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end of the year For the third day in a row I didn't make it to the movies after work. I guess that All the Pretty Horses can wait another day. On Friday and Saturday morning it was snow that kept me from getting there. Today a strong need for sleep kept me home. I think that I made the right choice. Not too surprisingly I didn't seen Ann this morning before I left work. Ever since she moved closer to work, she doesn't seem to be able to make it to work early on Sundays. She of course said that the reverse would be true. Over and over she said that she would be only four minutes away and never late again. The other night when Ann and I were discussing books, I don't think that we could have had more differing points of view. She had a copy of book nine from the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan while I was reading a copy of Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh. A fantasy world versus a drug world so to speak. Somehow I think that Francis Begbie would mop the floor with Rand Al-Thor. I could be wrong though. Even though I make light of her at times, I really do like talking with Ann. We both know that we see the world differently, but it doesn't matter. I like to think that we both get something new from each other. ... Before I fell asleep this morning, I watched part of the film version of The End of the Affair with Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore. Naturally they changed things from the book. Almost every movie version does to some degree. Various characters were combined and certain events were altered. Bendrix moved in with Henry while Sarah while still alive. Mr. Smythe was combined with the priest and boy had the birthmark and not Smythe. Of course none of this would matter to someone who hadn't read the book. Bendrix came away as being less bitter in the movie than he was in the book. In the novel he kept using the word hate over and over again. The promise to God that Sarah makes is still the key to the story. Thinking that Bendrix is dead Sarah asked God to return him to her. If God would do such a thing than she said that she wouldn't see Bendrix anymore. Bendrix lives and Sarah abandons him without telling him why. Not a typical love story, but then again this is supposed to be an affair and not an ideal love. I guess that there is a difference in there somewhere. So often in literature lovers have to suffer for their love, be it the silly star crossed lovers of Shakespeare or the slightly more modern version given in Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. Why do people have to die in order for love to be real? ... Ann and I were talking about Harlequin romance novels. Most girls seem to read them at some point in their lives and the formula sets in quickly. A woman meets a man and they don't get along. Something separates them and they find that they need each other. Finally they get back together only to have one of them die in the end. Strange. Very strange. Then again Leonardo dies in Titanic. ... Perhaps it might seem strange talking about love when I am home alone on what some consider one of the most romantic nights of the year. No. It doesn't matter to me. Being home that is. I outgrew being at a bar or party years ago. Just having some time to myself is nice. Besides tomorrow will be just another day. People will go back to work and I'll enjoy my weekend. There was the new year that Tracy and I spent together that I will never forget. It was just the two of us and that was perfect in my mind. I had convinced her to stay home. The roads were awful and any of the larger bars were at least a half hour drive away. Just the two of us bathed in candlelight drinking wine. Two bodies and no one else. It was a great start to a year that later turned sour, but we didn't know that at the time. For those few hours we had all that we needed. We had each other and it was everything to us.
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