Friday, October 31, 2008

Movie: "Rachel Getting Married"


This movie makes my and your families look like the Cleavers (Ward, June, Wally, and the Beav). Ann Hathaway was very good playing against type as Kim, released from rehab to attend her sister's wedding, who thinks the entire weekend should be about herself. Rosemarie Dewitt, as Rachel, does a good job portraying the sister who believes she's been neglected because of the attention given to her troubled drug addict sister.

My rating: **** (out of 5)

Book Finished: The Other by David Guterson


As a teen, Neil, from a blue collar family, becomes friends with John William, from a wealthy Seattle family. The two embark on several dangerous wilderness expeditions. Neil moves on to college and becomes a high school teacher. John William drops out of college, and with Neil's assistance, drops out of society to study Gnosticism (whatever that is) and to live on his own in the remote Hoh River Valley where he meets his death.

The reader suspects that John William's social isolation is a result of his abusive and neglectful mother. At the same time, however, it's clear that John William understands the environmental damage that has already been done as well as the effects this will have on the future. He seems to believe that withdrawal from society is the only way to live with integrity.

My rating: *** (out of 5)

Thursday, October 30, 2008

An October Sunday


Sunday I went to Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor. This is the second year for this event, and it is not a large fiber festival. There was much more roving than yarn available from vendors. Although I'm far from needing more yarn, I did buy some sock yarn from Yarn or a Tale.

On the way home I stopped by Zingerman's Creamery for cheese and at Matthei Botanical Garden to hike their trails. The fall color was beautiful.