So as I was driving home today, I was driving into an incredibly gorgeous sunset. It was setting over the hills in front of me (Pittsburgh really is a lovely little city), the kind with the beautiful colors and just enough clouds to make it spatially interesting. And it was so beautiful that I felt deeply and blissfully happy at that moment.
Odd that I felt that so deeply, when I've spent a lot of time crying the past couple days. Not about my own problems, specifically, but I've always responded very deeply to well-written/well-acted entertainment.
Yesterday I watched "Ugly Betty." (Yes, it was on last Thursday. I have a Tivo. I recorded it. Can we move past that now?) It was highly recommended by Entertainment Weekly, my gospel source for new TV every fall. But I was unsure I wanted to see a show that is, quite frankly, about a perfectly average looking woman who is mistreated by a bunch of beautiful people with their ranking system and their "you're not worthy of my company if you're not my # or better" phobia. And it did make me very sad when poor Betty was treated cruelly. It was a flashback to years of social rejection (is school a good place for anyone?) It was almost as bad as when I watched "Welcome to the Dollhouse" a number of years ago, which is as accurate a portrayal of the cruelty of junior high school kids as I've ever seen. ("Kids" was shocking but I didn't know anyone like *that*. "Freaks and Geeks" came close, too.)
Then I watched "United 93." I knew it would make me sob uncontrollably. But I felt like I should watch it. That I should watch it so I'd have an idea what those people went through, how it all went so badly wrong for them. And I was right, I did sob uncontrollably. It's a very well-done movie, and I hope to never ever watch it again.
And, wish i could get through ONE SINGLE EPISODE of "Cold Case" without crying.
Still, I'm a really happy person. Remember the sunset!
