I don’t know what’s going on but I love it. I hadn’t seen a single James Bond movie until last week (I know). You’ll be astonished by the questionable list of classics I’m yet to see. I don’t usually go to the movies, and though I didn’t watch Daniel Craig’s No Time To Die in an actual, public cinema, I still watched a movie; which is rather interestingly rare for me. That film was too good - I won’t spoil it though; I know you probably want to see it, and if you don’t, I recommend you do because it brought me out of my unofficial not-watching-movies retirement (and it was absolutely worth it)! The night before, I attempted to finish an episode of The Queen’s Gambit. Just viewing a few scenes of the show makes you want to delve into the alluring mystery of chess. It’s weird how that works. I didn’t think I’d ever watch the show despite only ever hearing good things about it, because I don’t always have time or much determination to immediately start a new show, but I somehow find a way to do so at the most random times.

I got the chess app and I’ve been hooked. I mean, this isn’t strange. I remember playing chess in… I think primary or secondary school, but it wasn’t something that grew up with me, it was just another extra-curricular activity I loved. But, after a lengthy hiatus, I’m back and even more engrossed with chess than ever. There’s something about its complexity that draws me to it. It’s like SUDOKU, where initially I really didn’t get what was happening, but learning the rules of the game did the trick! Mind you, this is perfect timing - this all happened during a short trip to Atlanta + the semester is ending; it's good to remember leisure, that it exists, and that it’s waiting for all of us to make time for it. Speaking of Atlanta, a place I’ve visited 1 time, I have more city merch from Atlanta than any other city visited -not even Lagos or New York yet. However, I’ve stopped by their Hartsfield-Jackson airport for connecting flights but, visiting airports and visiting the actual cities are very different things! My reason for the surprising merch count makes sense though, the airport was much warmer than expected; I don’t get what’s up with that. It felt like a slightly cooler summer day - although nothing compared to one of my classes where the heater is set so hot, we have to open the windows in a high-rise building! It’s pretty much a hot summer day indoors and winter outside. Simply put, I needed a tee!!

Apart from my almost cinema experience watching James Bond in No Time To Die, a friend recommended House of Gucci, resulting in a last-minute trip to AMC. I haven’t been to the cinema in quite a while, my introverted self automatically encourages me to stay home and wait for the movie to drop on streaming services - thing is there are very, very few films in which I’ve anticipated their viewing, House of Gucci was definitely one of them. Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, exceptional. I didn’t go in knowing the history of Gucci; I never looked into it until recently, and boy was I shocked when I read merely bits of it. I’ve been praising the show since I saw it, it’s truly intriguing and eye-opening. It’s one of those motion pictures where you can’t help but pick up a highly valuable lesson or reminder. In my opinion, the most significant lesson was: don’t fall into the trap of greed, it can make you crazy, and not in a good way. Okay, that’s it. No spoilers.

Note: the similarity between both films and chess is the adept nature the characters possess. Key characters in both films demonstrated how skill can be used as a weapon to conquer and divide. I’ve concluded that no skill is useless, what truly counts is how we use our skills.