Weirdness

It was enjoyable if a little odd. Perhaps surreal would be a more fitting word…to talk to someone whom you haven't talked to in almost a year and whom you believed to dislike you and to then find them to be both friendly and cordial…*shrug* Let's just say that bizarre doesn't even start to describe it. At the same time, I hold no hope for future chats. Maybe they were just feeling charitable because it was Christmastime.

In other news, dancing is a hell of a workout. I should have taken this up years ago. Who knows? One of these days, I may even try it with a partner. :

Christmas is past and it wasn't as bad as it might have been. This is the first Christmas in a number of years without the nieces and nephews and although I missed them and certain other traditions, it wasn't heart rending. My guess is that they barely noticed I wasn't there. It seemed like I was already starting to fade into the background before I "left". Well, I hope they had a good one.

Okay, enough pity-partying. Work is great. Life is great. The world is great. I couldn't ask for more…honest.

Return of the King MOVIE review (from the viewpoint of a purest)

As I sit here stretching and grading exams, I'm really glad I took the time yesterday to see the Return of the King, if for no other reason than it gives me something "rant" about. ;-) (Warning: There are some spoilers ahead. If you haven't read the books or seen the movie, you may not want to read this. Hell, you may not want to read this anyway.)

As a purist, my reaction to this movie is that the MOVIE of the Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King is to the book of the same name much in the same way that tepid tap water is to a steaming cup of British-style tea. To put it another way, yes, the movie was set in a place called Middle Earth and there were some people with similar names as to those in the books by Tolkien and there were even some similar events, well, a few similar events. Beyond that, I'm hesitant to say that they are related.

Now, in all fairness, the movie taken wholly on its own, was a good movie. It had action, adventure, romance (kind of) heroic deeds, and some kick-ass special effects. (See mûmakil squish horsie.) It had some great one liners and a few stolen lines from one of my favorite set of movies, the original Star Wars trilogy. (A battle field with a wonderful death scene: A: "I'm going to save you." Dying T: "You all ready have.") Unfortunately, the movie failed to capture the essence of what Tolkien wrote, at least in my humble opinion. Both Théoden and Denethor were, in the books, great men with outstanding senses of honor and justice. Lord Denethor was, in part, corrupted by his contact with the Dark Lord Sauron, but still held his honor from a certain viewpoint. In the movies, both were portrayed as sniveling, whining, haughty, egocentric (though Théoden was eventually portrayed as a good and mighty king) ne're-do-wells. Apparently Mr. Peter Jackson didn't think that the general public could see the subtleties of the corruption of Denethor in Tolkien's works. He had to change them, magnify them exaggerate them and in so doing, turn interesting three-dimensional characters with good and decent motives (or at least human motives) into one-dimensional characters that exhibit ONLY the negative traits. *sigh* Oh well. Maybe he was right. Maybe the general public can't catch those subtleties anymore or maybe they don't want to have to think when going to a movie. Obviously, a lot of people like the movies considering the amount of money the three have brought in already.

This isn't my only gripe, either. There were tons of things that were changed purely for the benefit of the movie and many more that were changed for no reason I can imagine. For example, in the scene at Mt. Doom, why did Frodo put the ring on the index finger of his left hand? In the book, it was the ring finger (or third finger - wrong in the movie no matter how you count them) of his right hand. Why was Gandalf portrayed as mortal when in truth, the only two in Middle Earth who could have touched him were the Witch King of Angmar (King of the Nazgûl, etc.) and the Dark Lord Sauron? Why did Denethor go running off the edge of Minas Tirith instead of dying with resolve as he did in the book? Why was the Shire in perfect condition when the travelers returned? Why were Sam and Rosie at #3 Bagshot row instead of at Bag End? Anyway, the list goes on (and on and on and on).

Well, back to grading. I may expand on this later or I may just mark it off as pointless and futile.

Breathe

With breath comes life; with life comes hope; with hope, faith; with faith, realization; with realization, one can breathe.

Uhm?

There's a party this evening with the "old gang"; a yearly event which at best is uncomfortable and at worst is positively irksome. Which will it be this year? I don't know. I have a feeling it will be irksome, but who can say until after it is done? It's not that I don't like the people. Individually, they're good. But when all of them are in a single space, I start feeling rather contained. This is a social circle of expectations and since I seldom live up to those expectations, I am somewhat less comfortable. Of course this entire society is made up of expectations. I suppose that's what makes it a society as opposed to just a bunch of people living on the same land mass. :-p *shrug* Oh well. My problem, not theirs. I'll probably leave after the piñatas anyway.

Look for the pattern among the pieces. See the symmetry in the chaos. Watch for the signs in the babble.

I wonder how long before HTML code supports smilies. ;-)

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Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. -Phillips Brooks, bishop and orator (1835-1893)

*whew*

Well, THAT day has come and gone for another year, anyway. It wasn't overly nice but it wasn't horrible, either. I have honestly learned that if I keep my expectations low, I am seldom disappointed. The trouble is that I am beginning to let my expectations for myself slip into that "low" category. :-p

In other news, the basement where I work seems to be having a bit of a sewage problem. The contractors working elsewhere on site punctured a sewer main and the results have been truly disgusting. Three days running now has the basement hallway smelled almost as bad as the after-taste of Limburger cheese. (This latter smell I can only liken to that of baby diarrhea.) Unfortunately, the sewage has seeped into the base-boards and the walls behind said baseboards so the stench is likely to remain for some time to come. This is complicated by the fact that the said hallway receives very little in the way of air circulation. I hope something can be done about it as the smell is quite bothersome. Worse still is the smell of the "perfume" that someone is wont to spray from time to time. This makes the whole thing even worse. Ah well. Hopefully it will be repaired soon. This, of course, is likely only wishful thinking as it seems that said contractors not only punctured the sewer line but also filled it with concrete.

A few days ago, someone added a penciled note to the one I posted near the bike racks indicating that my action was "...very big of you." I doubt it was the actual person, but one never knows.

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A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark. --Woody Allen

Etc.

I vacuumed the carpets in the apartment today along with the carpets in the hallway and the stairs all the way down to the basement. I started collecting the cobwebs in the basement rafters, too, but decided that it was better left for someone else, you know, like the owners of the building.

The Playstation 2 I'm looking at is still $179.99 at most retail stores these days. I should re-check e-Bay and see if they have become any more reasonable. It might just be worth it.

I tried the keyboard on Diablo II for a while this evening. It performs well. I didn't even notice I was on a different keyboard. All I need now is a little wireless display so that I can type anywhere but still be able to see what I'm typing.

I went out and practiced some today. The air temp was a shade chilly with just a shirt and a stretchy pair of gloves, but I probably could have stayed out until dark, anyway. I need to spend more time on Saber and Staff, not to mention the TKD forms. *Ugh* So many forms, so little time. :-) --- As my students like to quip back to me, all things with time and practice. *grrr* My own words, thrown back at me. Oh well. At least it shows that they were listening. *smirk*

New toys.

Last night while doing some other miscellaneous shopping, I happened across the close-out table at Staples. Upon said table was a combo wireless keyboard and mouse for the whopping sum of $23.90. I hemmed and hawed about it for a while, taking it out of the package (with permission) and finally decided to purchase it. When I arrived at the counter, I discovered, much to my delight, that the actual price including tax was only $18.46. Did I really need this? No, I didn't, but it is cool. I am currently sitting in front of my desk, typing this on said wireless device. The difference between doing this now and how I used to is that I am currently sitting on the floor, stretching my legs instead of sitting in an, albeit nice, chair, cramping my legs. I'm not using the mouse, though I could just as easily. In fact, if I really wanted to, I could just bring my mouse down here. Hmm. Yup, that works well. So now, I can sit virtually anywhere in my place and type. Unfortunately, I can't always see what I'm typing. :-) I was a little worried about security for this wireless device, but it appears that once a code has been locked between the device and the base, things get encoded. I'm not sure how encoded they get. More research is needed. The keyboard also allows me to use my computer as a remotely controlled CD-Player complete with volume and track control. Assuming I don't mind typing blind and proofing my work later, it certainly lets me accomplish something while, shall we say, otherwise occupied. Yup, I think it's a keeper.

In other news, last week I sent off ~$250 worth of rebates for the aforementioned Staples store. Hopefully, all of them will be received and paid. If not, I still have copies of all the bar-codes, etc.

Thirst

To quench the thirst, I seek the drink, yet no drink I know can quench this thirst. I can only be sated for short periods of time and then I am thirsty again. A bottomless well, cored out of the earth into which all things must eventually go, yet it is not filled or diminished in its thirst or hunger for more. It is still as bottomless as it was before.

Manitou

Let there BE and it was.

Ambition lies outside the current realm of my experience. It's not that I'm idle, per se, I just don't really want to do much of anything, at least work related. I enjoy practicing my art forms and chatting with friends, but that's about it. I need something truly fun at work, other than a barrel of silver-backed monkeys. ;-)

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All envy would be extinguished, if it were universally known that there are none to be envied. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

The sign

I placed a sign near the bike rack from which my bicycle light was stolen. In brief, it gifts the item to who ever took it and releases them from the energetic bonds of "thief". It also wishes them a Merry Christmas. I wonder how pure my goal with this sign really is. Do I truly desire to give them the light or am I hoping to provoke a guilt response and get them to give it back. Can it be both? Perhaps it is neither. Perhaps it is the only thing I can do after feeling violated in this manner. Perhaps it is just a defense mechanism. Who can say?

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Dictionaries are like watches: the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. -Samuel Johnson

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One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind. -Malayan Proverb

The Nerve

Can you believe the nerve of some people? Someone actually stole my bicycle light sometime today. Not only did they remove the light but they also removed the bracket to which it was attached. *sigh* Obviously they must have needed it more than I did. I hope it serves them well.