How Not to Spend a Sunday Afternoon

I do not recommend watching any of these movies, especially not on the same day. Or if you think you will, please up the dosage of your antidepressant.

They are:

- The PBS/Ken Burns production of the life of Mark Twain. At least stop with Part I. Part II is all death, destruction, poverty, foolishness, and more death.

- "Sprited Away", a movie (anime?) by the guy who did "Princess Mononoke". It is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. But it is also extremely strange. Just remember: if you ever find yourself in a deserted theme park and suddenly piles of sumptuous food appear, don't eat it.

- "Dr. Zhivago, part II". This is the BBC production, with Keira Knightly as Lara. Are you kidding me? Look, I have some problems with Dr. Zhivago, period. Like running off to screw Lara while his wife is 85 months pregnant, and that's just one thing. But Keira (Kiera? Keira? Who cares?) Knightly as Lara is just too far beyond the pale for me. Julie Christie is Lara. Will forever be Lara. Julie Christie is and always will be exquisitely beautiful. This Knightly child just looks like an underfed schoogirl. Plus there is a disconcerting lack of snow. And Varykino is practically a mud hut.

- "Prince Charming", with Bernadette Peters, which is a kid's movie that assumes children are stupid. They are not.

I also do not recommend reading Hard Times by Studs Terkel if you have all kinds of issues about poverty and being poor and being laid off and not being able to find a decent job. This is the local B&N book club choice for September and I'm finding that there aren't just triggers but strings of firecrackers on nearly every page.

The good news is - Autumn is coming early, the refinished floor is now dry and absolutely gorgeous, the new stove is in and is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm about to go to breakfast with E.

Now that's more like it.