rm ([personal profile] rm) wrote2004-10-11 09:05 am

sewing update and Gladiator

Both sleeves are done. The bodice lining is partially assembled. The underskirt is partially assembled.

After work, I've set aside 5 - 7 hours of sewing to finish those things.

Watched Gladiator last night, which doesn't work nearly as well on the small screen, but still made me cry. I remember going to see it exceptionally vividly. It was in the basement second-run theater under the Virgin Megastore (where movies go to die) and I had been putting it off for ages. I went alone, and I remember I walked from work to the theater. None of these things are terribly unusual except I remember very clearly that Something Really Significant was going on in my life at the time, and it was one of those big cathartic movie experiences for me, even the walk there at dusk.

The thing is, I have absolutely no idea what it was. Which of course speaks to the wonderful fact that drama is never so bad as we think it is, but it's rare I can't put something together like that, and as such, it's a little maddening for me.

Sometime later, I remember discussing the film with [livejournal.com profile] stevefava and he talked about how the film was designed to make both women and men cry -- the women, about the family stuff and the men in the bit where Maximus scrapes the SPQR off his arm. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember him explaining it to me in the context of this is a guy thing women wouldn't necessarily understand.

But I remember that I understood it before he had explained it, and that he later leant me Gates of Fire, and while we don't really communicate even peripheraly (but hi to [livejournal.com profile] dcicuto) now (for no other reason than life is a busy busy place, and we're both the sorts who make sure it's always that way), it's a very strange, specific point of demarcation in my life, because it was a moment where I was two very distinctly different people and the subjects of our friendship gave that a narrative transition and flow that made it make sense, at least for me, in hindsight (and quite frankly, I don't think it makes sense to anyone else, beyond the idea that one day, I got fed up with the shit I'd allowed to exist in my life and decided to nearly banish even reasonable things in my life, if I could not deal with them reasonably).

Grace is often something other than quiet.

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2004-10-11 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
Senatus Populus Que Romanus

(the Senate and People of Rome)

That's the tattoo he's scraping off his shoulder when he first becomes a gladiator.

[identity profile] orien.livejournal.com 2004-10-11 11:45 am (UTC)(link)
Odd. It's the concepts of exile and true loyalty that make me cry.

5 - 7 hours of sewing? blah

[identity profile] moonlaughing.livejournal.com 2004-10-11 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
that sounds hella frustrating. music can always cheer you up. I've found a site where you can get an ipod for free (it takes a little time though) basically you have to sign up for a free trial offer like from AOL and such, they give you a few to choose from, but you cancel it before they bill you.. you don't get charged, then you get a few people to sign up.. and since companies pay them for getting the hits/referrals (signups) and with profit from people who dont follow through.. they get paid, with which they take a bunch to send out these free ipods. It's pretty neat. tons of people have gotten them, and considering you seem really computer savvy.. I bet you know alot of people who'd sign up as well.. meaning you could get your 5 referrals quick. Shoot.. you could probably get all of them just from people reading your livejournal. Anyways.. I wanted to you to check it out. The site is http://ipodforfree.cjb.net/

Cheers,

-Dan

Re: 5 - 7 hours of sewing? blah

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2004-10-12 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
No posts? Spamming people's journals with this? The TOS folks are gonna love you.