Notes on a Sunday

My baby is gone! I sent my laptop off yesterday afternoon, feeling all empty-nesty after I left the box at the DHL drop-off location, which is anonymously housed in a tiny storefront copy store just a block from my apartment. I've never been in there because it looked, well, seedy. But DHL listed it on its site as "authorized" and Gateway chose them as the prepaid carrier, so there you go, even though I felt like I had dropped my teenager off in a badly lit parking lot on the outskirts of a college campus and told her to "find your own dorm room." Thank god for online tracking, which confirmed that the DHL truck picked up my package as promised, and it's safely on its way to Houston. I signed up for an email notification of its arrival, just like a nervous mom's "Call me when you get there so I know you're okay."

I have my work laptop home this weekend. It looks odd on my desk. Interloper. I just noticed that I'm automatically signed into Windows Messenger. Not surprising that I am the only one in my contact list who is online at her work computer at 7 am on a Sunday morning.

I finished reading "One Good Turn," and it continued to be a good decent mystery read, but not with the "wow" power of Kate Atkinson's last, "Case Histories." So, yes, I was disappointed. I am cleansing my palate with "The Devil Wears Prada," which I had not read before seeing the movie, but feels borderline trashy enough to feel about right for my mood right now. It's not great, but enjoyable. I think if you have seen Meryl Streep bring the character alive already on the screen, she's doomed to be flat on the page. A case where I believe the film outshines the book (admittedly as I'm just halfway through it.)

Remember how I likened "Notes on a Scandal" to the trashy side of "Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and "Fatal Attraction"? Well, "Fatal Attraction" was on this morning (5:40 am, yes, I know, I need to figure out how to sleep in.) There is a scene I'd forgotten: during a business meeting after they've first met, Glenn Close's character quietly gestures to Michael Douglas's character to let him know he has a bit of his breakfast on his nose (cream cheese?), which is played out almost identically in "Notes" when Judi Dench's character alerts Cate Blanchett's to a bit of latte foam on her nose during a meeting. (It's repeated another time in the film, as well, to indicate a pattern of behavior.) It must be a homage, although I wonder how many people would get it right away. It's not like Judi boils a bunny or tries to nurse Cate's child or anything.

I need to see a movie today. I'm going through withdrawal. I tried watching a Netflix rental last night and it skipped madly in the first few minutes so had to give up. Frustrating!