Instead of Netflix & Chill (the G version), I will be going old school this holiday season, and reliving my college days. I have no internet or cable at home (financial restrictions and just plain preference – I’ll get internet eventually), so I will be reading, watching DVDs and working extra hours. I have an entire week off work (Thanks Georgia Tech!), so that’s 10 days of nothing to do but read, watch and work.
That’s exactly what I did in college. I picked up every shift available at Blockbuster, or worked around the clock at my aunt and uncle’s party supply store. I watched the free rentals I got through work, and finally saw some classics I missed growing up like The Godfather series (even the abysmal third installment). I read Gone With The Wind, The Three Musketeers and every Anne Rivers Siddons and Pat Conroy book in my library.
Last year, I left for India on December 14th and returned on January 6th, spending 3 weeks with family and friends and exploring my ancestral land. This year I’ll be at home, and most of my family will be overseas. So naturally, I’m reverting back to the old days, diving into my own mini-Blockbuster, private library, and working at a retail store to pay off some debt. So my 40 year-old self will pretend it is 20? Well, the mind will, but the body will have some catching up to do!
What’s on my “to read” list over the holidays?
Little Women (again, and not just because another movie based on the book is coming out). I did enjoy the PBS mini-series version, but still prefer the 1994 version.
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters (because I always want to read where the author got their ideas)
In Pieces (bio of Sally Field)
The Art Forger, The Muralist, The Collector’s Apprentice (B.A. Shapiro novels)
The Wife (then I can go see the movie)
The Allies – Winston Groom’s telling of the alliance of FDR, Churchill and Stalin
Leadership In Turbulent Times – Doris Kearns Goodwin outlines the different styles of leadership four presidents (Lincoln, both Roosevelts & LBJ) employed to get the country through its worst periods.
As far as the “to watch” list, if I had internet, I’d be watching every cheesy Netflix holiday movie (no internet), but I’ll settle for the classics in my film library, and some newer holiday favorites:
White Christmas – I just saw the Broadway show at the Fox Theatre, by the way!
It’s A Wonderful Life
Holiday Inn – not strictly Christmas, but it begins and ends then!
Meet Me in St. Louis
Christmas in Connecticut
The Bishop’s Wife
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Love Actually
Home for the Holidays – technically this is Thanksgiving, but the sentiment still applies
The Family Stone
The Holiday
Serendipity – it all started with Christmas shopping!
Little Women (1994)
Some of these only have part of the movie set during Christmas, but those scenes are some of the most memorable and significant point plots, so I had to include them. Little Women starts during the Christmas season, as does Serendipity, and no one else can do Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas like Judy Garland does it.
Sravanthi Meka 