the world i know

Today was a long day, and tomorrow's going to be long as well; I was in the office by eight (after hitting snooze for 45 minutes; I intended to get in by 7:15), slogged all day, then had dinner and saw a movie w/Claudia and Sri. I really should have stayed at the office and worked--I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow, and it's going to be more brutal (and probably drag into the weekend) because I've played the past two nights. But, I wanted to see 'Babel', and this was the last showing at any theatre in this area (unless they choose to bring it back because of the awards buzz that it's getting). So, the three of us met at a pizza place in Palo Alto, ate a tasty vegetarian pizza and some chocolate truffles that Sri had been carrying around for three weeks, and then picked up some gelato before going to the movie theatre.

I actually really liked the movie. I could see how it wouldn't be the most well-loved movie ever; I don't think I have any desire to see it again, because it's so freakin' depressing, and I think there are some valid criticisms to be made about its ability (or perhaps its unnecessary need) to tie four different storylines together. However, I loved the cinematography and style, and I thought that the movie did a fantastic job of showing just how difficult it is for people to know a story, how easy it is to leap to conclusions, and how quickly simple mistakes can spiral dangerously out of control due to misunderstanding and miscommunication. I particularly liked the deaf girl's contribution to the movie, even though her storyline was the most tangential and unrelated of the four; the scene where she was on drugs in the techno club and the sound kept cutting out to show her perspective was trippy and heartbreaking.

However, I will say that Walter perhaps had the most accurate experience of the movie--he saw it in Holland, and since 90% of the dialogue is not in English, all of those other languages were subtitled in Dutch, which means he could have only understood the dialogue in the Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett scenes, and some of the stuff with their kids. Having seen the movie now, I'd be curious to know what exactly he got out of the rest of it--but if you're going to watch a movie about miscommunication and disaster, you might as well not be able to understand the language at all, right?

I was going to stay up and work, but I think I'm going to go to bed and wake up early--wish me luck! Then, the weekend will come, and I shall spend it doing some work and hopefully writing my romance novel. Don't feel sorry for me for having to work, though--at least since it's the weekend, I can do it in my pajamas, rather than in uncomfortable clothes. Yay!