Thursday, Feb. 7

Today is Son's birthday. Happy Birthday, Son.

Slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m. Did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30, and she worked on her jigsaw puzzle while I got ready for the day. In the meantime, Hubbie ran a few errands.

I didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning or after lunch, other than this and that around the house, playing with my new tablet, and reading my novel. I wasn't sure if I should begin any sort of project, since I didn't know if the guy who is to repair the ceiling would arrive anytime today. He did not, and he didn't call.

Around 2:30, Hubbie took the van to the shop to find out why a warning light was coming on. The manual stated that the warning indicator could mean any number of things were wrong in the electronics system. A check showed that there was something amiss with the gas cap. So Hubbie ordered a new one, which will come in next week sometime. I'm glad it was nothing more serious than that, because it could have been something that would cause the van to just suddenly stop operating while we were driving it.

Later, for supper, we had leftover beef stroganoff, with a choice of Lima beans or butter beans. Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then we watched TV, including a strange and chilling movie about a 19-year-old girl, who, for reasons that are not explained, decides to become a suicide bomber. Three men prepare her for a mission to explode a bomb in Times Square, during a busy time of the day. On the appointed day, she is dropped off near Times Square, where she wanders all day, sampling her favorite foods, and taking in the sights and sounds, before she attempts to detonate the bomb. She has misgivings at the last minute, but then presses the button...

What is chilling about the movie is the girl's (and our) heightened awareness of even the most mundane tastes, sights, and sounds (the turn signal on the vehicle she is riding in on her trip to Times Square, for instance. It's something we would pay little attention to under ordinary circumstances, but in this scene, with the car stopped for quite a while at a light, with the girl and her driver speaking not a word, nor even looking at each other, and with the girl clutching the heavy backpack on her lap, while deep in comtemplation, the turn signal is unnerving).

Likewise, we are later focused on the girl's face, as she eagerly devours a candy apple in a last-meal greediness, while being jostled by people in Times Square. We hear her crunching the apple, and watch her wipe the sticky red coating from her mouth with her hand or sleeve, leaving residue on her face and nose.

This is a movie that people will either hate, or appreciate for it's minimalist approach...not much dialogue, and no explanation of the girl's motives, or what the terrorists' goal is (all we see are hooded men who matter-of-factly instruct her, and others who arm her).