Wednesday Political Musings

There's really nothing much to say. No one much likes China because it's polluted and they're mean. No one like Hillary because she tells lies and no one likes Barack because his preacher says some things that make people mad. Everyone seems to like Alan Greenspan even though he is being blamed for leading us into this mortgage fiasco and I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "When Bush took office gas was $1.46." I really want people in Pennsylvania to vote for Obama on April 22nd but I don't know how many people will listen to me. Jenna and I are officially registered to vote in PA though we feared that Jenna's was somehow lost. Some of the people I work with think he's a secret terrorist. I sometimes think people are ignorant; but that's no excuse for racism, or sexism, or most other -isms. Love. Love. Love.

If you have anything to say please do so.

No Country for Old Men

I know I know, this post is both a day late (movies are scheduled for Friday) and several months late (the movie is already available for rental); but here it is nonetheless. Jenna and I have only seen two movies in the theater since we've lived in Pennsylvania--one great (Le Scaphandre et le papillon), one awful (The Other Boleyn Girl)--so we didn't see No Country for Old Men in the theater. I really had intended to read the novel before seeing the movie; but academic reading overwhelmed me even before I could finish Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. No Country, along with The Border Trilogy are on my summer/free time reading list. Anyway, on the film.

I approached the film very much wanting to enjoy it, and I was not disappointed. I would expect to be impressed with the combination of McCarthy and the Coen brothers and they certainly didn't let me down. Javier Bardem (who looks ridiculously like Jeffrey Dean Morgan aka Denny Duquette) certainly deserved his award for Best Supporting Actor, Tommy Lee Jones was better than I ever expected him to be, and the actors, all together, were excellent.

The cinematography and directing (as expected) were excellent. Having not read the novel, I cannot attest to the validity of the adaptation award, but the flow of the plot-line ran very well and seems in line with the style that McCarthy imposes upon his novels (in my opinion, gleaned from reading half of one novel).

Over all, I had very high expectations for the novel and I wasn't disappointed.

Profoundly Asleep

Jenna, this morning, left the apartment at 6:15 because she had to work an unusually early time slot. I say that to explain why, an hour later, I awoke to the feeling of some seemingly foreign object sliding across my chest, headed off the bed to the floor.

Apparently, in an effort to shield my sleep-riddled eyes from the light streaming from the kitchen, I had covered my face with my arms. (Do not, gentle reader, assume that my lovely wife is uncaring and cold enough to turn on all the lights in our humble apartment in attempt to thwart my extra moments of sleep that she, unfortunatly, cannot enjoy alongside me. On the contrary! she does her very best to use as little light as possible in order to facilitate my extra moments of slumber.) In the ensuing hour I lost any sensation of feeling in my right arm. Not only did I lose feeling, I could not--no matter how hard I tried--move my arm. It was completely asleep, profoundly asleep.

That has never happened before and caused quite a shock in my groggy, half-asleep mind. I, momentarily, worried that my right arm would be left useless. Luckily I'm left-handed, so I retained some hope for my promising (if only) career as a literary scholar. Of course, every one knows, one cannot possibly hope to at all function without an operative dominant hand; ask Edward Rochester.

It was an interesting start to the day, if nothing else.

Fitness Revolution Update #2

The weigh in today: 234.5 lbs. I know, I know it's only a loss of .5 pounds, but it is a loss of 5 pounds over two weeks. In my defense, I'm going to blame the nearly stagnant numbers on a nearly exerciseless week and the fact that as of yesterday, Jenna and I have been married for 6 months so we made a mighty filling dinner (of which I ate too much) complete with homemade (that means out of a box) cake and lots-o-icing. Our membership to the YMCA should kick in tomorrow, and that means that I can start early morning spinning classes before work and actually add the exercise portion to my fitness regiment. Thanks for all your support and thoughts. Know you're loved!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Jenna's birthday. If you want to sing to her (she loves the birthday song), please do so. It would make her day even better. Thanks for being our friends, blogosphere.

Jenna, lucky for her, shares her birthday with Rush Limbaugh. I really can't think of any better company.