John and I went to see Iron Monkey tonight. It was an excellent movie. The actors were great and it's packed with stunning fight scenes. I'm ready to become a renegade Shaolin monk now. It reminded me of how much I loved The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk the first time I saw it. If you have seen any of the excellent Once Upon a Time in China series this is a must-see movie because it is a mythical story of Wong Fei Hung as a boy, before he became one of the most famous martial arts heroes in China. Enjoyable story, astounding martial arts, and a classic, classy Hong Kong film.
I kept wondering why the second lead, Donnie Yen, looked so familiar. I had to look up his filmography to figure it out. He starred with Michelle Yeoh in Wing Chun, the first movie I ever saw Michelle Yeoh in. And because I liked that film so much I rented The Heroic Trio and became permanently smitten with Hong Kong martial arts movies. But it all started with a viewing of The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk at my friend Doug Hanke's house during ShermanCon in 1995. I owe Doug a lot. He also introduced me to the excellence of Babylon 5 and Terry Pratchett in that same long weekend.
Right now, the Black Monkey of Expensivity is sitting behind me while I type. I took Keiko in for her first vet visit in three years and got myself lectured by the vet on the need for yearly checkups and shots. Since the last vet told me she did not need yearly shots but only once every three years I'm all confused. At any rate, she's now been vaccinated against rabies ($42) and FVRCP ($42), and in two weeks will be tested for Feline Leukemia and receive a vaccination against that if she doesn't have it, which will be another $100. And then after that she has a $239 dental visit to schedule because she has pretty severe plaque on her back teeth, but that will have to wait for a third paycheck. And of course I was out of Advantage flea control for both cats, so I bought $58 worth of that. Jeez louise, that was an expensive visit. No more diamonds for me, I have two cats to vaccinate between now and the end of the year.
Tomorrow John and I will leave the cats to amuse themselves for the day and go for a long drive. We've elected to visit Muir Woods because I've never seen it and we'd both like a chance to walk in the woods. We're being patriotic by driving over the Golden Gate bridge (twice!) since our tool of a governor, Gray Davis, scared the living daylights out of Northern Californians by declaring "credible terrorist threats" have been made regarding bridges. The FBI says they aren't credible, so we're ignoring the governor and going to the woods. But we have a friend who has standing orders to go to our house and rescue the cats should any emergency befall us. That's what really matters to me.
My appointment with the Dean for Monday has been changed to Thursday, so now I have the day all to myself until it's time for class. I'm leaving it unplanned, just like today. Do you know what I did today? I had not one but three naps. Friday night while John was at a dinner party I cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom, and did four loads of laundry. That halo of mine was glowing brightly, I'll tell you. I fell into bed exhausted. At 6am I woke up with a whopper of a tension neckache, had a quick breakfast of soda crackers and milk, popped some Advil and went back to bed. I got up and had a second breakfast of Cheerios, but still felt wonky so sent John off to look for cars and went back to bed. I got up in time for Keiko's vet visit, watered the yard, weeded the rose bed, and fell asleep fully clothed on the bed for three hours. Finally, I got up at 7:30pm and made dinner. Two hours later I was ready for the movie. And here I am at 1:00am. Do you think I'm sleepy? I am!
This always happens when I finally relax.
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