Well…. Cinderella Man certainly exceeded my
expectations and kudos to good ol’ Ron Howard for the direction of a
great film. Russell Crowe pulled off a worthy performance–the tears
were moving. Though in other news I can’t say his telephone-throwing
skills will get him anywhere fast. Renee Zellweger–lovely and demure
for once–makes a great Depression-era housewife (in the best sense
possible). Perhaps she’s missed her calling…? Their relationship
on  screen was quite believable–and yes, I’ll admit it, quite
romantic–through thick and thin, they stuck by each other. Perhaps a
poke at the constant and nearly unfettered allowance for divorce,
adultery, etc., in this great (liberal) nation.
     But overall, I was impressed with the film: a
few heart-wrending scenes outlining the struggles of the Depression
[which only served to call to mind the extension of the powers of
federal government to our current demise]; some suspenseful (and almost
painful to watch) fight scenes; and a model of the American family
that used to exist. My favourite scene depicted Russell Crowe’s
character returning the sum of money previously granted to him in
government aid–something I’m sure no welfare recipient has ever
considered. The desperation of the era was evident, and yet despite his
lack of funds, this fellow had enough wit to recognize the importance
of independent/private support. He worked/fought for his money and to
support his family; he was not below accepting aid from the community
in dire straits–nor was he above giving it to those in similar need.
My only qualm is that he was perhaps not as religiously inclined as the
Mrs. — a statement on the character of a devout wife perhaps? Funny
thing is, these things are occuring to me just now as I think about the
various deeper levels of thought which the film may have implied.
Either way, it was entertaining as well as thought-provoking. And I
expected so little….silly me.

Alas . . . the truth is out: I am a hopeless romantic. And this after 6 hours of Pride & Prejudice. Now I’m afraid I will not settle for any man less than Mr. Darcy. Honestly, though, I really enjoyed watching the movies and it looks like I’ll have the book to entertain me for at least a week or two. And just wait to see what sort of romantic ideals come into my head then.

But now . . . to bed.

Well I wrote up this whole little entry about beautiful summer nights in Georgia and how nice it is to sit out on the back porch watching a storm roll in–feeling the humidity build until it seems like you could actually pull the rain drops from the clouds . . . but then our stupid computer froze up and I lost it all.            Ah well . . .

I did have a lovely conversation yesterday evening with my dear Vanessa Pearl and it was so nice to hear her voice; she has a knack for keeping me talking even when I think I have nothing to say. Missing your friends shouldn’t usually make you laugh, but I think it makes me laugh because when I finally get to hear from them it’s just so wonderfully funny.

I’m out of time. Got to go pick up the youngest. Later!

Well I just finished watching the final (and in my opinion the best) of
the Star Wars movies: Return of the Jedi. And what to my wondering eyes
did appear  but….Hadyn Christenson at the end of the film! I
mean, I was just sittin there enjoying the little ewoks and their
dancing and singing and then there’s Ben Kenobi and Yoda and…what?!?!
the worst actor in the world?!?! It was my younger sister who clued me
into the fact that after the newer Star Wars movies came out, they
interposed the image of this Christenson fellow into the last scene of the old movie so
that everything would tie together. I wasn’t outraged or anything, in
fact it kinda pulled all the movies together nicely, BUT…I must admit
I was a little surprised. And that’s about it.

Sunday afternoons are ever so nice.

No news is good news, right? Well then hoorah because I have no news!
Except that I am being completely spoiled here at home — not only
is the food here ten times better than SAGA but I don’t even have to
walk up a giant hill to get to it! The consequences of which could be
distasterious . . . haha. AND I have my phonograph back (since it’s too
unwieldy to lug to Michigan)! So now, listening to the smooth sounds of
Duke Ellington [don’t be fooled by the little “currently playing”
thing–this is vinyl “Duke Ellington and his orchestra” straight from
1956], and enjoying the summer heat that seems to be finally kicking
in, I can rest assured in the knowledge that I have nothing to do for
the rest of the day. Isn’t that a lovely feeling? Unfortunately, I feel
that it’s slightly wasted on a bum like me because I have no job . . .
but oh well, more time to paint. Hope all y’all (just accept the
Southron grammer ) are enjoying June!

Going back into the A-town today for some goodtimes. And that’s about it.

Yes,  change the “look & feel” of my site whenever I’m bored.

Saw Epsiode 3 last night with my dad and sisters. It was pretty good
but I must admit that (after quite a quest to find it) we went home and
watched Episode 4 to much agreement that the old Star Wars movies are
so much better. Hadyn Christenson or whatever that kid’s name is, he’s
not a great actor. He just doesn’t light up the screen like good ol’
Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo. And that’s my two cents on that.

My personal quest now is to find some people in Canton, Georgia (that I
have never met before) and just hang out with them. There’s got to be
some cool people around here somewhere…other than my family…..
I really don’t have a problem with having lived here my entire life and
not really knowing anyone who lives near me….I mean, that’s totally
ok. I’m very happy and blessed to have gone to the great schools I’ve
gone to. But right now…jobless and over-filling my mind with Faulkner
(although Somerville might say that’s not even possible)….all I want
is some folks to hang out with on a Friday night!