sigh.

So I'm writing this from my apartment, not a Days Inn in North Chicago. Instead of driving to see my friends and spending the day cavorting around a campground with them, I spent the day sleeping, watching TV, or going to a movie. Same crap, different day.

The way it all went down was something that only God's intervention could have caused, and I'm actually grateful for that. I left my apartment at about eight this morning and had to run to Rite Aid to pick up some prescriptions. While there, I figured that instead of hitting an ATM I'd just ask for cash back. Unfortuantely, the girl had just emptied her register and couldn't give cash back. But, she said, there was a bank across the street. Would I be able to just use their ATM? I was in a good mood so I said "sure," and drove over there. When I got the receipt from my cash withdrawal, I found out that my balance was actually about $150 less than I thought it was. I called my bank and found out that I had been pretty stupid in balancing my checkbook and so I was behind. So I decided to be wise and cancel my trip for the sake of my pocketbook.

I could be mad, but I'm not. It was my own fault and I shudder to think what would have happened if I had gone on this trip and spent all that money and come home to find myself deepr in the hole. So I'm thankful that God intervened there. However, I'm mad at myself for making the same old mistakes with finances again. And I'm depressed that I don't get to see Erin and Christina. I was looking forward to this weekend and now all I have is a three day weekend where I can't really do much at the risk of spending too much money.

Like I said...sigh.

So what did I do with my day? I came back to the apartment and laid on the couch for about four hours watching a marathon of "Last Comic Standing" on Comedy Central this morning. Then I took an hour and a half nap. Then I decided to be proactive and go to the movies, which provided the one bright spot in this day.

I went to the Main Art Theatre and saw Garden State. While I feel that it's slightly over-praised by critics and maybe a tad too quirky for it's own good, I did thoroughly enjoy it. Zach Braff really has a great gift for writing and directing. He's got great comic senses and the visual punchlines in the movie are hilarious. The acting is great. Braff was far removed from his character on "Scrubs," and still very funny. Peter Sarsgaard really showed that his excellent performance in Shattered Glass (one of the top performances of last year) was not a fluke. And Natalie Portman. . . again, "sigh." I've never been impressed on her, simply because my only exposure to her has been in the atrocious Star Wars movies that they've been cursing us with. But here. . . man, I was falling in love with her character. She's so young, so full of life, so innocent. Portman nails this character and I'd love to see her rememberd come awards time. She just comes off so cute and wonderful. And Braff's choice of music to match the images was right up there with Cameron Crowe or Quentin Tarantino's choices. It's a soundtrack I think I'll have to be getting.

While I think calling this film the best of the year, as some critics are doing, is a bit over-the-top, it's certainly one of the year's best so far. But that might be because I identified with it. Braff's character, Large, has felt so numb all his life and meeting Sam and going off his meds really causes him to wake up and learn to live life instead of just "doing" what's supposed to be right. I know exactly how the character feels. I remember going home from the hospital after my stroke, feeling the air on my cheeks, and just bursting into tears because I had just bounced around for so long and not really lived. We have to learn to stop hiding our problems, pushing them behind therapy and medication, and learn just to live life because we're not here too long.

Lest it seem this film is mopey or depressing, rest assurred it's not. It's very funny and touching and highly recommended.

So what else? Well, I came home and watched about two hours of "I Love the 80s" on VH1. I took a walk. Watched The Italian Job, which I hadn't seen since it was in theatres. It's a good heist movie with a great chase at the end, but it's no Ocean's Eleven. I love most the cast in it, but Mark Wahlberg just comes across very. . . bland. But Charlize Theron is just so nice on the eyes. . . I find it so hard to believe that this beautiful woman was the same person in Monster. Wow.

Well, that's it. At least I get to go to church tomorrow. That'll be one bright spot. Sigh. Time for bed now. I'm tired. . . you know, from all that sitting around watching TV.

C-Dubbs