What I’m Into {February 2018 Edition}

What I am watching

I know I am extremely late to the party, but by the time I heard about how fabulous this show was it was too late to start watching from the beginning. Looking for something to watch right after Christmas after Outlander ended I saw that Downton Abbey was available to stream on Amazon Prime and I got hooked from the very first episode. I love the period it entails, right around WW1 and after, the father with 3 daughters (my dad had 3 girls as well!) and the whole house staff that was so endearing. Mrs. Patmore anyone? And the indomitable Mrs. Violet Crawley. Loved it. I watched all 6 seasons in less than 2 months. Simply FAB.

I never watch most of these sports, what am I saying? I never watch ALL these sports unless it’s the Olympics!!! Skiing, Skateboarding, Luge, Figure Skating, I can’t get enough. I tape everything and then I watch what I like. Some sports are boring, but many are truly exciting, especially if there is an Italian there, LOL. My parents got me hooked when I was really young, I still remember collecting Panini Figurines for the 1972 & 1976 Olympics. I am sure my parents still have those books in their basement. Who remembers Gustav Thöni, or Dorothy Hamill??? I do. I am old, I know.

What I am Reading

My new obsession is books about the Camino de Santiago. I got introduced to this “world” of long distance hikes for soul healing after I watched the movie “Wild” with Reese Witherspoon about a woman who lost her mother who is seeking healing walking the Pacific Coast Trail. I then devoured the Book the Movie was based from by Cheryl Strayed.  Then I watched a couple of other movies of this genre, one called “A Walk in the Wild“, starring Robert Redford, about a couple of old friends walking the Appalachian Trail, and then “The Way“, a movie starring Martin Sheen, who walked the Camino De Santiago after his son’s death.

After that I came across a book by Psychic Sonia Choquette called “Walking Home” and I read that, and this one by none other than Shirley Maclaine called “The Camino: a journey of the spirit” is the one I am almost finished with. Shirley is an extremely spiritual person and while some passages are a little crazy, at the same time they fascinate me. Her journey is also littered with the press and other pilgrims asking for her photograph at every turn (even when she was attempting to urinate!) which makes this book pretty fun to read.

I actually bought other books of the genre which I will read next, I am absolutely fascinated by this sort of thing, I am not sure why. My sister and I made a pact of doing the Camino de Santiago together once I move back to Europe. I am determined to learn as much as possible to get the most out of it when I eventually do it myself. I know I will need “something” for my soul in the eventual grief I know it’s coming in my life (my parents are in their 80s and Nicky… who knows…), so in a way I am preparing myself and learning from others.

I am not sure if it’s exactly a surprise that I am reading the biography of the quintessential Queen of Italian Cinema, the divine Sophia Loren. It was interesting to read about her humble beginnings of a girl without a father and how, without her mother, she would not have been able to achieve her success. Also interesting was to find out she changed her name to appeal to an International audience as advised by many of the producers and directors she came across. I truly liked the fact that she never gave up. She worked for nothing to get herself noticed time and time again. Her looks were unique and she used them to her advantage instead of wanting to change them.

I was also not aware of her quasi-relationship with Cary Grant. He was crazy about her. But she was crazy about Carlo Ponti, and even though he had an impossible time getting a divorce from his ex-wife, she never left him.

I now will have to find the movies she talks about… I know I’ve seen many when I was younger, but not lately.

But I will keep reading, learning from other’s lives helps me put mine into perspective.

Love & Light,