Areas of Unrest

QOTD: "Here's a test to find out if your mission in life is complete. If you're alive, it isn't." - Richard Bach

Reading: Wendy Dale, Avoiding Prison & Other Noble Vacation Goals

Listening to: nothing

Decluttering accomplishments: Sold 19 books to used book stores! That's not quite half of what I'd brought to the stores, but I have a tip about a store of last resort and, of course, I can always donate them. I was also extremely surprised about which books they did and didn't take.

13 July 2003 - Of Movies and Gas Masks

I've done a mini-binge of movie viewing lately, so I thought I'd do a wrap-up of that. But, first, let me follow-up on last week's outrage. I called the Passport Information Center - a call which costs five bucks, by the way. They basically told me that the Passport Agency can decide to destroy any passport they think is not in good condition. They also claimed they'd send an email and have someone call me back within "24-48 hours." Nobody has called me back and I'm following this up with a very carefully worded complaint letter. They also said that a damaged (actually, they use the word "mutilated" which is also wrong) passprt is not even useful as proof of citizenship. This makes no sense, either. It's clearly not useful as identification, but it does prove U.S. citizenship. And, since it was accepted without question when I arrived at Dulles Airport at the end of May and was taken as proof of citizenship for my passport renewal application, their claim is ridiculous. If I'd had an idea that there was even a possibility I wouldn't have gotten my old passport back, I'd have put it in the same place in my apartment that ball point pens and size J crochet books vanish from.

Another quick note is that this week featured some pretty incredible thunder and lightning. There was even a tornado watch on Wednesday. And Thursday night had a storm with more or less continual thunder and lightning for hours. All most impressive when I'm inside, but I'm not horribly keen on walking home from the metro station when there's that much lightning.

The real excitement of the week was Friday at work when we got our gas mask training. They're technically emergency escape masks, but the idea is that you get enough time to get out if somebody releases something nasty. The training is mandatory and you have to put on the mask as part of it, which is decidedly unpleasant. I consider it very unlikely I'll ever have to use it, but should I be unfortunate enough to be over at the Pentagon during an attack, I suppose I'll be glad I know how. We did discuss getting a group picture taken with all of us wearing our training masks, but I don't know if that will happen.

As for the movies, I'd had three free rental coupons. I used the first to see "Austin Powers in Goldmember". This is the sort of stuff that I find amusing, but not so amusing as to pay to see. At any rate, it struck me as being too similar to the first two and, therefore, having less energy. I do like the laser-equipped sharks, though.

I used another free rental on "Kissing Jessica Stein." This had its moments, but was a bit too predictable overall. My real problem with it is that I couldn't see why Helen even bothered with Jessica, who was obviously too neurotic for any relationship. More fundamentally, I have a problem with the whole sexual tourism thing. Sure, people need to do some experimentation to figure out their sexual identity, but somebody entering a lesbian relationship without actually being attracted to women seems sleazy to me.

The best of the rentals was "Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner." I recognize that a lengthy movie in the Inuit language is always going to have limited appeal, though. I'm not usually into slow-paced stuff, either. But the unfolding Inuit legend, of evil and revenge, is simply fascinating. What I think made this work so well is that everything is just accepted as the way things are, without much explanation.

I used a free movie certificate to see one film in a theatre this week. I'd liked the first "Legally Blonde" so wanted to see the sequel. While it had some very funny moments, it was not nearly as good as the original. I did better today, though I actually had to pay to see "Winged Migration." This is a documentary about birds, but there's really very little narration and the emphasis is the stunning photography. There weren't enough albatrosses, alas - but, then, there's not really such a thing as enough albatrosses. And I wasn't very keen on the soundtrack, which was bland, new-age, and sleep-inducing.

I have one more free (in-theatre) certificate and am sending for four more, by the way. Oddly, I don't think of myself as a big movie goer, mostly because so few movies are worth paying the admission prices for. But, if I can see them for free, I do enjoy them.