You're a Good (Wo)Man, Charlie Brown

So, today has been an interesting day.

First, I played the good samaritan and called 311 when I saw this HUGE pile of garbage that had obviously spilled out of at least two different hefty black garbage bags and was now lying on the corner of 52nd and 1st. The heap of congealed vegetables and strings of turkey meat and other indistinguishable food left-overs promised to start smelling foully soon and was taking up a good portion of the sidewalk. So I called the city and filed a report, good New Yorker that I am.

Second, on the train to work I ended up having a very amiable, almost too friendly, chat with another commuter about the heat and the week's weather. The whole time I had a Shalom Sesame song stuck in my head where the muppet characters want to talk to each other but they're embarrassed, so the guy decides to break the ice by talking about the heat: "Cain cham meod, it sure is hot!" SO cute. If you haven't seen it, come over and I'll play it for you. Adorable.

Third, I've spent almost the last hour talking to a staff assistant at the Virginia office (he and I frequently chat via instant messenger and have bonded over baseball and a dislike of the Red Sox) about the situation in Israel. It's nice to just talk it all out and hear other people's arguments, especially when they're in line with one's own views and provide other ways to make the point. It's so amazing how many angles you can take, and still come out with the same answer: terrorism has no place in the world.

Interesting to note, and absolutely pertinent given the above: Instant Messaging was invented by Israelis (along with cell phones, centrino technology, and a whole host of other important everyday things). Imagine not having that kind of innovation. I can't.

Speaking of the current crisis/ war; if you haven't yet read the Opinion page of today's New York Times, you absolutely must. I'll probably send out an email with the text included b/c they're Times Select articles, but if you don't get that email and want to read them, just ask me and I'll send it right over. Very very important to read Koeppel's and Friedman's articles.

Saw Lady in the Water last night, I really liked it. Found it to be very entertaining, and definitely deep, though the later is still percolating. It's absolutely one of those movies where you have to let it sit for a while, ruminate and relive and all that. It's different from all of his past movies, and yet retains the same style and nuances. Sam said that it is by far Shyamalan's most personal work and I would agree. Besides, any movie with Bill Irwin and Bob Balaban is an instant success with me. I'm easy to please in that way.