Allison turned seventeen yesterday. To celebrate the occasion, we went to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. In accordance with state and federal law, the theatre employees didn’t give her the satisfaction of a carding. I told her she should have whipped out her ID anyway.
The movie was decent. I can’t say I’ve been a big fan of Wes Anderson’s films (Royal Tennenbaums was a stinker, in my opinion), but so many things about it were endearing: the solid performances from the big-name stars (Huston, Murray, Wilson, Dafoe, Goldblum), the quirky, campy feel (in deference to Cousteau’s golden age of underwater documentary), character-driven plot. Also, the soundtrack ruled. However, I didn’t want out of the theatre thinking “Good lord, that was an excellent movie” like I did with Sideways. Still and all, the fact that our local theatre has already stopped playing it is a crime.
Allison’s birthday has always been plagued by misfortune. Most recently, her grandfather passed away the day after she turned 16, so its tough to be celebrate the date when it’s eclipsed by a far worse anniversary. My dad’s birthday is kind of like that, the poor guy.
Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m very sick of winter, and would like it to be late spring/early summer. I say this not only because I am already sick of the semester, but because I have a hankering to wear jeans, sandals, and t-shirts again. Last Wednesday, it suddenly turned a wet 62ºF, and the next two days were followed by ever-plunging temperatures that took us near 0ºF. The driver-side lock on my car has been frozen since Thursday morning.