February 2017 Recap

Beyond a sudden burst of interest in politics, I didn’t do anything too exciting this month. Sure I turned 31, but having a birthday near Valentine’s Day and a 3 day President’s Day weekend makes it hard to plan things. I’m still wanting to get together a group of people later on to do an escape/puzzle room as a belated birthday celebration.

Oh! In other news I won a contest and finally got my prize! I cannot wait to try out the Go-Pro!

Recommended Reading

Lili on the Loose

One of my favorite stories I told this month is how I got extra special attention from TSA when I was heading to Disney World for work. Now that I have Global Entry, I hope my stories will become much more tame.

I also enjoyed sharing photos from Denver Art Museum’s Glory of Venice Exhibit that ended this month.

And finally, I’m glad to finally tell about the time I rebelled and walked on the Unfinished Obelisk.

Other Blogs

Obviously as a Travel Blogger I read a lot of travel news, and so the “Travel Ban” executive order was top of mind this month. So let’s get those articles that caught my eye out of the way:

NY Times walks through what your rights are if agents ask to see your phone.
Rolling Stones reports on a domestic flight being searched upon landing, with everyone forced to show their “documents”.
Adventurous Kate strikes back in her own way with “This is the Islamic World” a lovely photo series about travel to nations where Muslim is the majority.
And a Dangerous Business travel blog shows there is nothing to fear in The Beauty of the Islamic World.
I also want to share this CNN article about Japanese Internment camps. I did a massive paper on this in high school, and it serves as a reminder what happens when you judge people and create unfair laws based on their heritage or religion.

Also in Travel News, keep in mind while booking flights that United and American have a new kind of Economy class tickets, so be aware so you aren’t shocked by those tickets limitations.

For general travel blogging, these were my favorite articles and blogs I read:

I’m a sucker for lists, and this one from CNN on Ancient Cities was right up my alley.
I loved these old photos of tourists in Egypt, although I cannot imagine climbing the pyramids was that safe or comfortable.
I’ve been toying with a trip to Panama later in the year, so Wandering Trader’s “Best Things to do in Panama” was very timely.
“Disney Villans Explain Theme Park Blogging” is hilarious and can easily apply to any type of travel blogs.

And as for lighter, geekier stories, I enjoyed these articles:

The frequent ambush of Disy Ridley for the Last Jedi leaks by her co-workers and other actors cannot be topped by this one with Judi Dench.
You didn’t know you wanted to see a Beauty and the Lord Voldermort spoof but you really should!
There may be hope for an X-23 spin off! Sweet! I’ve been a X-23 fan since she was introduced on X-Men Evolution.

Audio Books

I continued listening to Carrie Fisher in her audiobooks Wishful Drinking and Shockaholic about her own life.

Watchlist

TV

This month was a little light on TV shows. I still watched Political Comedy / Late Night clips a lot, but I also watched American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. I was pretty young when the trial happened, so all I remember is my mom getting together with her friends to watch the trial all day while us kids were ushered into the backyard to play. It was interesting seeing this mini-series and thought David Schwimmer was really good in it. I also continued watching the new episodes of The Magicians as they aired.

Movies

But on the movie front I did watch a lot! I continued my Stand Up theme with specials by Trevor Noah and Iliza Shlesinger. I scared myself a bit while watching Beware the Slenderman, a documentary about the girls who stabbed their friend in the name of Slender. I watched The Huntsman: Winter’s War, and thought it wasn’t too terrible. I watched the North Korea insider documentary Under the Sun. And I watched some award nominated films like Finding Dory, Moana, Jackie, and Arrival. I absolutely loved Moana and Arrival the best.