Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Things have been fairly crazy at work during recent weeks, but once my final grades were uploaded, I decided to make plans to sneak out of Nashville for a mini-vacation. So, I drove all afternoon and evening on Tuesday, to get to Omaha, Nebraska, where I've been enjoying a much-too-brief visit with my science-fiction-loving seminary friend, Karen. Tomorrow, we go to Des Moines for DemiCon, and then I'm supposed to immediately drive back to Nashville on Monday.

It kind of sucks that I don't have more time to visit friends in the midwest, since I didn't get to this neck of the woods at all last year, but at least I've been able to have this short respite from the craziness in Nashville. I keep reminding myself that, soon enough, I'll probably be complaining about too little work available, so I should be glad that I have the problem of balancing out all the things I want to do with too little time.

Meanwhile, I finally got to the theater to see an actual movie yesterday afternoon -- first film I'd seen in the theater since "Letters from Iwo Jima" back in January or February, I think. Karen and I took in "The Last Mimzy" at a local budget theater, and we enjoyed it HUGELY!

I figured from what little I'd heard about this movie that it was probably based on a short story I'd once heard called "Mimzy Were the Borogroves" (I say 'heard' instead of 'read' because it was an audio recording on LP from the library, with WILLIAM SHATNER reading several science fiction short stories!).

However, the movie went in some different (more timely and perhaps less depressing) directions than I remembered from the conclusion of the short story, and I have to give the film-makers kudos for creating a well-acted, entertaining film about a believable family with children who act like children and parents who have their flaws but are ultimately quite loving and capable. The supporting cast, including the older child's science teacher (played by a guy from "The Office" whose name I don't recall) and his well-meaning if semi-flaky fiancee (played by the actress I know as Lily on "Crossing Jordan") were also quite entertaining and watchable. Plus, great special effects and a very HOPEFUL theme, for all of the doom and gloom about the physical and spiritual pollution we're subjecting ourselves to.

Karen and I both found this movie surprising and delightful, and an elderly woman we met outside the theater said that her sister had taken her granddaughters to see it, and all three had enjoyed it very much. How often does that really happen?