Letters to Home, Week Two

Day 5, Tuesday, September 27: 

Finished The Game today.  Am left with a strong desire to dress in a silken sari, drink chai tea, and eat red curry, butter chicken, and some garlic naan.  Also feeling the need to read Kipling’s Kim now.  Maybe after I finish my book project.

Fall colors are starting to appear in Eugene

Day 7, Thursday, September 29: 

My manager “introduced” me to “Into the Mystic.”  I got the distinct impression that he thought I’d never heard of Van Morrison.  It was so hilarious that I just let it slide while I giggled to myself.  Spent my last half hour listening to a Van Morrison play list that I made, pretending that instead of sitting at my desk in the office, that I was stretched out in our old living room on that horrid green carpet, the sun shining through the windows, and Van playing over the stereo.  The music made me feel almost as if I would open my eyes and see you come around the corner, mom with a cup of tea and Ralphie with some alternative (possibly rude) lyrics in mind.

Day 9, Saturday, October 1: 

I had so much hair that we had to put it into two ponytails
to cut it for donation

Met Martha for brunch this morning.  We went to a very Eugene café and had the most delightful Orange/Mango/Peach mimosas, I was rather tipsy after just one!  Then we went down the street to the salon for my hair cut.  We cut 10 ½ inches for donation, and after trimming and evening out the cut, my hair is just below chin length.  It swishes when I shake my head, and is short enough for a shampoo Mohawk, which I love.  It’s a pretty liberating cut, so far at least.

Day 10, Sunday, October 2: 

Watched the Hollywood version of Emma last night.  I was left with the following impressions: 

• Jeremy Northam was born to play characters like Mr. Knightly.  When I read Emma, I picture someone exactly like Northam, handsome but not devastatingly so (he’s not exactly Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy here), but elegant and a true gentleman with a stern look and a dashing air.  Didn’t love Gwenyth Paltrow as Emma, I felt that Romola Garai was a much better Emma, but Jeremy Northam was perfect.  Also, Toni Collette as Harriet Smith: Genius.
• I am right thus far with my impressions--Emma is much more likeable in the films than in the novel.  In the film, we aren’t really privy to her every thought and judgment, as we are in the novel, and this leaves her as a much nicer and likeable character.  Am hoping her personal growth in this last quarter of the novel leaves me with a better impression.
• As much as I love him, I absolutely detested Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill, though I am unsure if this is because I so very much dislike Frank as a character or because McGregor’s wig was truly terrible.