It's Friday again. Last week, I blogged about how much I liked Fridays. Then I had a car wreck on Saturday and the promise and freedom of my weekend lost its charm somewhat. So, I don't think I'm going to blog about how much I like Friday's today....just in case. 
Instead, I'm just going to blog about nice things because it's the end of the week. For example, yesterday, I actually got to go outside during the day time which doesn't always happen. It was a beautiful day. The sky was that cornflower blue that makes you want to lie down and just stare up at it. There were clouds but they were the white and fluffy wisps that were so high up, it was almost as if they were deciding whether they wanted to stay. It was a quite chilly but it not as cold as it has been. I was outside to meet the insurance man from the company of the lady that hit me. While he was inspecting my car, I looked around and I saw a tree that I've seen every day since I started working here. Yet this time I really noticed it. It was still that light green that you expect to see in the spring, almost a newborn-leaf green. There was a slight yellow tint to the leaves that was the only indication that the tree had recognized the autumn until yesterday. Yet the leaves were falling off, steadily, as if the tree had just realized it was supposed to be dropping its leaves. The leaves fell in shifts. One batch would fall, gently floating to the ground, gracefully landing and as soon as they landed, the next batch would fall. I watched the tree for several minutes and it continued. It was almost like watching a carefully choreographed ballet and it was hard to turn away and give my attention back to the insurance man.
This morning, I made a point to notice the tree and it is now just like all the other trees, the remaining leaves are scarce and now there's a carpet of yellow-edged green beneath it that will, I'm sure, turn brown and melt back into the ground. It was another of those things that make me happy to have moved back to the midwest.
I'm also determined to try to make this a good Halloween. I had planned to go back to stay with my parents this weekend. I love doing that anyway but after my rather stressful weekend, I really wanted to go; sort of a way to soothe my ruffled feathers and relax for a couple of days. Also, it means I can do my laundry or, since I have a wonderful mother, get my laundry done for me (thanks, again, mum...I really do know how to do laundry but you're lovely to do it for me :)). I actually don't mind doing the laundry...it's the folding I hate. Apparently, I'm a horrible folder. I never thought much of it; ok, so it was wrinkled a bit but...isn't that normal? However, having watched several expert t-shirt folders in action, I've realized that...folding isn't my forte. I tend to fold one shirt nicely and then get bored and it becomes an attempt to fold the rest into tiny little packages with no regard for how that happens.
I'm digressing. Anyway, so I'm not going to be able to go to my parents this weekend because I can't get my car fixed until next week and I'm a bit reluctant to drive 100 miles each way, just in case something falls off. The rear bumper is hanging off and there's a lot of hills on the way. I'm a bit worried about going down a hill and leaving my bumper behind. It's probably safer to wait until next week. This means that I won't be able to see my nephews and nieces dress up for Halloween. It also means I have no plans. I always feel like I should do something for Halloween but somehow I never get around to it. Well, actually, that's not entirely true. A couple of years ago, I did win tickets from KROQ and got to go to the Black Parade party in which My Chemical Romance played at a really small venue. That was pretty cool.
But that's pretty much the extent of my Halloween celebrations. I'm not sure what I should do. Maybe I should rent horror films. It's hard to find good ones though. Nowadays, most horror films are just....silly. I like ones in which the horrific situation is actually realistic, the movie begins to creep under your skin slowly, enveloping you so that you feel jumpy when a strange noise in your own house occurs. I don't like those silly teenage movies where they have a lot of sex and then die in some horrific manner. Some of them start out with an interesting idea like "Final Destination". That one was pretty decent, actually. Except...then there were sequels. How final can a Final Destination be when there are sequels? I mean, shouldn't they then rename the earlier films to things like and "Not quite Final but Almost There Destination" and "Finaler Destination?"
I think one of my favourite creepy films is "The Sixth Sense". I know the plot twist now, of course, but I still get a bit of a start when Haley Joel Osment is at his school and turns to see those people just hanging there. Or when he's in his home-made tent and he's suddenly cold and you know something's going to jump out but it still makes your heart jump when it does.
Of course, that's when M. Night Shyamalan should have stopped making movies. I mean, did you see "The Happening?" It has to be one of the most deliciously awful films I saw this year. Mark Wahlberg is in it and he's bad. Granted, he's not, exactly, uh Robert DeNiro in the best of films but...he can be entertaining. Not in "The Happening". In that one, he delivers speeches very earnestly, as if convincing himself that choosing to be in this movie was a good idea. The female lead, Zoey Deschanel who is usually quite decent is...awful. She has to constantly tell people she can't show emotion. It's probably not her fault but...well....she's bad. The movie is bad. It seems to be a way for Mr. Shyamalan to let out some steam; there are so many gratuitiously violent deaths that by the time the man lies down in front of his lawnmower, I was groaning. I am happy to spoil the movie for you. It's about trees. Trees that are angry because humans suck. So they start letting out a toxin that causes people to kill themselves in lots of disgusting, violent ways. But in the end, the love of two people makes the trees calm down and stop killing people...at least that's what I think happened. Except then the trees start killing people in Paris. Which I thought was called "The City of Love". Which means that maybe the trees are fed up with people being in love by that point.
Just take my word for it; it was a horrible film. Yet it's also one of those that I think is going to become a cult classic because it seems almost deliberately awful. Unfortunately, I don't think Mr. Shyamalan made it to be that way. He's slowly been increasing in awfulness since...well...."The Sixth Sense". He seems to have lost himself in his own brilliance which, by now, sadly seems to be a fluke. Ever since the aliens were destroyed by a glass of water in "Signs", I've seen his movies merely because I knew they were going to be bad. Sometimes, it's just good to have guilty pleasures.
So, may
be I will rent scary movies tonight in honour of it being Halloween. I think I'll be avoiding the M. Night Shyamalan ones though. Maybe I'll rent "Poltergeist". That has a killer tree in it. Now that tree was scary. I used to have one outside my bedroom window when I was a kid and after I saw "Poltergeist", I was terrified of it. I kept expecting it to reach through my window and grab me, suck me in and eat me alive. I think I prefer that method to "The Happening"'s though. At least that tree was pro-active...it did the killing; it didn't just make people kill themselves. M. Night Shyamalan made trees seem lazy.
Anyway, obviously, I didn't know what to blog about when I sat down. It apparently is a blog about trees. The pretty ones that are outside the window and the Killer Trees that Hate Us. I prefer my trees to be like the one outside my window, gently giving in to the change of the seasons and letting me appreciate it's beauty. I'd hate to think that tree is secretly plotting ways to kill me....it seems so...calm.
Ok, on that note, I could digress and talk about other trees like the ones in Lord of the Rings that could talk and move and stuff but then that would make me seem like a giant nerd and we can't have that. So, I shall bid you adieu for the week and hope you have a more exciting Halloween than mine is likely to be. Just watch out for the trees....
Happy Halloween.
Instead, I'm just going to blog about nice things because it's the end of the week. For example, yesterday, I actually got to go outside during the day time which doesn't always happen. It was a beautiful day. The sky was that cornflower blue that makes you want to lie down and just stare up at it. There were clouds but they were the white and fluffy wisps that were so high up, it was almost as if they were deciding whether they wanted to stay. It was a quite chilly but it not as cold as it has been. I was outside to meet the insurance man from the company of the lady that hit me. While he was inspecting my car, I looked around and I saw a tree that I've seen every day since I started working here. Yet this time I really noticed it. It was still that light green that you expect to see in the spring, almost a newborn-leaf green. There was a slight yellow tint to the leaves that was the only indication that the tree had recognized the autumn until yesterday. Yet the leaves were falling off, steadily, as if the tree had just realized it was supposed to be dropping its leaves. The leaves fell in shifts. One batch would fall, gently floating to the ground, gracefully landing and as soon as they landed, the next batch would fall. I watched the tree for several minutes and it continued. It was almost like watching a carefully choreographed ballet and it was hard to turn away and give my attention back to the insurance man.
This morning, I made a point to notice the tree and it is now just like all the other trees, the remaining leaves are scarce and now there's a carpet of yellow-edged green beneath it that will, I'm sure, turn brown and melt back into the ground. It was another of those things that make me happy to have moved back to the midwest.
I'm also determined to try to make this a good Halloween. I had planned to go back to stay with my parents this weekend. I love doing that anyway but after my rather stressful weekend, I really wanted to go; sort of a way to soothe my ruffled feathers and relax for a couple of days. Also, it means I can do my laundry or, since I have a wonderful mother, get my laundry done for me (thanks, again, mum...I really do know how to do laundry but you're lovely to do it for me :)). I actually don't mind doing the laundry...it's the folding I hate. Apparently, I'm a horrible folder. I never thought much of it; ok, so it was wrinkled a bit but...isn't that normal? However, having watched several expert t-shirt folders in action, I've realized that...folding isn't my forte. I tend to fold one shirt nicely and then get bored and it becomes an attempt to fold the rest into tiny little packages with no regard for how that happens.
I'm digressing. Anyway, so I'm not going to be able to go to my parents this weekend because I can't get my car fixed until next week and I'm a bit reluctant to drive 100 miles each way, just in case something falls off. The rear bumper is hanging off and there's a lot of hills on the way. I'm a bit worried about going down a hill and leaving my bumper behind. It's probably safer to wait until next week. This means that I won't be able to see my nephews and nieces dress up for Halloween. It also means I have no plans. I always feel like I should do something for Halloween but somehow I never get around to it. Well, actually, that's not entirely true. A couple of years ago, I did win tickets from KROQ and got to go to the Black Parade party in which My Chemical Romance played at a really small venue. That was pretty cool.
But that's pretty much the extent of my Halloween celebrations. I'm not sure what I should do. Maybe I should rent horror films. It's hard to find good ones though. Nowadays, most horror films are just....silly. I like ones in which the horrific situation is actually realistic, the movie begins to creep under your skin slowly, enveloping you so that you feel jumpy when a strange noise in your own house occurs. I don't like those silly teenage movies where they have a lot of sex and then die in some horrific manner. Some of them start out with an interesting idea like "Final Destination". That one was pretty decent, actually. Except...then there were sequels. How final can a Final Destination be when there are sequels? I mean, shouldn't they then rename the earlier films to things like and "Not quite Final but Almost There Destination" and "Finaler Destination?"
I think one of my favourite creepy films is "The Sixth Sense". I know the plot twist now, of course, but I still get a bit of a start when Haley Joel Osment is at his school and turns to see those people just hanging there. Or when he's in his home-made tent and he's suddenly cold and you know something's going to jump out but it still makes your heart jump when it does.
Of course, that's when M. Night Shyamalan should have stopped making movies. I mean, did you see "The Happening?" It has to be one of the most deliciously awful films I saw this year. Mark Wahlberg is in it and he's bad. Granted, he's not, exactly, uh Robert DeNiro in the best of films but...he can be entertaining. Not in "The Happening". In that one, he delivers speeches very earnestly, as if convincing himself that choosing to be in this movie was a good idea. The female lead, Zoey Deschanel who is usually quite decent is...awful. She has to constantly tell people she can't show emotion. It's probably not her fault but...well....she's bad. The movie is bad. It seems to be a way for Mr. Shyamalan to let out some steam; there are so many gratuitiously violent deaths that by the time the man lies down in front of his lawnmower, I was groaning. I am happy to spoil the movie for you. It's about trees. Trees that are angry because humans suck. So they start letting out a toxin that causes people to kill themselves in lots of disgusting, violent ways. But in the end, the love of two people makes the trees calm down and stop killing people...at least that's what I think happened. Except then the trees start killing people in Paris. Which I thought was called "The City of Love". Which means that maybe the trees are fed up with people being in love by that point.
Just take my word for it; it was a horrible film. Yet it's also one of those that I think is going to become a cult classic because it seems almost deliberately awful. Unfortunately, I don't think Mr. Shyamalan made it to be that way. He's slowly been increasing in awfulness since...well...."The Sixth Sense". He seems to have lost himself in his own brilliance which, by now, sadly seems to be a fluke. Ever since the aliens were destroyed by a glass of water in "Signs", I've seen his movies merely because I knew they were going to be bad. Sometimes, it's just good to have guilty pleasures.
So, may
be I will rent scary movies tonight in honour of it being Halloween. I think I'll be avoiding the M. Night Shyamalan ones though. Maybe I'll rent "Poltergeist". That has a killer tree in it. Now that tree was scary. I used to have one outside my bedroom window when I was a kid and after I saw "Poltergeist", I was terrified of it. I kept expecting it to reach through my window and grab me, suck me in and eat me alive. I think I prefer that method to "The Happening"'s though. At least that tree was pro-active...it did the killing; it didn't just make people kill themselves. M. Night Shyamalan made trees seem lazy.Anyway, obviously, I didn't know what to blog about when I sat down. It apparently is a blog about trees. The pretty ones that are outside the window and the Killer Trees that Hate Us. I prefer my trees to be like the one outside my window, gently giving in to the change of the seasons and letting me appreciate it's beauty. I'd hate to think that tree is secretly plotting ways to kill me....it seems so...calm.
Ok, on that note, I could digress and talk about other trees like the ones in Lord of the Rings that could talk and move and stuff but then that would make me seem like a giant nerd and we can't have that. So, I shall bid you adieu for the week and hope you have a more exciting Halloween than mine is likely to be. Just watch out for the trees....
Happy Halloween.
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