Go See Gattaca

Halloween has never held much interest for me. Actually when I was younger I hated Halloween. I dreaded the thought of having to dress up and wander around the neighborhood looking for candy. Now the whole concept just seems really dumb to me. Oh, I know where the idea of Halloween came from and I understand how some people just want to have fun. It gives people the perfect excuse to get dressed up and act stupid. No, I don't need to lighten up, I just don't feel the need to pretend to be something that I am not. End of subject.

I really have to describe my new hotel. Its more of a family hotel than the previous two that I was in this trip. In the center is a courtyard with a restaurant. The pool is off to the side and there is a fountain in the center of the courtyard.

My room is the largest of the three that I have had so far on this trip. There is a living room section with a television, couch and small dining table. Next to the living room is a small kitchenette with the refrigerator and microwave.

Between the kitchenette and the bedroom there is a vanity. The mirror is surrounded by those giant bulbs that you see in the movies. I know that they have a name for them, but I can't remember what they are called.

Today was a day devoted to me. I woke up and took my time this morning. There was no work to worry about today and no school either. The day was all mine and I took advantage of it.

Mt first stop this morning was the local art museum. I was impressed. Art has found Omaha. For the past week I have been driving past the museum, but today was the first time that I was able to go there. The current exhibition is titled Hot Dry Men Cold Wet Women.

I'll try to explain the concept behind the title, but I am sure that my description will not be as good as how the museum phrased it. In the past, it was believed that people were ruled by four humors. Sometimes they are also known as the four elements. Fire, earth, air and water. Some of these were associated with men and some were associated with women. Men were equated with fire and women with water. Some of this was new to me, but some of it was heard years ago in my art history classes.

Omaha has a very nice selection of famous artists in their permanent collection. They have Titian, El Greco, Goya, Monet, Degas, Cassatt, Sargent, Pollock and more. These are just the names that come to mind first. Its strange seeing so much art history packed into so small of a place.

After I saw the permanent collection and the Hot Dry Men Cold Wet Women exhibition, I moved on to the newer exhibitions. They have this amazing installation by Gregory Barsamian. He constructs mixed media stroboscopic sculptures. I had to look at the brouchure to make sure that I got the description right.

In one sculpture, flying cherubs transform into helicopters and then back again over and over. You can stand there in the dark with these angels flying over your head. The whole piece has a very Pink Floyd feel to it. The other three are much harder to describe. So if you go to Omaha before November 9th, check out the installation.

His stuff was so cool. When I was in school, I dabbled a small amount in sculpture, but these pieces were beyond anything that I would have imagined. According to the statement, his inspirations include his dreams, Carl Jung and Nietzsche.

Two hours of the art museum and I was ready for a movie. Gattaca was my choice for this afternoon. It was great. Yes, I do have a thing for Uma, but its still a very good film.

Gattaca is my kind of film. Its a very condensed story with just a few characters. Ethan was great. Uma was great. Jude Law was great. I would give more details but I don't want to spoil anything.

I would describe the film as very low key sci fi with first person narration and a love story. I will even go so far as to say that Gattaca is the best film that I have seen all year.

Today must have been John Hughes day on HBO. I saw two of his films today. One of them had Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson. The other one had Jon Cryer. Ah if life was only a John Hughes film, everything would be solved within a two hour time frame.

I think that the length of today's entry makes up for the handful of lines that were in yesterday's entry.

Now I am going to kick back and watch Sleepers on HBO. Can you tell that I don't have cable at home?

I enjoyed Sleepers. For me it was a classic male bonding film and I am not talking about the sexual abuse. Actually it was an updated version of an earlier Levison film, Diner, which I also liked. For me the emotional focus was the four boys coming together to combat a great wrong. Very seldom is this seen in real life. People drift and move apart. The characters in the film drifted apart, but were able to join together one more time. Now this may only be fiction, but part of me really admires this sense of loyalty.

Its hard to create that bond with another person. At the moment, I can't really think of any one person that has that strong of a bond with me. People have come and gone in my life, but there is very little that I can do to change that fact. Some people might call that loneliness, but I get by. Then again if I ever do get involved with another woman, I will invest as much of myself as I can in her.

There are times when I might seem to be a very distant person, but in reality I am more of an emotional juggernaut.