Saturday, February 4, 2012

I spent the day in pajamas. I still managed to do some reading but I felt that being sick justified me catching up to all the “Buffy” episodes for the coming week of Mark Watches. I’m still coughing and my voice is a bit low but at least it stopped hurting too much.

I also caught up to “Who Do You Think You Are?” which premiered yesterday. I just ran it in the background though; the episode wasn’t that exciting. (Martin Sheen one)

And in the evening I watched “Sabah: A Love Story” on Netflix about a 40 year old Muslim woman from a very traditional family living in Toronto who just takes care of her mother mostly and who falls in love with a Canadian man. I really liked the movie, especially since it was centered on interesting women characters and focused on women’s choices.

I also finally finished Equiano book. I did like it very much, it just got a little too long. I can’t believe I never heard of it before – it is one of the most famous slave narratives and it really makes the reader see Atlantic world on the 1700s too. My students and I will discuss it on Wednesday. I started reading “Things Fall Apart” by Achebe, which I’m enjoying a lot. Another book I should have read a long time ago. I do love it when teaching a class lets me read new books.

And speaking of book, here is a link to an excellent article by Margaret Atwood about “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She writes about her experiences in writing it and her thought about it. What stood out to me is that she deliberately didn’t include any cruelty or event that did not happen before. That way people cannot just dismiss the book as something that can never happen.

It is so cold in Europe -30C in Minsk, my Aunt said. It hasn’t been this cold in maybe 55 years. I can’t even imagine.