February is so close to being over! This is my last post for this month. I will be filming a new YouTube recap soon. Happy Sunday, and I hope you all have a lovely week!
Below are my reviews:
Album: this is what __ feels like (Vol. 1-4) by JVKE
3.5/5 stars
This week I listened to another album recommended to me by my mom. She knows me very well and we tend to have similar taste in music. I think she knew I might like JVKE because of my obsession with Joji. They kind of have a similar “sad boi” vibe. My mom told me she was impressed with how JVKE had become so big in a short amount of time. He started out on TikTok and posted several videos that he made with his mom, which is super endearing. Can I also say how cool my mom is? She has a TikTok and keeps up with what Gen-Z is up to. I don’t have a TikTok…so I rely on others to tell me what’s happening on there. Thanks mom!
this is what __ feels like (Vol. 1-4) is a very romantic album. It’s all about young love: falling in love, out of love, and moving on. It reminds me a bit of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” in that way. I’m also a sucker for artists who play the piano, like Tom Odell, so obviously I’m inclined to enjoy JVKE’s music.
I only have a few complaints about this album. First of all, it’s so short! I really wish it were longer. It’s only 32 minutes long, and all songs are less than 4 minutes long. Some of the songs also have awkward endings. For instance, “i’m not okay” and “i can’t help it” have some abrupt endings, and while I’m sure these are artistic choices, they just sound off to me.
All in all, this is a sweet and emotional album. It makes me feel like I’m a teen or in my early twenties again and exploring all types of new emotions for the first time. It takes me back to the feeling of falling in love for the first time and feeling like that special person is your whole world, and then feeling like the world is ending when you experience your first heartbreak.
JVKE is a young artist, but he’s certainly talented. I’m sure as he matures and gains more experience with music, his music will also gain depth and complexity. I’m excited to follow his career and see what he creates next!
Book: Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr
4.5/5 stars
This week I went back to reading a nonfiction book. Working Backwards is written by two former Amazon executives. I recently attended a leadership meeting where a leader in my organization talked about his role, and he mentioned being inspired by this book and the idea of “working backwards.” I may not be the biggest fan of Jeff Bezos, or any billionaire for that matter, but you can’t deny the impact that Amazon has had, and there is definitely a lot that can be learned from their success. I decided to read this book because I was curious to learn more about this “working backwards” concept and why a higher up in my organization would think it’s relevant in our industry (education).
“Working backwards” essentially means starting with the end goal in mind. What do you want the customer experience to be? How can you make it the best experience possible? I can see how this concept is applicable not only in business, but in almost any other thing that you can think of. As a teacher, I know that there is now an emphasis in starting with the end goal in mind. What do we want students to learn, and what skills do we want them to have by the end of this lesson, unit, semester, and beyond? We want things to be as student-centered as possible. But anyway, I’m sure you could think of ways to apply this concept to your own work or personal life.
The book is split in two parts. Part 1 is all about “Being an Amazonian.” It explains the company’s history, its culture, and values. It explain in depth the qualities they look for in leaders and their hiring process. Part 2 is titled “The Invention Machine at Work” and it talks about the development of some of Amazon’s biggest successes, like Kindle, Prime, and Prime Video.
Although this is a very business-y book, I thought it was pretty easy to read! I had never read a business-related book before, and although it feels like it’s written mainly with an audience of businesspeople in mind, I think a more general audience can learn something from it as well. If anything, it was just interesting to learn about Amazon’s history, its product development, and secrets to their success. The only chapter I didn’t quite understand was the last one, which was about Amazon Web Services. My dad is a computer engineer. Alas, I was not blessed with his techy brain and I struggle to understand techy things.
This book was super interesting, and I’m thinking of getting a paper copy of it so I can study its first six chapter again in more detail. I recommend giving this a read. If not all of it, then at least read parts of it!
Movie: You People – Directed by Kenya Barris; Written by Jonah Hill and Kenya Barris
2/5 stars
CRINGE. So much cringe.
Despite the talent on screen, this movie is not good. You People is about an interracial couple who is planning to get married, but their families keep getting in the way. Jonah Hill’s character, Ezra, is a white Jewish man, and Lauren London’s character, Amira, is a black Muslim woman. Ezra’s mom, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, tries her hardest to be “woke,” be she comes across as tone-deaf and does not make an effort to get to know and understand her future daughter-in law as an individual. Amira’s dad, played by a straight-faced Eddie Murphy, is a devout Muslim who is completely opposed to his children dating outside of their own race and religion. Without making an effort to get to know Ezra, he is determined to embarrass him and sabotage his relationship with Amira.
I know this movie meant well, but it’s so uncomfortable to watch that it’s hard for the core message to come across because all you want is for the movie to end. I admit, I did laugh out loud sometimes, but overall this movie uses a style of comedy that I’m not very comfortable with. I also felt that the movie focused so much on the families, that we don’t really get to know Ezra and Amira as individuals or as a couple. We see their relationship develop through a montage, so it’s hard to really connect with or cheer for them.
I know that it’s important to continue having conversations about race in this country, and I believe it’s ok to explore race relations on screen, even through comedy, but this movie did not do a very good job of it. If you’re ok with cringe humor, maybe you’ll be able to watch this movie, but overall, I don’t recommend it. I can’t think of better comedy that tackles race to recommend. Maybe watch Get Out instead if you haven’t yet, even though it’s not a comedy.
Bonus Movie!: Barbie Dolphin Magic – Directed by Conrad Helten; Written by Jennifer Skelly.
I watched Barbie Dolphin Magic with a little human over the weekend. Kids movies can be hit or miss, but I thought this was a perfectly watchable kids movie. I remember watching the Barbie in the Nutcracker and Barbie of Swan Lake as a kid, and I absolutely loved them. I was never a huge fan of Barbie dolls growing up, but I enjoyed watching computer animated versions of these wonderful ballets. Barbie Dolphin Magic has a simple story, and it’s obviously not going to be timeless like the other two movies I just mentioned, but it’s cute and it can teach kids some good things about being good to animals and doing the right thing.
One Per Week 
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