Daily Routine 2

I went to lunch with a colleague/friend and then we went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" at the cinema. We arrived plenty early, and it was like a social convention, because I saw two former students, a former colleague and a current student, who was working the concessions stand. The theater ended up being pretty full, so I was glad we had arrived a bit early.

The movie was pretty good overall. It's not supposed to be a deep-thinking, thought-provoking piece of art. It is a summer popcorn flick. And it was good. Johnny Depp and the rest of the cast were fine in their performances, and the plot cruised along well. Turns out it is a cliffhanger ending, with the third installment of the series already filmed and slated for release in a year. I knew that part, but I had not realized it was a two-parter. The whole movie and premise is fantasy-based, and I knew that from the first movie's over-the-top swashbuckling with undead pirates. But the most ridiculous part of this film was the sword fight atop the mill's water wheel that breaks loose and rolls through the forest. That was the part I just thought was too hard to suspend disbelief for. I don't know why, but it was.

The annoying parts of the film experience was the teens in there using their phones to send text messages. The illuminated screens were annoying. The other part was the fact that the projected image was slightly out of focus -- the left half of the screen was just a bit blurry. It was not enough to go out during the show. Afterward I complained to the manager.

Came home this afternoon and got to work entering some of the registration forms for the summer journalism workshop. I am the co-director, and one of my responsibilities is to be the registrar. I know we have just over 200 students registered so far, and I entered 70 of them before dinner. Took my dinner break (the pot roast) and read the newspaper. My brother called this afternoon to let me know when he would be by tomorrow to take a look at the light switches in my bathroom. He will be here for work anyway, so he is stopping by. After a bright flash of the vanity lights, they suddenly stopped working just before my trip a couple weeks ago. So, knowing he would be here in the morning, I did a little cleaning up around the house.

That's pretty much it. Tonight I plan a bit of TV (Kathy Griffin is on "Larry King Live" tonight) and entering a few more of the registration forms, since I promised I would have totals available for my co-director tomorrow.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.