it. I know, right. Something I thought would take several weeks took two days. Target uses the same delivery processes as others, FedEx, UPS, etc. But I guess Target customers get preference.
WalMart has made me a repeat customer because again, their delivery is on point. When I clicked order, I received messages that it would be mid May before I received my stuff. Then the next day, I got messages that delivery date had changed. All of my mid May delivery dates turned into the next week. Ding! Ding! Ding! They have access to more products than target and the prices are good. Again, there were not a lot of extra charges after I ordered. With free shipping, my products came within a week. There is only one thing I am waiting on, and I can cancel it up until it ships. This is cheaper than Amazon and more efficient.
Amazon has made me give up prime membership because it was a waste of money. All my Amazon purchases had May delivery dates and there was extra charges which made it seem high prices for such a long wait. I have decided that this is a place where I can get stuff I might not be able to find at the other two. For instance I am still waiting on a thermometer which has a delivery date of May 1 to 10 which I ordered in March. I would use Amazon as a last resort unless you like waiting on stuff.
This downtime has made me rethink how I spend and where I spend my money. I will spend much less on Amazon this year, and give other retailers a try.
UPP Creative Media 