Satisfaction

Yesterday was a little disappointing, but there were some lovely things about the day.

I did air the antique sleeping bag that i will be taking to the conference and using next weekend. It seems in fine shape despite the fiberfill thinning, the fabric fading. It is just fine for cabin sleeping. The cinch bag i store it in will do nicely as a carry on "suitcase."

We had a yummy brunch out at a Hobee's on 101, before getting to the car dealership to pay for the car. That transaction hit a frustrating logistics bump: we did not recover well from it emotionally.

The day was glorious so we took Highway 1 from Pacifica to Half Moon Bay. It was not an idea unique to us. The parking was full out at Pillar Point, and then we hit a stretch of creeping traffic where folks were parking by the highway to access the beach. (I found myself pondering whether folks didn't know all the other beach access areas and so, lemming like, parked where everyone else was parking. It hadn't looked crowded at Moss Beach just north of Princeton-by-the-Sea.)

Christine did not want a icy treat by the time we were back in Mountain View, so i simply picked up all the books i had left at Book Buyers. The buyers had drawn a "frowny face" and scribbled "sorry" as they rejected the stack of 1990 Grantas, early 2000s west coast literary journals, and my nonlinear dynamics books. I'll take the literary journals to the office and leave them there for others to read. I'm glad to have one of the nonlinear dynamics books back, but the journals are fair game. No one on diaspora/facebook/twitter seems interested, though.

The late afternoon slipped away: Christine napped, i finished reading a graphic novel, "Coming to America." I'm fascinated that i enjoy gritty realism and biography in my graphic novels and not so much in my novel reading; that i enjoy traditional fantasy and science fiction novels, movies, and TV shows, but not in graphic novel form. (I have enjoyed fantasy and science fiction on-line comics.) I think i like the fantastic (as opposed to traditional fantasy) and the surreal in all media, but the abstract in static visual media far more than in word-oriented media....

I watched some 1970s Night Stalker, a particularly pathetic episode about vampires that did not seem to have all the plot points connected. I wonder how it seemed in the 70's: was it exciting enough to make the gaps seem plausible? Did years of X-Files raise the bar? I was also disappointed that the episode was set in LA and not Chicago: after watching The Dresden Files, i was keen for another "set in Chicago" story.

Later, Christine started up a WWII film from the 60s. I missed the opening sequence, and when i asked what it was, she just started listing the prominent actors. We watched for an hour as five loads of laundry dried. I was fascinated by the portrayal of the noble Nazi panzer colonel and the scrappy American Lt Colonel in intelligence, a single ex-cop arguing against the better educated sense of all the other career officers in the intelligence division. The ex-cop narrative (played by Henry Fonda) seemed like rather a stock plotline, but the panzer captain seemed like an oddly heroic and noble antagonist. His commanders were portrayed as arrogant and dissipated, but the Panzer Colonel and his batman were definitely characters we are to sympathize with.

The epic scope of the film continued to reveal itself as more supporting character lines unfolded. There's the green Lieutenant and his gungho Sargent saving his life (check, got that cliche); there's a tank crew with a character who is carrying supplies to the front line to sell and go home rich (check, another cliche).

After an hour, we just entered the first onslaught of the German attack, and i'm puzzled. "Is this based on some actual historical event?" I ask. Christine blinks, and then replies, "Oh, you don't know the title of the film: this is The Battle of the Bulge." Oh!

We've a couple hours yet to watch.