Cold logic

The temperature here has approached zero degrees and -20 wind chill, or so I've heard. I've been bundled up enough that the cold hasn't seemed too bad, and I've had the good sense to stay indoors. Snow began falling this afternoon and continues at this late hour. (I took the photograph on campus shortly before 5:00 p.m.) While most of the snowfall hasn't been wet or heavy, it still made for plenty of traffic nightmares.

I decided that I ought to leave early to allow for the inevitable delays in getting to the night's screening of Norbit. Kristin was thinking along the same line--that is, if she wasn't thinking that it would be best not to go--so I offered to drive to her home and save us both the trouble of driving to the theater. What would ordinarily take fifteen to twenty minutes at an off peak time and maybe a 30-minute drive during the evening rush hour became a 50-minute trip. It took me a half hour to get from my apartment to the outerbelt, something that takes five minutes in the middle of the day.

Wiser people might have looked at the situation and determined that it would be foolish to go to the screening. After all, we're talking about Norbit. Keep in mind, though, that we pulled a one-two evening screening punch of Gridiron Gang and Crank on the day I had a root canal retreated and a day or two before she and her husband were leaving for Malaysia. She probably had packing to do, and I had a recurring headache that the painkillers weren't handling as well as I would have liked. Never let it be said that critics don't suffer for their work sometimes.

If I may speak for my fellow critics, we were approaching the film with dread regardless of how treacherous the roads might be. I didn't think the roads were bad; there were just too many cars on them. There was a greater chance of witnessing a bigger wreck by seeing Norbit than navigating the roadways.

Kristin graciously offered to drive, which was probably a good idea since her vehicle is better suited to the wintry conditions than my car. The drive was slow but steady, and we arrived with plenty of time to spare. Unfortunately, our prize was seeing Norbit, a comedy so bad that we might have wished we had slid off the road and into a ditch en route to the screening. If this doesn't kill cinema, nothing will. So the trip was totally worth the risk.

I know that I've couched my opinion in strong terms, so please don't be offended if you are interested in seeing it or see it and like it. I've observed that some people take negative reviews as personal attacks on audience members who like what the critic hated. As far as I'm concerned, everyone's entitled to their own tastes. Most assuredly, Norbit does not satisfy mine. I hope I don't see a worse film this year. I realize, though, that the film works perfectly well for others, such as a good portion of the people who were in tonight's audience.

The drive back was a little hairier, usually because of drivers going excessively slow and disrupting the methodical flow of traffic. One can be too careful. It took about forty minutes to get back to Kristin's and another thirty minutes for me to get home. The roads weren't pristine, but I've driven in much worse. Sure, it might have been smarter to sit out that night's screening, but I got a blog entry out of it and a jump on writing my blistering pan of the Eddie Murphy film.

In knitting news, I am done knitting Donna's scarf. All I need to do is weave in the ends and add a fringe. Hopefully she'll have it by the weekend.

As for the hat's unsightly seam, I'm coping with it. Thanks for the suggestions as to how I can make less of a mess next time, and thanks for your kind words about the hat. I never get tired of that. :)