March 24, 2005

plans and randomizing (or not)

Thanks be to Jesus. No, literally - I get tomorrow off from work. So far plans include relaxing with reading and knitting, a flying lesson, paying bills, doing laundry, going to the mall and/or yarn store, visiting Egret and chicks... it hasn't escaped me that all of this is not entirely compatible with that "relax" idea.

The iPod shuffle feature is the best music-playing-related idea ever. Yes's Stormship Trooper followed by Bruce Cockburn followed by Robert Earl Keen twanging Happy Holidays Y'all followed by Steeleye Span followed by later Neil Young followed by Metallica followed by Bruce Cockburn. At least it would be random, except that my iPod seems to have a Bruce Cockburn fixation. This would be good if I have a Bruce Cockburn fixation but I don't, which is exactly why there's only one CD of his loaded on the iPod in the first place. Despite that, anytime I listen to more than a few songs in a row, there's Bruce. I am liking him more one song at a time than in whole-album doses, but still. Maybe the thing to try is uploading my one Springsteen CD to see if it's just something about the name Bruce the silly iPod likes. Besides, I need Thunder Road in my rebellious-mood playlist.

Right after we get back from this long weekend I'm off to Seattle on business for a couple of days, where if I'm lucky I may get to meet a couple of online friends. One of those goes back a good 6 years or so, through several jobs on my part and marriage, infertility, and then miraculous motherhood (twice!) on hers; the other is a more recent acquaintance I'm looking forward to getting to know better.

After that we may be off to San Diego, a bit unexpectedly, for the Crew Classic regatta. A local men's boat is short one rower and has more or less begged Rudder to fill in for the race. I'm not sure they entirely realize how long it's been since he last rowed sweep (one oar instead of two) but it's not so differnt that he won't do well.

One final thing: I'm somewhat glad I did see the Lord of the Rings movies first. I don't think I've come across more utter emotional desolation than the scene where Sam thinks that Frodo is dead, when he resolves to take on Frodo's mission, then come back to stay with his master forever. Snif. After all, even that tear-jerker scene that hit me so hard so young that it's part of my emotional landscape, the death of Beth in Little Women, isn't seen as parting forever by the characters. And Beth has more or less finished her life, as she says herself - her death doesn't presage desolation of the whole world. I understand why people skip some of the Frodo chapters, or alternate with the happier ones of the rest of the Companions.

Posted by dichroic at March 24, 2005 01:07 PM
Comments

**Thanks be to Jesus. No, literally - I get tomorrow off from work.**

That had me snorting Diet Coke out of my nose!

Posted by: megan at March 24, 2005 02:58 PM

Yes, that scene, and then some more later once the two of them enter Mordor... the most moving scenes, those are. Sam and Frodo's friendship was my favorite part of those books. I'm curious, though, what you thought of something. There were two major things that they changed in the movie. Faramir's character (he was so good in the books, the balance to his brother, and they made him not so great in the movie). That disappointed me. They didn't have to make all men weak. Also, the ents. In the book, they chose to help on their own, and I just liked that a lot better. In the movie they used that as an opportunity to give the hobbits a beautiful speech, but that speech belonged to the ents. In the movie, the ents' entire motivation became wrapped up in revenge, and that did not fit their character... It made me sad.

Posted by: Melissa at March 28, 2005 06:03 PM

The literary death that stunned me the most was Bets in Pat of Silver Bush. In re-reads I see that I should have seen it coming from the beginning of their friendship, but I didn't, until the chapter when she died. I cried and cried when I read it. Of course I was pregnant; is that an excuse?

Posted by: Rachel at March 30, 2005 09:53 PM
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