Checking back in

[mollyringle]

I've been uncommon busy lately (no, I do not mean "uncommonly"; I'm being colloquial here), which is why I've not been on LJ as much. I've been writing like mad on my twisted Young Adult story idea, enjoying the rain, cooking, being a Netflix whore (holy cow, that service is cool), and besides all that I've been feeling very introverted and thus even LJ has seemed too loud for me.

But, in any case, from the Netflix rentals so far, I highly recommend Finding Neverland. The husband and I are very stoic about not weeping at movies--I really did even avoid it with ROTK in the theaters--but we both were sniffling at the end of Neverland. I prefer happier endings in general, but this was a beautiful kind of sad; not an ugly or harsh kind of sad. I can also forgive sad endings we're given proper warning about, which was the case with this one. Other examples would be Romeo and Juliet, where in the opening speech we learn "a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life"; or Moulin Rouge, where one of the first lines is "The woman I love is dead." That way it's not sprung upon us unfairly. (Don't get me started on my rage against Tess of the d'Urbervilles, when it comes to sucky and unfair endings.)

I don't know about you, but I always start skimming when LJ'ers write about dreams they had. All the same, I'll mention here a recurring type of dream I have: I could call it The Impassable Road; or The Impossible Road; or The Perilous Road. I can be driving, or bicycling, or operating some other vehicle; and the road that I must take goes way, way up in the air with no guardrails and a dangerous tilt to it, like a roller-coaster track. Or it's plunging at nearly 90 degrees straight down, and is washed out at the bottom by a huge deep surging sea. Or it's so dark and murky that I can't see, but I have to keep driving fast anyway, praying I won't hit anything.

Probably this highlights my general phobia of doing courageous or risky things. Probably it also reflects my adolescent phobia of driving, and just my general phobia of death, especially of being the hapless cause of my own death--and, as everyone always tells you, "You're 495 times likelier to die in a car crash than in (X)." Maybe it just means I want my life to slow down a little. All of that would make sense to me. Anyone else have freaky driving dreams?

Anyway, happy Easter! (Really, I'm happier than I might seem from this entry. This weekend has allowed some good introversion time.)

Comments

[bluesound.livejournal.com]

I'm having a lot of dreams at the moment, though I'm not getting to remember any of them. I'm sure they were entertaining!

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

I left the theater weeping after Finding Neverland. I have this tendency to mist up when Tinkerbell is dying in the play, even when it's performed by third-graders, and with all the extra emotion added by Kate Winslet's impending death, etc, I was helpless.

And then there's the fact that this movie involves Johnny Depp, period costume, and a Scottish accent in conjunction. I can't really think what else could be asked of a movie.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I think that may have been one of the most beautifully filmed deaths I've ever seen. I was so grateful they didn't have the typical excruciating deathbed scene. It was plenty poignant enough without it.

Depp was so wonderful, and I swear the man is ageless. At this rate he's going to look that good for at least three more decades.

[dirae.livejournal.com]

I think I began "misting" up during the scene when Barrie brings "Neverland" to Sylvia's home... and it lasted until the end of the film. Despite that fact that I hate to tear-up, I really enjoyed the film - a decent cry can be cathartic especially given a story that is pure of heart. :)

Nonetheless, the film made me interested in Barrie and children, so I did a little bit of research. All I can say is that real life trumps the film when it comes to tragedy and I sorta cried all over again. Sad.

BTW- the children were cousins of Daphne du Maurier...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Indeed; as I said to kalquessa up there, Sylvia's departure into Neverland was an unusually beautiful death scene.

Heh, I looked up some online biography stuff after seeing the film too. I found out about George's death in WWI, Michael's suicide at Oxford (they said "with a boy friend"; I don't know if that was meant to imply a gay issue or not), and Peter's eventual suicide in 1960 or so; and figured that was enough research for one day. Crikey. Good thing they ended the film when they did.

Didn't find out about the du Maurier connection, though. Cool! I did wonder, when I heard the name in the film. It's a small island after all.

[darthdogbert.livejournal.com]

I've never had any freaky driving dreams, but the "impassable road/path" was a common reoccuring dream for me when I was little. It would usually start with me following family (sister, cousins) and friends down a path, then being last person in line to cross a bridge that was falling apart, but being the only one to never make it across.

I don't dream about it anymore, but I think I correlate with my fear of falling behind or being unsuccessful in life, which has really been a driving influence on me to strive to stay ahead of everyone I know in one way or another.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting variation. I bet there's a whole chapter in Psych textbooks on this kind of dream!

[taliesin.livejournal.com]

The worst driving dream I have ever had, I was trying to drive a dump truck without wearing my glasses. Not a good outcome. I demolished an apartment building.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hehehe. Well, I'm sure it was scary at the time, but at least it sounds amusing now.

[terrylj.livejournal.com]

I have lots of dreams about being on a raised interstate (therefore with no way of getting off) and suddenly it goes under water--literally, as in you'd need a submarine to continue your trip--or is washed completely away. And I CAN'T STOP THE CAR OMG because half of the time I'm in the back seat, steering by leaning up front, but I can't reach the brake pedals.

I'm sure the water comes from the fact that I can't swim and therefore feel extremely helpless around water; and the rest of it probably means that subconsciously I feel that I'm not in control of my own life, and it's going nowhere fast.

Now I have depressed myself. I'm off for coffee!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! I've had the "OMG I'm in the back seat and no one is driving but the car is moving" dream too. Always a fun one. And even though I can swim, I often have the submerged dreams too. Much more fun are the ones in which I can fly. *sigh*

[jennae.livejournal.com]

Netflix is increadible! The friend feature is pretty swell also!

I too skim when people write about dreams, unless they do it in a non-standard way. I've actually got stories that I plan to write based on my dreams.....probably a reason I don't post about that!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I haven't added any friends on Netflix yet. When other people insist I should see a movie, I start feeling like it's homework rather than entertainment. I'm stubborn that way. :)