The day before I leave...now I keep thinking of all of these last minute things I should have been doing. Like I spent lunch hitting the bookstores (mostly of the used variety) trying to find cheap sci-fi paperbacks for the plane reading. I ended up with two books, though one's a hardback and thus won't be coming along. Then after hitting the stores and the bank, I started to head back to work..and then realized "dammit, I should have just gone to the SPCA, their books are hella cheap and plentiful, WHY DIDN'T I THINK TO GO THERE?" Not to mention, why didn't I think to go there earlier in the week? I like being a speed reader, but it really sucks when it comes to vacationing. I cannot possibly pack enough books. I'm debating dropping some off around the East Coast when I finish with them like I did when I went to Hawaii, but where does one do that there? In Hawaii you just do that in your condo, but that's not an issue here.

After spending the last week checking weather reports for the states I am going to and they were all saying "seventies and raining" for the last week, now they are forecasting some low 80's temperatures and I'm thinking, "Dammit, I may need to repack AGAIN."

I do not look forward to Mom coming into my apartment and exploding drama all over me tonight and getting underfoot and yelling at me while I pack. And since we have to leave here at what, 4:30 or 5 a.m., I'm thinking that I shouldn't even bother trying to sleep tonight. I'm a born night owl and I tend to wake up off and on for at least 2 hours before I have to get up too early in the morning as is, so what's the point? Except with Mom around, she'll bitch if I don't attempt to sleep... so I'll what, sleep for 2 or 3 hours? Yeah, right.

In other news, L and I went to see Celeste and Jesse Forever. This was not nearly as fun as Hit and Run. It's well done, mind you, but a bummer. It brought up L's relationship baggage and even made me, who hasn't had one since the dark ages, have a few ick moments or flashbacks.

Anyway: Celeste and Jesse have been together forever and are (still) bizarrely schmoopy and have terrifying in-jokes that should not be done in front of well, anyone. I am not kidding when I tell you that one of their in-jokes is mutually masturbating tiny objects such as a lip balm tube and later, a baby corn. I wouldn't do that in public if I were you guys. But this is even more disturbing to witnesses because they separated six months ago. Celeste is into career, Jesse is a flaky artist, and Celeste won't have a baby with him because of that. But otherwise they are hanging out enough that you wouldn't be able to tell they were split. We see Jesse go on a date basically because his friend asks out a girl for him, and Jesse seems even more into Celeste still than she is into him (though honestly, it's pretty close). He still wants her back. Then there's the night where Celeste can't put together some piece of IKEA furniture, and Jesse gives up and turns it into a robot. This is adorable and so needs to be put into a blog someday: "People Who Gave Up On Assembling IKEA And Just Made Something Else." Anyhoo, they get drunk, sleep together, Jesse thinks they're back together, Celeste says no...

And then, well, Jesse finds out that a one-night stand he boinked 3 months ago--and lemme tell ya, the girl is like Celeste's Belgian clone-- got pregnant by it. Suddenly these two are both forced out of their relationship, and Jesse feels like he has to throw himself into settling down and having a baby and green card marrying with the new girl. Now, while I HATE HATE HATE plotlines where the dumped guy can find a new girl in 2.5 seconds and meanwhile the woman can't find anybody except weirdos and creeps--of course, I hate it because that's always what happens in real life-- I can say that you get the feeling like if the sperm hadn't hit the mark, Jesse wouldn't have been ready to Move On from Celeste yet. I did appreciate that we saw moments where he was having doubts, rather than throwing himself into the New like dudes usually do. Celeste has a quiet, pot-infused breakdown and dates some random dudes, and finally sortakinda hits if off with one of them enough that you're okay with it.

Is it a good movie? It's well done, funny in parts (i.e. the bizarre tiny masturbation), occasionally surprisingly touching in areas that don't involve C&J's disintegrating relationship, such as Celeste unexpectedly bonding with the pop tart she has to deal with at work. The LA setting works well. But I probably wouldn't re-watch it. It's a little too hard for my usual tastes, I suppose.

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