back to the grind

There is nothing sadder than seeing your vacation come to an end. I found myself despondent as I climbed aboard an Amtrak train and returned to the city from the beautiful Lake George. For the past fourteen summers, my parents have rented a cottage for two weeks on the Lake. I used to go for the whole two weeks, but now since I am a grown-up, I take a long weekend and head upstate for a rest. The cottage is rustic....I mean there is a TV, plumbing, and a stove, but there are bugs. I don't really like bugs, and in fact, I am so sick of watching cockroaches skitter towards the corners when I turn on the light in our kitchen. (Boo!) Anyway, I spent my time at the lake reading trashy novels, watching older movies, and getting a solid nine hours of sleep. It was bliss.

CRADLE WILL ROCK

I wanted to love this movie more than I did. I don't mean to imply that I didn't enjoy it, it was just really different from what I thought it was going to be. [SPOILER] I was particularly moved by the true story of the musical CRADLE WILL ROCK which actors performed from the audience after the Government said they couldn't do it on the stage. The film also featured fabulous actors including Broadway favorite Victoria Clark, Emily Watson, and the Cherry Jones. Will this appear on my top-10 list? No. However, if you are interested in government censorship, or an arts-lover in general, you should check this out.

THE PIANIST

Adrien Brody grabbing and kissing Halle Berry at the Oscars was pretty much the extent of my knowledge of this film. So, using the fabulous New York City Library system, I decided to check this film out. Brody is absolutely stunning in this horrific look at the Holocaust in Poland. This movie is hard to watch. Horrible things were done, and director Roman Polanski is unflinching in his portrayal. I was moved, saddened, sickened, exhilarated, and artistically fulfilled as I watched this film. One to see....but only if you are able to take a good, hard look at how ugly, and also beautiful, humanity can be.

After returning to the city, I decided I was still on vacation, and so set off on a night of fun for me. First, I took in HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX on IMAX-3D which was freakin' awesome! This is the way to see this movie. I still love this movie even though I have seen it like four times! That says something....that's all I'm saying.

Then, I did something bad. I walked the street of New York, shopping, with a vacation high. It started with a lovely Vera Bradley bag (with little pink elephants on it, and 10% of proceeds going towards breast cancer research), and ended with a portable DVD player. Beth + happy vacation high = $$$$$. So, I had a great night, and will not eat meat for the rest of the month. I am actually all about this one sandwich (leftover from vacation days) right now. You toast some bread, add some cream cheese, and then add tomato and cucumber. It is super yummy, and makes me thinks of afternoon at the lake. (sigh)

At least there are only 50 weeks until I go to the lake again!

Photo credit: http://www.movieweb.com/ (all movie pics) and my cell phone