Frigid features galore

From feverish February days

The best lines of poetry and literature, favorite movies watched, and thoughtful internet writing from each week this frigid February. Enjoy!

February 2

little one
you are my daily reminder

that you do not go to a garden to watch

the flowers grow

you go to give thanks

for what has already bloomed.

—Clint Smith, “Waiting on a Heartbeat”

Flow (rent on Apple TV or stream on Hulu): I fell in love with the secretary bird, and the entire cast of nonhuman characters in this moving ecocritical film.

Favorite internet read: Anne Helen Peterson on The Loneliest Decade of Our Lives

February 9

one must be humble and hold back one’s sympathies and antipathies if one wants to discover what is real in this world. —Freud, Introductory Lectures

Sugarcane (streaming on Disney+): please watch this 2024 documentary, truth and reconciliation extends beyond the political stage; it’s an intergenerational act.

Favorite internet read: the best mix of non-algorithmic music by Jacqui Devaney

February 16

It was one of those March nights when as if winter wants to claim its own back and with desperate malice pours out its last snows and storms. —Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Duck Soup (rent on Apple TV or Prime): 1933 comedy still inspires belly laughs; the parodic depiction of world leaders remains relevant.

Favorite internet read: 30 ways to resist the demoralizing, debilitating state of current affairs by Garrett Bucks

February 22

You’ll learn a lot more about how someone is doing if you ask people “how are you sleeping” instead of “how are you doing?” —Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living

I’m Still Here (in theaters): a 2024 Brazilian film that enraptured me with the story of a single family affected by the 1970s dictatorship.

Favorite internet read: an inspiring meditation on Edward Abbey’s provocative life