Punch Drunk Love. Everyone who has seen it that I have spoken to says it is incredible. But, come on, Adam Sandler in a serious role? No poo-poo humour? Whatever. And yet, I was intrigued. I am, afterall, a fan of Adam Sandler and his poo-poo humour. I have enjoyed him for years. And I wanted to see Punch Drunk Love. Last night, Rick and I saw it. And it was... incredible. Sandler was marvelous as Barry Egan and yes, though it was a role written especially for him, he really does act. It's funny. It's very funny, but it's surprisingly warm and heartfelt, and from the very opening scene, the movie holds it's viewers enraptured.

It is a movie about what can happen when a man brings an harmonium into his life.

Continuing the filmic theme of this entry, this morning was the ROM staff preview of the new Lord of the Rings exhibit at the planetarium. Though it was being held at an ungodly time, 8:30am to 9:30am, huge numbers of staffers came in, like me, early, just to see this exhibit. I saw the one at Casa Loma last year and this one is better. It's not as long, mostly because at Casa Loma, the exhibit stretched from one part of the castle to the other, in the attic, through the underground tunnel... I liked the atmosphere at Casa Loma better, but frankly, this exhibit was amazing. It's designed by the actual set designers from the films. It's pretty good. And the Deadmarsh is... spooky. I'm definitely going to go back. There was a lot I didn't get to see.

Oh, and I went dressed up. Yep. Was there any question? It's Hallowe'en, after all, and I'm not one to miss an opportunity like that. I'm wearing my black puffy-sleeved shirt, one of my black vests (the one with the coin trimming), my bondage pants, and the 'Sith' robe that Nicole gave me for my birthday. I got a great reaction from some corporate types waiting for the elevator when I stepped out. And inside the exhibit, someone said, "Oh, I think she's from the wrong side of the Shire." Hee hee !

Have a safe and happy Samhain and Hallowe'en.

Some days, coffee just isn't enough. Even highly sweetened coffee. I'm just feeling so burnt out today.

Anyway, let me recap some points from my weekend back in the Petes. The Pink Ribbon Ball, held at the Trentwinds, was quite nice, until the band started. Man. Kountry Klassics. The name says it all, unfortunately. I did enjoy a nice two-step with Mom's friend, Wayne, however. The food was good and the auction was fun. After a while, though, Mom and I began to really feel uncomfortable with the ultra-couply atmosphere.

I helped Mom bring in her fish on Sunday. It was a bit chilly, especially when our hands were submerged in the water, but ultimately, it was an adventure and it all ended up quite successful. As an update to this story, sadly, yesterday, Mom discovered a bit too late that there was a hairline crack in the coy basin in the basement. While she was able to save Papa Coy, Mama Coy ended up asphixiating in the shallow water where the circulation pump could not reach. Sad news, but for four years, Mama Coy lived a very happy, fishy life and grew to be an enormous 16" long.

My hard drive is indeed toasted. I did consider data recovery as I really am loathe to lose my stories and old university essays, not to mention the art and music, too. Data recovery would just be too expensive so I'm just going to let this slip away and consider it a fresh start. The hard drive is, thankfully, still under warranty, so I'll be able to get a replacement from the company.

Yesterday, Scarlette's alternator blew in the parking lot right by the ROM. I spent the greater portion of my morning with a very pleasant tow-truck driver named Eric, and the first half of the afternoon at a friendly CAA garage near my house called Bento's Auto Repair, or some such. So, close to 300 dollars later, Scarlette was running quite smoothly. Couple this with the exhaust leak I had just had fixed and I have one nicely running car. Anyway, so much for being ahead of the Eight Ball this month. I'll be living on credit until next week's paycheque.

Tonight, Rick's taking me to see Punch Drunk Love and we're going to eat some sushi. Whee ! A date. Tomorrow, we're going to Al and Carrie's to help them hand out candy to children. I think I'll have to bring some art stuff over to their house, too, though, because I need to finish matting my artwork for the convention in Rochester. Megan and I are driving there and back on Friday. Exciting !