Shut Up and Read

E., M., and I went to the Dixie Chicks documentary "Shut Up and Sing" yesterday, and we all left with huge girlcrushes on Natalie Maines, who is awesomely loudmouthed and opinionated in addition to having an amazing voice. Great movie. I also enjoyed a morning viewing of "Little Miss Sunshine" yesterday to kick the new year off right. It is still as excellent as it was when I saw it this summer. Possibly more so. For some reason I got all teary at it multiple times this viewing. I also got teary at the Dixie Chicks movie though, despite being fairly certain the death threats would not in fact be acted upon. So apparently I'm starting the new year off as a sentimental fool. Admittedly, that's not a big change for me. Now I should probably focus on reading instead of watching a lot of movies, though I have greatly enjoyed taking a few days off since I got back from my trip.

We also watched "Thank You For Smoking" this weekend, which was not as good as the other movies. Eh -- I'm sure it's interesting if you don't usually have to deal with the cynicism inherent in the structure of arguments, but I dealt with enough assclowns like that in law school to last me a lifetime. So I just felt like it was two hours of my life wasted watching a story entirely populated by morally bankrupt jackasses. Not recommended.

Scene after dinner at my brother's house last night: my five-year-old nephew Jack, who was avoiding bedtime, sitting on my brother's lap, sticks his little feet next to L.'s face and says "Smell my feet!" L: "I don't think so." Jack: "No! They smell like flowers! They smell like really good flowers!" So a five-year-old made the basic point of "Thank You For Smoking" in a fraction of the time and with substantially more adorability.

To the books!