1. As this lazy day progressed, I decided to take a day off from watching movies and let the ones I've viewed sink in more. I enjoyed that Mark, Bridgit, and Diane commented on how they also enjoy Picnic at Hanging Rock and, in the larger picture, that Peter Weir is one of Mark's and Diane's favorite directors. Bridgit and I had a brief back and forth that raised the question regarding why we return for multiple viewings of a movie like Picnic at Hanging Rock that we experience as unnerving and creepy. I don't have a definitive answer to this question, but, off the top, I think what brings me back time and time again is artistry, craftsmanship, and beauty. I feel this way about several movies I have watched repeatedly over the years. When it comes to Picnic at Hanging Rock, there are passages in this movie where very little is actually happening, but the combination of the movie's cinematography, music soundtrack, and images, whether of Hanging Rock or of birds, insects, lizards, or snakes arrests me, actually takes me out of myself, and I relish these sublime moments in the film.
Bill and Diane told me that they enjoy my thoughts and observations about the movies I watch. This made me very happy. It's disappointing to me that so much discussion of movies centers around ratings (how many stars) and recommendations. When I write about movies, I'm never rating them or making recommendations. I try to express my experience with the movie and emphasize what I enjoy.
I look for enjoyment in movies. Much like eating at a restaurant, I don't enjoy the experience of being disappointed. I don't enjoy being critical. I enjoy enjoyment. It makes me unreliable as "critic", so I don't think of myself as a critic or a reviewer but as a chronicler of my enjoyment and recorder of what I've learned -- whether about food preparation or movies (or plays or concerts).
Enjoyment, looking for what's good in places I dine, the beer I drink, in the movies I watch and in other parts of my life is good for my sense of well-being, especially mentally and emotionally. This approach might call my intelligence and critical faculties into question, but so what! I enjoy exercising my mind by focusing on what gives me pleasure and on finding enjoyment in things.
So, that's how I write about them.
Knowing that Bill and Diane enjoy what I write buoys me, helps keep me going.
2. We've been in a heat wave for about ten days now I guess. I just can't bring myself to cook much on the stove. I'm willing to cook rice, though, and I had fun today cooking a batch of brown rice, letting it cool, and combining it with almonds, olives, cilantro, cucumber, green onion, garbanzo beans, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, and olive brine to make a cool rice salad I can eat from over the next few days.
3. One of Christy's cats, Grayson, seems to enjoy having two homes. He loves sunning himself on our deck and, often, when I'm up during the night, I'll check the front porch to see if Grayson is hanging out on it and very often he is.
Copper seems to enjoy being outdoors more all the time and especially enjoys being out in the back yard overnight. I'm not sure what kind of relationship he and Grayson are forming, but, at the very least, they aren't fighting, although when they are at a short distance from each other, sometimes they hiss and growl a little.
When Luna and Copper are out back, I often leave the back door open a bit in case they want to come back in. Well, Grayson, being the wily and clever cat he is, exploits this opening and almost every day now he comes in the kitchen. There's a dry food feeder on the floor and sometimes he'll munch on some nuggets and, other times, if Luna or Copper have left some traces of wet food in their dishes, Grayson will lick their bowls clean.
I don't think Grayson is looking for a new home. He's got it made being Christy's cat. It's fun, though, that Grayson enjoys going back and forth between our yards, seeking company, sometimes seeking food, always seeking comfort and cat pleasure, and always expanding his world, bit by bit.
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