Rob said an interesting thing when I saw him, which I thought I’d share with you, whoever you are (probably me sigh). He pointed out how he’d always assumed that he was an introvert, someone who looks inward, is highly reflective, and doesn’t really require social stimulation to function. His recent discovery was that he might be an extrovert, with strong social anxiety. Wow!! What a revelation this was, as soon as I processed it.

I’m been mulling this over in the back of my brain, and think that this quite possibly describes me as well. I always assumed that being shy and reserved made me an introvert, but not necessarily. So, this requires a complete overhaul of self-image and/or self-concept. By the way, I am trying to keep this as non journal-like as possible, it is hard.

Anyway, an interesting something to think on.

Rob came up from Santa Cruz Friday night after I told him over email that I was moving to NC. It is odd that we are both going through rather complicated breakups, that makes two friends! But It was great to see him, I learned some new stuff, as always. I’ve had some of the my intelligent conversations speaking with him. I’m going to miss him (and others of course :). We didn’t do much other than chat and eat dinner and breakfast. He crashed on the couch, which couldn’t have been that comfortable. Oh well, he’s a good sport.

DalRae came over Saturday afternoon and helped clean and packed some of her stuff. So, that was a help, but there is much more to be done. She left early, so she’ll be back today, as well as most of Monday.

I finally called Katie, my brother-in-law’s wife. They’ve always been so great to me (not that the other family hasn’t, by any means), so welcoming and friendly. Katie always makes me feel good, as she always says I’m a great guy, which is always nice to hear. I’m going to have dinner with them tonight, sort of a final goodbye of sorts. Katie warned that she’d probably start crying I think she is mostly in the dark as to why DalRae and I are over, so perhaps I can fill in some details. Nothing too revealing of course, for DalRae’s sake, as she’ll still be their sister.

I heard through the grapevine that they might want to buy my car, which would be fantastic!! I really hope they’ll want it, it would simplify things a lot. Of course, I’d probably have to discount it a bit. Oh well, that’s what family is about.

Also, completely an aside, I’ve made 26 entires in 31 days. I was hoping to be closer to 31, shooting for a post a day, but last week I did very few posts. A goal for next month then. I might get another journal entry in tonight, after I get back from dinner as well. And perhaps a writeup of the movie U-571 as well.

[[imdb:0064276 Easy Rider]] is an indie film from 1969 that explores the hippie counter-culture movement of drugs, sex, and motorcycles. The movie was directed by Dennis Hoppper and produced by Peter Fonda, both of whom act in the lead roles.

It is hard to watch a 30+ year old movie and try to appreciate it as it was percevied when it premiered. This movie was influential enough that it would have affected movies since, some of which I have probably seen. Bearing that in mind, this movie didn’t really do all that much for me. I wasn’t able to relate to the characters all that well, so their actions never had much of a meaning to me.

I did find it a fascinating record of hippie life, communes, acid trips, and such. It must have been an exciting time, experimenting with alternative styles of living, against the status quo. On the other hand, a lot of those experiments failed, and probably many lives were ruined.

This movie seems to have had major impacts on movie making, so I wouldn’t discourage watching it. But, its edge and shock have been quite dulled, so don’t expect all that much.

An irritation was the Mardi Gras street scenes, which were obviously shot on different film. The DVD extras informed me that this was their test footage—upon successful completion of these scenes, the production was allowed to procesed.

[[imdb:0286106 Signs]] is the latest entry by Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan. It could be considered very Hitchcockian in its use of suspense and leaving your imagination to run wild.

Although you wouldn’t guess from the trailer, the movie is only partially about extraterrestrials. The signs referenced in the titles apply not only to crop circles, but also divine signs. Graham, the main character, is an ex-reverend who has lost faith in his god. He discovers his belief in a higher power during hist journey through the movie. I found this subtheme to help hold the movie together, it isn’t just a suspense/horror movie.

After Shyamalan’s success with The Sixth Sense, and only slightly less with Unbreakable, I was quite happy with this film. It was partially filmed on location in rural Pennsylvania, which I think helped it standout. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix deliver solid performances. The Ray Reddy was played by the director himself, only worth mentioning because he isn’t really an actor.

It hit me last night that I have NO time left. A week ago, I was thinking about how soon 4 weeks ago would arrive. Now I’ve got three, and not much more accomplished. I sent my list of stuff to move to the mover last night, and he’ll be out on Monday to give a real estimate. The laundry room walls are patched now, which looks great. So, now we’ve got to paint that room completely, as well as finish up the trim in a few of the other rooms. DalRae will be over on Saturday and Monday and we’ll spend all day cleaning, painting, and prepping. Mark said that I could pack all the stuff that I won’t need access to before I move.

Crickey! In other news, I verified my apartment today, which is great. They can’t tell me if they’ll have a garage for me to use; they’ll know more next week. If they don’t have one, I’m not sure what I’ll do, rent a storage unit, or sell some stuff out here.

The bosses provided us food today, so that was very nice. I didn’t have to go get my usual Thursday sandwich. Pretty sad that I have a standard day for going out for a sandwich, eh? We got to use the new video conferencing for the first time today, which was pretty cool, albeit short. And someone at work sorta bitched to me about the state of affairs in the business, which was slightly uncomfortable. She apologized right afterwards, I was apparently talking to her just after she had been dealt some crap and I got the unprocessed and unfilterd response.

Ohh, and I got a call from my Chapel Hill agent wondering if I had been unhappy with her. Some back story: when I was touring with her, she mentioned that because I used the relocation office, her commission was considerably reduced. I imagin she was telling me this to explain her request to have any of my friends contact her directly. I found it tacky and unprofessional, and I told as much to my agent here, who initiated the relocation process. But I also told him that I still planned on using her in Chapel Hill. Apparently, he sent word back down the line anyway, so she felt the need to clarify with me. This just makes things even weirder, and more uncomfortable, for me. Dammit