A page from the Notebook

on recommendation from amy nelson, jen and i went to see The Notebook. now, most of you know my malevolence for all things sappy, but for some reason i was really interested in seeing this movie. and it was at the dollar theater, so you can't feel too horribly gypped in the event you hate the film. (seriously, i went to see Scooby Doo 2 there!) the best part of us seeing this film was that we, intentionally and unbeknownst to them, brought along two guys under the pretense of "dinner and a movie." (which, incidentally, ended up being a transposed form of such, or, as jen so aptly put it, "movie and a dinner.") one of them promptly fell asleep, but as it is, it still serves as pretty decent blackmail material, just being able to say he went to the movie. just before the movie started, i was still scolding jen for forgetting the box of kleenex i'd warned her to bring. then two couples filed in to the row behind us, complete with the guys carrying a full box of kleenex. initially, a few rather boisterous comments made me wary of the ever-present obnoxious movie-goers, but they ended up providing some much needed comic relief during the span of the night. the movie was sweet, funny, tragic, romantic, frustrating, emotionally exhausting and elating by its end. once again, ryan gosling made quite an impression with his uncanny ability to take on the life/personality/aura of a person/place/time ... yes, basically what i'm saying is he can act. at the movie's close, sniffing and nose-blowing and clearing of throats could be heard around the theater (as well as one young man's rousing from slumber), and we were again rueing our kleenex deprivation. upon cue, the men behind us offered us use of theirs, and we pounced upon it. they strutted out of the theater proclaiming, "our job here is done." of course, i crashed into bed immediately upon returning home at 11:15, beleaguered with a sob-induced headache, but one well worth it.