it's not life that matters but the journey...

thanks to all of you for sending me your addresses. Now I can begin stalking you... oh, I mean writing my holiday cards. I will be sending cards to people in four countries, and five states. That's so interesting^_^

This has been a terrible weekend. Perhaps I'll delve into details in another post. But suffice to say, I spent most of it wishing I was with my family in Washington. I luckily went home early from work on Friday (they asked some of us to come in, and then sent us home by 1 p.m.), but nothing of consequence happened this weekend. Just the same old thing. Though the weather here in Chicago has been unseasonably warm, more like early spring or early fall. Not at all like winter.

I did watch a couple of movies, on two very different ends of the spectrum: "Cry_Wolf", a teen horror film that was really more along the lines of a very clever game than a real horror movie. It was uploaded by Dawnie (thanks!), and stars Jared Padalecki from my fave TV show "Supernatural" - his character was so different from Sam on Supernatural. In this movie, he was more full of wisecracks, more like Dean. But I really enjoyed it - it was clever, unpredictable, and even a little scary (because it wasn't violent, just more suspenseful). I was reminded of "Scream" in the writing, the characters and the overall feeling.

The other movie I watched was something I'd been meaning to rent for years, "The Hours" with Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Wow, this was a fantastic movie, so emotional, and so beautifully sad. The three main characters are living in different time periods, each experiencing her own difficulties and emotions: Nicole plays Virginia Woolf (the British writer) who is battling with depression and inner demons; Julianne Moore plays an unhappy '50s housewife and mother who is reading Woolf's novel "Mrs. Dalloway" and finding solace in it; and Meryl Streep plays a modern day woman who is nursing her former lover, Ed Harris, who is dying of AIDS. There are other great performances by Allison Janney (as Streep's lover), Claire Danes (as Streep's daughter), and John C. Reilly as Moore's husband. The soundtrack by Philip Glass adds a haunting touch to the film, and the stories are interwoven artistically, the lives seemingly overlapping and affecting each other. I was impressed by all of the phenomenal actresses, but especially by Nicole Kidman, whose appearance is radically altered so it doesn't even look like her. I think this was her tour-de-force performance. Amazing!

Today while we were driving home from shopping, we happened by an Elk pasture, where they are grazing behind a big fence. I got some pictures with my cell phone (wasn't carrying the digital camera) - they're not good, you can see one below (that I made black and white).

I'll try to post more pics later - it was sure nice to see nature in the city.




hope everyone's weekend was great:)