Been A While

Things have been a little busy and distracting this past month, sorry to say. I have been making notes and thinking story on a couple of different projects, so I can't say I'd completely stopped writing, but I haven't been turning out pages in a while. That will change in the next week, I'll be working during the day again and should be able to schedule the day around getting some writing done and getting out on the bike. One day in the middle of April, I felt myself dragging while taking the stairs on my way to work. I've always been doughy and never one for dieting, but I'd usually been able to maintain at a somewhat comfortable level. Rather than see that change for the worse, I changed some behaviors (mostly portion control, amazing what that can do) and I'm happy to say I've dropped 30 pounds and I'm headlong into a Coke Zero addiction.

My wife scored passes to a screening of Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a few days before it opened, so we made a date of it, our first movie together in too long. We had a great time, it's a terrific show. Sure, dig a few inches under the surface and you can see the creaking skeleton is missing a few bones, but there's no denying the ride is fun while it lasts. Getting her back into the theater must have flipped a switch, the wife will head out with a friend this weekend to see Sex & the City (Two and a half hours? Really? Really??) this weekend and I'll sneak out some night to finally catch up with Iron Man.

I was sad to see that Sydney Pollack died this week of cancer. Pollack seemed like a class act and certainly possessed enormous talent on both sides of the camera. I was shocked when I learned in high school that the same director made Three Days of the Condor and Tootsie. Just as I was logging on to post tonight, I read that Harvey Korman died today. My parents must have thought I was a strange little kid because I wanted to stay up to watch Carol Burnett on Saturday nights at the age of five.

One of the reasons I liked the new Indiana Jones has to do with how comfortable the movie is with the passage of time. Jim Broadbent tells Harrison Ford they've reached the age where life stops giving you things and starts taking them away. I'm far from that point in life, but when the talents I watched in my youth leave us, it's like I can see that point from here. Rest in peace, gentlemen, and thanks.