Monthly Review – My March 2024 With World News

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My March was eventful. It gave me a few surprises, many laughs, a couple of wonderful movie nights, and a few tears. There was success and confusion. I made a mistake that should have never happened and my pride got a damper. On the other hand – because there is always a silver lining – I am proud of how I reacted.

Yes, it is true; you get calmer with age. Perhaps even wiser?

A couple trusted me with their dining room chairs. Six chairs needed some wood rejuvenation (my specialty) and, of course, they needed to be reupholstered. After twenty years, it was time to get rid of the stripes.

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I did my best and thought the chairs turned out very nice. I loved the modern look, gave the wood the last polish, called the couple and we scheduled the pickup.

They came by Sunday at lunchtime, and I couldn’t wait to see their faces. Customers stopping by to see their furniture in a new look still excites me. Did I do good? Will they love it?

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Guess what she said right after she walked into my workroom? To my surprise, she made a statement I had never heard before.

“This is not my fabric,” she declared and I couldn’t comprehend right away. “Come again…” was all I managed to say. (Holy shittery! What had I done?) In all these years I never mixed up fabrics, actually quite the opposite, I drive everybody around me crazy because I ALWAYS know exactly what piece goes with what, may it be fabric, paint, or stain. Not this time. I guess there is a first for everything. The customers were quickly calmed down by me, they were easy to work with, which I appreciated.

Of course, I could come up with a few excuses and could blame it on one of my helpers, preferably the one I had to let go recently, but in the end, it’s my fault. It’s my job to know what goes where. I take ‘before’ pictures of the furniture. Why did I never think about taking pictures of the new fabric as well? Take one picture, send it up in the cloud, rename it, and file it under the customer’s name. How much time would it take me? Five minutes? Two minutes?

A few years ago, I would have freaked out. I would have been mad as a snake, I would have bitten everybody’s head off (including my own) but I didn’t. I wasn’t angry. I didn’t have a nervous breakdown. I mumbled something like “Oh well, shit happens,” when my husband wanted to know why I worked on the same chairs again and then I let it go.

Well, it took me three days to remove the ‘new’ fabric and put the correct new fabric on the six chairs. I didn’t take pictures of the final look. I wonder why? I guess I just wanted the chairs out of my workroom. It was not just the time I lost, but also I had to replace the fabric I had (mis)used.

Perhaps the new sign above my desk in my workroom does help?

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What happened worldwide in March? (Not so good, the good comes later)

THE THINGS out there that you REALLY can’t make up…

Is it already April 1st? That was my first thought on 28 March, when I learned that Saudi Arabia will be leading the UN Women’s Rights Forum. In my not-so-humble opinion, it’s a slap in the face of all the women in the world! Let’s make the goat a gardener comes to mind when men are made chairmen who do not concede any rights to their wives at home and regard them as property. In the same way Putin could be made a global messenger of peace. WTHeckes? No, you really can’t make that up. By the way, the whole thing in the UN went off without opposing candidates and without dissenting votes. I am still shaking my head in disbelief! This doesn’t do my vertigo any good!

March 8th, WOMEN’S DAY – again. I suppose it means the remaining 364 days of the year are still men’s days? Honestly, every year I struggle with International Women’s Day. Every year I feel overwhelmed – again – when I think about all the issues, which for the most part have changed little to nothing in my 60 years in this world. I was thinking about writing a post but decided not to. Be kind Bridget! (Sigh)

And so I will not mention the gender gaps in care work, pay and medicine, and about mental load. About femicide and targeted violence against women. About creepy propaganda and intersectional feminism. About the fact that there is no real equality in any country in the world. Still not. But I’m tired. All the women in me are tired. So, there won’t be a post 🙂

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” Audre Lorde 

Easter

Easter was always a big event when I was a child. The nuns had every year new ideas and we would craft, knit, and paint for weeks. Many of my Easter creations were treasured by my grandma, others found homes at the neighbor’s farms.

My grandma and I baked every year Easter bread and we decorated the Easter tree outside (not as big as the head pictures), which is an Austrian tradition. For the inside, we repotted some flowers, mostly violets, sometimes tulips for a feeling of spring.

This year I remembered and made a few Easter pots and they were a big hit. Old burlap and old oilcloth, they turned out great.

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I finally tried Broccolini with lemon and almonds and loved it.

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We watched Oscar movies. Yeah, we did.

“POOR THINGS” I don’t really know in which genre category to put this movie. Poor Things is a bizarre, surrealist, and very feminist Frankenstein interpretation. A fantastic story of emancipation. The evolution of the gorgeous Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), happens so quickly that the usual socializing restrictions, social constraints, and patriarchal demands into which a normal woman is pressed do not apply. Sounds wild, but it’s opulent to look at, has a lot of humor, but even more depth if you get into it. With undisguised curiosity, anarchic joie de vivre and, above all, a mind of her own (pun intended), Bella claims a lot of space, freedom, and her own life without compromise. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so enthusiastic about a movie and I think the 4 Oscars are absolutely deserved. For me, Poor Things is a real masterpiece, both visually and in terms of content. It’s entertaining!

“ANATOMY OF A FALL” Accident, suicide or murder? This film certainly has the important message that there are many truths (is there a plural of truth?) depending on the perspective from which you look at something, and that this perspective is also something that is easy to influence. And yes, Sandra Hüller is a great, fascinating actress. Still, I don’t really understand the movie trophy hype around this movie, I have to admit. I’ve read some of the effusive reviews and I have to say that I can’t understand much about it especially when critics think they can find other film masterpieces in the visual language as a reference. Honestly, for me, Anatomy of a Fall is too long, and in the end, I was bored, and most certainly not because I can’t stand quietly narrated films. I love movies where my husband falls asleep on the chair next to me. I think it bored me because I couldn’t feel any sympathy for any of the people shown and unfortunately I found the story too inconsequential in the end. The film didn’t manage to touch me in any way.

“Oppenheimer” surprised me. I didn’t care for it at first, and had a hard time right from the start when I saw how long the movie was, but then I got into it (and how could you not.) All the actors and actresses gave outstanding performances! Cillian Murphy! My goodness! Oscar-worthy performance from him. I enjoyed the way the film kept me enraptured in his Oppenheimer’s psyche. He brought such an emotional intensity to each scene, purely through his facial expressions and body language. I truly empathized with his moments of conflict where he gets caught in the thick of war and politics and how he is forced to grapple with the consequences of his actions. I was also thoroughly impressed with Robert Down Jr’s performance as Lewis Strauss. He made it seem so easy.

So much was positive in March, yet there is not much mentioning the news. I think I will change that and post some newsworthy good news in my monthly review.

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Positive News In March

India: The world’s largest solar and wind farm is being built in India’s salt flats, making it one of the largest power plants for green energy. In the future, it will be able to supply around 16 million Indian households with electricity. 

Brazil: Rainforest deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is at its lowest level in six years, and deforestation is down 63 percent compared to the same period last year.

USA: Researchers from the USA have found a possible answer to the impending coral die-off

Indonesia: Scientists in Indonesia are also having success in restoring damaged coral reefs.

Sweden: Became the newest NATO member. NATO now counts 32 countries among its members.

Germany: Researchers at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences have developed ‘The artificial intelligence BoTox’ which automatically detects and reports hate comments on the Internet. Illegal statements will be forwarded to the Hessen Gegen Hetze reporting office in order to take legal action. (I love it.)

France: The first country in the world to add the “guaranteed freedom of abortion” in its constitution. With an overwhelming majority in both chambers of parliament, the country has strengthened the right to self-determination.

Croatia: Now recognizes femicide (the gender-based killing of women) as a separate criminal offense, making it the third EU country to do so. When are we going to follow this example of law enforcement?

According to UNICEF and WHO, the global mortality rate of children under the age of five has fallen by around 51 percent since 2000. 

United Kingdom:  British scientists have found a way to detect esophageal or blood cancer long before the first symptoms appear and it becomes acute.

Thailand has approved marriage for all by an overwhelming majority.

Respect if you have read this far, at a time when many people just read the headline and then know everything. 🙂

This was the review of My March, this time -for the first time- with World News 🙂 As usual, I am late with my review, but hey, it’s still April, so I am good (hopefully.)