I'm just a cock-eyed pessimist

Uhhh. Tomorrow. Yeah. I think I'm going to stay home and work on the house and take it lazy, maybe play some games and probably watch some David Attenborough video at some point. There's a movie I want to watch at the BFI, but I'm lacking motivation, and every time I've walked in the house this week I've been revolted at what a pigsty it is. Only one way to fix that ...

Spent the night at booklectic's. I made her tacos, then she & I (and J) watched Brigadoon. It was a pretty good evening, and the shitty commute out there was made up for by the very smooth transfer back and the fact I didn't have to walk in the rain (on the way back) at all.

And now bedtime. Night all. I'll post my movie schedule for the Ozu festival tomorrow. Speak up if you're interested in seeing some Japanese films with me in January.

The weather's really good, so we're heading out for a walk. I'll need to be in the grocery store before closing time. It doesn't bode well for putting laundry away but ... oh well. Sunny days in December need to be taken advantage of!

My Free Will Astrology horoscope is both cheering and incredibly depressing.

"Cancer Horoscope for week of December 3, 2009: Lately you remind me of the person Robert Hass describes in his poem "Time and Materials": "someone falling down and getting up and running and falling and getting up." I'm sending you my compassion for the times you fall down, and my admiration for the times you get up, and my excitement for the times you run. It has probably become clear to you by now that the falling down isn't a shameful thing to be cursed, but rather is an instrumental part of the learning process that is teaching you marvelous secrets about getting back up and running."

Seriously, I could have a little less falling down, okay? (And note this one, wechsler: think it applies well to your week, too.)

Other news. Third pair of formerly waterproof shoes has developed a leak, meaning I'm down to two remaining pairs.

Uh, what else. It was sunny today and J and I went to Wimbledon Common and went for a walk. We went through the Wimbledon high street and it was extraordinarily upscale, like the fantasy of what an English town's high street would look like rather than the reality - in some ways, a bit like other bits of Europe, maybe Paris. Wimbledon was so posh that while walking through the Common, I found a lost cashmere glove, in a lovely taupe color. I rescued it and soon it will be the new holder for my phone, possibly minus a few fingers and with a nice cross-stitch decoration added to juice it up.

The walk was nice, the commute back less so though we did manage to get our shopping done - in Putney, of all places, as we went back by train. I probably should have walked more than I did but I appear to be fighting off a low-grade cold and my energy levels aren't so great, which is unfortunate because really, this place is a sty still (well, the bedroom is) and I could really do with spending a good hour putting away laundry - only I don't know what to do with all of my space -sucking winter clothes, because they just will not fit in my chest of drawers. Boo.

Madness, madness. In no things moderation. Yep, that's me. This time it's movies, not theater. BFI's got an Ozu festival going on January and February and I'm going to do my best to see all the movies I've seen by him that I've not seen before (i.e. when they did the Ozu festival at the Northwest film festival, a score of reviews from me here). It's odd to think that I saw twelve and yet there are many, many more I've missed - nine movies in January alone, and I could see another two that I'm postponing until February instead. In addition, there are two Ozu lectures I want to attend - one a general one, the other a scene by scene breakdown of Toyko Story, billed as "his greatest movie," and certainly a goodie.

At any rate, here's the schedule I'm looking at for this January. Let me know if you want to come to one or more of them with me. I'll be buying tickets Tuesday.

1 Friday: 16:00 Le Jour se Leve (1939 - oops, this isn't by Ozu, it's a French Gangster flick but looks really good); 18:00 Days of Youth (1929) (both of these are just maybes, I won't be buying tickets for this until the day due to anticipated New Year's Eve exhaustion)
2 Saturday: 18:20 I Flunked, But & A Straightforward Boy (two short movies)
3 Sunday: 18:00 Les Diaboliques (1955, another French gangster flick, but still, at the BFI)
6 Wednesday: 18:15 Ozu, Emotion and Poetry: An Introduction (this is the lecture)
8 Friday: 18:30 Tokyo Chorus (1931); 20:45 Walk Cheerfully (1930)
9 Saturday: 16:10 Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth (1932); 20:30 Days of Youth (maybe - two movies might be too much given the previous night's schedule, and Days of Youth will also depend on whether or not I make it out on the 1st)
16 Saturday: 13:00 Tokyo Story masterclass (scene by scene breakdown); 16:00 Dragnet Girl (1933 - Ozu's gangster flick)
19 Tuesday: 18:30 A Mother Should Be Loved (1934)
27 Wednesday: 18:30 The Only Son (1936)

Boy, this fashion show that eglantine_dream was in would have gone over well in Seattle. Video ... not entirely safe for work, a fair bit of exposed skin and innuendom, you know, corsets and such. PHOAR. (This one is for poh.)