Had a doctor's appointment last night, to have him look at a lump I had recently noticed in my arm. I'm not actually sure how long it's been there, as my arms used to have a bit more padding than they do now. But I noticed it about six weeks ago.
I didn't expect the lump to be a big deal & going to the doctor was mostly a precaution. Now that she's gotten old, Thirteen has these "fatty tumors" all over and the vet says they're completely harmless. So I figured mine was probably something like that, and my doctor pretty much agreed. He measured it (2 cm diameter) and told me to check it once a month and come back if it ever changes.
To be honest, I kind of felt like the appointment was a waste of time. Especially since I had to wait 40 minutes. They said it would be 10, and then they wouldn't let me leave the examining room to use the bathroom or make a phone call, since "the doctor might be there any minute." 40 minutes later I'm sitting there reading Parenting magazine because they had nothing else. Remind me never to schedule an evening appointment there again, or at least to bring a book. At least I didn't have to get undressed because he was just looking at my arm. Also, this was the first time I'd seen him since my cholesterol tests came back, and he told me the results were "amazing." Which was nice to hear but on the other hand, it's kind of sad that a doctor is amazed by healthy cholesterol levels. Maybe he just used that word to make me feel good.
The introduction of the Ikea furniture into the house has sparked a frenzy of cleaning and reorganizing. Georg did a ton of work while I was away, and now I'm trying to do my share. There's a lot to be done but we're whittling away at the mess faster than I had expected. Last night a couple of friends came over unexpectedly, and I actually wasn't embarrassed to let them in and show them the new stuff. That's a bizarre feeling.
We are having a problem with the sewing table though. I have this old sewing table, the kind that's supposed to have a machine inside it, but I always used to just sit my machine on top since it didn't fit inside. Now we have the stereo on the sewing table, so I had been setting up the sewing machine on the dining table. Which was a nice arrangement, lots of room to work, except that the entire dining room would be full of sewing stuff until my project was done, which could take days. Or even longer if I got distracted in the middle of a project, which has been known to happen. Georg had the idea of putting the sewing machine on the drafting table. Which looked like it would work great, except that 1. the drafting table is too high, and 2. it's not that sturdy so it shakes while the machine is in use. Which is a bit distracting. So now we're looking at sewing tables.
I hear that The Matrix Reloaded has been getting some negative press, and I have to admit I can't join the hate train. Sure, it didn't blow me away like the first one did. But I wasn't expecting that. When I saw the first one, I knew nothing about it. All the stuff about virtual reality was a total surprise (Which is sadly rare, considering the nature of movie marketing). There was no way the second one could have surprised me like that.
What I was mainly hoping for was enjoyable special effects, and it provided plenty of that. I only had two quarrels with Reloaded, both pretty minor: first, some of the fight scenes looked way too CGI for my taste. Maybe I've seen too many HK movies, but I actually like wire work. I like when you can see that those are actual people, even if they are on wires. But when everyone in a scene is completely CGI, you aren't seeing any actors at all, it starts to look like a computer game. I realize that some of the fight scenes in Reloaded would have been impossible without CGI, but that doesn't make me like the look of it any better.
Second, the ending. (Don't read this paragraph if you're planning to see the movie.) I have to say I felt let down by the ending. I'm sure it's difficult to do an ending that isn't really an ending at all, but still has some feeling of closure. But not impossible; Empire Strikes Back did a good job of it. But the cliff-hanger ending of Reloaded was so jarring, I half expected to hear a narrator say "Tune in next November! Same bat time, same bat channel!" It was really that corny.
So anyway, minor complaints aside I did enjoy Reloaded quite a bit. Which may have had something to do with the setting -- I went with a whole group of friends to a late night sneak preview in a packed theater. Fun movies are always more fun when you're surrounded by people who are also enjoying them. And we even managed to get decent seats, and the people around us were even relatively good about not talking during the movie.
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