Recap '08

It's snowing here in CT. I'm flying back to LA from Providence tomorrow assuming the white stuff does not keep me prisoner. Watched Kung Fu Panda and Prince Caspian last night. In a year without Wall-E I would have been quite impressed with Kung Fu Panda, though I think the latter translates better on the small screen. I like the palette. I read the Narnia books half a lifetime ago (more maybe), and I didn't remember much of Prince Caspian. I think I found him quite dull originally, but I liked the movie. Ben Barnes' accent is frightful, and the movie--hell, the story--is not really a children's one when you think about it. And it's hardly clear that what the children and Caspian are doing are right. It's great that they want to bring the Narnians out from hiding, but is it right to do so by attacking one's home? I don't know. There was something not quite right about it all. I think I preferred The Silver Chair.

Watching Caspian also dredged up old memories about the Susan problem, which apparently has bothered everyone else too. And here I thought it was just me. In the last book SPOILER ALERT all the children die in a train accident, except, presumably, Susan. I don't remember if it was clear whether Susan died and just didn't get to go to Narnia, or if she survived. And if she survived, would she get to go to Narnia later? I was kind of under the impression that Susan had stopped believing. Which is great if you're writing a Christian fable, as Mr. Lewis was, but still, did anyone really buy that Susan would have stopped believing in Narnia? Narnia was always a little bit bigger than what it was supposed to represent, and I (and apparently lots of other people always felt let down because of the Susan problem. Sadness.

Christmas was good. Went up to Mass as usual, had some good food, got a few decent gifts and some money to keep me from total poverty. Went to Philly on Sunday but was feeling quite sick, and then was in New York on Monday--had a swell time, but now I have something wrong with my ear and it's exquisitely painful. Ibuprofen helps a bit.

It's been quite a wild year, I think, and I hope the next one is a lot more chill. I have my doubts, what with the economy and this mess in Gaza and basically the majority of the people in the world sucking hard, but maybe it'll turn out all right on the end.

And now my sister insists on rewatching Caspian in our messy living room, which is where I'm typing this, so I'm going to jet. See you on the flip side.