The queen

Danielle and I went out today. An unofficial birthday outing. (Cap found out last week that he'll be in Dublin this Thurs-Sun. So, not that much "me" time forecast for b-day weekend.) We had lunch at Lalezar for Turkish/Mediterranean food. It was so good. The decor was lovely, the service nice, and the food, really wonderful. We had a Turkish salad and the appetizer sampler which included some of my favorites: grape leaves and babaghanoush. The bread was a revelation. We had them put our chicken kebob with yogurt entree straight into a doggy bag because we were stuffed by the time it was ready to be brought out.

We then went to Terra for a few minutes (one of my favorite stores in Montclair, the other one being Watchung Books). It's the kind of store that invites lots of handling. All items are fair trade and come from many corners of the world. There's a tea salon in the back and we picked up movie snacks: chocolate for D and a lemon square for me.

We went to see The Queen. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was let down. I thought it was kind of boring, though interesting at the same time if that makes sense. Helen Mirren was indeed wonderful in it. Prince Philip was made out to be a brutish jerk and I wondered what the source material was in general for a movie so based in real people and events. Watching the movie did remind me of how starved of factual and critical information we actually are (most of us) in an era that is hailed as the "information age". There's a point in the movie when Helen Mirren's character, Queen Elizabeth II, says to the Tony Blair character, "you are my tenth prime minister, the first one having been Winston Churchill." It made me go "hmmm" (I know so little and want to know more).

Cap...in part because he is feeling better and in part because I am feeling better (not teaching this semester? check; significant financial worries now past me? check)...he is appearing to me in more color, warmth and glow. I don't know how much of this is due to successful acupuncture and Chinese medicine treatment, as well. But, I am feeling more and more relaxed these days. And juicier.

I have been experiencing that "head in the ground" hibernating thing at night where after the kids go to bed my butt and brain find themselves settling down in front of the tv. I've started watching Season 4 of The Sopranos (very watchable after all these years) and am looking forward to the restarting of the Heroes season tomorrow night. I'll also be watching season 2 of Rome and enjoyed my first episode of Extras last week (though it's all about the Patriots tonight, baby).

We watched The Office and the musical episode of Scrubs last week and then kept watching Thirty Rock because it was so funny and well written.

I have noticed the days are already noticeably longer. Here's hoping that my mind and body adjust and I unplug myself from the box before I fry too many more cells. (Will she tune in for the rest of the Lost season? Will she get sucked into Amazing Race All-Stars? Will she stop watching SNL in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, she can recapture some of that lost glory be it ever so vicarious and seriously hopeless?)