So Freakin’ Depressed Now
I watched “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport” tonight. Gods, that was sad. I mean, I’m generally far sappier about puppies than I am about human children — not that there’s anything wrong with human children, who can be quite delightful under the proper circumstances, but I just can’t escape the feeling that somewhere, deep down, there’re recording everything I say and preserving it for future mockery of me — but this movie made me cry with frightening regularity. Maybe it’s just that I’m still immature enough to identify with kids, and hearing about children having to leave their parents and leave for foster families who may not even exist and who certainly don’t even speak your language and who may be wanting you only as a domestic servant . . . it just killed me. I don’t normally cry a lot during movies, but I kept having to pause the DVD so I could collect myself. If you do Netflix this one, be sure to slo-mo through the Position Wanted ads segment, because it’s among the most heartbreaking if you read all the bits. Lovely, beautiful, heartwrenching movie, which is just my type. If it doesn’t make me cry, from beauty or from pathos, then it’s not in my top echelon of movies. (ItAoS had the added benefit of being narrated by Dame Judi Dench, who has automatic Very Much Cool Indeed Points from me, no matter what project she chooses to do.)
Of course, the problem with pathos-rich movies is that you often need some sort of antidote afterwards, if you are expecting to sleep comfortably in any sort of fashion in the forseeable future. For this purpose, I turned to PBS, which I knew was showing my eternal favorite “Blackadder” from 11:30 to 12:00.
Unfortunately, tonight’s offering turned out to be the final episode of “Blackadder Goes Forth,” which is in the finest traditions of Ben Eltonesque comedies and generally just a brilliant and moving episode, but not exactly what you need when you’ve just been sniffling and dribbling through an hour and a half of young Jewish WWII refugees barely escaping from their homelands and then finding out that their parents had either died horribly or survived but in completely unrecognizable and irrevocably scarred forms. You want something perky and silly and upbeat, not young George and Darling and Baldrick and Blackadder going over the top into No-Man’s Land and being shot to pieces in a movingly silent montage.
In my current state, I do not need to see a very young Hugh Laurie et al. dying in a tragic and futile manner, no matter how moving and artistic I might find that in my normal daily state. I’m all upset and downcast now, and kicking myself for not having retained at least one “Red Dwarf” DVD. I could really do with a few curry jokes right about now. Pathetically, most of my not-Netflixed-but-really-owned-outright DVDs are of the more dramatic/tragic variety, which doesn’t really help in cases like this.
Damn. I really should plan ahead better than this.
Ashley and Drew’s maternal grandfather (Pete) was sent to live in Tennessee when he was 6 years old. He only spoke German. To this day, he will not speak of that time. Luckily, he was reunited with his mother after the war. They eventually settled in Georgia. His mom was a delightful old bird. I enjoyed her immensely.
Recently, Pete and his wife took Ashley to Germany, which was a moving experience for all of them.
Always have at least one comedic antidote on hand at all times. Funny, writing that sentence reminded me that I’m out of soy milk. I guess because it’s another thing that it is bad to not have on hand.
January 29th, 2006 | #
That’s amazing. I’m glad it turned out well for them, but it must’ve been such a traumatic experience. I don’t blame him for not wanting to talk about it.
I should’ve been wiser about the comedic antidote. I just didn’t realize the movie would affect me that strongly, though. I should just buy a set of good BritCom DVDs — something utterly preposterous and silly, in 25-minute doses — to have on hand for emergency cheering.
Speaking of soymilk, the shelf-stable boxes are good to keep stashed somewhere, but I also recently bought a tub of powdered soymilk (necessary for the Fauxstess cupcakes, which I am about to start despite not having been willing to pay $20 for cake decorating tips, so I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to do the filling. If the powdered stuff works out well as a beverage, I’ll let you know.
January 29th, 2006 | #
I think that Vicar of Dibley, Monty Python or Fawlty Towers would work well for emergency cheering. I might need some of those for myself.
Shelf soymilk tastes weird. I really should buy two cartons of soymilk at a time because it lasts for several weeks in the fridge.
No one else is blogging today. Do you think it’s because of the freakish global-warming type weather?
January 29th, 2006 | #
The weather may be responsible. Right after I put the cupcakes in the oven, I took Nigel out for a quick airing, and I was shocked. It feels like mid- to late spring. Eww. The vast hordes of birds who have suddenly descended on my neighborhood seem happy about it, though.
I haven’t noticed much of a difference btwn the shelf-stable boxes and refrigerated cartons with my soymilk, but maybe that’s just me. Or maybe it’s the brand: Silk Unsweetened. Maybe the UHT does something weird to the sugars in sweetened soymilk?
Re: the powder, I realized when looking at the recipe that Isa specifies NOT using low-fat powdered soymilk. Well, sorry, but that was the only type I could find, and it was hard enough (and expensive enough) to find that. These suckers are not cheap if you don’t keep things like powdered soymilk ($10), caster sugar ($5; I could’ve made my own with my food processor, but I wasn’t sure quite what texture is necessary so I thought it safer to buy premade this time), nonhydrogenated veggie shortening (okay, only about $3 but a very alien and freaky thing for me to buy), and proper maple syrup. I do keep maple syrup on hand, but it’s gawdawfully expensive, and the cupcakes and the various icings use a fair vat of it.
Whining aside, the cupcakes do look pretty impressive: all dark and rich-looking. They just came out of the oven, and are cooling. I plan to post pics of the process this evening, but I must go start on the icings and fillings now.
January 29th, 2006 | #