Image Description: The photograph shows icicles on tree branches after a freezing rain in Kingston, Ontario, in 2025.鈥Photographer: Ozlem Atar
Hello Graduate Students,
I love the recent winter-themed posts on Gratifying Blog! The tips in Graziella鈥檚 鈥Winter is Coming鈥 are extremely useful. Our hot star is enjoying its 鈥減art-time schedule鈥 this winter and it is important to have warm clothes. And kudos to you if you鈥檝e heeded Bhavya鈥檚 recommendations in 鈥Finding Winter Magic鈥 and participated in activities, shopping for gifts and taking a . If you missed all of these, why not add them to your 2026 holiday season calendar?!
No need to wait until next year, however, to have some laid-back fun. This winter holiday, feed your body and soul in every way you can. Wear warm clothes, eat healthy food, have quality time with friends and family, spend time outdoors, take lots of rest, read literature, and watch films鈥攖hose make up my motto. In this last post of 2025, I will introduce two films, and I am hoping that they will both inspire and help you relax.
Hear Marty, not his sceptics! In Josh Safdie鈥檚 , a young man with what seems like a pipe dream, goes to hell and back in pursuit of success in tennis. I haven鈥檛 yet decided if I admire or disapprove of Timoth茅e Chalamet in the Marty role for his increasingly egregious risk-taking. Enjoy this comedy at from December 24 until 31. Gwyneth Paltrow鈥檚 question for Marty, 鈥淲hat do you plan to do if this whole dream of yours doesn鈥檛 work out?,鈥 will haunt you at moments you question the purpose of your own graduate studies. Do listen to the young man.
Enjoy outdoors in Alaska in your pajamas. Justin Edwards鈥檚 might be the good-bye 2025 option for you if you love outdoors while also loving your couch or bed! In this nerdy film, three brothers embark on a journey in the Alaskan wilderness in search of mythological beings. In case you didn鈥檛 know, the Qalupaliks are a band of creatures that devour children. You may try Larping, the interactive game in the movie, with family and friends. I quite like the PhD student brother, and I bet the three brothers will plunge you deeper into the Alaskan wilderness. I dare you to sit still while the game music is playing. If you are like me, you鈥檒l wonder how a Jesus story and an Inuit tale have ended up in one character鈥檚 wild guesses. The library that serves as the problem-solving headquarters for two of the brothers at the beginning of the film is motivating me to write non-stop for three days and nights鈥攚ish someone provided me with fresh Turkish tea, partially healthy snacks, three hot meals per day as I pretended to be the disappeared author-philosopher.
is freely available at Queen鈥檚 Libraries. Try and then explore to reach this film and many other titles.
Now I am back to my reading and movie vault鈥攁.k.a. a well-loved Ikea chair.
May 2026 bring you solid research success, multiple publications, and many career-building opportunities鈥攁nd above all excellent physical and mental health!