Just a bit of stress...

So I've been a bit stressed out lately...

Ok, that may be an understatement, but I'm trying my best to keep it together.

With work, family, crappy weather and Meredith so far away all the time, It's been a struggle to keep my sanity intact. I told my boss a couple weeks ago that I was planning on moving this summer. I was pretty nervous about that, but it actually went surprisingly well. He understood that I needed something new, and he actually offered to extend my contract by a few months instead of a full year to help me out financially and so I could move in say June instead of April. I told him that I'd think about it. It's been strange working since I told him that I'm leaving though, I am happier knowing that an end is in sight, but trying to finish a year and a half worth of projects can be a feat. I hope I can get as many of the The projects done as possible before I leave.

Hopefully my stress level will be at a manageable point by next Sunday for when Meredith comes! I can't wait. She'll only be here for a week, but oh well, she has school, there's nothing that can be done about it. I'm excited. There's not a whole lot to do here, but just having her around for a while, I'm sure will make things seem better.

I went hunting over the weekend with a coworker, it didn't go that well since the weather was bad and our snowmobile broke down. So basically we went out, broke down, spent about 20 mins fixing the machine and retreated back home... Still, it was nice to get some fresh air I guess. I would have taken some pictures, but there was a white-out (where it's overcast and snowing, making everything completely white, thus making it impossible to distinguish the sky from the ground, or bumps... Lots of bumps) and my camera doesn't work in the cold anyways. I did get a kickass buffalo curry dinner out of the deal though, so I guess I can't complain.

I haven't been up to a whole lot on account of this town being a hole... But I've been watching a bunch of movies lately... I watched the soviet cinematic wonder that is The Cranes are Flying. (Letyat zhuravli) Awesome movie. Period. Released in 1957, Directed in by Mikheil Kalatozishvili (AKA Mikhail Kalatozov) the same director that made Soy Cuba. (I am Cuba) One of the main things that struck me about the Cranes are Flying was that though the story deals with a very brutal war during which 20-30 million Russians were killed, there is no demonization of the Nazis, and though there is a lot of intense patriotism and Ideology, (the genre of the movie is considered soviet realism) It still manages to be very humanistic and anti-war. The story follows two young lovers, Boris and Veronika from right before the onset of the German invasion of the Soviet Union until the end of the terrible war. The movie is an amazing illustration of what is sacrificed for war and it leaves out all the glorified propaganda that is so common in the west. There are no scenes of cliched military sensationalism, instead it shows men painfully saying goodbye to their wives and family to fight and die in the mud. Basically it shows what war does to regular people. War is devastating, you'd think that would be pretty clear, but obviously a lot of people *cough* Americans *cough* around the world have some pretty misguided views about it. The bottom line is this movie is written well, superbly acted, visually stunning and expertly directed and filmed. One of the best movies I've ever seen.

I also watched the movies Water and Munich, as well as Ingmar Bergman's Smiles on a Summer Night, Jean Renoir's The River, and Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, (I'm now fully convinced that David Bowie is in fact an alien) which were good in their own right, but this post is getting kinda long and it's getting close to lunch...

So yes... I hope you enjoyed my ramblings for today. You can carry on with the rest of your day now...