After nearly a week of vacation, I went back to work today for a couple of days. Then I’ll be off again until Boxing Day, work a couple of days and then be off until the end of the year. I’ve done no writing whatsoever during my break. We’ve spent our evenings watching the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD and doing other seasonal things like decorating the tree.
ST:TNG launched at the same time as I finished my doctoral program, back in ’87. I defended my thesis in September and moved out of my apartment at the end of the month. I had a couple of days’ worth of work to finalize changes from my committee, so I stayed with a friend and remember that the premiere first aired when I was at his place. There are elements of the show that I never cared for…the way the actors exchange meaningful glances or nod in a self-satisfied manner as if they need to do something to get themselves noticed among the ensemble, but the show stands up reasonably well after two decades. The second season is a significant advance. The actors are more comfortable in their roles, and the cinematography is more dynamic and daring.
There was a brand new computer on my desk when I got back to work today. It has a flat panel, wide-screen monitor, more memory than my brain and it’s considerably faster than my six-year-old Windows NT system. I had to do a little tinkering and tweaking to get it personalized, but our IT guy did a fantastic job of getting everything installed that I had on it previously, so I could just turn it on and get straight to work this morning.
We watched Amelie last night. We saw it in theaters when it first came out, and maybe once since then, but had forgotten enough of the details that we enjoyed it all over again. We received a copy of the soundtrack as an early Christmas gift, which is what got me in the mood to see it again. We heard the soundtrack at a restaurant in Halifax a few months ago and enjoyed the jaunty French music with a heavy accordian influence.
We’re up to the mid 70s today. Doesn’t feel at all like the latter half of the latter month of the year. I think there’s colder weather over the horizon.
