January
by William Carlos Williams
Again I reply to the triple winds
running chromatic fifths of derision
outside my window:
Play louder.
You will not succeed. I am
bound more to my sentences
the more you batter at me
to follow you.
And the wind,
as before, fingers perfectly
its derisive music.
I tried hard not to let January get me down, and it … kind of worked. I’m bound more to my sentences too, deep in my novel revision, which has finally turned a corner from sloggy to fun.
Pluto is now in Aquarius, and the internet tells me that it’s my time to shine. Apparently, it was Pluto’s fault that I’ve had a difficult decade, but it’s finally moving along, and catalyzing a time of powerful growth and epic transformation. Bring it, 9th planet!
January was a good month for movies. I left my house several times and went to the cinema, mostly alone, and mostly to the Fox (the family saw The Boy and the Heron and we all loved it, and I saw Napoleon and didn’t, but I also went to the January mystery movie and saw the eternally fun Chopping Mall). We made the trek to the Revue for a family viewing of The Wizard of Oz, and I went twice to the Paradise, where curator Weird Alice has stolen my heart with two of their monthly series (Drag Me to the Movies, which showed the oddly wonderful B.A.P.S. — a film I had never heard of, starring Halle Berry and and Martin Landau — preceded by great drag, and a great curated video preshow), and Evil Women, which gave me the chance to see Almodovar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for the first time). I saw White Men Can’t Jump at TIFF for the first time since 1993, as part of the series they mounted in Ravi’s memory, a series he was working on before his death. The film is hilarious, full of smack talk, basketball, high-stakes gambling, and big, big emotions. I can absolutely see why it was one of his all-time favourites.
I also finally saw Anatomy of a Fall (with a friend, a rare treat for me), and it was a hard but wonderful watch filled with such beautiful performances (of course Sandra Hüller, but also the kid, and even their dog, were just perfect). The on-screen [non-sexual] chemistry between Hüller and Samuel Theis was so through-the-roof, and the argument that they have about the lack of balance in their relationship felt so real and so powerful. I’ve seen that fight before, heard my friends recount versions of it from their own lives, but this was the first time I experienced it with the genders reversed (Theis is the one who complains about household and childcare burdens, about not having time for his writing), and it allowed me hear both sides in a new way.
Sandra is the “art monster” in this relationship, and her totally uncompromising attitude was, dare I say it, a breath of fresh air? (I’m borrowing the term Art Monster from a recent post in ’s new Substack, Territory of Light, which you should subscribe to. I have been laughing for five days at the phrase “Nabokov didn't even fold his own umbrella.” I’m never folding mine again. Sorry, Colin!)
I managed not to see a single film at home (who the hell has time?!) but C & I did start the new season of True Detective, because we both trust Issa Lopez not to screw it up. So far, so great.
January was a slow reading month, but I did start War and Peace and managed to get through Book I without falling behind. The last-begun of 2023 was the first-finished of 2024 - Sean Dixon’s The Abduction of Seven Forgers. It kept surprising me, kept delighting me, and making me laugh. I also finally got around to Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which was on so many people’s fave-of-the-year lists last year. I enjoyed it, with some qualifications that are hard to discuss without spoilers (if you’ve read it and want to discuss, please hit me up!).
In January, I exercised, went on a couple of nature walks, and tried to eat more protein. I wrote a short story and submitted it to a contest. I also missed a friend’s birthday party because I wasn’t feeling well, but I loved seeing the photos and videos of all the cute people karaokeing after the fact. I looked for jobs, got depressed about the state of the job market, and doubled down on some biz-dev stuff with Colin, for Ultra 8 Pictures. Too soon to know how or if it’ll all pay off, but I’m trying to be optimistic, right?
As for homeschool …
Thank you so much for the shout-out! You know I love reading your posts!
I thought Pluto was leaving my sign (Capricorn) and that my life was going to get easier. Haha hahahaha.