TUESDAY IN ENEMY TERRITORY . . .

I just love movie-theatre popcorn. There's something so digustingly tasty about it ...

***

C.o.S. and I saw "Brokeback Mountain" this afternoon. First of all, I must know why there were so many people in the theatre for a 1:00 p.m. showing. Doesn't anyone work?

Ahem.

No one back home wanted to see "Brokeback Mountain" with me, for a myriad of reasons, all of which I understand but none of which I fully accept. I come up here and C.o.S. tells no one here wanted to see it with her either, for similarly understandable but unacceptable reasons. Then she waggles her eyebrows at me. Well, of course we're going to see it together, duh.

It was JUST. SO. SAD. From the moment the first shot opened, my heart sank into my belly and stayed there for the entire film. It was beautifully shot ... in a very sad way. It was nicely acted ... in a very sad way. It was well-written ... in a very sad way. So sad.

The only thing that occasionally distracted me from my sadness was the fact that Michelle Williams used to play Jen on "Dawson's Creek" ... and that she received an Oscar nomination for her VERY NOMINAL and not-that-interesting role in this film. Slim pickins for female actresses in 2005, I guess ...

(P.S.: the soundtrack -- the instrumental parts of it -- is gorgeous. Check it out; I already did.)

***

It's snowing here. It's cold. New York seems like the Deep South to me now.

***

After spending two-and-a-quarter hours devoting our brains to high-brow art, it was time to turn them off. Tonight, as promised, we turned into boys and watched "Kicking and Screaming," starring our very favorite Will Ferrell, and "Wedding Crashers," starring our very favorite Vince Vaughn. Then we scratched ourselves and went to bed.

Actually, we did neatly avoid Shrub's voice. We were sort of fascinated by the entry of the Cabinet and all the glad-handing that was going on in the chamber of the House. I am always extremely moved when I see this gathering on television. It is rare and unnatural, I think, for a government's political 'enemies' to gather in one place at one time, paste smiles on their faces, shake each others' hands, and sit for almost an hour in civility and respect (if not agreement) listening to their leader speak about things with which they do or do not agree or disagree, with varying levels of conviction and vehemence. After all, politicians in the various former Soviet republics are constantly throwing chairs at each other during their meetings. We here in the States ... we don't have it half-bad. Still, my main concern: "I wonder if they like each other or are they really that fakey-fakey? SURELY some of them must be friends. SURELY." I just don't know why it's so important to me that the members of Congress be friends with each other.

We were also exceedingly charmed by how frazzled and awed and exhausted Sam Alito looked in his new robe. Come to think of it, the robe sort of didn't fit right; poor guy probably didn't have his fitting yet, even. It was adorable -- as far as Supreme Court Justices can be adorable -- to see him tilt his head as far back as it would go and gaze about the chamber with his mouth slightly agape, seemingly disbelieving still that he was there, that he had been confirmed, that he was now a United States Supreme Court Justice, that he -- from wherever he came -- was now in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives, witnessing a presidential State of the Union address. It sort of made me think that perhaps, despite his years of training and hobnobbing and politicking and advocating ... perhaps he was still able to be awed and to be in awe of his life and his career. Perhaps there was a touch of innocence still left in him ... I think that might bode well for the rest of his tenure on the High Court. But of course, my main concern still: "I wonder what Sandra Day is doing right now."

When the chamber door opened up and Shrub started to walk in, C.o.S. and I started shrieking at her husband: "Don't let him open his mouth! Put in the DVD! DO. NOT. LET. HIM. OPEN. HIS. MOUTH." Poor SC. "Kicking and Screaming" went right in, and I was SO ready to be charmed anew by Will Ferrell ... but he just didn't do it for me tonight. The film was nearly unwatchable. So we didn't. "Wedding Crashers" went right in; it was mildly enjoyed, although the foremost question on our minds was, "how many uppers is Vince Vaughn on exactly?"

Bonus: Will Ferrell appears at the end of "Wedding Crashers."

***

Life with the L.O.L.'s -- all of them or one of them or any combination thereof -- is immensely comfortable. If you are an L.O.L., you can eat whatever you want, sit wherever you want, drink wherever you want, read whatever you want, say whatever you want, do whatever you want. And when you vacation with the L.O.L.'s -- all of them or one of them or any combination thereof -- you are also immensely comfortable, because everything is predictable in the best, most ideal and sweetest sort of way. You're going to eat a lot. You're going to have a serious discussion or two. You're going to laugh quite a bit and roll your eyes at the silliness of everything around you (not including yourselves, natch). You're going to go grocery shopping and rustle up something to eat. You're going to keep on eating. And then you're going to smoosh into a couch (or bed, if you're on vacation at Hershey Spa & Hotel) and watch it's-so-bad-it's-good television or a DVD.

Life is grand.

***

C.o.S. told me the other day that she loves her job because she gets to do what she knows that she's good at doing.

Huh. I never thought of it that way. I always believed that I should love my job, whatever I do, because I would work hard at it and it would be "fulfilling" and "meaningful" and would result from me applying my training and education. It never occurred to me to just do what I know I'm good at, and love my work because of that. It makes so much sense -- the satisfaction, the confidence, the comfort of doing what you are good at must be incredibly rewarding.

Talking about my upcoming interview, she told me that she suspects I will be good at advocacy-oriented work. I never thought of myself in that way ... but I am increasingly thinking that she is right. And I think that fortunately, my skill sets would happen to mesh with me being good at advocacy. So that got me to thinking ... what else am I good at? Here is the grand master list:

* cooking healthy and hearty meals for large groups of people in a short amount of time
* baking
* organizing (although the state of my study right now would not testify convincingly to that)
* planning events, parties and get-togethers
* reading
* taking care of people
* grocery shopping
* making coffee
* intuiting how people are feeling and what they are needing
* giving massages (I am merely assuming this because I have yet to receive absolutely negative feedback)
* finding and encouraging potential in others
* doing things on the Web (finding unimportant factoids on Google is a particular specialty)
* taking notes
* giving loved ones what they want without them asking
* driving
* walking (yes, despite the fact that I often trip over nothing)
* multi-tasking
* washing dishes
* remembering
* packing
* purchasing appropriate and meaningful gifts
* purchasing significant and educational children's books
* following current events
* being defensive
* purchasing things at The Container Store, Williams-Sonoma, Borders Bookstore, J.Crew and Whole Foods Market
* thinking and mulling
* writing emails
* holding grudges
* keeping a musical beat
* snuggling

There are more things, I hope, but I just can't think of them right now. I don't know how this list is going to guide me in my ever-continuing growth as an attorney. This could turn out to be very, very interesting ...