MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

Aging 40 years in 2 years time??

The other day, I was shopping at gardening center in St. Paul, spending too much money on three plants-- I have such a shady yard, I have invested in some specialty hostas and ferns, things that I know will come back and thrive. The cashier was a large tired-looking woman who looked to be about 50. As I started writing my check, she asked if qualified for the Wednesday discount.

The only kind of discount you hear about at any store is a Senior Discount, as in senior citizen. As in WHITE HAIRED PEOPLE 60 YEARS OR OLDER. No, I told her, I don't qualify. She didn't say anything and just rang me out.

I tried not to let this bother me, as the woman looked like she was crabby and unobservant. I am 41 years old and while I do have several gray hairs, I've been told pretty recently that I look much younger than my age. Really!

And I still hold onto the memory of 2 years ago, when DH and I were going to a party at the nightclub First Avenue downtown, a punk-music party in honor of DH's old friend S. who had died the year before. I dressed up in a short skirt and an off-the-shoulder red shirt and the young buckaroo at the door actually CARDED ME! I could have kissed him. I was 39! I felt giddy at the thought of looking like I could pass for someone much younger.

But now I've been hit on the other end. I don't think I've aged 40 years in a mere 2 years. I'm licking my wounds and telling myself that that woman had probably gotten chastised by old people who she'd forgotten to give the discount to, so now she just asked everybody.

That could be it, right? Oh well. If our darn remodeling project was done, I could console myself by taking a bath in my beautiful new tub with a rubber duckie floating along beside me. Maybe that would make me feel younger!

What's Up with Movie Reviewers?

Last night our friend D. called up to see if DH and I wanted to go see The Davinci Code. We jumped on the chance because we'd been wanting to see it and it was sold out the last time we tried, on our anniversary last week, so we'd seen X-Men instead (which was perfectly enjoyable). So, even though we had to rush dinner and leave the kids to themselves on a school night, knowing they wouldn't be getting to bed on time, we went.

We'd all read the book and liked it-- a page turner, intriguing theories, mystery, treasure hunt. But I was curious about the movie because it had gotten such bad reviews-- bad acting, Tom Hanks sucks, Audrey Tautou can't act, long and boring, blah blah blah. I didn't have high hopes for the movie, but I sure still wanted to see it. I find I often like movies that have gotten bad reviews. Like Rent. I never saw the play, the movie got such bad reviews and I absolutely LOVED the movie.

And the Davinci Code? All three of us really enjoyed the movie last night and could see nothing wrong with it. It's not the kind of movie you go to expecting it to be an Academy Award winner. It's a fast-paced adventure movie, not boring at all. Not even when we'd read the book and knew how it would end. It was a perfectly enjoyable movie and not disappointing in the least.

So, what do these reviewers expect, that's what I wonder? Is it because there was sooooo muuuuuuch goll darned hype before the movie that they expected it to be something better? Are people so jaded they can't just go and enjoy a regular old movie anymore? Or, as we discussed in our after-movie conversation last night, is this some back-lash against the perceived anti-Christian theories in the movie?

Or are we 3 just so way off the mark on the kind of movies we like? A little subset of people who like what other people do not?

What's really stupid about all this is that I know that a lot of people just won't see this movie because of the bad reviews. Which is stupid. And a shame. There are a lot of theories in this movie that can make for some fabulous conversations, debating different sides of the issues.

And then we can discuss the puzzling issue of movie reviews and what leads some people to read them like they were the Bible.... and believe them without thinking for themselves.