Archive for November, 2006

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

November 28th, 2006

Crap! I spilled diet soda all over the keyboard. Now my “v” key sticks. It probably wouldn’t be so bothersome, except that there’s a “v” in my last name. And (actually, more importantly) it’s playing havoc with my ability to copy & paste, since I use the shortcut keys.  It’s a good thing this keyboard is a piece of crap & I was planning on replacing it anyway.

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My favorite holiday

November 23rd, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving! Several years ago, I came to the realization that I actually prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas. First of all, it evokes all those memories of warmth & coziness against the chill of winter, aromatic smells coming from the kitchen, good cheer and good food shared with good people, tummies that are too full for comfort, with the added bonus of football on tv; but without all the hassles and pressures of Christmas. The other reason is that no matter where I’ve been in the world, there have always been people to celebrate with, who were able to make the day special.

Of course, during my early years, and into my undergraduate college days, that meant Thanksgiving with my family. But when I ventured too far away to make it home by Wednesday night, I began to make my own “traditions,” even if they changed from year to year.

My first Thanksgiving away from home was in graduate school at Michigan State University. I was too far away to drive home, and to broke to afford a plane ticket. So, several of us gathered together at a friend’s apartment and had a feast, even if we we ate off of paper plates, sitting on the floor in front of the tv.

Then there was the year I was working in Rochester, NY, as an audiologist & speech scientist. I was presenting my thesis at the annual convention of the American Speech & Hearing Association (now named the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, but still abbeviated as ASHA) in San Francisco the week before Thanksgiving. My boss, a wonderful man, told me to stop over in Iowa on the way back. I remember flying into Omaha, NE, and having to make several attempts to land in foggy weather. The pilot told us that he’d give it one more try, but if that didn’t work out, we’d be diverted to Des Moines or Souix City. Either of those would have been viable options, except that my parents & grandfather were waiting for me in Omaha. Fortuanately, third time was a charm. My mother (who was the designated driver in those days) was especially grateful, not only to have me land in Omaha, but also to simply have me home for Thanksgiving.
These days, the holiday doesn’t include family, as my parents are deceased, or football, as many of my friends are not fans. But I still manage to have a good time. There’s a chill in the air, but it’s warm inside. The hostess has a small but lovely & welcoming home. When I arrive, the place will be alive with the aroma of turkey & trimmings wafthing thru’ the air, I’ll spend time with cherished friends, I’ll eat too much & possibly drink to much too. And maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll get one or two of them to watch Supernatural with me.

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Million dollar depression

November 11th, 2006

I watched Million Dollar Baby yesterday afternoon. I hadn’t planned on it. I was just looking for something to pass the time while I waited for Gilmore Girls to come on. (The one in syndication on the Family channel, not the prime time version.) I knew the story was about a scrappy female boxer & her relationship with her trainer/manager. I knew that it had received enormous critical acclaim. I knew that it had won the “Best Picture” Oscar (among others). I did not know the last 45 minutes would be absolute torture.

I’m still trying to figure out why the movie was such a big hit with critics. For such a lauded film, I didn’t think it was that artistic. There wasn’t a lot of depth to the characters (they were either good or bad), I thought some of the cinimatography was a bit hokey. And the story was just a bit too clichéd. Granted, the performances were excellent. But there’s about a million reasons why the ending would never have happened in real life.

I would have absolutely hated to have seen this movie in the theaters. I bawled so hard my face hurt. And I had to spend about 5 minutes splashing my face with cold water, just to feel like a human being again.

The weird thing is, I’m not a Catholic, and I do believe in euthanasia. So that’s not the part of the story that bothered me. It’s just that I was so damned depressed after the movie, and carried that awful feeling the rest of the night. I tried to keep my mind busy so that I wouldn’t think too much about it. But even though I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. (anything past 11:00 p.m. is way too late for me) and was totally exausted, the movie crept back into my head. And I don’t mean that in a good way.

I guess that’s the sign of a good film, that it stays with you for a long after you’ve watched it. That it pulls you in so far, you feel you’re part of the story. But honestly, I don’t watch movies so that I can feel like shit. Life is bad enough. I don’t need to feel any worse than I already do, and that’s what this movie did to me.

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