otoh

Note: This is being transcribed from my notebook a day after it was actually written.

I went to see a movie this afternoon. More often than not these days I will watch a movie after it comes out on DVD. (I’m disappointed when they don’t include a lot of extras and behind the scenes features.) But I had done a couple hours of yard work. I still had no electricity. It was about to rain again. I needed some entertainment and a couple hours of air conditioning.

So I went to see Garden State. Let me get the worst part of the experience out of the way first: Some idiot in the row behind me was talking on his cell phone right in the middle of the movie! I gave him “the glare” and he shut up. But I really couldn’t believe it. (This never happens when I’m watching a DVD in my living room which is one reason I don’t go to the theaters very often any more.) It took me a few minutes to get back into the film. That’s one drawback to being a pacifist. You can’t act on the impulse to get up and slug the guy….

Anyway, it’s a very good film. Kind of quirky. Parts are laugh-out-loud hilarious. And, of course, there’s Natalie Portman. Whatever “IT” is that seems to shine in some people, she’s got a ton of it. And it comes through on film. Watching her makes me wish I were about 25 years old again. (I’d still make all the same mistakes, I suppose, but I would try to enjoy them more.)

So now I’m back home. It rained while I was in the theater and it’s looking like it’s about to again. Schools will be closed again tomorrow. I don’t really want more days to make up, but I really hope I have a few hours of electricity before I have to go back to work. Is that selfish of me? So it’s back to the patio with the radio for now. And there’s more work to do in the yard tomorrow, weather permitting. And before long, we may be bracing for Ivan.