found object

It's been a while since I've gone out shooting with my camera. It's been too cold, or I've been too busy, or both. But a few days ago I took a walk & took my camera along. Even though it was freezing and I was in my dull neighborhood, I was determined to get something & finally found this interesting pattern on a manhole cover stained with road salt.

The Visitor

It's cold and snowing again, several inches expected, but I don't mind since there's so much inside to keep me occupied. I watched the movie "The Visitor" last night and really enjoyed it. Richard Jenkins (the actor who played the father on Six Feet Under) plays an isolated college professor who's life is changed when he discovers a pair of illegal immigrants living in his seldom used NYC apartment. His performance is brilliant and the story is fascinating - I was completely engrossed and sorry when the movie was over. It's a movie with something to say, but doesn't hit you over the head with its message. I highly recommend it.

Another fool for Facebook

As much as I hate to admit it, it's true: I finally gave in and signed up on Facebook yesterday. And I can't even come up with a good reason why. I guess I'm just a lemming. A follower. A lonely kid on the playground who doesn't want to be left out of the game. Pitiful.

Up until now I've hated Facebook, especially because of the way BB has gotten so hooked on it recently. I resent the time she spends there. And I hate it because it seems so pointless. It's not like Flickr where you actually create something and give & get meaningful feedback. Or like a blog where you have to write in a way that your potential readers might find informative, entertaining, or insightful. In contrast Facebook has always seemed kind of juvenile and inane to me. But then BB started telling me all about people I knew who were on it and, damn! My curiosity got the better of me. So I signed up, but I'm still not really a convert. There's only so much time a gal can spend goofing around online & I'd rather spend that time here or on Flickr.

Valentine's day treat

BB and I had a Valentine's day lunch at the Blue Margarita Cafe' - a nice little treat on a cold and snowy afternoon. We had a quiet day- puttering around the house, listening to NPR, and playing around on the computer, as usual.

Inspiration

So, I was driving down the road wondering what I should write my next blog post about when I had a sudden flash of inspiration: I decided to write about those sudden flashes of inspiration that come to you while driving.

You know how it is - there you are mindlessly driving along, when suddenly the solution to whatever it is you've been worrying about, or the sudden recollection of that thing you've been meaning to do, suddenly hits you.

This is a phenomenon that also happens to me in the shower. I seem to get my most fabulous insights and great ideas when I'm either driving or bathing. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this. For some reason these routine activities seem to free the brain of a lot of noise that otherwise gets in the way.

The only problem is that I can't remember these flashes of genius unless I write them down. Which is why I keep a pad of paper and a pen in both the car and the bathroom. I have actually gotten out of the shower to write little fragments of thoughts on occasion, and in the car I've become fairly adept at writing with my right hand while steering with my left.

Here is a small sampling of my car notes: Too imbued with per. sig. Kazoo, symph? Peeves, talking etc... tkts wait wait. chi. Fluke. All about happiness! Add Gram P. stuff. Took a long time - flawed. thng abt C. Mem. Antonym of intense?

These are all things I wanted to remember to do or to write about. But none of these things seem as important and significant now as they did at the moment of inspiration - which is, sadly, the way so many of my moments of inspiration go.

Frost/Nixon

I went to see the movie Frost/Nixon yesterday and liked it a lot more than I'd expected. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes details of how this unusual and significant television interview came to be, the character study of these two very different men, and the drama of the interview itself, which plays out like a prize fight. I also enjoyed all the period elements, and of-course the great acting. I totally believed Frank Langella was Nixon.

So, I've now seen all five movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but I can't say which one I like best. I'll be rooting for Milk, but I'm sure the winner will be Slumdog Millionaire, which was a little too contrived for my taste, or Benjamin Button, which I thought was a tad too full of itself, and too long.

Heatwave

It's 44 degrees and the snow is receding! They say it could get up to 53 - a heatwave! And my baby grandson Ben is coming to visit - couldn't ask for a better February day.

Revolutionary Road

I've been on a bit of a movie kick lately. If I get to see Frost/Nixon sometime soon I will have seen all five Oscar nominees for best picture - something I don't think I've ever done before.

This afternoon I went to see Revolutionary Road and it wasn't quite what I'd expected. It was certainly engrossing - I loved the look of it & the acting was terrific, but the story was disappointing. It bugged me that I didn't know enough about the main female character to really understand her, she wasn't very well-rounded. And while I understood that she felt stifled by her 1950s suburban life, the movie could have done a better job of demonstrating what was SO stifling about it. As it's depicted her life doesn't seem so bad & she comes off as completely selfish, self-involved & neurotic. Much more so than her husband. It's hard to have much sympathy for this character. And I really hated the end, with Leonardo DiCaprio saying "She did this to herself!" And then a little coda of a scene with a woman - the real estate agent played by Kathy Bates - blathering on and on while her husband turns down his hearing aid. That's how this movie ends - with a man completely tuning his wife out! What was the point of that?? There are some very good supporting players in this movie, and the costumes and art direction are great, but on the whole I didn't like it much & I think it's offensive to women.