I'm Back

Another humdrum day at work. I am in a drab mood. And yes, in case anyone is reading this, I suck for not blogging. I will try to make up for it today. So this is just a random post of what I've been up to.

My workouts have nearly been non-existent. Friday after work, I exited the freeway early because traffic was slowed much more so than usual. That turned out to be a big mistake. With the building of the new Gopher stadium, there is all this construction underway on University. Due to closed lanes, I sat in even more traffic than I would have encountered had I stayed on the freeway. Of course I chose to wear a black sweater that day and the sun was beating down on me so I was impatiently miserable. By the time I got home, running was at the bottom of my priority list. So I skipped Friday and Saturday.

Sunday I got up early with my dog, Brody, and we went for a run through my parents' neighborhood, but he was difficult to manage. Running before me, he zig-zagged his way from one mailbox to the next, sniffing out every little scent he caught wind of. It was a short, slow run. I had to go back to my parents' yesterday after work because I forgot my phone charger so I tried running with him again, and it was another awful run. Last week I ran outside every day but I know that I don't run as hard as when I am on the treadmill, so I think today I will hit the gym in hopes of a good workout.

Spent most of the weekend hanging out with the dogs, Max and Brody. My parents were in Menomonie visiting my brother at Stout for parents' weekend. They were good boys except for when Brody decided to ditch me and took off 90 miles an hour so I had to chase him down.

I caught up on a lot of TV/movies. I watched Entourage, The Office, Notes on a Scandal, Stranger Than Fiction, Weeds. Ever since my friend told me about this site, where you can watch TV shows and movies without downloading them, I've been a frequent visitor. Weeds is such a phenomenal show. The characters are all so unique and fully developed, and the dialogue so witty and humorous. I don't get Showtime or HBO or even MTV for that matter, so I am behind on the good shows. I had been eagerly waiting for the second season of Weeds to come out on DVD, but now I don't have to! After Weeds, I plan to watch Six Feet Under, which I've seen a few episodes of, but can't wait to watch the rest on the site.

Notes on a Scandal: In Review

Thoroughly enjoyed every second of this movie. I made the mistake of sitting down to watch with a full plate of my mom's spaghetti (my favorite food, she makes the BEST sauce), but had to stop five minutes into it because I couldn't eat and watch at the same time. The dialogue, particularly the narration by Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) as written her diary, was THAT engrossing.

The subject matter is sensitive, as it is about a school teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), who has an affair with her fifteen-year-old student. But the film is actually about the relationship between Barbara Covett and Sheba Hart. Barbara, an older teacher at the same school, London's St. George School, has this to say about her students as she watches them walk into school:

"Here come the local pubescent prowls. The future plumbers, shop assistants, and probably terrorists too. In the old days, we confiscated cigarettes and whack mags. Now it's knives and crack cocaine. And they call it progress."

When Sheba comes to the school as a new art teacher, Barbara has nothing but nasty observations to document in her diary:

"Hard to read the wispy novice. Is she a sphinx or simply stupid? Artfully disheveled today. The tweedy tramp coat is an abhorrence. It seems to say ‘I’m just like you.’ But clearly she’s not. A fey person, I suspect. Fey. She’s certainly rippled the waters in our stagnant pond. They flock to her. Even limp little Brian had a go. Oh, the horror. And Fatty Hodges pounced on her. A dubious double act. The blonde and the pig in knickers."

Yet when Sheba wants to be friends, Barbara quickly becomes receptive to her. Their friendship intensifies when Barbara learns of Sheba's affair and grows from there; I don't want to reveal too much of the plotline here.

One of my favorite quotes by Barbara, as she converses with Sheba:

"People anguish for years with partners who are clearly from another planet. We want so much to believe that we've found our other. It takes courage to recognize the real as opposed to the convenient."

The well-stated reality of life.

Acting performances by Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett are outstanding. Fond appreciation of the unpredictable, eloquent dialogue. Possibly a few holes in the storyline, but excellent film.

Notes on a Scandal

My all-time favorite movie is Closer, written as a play and adapted as a screenplay by Patrick Marber. Not until recently, did I realize he also did the adaptation for the film, Notes on a Scandal, based on the novel What was she Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal] A Novel by Zoe Heller. I remember going to the movie theatre, seeing the title of this film, having never heard of it. Much later, probably around Oscar time since it was nominated for 4 Oscars, including best actress (Judi Dench) and best supporting actress (Cate Blanchett) did I come across a description of the movie:

"A pottery teacher (Blanchett) enters into an affair with one of her students, causing upheaval in her personal and professional lives."

It came out on DVD yesterday so I went ahead and bought it. Perhaps a review will follow...