Actually, I had a tough day today. Alison, Vaughn and I did some work on the coding scheme for our music consecration paper and it really took a lot out of me. It's been hard for me to get it up for sociology lately, what with all the doubts and concerns I've been having, and the mid-life/pre-career crisis I find myself in at the present juncture. I'm trying though. A friend of mine serendipitously got back in touch with me to give me comfort and encouragement about the dissertation. He recently got his PhD and has been helpful in listening to my grumbles and telling me that I can go to the Peace Corps maybe or get a job in North Carolina doing something non-academic, but that I really should finish my dissertation. Mom keeps telling me, too, but it's a lot of work. It's not just a matter of time wasted; it's emotionally and intellectually exhausting. But as I was telling Alison, this is closest I will ever be in this lifetime to getting my doctorate, so I should definitely do the work if I'm at all interested. Of course, I saw the chair of my committee today at school and I swear he gave me the evil eye...
I watched Dog Day Afternoon when I got home from school. It was pretty good. Definitely worth seeing, especially if you like Al Pacino; he gives a great performance. Of course, he's awesome, so that's no shock. But really a great performance. It's hard to say it was subtle, since it was about a bank robbery gone wrong, but it was in a way. You slowly become attached to Pacino's character, the tension slowly builds to an almost unbearable climax, turns in the story and revelations are striking, yet almost mundane seeming. I thought it was "ok" when it first ended, but the more time passes, the fonder I grow of it. I mean, it's no Man With the Golden Arm but hey, we can't all be perfect.
I rented Double Indemnity, and when I checked out my friend the videostore guy asked me about Dog Day Afternoon. I blathered for a moment then mentioned The Man With the Golden Arm. He recommended Anatomy of a Murder, another Otto Preminger film. I'll have to see it next. He claims it's his best, and I looked it up and it looks great. I remember it's one of those that's been on my list for some time but I keep forgetting.
Another I've been wanting to see is Pinky, which I almost got tonight. I've been wanting to see that for years! It looks fascinating. I'll just save it for next time I suppose...
charity :)
Oh, and the b-s- refers to the State of the Union address, which I tried to watch but was only able to endure for five minutes. That's when I went to the videostore. God, what have we done to ourselves...
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