Thanks for all your suggestions on the evening post. I think my 9-year-old might like listening to things (or doing puzzle books…another option). He likes certain story podcasts (like the “Grim, Grimmer, Grimmest” one) so that could be a win.
I was definitely noticing hints of fall color this morning as I was driving my little boys to school. I did a lot of work on a puzzle this morning (Friday is my very long not-really-amenable-to-work morning). I’m doing one of a map of the world, which has been fun for brushing up on geography. I mean, I know roughly where most countries are, but I can forget how close some places happen to be. In my mind, Pakistan is in Asia (because it’s right by India), and the Middle East is a separate region, but it would be a pretty quick flight from Karachi to, say, Dubai. Those puzzle pieces are right by each other!
I’ve been waking up before my alarm on my non-running days, which is kind of crazy. My bedtime all last year was 11 p.m., and I’m still going to bed around then most days. I set my alarm for 7 a.m., since that’s when kids have to start getting up, but if I go to sleep soon after 11, there’s no way I’m sleeping until 7 on an average day. I tend to wake up between 6:15 and 6:30. Longtime readers know my sleep set point is approximately 7.3-7.4 hours/day so…this tracks.
This week’s content: A lot of people enjoyed the “Would you rather…?” BOBW episode. Over at our Patreon page we’ve been talking margin, and how to boost our energy levels. We’ll be meeting by Zoom next week Thursday to talk about Jodi Wellman’s book, You Only Die Once. Find more membership info here.
The Before Breakfast podcast covered why you should “Plan each weekend twice.” I plan my upcoming weeks on Friday, meaning the next Monday to Sunday week. But then I also refine the plan for the immediately upcoming weekend. That means I plan each weekend twice. It’s a quirk of when I plan, but I think this has approach has some merits — plan lightly, then plan tightly! More becomes possible. I also suggested that you “Press the easy button when you can.” The pejorative phrase “taking the easy way out” is sometimes misplaced, because in many cases the easy way is not only perfectly fine, it may be preferable to something more complex. Even at a fancy dinner party, I found people were as happy with the ice cream sandwiches and fruit for dessert as they were with anything more complicated…
Next week, I’ll be launching an interview series for Before Breakfast on Wednesdays, so stay tuned for that.
Over at Vanderhacks (my Substack newsletter), I note that “Weekends are real days too.” Even if you do something “only” on the weekends, you’re doing it fairly frequently, and it counts. My post behind the paywall is called “I still haven’t watched Casablanca,” which is my musings on my 2010 (!) List of 100 Dreams, and what has happened and what hasn’t. Please consider a free or paid subscription to this every-weekday-morning newsletter.
Finally, my son is back to writing movie reviews…hopefully this will be the first in a series!
Stand by Me, reviewed by Jasper Conway
The moments worth remembering stick with us for life. That’s the theme of this movie based on a Stephen King novella — and the movie will stick with you as well.
The story follows four young boys — Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy — through their journey to find the body of a local boy who died. The journey itself is simple but what this movie does well is crafting the boys’ personalities and their relationships with each other. Several times through the movie the boys engage in behavior that could be best described by the out-of-date saying, “Boys will be boys.” But underneath the jokes and fun this movie creates a profound sense of belonging.
The boys all come from different backgrounds with different family lives, yet they came together to form true and real friendships. When you grow older these natural friendships become harder to make, but when you’re a kid those outside things don’t matter as much. The movie also succeeds in showing realities for children in the 1950s (and unfortunately, now too). Teddy, for example, has his ear burnt by his father, a clear example of abuse. Chris struggles with being in a family that has a reputation for not turning out to be much. Vern struggles with his weight and feeling accepted by his new friends.
Gordie is the main character, and we quickly find out about his brother’s death and how it has affected him. Yet, as the journey goes on we see him go through the stages of grief, moving through his feelings in a way he hadn’t previously been able to process.
In all, this movie, while seemingly simple, is astoundingly rich. While I think it could be a universally loved film, it is rated R, so it might not be good for young kids (even if they are the same age as the kids in the film).
Overall I would give this movie a 9.5/10.
Stand by me is one of my favourite movies of all time. In early 50s now and very cool to hear a teenager rate it so highly.
Great movie! I watched it with my 12 yo this past year and she enjoyed it too. It’s so interesting how some movies stand the test of time and others become dated quickly.