I hadn't seen this particular friend for about six or seven years.
She's married now and just got back from a belated honeymoon, traveling
out west. We got caught up on each other's lives, which left The Gryphon
little to contribute. He didn't seem to mind.
Next, we stopped by my car dealer so they could test the
battery and see if there was a problem. Being a Saturday and a bitter
cold day, many other people with problems had arrived first. We had
to wait more than an hour for them to test it, and they told us it was
fine. The mechanic suggested we see if it happens again and, if so,
have them take a more thorough look.
Since it was about 2:30 by then, and the place where we
buy Una's food was closing at 3, we zipped up there next. After that,
we stopped at a place called Kid
to Kid, which offers second-half children's clothing, baby and kid
gear, and maternity clothing. I needed some warm sweaters.
They had more of a selection in my size (usually S or
M) than any used store I've seen. There were only a few that looked
warm enough, but they both worked. I bought a zipper-front black cardigan
sweater (which, amusingly, has red hearts on the sleeves), along with
a light red polarfleece shirt, good for layering.
Our final errand was to stop at Babies R Us, to check
it out as a place where we could set up our baby registry. We walked
through the store, to get a sense of the merchandise they sell and the
big items like a car seat, crib, and stroller.
For dinner, since we were in the mood for Mexican food,
we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Taqueria
La Michoacana in Norristown. They were showing an old SF movie (or
perhaps TV show) in Spanish, where people were wearing silver jumpsuits
with matching headbands, and Mexican wrestlers were the heroes. I had
a dish with chipotle sauce, shrimp, peppers, Spanish rice and avocado.
There was so much I took half of it home.
We had thought about seeing Sherlock Holmes, but
when we got to the theater I thought about how long we'd been out and
the fact that Una hadn't had a chance to go out or eat in that time.
So we went home instead.
On Sunday, we slept in. I took some photos of Luke for
his ACDC foster mom.
We'd been in communication lately because of a dog found by a friend
of my pet sitter, and I'd promised her some recent pics.
Soon after we awoke, we called The Dormouse, to see if
he wanted to catch a matinee showing of Sherlock
Holmes and to arrange a time. His father was buried on Friday,
and we thought it might be nice for him to get out of the house and
have a little fun.
The Gryphon made us breakfast of some light "red-hot"
pancakes, along with veggie burgers which he seasoned to taste like
sausage. They were delicious.
After breakfast, we got online and signed up for the Babies
R Us registry, beginning to put some things on it with the help of the
Baby Bargains book my sister and her husband gave us for Christmas.
Some items, though, will require further research or an in-person examination
before we add them.
That means we are well on the way towards crossing off
another short-term goal from my 2010 resolutions:
We should complete adding most of the necessities by next weekend.
Although we got to the movie theater a little later than we'd planned,
we had no trouble finding a good seat on the aisle.
I don't know if Sherlock Holmes is destined to become a cinema
classic, but it was a lot of fun. Over the years, I've seen many adaptations
of the Sherlock Holmes stories, many of which I've seen. There are a
few things in this version that stray from the canon, such as having
Holmes and Watson scrapping with bad guys. This didn't bother me terribly
much, but I'm not a hard-core Holmes fan.
Director Guy Ritchie used some interesting techniques, such as rapid-fire
flashbacks and flash forwards, which were like seeing inside Sherlock
Holmes' mind. I liked the idea that, compared to everyone else, his
brain was in fast motion and that he could link several thoughts or
observations in the blink of an eye. Never before had I see an adaptation
that tried to get inside how Holmes' really thinks.
Of course, the costumes and settings were detailed, with almost a steampunk
feel to some of it that I'm sure will go over well with that crowd.
You may see some cosplayers imitating Sherlock Holmes at this summer's
fan conventions.
The lighting gave it a more realistic feel than many adaptations, which
tend to adopt a three-point, almost flat, television-style lighting.
Ritchie, instead, made use of natural light as frequently as possible,
with deep shadows heightening the drama.
Frankly, all the hoopla about the homoerotic subtext is, I believe,
overblown. It's subtle, if it's there at all. These two men clearly
have a bond that's so close it's hard to define by any other normal
relationship. They seem to share a mind: can finish each other's thoughts,
anticipate what the other will do, and they've lived intertwined lives
so that they sometimes argue like a stereotypical old married couple.
I'm not convinced, however, that's so different from many close male
friendships. In modern times, it's acceptable to clap someone on the
shoulder or give them a big bear hug, but I don't think that was socially
acceptable in Victorian England. These are two men, closer than friends,
perhaps closer than brothers, who share a bond forged by mutual adventure.
Overall, I really liked the movie. Of course, I do love Robert Downey
Jr. in just about any role, but until now, I've never really seen the
appeal of Jude Law. Now, I can see his potential as an actor. By the
way, his mustache was fab. Maybe it was a magic mustache. He should
look into wearing one for all his roles.
Rating: **** (4 out of 5)
Once we returned home, I got to cross something else off my resolutions
2010 list:
Amazon.com had been recommended to me by The Cheshire Cat, who said
he's going with them for his next self-published book. I was pleased
with what I saw about their
POD (print-on-demand) services. The only problem was the layout
of the site: the information was spread out over several pages instead
of in one large FAQ. You had to go digging for answers to various questions,
but all of the important information (such as fees, royalties, pay schedule,
specs, and process) were there.
I compared their prices with the quote I'd received from Lightning
Source and did some number crunching. If I knew that I were going to
sell 100 or more books, I'd be better off with Lightning Source, but
Amazon.com is a better bargain if you don't know how many you'll be
able to sell. There's no setup fee, and they provide a free ISBN number,
so you don't need to buy a pack of 10 for $300, which is how you must
buy them if you go directly through the government.
In addition, Amazon.com will list it and distribute it, with no further
action from me. This will be much more convenient, meaning that I don't
have to do anything except for work on marketing.
Amazon.com also offers the option of distributing to retail outlets
and bookstores through them, which is something I might consider doing,
as well.
Still, The Gryphon advised me to make certain I haven't missed anything
important, so my new short-term goal will be:
Overall, a good weekend. A little bit of fun, and a little
bit of getting things done.
