Amazing how one little thing can upset your entire day.
I’m taking care of my parents’ Golden Retriever, Molly. She’s a sweetheart, but she’s an added responsibility, and I have to keep reminding myself to feed her, fill her water bowl, let her outside, etc. But that’s not what upset my day.
I felt a profound lack of energy today at work. I performed a build this morning, which was good and important and is my core duty at work right now, then for the afternoon I felt worthless. No amount of breaks or recharing helped. But that’s not what upset my day; in fact, I think the upset caused my lack of energy.
I woke up sleepy this morning. I got to bed a little late, and I awoke groggy. And it suppressed my energy for the entire day; I’ve felt a little spacy ever since.
Amazing, that my entire day can be made much less effective than normal by one seemingly minor physical disturbance.
Anyvay. A quick round-up of what I’ve been watching lately:
- Densha Otoko episode three, in which the geek takes his proto-girlfriend on their first date. He does suprisingly well, asks for further advice from his net friends, and then the spanner is thrown in the works: he’s flamed by a troll who points out that he’s done nothing but take people’s advice in this. He’s been spineless. And the geek realizes this is true, so he switches off his computer for three days to think about it. So this series takes an unexpected twist in showing the limitations of the geek’s online support group. In episode three. If they’re doing this much now, what on Earth will episode eight be like?!?
- Crying Out “Love!” From The Center of the World, another J-drama that’s much more serious than Densha Otoko. Crying Out “Love!” tells the story of a seventeen-year-old boy who falls in love with a quirky classmate who (he doesn’t know) has a terminal disease. The series begins by telling you that she dies within a year, so you get to watch the show with that flavoring their entire relationship. Fascinating, and beautifully presented. A good example of the power of short TV series; because the show is only eleven episodes, each episode has great power and pushes the story forward.
- The first few episodes of Digimon Tamers. Some of my readers probably think I’m crazy for seeking out and watching this show, but now that I’ve watched a few episodes I’ve re-affirmed why I liked this show. It’s amazingly well-crafted. Each episode has heft and weight. The characters are introduced very deliberately, so that you get to know them very well (compare this to the first season of Digimon, which tosses all seven kids and all their Digimon at you in episode one). The overall story was written by Chiaki J. Konaka (serial experiments lain, among others), and you can see it.
- The Myth, Jackie Chan‘s latest film. Certainly the most dramatic thing he’s done in decades, perhaps next to New Police Story. Half of it is set in the modern day, where Jackie’s character is researching a lost treasure as he remembers fragments of a past life. The other half is set in that past life, where Jackie’s character is a ridiculously skilled warrior protecting a concubine. It’s lush, it’s adventurous, it has an amazing number of action scenes, and it’s well-acted. There are a few groan-worthy elements—the concubine is constantly being rescued and turns into an unmoving sack every time she’s in danger—but otherwise it’s a superb film. One of my favorites of his, now.