Super Bowl
I am not much of a football person. I don’t have a favorite team, I don’t watch professional football during the main season, and I often don’t even follow the Super Bowl Game (it’s only on in the background). But wasn’t the event pure delight this year? I wasn’t in it for the game; I was in it for the musical acts.
Green Day were obviously amazing, I thoroughly enjoyed Charlie Puth’s rendition of the National Anthem, and Brandi Carlile and Coco Jones were fantastic, but Bad Bunny’s halftime show really delivered a punch. The message was simple, but so beautifully executed, and the controversy it caused in the media was, in my opinion, fully intended. Honestly, I did not know much about Bad Bunny before he was brought up as the Super Bowl Halftime Show performer, but I did not for a second question the appropriateness of that decision. Why would the most-streamed male artist in Spotify history NOT be invited to play at the Super Bowl? When people called for a white, English-speaking artist, the NFL added Green Day (well-known for their political activism) for the pre-game ceremony. You can argue that they picked Bad Bunny (and Green Day) solely for ratings, but I think they also took a clear stance with the lineup!
The Olympics
I have to admit that I haven’t watched nearly as much of the Olympics as I was hoping for this week. Blame it on long work days and the fact that I often just don’t even turn on the TV in the evenings. I am hoping to watch a little more this weekend, though. Did you know that the place in the Dolomites (Italian Alps), where I grew up skiing, is just around the corner from Milan/Cortina D’Ampezzo? I’ll be heading there again with my family at the end of March.
Losses
James Van Der Beek died this week, and the whole online world is devastated. Of course, I – as well as everyone I know – watched “Dawson’s Creek” in my teenage years, and I longed to live in Capeside (who didn’t?). These actors are my age, and everything felt so relatable. I was always “Team Pacey”, but damn, losing Dawson feels hard. He was much too young.
And although I didn’t mention it on the blog before, of course, both the death of our beloved Catherine O’Hara and Brad Arnold (Three Doors Down – I used to love their music in the 90s/2000s) were also crushing.
ENOUGH, 2026.
Cool Bloggers Book Club
I am going to be honest and admit that I am having a hard time getting through Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence for our CBBC. I so very much appreciate Engie’s effort to summarize the chapters, come up with questions, and generally educate us about things she looked up for context about places or people mentioned. I am just not invested. I need books to be descriptive, and this book is so very not. I don’t have an inner “movie” going on, I cannot picture the settings and the people very well, and I don’t feel anything for the characters. (I heard there was a movie made with Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryer and I am intrigued to watch that sometime).
I was – I mean, I am – determined to get through this book and participate in the discussion, but man, it’s not a very fun experience for me. I am kind of relieved to learn that others feel the same. I am trying to stretch my brain (and patience) by finishing the book this time (in an effort to stick to my self-imposed reading goal this year), but I do hope we pick something more captivating next.
Weekend plans
I have a four-day weekend (today is my RDO – regular day off – and Monday is President’s Day), and I am thrilled about that. I have a long run (10 miles) on my training plan, and luckily, it’ll be a warm and sunny tomorrow, but we are expecting more rain next week. I am also contemplating getting started on our tax return. Not my idea of a fun weekend activity, but I’d rather get this done sooner rather than later. I think I do have all (or most) documents that I need.
Do you have a long weekend? Have you started on your tax return yet?
Lisa’s Yarns
February 14, 2026 at 4:59 amI ended up DNF’ing Age of Innocence shortly after starting the 2nd section. I just did not care about the characters and could not suffer through a book. It’s the kind of book that makes me feel like I am not smart enough. I will stretch myself when reading but don’t want it to feel like a chore!
I haven’t watched much of the Olympics either. Our kids are too young to really get into it and we barely have the tv on. I am hoping to watch some of it this weekend, though!
We have not started our taxes. We always start pretty late because some of Phil’s income is on something called a K1 and it comes out so late, like probably in March!! I used to file in February when I was single and got a nice refund. Since getting married, we pay in big time so there’s no rush to submit them…
Elisabeth
February 14, 2026 at 6:52 amAge of Innocence was TOUGH to get into. I think this is a case where my penchant for skimming comes in handy. I was able to get all the important bits but didn’t get bogged down with the details. I have to admit I thought of DNFing it, and then pushed through and started to really enjoy it by the end. It’s pretty rich in imagery and the characters are actually a lot more complex than I was expecting.
That said, I can 100% see why many people will DNF it. I was tempted to, but then literally stayed up way too late one night finishing it because I found myself feeling invested.
I hate taxes. The end.
I’ve loved the Olympics. I probably watch about an average of an hour a day. A bit in the morning on my laptop while the kids eat breakfast. They really enjoy seeing a bit to start their day, and then I tend to watch a bit of a summary in the evening. It’s fun to have something to turn on, especially since I’m not really a TV person, so it feels like a novelty to actually want to watch something. And of course there is the national pride I feel when Canada does well!!
Michelle G.
February 14, 2026 at 10:27 amI have enjoyed watching the Olympic highlights that Peacock TV has available. I feel like it was very worthwhile to subscribe for the month! The Age of Innocence was tough for me at the beginning, but it’s going better now. Engie’s explanations helped me a lot. I have enjoyed the discussion in her comments section! The half-time show… I honestly zoned out after the first few minutes and went off to do something else. I’m glad that so many people were able to take away a good message from it.
Nicole MacPherson
February 15, 2026 at 7:27 amI read The Age of Innocence years ago and reread it for this, although I was travelling and so did not participate yet in any of the conversations.
I haven’t watched much Olympics, my sport to watch is figure skating, but I prefer pairs and women’s, which comes on this week.
Allison McCaskill
February 15, 2026 at 11:08 amI have decided I don’t have the bandwidth for CBBC this time around and I am oddly okay with that, even though I usually have Catholic guilt and FOMO about not doing stuff. I do have the book and probably will read it at some point, I loved the movie. I liked watching the Olympics, but struggle with knowing when I’m supposed to watch what. I care not a whit about football but made sure to tune in for Bad Bunny and it was amazing.
J
February 15, 2026 at 6:20 pmI am LOVING The Age of Innocence so far. I’m behind in this week’s reading and will not be ready for tomorrow’s discussion.
We watch some of the Olympics every evening, but not the full 4 hours or whatever that would be what we watched on network TV. Some of it I love, some I don’t care about. I resent the Dolamites, my father had a heart attack and died there while hiking. Ridiculous, right? But that’s where I am. My sister is going there this summer, to visit the town where he died, so clearly she does not feel the same way. We all contain multitudes.
I knew nothing of Bad Bunny either, his show was AMAZING. I loved it. Did not watch the football part of the program. The NFL sucks in so many ways, but I’m liking this part of their personality. (I know, organizations are not people.)
I should start on our taxes soon. I use Turbo Tax, and even if I don’t have everything yet, I could start. I like to start, if we are getting money back, the sooner the better. If we will owe I like to know ahead of time. We sensually owe, so blah. If you got a start this weekend, good job.
We have a long weekend too. It’s lovely knowing that it’s Sunday evening as I type this, and no work tomorrow. (Well, I will probably need to work a bit, but not a lot.)
Stephany
February 17, 2026 at 3:36 pmI haven’t watched as much Olympics coverage as I had hoped. It eats into my bedtime since I like to start my routine around 8pm and that’s when the primetime coverage starts. Gah.
I gave up on The Age of Innocence. It just wasn’t working for me!
Anne
February 28, 2026 at 2:09 pmENOUGH, 2026, indeed. Good grief. We are losing good people. I’m tired of it. What about the not-so-good people???
No Olympics here, but oh, I hope you have the BEST time on your ski trip. It looks just beautiful.
The NFL’s music choices were amazing and pointed. I couldn’t ask for anything more. (And I have a lot of qualms about the NFL. Their music choices, though? No qualms.)