Five Things Friday Vol. 125

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?

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