Have you ever been attracted to books that inspire you? Has there ever been a book that changed the way you looked at life? To me, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch was a book that was like that for me.
It all started with a video I found on YouTube from Carnegie Mellon University back in 2007. I think what attracted me most about the video was the topic: “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” As someone who thinks that her current job is not her childhood dream, the lecture was something that I felt compelled to watch.
The Last Lecture being streamed from my TV via YouTube.
One thing that you should know about me first before reading this post is that I am the type of cook that depends on a recipe book. If there is no cookbook or recipe to follow, I cannot do it. I don’t know if it’s because I tend to be obsessive-compulsive about following a set of directions or if it was because I was brought up taking cooking lessons that followed cookbooks, but I just cannot do these things on the fly. I need a set of directions to follow or I will surely fail.
I’ve always wanted to cook and the only time I’ve ever had the chance to was over the holidays. With the family together and willing to be my taste testers, I finally had the chance to try out some of the easy recipes that I’ve saved from Pinterest.
Crispy Cheese & Bacon Potatoes - Clare Henney Version
For the
past few months I have been watching movies and TV shows via streaming services
(mostly Amazon and Netflix) and I think I have been feeling burned out about
the selection of media on the services and was wondering if there was anything
else that I could watch. I know I could look at the other streaming services
but I used to be subscribed to some of them (HBO, iFlix) but was not interested
in the shows and movies that they had to offer. My budget for streaming is
already capped with Amazon and Netflix so I decided to look for other ways to
watch other movies and TV shows for free.
Yes, I am
aware that there are illegal sites out there that stream shows. They are
usually filled with pop-up ads and spam and are inconvenient to watch from. I
decided to do the right thing and look for legal options for services that offer
different options from Amazon and Netflix.
Today,
after almost a year of staying at home and only reporting to the office once a
week, I went out to the town proper of the place that we live in. I did not
realize until I was in the middle of traffic and seeing all these people
outside that I was terrified of being out in public. I am not used to it
anymore. The fact that many people were not wearing their masks or face shields
properly did not help.
My sister
and I had agreed that for the first time since the pandemic started, we would
go to the grocery to shop for food and other essentials. For most of this
pandemic we had been buying whatever we needed via deliveries or at the
Alfamart around the corner and this was the first time we were going to brave
the crowds to shop since some of the things we wanted for Christmas were things
we could not buy elsewhere.
A year ago,
I went to my OB-GYN for a checkup, because I have not been to see her in years.
During that checkup, I found out that I had uterine fibroids. The only
knowledge I had about these things at the time was because of a co-worker who
had them who had surgery to have them removed, along with her uterus. She
reacted to it like it was a death sentence, so I was prepared to expect the
worst considering that just a few years ago I had surgery for thyroid nodules that was blocking my airway that resulted in a thyroidectomy and the nodules tested for cancer.
I guess in
a way should not have been surprised about the fibroids. My doctor said the
fibroids, while small, were around three or four -- it made my stomach look
like I was four months pregnant, which would explain my big tummy. The same was
the case with the nodules on my thyroid. There were a number of them clumped
together sticking to my thyroid that made it look large.
Back in the day, I was a fan of the TV series The Originals, which is a spin-off of The
Vampire Diaries. The Mikaelson Family was introduced in the show as the first
family of vampires, the original vampires from whom all vampires were sired.
The actors who played the Mikaelsons were such a hit that they were given their
own spin-off show, which lasted for five seasons.
While I did
watch The Vampire Diaries from time to time, it was only when the originals
were introduced that I became interested in the show, which was why I was
excited when the spin-off was made. Sadly, while the show did last for five
seasons, the show that was launched as a result of this one, Legacies, was not
as good as I expected it to be.
The holiday
season is here, and it is the time when we usually all buy gifts for each other
for Christmas day but with the pandemic, it just has not happened. This is also
the time of year when I have my personal wish list, things that I would love to
have but do not necessarily buy for myself. It is more of an aspirational
thing, really. I would love to have these things but at the same time I have deemed
them not practical for various reasons. Still, being the holidays and wishing that I
were a kid that Santa has put on the good kids list, I make my list and
hope that maybe one day, I can convince myself to buy them.
Honestly,
this year the things I would love to have are not material, but I do not
think that anyone would be interested in reading my “beauty pageant answers” to
what I want this Christmas so I will just move on to the things you can buy.
Some of these I can buy for myself, but I am just too frugal to do so (that and
I always have this guilt about buying nice things for myself, but that is for
a different post in the very distant future).
I am not
going to share all the things that I would love to have. There are a lot of
clothes, shoes, and makeup, and hair/skincare products that I would be happy to
receive/own, but that would be a really long list that no one would be
interested in. Plus, being at a place in my life where I hardly ever go out,
those things just do not make sense for me right now.
So, without
any more rambling, here are some of the items on my Christmas Wish List!
Do any one of you know how to play a musical instrument?
When I was younger, I remember that almost everyone in my class was taking music lessons on the side. At the time, I think that the best music lessons for kids involved either voice lessons or playing the piano because that’s what most of us did. Since my father usually took care of the voice part for the family, they sent me to piano lessons. Conveniently enough, the grade school I went to offered those lessons after regular school hours so the time between the end of class and the time before I had to go home was spent in a tiny room with a teacher and a piano, with each room adjacent to another one that had yet another student, a teacher and a piano in it. I don’t know how many we were who took lessons at the same time but suffice to say we were enough to come up with a full morning recital at the end of the year.
It’s been a while since I played the piano but when I was younger I used to be very interested in it. I’ve seen photos of myself playing (OK, maybe just banging) the piano when I was a toddler. I was that young when I first became interested in playing. My father was always a musical person who loved to sing and play the piano…maybe I got that interest from him.
It is December and it has been more than 9 months since the pandemic started. One of the industries that have been affected by the pandemic has been the entertainment industry. Just this year alone so many TV shows have been canceled not just for rating reasons but also for the fact that many productions are struggling to keep shows on while following the safety guidelines/protocols that are needed to stay safe during the pandemic. TV shows cost a lot to produce, and spending more on safety precautions makes it more difficult for struggling shows to continue, which is too bad since some of the shows that have been canceled have been my favorites this year.
Two of the shows that were canceled this year only lasted one season. I think that if circumstances were different, these shows would have been given another chance but given how things are, they are now over. It is too bad since I was looking forward to seeing more of these shows but now, I will be left wondering what would have happened next.
By this time, I think everyone has heard of or listened to Taylor Swift’s album Folklore, and everyone has started listening to its sister-album Evermore. I plan on writing a review of Evermore soon, but it’s too early to say which songs are my favorites and why so I think this is the best time for me to share what I thought of her Disney+ special called Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.
It was funny when I read that someone had said that the special was just “Taylor Swift singing in a barn.” Funny because it was true, but funny because if you dismiss it as being just that, you miss out on the bits and pieces that she shares about the creative process that she had undergone writing the album. As a fan and as someone who thoroughly enjoyed her album, it was interesting to know how each of the songs came about and how the writing and the music were developed.
My sister
and I were talking earlier about how it will be Christmas next week…Christmas.
It is almost the end of the year. After all this time, things are still the
same. COVID still exists. We are all still staying home. Still trying to be
careful. Still hoping that the vaccine will arrive in the country soon and that
everything will eventually be OK.
Just this
morning we were looking outside our gates and we noticed a long parade of
motorcycles pass by. The street we are on leads to a shortcut to the next town,
and every weekend we see all these people pass by off to the nearest tourist
destination that most riders go to. It still baffles me how all these people go
off to travel like this when the virus still exists and the danger of it is
still there. I have seen photos of these riders all together (no distancing at
all) at the tourist destination they often go to and it gives me the chills to think
of the risk they are putting themselves into (and the risk that they are
putting on to other people around them). I know that people are saying that it
is safe to travel already and we are encouraged to support local tourism but
when it is something like this where precautions have not been taken and cannot
be taken it makes me worry that it might make things worse.
After
watching several movies with the holiday theme, I thought it was time to read a
holiday-themed romance next. I found the book A Timeless Christmas by Alexis
Stanton on Amazon and decided that this time-travel Christmas romance would be the
best one to try.
The story
is about inventor Charles, who buys a clock that somehow takes him to
the future. He discovers that according to history, he suddenly disappeared
from his home and that his property has since become a museum and tourist
attraction. With the help of Megan and the rest of the people who work in the
museum, Charles tries to navigate his way around his modern surroundings as he
searches for a way to return to his own time.
This
pandemic has me grappling with many different emotions, a lot of them negative.
I have been annoyed with how a lot of people in spite of the threat of COVID 19
are still not being careful and are living like there is no threat of a virus
that can kill people out there. I have been having a lot of issues with anxiety
because of this fear that I could get infected and get sick or that I could
infect others. On the work aspect, I have been feeling frustrated because I
feel like people are not taking their jobs seriously and there are so many
things that need to be double-checked and corrected because of it. I feel so much more pressure to get work done
because I am working from home and it is hard because the others who do the
same seem to not have the same work ethic.
After enjoying Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, I decided to watch another movie musical that has the holiday theme. This time, I watched Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.
The movie is about the inventor Jeronicus Jangle, who is a famous inventor and toymaker who has come up with his latest invention which he believes will set him and his family up for life. Unfortunately, this invention was stolen by his apprentice Gustafson, who also takes with him Jangle’s book of ideas.
I tried my hand at cooking recently, with several recipes that I found online that would qualify as easy. However, it turns out that what I think is an easy no-bake recipe turns out to be more challenging than the video demo shows it will be. Their video made it look so simple and easy, I thought an inexperienced cook like me could do it!
I found the recipe on Yummy Magazine’s website. I was looking for easy no-bake recipes for desserts and found this. It said that their No Bake Oreo Cheesecake was “quick and easy” so I thought, why not give it a shot? It can’t be too hard! Or could it?
(This is an old entry from my old blog, edited/updated for this one. Enjoy!)
I don’t cook…much. I’ve taken cooking classes and I know my way around the kitchen fairly enough but cooking food is not something that I love to do.
Here’s the thing: I can cook but I’d rather not go through all the trouble that goes with it. When I’m in the mood, I do prepare a meal or dessert but that doesn’t happen very often. Maybe once or twice a year – more than that if I’m really in the mood for it or if the recipes are easy -- or as easy as they seem to be in the cooking videos that I see online.
Photo from janeb13 on Pixabay.com
The thing about cooking that turns me off, apart from the fact that it can be a lot of work, is that my OC tendencies mean that I like following recipes to the letter. If I don’t have a certain ingredient, I’m hesitant to use a substitute. I like following the measurements as indicated, even if my family tells me that it’s better to wing it than measuring everything. I also hate it when people try to backseat cook, constantly giving me cooking tips when I’m doing it. Cooking is a process for me and having someone dictate what to do when I’m trying to do it my way makes me a little crazy. I know people mean well but it drives me nuts! I also don’t like the fact that with cooking comes cleaning up, which is a whole other level of work altogether. It’s just too much for someone not as kitchen-inclined as me.
So far I’ve tried making kimbap and pajeon, Paula Deen’s Drunken Chicken, Nori Pasta, Hainanese Chicken, Gising Gising, Bibingka, and an Oreo Cheesecake, among other things. I’ve had hits and misses but for the most part, I’ve been doing alright in the cooking department considering that I rarely do so. They have all come out fairly decent and no one has gotten sick of anything I’ve prepared yet (haha).
Lately, with all the tweets that my friends on Twitter have posted about cupcakes, I am seriously considering giving this a shot (when that will be, however, is still a big question). The show DC Cupcakes is also doing a lot to influence me in the cupcakes department. This is getting to be a serious interest because it has gotten to the point of me canvassing for an oven and a mixer at the mall.
If I manage to scrape up enough to buy the things I need to start baking, I think I’m going to be making my own cupcakes within the next couple of months. I don’t know how good it would turn out but considering that I’ll be spending a lot of money to make it happen it better be worth it. But like I said, this is all a big IF. Thinking of all the effort is enough to put me off the idea, to be honest!
For now, though, I will stick to my tried and tested recipes, like the one that I learned from my aunt more than a decade ago. I call it seaweed pasta because it has nori in it. Why am I sharing it? It’s because it's the easiest thing to do in the world and even a kitchen idiot like me can do it!
Note: The amount of each ingredient is up to you. If you want it to be vegan, skip the crab meat. If you want more meat, try mixing in some grilled chicken bits too!
Ingredients:
Angel Hair Pasta
Crab Meat, chopped
Dried Seaweed, cut into small pieces
Fresh Basil, chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Grated Cheese (whatever kind you prefer)
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Directions:
Step 1: Cook pasta
Step 2: Mix everything else and you're good to go!
Easy recipe right? Give it a shot and let me know what you think!
As part of my commitment to see as many holiday-themed movies as possible, I decided to watch the movie musical from Netflix called Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square. Featuring (and produced by) Dolly Parton herself, this movie has the typical Christmas Scrooge-type character (played with class and perfection by Christine Baranski), one who gets divine intervention from her guardian angels leading to a happy ending for everyone in the movie.
This past week has been exhausting for me. For the past few days, I have been waking up several times at night and struggle with getting back to sleep. Eventually, sometime very early in the morning, I end up awake without the possibility of getting back to sleep again. This has led to days where I am not completely myself because I am sleepy and out of focus throughout the day. The lack of sleep has meant being tired all the time because I have not been able to get the right amount of rest that I need.
What’s better than two versions of Vanessa Hudgens in a Christmas movie? Apparently, if you ask Netflix, the answer would be to have three. Their latest movie, a sequel to Princess Switch, has Vanessa Hudgens playing triple duty as Princess Stacy, Lady Margaret, and Fiona in Princess Switch: Switched Again.
The movie starts where the last one left off: Stacy is now married to Edward and has become Princess of Belgravia. They are off to Montenaro to attend the coronation of Margaret as Queen. It turns out that the King had passed away and with the heir abdicating, she was next in line. This led her to break up with Kevin, who she invited to coronation anyway.
Stacy, who believes her best friend Kevin and Margaret were meant for each other, tries to convince them both to spend time together to be able to talk about their feelings before the coronation. She proposes that they switch again so that Stacy can take care of Margaret’s royal duties while Margaret has the time she needs with Kevin.
The only problem with this switch is that Fiona, Margaret’s cousin and another doppelganger, has other plans. With the intent of getting crowned as Queen so she can steal money from the kingdom and run away to a country without extradition, she executes a switch with Stacy, who was pretending to be Margaret at the time. By the time she realizes that something has gone wrong with her plan, it was too late so she instead tries to get crowned right away with the help of Margaret’s conniving Chief of Staff Antonio.
Being a Christmas movie I think we all know what to expect from this in the end. All the characters get their happily-ever-after, with a surprise cameo from King Richard and Queen Amber of the Christmas Prince movies at the end, confirming fan speculation that all the Netflix holiday movies are in one cinematic universe — that means there are not just three versions of Vanessa Hudgens in this universe, but four (she also played Brooke in The Knight Before Christmas). I guess Netflix loves Vanessa Hudgens a lot then!
The first movie was more about the romance between the two lead couples, this second film, while it did have the romantic element, was more about their misadventures after having another switch. I can’t imagine how difficult and confusing this must be to film (and edit) since there are three versions of Vanessa. The person in charge of continuity for this one needs a bonus for doing such a good job! Usually, when I watch films or shows with one actor playing multiple characters you find inconsistencies in their scenes together. I did not find one (none that was easily noticeable anyway) in this movie.
It must be exhausting for Vanessa Hudgens to play all three roles since they all have different personalities (and accents). I would be so confused about who I am playing if I were in her place, especially during scenes where she was pretending to be someone who was also pretending to be someone else!
I already thought in the first movie that her leading men were a bit boring, but at least with this movie not being that much about the romance element, it did not matter. Vanessa had better chemistry with her leading man in A Knight Before Christmas (Josh Whitehouse) but to his credit, I did like Edward better in this one, although I can’t really pinpoint why.
Recommending this might be a bit of a stretch. I'd say watch at your own risk since it can be a bit slow-paced and slightly boring (I wanted to speed it up at several points to pick up the pace). While this movie is not the best holiday movie out there, Princess Switch: Switched Again was still entertaining with its equal parts of feel-good, romantic, cheeky, and funny sides. But if you have something better to do, maybe go do that instead.
2020 has been a dark year. The pandemic has meant the loss of the lives of so many, be it from the pandemic or other health causes. One death that saddened me this year is the recent passing of the original James Bond, Sean Connery. I have not seen a single Bond film that he starred in, but I was a fan of his other movies like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and the film of his that I enjoyed the most, Finding Forrester.
In the movie, Connery plays writer William Forrester, who became a recluse after writing his first book, which won the Pulitzer Prize. He is befriended by a young man named Jamal (played by Rob Brown), who had been offered a scholarship to a private school for his high test scores and talent for basketball. What started as a dare between friends to check out the neighborhood recluse who never leaves his apartment becomes a friendship and a sort of mentorship between the two men.
Jamal, who learned that William was a renowned writer, promised to keep their friendship a secret in return for help with his writing, The friendship develops to the point that when Jamal invites William to a basketball game the latter ventures out of his apartment. It does not go well, and he ends up back to being a recluse in his apartment.
Later, Jamal’s professor accuses him of plagiarism. He could not believe that Jamal could write as well as he did and how his skills have improved in that time. When Jamal enters an essay competition at school using one of the writing exercises he did with William, his professor uses this to accuse him further because he used an article written by William as the basis. To make his essay valid, Jamal would have to prove that William permitted him to use the article. But, a promise is a promise and Jamal refuses to reveal his friendship with William. He also refuses to write the letter of apology that the school is demanding of him. He asks William for help but since he is still having anxiety from when they previously left the house together, he refused.
The school tries to blackmail Jamal by ensuring that he would not be charged with plagiarism if he makes sure that they win their basketball game, but Jamal decides to take a stand and throws the game. Moved by what he has done, William goes to Jamal’s school during their essay contest and asks to read an essay, to which of course the school authorities say yes. He gets praised for the piece that he read as he admits to being Jamal’s friend and allowing use of the article for his essay. Jamal’s professor says that would not make the case against him go away, but the school authorities overrule him after learning that the much-praised piece that William had read was written by Jamal himself.
What I loved about this movie was how moving the friendship was between William and Jamal. The mentorship was unusual at first given the circumstances but it was a good relationship that helped both characters improve. William eventually got over his anxiety of leaving the apartment and Jamal was able to believe in himself enough to make a better life for himself. Sean Connery was so good as the reclusive and anxiety-ridden William, I was so happy when I saw him on a bike outside at the end of the film because I felt so much for his character and the life he trapped himself in. It was heartbreaking when it was revealed that he passed away at the end of the movie, but moving that he left everything to Jamal when he did.
This movie will always be one of my favorites, something that I would love to watch again if given the opportunity. It would be nice if more people got to see it and appreciate how good it is.
Have any of you seen this movie? Leave a comment or tag me on social media about what you think of it!
It was the trailer that got to me. I discovered Dash & Lily while scrolling social media and the premise of this show had me hooked! I went looking for it on Netflix on the date that they said it would be coming out and watched it on the same day!
As excited as I was about watching it, I was disappointed to discover that Dash & Lily was a series and not the movie that I had expected. Fortunately, the show was only made up of eight episodes of less than thirty minutes each, so I managed to finish the entire thing in one sitting. It was still a significant amount of binge-watching time, but the episodes were entertaining enough that I did not notice the time.
A Christmas rom-com, the series is based on Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. One of the executive producers of the show is Nick Jonas, who does a cameo with his brothers near the end of the series. The series starts with Dash discovering a red book that dares him to do something he never would have done otherwise. From there it becomes a sort of scavenger hunt of dares between Dash and Lily that push both beyond their comfort zones, learning about themselves and each other in the process.
There were so many things that I loved about this series. I loved that the female lead is Asian, something that I am glad to see is becoming a thing now, with Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I Loved Before having Asian female leads. I loved that the series featured new actors — not that they are newbies per se, but that they are not that established yet. That meant I would not be watching a celebrity play a role but I would see the character the actor is playing. The leads also have, oddly enough, good chemistry with each other even if they are hardly in any scenes together. The “kilig” is there even if they only end up face to face near the end of the series. I love how charming both the leads were, I'd love to see them in other movies in the future.
I enjoyed how this romance developed. Because the two characters did not know each other and had not seen each other before exchanging messages in the red book, they both let down their guard and said what was on their mind. I think the fact that they were unguarded and there were no pretenses was the reason why they had such witty banter in the book. It was this honesty between them that made them connect and I liked that. Now I know in this day and age of catfishing this is not exactly a safe way to meet someone, but I’d like to think that their story is the exception to the rule.
There were a lot of supporting characters from this series, but I think my favorite is Lily’s aunt, who she is named after. She seems to be living in a more glamorous home compared to the rest of the family and she seems to be estranged from everyone else for some reason but it was not explained fully in the show. I would be happy to see a show that was about her younger years and how she came to have the life that she was living at the time of the show. She just seems to be too interesting to be relegated to such a small role.
Even if the show was about a couple of high school kids finding love over the holidays, it was still a show that I enjoyed watching. It was a feel-good show that is perfect for the season. In this age where social media and self-image seems to be so important to today’s youth, watching two young people fall in love without the influence of that was refreshing to see. If you have the time, this is something worth watching.
This pandemic has made 2020 a year of firsts for me. This is the first year that I have spent the most time at home since I am now working from home four days a week. It is also the first year that, since March, has meant not going beyond the municipality where I live and the one where I work. Beyond those two towns, I have not been anywhere else. Apart from once a week at work and sporadical visits to the doctor, I have never left the house. It’s a first for me. Surprising that I am completely fine with it, and happy that I get to spend as much time with my family as I can, despite the circumstances.
Another first that happened for me this year is having my hair cut at home. No, I did not invite someone from the salon to cut my hair at home. I had my sister cut my hair for me!
The last time I got a haircut was probably a year now, which meant that by the time I got my sister to cut my hair it had been eight months of hair growth, which suddenly felt a little too long for me during this pandemic. I don’t know if it was because of the heat or because of the stress of the situation, but last August I found myself picking on my long hair for weeks before I finally decided to cut it. I would put it all in a ponytail, in a bun, pull on it in frustration, and put clips all over my head just so that none of it would fly all over my face while I worked from home. I was so annoyed by it that I announced to my family that I was going to cut it off. No one thought I was serious until the night when we finally did it though.
Before you think that I’m some crazy person who had a fit and suddenly went at it with scissors and went to my sister for backup, you’re (slightly) wrong. I did my research. I’ve been seeing posts on social media of people who have been doing their quarantine haircuts so I decided to read about what they did and how they learned to do it on their own. I watched several videos on YouTube of women who have done their hair and discovered that there were similarities in their strategies. I just had to find a mix of the best ones to do for myself.
I found this video from Angelica Gomez and decided that her strategy was what I was going to do. I parted my hair in the same way that she did and tied the ends to the length that I wanted it to be. My niece was helping me part my hair and tie it since I realized that the back part was difficult to do. I didn’t have any scissors for hair specifically, so I ended up using a huge pair of scissors that I use for paper and tape.
It was when I was going to use the scissors that I realized my problem: the scissors were so big that if I did the cut myself I would be poking my head with it! The same goes with cutting the back myself — the scissors were too long and there was a risk that the ends would cut something else (like my fingers). Everything was ready, I wasn’t going to back out at that point. My niece didn’t want to cut the hair herself, so we ended up calling her mom to my room to do it for us. She thought we were nuts and that it would end up bad if she did. My nephew, who was watching quietly, started to shout that he was scared about the whole thing. Even my other sister could hear him shouting in fear from her room while my sister made the cut (which she only did after I promised I would not blame her for the result).
Luckily for us, the cut was pretty good. I had to make some small cuts for a few stray hairs but other than that, the finished result was good! I was very happy with it! I guess the guts to cut gave everyone else the courage to do it themselves because my sister and her mom eventually cut their hair at home as well.
Have you tried to do this yourself? What do you think of at-home haircuts during this pandemic? Leave me a comment and let me know!
It’s December! Can you believe it? Time might feel like it is going too slow because of the pandemic but it has also breezed past us — 2020 will soon be over! With Christmas just weeks away, I have taken to watching movies and TV shows with the holiday theme. Books with the Christmas setting have been on my list as well. First, up for me was the Netflix movie Operation Christmas Drop.
The movie stars Vampire Diaries alum Kat Graham and Vikings star Alexander Ludwig and is inspired by the real-life humanitarian mission of the same name that the US Air Force has been operating since 1952. For the movie, Ludwig’s character Captain Andrew Jantz is the man who has made it his pet project, and Graham is the congressional aide named Erica who is sent to inspect the activity as part of a study which will select which air force bases would need to be shut down. All this is happening right before Christmas, just when preparations for the drop is in full swing.
The two lead characters clash at first, with Andrew trying to keep Erica away from the project because he is worried about how she may report negatively to her superior, Congresswoman Bradford (played by Virginia Madsen). Eventually, however, as he shows her around and she learns about the situation and the people that benefit from the project, Erica has a change of heart not only about the Christmas Drop but about Andrew as well.
I did not think that the pairing of Alexander Ludwig and Kat Graham would work — he seems like such a huge guy and she is this tiny woman, but they both managed to have this chemistry that worked. Ludwig comes off as this teddy bear of a guy, someone who is huge and tough but with an equally big heart. As small as she was compared to her partner, Graham projected a strong character — a go-getter who made things happen.
As expected, this movie had a happy-ever-after ending. Congresswoman Bradford, who initially decided to close down the base due to the “expenses” of the Christmas Drop, saw for herself how it was operated and had a change of heart. Erica and Andrew then got to spend Christmas together, the potential of their new romance shown with a kiss being the last scene in the movie.
This movie is not your typical Christmas romance film. For one thing, it had a location that did not have snow as it was in Guam. Most (if not all) of the holiday movies I’ve seen have been in snowy settings, so this was a refreshing one to see. I also loved learning about the Christmas Drop project. After learning that it was a real thing during the end credits, I looked it up and was amazed by how long it has been going on and what it contributes to the community. As in the film, it is classified as a training project to help the air force train for similar drops over areas such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The movie says that they work with other countries on this and I was surprised to discover when I searched for more information online that our very own Philippine Air Force participated in this in December 2017 ( which was not mentioned in the movie, by the way).
If you want to watch a feel-good Christmas movie, Operation Christmas Drop may be a good thing to see. With this year when we have all gone through so much (with some going through much worse than others), the movie's drive to be charitable during the holidays may rub off on you when you see this!
