How's tricks?

For the past couple of days, I've been watching the BBC adaptation (written by Andrew Davies) of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit". I enjoyed it a lot when is ran on PBS earlier this year, but I felt that some subplots were not completely explained/examined. But watching the original version, I like it even more. Plus, now that I know the general story, I can pay attention to the subplots much easier and understand how they (the subplots) help drive the main plot. And, I've figured out who the heck everyone is! I feel the same way about Robert Altman's "Gosford Park". The first time I saw it, I liked it but it was hard to understand the relationship between all the characters. But by the third time, I know who everyone is and what their relationship and interactions are with everyone else. That is what I love best about well written movies, the more that you see them, the more you understand and enjoy the movie. And you can appreciate other aspects of the movie like the score, the costumes, or the cinematography (try it with a Hitchcock movie, those are some of the best). And the other thing I enjoyed about Little Dorrit is playing my favorite game of "ID that Brit!". I love in BBC/PBS shows, that some of the same actor pop up again and again making imdb my friend in figuring out why I recognize an actor (like when I was watching an episode of Doctor Who and I figured out that one of the actors was in Little Dorrit).



Oh yeah, BBC's Bleak House is equally good!

Another Year

I went home this past weekend to celebrate my birthday and spend some time with my parents and Lucy (and Josh and Vaughn). Since Lucy had to work all day Sunday, I opened my birthday presents on Saturday morning. Lucy and Josh and Rachel and Trey got me a really nice set of new silverware (my current silverware was a little mismatched). Ellis and Vaughn got me an awesome "The Office" poster. Mom (in addition to the new desk she got me when she was here) got me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (although that might have been Lucy) and a subscription to Real Simple. And then Bridget got a subscription to Mental Floss (I do love getting magazine subscriptions. So after the presents, Mom, Lucy, Vaughn, and I went it to town to run a few errands (and have lunch at Pucinni's which is one my favorite restaurants in Lafayette). We stopped at Target (Lucy had to return something) and I got a fancy new bamboo silverware divider to go with my beautiful new silverware:
Also on Saturday, Mom and I got new phones (which I love so much!). Thank you everyone that sent me birthday wishes (include the lovely serenade from Ellis). Love you all, and I can't wait to see everyone sometime this summer!