There are some days when everything goes right, and other days when it seems like everything goes haywire. Today is not unlike the latter and, for that matter, yesterday bore some relation to it as well. Right now, 'doing the blue envelopes (of death)', I'm not having fun. All too frequently someone who should have done one thing, has done something inappropriate, and if they didn't muddle up, the technology failed and either way, I'm left to sort through the muck. Yesterday it was the Christmas lights (and indeed it was the lights on Saturday as well) that were shelling out grief in thick, juicy slabs. Mom and I cursed together at the frustrating mass of lights that would go on, then go off, then half of the string would stop working, and then everything would stop working and then suddenly half of them would work again and then a cord wouldn't fit into an outlet and then the extension cord wouldn't reach and then the extension cord would reach but have no where to plug.

Sometimes, life is just an exercise in futility.

I've been seeing a number of movies on video of late and this weekend was no exception. Ray was over for dinner on Saturday night and we rented a couple of movies, one recommended by his friend, the other purely on the basis of its cover synopsis. The first film was Pandeamonium starring Linus Roache as Samuel Coleridge and John Hannah as William Wordsworth, Samantha Morton as Sara Coleridge and Emily Woof as Dorothy Wordsworth. It was an interesting and gripping film following the intwined lives of Woodsworth, his sister, Coleridge and his wife as they attempt to make their names and change the world. It juxtaposed modern life with their stories, and plunging the audience into their turbulent lives and minds. It was amazing. I can see how many people wouldn't enjoy it, but as a lover of Coleridge, I drank in his poetry which is neatly wound into the screenplay. The second film was called My First Mister and follows a 17 year old goth girl as she struggles with issues of life, love, and friendship, as her depressing life is lit up by the presence of Randall, a 49 year old clothing store owner. It was surprisingly deep, going places where we did not expect and bringing tears to our eyes. The cast is terrific and the two leads, especially J (short for Jennifer), are very believable. Incredibly funny, this isn't really a comedy so much as a comic drama. I think I'm going to put it into my Top Ten of films. I loved it.

In other news, I now have Christmas cards for sale at Eyeball Soup (go me !) and hopefully they'll sell. Everyone should go buy some. Ya. I found a VERY reasonably priced print place in the Petes, which isn't exactly the easiest to access, in that I'm usually in Toronto, but if I can plan ahead, it's worth it. The staff is nice and the quality is great. Who could ask for anything more? I'll be printing A&C's invitations there, for sure. Speaking of which, I'm halfway through painting the invite, which will leave the text to be layed down. I intend to have them all done and printed in one week from today. I'm really pleased with how they look so far, the colour is great and my hand hasn't been too shakey, which is a very good thing.

Oh, and Happy Hanukkah !!