Due to time limitations and the fact that I said pretty much all I had to say about the movie in my last post, there will be no full-lenth review or in-depth analysis of Hancock. Go see it for yourself, it's a good time. And, if it's as hot where you are as it is where I am, it's worth the cost of the ticket to sit in a dark, air-conditioned room for a couple hours. Oh, I did have one funny thing to add about the moviegoing experience, though. I went to see the movie alone, since none of my friends responded-- at least not in the affirmative-- to the invitation I texted them. Even though I realize that going to the movies alone could be seen as sort of sad or depressing, I've got no problem with it. I think it's because, when I took all those film criticism classes in college, there were a lot of times when I didn't really have any close friends in the class, so I would be sitting next to people I didn't really know and/or had no intention of talking to.
But ANYWAY, these two guys walked in shortly before the movie started and began looking for seats. Which was not a difficult task. I would estimate the theater was only at 30% capacity (even though the flick made a ton of money. I would guess the poor attendance at my theater was because it was sort of a late show, and I was seeing it at a mall theater where almost all the stores were closed, so there weren't a lot of people around). For some reason, these two gentlemen decided to sit in my row and, specifically, one of them took the seat next to mine. There were enough seats between me and the aisle that they could have spaced themselves out and not sat next to me or each other if they chose to do so, but I guess this guy enjoys the camaraderie of fellow moviegoers. Anyway, it didn't bother me all that much because he wasn't an excessively large person and he wasn't infringing on my elbow room. Things were okay.
But it turned out this guy was the sort of person who likes to make loud, obvious comments about the movie while watching it. Not in an obnoxious way; he wasn't yelling at the screen, or making bad jokes, or anything like that. He would just sort of narrate what was happening on screen in a normal tone of voice. Not all the time, but enough that it was aggravating. Example: Hancock, who at this point in the film has been trying to keep his drinking under control, gets very upset about something and responds by walking into a liquor store. The guy next to me enriches the scene by saying, "Oh... no... he's gonna get drunk." Thanks, Peter Travers.
Okay, so today I had my normal Monday class schedule (9-5, with a one-hour break for lunch). I also got up earlier than usual this morning, because I wanted to get my oil changed before class. This project was a failure, as I could not find a mechanic near me who was open and did not already have appointments (I wound up finding a place after I got out of class this afternoon). Then, the classes today were pretty intense, or at least busy. We had a few hours of lecture, we had to write a news story in class, we took a quiz, we did some other activities, we got a new out-of-class assignment to start working on, etc. So I'm pretty tired. But there's still quite a bit I need to do tonight, so it might be another late one. I'm starting to see why they call the summer session of my program "boot camp."
Don't take this to mean I'm complaining. I'm still really enjoying the program, and I'm becoming more and more pleased that I decided to do this. But yeah... it's a lot of stuff. Also, they recommend that we read both the local Syracuse paper and the New York Times every day, so I've been trying to keep up with the news as much as I can. This is time consuming, but I don't really look at it as a burden, since I like reading the news anyway. There are usually at least a few very interesting stories, although it can be frustrating to read the same stories over and over again. I mean, really, the gas crisis is a serious problem and an important issue, but there hasn't been anything new or interesting to say about it in roughly a month. Yet it's still in the paper and on the TV news programs every day. All the time. It's killing me.
I got my first major assignment back today, the personality profile I wrote about one of my classmates. I got a B on it. Obviously, I would have preferred an A, but I'm more or less satisfied with a B at this point. Based on the professor's comments, I think he was a tough grader on this assignment, and he gave a brief speech about not freaking out if you got a bad grade. So, presumably I did better than quite a few others. I was more pleased by the way he started his comments at the end of the article: "You're a good writer. You're a very good writer. But you need to work on your reporting." Of course I need to work on my reporting-- I just started doing it. And I will work on it, and I will get better. A lot better. I believe I am eventually going to be very good at this. More than anything else, I was pleased that he considers me a good writer (enough to say it twice, even). So, yeah, off to a solid start in the news writing class, and I'll nail that A next time out.
All right, I guess I should go be productive now. Perhaps I shouldn't even be taking the time to blog, at least not as extensively as I do, but I enjoy writing the blog and for some reason I still feel really dedicated to it, unlike some previous blogs and journals I started in the past. So for now, there's no reason to worry. No matter how busy I get, the blog's not going anywhere.
-Nick
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