I watched five movies this weekend. I don't think I had watched five movies in all of May, June, and July, but hey, I'm making up time.
One of them was Secretary. As often happens with movies, I had heard a little about the film, gotten some recommendations, yet didn't really have any concept of the plot, etc. That said, I was pleasantly surprised. It was less seedy than I expected, and the acting was spot on. I can't decide how I feel about the ending. I think there was a crucial point where the movie had to make a choice; there was an unavoidable fork in the road. More than anything, I'm glad that the powers that be actually made a choice instead of trying to take two roads at the same time. Is that all oblique enough for you? Go rent the movie.
In my continuing mission to bring you all there is to know about Arby's absurd Oven Mitt, I give you this.
On a recent drive from St. Louis, MO, to Central Ohio, I listened to the audio recording of The Body Artist by Don Delillo. I've read one other book by Delillo, Mao II, which I enjoyed. I was sorely disappointed with The Body Artist. It was read by Laurie Anderson, who rocks, and she did a great job with the material, casting a ambient, gentle, yet nearly soporific tone over the novella. Nevertheless, I was not drawn into the story in any way. I found myself bored. I'm not sure exactly why I found the protagonist so uninteresting, so unsympathetic, but after two cds, I threw in the towel and gave up. Life is too short to be bored by a book when there are so many options about things to read and listen to.
I completed True Believers by Joe Queenan. His observations about sports fandom are dead on and very funny. My only complaint about this book is that Queenan subscribes to some of the institutional misogyny that exists in the male-dominated sports world never giving true credence to the concept that women can be just as vociferous fans as men.
Recently finished Life Before Man, by Margaret Atwood. I love Atwood's work, with both The Handmaid's Tale and The Robber Bride among my favorite books. Life Before Man is remarkable because so very little happens. It is not an ocean of a book; it is a narrow river. Nothing abrupt happens, there are no visible waves, no sudden movements, one has to peer deeply to see what is going on beneath the surface. It's the same searching that motivates each of the characters, and Atwood gracefully allows accompany them. It's not quite on par with some of her other novels, but I really enjoyed this one in spite of its subtlety.
Honestly, it truly has. I think it may be my favorite invention ever. Do you know that feeling where you really want something, so you start saving your money? And you finally have enough money, so you buy it, and you get it, and then you're disappointed because it's not quite all you had built it up to be?
None of that nonsense with the iPod. It's so much more than I really had thought. It has completely changed the way I listen to music, which is one of my favorite things to do. I adore it.
I've been lax in not mentioning the death of Ms. Hepburn sooner. A mythical figure to all of us who went to Bryn Mawr, Hepburn graduated in 1928 and gave the commencement address in 1985, where she said, ""Bryn Mawr isn't plastic, it isn't nylon, it's pure gold... I came here by the skin of my teeth; I got in, and by the skin of my teeth I stayed. But I stayed and it was the best thing I ever did..."
Her amazing career has been well-documented in articles and obituaries, and I am so proud to be able to say we went to the same college. She loomed over all of us as not just our most famous alumna, but as one of the most dynamic women of the 20th century, and the earth is now a little different without her living on it.