Since I was only able to get about three hours of sleep Thursday night, even though I managed a couple of short naps during the day (the dogs approve of this lifestyle), my brain was too tired to offer me much that was productive. I posted to Photo Friday, paid some bills, and got the dogs in and out between rain showers, but mostly I gave myself over to two RomComs. Nor did I try to atone for passive entertainment by coloring or researching for the Neverending Saga. T.I.R.E.D.
First up was 1996’s One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. George was looking mighty young in this film. At one point, his newspaper reporter character Jack describes Michelle Pfeiffer’s architect character Melanie as “luminous,” which is how I’d still describe her. Movie cameras love her. The one scene I always remember from this movie is the first time (of several) Melanie’s son stains her shirt. She carries a leather bag (how Jack envies this bag) filled with things a mom-on-the-go needs, and grabs one of her son’s T-shirts, emblazoned with a dinosaur, switching it with her shirt. TINY woman! But enough about their looks. The movie is frantic with the pace of two busy New Yorkers trying to balance work with parenting. They meet; they bicker; they negotiate; they commiserate over children who are sometimes maddening, sometimes wonderful; they give each other some grace with a lot of sass; they fall in love–all in the same day. It would take me hundreds of pages…or many books…to write such a thing. =)
Then after dinner last night (and an episode of the funny TV show “Ghosts,”), I wanted to keep myself awake long enough not to go to bed too early and then be wide awake in the middle of the night. I chose the 1995 Sandra Bullock (playing Lucy)/Bill Pullman (playing another Jack) RomCom While You Were Sleeping, about a misunderstanding taken to an extreme. Can anyone play more likable characters in this genre than Sandra Bullock? Equally likable is Jack, and unlike in Sleepless In Seattle when Bill Pullman lost the girl, this time, he’s the lucky guy. The talented supporting cast is by turns funny, sweet, and ridiculous. It’s a good comfort movie to see before bedtime, and YES! I slept six hours, woke up for a while, then slept again off and on for at least another two hours. SO GRATEFUL to feel rested in the morning.
Cats and dogs (both my Coventry novels have dogs) are always good in RomComs. These movies both featured cats. In One Fine Day, the newspaper editor keeps a cat, Lois Lane, in his office who is important in a couple of plot points. At one point, Jack’s daughter chases a stray tabby cat, who she follows into a store, where she finds the cat has kittens, including one named Bob. These cats, too, are all part of the action and plot development.
In While You Were Sleeping, Lucy has a cat named Mel (played by rescue cat actor Princess) who provides some amusing moments. When Lucy realizes that Peter, hospitalized in a coma, has a cat which no one in his family knows about (he was only catsitting), she gets into his apartment to take care of Fluffy, providing more comedic moments with Jack.
This afternoon, Tom and I both had hair appointments with Larry in our old ‘hood. That’s three hours in the shop, the drives there and back, plus picking up dinner for us and Debby on the way home. We wanted to thank her for sitting with our dogs for those hours. We’d been a little concerned about Eva, who was hacking and coughing periodically before we left. We gave her some warm water with honey, which can sooth an irritated throat. She didn’t have a fever, and none of the dogs have been around any other dogs who could have given them anything like kennel cough, but since she wasn’t interested in breakfast this morning, we wanted to be cautious. Debby said she only coughed a couple of times, though she did cough a lot when we got home–maybe she was over-excited, because Tom is her whole reason for existence. Seriously, she starts watching the front door an hour and a half before he gets home from the office. But she ate her dinner with no problem and hasn’t coughed so far since dinnertime. Fingers crossed!
My hair is very short! Which is fine, but strange to see in the mirror. And since last night’s film got me in the mood for more Sandra Bullock, tonight’s DVD rewatch will be 2000’s Miss Congeniality, with Sandra Bullock as FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart, Benjamin Bratt, Michael Caine, Candice Bergen, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson, and John DiResta among the cast. After the movie, I’ll read a while before I get another hopefully good night’s sleep on this Labor Day Weekend. If so, tomorrow: WRITING!