week 8/16

Daryl Dixon in The Next World (The Walking Dead Meta, 6.10)

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(SPOILERS)

The Next World is one of the best showcases how much Daryl has both changed and not changed in six years. The way he looks at Denise and Eugene while they’re explaining what they need from him is priceless. He wants it written down for a reason. He doesn’t have the patience for the explanation. He also doesn’t  cut them off. He lets them talk, no matter how long it takes for them. He says okay to Denise and thanks to Eugene.

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Let’s All Go to the Movies (*sung*)

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(Note: Links fixed.)

The first movie that I can remember was Disney’s Snow White. I believe it was a double feature with a live-action movie of Blackbeard’s Ghost. It is also possible that I’m thinking of Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights for that second movie. They kind of blend together.

The last movie I saw with my family as a child was Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. 1977 was a big year for my family. Elvis died – my mom was a huge fan so this was news. Big news. We also moved to the suburbs. It seemed like we were all getting bigger and busier and we didn’t go out as a family except to eat after that.

So the first Star Wars movie was the beginning for fans, but the end of childhood for me in a way.

The first movie I went to alone, I think, was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I wanted to see the Harry Potter movies, but my husband wasn’t a fan. My son lost interest after about the third one, but it’s hard to say. Going by myself was a very self-conscious feeling. It gives off loser vibes which now I understand is the farthest thing from the truth. It’s kind of independent going by yourself, isn’t it?

My husband and son are making plans for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which comes out Easter weekend, the busiest weekend in the church. He wants us to see it as a family, and support the DC movie franchise. I think it’s too expensive, but we have until Monday to decide. That’s when the tickets go on sale.

The most recent movie I saw was two days ago with my husband. Deadpool. Yes, it’s a comic book character. No, it is not for children. It is way not for children. Even I blushed for a couple of scenes. I described it on Instagram as all the gratuitous, all the excellent. I’d say that was accurate.

Today, I am returning to the movie theatre. Alone. By myself. I am going to have popcorn for lunch. Because I am an adult, and we can do things like that. Triple 9 comes out today. Yes, I’m seeing it in the theatre to lend support to Norman Reedus, who is a current photography inspiration for me, and all around great guy I imagine. But the cast is excellent, like really great, and the story is something that, while I wouldn’t normally see on the big screen, I’d watch it over and over again on the little one.

I have a coupon to see a free movie on my birthday. I’m planning to see the next Harry Potter movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I will also see that one alone while the family is at work and school.

Enjoy your day. After the two or four errands I need to get done, I will be sitting quietly in the movie theatre enjoying mine.

50-3 – My Earliest Memory

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Several of my early childhood memories come from photos; things I think I remember but can’t possibly. Or I remember the distorted memory combination  of vagueness, photograph, and someone else’s recollection.

One thing that I distinctly remember happening was when we were living in a Queens apartment. It was a somewhat dark apartment with table lamps and heavy drapes. We lived on the second floor and there was a big picture window across the living room. I think I was wearing a yellow dress and my hair wasn’t a bob – it was too messy to make a proper bob, but it was neck length and all over the place with those baby curls that nearly everyone has in toddlerhood.

We had no screens on the windows and they opened with those crank handles. There was a bird sitting on the windowsill, chirping, and I wanted him to come in to play or to visit or whatever toddlers think they want when nature is so close and yet so far.

I cranked open the window and in he flew.

This was great for about a second and a half until the bird realized that he was inside and I also realized that he was inside. He didn’t bounce off walls or shriek. He left that to me. I ran around our living room and then into our kitchen – it was a combination kitchen/dining area and stood on the table, yelling at. my mother to get rid of it.

It swooped and hovered and never once tried to leave.

My mother with all the grace of a cackling scarecrow chased it around the apartment with a broom until he flew right back out of the window.

My mother cranked the window shut and that was the end of my bird watching days.

She may have given me a glare as reprimand.

This might be one of the reasons that my family never had any pets.