Enjoying the holiday

Well, it's been nice to have a little break after jumping back into things at work after the Christmas and New Year holiday. Last night Tim and I were going to watch "Mean Girls" on the DVD player, but I had already started "Out of Africa" and was sort of waiting for Tim to let me know the other movie started. Before I knew it, he came out and said, "This is still on?" and that he had finished watching Mean Girls. I supposed he wanted to better understand the culture that Christina has been contending with the past few years. Interestingly enough, the girl in "Mean Girls" who is picked on had grown up in Africa.

Tim got "On Demand" service from our cable company recently. He found that by ordering this service we didn't have to pay any more (maybe less???) than we did before without it. One Saturday afternoon I watched "Life is Beautiful," "Man of La Mancha" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." I noticed similar themes in "Life is Beautiful" and "Man of La Mancha." In "Life is Beaufitul," the Jewish Italian father creates a world explains the concentration camp he and his young son are in (1940s era) as a game--a hard game, but if they follow all the rules and don't give up, they will win first prize--a tank! Though his son sometimes doubts, the father is generally successful at keeping his son's spirits up and keeping him alive by encouraging him to work hard at the game--earning "points" by keeping hidden and being quiet, for example.

Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha" fights imaginary enemies (windmills) and serves a "fair maiden" (a kitchen maid of questionable reputation). Yet his idealism and imagination, while often mocked by those who don't understand, also bring encouragement and hope to those closest to him.

Of course, Planes, Trains and Automobiles was mostly entertainment, but it also had a theme of the value of friendship, of compassion and endurance.

So, movie watching is fun during these cold dark days of January. I think the temperature is finally rising, but it looks like we will still have some sub-zero weather this coming weekend. Thank goodness for layers and warm houses!

Hope you all are staying warm wherever you are!

Till next time,

Suzi