a few notes

-Perry and I saw Oz last week. It is a gorgeous film with the kind of visuals the critics refer to as "lush". I loved Mila Kunis as the beautiful and naive Theodora. But when she turned into the wicked witch her awful screeching take on an evil cackle ruined her character for me. Maybe I watched too much That 70's Show as a kid, but all I could think of was her screaming "Michael!" It sounded more like spoiled teenager whining than evil witch hatred. It's still a good film though, especially for families. I genuinely laughed in several spots and the first 15 minutes when you're transported from Kansas to Oz is beautiful and thrilling. I started thinking halfway through that there may be a deeper meaning to the film. You have three powerful, truly magical witches, but they are all under the sway of a greedy, deceptive, grade A loser. Maybe it has to do with perception of power vs. actual power. I thought maybe it was a cautionary tale but it may just be traditional sexism. I haven't trusted Sam Raimi's opinion on women since that tree rape scene in Evil Dead.

-I'm making another attempt to read Game of Thrones. I hope to make it past page 100 this time. My brother is now on the second book of the series and it got me wanting to give it another try.

-It was my parent's 26th wedding anniversary Friday. Four years ago I started the tradition of making dinner reservations for them at a local restaurant to celebrate. Growing up, I never thought of their marriage as being an accomplishment or difficult. They were my parents, and I just assumed they had to stay married forever. As I got older, I started to look at my parents not as Mom and Dad, but as people. People who had struggles and failures and made mistakes. Two 20 somethings who had no idea what they were doing but still managed to successfully raise five children and come out on the other side of it together. So I think two steak dinners every year should cover it, right?

-I turned down a trip to Las Vegas in April. Perry's parents go every year and invited us along with free airfare. I was scheduled to work that week so I declined. I possibly could have worked out getting the days off, but Las Vegas is probably the only popular travel desination that I've never wanted to visit. Part of it could be because I've never had any kind of desire to gamble. You can't convince me to give up my here, now, real money for future, maybe, potential money. Even buying lottery tickets seems like a waste to me.