The Water Diviner

Okay, I've got a good recommendation for a movie I passed on in the theatres because the marketing campaign just wasn't compelling enough for me to put it on my list. Then, I recorded it on the DVR, but didn't watch it for a couple of weeks because I was curious, but not curious enough to make some dedicated time for it.

The movie is "The Water Diviner" with Russell Crowe and Olga Kurylenko.  It is a great little movie.  An excellent and understated performance by Russell Crowe and of course, Ms. Kurylenko is as beautiful and charming as ever.  The basic plot is a man travels to Turkey in the aftermath of WWI to find the remains of his three sons who were killed at Gallipolli.

I'm not going to tell you much more because it would give away too much of the plot and too much of what happens during the course of the movie - but I will tell you that it is definitely worth watching.  It is tender and heartfelt through and through.

Just Morning

Well, I haven't been able to get out here and write as much as I would like too.  I realize it is a habit that I have to slip back into and that will take a little bit of time.

Work has been busy, but not too bad, all in all.

It is a quiet Saturday and I think I am going to go out and get some breakfast and then catch a movie.  Last weekend was my relaxed weekend and this weekend I am going to try to get some things knocked off the to do list, so, perhaps a little later in the day I'll log on and let everyone know how it went.

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A fairly good morning.  My friend Bob was not up for breakfast this morning (radiation had his stomach upset) so I went down to Holder's and had some hash and eggs.  From there, over to have the Jeep detailed, then stopped to get a haircut.  Big line at the barber shop and I didn't feel like waiting, so I headed over to AMC 14 and saw "The Nice Guys" with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.  It was very entertaining, definitely recommend it if you want to have a good laugh.  Followed that with a stop at Five Guy's in Westgate West for a burger, then home in the California rain. The day continues to be very nice, all in all.

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Popped back out to donate my old Sony to Goodwill and have an early dinner for Kung Pao Shrimp at Tsing Tao in Campbell.  Still a rainy and dreary day out there.

Vacation - Day One - Evening

It was an easy day to start a vacation on. I lingered in bed, then met Tony for breakfast over at Goodies II.  Breakfast inside me, I swung home and spent an hour or so tinkering around, then joined back up with Tony and ran a couple of errands while getting ready for vacation.  I am basically set to go and tomorrow I just need to throw the incidentals into my bag and I am ready to hit the road - or the air, as the case may be.

We had lunch at Pasta Pomodoro at Santana Row and then took a wandering walk through Best Buy, just to see what the newest tech toys were.  From there, I swung back home and spent the afternoon printing off documents for the trip this weekend, called the ranch, did some incidental things around the house and then settled in to watch "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, an enjoyable movie.  I followed that up with several hours of watching my TomTom update.

Then, I finally heard from my nephew, who was transferred to the hospital in Rapid City, SD.  He is recovering from internal bleeding, as side effect of his illness.  Still, it was good to talk to him and he was going to call the ranch after he talked to me.  A close one, and we can only hope that he learns the lesson about staying on his medication and taking care of himself.

Thoughts on Working Life

As much as I dislike working on my time off, I ended spending about five hours today working on requirements for work.  Last week, due to technical difficulties, we ended up undergoing yet another design change.  I am working with the vendors this week to, basically, alter our design approach yet again, and I've got five days to get it finished and locked down, so I spend the weekend working design and requirements and just emailed them off to the vendor.  Fun and games in flying monkey land.

Other than that, it was a pretty good day.  I had a strange morning.  I woke up thinking about the variety of things I needed to do and I wanted to do and I wondered why, sometimes, I have such a challenge getting started, getting motivated, getting engaged.  It brings me back to the whole circle of discipline and focus and execution, which is all enter related. I also spent a lot of time today thinking about T.R., my family, and all the people in my life.  I think tonight I am full of a million and one questions and no answers, so, for the rest of the night, I am going to let the questions go.

I went out with Tony today and we saw "Broken City" with Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It was a pretty good movie.  A lot of the reviews I read said it was a miss, so I went to it with some low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.  It is a pretty faithful film noir, faithful to the genre that is.  I suspect that, for some people, without the black and white and the mood music, they expected an action or a cop show and it really isn't either.  I'd recommend it.

With that, I am going to curl up with "The King of Thorns" and read myself to sleep.  It is my short week, so it means I will work long days - and then mercifully have Friday off.  I try not to think to much about all of the work that I have ahead of me because it puts me in a bad mood and makes me twist and turn at night.  One thing at a time.  One day at time.

Sum of a Friday

Well, all in all, it was an indifferent Friday. I slept in later than usual (which often leads into my indifferent days), spent some time online, then went out and ran a couple of errands, caught a movie (Body of Lies with Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Ridley Scott), then met some friends for an early dinner at Holdens. After dinner, I ran a few more errands and then circled home. Spent some time on the telephone talking to my mother, and then went out for a nice long walk through the neighborhood.

In hindsight, after I starting writing this entry, there were several high spots during the during - a good morning conversation with someone dear to me, the movie (I always like Ridley Scott movies, he is a very good director), the conversation with my mother, and then the walk. It is a beautiful California night out there - a pure fall night - cool and crisp, and I left just at the trailing edge of twilight and made it home well into the dark.

Then I decided that a nice root beer float would be a fine finale to the evening, so here I am, drinking my float and writing. That is not a bad way to wind your way toward the end of an evening. I have been contemplating writing all day, but the ideas are just kind of swirling about, not entirely formed, so we will see if I actually decide to do any creative writing tonight or not. Meanwhile, let me continue to enjoy this float.