C and I watched Easy Rider this past Saturday evening. It was an interesting movie, albeit quite strange. Of course, I suppose any movie about biker "hippies" on a road trip and drugs would be quite strange. The ending was also very abrupt. It was well put together and the soundtrack was pretty cool. I would probably watch it again if I happened to flip to it on television. Best quote from the movie: "[Freedom]’s what’s it’s all about, all right. But talkin’ about it and bein’ it, that’s two different things. I mean, it’s real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don’t ever tell anybody that they’re not free, ’cause then they’re gonna get real busy killin’ and maimin’ to prove to you that they are."
[Originally written 16 DEC 2009]
Four months ago yesterday, my wife ("C") was discharged from our local hospital after being newly diagnosed with Wegener’s Granulomatosis. C’s rheumatologist, Dr. Maria E. Darland, told her that she would be able to "re-enter the world" in approximately six to eight months after treating her condition over that period with prednisone and cyclophosphamide. Unfortunately, after about a month and a half, C’s liver panels showed the onset of liver damage and she was taken off of cyclophosphamide in order to try to prevent any major, permanent damage; this was bad news because up to this point, her condition was responding well to the combination of the two drugs.
White ivory tower,
do clouds distort the framework
of reality?
… and I’m already a slacker! I’m falling way behind in several of my projects and I am currently unmotivated to pick them back up.
Some examples:
- I should be working on my eighth "regular" blog post, but instead I’m stuck at two; I am not counting List updates for these
- I should have posted at least seven photographs by now, but have yet to post a single one.
I should also be working on some of the long-term items like the 5000 Question Survey and planning the home-improvement projects. I need to start my food log and exercising, but again I am not motivated. I have yet to "unplug" for a day.
I need to put my nose to the grindstone and start focusing on my List again. I suppose that will end up waiting until after the holidays, though – at least the "outdoorsy" items anyway.
I’m not really beating up myself, but I am disappointed in how I have been unable to focus. Also, I have two updates for the list that I haven’t written yet. Oh well. I’ll get to those updates soon enough!
Ok! I have my list of books from the list of "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" that I will be reading over the next 984 days. Thanks to everyone who provided input via FB and LJ!
I’ve narrowed my choices from the list down to the following 13 books. Of these books, I am currently reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo and will soon be reading H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. Does anyone have any recommendations (using my list of choices below) for the remaining eight. I have 984 days to read them.
Dear Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles,
Today, I attempted to exercise my Constitutionally-granted right to vote in my local and state elections. Unfortunately for me, you are full of epic amounts of FAIL and IDIOCY. Surely, even you must understand that if you make available the option to update voter registrations when your customers renew or replace their motor vehicle licenses, that you should provide the necessary information to the State Board of Elections. This is not a difficult task, yet somehow you managed to fail. You not only failed to submit my information, but also my wife’s and, according to the gentleman running my local voting location, several other citizens. I suppose that this is what I get for assuming that you could do something again that you have not failed before, in my experience. I did not realize that I was dealing with a child who needs to be followed behind to ensure that you do your job!
I considered lodging a formal complaint, but I believe that there must be a sizable black hole at your disposal in which you cast voter registrations information. I have to infer that complaints end up in that very same black hole, so this mini-rant will need to suffice.
Good day.
Yours in emnity,
Bill Hedge, disgruntled citizen.
We finished watching Annie Hall last night. It wasn’t too bad, although Woody Allen’s neuroticism was a bit excessive in my opinion. Cameos from a bunch of different actors including Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken, and Shelley Duvall helped add flavor to the movie. Slight spoiler: that’s an awfully quick way to waste several thousand dollars of cocaine!
This movie puts me half way through the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition. Hooray for progress! Up next ought to be either The Best Years of Our Lives or All About Eve, though I could just opt for something that Netflix currently has available for streaming.
Last night, I completed number 24 on my list of 101 Things in 1001 Days: Go to a comedy club.
My brother-in-law and I went down to Liberty Center, which is a club of sorts hosted above a bowling alley, which was hosting Liberty Laughs last night and we met up with one of my friends and her date. The comedians were pretty good and, as far as I can tell, my brother-in-law also enjoyed himself. The comedians were supplied by First Laugh Entertainment.
I would recommend checking this place out for anyone who happens to be in the Fredericksburg, VA, area on a Friday night. Also, with your $10 paid admission, you get to bowl for free (excepting shoe rental) until 1AM (approximately three hours because the show wraps up around 10PM) and the 21-and-up crowd gets the cover charged waived for entry into the bar after the show.
Progress: 53/100