Lost in La Mancha...

Just watched this documentary about Terry Gilliam's attempt to film "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." Interesting documentary.

Honestly? I would love to see the film that Gilliam wanted to make. They showed several shots of Jean Rochefort in the Quixote costume and he fit the image I have in my mind. Almost exactly. It was incredible!

It seemed oddly appropriate to watch this film right now. I just finished On Writing by Stephen King, and the next book on my list that I want to read is Don Quixote.

I can't wait to get started!

Before I do, though, I've decided to watch Pan's Labyrinth again. I keep putting it off because when I watched it in the theater, it was very powerful and deeply affected me. I love it and I fear it.

Is that normal?

Summer Reading List

It seems like a good idea.

I've read a couple lists recently where quite a few people are planning to read 16 books in the 16 weeks between now and when the fall semester starts. I like that concept, but the books I wanted to assign myself to read aren't books that I can read that quickly. If I finish early, I'll pick some more, but I want to start with a somewhat reachable goal.

Also, I will be reading a lot of books that are fun, quick reads. Books I've read over and over again. So those won't count towards my list, though I may mention them in future blogs.

Here's my reading list:

1. Don Quixote de La Mancha: (In Spanish) My very first semester at SUU, I took a class where we were supposed to read this book. By the middle of the semester everybody, including the professor, had purchased the sparknotes summary. Not an effective class, but I've been meaning to read this book since then.

2. En la Ardiente Oscuridad: (In the Burning Darkness). Spanish play about a University for blind students. I read this while at Dixie, and enjoyed it, but I want to read it again, now that I understand Spanish literature a little better.

3. Les Miserables: (Lez Mizzer-rabbleez) Actually going to attempt to read this in French. I only own the first half of the story, so that's what I'll read. I imagine it will take forever. I would much rather have some Hugo poetry books to read, but I'll take this in the meantime.

4. I have a book of French poetry that I haven't read yet. So it goes on the list. I can't remember the title.

5. On Writing, by Stephen King: I don't want to write like Stephen King, but my creative writing professor read some snippets from this book and King makes some points that I find very useful. So I'm going to read the entire book on my own.

So there's my reading list. Really looking forward to summer now. I have two very big novels to read in foreign languages, two smaller works in the same two languages, and a helpful book on writing.

Should be fun!

Just Some Thoughts...

...about some things I think about.

I generally don't like to broadcast my views when it comes to political "hot-topics." I generally feel that my opinions are my opinions and that I don't need to foist them off on other people. Even if asked, I'll usually hedge my way around answering, give non-answers, that sort of thing.

However, with the recent law enacted in Arizona, I feel like I need to get some thoughts off of my chest. Or head. Whatever.

When it comes to the Hispanic community, I'm in a rather unique position. After they get to know me, I usually get accepted as an honorary member of the Hispanic community. I speak Spanish fluently, which gives me an in, and my mindset is more affiliated with the Hispanic mindset than most gringos.

I'm against illegal immigration. Not so much because I don't want them in the country, but because I believe in obeying the law. When I go to another country, I make sure I jump through all the hoops to be there legally. And I believe in the Golden Rule, so I feel that people coming to my country should do the same.

This new law in Arizona feels like it's a way for the state to help Sheriff Arpaio avoid lawsuits for doing what he always does: go out and round up anybody who looks like an illegal immigrant. This usually translates to anybody who looks Mexican. Arizona keeps saying that they won't fall back on racial profiling, but that feels like this is exactly where they are heading.

It makes me very uncomfortable.

I wonder if those that had a hand in drafting this new law have ever spent any amount of time living in another country. I lived in Peru for two years, and it sucks to get singled out for looking different than the majority of those around you. I can relate to how the Hispanic community in Arizona is feeling now. This new law just feels wrong.

And those are my thoughts.

A Little Anxious...

...about what's coming next.

You've heard that bad luck comes in threes? I have, and it worries me.

First bad "luck": My Dad has two mini-strokes, which spark the onset of hereditary mental disorders, landing him first in the VA Hospital's mental ward, then in a care center in the St. George area.

Second bad "luck": Mom is a passenger in a van that rolls six times while moving at freeway speeds. No one was killed, luckily, but Mom shatters her right shoulder and breaks her left tibia.

Third bad "luck": Your guess is as good as mine. It has me watching over my shoulder, though.

Back to Mom's accident and her subsequent stay in the hospital. She had gone to Phoenix, AZ to visit her siblings. Had a great time. On the way back, about 30 miles south of Flagstaff, AZ my Aunt Tina, who was driving, attempted to change lanes. Unfortunately, there was a car in her blind spot.

A highway patrolman witnessed the accident and counted the number of rolls: six. The vehicle stopped rolling passenger side down. This means my mother was on the bottom, with Aunt Tina dangling in the air above her, suspended by her seat belt. My cousin and her three kids, who were in the back of the minivan, had been jumbled and rocked and rolled.

I haven't heard any details on the other vehicle, just that they were injured. No deaths. In my family's car Aunt Tina broke a rib and my cousin's oldest was concussed. And Mom broke bones. She got the worst of it, that's for sure.

I'm just glad that everyone is relatively okay.

Notre Dame de Paris....

...is a fantastic musical. Just fantastic.

Okay, here's the story. Back when I worked at the Taco Bell in St. George, I worked with Amanda. Amanda took French in high school and had some French music. She loaned me two cds from a musical that I then copied into my iTunes.

These CDs comprised the soundtrack to Notre Dame de Paris. The more I listened to these CDs, the more I understood the music, and the more I understood the music, the more I came to love many of the songs. To the point that I haven't listened to the songs in order for a long time. They play randomly whenever I'm listening to my iTunes music collection.

A while back I found out that there was a DVD of a live performance of the musical, featuring the original cast. I really, really wanted the DVD, but it was rare enough that Amazon.com didn't have a copy in stock and all the used copies were going for about $100. Way too much for a DVD. Even if I had the money, I didn't want to pay that amount.

A week ago, I got a very nice tax refund. Very nice. While most of it is going into savings, I did want to have a little bit of fun. I check Amazon.com again. This time they have it in stock, for half the price I would have paid before. I decided to go for it.

I'm glad I did. The DVD case is actually a book that includes all the lyrics to the songs. Makes it nice for me, as I can now read the lyrics to songs that I didn't fully understand before. Spoiler alert: Everybody dies. And Phoebus is a bastard. End Spoiler.

So I watch the DVD through. I don't know if there are spoken lines in the musical. I would imagine so, but I don't know. The DVD just shows the songs and doesn't show any transitions between them, unless one song goes right into the next.

Watching the DVD altered my opinions about the performers just a little. I still don't like Esmeralda's voice a whole lot, but I appreciate her character a little more. Quasimodo's physical performance is pretty amazing. Of all the singing voices, my favorite is still Patrick Fiori, who plays Phoebus. I don't like his character any more, but I love his voice. Phoebus is a bastard. And Disney completely invented that happy ending.

Anyway, I can't wait for the semester to be over so I can have more free time to watch this DVD again. It's AMAZING!

What Did They Expect?

In Portland, Maine a large group of women and men marched topless to protest the double standard of society in regards to men and women going topless. Here's a link to a news article. Yes, it's safe for viewing, the only picture is from behind.

In Portland, it is legal for anyone to go topless. You only get in trouble if you take it too far and show your genitals while going topless.

What I find amusing about this situation is that the organizer of the event was "outraged" by the fact that lots and lots of men showed up to ogle those that were participating.

I get where she's coming from. Really. The whole idea was to protest the idea that topless women draw much more attention than topless men. I get it. And if I lived in Portland, Maine I probably would have marched topless to show my support.

But I can honestly say that I would have enjoyed the view.

My Imagination...

...sometimes it drives me nuts.

Here's the thing. Tonight I was planning on doing some research for a story idea that's been floating around in my head for a while.

The villain is going to be a skinwalker, so I wanted to track down some of the original Navajo legends.

I didn't even think about the scary skinwalker stories that I heard growing up near the Navajo and Piute reservations. All I thought was, "I need to research skinwalkers."

For the last two hours I've been afraid to leave my bedroom.