A Curse of Wealth
Since I accepted the job in North Carolina and moved to Raleigh, I’ve often felt as though my life was a roller coaster careening in unknown directions. I simply hung on for dear life, not sure where I was going but having faith the ride was better than it had previously been. Even with that faith, there’s so much of my day-to-day existence on which I wish I had a better grip.
A sample: I still have too much stuff. I understand the philosophers who insist that your possessions possess you, I am confronted with this fact every day. I left much of it behind when I left the home I grew up in. I left more of it behind with every move I’ve made since, and still I have enough to dominate the second bedroom and influence much of the rest of the apartment. I can’t stand being weighed down by it all; but when I attempt to purge, memories overwhelm me and I end up jettisoning far less than I meant to.
We’ll be in this apartment for a few more months at least. I must get rid of more of these things before we leave – and preferably long before, so that I can enjoy this space more than I have been doing. The roller coaster’s exciting; but damn it, I want to feel as though I’ve got more control than this.
Rogue One overview
Apologies for any spoilers; I’ll try to avoid as many as I can. If you’ve seen Episode IV, you have a pretty good idea whether our heroes accomplish their objective.
So how was the movie? Well, Maya – whose first Star Wars in the theater was Episode VII – thought it was wonderful, and possibly her favorite of the franchise. Me, I think it was very well done, but I was rather unprepared for the tone. While the main-storyline movies have an adventuresome matinee serial feel, this movie is frankly grim. Bad things happen to good people in this film.
However, the bad things are not gratuitous. This movie has a point to make, and it makes it well. So I think that I will call it a very good movie, worth watching again, but it’s not an Episode. Notwithstanding the many references and linkages to main-storyline Star Wars, and even nods to novel and comic ideas, Rogue One is its own beast.
And why shouldn’t it be?
