Ah, the weekend. As you settle in for another cold one, we’re hoping to come out of a week’s worth of rain. Yes, the rains you’ve been hearing about in LA – just two hours’ drive from us – beat snow and wind chills and I am not looking for pity! But truly this is weather we could have had for free in Victoria. Oh, well. We’re still finding snowbirding to agree with us for the most part, even though we’re in total work mode almost all of the time – but in all the best ways! Writing, recording and writing some more. All good.
 
Speaking of writing, an event in OTTAWA has been confirmed! If you or someone you know who might benefit from Mourning Has Broken lives in the National Capital Region, please feel free to share this link and I’ll see you – and/or them – on the 28th!
 
So, before the busyness of February kicks in here, and this being a January weekend for us all, may I offer a few suggestions as we hunker down together for a few days? With yesterday being the former First Lady’s birthday, it reminded me of a cherished Christmas present from my sister-in-law Sue: Michelle Obama’s autobiography.
 
Sue gave it to us, along with the most unique bookmark: a new Canadian ten dollar bill featuring another pioneering woman of colour, Viola Desmond, a black Nova Scotia businesswoman who took a stand at a segregated movie theatre in 1946 and, in so doing, became an icon for the civil rights movement. Thank you, Sue – and thank you Michelle and Viola. A perfect backdrop to the upcoming Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. 
 

 
If you’d like to catch up on a movie or two before the Oscar nominations come down in the coming week, or in light of the Golden Globes last weekend, boy, do I have a suggestion for you: The Wife.
 

 
Before we saw it this week, I thought that Lady Gaga was a shoo-in for the Best Actress Oscar for her debut role in A Star is Born. (Truly, Bradley Cooper has pulled off a huge coup as the director of this first-timer and he deserves to get a statue for his work.) But after seeing Glenn Close in this defining role as the woman in the shadow of her husband’s Nobel Prize-winning writing work (and the twists that come as the story unfolds) I’m convinced that this is a performance that deserves all of the accolades. All of them. AJAC Car of the Year – I don’t care. Give her all of them.
 
At the risk of unforgivably giving anything away, I can’t tell you much about this story – adapted from the novel by Meg Wolitzer – except to tell you that it’s rich, deep and extremely compelling. The film itself has conflict but no violence; there’s no nudity or horror – just an excellent story well told and performed with deftness and authenticity. See The Wife if you – like me – lament the lack of movies without superheroes or a cacophony of special effects marring or augmenting a narrative. 
 
Have a cozy weekend and thank you for spending time with me here every day. I’ll be back with you Monday.