I stayed up late last night and finally saw, from beginning to end, The Sound of Music. After the first hour, or so, I got accustomed to the pacing and the stage acting, and I enjoyed the movie very much. It's a movie that has, as Cliff said at the bus stop this morning, a little bit of everything in it.

There were two moments of strangeness in the movie that are in my mind this morning:

After Maria realizes that she's fallen in love with The Captain while being the governess for his seven children, and that The Captain is in love with her - and that The Captain's girlfriend, The Baroness, knows it, Maria runs away, back to the convent. So what's the Mother Superior's advice? She tells Maria to go back to being the governess, be a temptress, and wreck the relationship between The Captain and The Baroness. My, the Catholic Church was progressive back then!

When Leisl comes to Maria, now her mother, for advice on what to do when you stop loving your boyfriend because he's joined the Nazi Party, Maria sings "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" - which was the song Leisl and her boyfriend sang during their secret rendezvous in the gazebo. I'm sure that Leisl was thinking the same thing I was at that moment: Maria had just revealed that she'd been outside of the gazebo, spying on them.

It was a great movie, though.

I hit the jackpot at the library today. Three of the four materials I had on hold came in today at the same time: the DVD of The Sound of Music (I'm finally going to see this movie!), The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (A Love Story... with Wings), by Mark Bittner (Barbara had recommended the book to me at the last Writers' Group), and Jennifer Government, by Max Barry (the author of Company - a book I enjoyed a lot, but never got around to writing about).

The only thing left on hold now is the CD "Spirit of the Century" by The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Later this evening, I got an email reminder that the DVD concert of Cyndi Lauper is due back on Monday - a bittersweet reminder that The Seattle Public Library had recently reduced the loan period for DVDs to one week. Without that reduced loan period, I'd still be waiting for The Sound of Music.

I started reading Jennifer Government about an hour ago. I'm on page 66, and I'm having a tough time putting it down.

I debated for a while about whether or not I should write this post. I'll get to why later.

I stopped off at QFC on my way home from work today. Among other things, I needed to buy coffee. QFC has five or six brands of bulk coffee, and when I was there this evening, one of the brands - Seattle's Best Coffee - was on sale. The other brands were not. I have nothing against Seattle's Best Coffee - I like it, actually - but I prefer Tony's Coffee. I considered saving a dollar on Seattle's Best Coffee, instead of buying my preferred brand. What persuaded me to stick with Tony's however, was the fact that the SBC machine was completely out of bags. I thought about asking a QFC employee if they had any more SBC bags in the back room, but I decided to take it as a sign that I should stick with what I wanted to buy in the first place. As I filled up a Tony's Coffee bag with Tony's Coffee (Famous French), this question came to me:

What prevents me, or anyone else, from taking a bag meant for a cheaper brand of coffee and filling it with a more expensive brand, since the cashier would have no way of knowing what was actually inside the bag?

I couldn't think of anything that would prevent that. That's why I debated this post. I consider myself a more honest person than not. I wouldn't knowingly cheat anyone - not even a big food chain - to save a dollar. I realize, however, that not everyone has the same values as me. By writing this, have I uncovered a flaw in supermarket design? What ended my debate, and allowed me to post this, were two questions:

Am I really the first person to think of this? - followed by: Why were there no SBC bags left, while there was still plenty of Seattle's Best Coffee?

On a different subject, yesterday I stopped off at the library on the way home because Phillip had asked me to pick up a CD he had placed on hold. While I was there, I browsed around a while and found a DVD of a Cyndi Lauper concert. I picked it up mainly for Phillip, because Cyndi Lauper has always been a marginal performer in my taste for music. What I mean by that is that I've liked just about everything I've heard from Cyndi Lauper, but I've never felt the desire to rush out and buy a Cyndi Lauper CD. I watched the DVD this evening, and my opinion may have changed. I may yet turn into a Cyndi Lauper fan. She is a great performer and a great singer. There was only one song in the concert that I wasn't impressed with, and that was her cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." I think Phillip agreed with me on that. I feel, however, that one bad cover may be a good thing. I shows that Cyndi Lauper is willing to experiment, try new things, and not always play it safe.

On a different subject, the new software from our ISP arrived today. I installed it a little while ago, without incident - other than having to tell it no, I don't want to un-install our virus protection and firewall and replace them with protection from our ISP. I hope updating the software solves the problem.

The internet is a useful thing. Since there aren't many versions of "Amazing Grace" recorded to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun," it took me only one quick search to learn that the song I heard at Zeek's was by The Blind Boys of Alabama, from their album "Spirit of the Century."

Yesterday, we took Craig out for pizza at Zeek's - for the last time before he moves to California. It was probably the last time we will ever see him. It hit me harder than I thought it would. I like the guy a lot, but we really don't hang out with him often. I've known Craig as long as I've known Phillip. Phillip's known him for longer. Craig was indirectly responsible for bringing Phillip and me together. Now we'll never see him again. We had a great time over pizza.

While we were sitting in Zeek's, a song came on that I've never heard before. It was "Amazing Grace" sung to the tune, and instrumentals, of "House of the Rising Sun." I liked it a lot, and I'd love to discover who performed it.

After we dropped Craig off at home, Phillip and I decided to do some geocaching. First, however, Phillip wanted to stop off somewhere and get some bottled water. As soon as he voiced his request, I realized that I should buy some Tums. My chest was feeling tight. We stopped into the Safeway at Roosevelt and 75th. My chest was burning. I made it to the checkout and knew I didn't have much time before I had a full strength esophogeal reflux attack. I didn't even wait for Phillip. I headed right for the doors and spotted some deli tables in a short hallway, with no deli and no one around. I took a seat at the counter. I couldn't move. I couldn't think clearly. I couldn't get the Tums open. I felt the panic that always comes with my esophogeal reflux attacks. I was afraid that Security would come by and ask me to leave. Phillip opened the Tums for me and sat with me. Eventually, he got the car. When I walked out of Safeway and into the car, I was no longer in pain, but I was exhausted. I went to bed as soon as we got home, and I slept for hours. When I woke up, I experienced a strange sort of disorientation. I knew where I was, I knew how I got there, and I knew what had happened earlier, but it took me a long time to piece it all together.

I spent the rest of yesterday finishing the book Company, by Max Barry. It was a book Phillip found at the library, read it, and then recommended to me earlier this week. I enjoyed it a lot.