Monday, March 22, 2004
Lost Weekend
I have got to start using my powers for good instead of evil. Every weekend I swear I am going to do something productive and useful to society, for instance open a soup kitchen or write the Great American Novel (TM), but instead I end up sitting on my couch for thirty-six hours straight watching MTV’s Spring Break and drinking the Malibu someone left in our bar nine months ago. Yesterday I couldn’t even rouse myself from the Disney Channel Original Movie “Going to the Mat” (about a blind drummer who finds acceptance and self-respect through involvement in high school wrestling) to go to the Starbucks down the street for a few hours of scribbling in my notebooks and subtly stalking passersby. Curse that blasted magic box and its abundance of ironic-enjoyment programming!
To be fair, though, I did do a few other things this weekend. I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which was good. (In case you’re wondering, I never italicize on these entries because blogger’s italics are more sharply slanted than FOX News.) Same fun narrative tricks as the other Charlie Kaufmann flicks, but a little more emotionally resonant. And it’s always nice to watch Kate Winslet act without a big ole boat sinking beneath her. I also finished reading the new critical edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, which increased my useless knowledge quotient exponentially. And I pre-wrote for a little play I’ve been thinking about, which almost never happens (I tend to go right into the abandoning works half-finished stage of things). So, okay, I’m not a completely useless human being. But the minute we finally get Tivo, I think it’s all over for me.
I have got to start using my powers for good instead of evil. Every weekend I swear I am going to do something productive and useful to society, for instance open a soup kitchen or write the Great American Novel (TM), but instead I end up sitting on my couch for thirty-six hours straight watching MTV’s Spring Break and drinking the Malibu someone left in our bar nine months ago. Yesterday I couldn’t even rouse myself from the Disney Channel Original Movie “Going to the Mat” (about a blind drummer who finds acceptance and self-respect through involvement in high school wrestling) to go to the Starbucks down the street for a few hours of scribbling in my notebooks and subtly stalking passersby. Curse that blasted magic box and its abundance of ironic-enjoyment programming!
To be fair, though, I did do a few other things this weekend. I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which was good. (In case you’re wondering, I never italicize on these entries because blogger’s italics are more sharply slanted than FOX News.) Same fun narrative tricks as the other Charlie Kaufmann flicks, but a little more emotionally resonant. And it’s always nice to watch Kate Winslet act without a big ole boat sinking beneath her. I also finished reading the new critical edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, which increased my useless knowledge quotient exponentially. And I pre-wrote for a little play I’ve been thinking about, which almost never happens (I tend to go right into the abandoning works half-finished stage of things). So, okay, I’m not a completely useless human being. But the minute we finally get Tivo, I think it’s all over for me.
