If I Could I Would

I did next to nothing today, which was the plan that I had made yesterday so I'm not too horribly crushed. Highlights of the day include a quick food run and a phone call tonight to my friend who is going to California next year. We tried to work out some details, but nothing is definte just yet. He said that he would know more in a month or so.

Part of the morning was spent looking for the name of the song from the Northern Exposure episode that I was talking about the other day. I found it on the internet and its by a group that I have never heard of before. Now I have to decide if I want to buy an entire cd for just one song.

I guess that I have to react to something before I do anything. What I mean is that when I am working my free time becomes far more valuable to me. All that I can think about when I am at work is what I could be doing at home. The four hours of personal time that I have after work have to be filled with something important. I can't waste them. Then on the weekend when I have almost endless hours of free time, they become less important and I just waste them.

Now if I had a girlfriend this would probably happen less often. Women in general like to be on the go. Cabin fever starts to set in and they have to leave the house. I myself would just like to hibernate for a few months. Just give me some blankets and a comfy couch and I am content. I will admit that it is nicer to snuggle with someone rather than just myself, but you can't have everything.

Most of the afternoon was spent watching Kubrick films. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Full Metal Jacket were my two selections. Neither of these films are from what you would call the feel good variety, but I still like them. They affect me, which makes them worth my while.

Cuckoo's Next is one of those films where I wish that I had read the book, but I have never gotten around to it. My understanding is that the book is told from the point of view of the Chief. In the beginning there are all of these paragraphs about wires in his head. Then as the book moves along and his mind becomes more clear, they begin to disappear. I'm not really sure if this is right or not, because like I said I have never read the book. Maybe someday I'll read it.

I'm trying to think of what appeals to me in Cuckoo's Nest. Well, first of all its one of the few films with Jack Nicholson that I can stand. For me he is a walking parody now. Back in Cuckoo's Nest he was younger and maybe less well known. I tend to focus less on him and more on what is happening in the film.

I remember reading a brief article that described the McMurphy character as a Christ figure, but I like to see it as more of a spiritual journey. The Cheif is the only character that really frees himself, both mentally and physically in the whole film. Plus he seems to be the only person in the film who has any dignity.

I wonder how the Nurse Ratchet character fits into the Christ figure theme. She must be Pontius Pilate. She has the ability to free him, if only he would follow her rules. I could be wrong and it isn't my analogy anyway.

I find it a little sad that Green Day did a video for their song Basketcase apeing the day room from Cuckoo's Nest years later. Then again pop culture always feeds on itself.

After watching Full Metal Jacket, I don't inderstand why anyone would want to go into the military. All of the mind games would just annoy the hell out of me. This reminds me that my seventeen year old sister is going to be in the National Guard next year. Her reasoning is that they will pay for her college. The military was never an option for me when I went to college. I like to take control of my own life rather than giving it over to someone else.

True, I still pay rent to someone else, but I never let someone tell me how to dress, when to eat and sleep for months. Parents do not count either.

Oh, I did rework the photos on my biography page again. The new text will appear slowly over the next week or so.