Looking Back
2022ish In Review
An old fashioned blog post about all kinds of things
This is a post about recommendations (which I always love reading), a little show & tell, and a lot of tangential asides. Read at your leisure. Before & After house content at the bottom, should you just want the pictures.
Some big news, I love reading again. Fantasy cured my decade long hiatus. Since college, and the invention of the iPhone, my attention span and love of learning took a hit. Beware of any schooling or device that takes away critical thinking and curiosity. As G.K. Chesterton so masterfully said, “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
Reading is my teacher again. I’m studying to be a child.
Books:
Range - Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.
Everyone should read or listen to this book. I’ve never been good at sticking with something. I like too many things. The author talks about the strength of different experiences over specializing but also how specialists who have interests outside their career are better at their job. It gave permission and serious data to backup following your interests and having downtime to do other things beside work or think about work.
The Tipping Point - How Little Things Can Make Big Difference
This book is a favorite. I think this is the third time I’ve listened to it in as many years. For me, this book shows how process matters. There are three key components in having a match lit. Give something enough time, smoke becomes a fire. I wish I understood this when I was starting out as a photographer ten years ago. Small things, done consistently will produce big results. Impatience is not just a youthful folly but it does seem to get the younger ones in trouble more often. I was one of them.
I’ve listened to this book twice through. It’s epic. If James Bond was a spy of spies, had more heart and less ego, and was a little more relatable, this is a book for you. One of my favorite quotes from this book:
“You look hunted,” he said finally in that buddhist way, more in sorrow than in judgement .
“Hunted?” I laughed and told him it was the first time I had ever heard that. “People usually put me on the opposite side of the food chain.”
“There is no other side of the food chain,” he said quietly. “Only the west believes that. Without grace, everyone is running from something.”
Lucy Foley has been a fun mystery read for me this year. She wrote The Guest List as well. Someone always winds up dead. A whodunit that I couldn’t put down.
I took this to Germany in August, hoping it would last me the whole trip, but I finished it in two days. My trip was a week. Anyone with no backup book knows the pain. It’s magnified in a foreign country without an English bookstore…
Shows:
A dark comedy about a family of sisters who will murder for their own. Poignant, funny, and downright sinister, the villain is as bad as the sisters’ are hilarious. The irreverent mishaps to kill and get away with it mix with real problems anyone can relate to. Even if your villain is life itself and not a person.
You may be over Chip & JoJo but they know how to make a reno show. The seasons and episodes are short, sweet, and make it worth your while. Great design inspiration. If you follow a designer or cook or maker on instagram, watch out, they may end up on a Magnolia Show. I’m here for it. Lots of process and behind the scenes of what it takes to do what creatives do. I live for this. As an aside, anyone want to design and run a boutique hotel?
A Norwegian romcom with two seasons, this has been a repeat watch in the past few years.
Finding love at Christmas can be hard but especially in high school. Sweet and awkward and narrated by the two main characters, it’s better than it sounds… if you love romcoms and Christmas.
Movies:
This genre of thriller, comedy, mystery has had its fair share of bad movies in past few years. It’s hard to do well. Grey Man, anyone? Red Notice? It’s usually heavy handed in one area, mostly avoiding things like plot and character development. This one isn’t perfect but I really enjoyed Brad Pitt and all the other characters. I’d board this train again.
Speaking of aging gracefully, Brad Pitt and Leo shine like the Golden Era of Hollywood it portrays. The first time I watched this was in an Irish theater at 8 AM the fall before 2020. Four Americans tired of sightseeing, took in a picture show. To our surprise, we were not the only folks who had nothing else to do. One man, in particular, treated himself to coke, ice cream, and popcorn. At 8 AM. One random weekday. That day, in the dark theater, we did live up to our American stereotype by being the only ones laughing loudly (or at all). Maybe we’re just more fun?
Classic Quentin Tarantino but with a nostalgic twist and razor sharp humor, I happened upon it again this fall. Still as bloody good as the first time. *WARNING: QUENTIN TARANTINO FILMS ARE VERY VIOLENT.
An enjoyable cartoon for the whole family, it’s a unique take on the mythic story of how Santa came to be. Heartwarming and funny, this hits every Christmas.
A Puerto Rican cousin to The Family Stone, a grown up family is all together for the holidays. As you can imagine, misunderstanding, history, and chaos ensue. But what would be interesting about a family getting along at Christmas? How unrelatable. The reason family stories will never go out of style, is everyone has one, whether blood or chosen; where there are people, there are problems.
Music:
A husband/wife duo, Jesse & Leah Roberts, started singing through every single Psalm starting in January of 2020. For over two years, they released a Psalm a week until it’s conclusion just a few months ago with the last Psalm, Psalm 150. There’s now a Psalm for every feeling and for the bad days as well as the good. If you want to hear more about the project, listen to this podcast.
Exercise
If I was younger, I’d never give this a chance. Designed to put your body back in alignment and unwind years of physical injuries, I took the plunge because I was not promised a magic cure. I was promised it would work with time and consistency. The program is a year long, beautifully designed, and I have access forever. Anyone promising me healing by patience and perseverance has my trust. I haven’t found any other way. I no longer believe in quick cures. I’m 16 weeks in… So I’ll report back in a year.
6.Saying Goodbye to Spring Creek:
Anyone good at goodbyes is probably a psychopath. I read a cartoon this week captioned “I’ve never been good at goodbyes. Hello.” That’s how I feel. It’s hard to wrap up an eight year history in a house. I’ll sum it up in two photos and a sentence, “Love is an oval shaped feeling we all know.”
7.Home as an Art Form - I moved this year.
“I think that most of us want to offer the world something of quality, something that the world will consider good or important. And that’s really the enemy, because it’s not up to us whether what we do is any good, and if history as taught us anything, the world is an extremely unreliable critic. So you have to ask yourself, do you think human creativity matters?” - Ethan Hawke (Click his name and watch his whole Ted Talk).
For me, creativity is home. Lucky for me, I bought a home, necessitating some renovating. The luxury of a speedy move-in deadline is that I couldn’t second guess my choices. I had a month to get the big stuff done. This is a very neat and tidy set of photos for a very untidy and messy process. But I’m thrilled with the results.
Merry Christmas from my home to yours!
XOXO, Amelia
