Les Misérables + The Nature Cure + Medieval Bathing
May I recommend
The motion picture masterpiece, Les Misérables.
Before I get to that however — I want to welcome all my new readers who have arrived via Snowdrop Kisses.
Hi!!
If you’re confused about what’s happening, you are now receiving my twice-monthly regular newsletter. If you’re not down with that, you can go to your settings and scroll to Newsletters and uncheck the Méli-Mélo box… You will still receive Snowdrop Kisses but you’ll have cast off the shackles of this particular newsletter, much in the way that Jean Valjean threw off the oppressive chains of his legally legitimate, but morally corrupt, parole conditions.
SEGUE!
Of course Les Misérables is melodramatic, and lonnnngggg and has some dubious singing moments but OH MY! It is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful opportunity to sob your guts out.
Every now and then the body, spirit and mind needs to purify itself and we all agree that dubious colonics and expensive juice cleanses are bullshit, right? I believe that the best way to drain out all the stress, horror, sadness and rage of modern life is to bawl your eyeballs right out.
I start crying from the moment that nice priest lets Jean steal the damn candlestick and I keep going for two and a half hours until Jean’s going up to heaven with Anne Hathaway.
Sometimes it feels really good to heave sob at the trials and tribulations of 19th Century French prostitutes and preternaturally strong bread thieves/parole violators/mayors/shady businessmen.
One of the joys of Les Miz is that the problems presented in the movie are not my problems: the moral dilemna of religious artefact theft; the stress of keeping secret babies; the cruelty of avaricious, innkeeping foster parents; the bummer that is a harrowing death by TB/STD; the oppression of an incomprehensible and fruitless political rebellion; the tragedy of not being able to find the rando you fell in love with at first sight; the WORSE tragedy of not being noticed by the love of your life, a fruitlessly rebelling sap who fell in love with some rando at first sight; the stress of chasing preternaturally strong bread thieves/parole violators/mayors/shady businessmen across France; the worry and ick factor of rescuing a fruitlessly rebelling sap by dragging him through open sewers; the acceptance of the inevitability of death and of course, GAVROCHE.
All of these tragedies are delicious because none of them have applied — or ever will as long as I don’t start shoplifting my sourdough — to my own life.
I get to FEEL the pathos of these peoples’ problems while snuggling deeper into my blanket and shoving another handful of white-cheddar flavoured popcorn into my mouth, safe in the knowledge that even though my problems feel like big problems, at least I am not a miserable.
Article Roundup!
The Nature Cure — How Time Outdoors is Healing
The Case for Never Reading the Book Jacket — Yo, those things are HARD to write
Too Much Stuff - Can We Solve the Problem of Consumerism?
Scrub-a-Dub - Medieval Bathing Practices
The Strangely Beautiful Experience of Google Reviews
The Case for Inviting Everyone to Everything
Why we Need Public Libraries More than Ever
The Unhinged Joy of Cabbage Patch Kids’ Names — Call back to my last newsletter
The Bishop Who Picked a Fight with the Wrong Nuns
The 30 Worst Christmas Songs, Ranked — There are some horrors here, but I would also throw in ANY version of Feliz Navidad and absolutely nothing surpasses the nightmare of this:
Book Stuff
Last Saturday was a glorious day at the Billings Bridge shopping centre — Madona Skaff and I enticed children away from Santa Claus to sell their parents books about murder and death. Fantastic. This was a book signing event organized by Crime Writers of Canada and it was a blast.
My next book, and the third(ish) in the Dominion Archives Mystery series is coming out in April — Honor the Dead will feature Dr. Cate Spencer, coronoring her way around the Eastern Townships whilst solving the question of how a man was shot through the eye in an apple orchard.
Thanks entirely to my publisher, I get excellent book covers, and this one is no exception. You might notice it features a dog down in the bottom right hand corner. YUP! I’ve added a dog, people. And he’s a good boy.
You can pre-order it from all the usual places, or use this link to pre-order from your local bookshop!
I was lucky enough to be a beta reader for Kerry Anne King’s Christmas novella — Guys, it’s GOOD — Christmassy, but kind of gritty and interesting with a funny little hint of magic and some compelling characters. You should totally buy it and wile away a couple of hours this Sunday afternoon — only $1.99!
Kerry Ann explains it better than I could:
A heartwarming Christmas mystery with a touch of magic.
Nickle Wood is not a thief, although her rap sheet begs to differ. It’s just that a lot of objects are not where they are meant to be and the universe has chosen her to move them. Christmas is absolutely the worst, with every brightly wrapped package a potential landmine.
She and her private-eye boyfriend, Hawk, have agreed: no presents. But he can’t resist giving her a little something and Nickle’s fragile trust is broken. She thought he understood the problem, but maybe he doesn’t really know her at all. Insult to injury, the gift, a beautiful pendant, clearly wants to be elsewhere.
Nickle ventures out into a Christmas Eve snowstorm, determined to relocate the pendant on her own, but when it leads her to a runaway teen and a dog sheltering together behind a dumpster, Nickle knows she’s going to need Hawk’s help to find the girl’s missing mother. Can they trust each other – and Nickle’s unusual ability – enough to work together and pull off a Christmas miracle?
This delightful stand alone novella continues the story of Nickle and Hawk from King’s beloved novel Other People’s Things.
Also, buy my books!
TikTok
Linguistics is (are?) fascinating
I have done my share of bullying like this back in the day
Apropos to this week’s topic
This is extremely helpful
My daughter heard me listening to this and became angry at this guy
Support Breast Cancer
I have also been this parent
I’m doing a rewatch and this is good
This was a good moment - can’t believe it was 11 years ago!
Think I’ve posted this before…
Well, that is correct, I guess.
Kind of adorable
Pancake trauma
These girls get it
So you wanna pay full price?
I love this lady and I love everyone’s reactions
Thanks for reading my weekly newsletter.
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