Four things | Twelve (Christmas Edition)

These will be my last four things of the year because I’m taking a few weeks off for Christmas break. If you read my blog, you probably remember that I posted every day – Christmas Day, on vacation, after surgery, when I was sick. It was a little crazy, but a big part of daily posting was that I enjoyed it so much. I’ve always been cheerful about vacation when I worked in the corporate world, but I loved writing and participating in my blog, so I didn’t feel like I needed a break from it. After a few years of not taking any breaks, I was understandably exhausted and finally took a week off for Christmas. As you can imagine, I learned the value of seeing rest as an important part of work and now I take regular, healthy breaks and actual weekends like a normal person.

I’ll keep working on this and that because my job is as fun now as it was years ago, but I’ll be taking a break from posting regularly here on the blog. Instead of mixing blog and social media content, I’ll be making Nuts & Bolts and Rosa cheese spreads and enjoying unplanned days. I’ll leave you with four things before I wrap up… a study of the artistic process, one of my favorite dramas of all time, a post about slowdowns that went viral, and the little action that might happen during a “Christmas hunker.”

What I’m reading

When we visited Savannah in early November, we went to the Telfair Museum. In one of their buildings, they displayed the works of Norman Rockwell and some of his peers. I was more interested in the museum’s older works and in touring the Owens-Thomas House, but we had paid for admission so I thought we might as well come and see the exhibit. I’ve always respected Norman Rockwell’s work, but his style was never my thing. He’s obviously a great painter and storyteller, but I gravitate more towards impressionistic work. I appreciated his work even more after seeing it in person, especially his scholarship. My studies are little miniature drawings that are not worthy of a frame at all. They just work things out in my head before I commit more broadly. His studies are works of art in themselves.

So, when we got home from our trip, I ordered a book of Rockwell’s regular drawings and read it this week. It’s a great book if you’re interested in the artistic process. He worked extensively away from portraits, realizing their benefit to live models who were expensive and could not hold expressive, active poses for very long. Instead, he would sketch a concept and then pose with photographic models to bring the concept to life. The images were very detailed, right down to the backgrounds, clothes, hair and lighting, and he then put all the poses, props and backgrounds together. To me, it’s a fascinating way of working and explains how he was able to capture the realistic facial expressions and poses that he is famous for.

In any case, it is a fascinating book and well worth studying from an artistic standpoint.

What I watch

I’m always eager to find new-to-me dramas, so when A Gentleman in Moscow came out, I added it to my watch list immediately. For some reason, it sat there for a few months until Jeff and I were looking for something to watch together and I asked if we could try it. If it’s not good, he can bail and I’ll keep watching it on my own. It was a bit of a slow start because we weren’t sure where it was going, but by the time we got about three episodes in, we were completely hooked. By the final episode, we absolutely loved it and decided to wait to watch it again over the Christmas break during what we call “The Christmas Shelter.” We’ve been talking about this for weeks and look forward to watching those early episodes with more information. We’re probably more excited to watch this series again than we are to open presents on Christmas morning.

Here’s the trailer…

It is amazing, magical, moving and profound, and touches on many beautiful themes such as perseverance, dedication, freedom, tolerance, optimism and hope. It is a clean and refreshing presentation overall. I’ve been waiting to recommend it for you to see if you too clear your calendar, take time off work, and have your own Christmas. It’s one of my favorite new limited series.

What I like

Last week, my friend Stephanie, a seemingly endless well of wisdom, shared this post from @nurturingfolk on Instagram…

It’s a simple message and the reel is played with a slowly picked guitar as accompaniment. I loved it and shared it too. But I went back to it the next day, not because of the message, but because I wanted to double-check something. Did this Reel really have nearly 2 million views and counting?

I did. When sharing on social media, you never know what will resonate with thousands or millions of people and go viral. I thought it was interesting that a simple message like “You can slow down” was getting so much attention. It’s not a cheerful room makeover, engaging content, a funny cat, or a celebrity who gets a lot of views no matter what they share. It was just a simple message saying that it’s okay to relax and be kind to yourself and that people needed to hear and share it.

We live at a frenetic pace and those reminders feel like an invitation to sit and savor all that you enjoy…a good book, a cup of tea, a cat cuddled on your lap in the glow of Christmas tree lights. So, I hope you do.

What I’m working on

Well, not much action happens during Christmas as we get closer to that time! I will stop posting on the blog until the new year and will watch Gentleman in Moscow and other series and movies with Jeff and the boys. I’ll stay in bed for a little while longer, read in the corner of the living room, and do some drawing and painting in the studio.

However, I have some projects in mind to work on. I want to make more progress on the never-ending carpet glue removal process in the basement, I have a few art classes lined up to watch, and I’m going to set aside some dedicated time to plan for 2025. As someone who was born in the late 1970s, it’s really hard to believe that we’ve A quarter of a century has passed into the twenty-first century. The year 2025 still feels like a distant future year with flying cars and really sad decor with no antiques at all. (What will happen to them all in the imagined future?) But 2025 is only a few days away, and I’m excited for all the possibilities it holds. I have some new projects in the hopper, goals I want to reach, and an endless list of things I’m curious about.

Merry Christmas and I hope you’ll join me in the New Year…