Just a few notes

This weekend Matty and I went to Williamsburg, VA for a vacation. We also finally got to visit our college roomate Erica and her husband in Maryland at their house that they have had for way too long for us not to have seen it yet. We had a wonderful time. The colonial Williamsburg thing for him and Busch Gardens for me. Though the colonial stuff was pretty neat and he enjoys the roller coasters as much as I do, dont let him fool you. We didnt hit any traffic to speak of, we ate really well, we had lots of laughs and quite a bit of sun. It was a last minute trip that I decided we needed. We needed to get out of the city for a bit and we both felt like we needed some time away from people. People who, in the last few weeks, for various reasons, we have spent more time and more emotion with than we had with anyone in a really long time and I suddenly felt a bit claustrophobic. Partly the city with its too many memories and partly the people with many of the same memories. And so we rented a car and headed south.

We got back to the city earlier than we thought we were going to (again with the no traffic) and there was a barbecue at one of these friends' places still going on and honestly, it wasnt even a question if we were going to go. And it was filled with people who were mostly there because they had one common thread. The same thread we left the city to get away from. And both of us felt perfectly at home there. We left the city to get away and as soon as we got back we couldnt stay away any longer. We needed to be with them (and the city). Not because we needed shoulders to cry on, or because we needed to remember him, or talk about him, or for any of those things. But because for whatever reason, these are the people who feel most like family right now. And Memorial Day barbecues are for celebrating with family right?

One of these friends finally got around to writing a beautiful memorial to him. And it sort of solidified that feeling. Because there are friends and there are family. But there is no reason that they cant overlap both ways.

And so now we are back in the city and as the feeling of freedom fades and we get back into the work mentality, maybe it isnt really all that bad. Because we have a whole huge family here. And the ups and downs of that can be as exciting and as painful as those of the roller coasters right?

Pics from our trip can be found here.

In other news, we watched The Happening (2008) last night. This is M. Night Shyamalan's most recent film about an "Event" that is fatally affecting people. It was filmed partly in Philly and so Matty wanted to see it. He accidentally almost walked through a shot of it actually. And I (as I have mentioned) love Zooey Deschanel, and Mark Wahlberg is in it and he has done some good stuff lately . . . None of that apparently matters. This movie was AWFUL! AWFUL! Shockingly and a bit disturbingly awful! I mean the plot was iffy to begin with. But the writing was so bad. So bad to the point that I dont think any actor could have made it work. It managed to make some decent actors look like complete amateur idiots. I have to give it to M. Night. He has a peculiar talent. I mean what other writer/director can you think of who has made successively WORSE movies as time goes on? Think about it Sixth Sense (1999) was great and who often do Sixth Sense allusions or quotes come up in every day life? Unbreakable (2000), I really liked Unbreakable, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson were solid, the plot was interesting, super hero movie without the super hero feel. Signs (2002) was also a solid movie and still freaks the hell out of a friend of mine. He was on a roll . . . Then The Village (2004) . . . was a little bit iffy. Started relying too much on the "thing you just miss seeing." But ok, everyone can have a bit of a flop now and then. And then Lady in the Water (2006) which Paul Giamatti couldn't even save, with a less than iffy plotline and just sort of wandered around for almost 2 hours. It felt very self-important with a message that didnt really hit you the way it should have. And now this? Disappointing to say the least. I really cant recommend this to you at all. I would love to hear any dissenting veiws though.