19 November 2004

The Shr(i)ek of Memory

      Sorry, folks, there's not going to be too much of an update today as the N-S-G Doctor has decided rather selfishly to take Friday as an actual (gasp!) Friday and so dicker it away as mindlessly as possible.   One thing: watched Shrek 2 this morning at long last, the Doc being one who never gets out to movie theatres anymore. (It's a fact that astonishes some people that the last film I saw in the cinema was Gosford Park, and before that The Phantom Menace.)   I have to say I wasn't especially looking forward to seeing the movie, because, shall we say, I have a very specific personal association with the first film, and I half-expected my response to the sequel to be a little bittersweet. Alas, I'm cursed with an ironist's memory, to the point that certain films/books/songs/etc. can become, rather inexplicably, tied to certain people and events: to this day, an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air always reminds me of one young woman, Moondance reminds me of another, and even the smell of apples reminds me of yet another. It's a bit of a curse, I think. So, permanently etched in what remains of my brain is the memory of watching the first film with a certain young woman, not one of the ones alluded to above, her head gently resting on my lap as we watched it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Doc can be a bit of sentimental fool-- a fact he generally despises. I hate it when the past creeps out of its tomb and has to be put back in its place. Better not to go near the mausoleum in the first place.

      But, surprisingly, Shrek 2 really was a hoot to watch, the film being as good as its predecessor and just as inspired-- with the DVD featuring the bonus chuckle of hearing Larry King sing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." I'm sure most of you have seen the film by now, and probably several times, so I'm really just having a delayed reaction as I am wont to do. Sure, the movie lacks the romantic poignancy of the first film, but it makes up for it with its madcappery. I haven't laughed quite as much as I did this morning in rather a long while. Such pleasant surprises don't happen often enough.

      As for, well, that memory-thang: it's not so bad, this time, even if a (very small) part of me can't help but wonder what that young woman-- so fiery, a whirlwind of energy and spirit, and very attractive, to say the least-- is doing now. It's been a while. *shrug* Oh shit, I'm starting to sound like a Paul Simon song. Memory: it's an unkind thing, best dispensed with like yesteray's garbage. But, what can I say? She was a gorgeous girl, by all accounts, with a lot of spunk and sass and charm. I've always been a sucker for women like that. That in itself is another curse of mine. Damn and blast, damn and blast.  

      Anyway, onward ho. A lazy, hazy, utterly unproductive Friday awaits.

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