Fire, Ice and Rhapsody

Today was my day off. More than that, it was the middle of my four-day weekend, and I had nowhere to be, which is why I purposely did not set my alarm. And yet still I was woken up this morning a little after 8 a.m. by the loud, insistent, piercing beep...of my smoke detector. Don't worry, I'm O.K. It was just the battery dying, but is it insensitive of me to wonder why after three years of my living in this apartment, if it's going to die, can't it do so at a decent hour on a day when I hadn't gotten up my hopes of sleeping in? Because after I got out of the warmth of my thrice-blanketed bed into the cold of my forgot-to-turn-the-heat-on-last-night apartment, pulled the thing off the wall and turned on the light to figure out how to open the secret compartment on the back to remove the criminally self-centered attention-seeking battery in question...well, by that time I'm already up, so I might as well go check my email. And get the temperature above 50.

Not that cold is a bad thing. Brace yourselves: I went to a hockey game this week. Free tickets, good company, never been to one before — none of these were reasons to say no, so I said yes. Turns out I actually enjoyed it. The seats were high enough that I could see what was going on and close enough that I didn't need binoculars, and the game moved at a pace that wouldn't cause a snail named Ennui to die (very slowly, of course) of boredom. There was also air-conditioning. Any sport that comes with air conditioning has at least one thing going for it. (See? Football, no air-conditioning — definitely evil.)

This week was Thanksgiving, for those of you who didn't know, and so I spent some time thinking about the things I am thankful for. My church — never before have I met, let alone had the opportunity to be a part of, such a loving and giving group of people. My job — it's fun...what more can I say? But the one that takes the takes the marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes at the moment I didn't even think of until tonight: I thank God for giving me the ability to be moved by music. Tonight, I went to see August Rush. The movie is about a boy gifted beyond words with musical ability, trying to write the music that will help him find his parents. It plays out like a modern day fable about the power of music. It is deft in its simplicity, and absolutely gorgeous in its portrayal and use of music. August Rush is easily the best movie I have seen this year (yes, even better than The Bourne Ultimatum and Ratatouille); I highly recommend it.