Short

I feel like my recent blog posts have been short and not as interesting as others have been. Here's another one.

Yesterday evening I got home from Starbucks with my stomach somewhat settled but not completely. I was in a bit of a funk as well. Since most of my call-able friends were not available, I called my folks and spoke with them for awhile. That picked me up, and when I hung up with them, I got the idea to go see a movie. Ponyo had been playing at the Redlands theatre so I checked their website only to discover that it was no longer playing there. I had thought to try and find the movie elsewhere, but instead, I saw the trailer for Extract and thought that looked reasonably funny. When I saw that the ticket price was $11 to go right then, I decided to wait until this morning's matinees, which gave me an excuse to call Clayton and see if he wanted to go. It turned out he had already spoken with Ken about seeing this (or Halloween 2) so the three of us went today.

Extract was OK. I found it entertaining all the way through, but it's one of those movies you leave and immediately begin to forget. I tittered through the movie but didn't really laugh loudly except at one line late in the movie. It's one of those movies where your enjoyment comes from the characters, most of which are delightfully drawn here. I am a big fan of Jason Bateman after seeing him in Arrested Development and Hancock. He plays 'exasperated' well. Mila Kunis also shows that she is the real talent to emerge from That 70's Show. But, don't go to the movie expecting too much. It is engaging but offers no long-term rewards.

Home from the movie, I worked on my computer for a few minutes. Then, finding myself nodding off, I decided to take a nap. I had just undressed when there was a knock at the door. Charlotte and Selu were there, wanting to take my Sportage and drive it over to their repair guy. I wasn't wild about this idea at all. I went over a list of car issues that I had yet to inform them of— the rear passenger window not wanting to roll up, the spare rim being mounted, etc— and we added fluid to the radiator. They also wanted to pay for the car, which mollified me a bit. I wrote out a little document, signing and dating it— Charlotte did the same— explaining that the car was sold "as is" and so forth. By the time they left, I felt better about the whole thing. We agreed to meet again this coming Tuesday morning to finish everything at the DMV.

No longer sleepy, I hopped in my car a few minutes behind them and hoped to see where they had parked along the way to their mechanic. I knew most of their route, but I didn't see them anywhere.

And that is how I ended up at Starbucks.

My recent packing activity has got me more excited than ever to leave as soon as possible. I'm scheduled to take off three weeks from today, but if I can get out three or four days before then— or even a week before then— I'll be happier.

Back soon!

"15 times? Was it even 15 days?"— Jason Bateman in Extract