Come on, Friday

It struck me again today, as it’s struck me many times recently, how quickly the days roll by.  It seems I just started my new job at the sweatshop, as the designated typist, writer of emails, human resources guru, office-bitch, and fearless bodyguard against the corporate bastards.  {It’s not actually a sweatshop, and no, I’m not naming the company here.}  It may seem as though I just started, however, I did not just begin.  I’ve been at it since June, with about 30 Saturdays thrown in as well. 

As the weeks have packed in their fair share of intensity and head ache, my Beloved one and I have taken to having one little ‘date night’ a week.  Spend some time out in the world among each others company, carefree and meandering, taking in a small sampling of the simple pleasures.   

Typically we’ve been doing this on Fridays, after we visit her eldest at Parry Center.  Quite the nasty piece of work, Parry Center!  One of those places that serves a purpose and function, but leaves you with a strong inclination to take a magical pencil eraser and wipe it away, along with the need for such a place. 

Perhaps it’s an unfair thing, but one of the perks to having our little ‘date nights’ on Friday, is that it helps to shake off the residue that clings to one, after spending a few hours in a place like Parry Center. 

I think think this Friday we’re going to see The Reader.

The Hours, 2003, directed by Stephen Daldry.

It’s terribly difficult to find solid information about The Reader, a rather ambiguously advertised film.  However, its screenplay is written by David Hare, and it is directed by Stephen Daldry.  One of my favorite films, The Hours is the result of their teamwork, and if The Reader treads remotely into its territory, I’m quite sure I’ll flog it with all sorts of appreciation.  Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet are the primary cast.  Nicole Kidman had originally taken some part, {likely the one Kate Winslet won a golden globe for} but withdrew because of pregnancy.   Had she remained, it would certainly be treading back into the neighborhood of The Hours.  Also, had she remained, it would likely be a very different film. 

I have mixed feelings about Winslet.  Fiennes I’m all for.  I think he’s one of the most promising English speaking actors to come along.  Mixed feelings about Winslet, though, not that it matters terribly much.  She’d likely have mixed feelings about me, were she aware of my existence. 

I thought she did some marvelous stuff in Quills and in The Life Of David Gale.  I think that Titanic was quite overcelebrated, with exception of the fact that it had a wonderful score, before Celine Dion got involved.  She played Ophelia in Hamlet with Kenneth Brannagh.  I can’t remember anything particularly inspiring or revolutionary about her Ophelia; nothing I’d circle with a red pen in the Ophelia history book.  Yet, I suppose having a significant role in one of the more successful Shakespeare-On-Film ventures counts for something.  Brannagh’s 1996 Hamlet was nominated for four Academy Awards.

So, with Wednesday evening slipping out, and Thursday morning sliding in, I look forward to Friday.

© Jeffrey Puukka, 2009.