Every few years, I get the urge to do some work on our front yard. If I sit down long enough, the feeling usually passes, but this year it persisted, so I bought some azalea plants, planting soil and mulch and spent most of a glorious Saturday afternoon breaking my back with a spade trying to dig holes in ground that is as much root and vine as it is clay. However, by the end of this current bout of energy, I had planted eight new azaleas. Those bastards better take root and grow, that’s all I’m saying. I also changed out the inner tubes on two bicycles that have been growing cobwebs in the garage for a few years so they will be primed and ready to use whenever the urge strikes us.
Not a stellar writing weekend, though. I wrote most of a book review and the rough first draft of my next Storytellers Unplugged essay. I got back to the novel first thing this morning in an ungodly darkness that made it seem like it was 4 a.m.—oh, wait, it was 4 a.m. until just recently—and finished the morning session at the 60,000 word mark. Three more weeks, assuming persistence of inspiration, and I should have the first draft finished.
On the subject of switching clocks: let’s just move them 30 minutes the next time, and never again. Seriously.
We watched a movie called 2 Days in Paris which was written and directed by Julie Delpy, who also starred in the film with Adam Goldberg. It’s about a somewhat mismatched couple (personality and culture) returning from a lengthy vacation in Italy who stop over in Delpy’s character’s native Paris for a couple of days before heading back to New York. Delpy’s past rears its ugly head time and time again, leading to much conflict and arguing. Her parents (played by her real parents) were somewhat amusing, and there were some interesting little scenes, but there was altogether too much arguing for me to enjoy the film completely. I vastly preferred Delpy in the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset films. In this one, her character was a little bit to nutty to be completely sympathetic, and her boyfriend was neurotic in his own unpleasant ways. Not a terrible movie, but not my favorite in recent memory, either. It scored 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, though.
I’m still hanging in there with Eli Stone. The disbarment episode was solid and I like the way the story is progressing. I’m also mildly curious to find out who will be returning to Big Brother this week, as that might shake the house up a little. I don’t think I understand why it became such a guys vs. gals thing the minute the pairs were split.
