The Good
D and I saw Hal Hartley’s delightful new film, “The Girl from Monday,” at the Brattle Friday evening, after a yummy dinner of yuppie salad and pizza at Cambridge, 1. It wasn’t nearly the “pretentious art film” he warned us about, despite the tilty camera angles and weird zoomyness and distorted colors and dragged-out, shuddering snippets of motion. The overall effect was dreamlike and creepy and quite lovely. Despite the dark Big Brotherish themes, the script is not without laughs. And I fell a little bit in love with languid Tatiana Abracos and her Portuguese accent. Hartlely’s Q&A was also very entertaining, with a minimum of film-snob Q and some illuminating A.
We ran into Aaron afterward and chatted with him and his friend Chelsea; after she ran off, the three of us went to The Greenhouse for a snack. I enjoyed catching up with Aaron, who I used to hang out with more a few years ago. His exchange with the waiter over getting a bit of cheese for his vegetarian chili was highly amusing, though I felt bad for the waiter. From what I understand, the manager there is kind of a tyrant, and while Aaron didn’t want to get the waiter in trouble, he didn’t see why sprinkling a few shreds of cheddar on his soup would be such a problem. In the end, the waiter snuck out a shaker of Parmesan — not exactly Tex-Mex, but, according to Aaron, passable.
The Bad
Saturday, I felt not-great most of the day, puttering about the house and playing some KoL. The not-greatness intensified to the point where I was violently ill for a couple of hours followed by pretty much wanting to die all night through late Sunday. Nothing like puking so hard your nose ring falls out and suffering from a caffeine headache because you’re afraid to ingest coffee or Advil. I slept 14 hours into Monday afternoon and, though still a little wifty, feel more or less human again (if not exactly keen on food). (If you’re one of the insanely kind people who sent me a get-well email Monday, I hope you know how much I appreciate it.)
The Gratuitous
[thanks, Summervillain!]