The Literate Kitty

If there’s one thing every unattached person, everywhere, dreads around the holidays, it’s being grilled by family (friends, coworkers, nosy gas-meter readers, etc.) about Why Aren’t You in a Relationship… then getting schooled in What You Need to Do to Get in One (because everyone who's in a relationship thinks they're experts on that , of course).   [Oh, and if you, dear reader, are one of those happily—or even not -so-happily—married, partnered, or otherwise-coupled folks, engaged in the relentless hounding of all the singletons you know, listen up: No matter if still-single, newly-single, or single-by-choice, we're  well aware of the fact that we’re alone; many of us would really like to find The One; and all the pressure you’re putting on us? Not. Helping.] At least now, though, all those single-(and-not-lovin’-it) people have two brilliant seasons of Home for Christmas (or Hjem Til Jul , in its native Norwegian), now streaming on Netflix, to take away some of t...

I never had a grandpa--both were gone before I popped out, red-faced and screaming, into the world--which means I don't really know anything about how old men operate.  In other words, the sum total of what I've gleaned comes from pop culture-- hello, books, movies, and TV --and jokes that involve elderly guys saying " Get outta my yard! " a lot. (Basically, the older a man gets, the grouchier he becomes..?) So, when I sat down to watch "A Man Called Ove" (the 2015 film based on the Fredrik Backman book by the same name), I figured I knew what to expect: a series of hopefully amusing (but most likely forced) situations involving a grumpy old coot, who'd undoubtedly turn into a big ol' teddy bear by the end.  Okay, kinda ... but that doesn't BEGIN to describe "Ove" . Retiree Ove is, as expected, a curmudgeonly older chap (although not that old, this being a film made in Sweden, where adults aren't necessarily expected to wo...