A good time to get going

Is it the middle of March already? Guess it’s time to update the blog, which keeps registering tiny anomalies on the ECG even when it’s unplugged. Kind of like my life these days.

Why not eat all of them?

Not that I have anything particularly interesting to impart. But let’s try:  Just watched the latest Rickie Gervais movie, The Invention of Lying. My short review: Don’t bother. It’s based on a single airy premise — lying helps us all get along — which cannot quite sustain a single hour, much less two. And the sweetness seems a little too sweet, if you catch my drift. Unlike Ghost Town in 2008, Gervais’ character just floats along on one flat note, and ends the film pretty much as he began.

What I’m reading: Hard Times by Charles Dickens, of whom you made have heard. This is part of a British literature class, so I won’t pretend I’m motivated by a noble desire to revisit the classics. Although laden with obscure references that keep me flipping to the footnotes more often than I’d like, what strikes me most about Hard Times is how witty and engaging it can be 160 years after it was written. You can see why Dickens was the Dan Brown of his day — although it’s probably better to say that Dan Brown is the Dickens of this day, and that the simile does not flatter us. For one thing, people reading Dickens back then probably gained some insight into the human condition, and did not require a major motion picture to give life to the characters.

What I’m thinking: Higher education is all well and good, but all things being equal, it’s probably best experienced when you’re young and impressionable. I’m thinking, too, that when you open a box of Girl Scout cookies, you will eat every damned cookie in the box despite your assertions to the contrary.  I’m thinking that it’s been a long winter without much exercise, and that might be a factor in the tightness of my waistband and the darkness of my mood. I’m thinking I should probably get dressed.

Because now it’s spring, right? A mist of color in the cottonwoods,  a certain scent in the wind that reminds you of some things you meant to do. And Daylight Saving Time to remind you that you’re running out of time to do it.